NOW – Melbourne Victoria’s capital and the home of Track Trailer.
We’ve steeled ourselves, checked the map and set the Hema for our next destination – OUTBACK HQ the home of Track Trailer. We’re towing a 2011 Mk3 Murranji Tvan that’s our tried and true home on wheels. While we often use our shade sail for cover over the kitchen we also have a full annexe for extended stays or when the weather becomes damp or windy.
Our underbed storage is a pair of Drifta drawers – one each so we can keep our clothes and shoes ready to wear. We also have two Drifta boxes that we’ve had for years. One holds all our food while the second one’s the cooking box with the spuds and onions, the billy, campoven, trivets, wok and cast iron frypan. The boxes travel at the foot of the bed.
In our front box we carry buckets, hammers, levelling ramps, the chainsaw and generator on the driver’s side and a 40 litre Engel on the kitchen side. The 30 litre Engel in the car keeps our cryovac meat frozen and gets drinks really cold for after you’ve set up camp. Our portable 120 watt solar panel and inverter helps the Tvan’s rooftop solar panel keep all our batteries charged and stows in the back of the car.
Our 2011 Murranji towed by our 2012 Mitsubishi Pajero.
We’ve come to Melbourne to have our Tvan serviced by the experts at Outback HQ because they really know their product. While we’re here we’re also adding on an led kitchen light and the non keyed knobs on our front box (so you don’t need the key to keep the doors closed while camped.
When we were at the Big Red Bash in 2015 we met two couples who live in Melbourne and exchanged contact details. So while our Tvan was being serviced we organised to reunite with our camping friends and met under the clocks at Flinders Street Station. We had lunch by the Yarra River, shared some stories and found out about some good spots to camp in the High Country.
Lunch with our Melbourne friends.
While in Melbourne we stayed in Coburg and travelled by tram using the Myki cards. We explored the city with map in hand walking along the Yarra to the Casino and the MCG.
On the Yarra
Being food fans we also sought out the small cafes along the lanes near Bourke Street and changed trams to get to the Queen Victoria Markets. We were after some really strong flavoured cheese but it was difficult to decide which stall had ‘the one’ until we did some tasting. There were dozens of places to buy fresh vegies, fruit, meat, seafood and breads.
Melbourne’s Laneway Cafes, In the Queen Victoria Markets.
There is also a free tram which travels around the city and stops at all the notable spots which we’d used on a previous visit. We also visited the Italian restaurants of Lygon Street on two occasions. The first time we didn’t go far enough in and we’re a bit dissatisfied with the experience. The food was great but the atmosphere wasn’t what we were expecting. After checking the tourist brochure we realised we hadn’t reached the centre of the action, so we had another night out right in the heart of Lygon Street this time!
Time to pick up our home on wheels from Outback HQ. We’ve had enough city lights, people and traffic!
NEXT: The Dandenongs – Kirth Kiln, Puffing Billy Railway and Marysville.
On the Emu Track
Cheryl and David.
