outdoors

Melbourne Leisurefest 2014

October 03, 2014

Today (Thursday 2nd October 2014), reprising my visit from last year

I went to the Melbourne Leisurefest 2014 at Sandown Racecourse, Springvale.

It’s still on until Sunday 4th October 2014.

Things to note immediately, no boom gates on Springvale Road. It’s evident from this statement that I’ve not been up Springvale Road in some time, mostly when I’ve needed to go near that neck of the woods it’s been via the Princes Highway or the Monash Freeway and haven’t actually needed to go into that area for a year or so.

This is notable only when driving to Sandown Racecourse from the south, as I was, and used to being able to turn down Sandown Road to get to Sandown Racecourse, which I don’t think you can do any more. There used to be two places to turn right at the boom gates. One before the train line which would take you down Lightwood Road and another, just over the train line which took you down Sandown Road.

Now to get to Sandown Racecourse for the Melbourne Leisurefest (and I imagine other things held there) you need to go up to Virginia Street (there is a sign on Springvale Road indicating where to turn right) which then becomes Bird Street.

As I noted last year Bird Street doesn’t quite meet Racecourse Drive smoothly, there’s a dirt gap. This isn’t a problem for anyone with a 4x4. I would suggest anyone going who is driving in something that sits lower to the ground to enter Sandown Racecourse from the Princes Highway.

I didn’t really go with any plans to buy anything or to sort anything out at the show this time, unlike last year. Although I did go and see the guys at MGL Sat concerning a satellite phone I’ve had ordered with them, who said it would take 6-8 weeks, which has blown out to 10 weeks. He assures me that it will be in soon.

This time I did take some time to have a look at caravans, which I have little interest in ever purchasing. But have some interest in a general sense.

You can get a caravan, which is nicely kitted out with I think a queen sized bed, kitchen and bathroom with shower, toilet and oddly small washing machine for about $75,000. This one from New Age Caravans, the Big Red range caught my eye in part because I could actually go inside and have a wander (some other exhibitors had theirs fenced off so you could only go to the door). But mostly because they had some red and black matting down and their caravans weren’t the bog standard white.

I actually really dislike the white caravans, the white caravans are the ones you see clogging up the road and making every driver’s life miserable because they’re big, hard to over take and people who have white caravans seem to drive slower than anyone else with differently coloured caravans.

The small washing machine I thought was the most notable thing in the Big Red caravan, it’s an odd touch that I’d not seen in others. It’s certainly a nice touch, I can see how that would be useful to have when you’re off travelling rather than having a washing machine maybe outside of the caravan or having to wash clothes in the sink or maybe at the caravan park / laundromat.

I also saw one of the worst designed caravans, I don’t recall which one, just that it was one of the ones that was fenced off so I couldn’t have a good look around inside. The people there were very prevalent and while some people were unhooking the plastic fencing so they could have a look the staff would rush in and fence it back up.

These caravans (or rather the one I had a look at) had a bed area and a kitchen area...they also had a toilet and shower. Although not a bathroom area.

The toilet was separated from the entrance to the caravan by a waist high partition, with the shower (more like a garden hose) above the toilet. This incidentally was in the kitchen area directly opposite the oven.

I don’t know how much the caravan was, but were I in the market for a caravan it wouldn’t be this one.

I think I would rather shit in the bushes that opposite my cooking / food preparation area.

The other caravan that I had a significant look inside was the Van Cruiser Customline Dirt Road caravan, which they had on sale for $57,490. For this you got a caravan that could go on dirt tracks, and an ensuite, bed, and kitchen / eating area.

This caravan also was black and orange, or to put it another way not another white box.

I think this one would be a better caravan than the Big Red, I think the Big Red is larger, but would it really be worth the $20k more?

I don’t really know, I’m more a swag sort of person, the travel, the journey is what is important rather than the arriving and setting up home, so my requirements are rather different. I would rather not be tethered to towing something, so anything I’m going to sleep in needs to fit in the back of my ute.

One notable thing I did find looking at various caravans was the bathroom sink. It was porcelain. Why that’s notable is the toilets were often plastic, the floor is vinyl, the cupboards chipboard with a wood laminate on them. Everything on a caravan is a choice made to keep the weight down. Yet, the bathroom sink is porcelain. That doesn’t make sense to me, why not have a stainless steel sink or even a plastic sink? You could still have a nice looking sink but save some weight. Those sinks are at least a kilogram or two.

The 4x4 area of the Leisurefest was represented by large ARB and Ironman 4x4 marquees, a slightly smaller Battery World presence and similar sized Opposite Lock marquee.

In this area there was also a small marquee that was dealing with GPSs and radios, which I did somewhat want to ask the guy there something about CB radios. But there was already an older guy standing there asking some questions. He was also loudly (audibly, even against the wind) eating some hot chips. Munching, chewing and generally sounding like a cow munching on grass. The guy running the stall seemed pained by it. I couldn’t abide it so left them to it, but when I came back they were being interviewed by the roving camera crew, they didn’t seem like they were from a TV station, but were obviously documenting the Leisurefest. It wasn’t a huge thing I wanted information about, I can find it just as easily online, but I thought while I was there I might quiz them. Munching chip man irritated me though. If you want to ask lots of questions about something surely you’d wait until you’ve eaten your hot chips before doing so, or maybe go and ask your questions before you stuff your face hole with hot chips. Just a thought.

I went for a quick wonder through the undercover areas, which were mostly ‘market’ style stalls. They were all camping and outdoor related but also had their air of a Sunday market sort of stuff, nothing really unique there, a lot of it had the air of ‘cheap’ to it. I’m sure there was a bargain to be had there, but there was nothing that immediately grabbed me and made me want to buy. With the small exception of the rope stall, but then I remembered that why my associates have utes with a tray that offers lots of tie points for rope when carrying stuff. I have a ute with a tub, and have two tie down points inside the tub. Straps, rather than ropes have thus far proved a better way to secure things when needed within the tub, so rope would only be of secondary use.

Continuing through the Racecourse’s area I didn’t walk out into the tent area very much. Tents wise, regarding the big canvas tents I don’t really have an interest in I have a swag, and that’s really enough for me. A rest stop for the night rather than a base camp. So the tents don’t really interest me all that much.

However in amongst the tents were a few things that did interest me.

The Pod Trailer was an interesting design. If I ever needed more storage space when going off road this is something I would consider. I doubt I’d ever buy one. But it’s a well designed product.

I didn’t look at many camper trailers, which I do like the general design of. A bit more than a tent, a lot less than a caravan. Good for off road. One caught my eye while I was wandering around. The Track Trailer Tvan It looked different, futuristic even. Like someone had redesigned one of those little teardrop caravans with a ruler.

I did have a look inside this one. It looks capable, comfortable and useful. It certainly looks like you can pack a lot in once the tent portion of it is folded away. There appears to still be space for other things. It also looks solidly built.

Finally, on the way out I passed by some motorhomes. There was a nice 1960s Volkswagen Campervan that had been completely restored. But aside from that they’re all practical, but boring. At least with a with a caravan you can unhitch it and drive into town, or go off-roading and then return to your house on wheels.

Campervans just make you compromise every which way. They’re smaller than a caravan and therefore have less features. They’re bigger than a car being based on a van so they’re not as good on the road. Plus they’re a campervan. Which means you can only use it as a campervan. At least with a caravan you have a regular 4x4 or ute when you’re not towing your caravan. You can use your vehicle for non-travelling related things. With a campervan it’s a single-use vehicle.

Explore Australia Expo 2014

June 21, 2014

Not as good as the Melbourne Leisurefest 2013.

Despite the Explore Australia Expo 2014 being touted on their website as being “Australia’s premier touring, 4WD, adventure and fishing expo” it seemed a little lack luster.

View of Melbourne from Flemington Racecourse

Presented over three of the Melbourne Showground’s pavilions and some of the outdoor space it wasn’t amazingly busy.

Although, I was there on the first day it opened; Friday 20th June 2014. It was also a typically Melbourne winter’s day. Windy, the suggestion of rain and overcast.
I parked at Flemington Racecourse and walked in. There was a shuttle bus for those people who couldn’t walk the 700 metres or so that it is from the Flemington Racecourse car park to the Grand Pavilion. Really I think if you’re into any of the things that the expo is about you should be able to walk that distance without any trouble.

I entered through the Grand Pavilion which also held the fishing part of the expo. I think they should have given them a smaller space to use, so they might have had a chance of filling the space as it just seemed a little but...not enough exhibitors for the space.

On through there was a little walk down to the Exhibition Pavilion and its neighbouring pavilion each of which held the 4WD and adventure elements of the expo. Whilst caravans and camper trailers were outside.

‘Adventure’ seemed to be their catchall for anything that doesn’t involve 4WD. There were some quadbikes and other things like that.
Also one thing that did catch my eye was the DTV Shredder. Which is kinda like a jet ski, for people who want to ride off road. It’s got caterpillar racks and is an odd combination of snowmobile, skateboard and tank. The show price for it was $7900.
It was one of the things that at least perked my interest, though only in the same way that jet skis perk my interest. Things that I like the look of, though would never really consider buying. It’s a lot of money on a toy.

The only other thing that really perked my interest was the Mini Jump Starter. It’s a lithium polymer battery that can both charge anything via USB and an assorted 12 V plugs and also jump start your car.
This I had heard of, read about on some gadget sites, but I didn’t think it had made it to market yet. So it was surprising to so here, and seemingly it does work and is good for other things like powering fridges and other things like that. It’s about the size of a paperback book. Holds its charge for 6 months and is relatively well priced.
It won’t jump start a diesel.
Well not the one they had for sale at the show, they did say that they had a larger one that was coming in 4-6 weeks that would be able to do a diesel, so I may keep an eye out for that and possibly get one, as that is one of my worries. Having an auto and it being a diesel if the battery goes flat for some reason I’m buggered.
Of course I could just get one of those larger ones that’s like a small toolbox and put that back or the tub or something but then that’s something extra and large to carry around. With this it’ll fit into the glove box.

Melbourne Leisurefest 2013

October 04, 2013

Today (Thursday 3rd October 2013) I visited the Melbourne Leisurefest 2013 at Sandown Racecourse, it’s still on another few days until Sunday 6th October 2013.

Interesting point, getting there. I drove there by driving North up Springvale Road. You would usually turn right after the rail crossing in Springvale and drive down Sandown Road to get to the Racecourse of the same name. Except the council (or whoever) is doing road works so no right turn there. Instead you have to turn right at the next road up.

This is Virginia Street and it’s quite unsuited to taking any traffic for a big event; it’s normal width suburban street and it’s got cars on either side dropping the road down to one lane with areas where you have to pull over to let a vehicle going in the opposite direction pass. At the end of Virginia Street it becomes Bird Street, at the end of Bird Street there’s a gate to allow you onto Racecourse Drive for when something’s on.

However, there is a gap between Bird Street and Racecourse Road, that gap is dirt, and that’s probably fine for most of the year. Bird Street probably doesn’t get a lot of traffic because Sandown Road would take the traffic so no one would need to worry about the 800 millimetre gap of dirt between the two pieces of tarmac.

Except that’s it’s been a particularly wet few days in Melbourne and while Thursday wasn’t particularly wet it wasn’t sunny enough to have dried out anything.

So this section of what had once been dirt was now quite muddy.

But that’s fine, because I was driving a 4x4. But as I drove onto it in preparation to turn right I notice a bit of dip down, and I think anyone driving out of Bird Street in something like a regular car might not get out of that muddy section quite so easily.

Unlike some of my previous expo outings this one I didn’t just go out of curiosity, I’ve in fact been to this one like it before, so know what it looks like. I actually went with a purpose, or several actually.

Before finding out the things I had actually gone to the Leisurefest to find out I did have a bit of meander around the Melbourne Leisurefest. It’s “The Official Industry Show” proclaims the free show guide that you get when you hand over your $15 cash to get in (concession and seniors get in for $10 and children under 15 get in free with an adult).

There were lots of caravans on display and they’re something I have little interest in, I don’t want to ever tow a caravan, I have no interest in owning one and with some exceptions they’re all more or less the same.

Some of the really rugged ones are peripherally interesting to me in that they look like they’re built to survive an apocalypse.

I did walk past several camper trailers which are interesting, they’re kinda like several steps down from a caravan. They’ve got storage and cooking stuff build in, plus a sink and even water heating and things like that, but instead of a bed and all being enclosed and everything there’s a tent that folds out. The key advantage of a camper trailer is weight and manoeuvrability. You can tow a camper trailers and go off four wheel driving in a way you can’t with a caravan, even the rugged ones, because caravans are heavy. There’s a reason people towing caravans are in the left hand lane doing just under the speed limit, caravans are heavy things that don’t like to go around corners or go at speed.

I also saw one camper trailer variant which was actually a tool box sort of arrangement that sits on the back of a ute. I’ve seen these sorts of arrangements before, but on the back or built onto a ute tray. This one was built onto a ute with a tub, without any apparent modifications to the ute’s tub to take it.

This was made by M2O Toolbox & Canopy. I thought this was a great idea, this at least gets rid of the need for a camper trailer. If you’ve of course got a ute to add something like this to.

Weight would still be an issue for me. Though for M2O this appears to be their business; making toolboxes and canopies for utes so they would know how much weight is good okay and where the threshold lies.

I also had a look in the ARB tent and was rewarded with a showbag, which was one of those bags with the long handles that no one seemed know how to hold onto. Everyone seemingly bunching it up to carry it like a shopping bag. The way I carried it was swinging it round onto my back like a messenger bag.

I’ve only actually looked through the showbag now as I write this up. Within the bag is a copy of 4WD Touring Australia “Living the Dream” proclaims the under title, it’s “The Exploration Issue”. There’s the ARM 4X4 Accessories catalogue, notable for its shiny and slightly rough front cover with what is trying to be tactile sand on the front. 7 ARB stickers including; Safari Snorkel,ARB Sport, 2 kids ARB stickers, an ARB Dandenong Sticker, Old Emu 4X4 Suspension by ARB and Airlocker ARB. There’s also a pamphlet for ARB Dandenong and Issue 37 of ARB’s own magazine 4X4 Action, which is full of articles and adverts pretty much like any other magazine. Except this one’s produced by ARB.

Curious to know what ARB stands for? It’s on their website, it’s the initials of the company’s founder Anthony Ronald Brown.

Next I arrived in an area I was actually interested in; where all the four wheel drive clubs had decided to locate themselves.

I didn’t find a club I wanted specifically to join, but while talking with the Four Wheel Drive Victoria bloke he mentioned that vehicle specific clubs were taking members from non-related vehicles. So the Jeep club was accepting members who had vehicles that weren’t Jeeps.

That would be a kinda uncomfortable meeting to go to being the only person who didn’t have a Jeep. Jeep people are also a bit fanatical about their Jeeps. Wranglers especially.

I did grab a pamphlet about 4X4 Driving Training which looked interesting.

Only on closer inspection does it seem more interesting than just before I slipped it into my ARB showbag.

On one panel of the found out pamphlet it asked “Just purchased a four-wheel drive vehicle?” Then follows it up with “Are you aware of the responsibilities that come with owning a four-wheel drive vehicle”?”

Then it asks a bunch of questions like;

Do you know how to drive it?
How to make the best of you gears?
The different techniques needed to be able to drive competently in sand, mud, and other terrains while maintaining traction at all times?
How to drive it in the best interests of the environment and other bush users?
Are you thinking of putting some accessories on your vehicle? Driving lights, tyres, bull bar, winch, UHF radio, HF radio or suspension?
Will your choices be best for your vehicle?
Do you know where to go four-wheel driving?

It then says “If you answered NO to any of these questions then a Four-Wheel Drive Victoria Training Course is your best answer to getting into the four-wheel drive scene safely and responsibly.”

Now. Just think and look at the question it asks at the end in relation to the bullet pointed questions.

If you answer NO to the UHF radio question; NO I’m not thinking about putting accessories on my vehicle, then I should go for the training course. Uh...no, that’s not right.

The other questions do stand up against the final question, but the UHF accessories question doesn’t. Because you need to answer YES to that question in order for the final question to make sense, “YES I am thinking about putting accessories on my vehicle and I want help”.

If you answer NO to adding accessories then...well that’s it you don’t need to worry yourself about them.

Satellite phone have come down in price quite a ways.

I still wouldn’t call them cheap, but they’re certainly not stratospheric in price of what they once were. They were once things that sat in heavily protected Pelican cases that were chunky, robust and amazingly expensive pieces of technology.

They’re still that, sort of.

MGLSAT who were at the Leisurefest and even have a show room in Victoria, but mostly it seems operate from their website had two phones on offer. Provided by two different companies / satellite systems. Inmarsat and Iridium.

The latter many people will likely be familiar with. They’re the ones who were the first in portable civilian satellite phones. These phones have pole to pole coverage. Basically anywhere you can see sky these will work.

They’re also expensive, not gigantically expensive, but expensive compared to the alternative. The Iridium 9575 costs $1600. For what kinda looks like a 90s era Nokia. It’s dust and water resistant to IP65 works from -15 to + 65 ºC has a talk time of 4 hours (standby of 30 hours).

The other option is the inmarsat IsatPhone Pro. It costs $900.

Inmarsat doesn’t quite have the same coverage as Iridium does, but unless you’re a polar explorer it shouldn’t be a problem. The Inmarsat has global excluding the poles coverage. They achieve this by using 3 satellites compared to Iridium’s 66. Why these two companies and how they manage these two different amounts of satellites can be discovered from their Wikipedia pages.

Basically Inmarsat’s coverage misses out on most of Greenland, what appears to be most of Alaska and the aforementioned poles, although right up to the general area of the poles’ landmasses you might get coverage.

The relevant part of this is that Australia is in the middle of the I-4 Asia Pacific satellite coverage area, which means if you’re intending to use it whilst travelling around Australia it’s perfect.

The IsatPhone Pro does have a few different features than the Iridium 9575. The IsatPhone Pro is dust and water resistant at IP54, it’s got 8 hours talk time (100 hours standby), works from -20 to + 55 ºC and has Bluetooth. It looks like an early 2000s Nokia.

It’s got a bigger screen than the Iridium can manage faster data (up to 20kbps compared to Iridium’s up to 9.6 kbps) and it also cheaper.

There is the question of why anyone would get the Iridium? Well...it’s better for some things than Inmarsat’s offering. Mostly if you’re a miner or possibly a farmer or something like that. The Iridium is ‘always on’ and you can push an emergency button SOS button, you can also be contacted on it without extending the aerial. While the Inmarsat IsatPhone Pro you have to fold out the chunky aerial from the body and get a satellite lock before making a call.

I did actually go wanting to know about the price and features of these phones so did ask questions and found out this info. When I do eventually get a satellite phone (more because my family want me to have one) it’ll likely be the Inmarsat IsatPhone Pro. The price being the primary driver on that one, it’s cheaper than most smart phones and can do more when you need it than a smart phone.

Now of course there are other options for satellite phones, you can get cases that your smart phone clips into that, via an app gives the same options as the above two phones. These clip on cases contain all the satellite phone technology without the speaker, mic and other innards. They’re also not much cheaper than the IsatPhone Pro.

The other reason I was at the Melbourne Leisurefest was to investigate swags. I do mean in the plural and singular though not “swag” as in “swagger” which is how it’s been used of late.

Rather swag with the Australian definition a bedroll for camping, though it’s also evolved a bit from a bit of canvas that you crawl under to something with a few aluminium poles curved around to keep it off your face.

Why a swag?

Well I’m lazy, but also want to sleep outside in the bush and I find tents a little...meh.

If you look at a tent, even one of those round 3 second tents that’s not the end of the setting up, you have to fill your tent with something. Something to sleep on, and something to sleep in. Be it a foam pad or an inflatable sleeping mat and then a sleeping bag.

A swag has all of those things, it’s a thing to sleep within, it’s got a foam mattress and, well you can have a sleeping bag within it, or just a blanket.

It’s made out of canvass which is a little old world, but is practical, will keep you warm and has many flaps and mesh that you can open to keep you cool.

My question, that I put to the person at Southern Cross Canvas was a pretty simple one ‘why should I buy from you when there are cheaper swags out there, at this very fest?’.

The answer was pretty simple, they use Australian made materials (except the aluminium poles which are American) and it’s all Made in Australia. Made in Bayswater in fact.

The others which are much, much cheaper are made in China or India and are treated with various chemicals to make them waterproof or to try and make them mimic their ones.

They actually had me at Made in Australia, I’m a firm supporter of buying stuff that’s made in Australia and supporting local industries.

I did sit, and lie down in the swag they had on display and the person from Southern Cross Canvas observed that it was only just long enough for me (I’m 6ft 1” or 6ft 2” something like that) pretty much okay for it, but they said that they could custom make a longer one for me. For about $20 more than the special price for the show.

And yes, I did order one there and then. Though I did go to the show with the intent of finding out about one, and the offer of the custom made one did push me over the line that this would be something actually constructed for me, being a bit taller than the average.

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