I was
just 6 years old when these photos were taken in 1959, two years
after he built it. In the photo on the Victorian border with South
Australia, you can see it behind our Holden, the Morris is my
Uncles.
The
trailer had a steel frame/chassis with the sides & floor made of
timber, hardwood flooring I think. The roof was painted ply with aluminium angle covering the joins.
The
roof was raised using 3x1 inch timber in each corner fixed with
wing nuts and a couple of braces to hold it steady. The canvas
dropped down from the roof and was secured around the top of the
trailer with twist lock eyelet things. Mum and Dad slept in the
trailer.
camper setup
In the
second photo it shows the side with the annex, my sisters slept in
that. At that stage I think I slept in the car, my younger
brother, then three was probably in the trailer. We boys later
slept in an 'A' frame tent which came off the front awning which
was later added using tent poles. Mum did all the canvas work, she
learned how through WW11 sewing tents & parachutes.
The
first trip I can remember was to the Snowy Mountains in summer
1952? I was about 9 & can remember coming down through the
mountains and Dad had to stop regularly to allow the car brakes to
cool down.
We used
it for our holidays up until our Dads death in 1967, to young at
42.
