 From
Perth to Brisbane
"A few minutes after rolling into camp in northern NSW
several people had come around befriending us – or more accurately – asking
questions and admiring our Teardrop! Yet the next night we tucked in anonymously
and unseen - hidden by a large pine tree, the only guests in a tiny, immaculate
Shire roadside camp in a small country town. These contrasts were typical on a
meandering trip my wife and I did in September 2006 - towing our new Teardrop
from Brisbane to our home in Perth – 7500km via Byron, Moree, Lightning Ridge,
Parkes, Deniliquin, Port Augusta, Norseman and Esperance .
The trip had actually started a couple of years earlier
when we commenced making plans to explore various parts of Australia at our
leisure. We like to keep it simple and I didn’t want to tow anything so we had
played with converting the trusty Tarago to a sort of modern day Kombi camper.
But you drive, sleep and cook in the same confined space and are always folding
something up or down to covert it to something else. Then the baby boomer trap
struck and we’d bought a little Citroen Pluriel (a real fun ‘convertible’) so
were restricted to a small tent, 2 chairs and a credit card. Okay for just a
weekend. We love the open road in an open top car so seriously had to look at
towing options. A’Vans? – Nice but there’s still that folding up and down
process and they’re a bit heavy for our small car. Normal camper trailer? – nice
as well and lighter – but a lot more folding up and down and wet canvas has long
ago lost its special allure for us. And then the internet revealed the world of
the Teardrop. Small specialist manufacturers – mainly in the USA and Canada –
who hand build these solid little mini caravans just as people did in the 1940’s
– same timeless and authentic style. And a guy called Reiner Gudd in Brisbane is
doing it too – except maybe even better.
We spoke with him a few times by phone and happened to be
going to Brisbane so arranged to visit his place, where he handcrafts his Aussie
Teardrop Campers – one or two at a time. It’s fascinating to see the process of
construction. With a full length heavy duty steel chassis, and floor and walls
of extra thick marine ply, these are incredibly solid little vehicles. A
substantial timber frame between kitchen and bedroom completes the design
strength. Yet the whole thing, finished in a weatherproof coat of colourbond
aluminum is around 330kg – which we found was easily maneuvered by just one of
us and a breeze to tow – so we’re never holding up the traffic. With the wheels
set well back on a good simple suspension the Teardrop follows the car in a
solid straight line – even at higher speeds and along any style of road –
including dirt.
Soon we’d placed our order and were going through the finer
details of our requirements with Reiner. Although often regarded as a
‘weekender’ our intention was to Teardrop for more extended trips of several
weeks or more – so we opted for the slightly longer 9 footer allowing for extra
storage. The waiting time at that stage was about three months.
Reiner had sent photos of the construction for us to follow
along – which also allowed us to request a few additions…. After all that, we
certainly weren’t going to let him just put it on a truck! It was great to drive
across the Nullarbor to Brisbane, where our Teardrop was waiting and ready for
the trip to Perth.
First down to Surfers – along that waterfront not many
things make heads turn, but the Teardrop sure did! Then on to Byron Bay, across
the Great Divide to Moree and up to Lightning Ridge. Generally when in normal
caravan parks we stayed in the camping section – often more attractive, private
and relaxed than the regimentation of wall to wall caravan bays. Once or twice
places were fairly full – but they were always able to find a nice little corner
which we could easily get into – and our large battery provided plenty of power
to keep us independent and comfortable. In Lightning Ridge it was raining
heavily – we responded by just locking the doors, going to the pub for a drink
and an inexpensive dinner – we always knew that we had a nice dry and spacious
bedroom ready to return to - complete with lights and music!
Heading south we called in to Siding Springs near
Coonabarabran to see another technical marvel – the Anglo Australian Telescope –
perched high atop a mountain, at the end of a very steep and winding road. The
‘Not Suitable for Caravans’ sign at the bottom doesn’t bother a Teardrop and we
easily found parking at the top as well. In fact parking was one of the real
surprises – even in multi storey car-parks it’s easy - we usually found two bays
end-to-end. It’s no more complex than pulling a garden trailer.
For cooking and dining it’s just a question of keeping
things simple and effective. The kitchenette is quite spacious, very easy to
work at and being separated there are no lingering smells inside the house! The
dining area is the whole of Australia. We do enjoy cooking a lot at home – so on
the trip we took the opportunity to eat dinner out perhaps more than usual. And
after breakfast: wash a couple of dishes in the camp kitchen, close the doors of
the Teardrop, hitch up and drive off - that’s it!
The clear roof hatch gave us many glorious displays of the
night sky. Crossing the Mallee country and then the Nullarbor in the cold of
winter, we especially loved the snug and secure feeling of sleeping in our
Teardrop. On warm nights we open both split security doors and it’s almost like
sleeping outside in a double swag – but off the ground. If we chose to drive a
bit later into the night, we could eat ‘on the road’ and be in bed minutes after
arriving at any camp spot. And another nice display was the fuel gauge – it
moved only slightly more when we were towing TD25 home than it had done on the
way across, alone.
We arrived in Perth after 3 weeks of very relaxed motoring
across Australia – there’s no stress with a Teardrop – in camp or on the road.
And at home – unpacking, completely cleaning and then re-organizing took a
casual morning – it’s all so easy. With a bit of re-shuffling we made enough
space to wheel her straight into our small work-shed where she stands secure and
ready to go for a weekend or a month – just whenever we want."
| 
