With a trip planned for the upcoming school holidays, I thought it might be a good idea to get the camper out for a simple overnight trip after being packed away since April.
I went shopping for a few supplies that morning, then the camper was checked over and hitched up to the ute without any issues. The drive down to Orroral was quick and simple, only taking me 30 minutes or so. As soon as I turned into the campsite I immediately spotted another Ultimate camper set up. I reversed into a spare space as far away from everyone else as I could find, then went a chatted with the owner of the other Ulti. He’d just purchased the camper that year and was still getting used to it and all the equipment that he’d specced for that model. The newer Ultimate’s are largely the same design and layout, even after 30 years of making them, but his newer one had some small changes and improvements.
Set up was quick and simple as always, then I settled in with a beer and a book in the afternoon sun. Later on (with a fresh beer) I headed on a walk around the campground and then further on towards the waterhole and day use area. I chatted with a few other campers as I walked around. Back at camp I chopped up some firewood as it was forecast to be a cold 1 degree overnight.
It was a very pleasant and restful afternoon in the sun. More campers came, including a group of young girls that set up in the centre area. They were a loud bunch, but nothing disruptive.
As it got darker and colder I lit the fire to build up a base of coals for dinner.
Dinner was a burger cooked over the open flames. Later that night I cooked up a nice ‘snacking’ steak as well. Both were excellent.
As it got colder I built up the fire and sat next to it reading. I was visited by a very unafraid brush tail possum who explored my site thoroughly, but lost interest when he couldn’t find any food scraps. Finally I let the fire die down fully, moved the table and chairs to under the camper to avoid dew, and got into bed. I had two sleeping bags, an extra blanket and a 12v electric blanket, so I was very warm and snug despite the cold. In fact I had to turn off the blanket and remove some layers in the middle of the night as I got too warm!
That morning I woke up around 7am and pottered around camp having breakfast and slowly packing things away. I got things fully packed away and hitched up the camper around 8.15, then headed home.
If you’re looking for a nice campsite in the Canberra region, I would highly recommend Ororral as one of the best. It does book out on weekends though, but there’s enough space between sites that you don’t feel crowded. The facilities are still very good and well kept.
Overall it was great to have a night out by myself to rest and recharge after a long winter. The camper has been newly organised, which made finding things very easy and frees up a lot of space in the front storage section. The canvas and bedding had withstood winter well, with no major mold, water ingress or ant infestation. We’re in good shape for the next trip in earlier October.
Comments are closed.