Camper trailer & cars

Jude, you mentioned having a 12 person tent - perhaps you don't need something quite this large for only 4 of your (esp. with the children still being quite young) - have you considered a smaller tent which would be quicker/easier to set-up and pack up? This may also help with space in your vehicle. You can get second hand tents too - just look for the "used once but Mrs didn't like camping..." tents.

You may also consider how you pack your car... there are quite a few mobs around manufacturing drawers for the back of your car which can help you to organise your load a bit better. But you don't even have to install drawers - there are plenty of forumites who have a simple shelf which means you don't need to unpack the whole car just to get the tent out from the bottom of the load!

As for travelling to Perth with over 300,000km on the clock - if the car is well maintained and carefully checked over before you go, I wouldn't hesitate - my V6 Jackaroo had over 300,000km before I set out on any of my big trips (some into some fairly remote areas - I only had one problem but that was caused by a design flaw combined with rough roads and nothing do to with the mileage of the car).

I dunno that I want to go to a smaller tent though. When I bought that one I admit I had a man in my life and we were considering more kids (he wanted one of his own) so we bought a tent to 'grow into'. It didn't work out but I paid for the tent so I kept it. Thing is that the boys are in Joey's/cubs and down here they all seem to sleep on stretchers. If I had thought that through I may have bought a different tent because you really can only fit 2 of those stretchers in a room and even then its a bit of a squeeze to get around them. the youngest just has a self inflating mat and so do I. Usually youngest (trouble maker at bedtime) has his own room with nothing in it but his sleeping gear! But am considering moving my mat in with him next time and using the central room for storage etc.

Packing better is something I am def working on. We bought self inflating pillows and that helped heaps. I'm still using my doona for me but am going to lash out on a sleeping bag soon which should also help. The tent always goes in such a place that we can easily get it and any tools needed to set up first. Will keep saving and keep eyes open for a trailer too - those pod one's look cool but really not cheap!

should buy that lotto ticket!

Am amazed at how many people question me taking my old car on long trips. We drive from melbourne to Adelaide 1-2 times a year to visit family. Only ONCE in the nearly 4 years I've had the car (bought it when I separated from ex so have done the trip on my own with the kids since) has it ever let me down - even then I got to Adelaide in one piece - a little stressed as I'm not mechanical...turned out to be the crank shaft sensor which I had repaired before we drove home. Apart from that the car has NEVER let me down. Is old but good.

Fair enough - it just seemed odd that you had a 12person tent for yourself and 3 small boys! But then again, I consistently squeeze 2 people into a 2 person hike tent - obviously our standards of comfort a different!

I'd have thought the Commodore should be able to tow the Pod trailer, and it may surprise you but the Commodore wagon would have more space inside than most 4WD wagons. You could look for a second hand trailer - as long as it's not rusted through there isn't much to go wrong with a trailer.

And don't buy that lotto ticket - stick the same money in a jar and you'll have the money for your camper quicker than waiting to win the lotto... it's been said "Lottery is a tax on people who are bad at maths"

lol @ the lotto ticket! I remember my old maths teacher used to talk to us about probability and a lotto tickets ...and then I saw him buying one (small town)...he just shrugged and said someone has to win! you are right though - saving money is a better option.

Oh and yes I have an idea of how much room a commodore wagon has in it and for sheer size it is probably the biggest around anyway. My parents have just bought a jeep (about 5years old) it's NICE, slightly less room but still nice. I imagine it would tow quite well - have not done a lot of towing (on account of my reversing issues) but on occasion have borrowed a trailer from bunnings to bring something home and its never been an issue.

i think my issue with space is that by the time i've driven several hours with 3 boys who are loud (my Dad tells people that Jude and the NOISE are coming to visit) then I want a bit of space to get away from them - not to mention in our 3-4 trips we've managed to cop bad rain twice for several days. As I said though a different configuration would have been better given the stupid stretchers.

I think that tent wise the next upgrade will probably be to a camper trailer - seen them set up a couple of times and thought wow! Meanwhile the kids are getting quite good with the tent and we can have the whole thing set up with minimal growling (by me) these days - lets just hope the next time it isn't raining!