Julie and I with our new travel buddy Wanda

This Covid thing is a never-ending nightmare and driving Julie and I crazy, as it is for millions (or billions!) of other people around the world.  Our Follow the Sun journey is on indefinite hold.  We can’t travel, we can’t work, we don’t know when it will end, we have public health concerns and constraints, we have frustrations.  But we acknowledge we’re better off than most people.  Fortunately Julie and I also have a great family around us, including two beautiful granddaughters and a wonderful house in the bush to retreat to…so actually under the circumstances we’re not doing too bad.  But since we realised we’re going to be in Australia for quite a while we decided we needed to upgrade our mode of travel and (here comes the slightly crazy part) we decided to buy another truck and camper.  And we called it Wanda.

After some good rains and healthy crops its a good time to have a new camper and go exploring

Yes, it appears we’ll be stuck on this large desert island for quite some time but we know from experience there is an endless array of places to visit, even in our state of New South Wales which is currently as far as we can reach.  But did you know there are 237 national parks in NSW alone and countless other nature reserves, conservation areas, state forests and wilderness areas?  So there’s endless list of places to visit and we just needed to upgrade our truck camper from our trusty roof top tent to something more spacious and comfortable.

We brought Wanda home and opened her up – quite a catching and unique look!

And as good fortune would have it, we found exactly what we were looking for online.  We contacted Bob and Cate down in Canberra who were reluctantly selling a 2012 Ford Ranger 3.2l diesel 4×4 truck and a 2017 Trayon camper attached to its tray.  We talked to Bob and Cate on the phone, went down to see them, checked out the truck and camper…and immediately knew this solution was perfect for us.  Bob and Cate had kept both the Ford Ranger and the camper in mint condition and helped us get to know all the driving and camping issues with this new equipment.  By the next weekend we had driven away in our new Australian camping solution.  Wow!

Bob and Cate were a little sad to see their truck and camper go but it was passing over to good hands

Wanda looks at home on the banks of the Goulburn River during her shakedown trip

Trayon is a Queensland company that has been making this popular and unique ‘pop open’ camper for many years.  For Julie and I it provided a large and comfortable sleeping area, both indoor and outdoor cooking options, a big fridge and comfy chairs and dinette solution indoors.  This means that we can spend most of our time outdoors, as we prefer, but if the weather or bugs beat us up we can retreat inside where it will be roomy and cosy for us.

Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!

But our new travel buddy needs a name, something to compliment Tramp who continues to rest peacefully in storage in Essex in the UK.  We considered many options but Julie’s first preference became our chosen name – Wanda.  Wanda – yes, I’ve been assured you can have a female truck, no problem – is an appropriate name for us.  If you apply a good lick of an Australian accent Wanda is how you pronounce the word wander…which is exactly what we like to do…wander. And so it goes, Wanda.

We explored Goulburn River National Park and gave Wanda a good workout

We also had a night in Wollemi National Park and enjoyed the ‘luxury’ which our new camper provided

We drove Wanda from Canberra up to our property in the Blue Mountains and a couple of days later took it on a two night shake-down trip to Goulburn River National Park and Wollemi National Park.  Wanda drove like a diesel dream, including the bit of four wheel driving we did on a whim up to the top of Mt. Coricudgy.  But perhaps more importantly, the camper proved the perfect solution for us – easy to set up, lots of storage, plenty of cooking and eating options, a comfy bed and a low profile when its packed up.  We loved it.

We found a rough track up to the top of Mt. Coricudgy that took us through some badly burnt bush but also some beautiful green regrowth areas

We loved the walk down Drip Gorge in the national park

A beautiful relaxing little spot on the Goulburn River in the Drip Gorge

And this is the new home for Wanda when she’s not on duty – taking a cherished spot next to Big Red

Wanda is not as refined or technologically advanced as Tramp but for travelling in Australia’s conditions it is perfect for us and we look forward to many future adventures in our new travel partner.

We love Aussie mailboxes in the bush and this one caught our eye – especially the sticker saying No Junk Mail

Or you could go for more of a porcine beer keg look