Our New Home On Wheels

Lately we have been looking at changing our camping set up, with the goal to be able to move a little bit quicker, and for the tent not to take an hour to set up and another to pack down. This seems vital now, with a toddler in tow, to be able to get the not so much fun stuff done quicker.

We currently have a little collection of tents, one for each of our needs. A lightweight hiking tent, that we have used in Australia and New Zealand. One that we use to take on fine weather beach trips before our family of two became three, though on the last time we used this tent, we realised that it leaks so it has since been retired. This leaky tent was replaced when our family grew to a multi-room, heavy duty tent that takes an hour to set up, and again to pack up.

Our new camping set up journey took us from roof top tents, to camper trailers, where it then blew out to caravan, which landed us back at the start with a camp set up that is time consuming and hard to look after and store between trips. We have gone full circle and landed back at roof top tent.

Enter Darche Hi-View 1800, our new home on wheels, our gateway for adventure, our enabler.

With our new obsession firmly clasped on the roof of our four by four, which by the way was a super easy task, we were itching to get out and give it a try. We patiently enjoyed chilling on the king bed in our drive way while we waited for a window of time between social events and summer storm season to set up camp in nature and spend the night snuggled up under the stars.

Finally a window of time presented itself, and we had 24 hours to get out for a shakedown trip of our new set-up. We packed up the hilux, and headed off on an adventure.

From home, we headed up and over the range, driving on dirt roads that curled through the forest, dappled light hitting the bonnet of our car, with steep drop offs that made for wonderful views through the trees and down into the valley below. We didn’t say it, but you could tell that this was going to be one of those trips that you will remember for a lifetime.

We arrived at Charlie Moreland campground, picked a flat block that had a beautiful outlook, and set up our roof top tent for the very first time (not including our driveway hangs!). We were so impressed by the ease of the set up, and before we knew it, we were set up, and had time to kill before dinner time, so off we went to explore.

Setting off to explore everything that Charlie Morelands campground had on offer, we went through the beautiful day use area, under monstrous trees casting a wealth of shade, and down the path to Little Yabba Creek. We were delighted to find lots of turtles swimming around, their little heads breaking the stillness of the water as they popped up before disappearing into the depths of the swimming hole.

After arriving at the campsite later in the afternoon, it was bedtime before we knew it. There was lightening flashing in the distance, and we climbed up the ladder to our comfortable king bed, crossing our fingers for no stormy night on our maiden voyage.

In the morning we woke well rested after a comfortable sleep in our new abode, and thankfully the storm had passed at a distance, leaving our tent nice and dry for its pack-up later that morning.

We climbed down the ladder, our feet touching the ground searching for a morning cup of coffee. Sitting and sipping whilst listening to morning bird song, watching the sunlight dapple through the leafs is one of those magical things about camping. Waking up somewhere beautiful, secluded, and in nature straight away.

When the coffee cups were empty, and breakfast was finished, it was time to pack our new rooftop tent up, and head out for a walk on the trails. The backup was quick, easy, and drama free, leaving ample of energy for more important things.

Our hike was an underrated short circuit from the day use area. It was a perfect stroll with a toddler in tow, with added excitement of a few river crossings, and great sun protect as you strolled through dense forest. We saw some beautiful trees, heard some pretty bird song, and saw lots of little fish in the creek.

On the way home we reflected on our new set up, and how excited we were for many more adventures in our new home on wheels.