I received the following message form Stephen and Deborah who is hoping to order a
Bushtracker soon. After looking through so many BTs at Copeton, I KNOW there are owners who can help with these questions:
Hello BOGGERS,
We are new to caravanning but have bushcamped for 25 years, mainly on the eastern seaboard, with a little bit of inland stuff. We are planning to take off in early 2006 on ‘the big one’. After a factory tour we’ve decided to go the BT way (will order new), but want a few home comforts, whilst staying away from caravan parks as much as possible. Once we embark on our adventure, we expect to be on the road for at least 12 months, so some aspects which were previously minor, become an issue. No doubt our wishlist will become a series of tradeoffs over the coming months, but it seems to us that BOGGERS are the best source of up-to-date advice.
Can any BT users give us advice/feedback on the following:
Laundry
We’d like to install a washing machine but don’t want to end up with a white elephant due to unacceptable/unavailable water supply. The only basic assumption we have made is that creek water would have to be filtered to an acceptable level.
We note from photos and passing comment on the
BOG site that some of you have w/machines - how have you fared? Make of machine? Load capacity? Water comsumption? Reliability? Was it worth the cost and space?
We know that the Lemair at 17.5kg is much lighter than the Dometic/Electrolux, but are having trouble ascertaining how much water it uses.
We have seen a NEC toploader in another make of van, but know little about them.
Taking a trail bike
As tent campers we frequently duck down tracks in search of the elusive ‘perfect’ camp site. Having a big rig in tow will certainly cramp our style, and we’re considering the trail bike option as a quick way to do a ‘reccy’ and save ourselves the hassle of a never-ending track with no campsite, and nowhere to turn around. How do others get around this one, or do you just resign yourselves to less secluded campsites?
Maybe pushbikes are a better option, with more overall benefits despite their limitations when put to this particular use.
Look forward to receiving your responses,
Stephen & Deborah Ringe