Troostwijk goes camping

19-1-2010 (Tuesday)


We gave the rental car back in CBD Melbourne and took a taxi to KEA Camper Depot.
There she was right at the depot: our house for the next month. Troostwijk Family goes camping and we’re excited, slightly nervous.
First some paperwork and the a quick tour in and around the campervan, expect the cleaning of the toilet container, everything looks ok and good to handle for us first time campers.
Sharon brings little experience from her sailing holidays with the family and Ruben did some camping back in the days in Israel, but this is a whole new experience.
The nice lady at KEA set us up with a campsite at Philip Island south east of Melbourne, well known for its penguins.

At around 2 we drove away and all we could think is:”wow what a huge car”. Now we know how a truck driver feels. WE ARE KING OF THE ROAD. Ruben suddenly has a lot of respect for all the bus drivers in the world but he himself did a pretty good job, driving this enormous house on wheels, as if he never had done anything else in his life.

It’s a 2 ½ hour drive to Philip Island. We arrived at 4:30, in a real 2nd tier camping site. Our van is the biggest and nicest of the whole place. But it’s good to start at the bottom. At least the toilets and showers are clean….At least cleaner then our own toilet on our campervan.

Sharon stuffed our clothes away in all the small compartments and she’s really happy ‘bout the fact that she pact very well back home. Ruben and Zeb went shopping. Steak and sausages for our first outside BBQ.
Before dinner, Sharon went to the playground with the kids and Ruben set up the fold in table, chairs and the sunscreen. Putting back the sunscreen later at night was a nightmare, did not pay enough attention at KEA. Actually, the woman helping us out in Melbourne, probably thought we were experienced campers, cause she ran over all the important stuff. Now we needed help from two local campers, who were hardly understandable with their accents and looked like they’re smoking 24/7. Again new friends. Really camping is better then facebook.

We had our first outdoor dinner, and the steaks were great. Own made marinade, thanks to local bought Ketjap Manis from Conimex.

Tonight’s dilemma; shall we wash the dishes in the van, meaning we lose water we have to collect later, or to do it in the central washing place. Sharon did the later, but this is an example of the difficult choices we are facing these days.
The kids are sleeping together on top of the driving area and had a bath in one of the showers of the campsite together. We will sleep in the back, in the living room. Neither one has a clue how to set up the bed, but we’’ll find out.

Today was a GREAT adventure, but it seems to be the start of a wonderful month camping.