past events

Gulgong national meet 2015

Australian CamperTrailers
national meet at Gulgong 2015

monday

ladies cuppa & chat

Carol hosted a morning tea for ladies so they could meet each other. Some arrived with a cuppa & cake in hand, while others were keen to show the craft projects they had been working on.

 

 

 

 

peggy pegs

Pete and Di Browne are keen camper trailer owners & members of the Australian CamperTrailers Group. After one windy night they looked for a better way to anchor the camper awning & are now the Australian importers & distributors of the award winning German made Peggy Pegs. These are a range of tent pegs that screw into the ground using a cordless drill or by hand rather than hammering in the usual way. grip.

Pete showed the range of UV reinforced fibreglass or aluminium pegs in various sizes & kits depending on your needs including awning ground plates & tarp clamps. he went on to demonstrate just how easy it was placing the pegs into the ground.

 

 

prince of wales opera house tour

David Warner hosted several morning tours & history talks at Prince of Wales Opera House over the week. It has a long history beginning as a music hall built from bush timber & bark in 1871 by John Hart Cogdon and known as Cogdon’s Assembly Rooms.

It was a well built entertainment centre of its times, especially after being given a new roof, weatherboard façade & a wooden floor at the request of world famous actress Joey Gougenheim, who then leased the building and renamed it The Prince of Wales Opera House. Those times were captured by Henry Lawson whose first visit to any theatre was to see ’The Pirates of Penzance’.

The riches of the goldfields attracted famous performers of the era such as Dame Nellie Melba under her married name Mrs Armstrong.

When the gold rush ended, Gulgong’s much smaller community made good use of the Opera House. As early as 1881 the Gulgong Amateur Dramatic Club presented music and drama & through the first half of the 20th century the theatre was a cinema, renamed the Roxy. During those years the building was reconstructed in brick, while retaining remarkably the iron roof which had covered the weatherboard structure.

The theatre closed in the 1960s as people turned to television & it could well have been demolished. In 1974 the Gulgong Musical and Dramatic Society was re-established and a community appeal enabled it to buy the building.

Gulgong MADS presents several performances a year in the Opera House & there are regular appearances by such famous artists as Roger Woodward and James Morrison.

       

lithium iron phosphate batteries

Kevin Phillips discussed the advantages of lithium iron phosphate batteries including their properties to charging characteristics from his own experiances. These batteries are very suitable for vehicles & camper trailers. The biggest advantage is maximum percentage use of a smaller & lighter battery over a heavier lead acid battery. While the initial outlay was perhaps the biggest downfall, the life expectancy of a lithium battery far outweighed that of a lead acid. 

 

 

henry lawson centre

Several afternoon talks were hosted over the week at the Henry Lawson Centre from Kevin Robson. The Centre is a museum dedicated to Lawson's life & literary works housed in the old Salvation Army Hall complete with the original altar. On display are photos, oil paintings, prints, first edition books & manuscripts. The Centre has been commended by the Museums & Galleries Foundation for the high quality of its displays & has won an award of distinction in the 2000 New South Wales Awards for Excellence in Tourism.

Kevin spoke about Henry's phases in life, from his birth in 1867 to his death in 1922. He remains arguably the best known Australian writer. His poetry & prose are still widely quoted with most of his works still in print. His images are those most often used by Australians to depict the kind of country they admire.

       

12volt, batteries & solar panel workshop

Shane Adam's from QLED Superior LED Technology is a longtime member of the CamperTrailers Group & hosted a few workshops over the week, the first being an overview of 12volt systems centered around camper trailers as well as the tow vehicle. This is a topic which is discussed within the group online & very often misunderstood. To get hands on, face to face information from a professional is a great asset to the group members.

Shane explained the different types of batteries, their uses in off road vehicles & camper trailers which can be very different to normal everyday car batteries. The usual camping application is a high draw over a number of days using a 12volt fridge, camp lights & perhaps a Cpap as well as chargers for computers, cameras & phones.

Recharging 12volt batteries can often be a problem when camping away from 240volt power. Solar panels are a common means of recharging 12volt batteries in the bush. Shane showed the different types of panels available, setting up a panel to the optimum size for your requirements & how to include a solar regulator into the system between the panel & battery.

DC-DC chargers have become very popular & Shane showed how they can be included into the system to charge the remote camper trailer battery from the vehicles alternator when travelling.

It was pleasing to see most had a good grasp on the subject at the end of the workshop.

 

 

 

dream pot

Jenny Peisley & Donna Zwerus hosted a workshop on the use of the Dreampot which also gave her the perfect opportunity to cook her nights meal. The Dream Pot consists of a double layer insulated outer pot with one or two stainless steel inner pots & lids which can be used as saucepans. The cooking process is very simple. All you need do is place the ingredients into the inner pot & gently boil on your stove for the required short time based on the recipe. Then place the inner pot directly into the Dream Pot & close the lid. The thermo cooking process now starts by cooking the food in the residual heat. No further monitoring is required during this process allowing you the convenience of going about other tasks or while you are travelling. Your meal cannot burn, boil over or overcook. After the necessary thermo cooking time in the Dream Pot the meal is ready to serve.

 

 

auction night

The auction night has now developed into its own night after starting as an idea during the bands break at the Nyngan national meet. Local real estate Bruce McGregor & auctioneer provided an entertaining night as a total of 60 items donated by members & local businesses were bid on. Proceeds totalled $3,300 & was in aid on the Gulgong Holtermann Collection, a community based association  established to conserve & promote Gulgong’s rich gold rush history through the restoration of two of its earliest buildings to house an interactive educational & tourist facility based on the renowned Holtermann photographs taken during the town’s “roaring days” in the 1870’s.

A big thanks to Australian CamperTrailers Group members who bid & to those who donated items, Marty & Sue Alford, Dave & Joy Wilkinson, Mike Fretwell, Alan & Stasia Everingham, Mal & Ros Currey, Kevin & Kathleen Beckwith, Doug & Jenny Peisley, Chris & Carol Lawler, Terry & Sue Agland, Barry & Michele Moore, John & Penny Heath, Peter & Karyn Sluyter, Jason Cox & Sue Christie-Cox, Bruce & Barbara Simpson, Phil & Myrna Chandler, Des & Anna Matejka, Robert & Julie Kent, Mark & Fiona Stagg, John Florin, Chris Rogers, Susan Gregory, Wim & Judy Schneider & Kevin Phillips.

Businesses donating goods included Campertrailer Australia magazine, Peggy Pegs, Chris Pearson Jewelers, Gulgong Pioneer Museum, Bruce McGregor, Holtermann Collection Museum & the Centennial Hotel.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

kids movie night

Nigel Welsh along with daughter Amelia entertain the kids with a movie night.

 

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