High Country Camper Hire

Resolution 2012: Get Farming

Posted on May 14, 2012 by highcoun

I can’t believe that it’s May already! I know that this post is a few months late but I still wanted to finish and share it.

Over the last few years, I’ve started to set realistic New Year Resolutions. I did away with lists and created annual goals. Last year, my resolution was to Initiate Change. My goal for 2011 was to initiate change in the way I viewed and lived life.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” – Romans 12:2 NLT

It’s taken a whole lot of courage but what an incredible year it has been. I certainly believe I succeeded in reaching my goal. I wish I shared more of my journey last year and this year, I want to try and share a whole lot more. I’m not the type of person that shares a lot about my life and if you know me on Facebook, I don’t often write much about what I’m up to. In fact, the last time I visited my home town after 8 months away, nobody knew I was visiting till I arrived.

I love photography and capturing my life around me and I tend to share my life in photographs. Unfortunately, this results in me sharing the world around me and not necessarily my world.

The ‘Get Farming’ Concept

I’ve worked on the land for the last 14 months and I’ve been learning some incredible things about how this farming side of life works. Growing up in the city and working with computers saw me sitting in a small narrow viewed world. Boy has that changed!

So the 2012 goal, Get Farming is focused on following up on initiation. We’re talking broad-acre here. Not just small patches but my whole world in general. From business and finances to faith and relationships. I want to start sowing seeds and harvesting the results.

But before we go too far into this sowing idea, check out Galatians 6:7-10 for some smack down. We’ve got to focus on sowing seeds with the right heart.

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

The biggest part of working on the land is the work load. It’s not easy work. You’re out in the sun, you’re working long hours, 7 days a week, broken sleep, getting soaked in rain, getting covered in grease, the list goes on. But there’s a unique sense of satisfaction at the end.

This workload also applies when you’re working the land of your life. It’s not easy. It takes persistence, long hours and sometimes, you just don’t want to get out out bed. But you can’t stop. When you stop, you fall behind, you miss opportunities (like cultivating weeds out), then it rains, the weeds get out of control and they start to strangle you.

Farming is hard work. There’s no doubt about that! If we want to succeed however, I believe that we need to work the soils of our heart and life and continue to do so throughout our lives.

Sweet. Lets see how this resolution goes…

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Until we meet again brother!

Posted on April 30, 2012 by highcoun

At just 23 years old (03/05/1988 – 29/04/2012), one of my best mates, Stewart was involved in a motorcycle accident on Tidbinbilla Road, Canberra. He sustained serious brain trauma and died in hospital a day later on Sunday April 29. Loosing Stewart has been like loosing a brother and even 2 days later, I’m still so numb that I don’t really know how I should be feeling.

Stewart was a bloke that was ever so responsible. In the years that I knew him, there was only one time that he was a little silly. The time he had a few too many drinks during a camping trip. It’s sad to see that a bloke with such integrity is no longer here. There isn’t enough young blokes like Stewart around.

A passionate young man that loved life. A true adventurer, explorer and photographer. Stewart loved the outdoors. He loved people and above all, he loved Jesus.

There isn’t enough words or pictures that could sum up the incredible bloke this guy was.

The photo above was taken on photo walk up Gibraltar Creek
with another friend of ours, Steph on Dec 28, 2008.

In amongst all this sadness, I know one truth, the truth that I will see my dear brother again in heaven. What epic hope.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14

Stewart, it was a pleasure knowing you and I will always remember the amazing adventures that we had together. From Canberra to the Fraser Coast, we certainly covered a few kilometers, even if we didn’t finish our ultimate around Australia adventure. We gave it a shot and now, I’ll keep traveling around and try to live the adventure for the two of us. (Do you think that means I’m allowed to drink twice as much scotch? Drew might not agree!)

You’ve been an inspiration in my life, a brother, always there to support me, to tell me when I was wrong and to encourage me in all the crazy ideas that I had. You kept me accountable to follow Jesus and what the trusty bible had to say.

You have most certainly been a light in my life and the life of many others. A light brighter than any lamp. And salt? Man, when you had to, some of the conversations we had felt like you were rubbing salt into a wound. You certainly had some zing! (Matthew 5:13-16)

Your heart was focused on Christ and it showed though the way you lived your life. Humble and servant hearted, you loved every person that you met. Your generosity I’ll always remember. Your ability to interact with people from all walks of life. You never judged and you stood up for what you believed in. Nothing could get in your way once you had your mind set on a goal.

Mate, It was an epic drive and those annoying point to point average speed cameras slowed me down but I’m glad I made it back to see you one last time. To hold your hands (Which are huger than I thought), to give you a foot massage and even if we would joke about it being a little homo, a kiss goodbye.

An epic road trip to Fraser Island with five blokes jammed into the Patrol

I remember….

The day I first said hello to you. I don’t think I even got your name. Black Stump in Sydney. I walked up to a bloke with a volunteer shirt on and gave him one of those white Make Poverty History bracelets. Because it didn’t fit me. Little did I know I would meet you again at a Church in Canberra 6 months later. The beginning of a very epic friendship.
Camping in the Blue Mountains with Richo, Sharpie and Adz. We took Adz’s trusty corolla along with the Nissan and the Corolla bottomed out the whole way though those dodgy roads into the campground. How about that short cut we took to avoid the delays on the highway that was being upgraded. How we ended up with a whole bunch of cars following us thinking we knew what we were doing. We missed a turn and ended up at a rutted dirt track. Naturally being in the Patrol, we kept on going. The poor buggers behind us had no idea what was going on! They had to turn around! Haha!
Heading snowboarding for the first time ever with Adz. Adz is reverse parking the car. “I’ll tell you when you hit the car behind”…. *bang* ….. “You just hit the car”. Bahaha. What an epic trip. What was the deal with taking snowboarding lessons at the end of the day? That’s right, Adz couldn’t work out how to stand up, he spend the start of the day using his board as a toboggan!
Heading snowboarding with Brimmy, that was epic too. You piked and skied instead. How about that sweet beanie that Brimmy had. No reverse parking incident there. How fortunate!
Getting bogged EVERY time we went 4WDing together. How about the time, you had to pike for a church meeting and your old man and I were out for hours trying to get un-bogged just 200 meters off the highway!
Heading to Batemans Bay for a weekend away together. We packed your swag and a 1 man tent into the Accord Euro and buzzed down to the coast for a night. I didn’t even know what a swag was back then.
Helping to paint your mums place with Bel.
Talking about girls.
Talking about more girls.
Talking about serious stuff.
Talking complete nonsense.
Learning to riding your old dirt bike up and down the driveway at Strewdines.
The time we road tripped to Fraser Island together.. 5 blokes (Rich, Adz, Drew, you and I) in the trusty Nissan Patrol. We squashed your hat so many times because you ALWAYS left it sitting somewhere where it would get squashed. And how about that middle seat and that really annoying bar? The one guaranteed to give you a sore bum. Ha!
Heading camping just out of Canberra and having a few too many drinks. Then we started trying to chop firewood with an axe (When it was already in the fire) I have the photos! Drew went to bed early whist we carried on though the night with our crazy antics (We’ll watch the video replay of that night together when I see you next eh?).
Our last BBQ together at your new house, just 3 weeks ago during my brief visit to Canberra.

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Services Offered at a Cheap Campervan Hire Australia Company

Posted on January 9, 2012 by highcoun

www.camperhire.com.au is a company that are able to offer their customers different options of renting such kinds of vehicles in order to tour around places in Australia. As a matter of fact, there are other types of campervans called as a Campervan Holiday which allows the driver to be able to visit different attractions that may interest him or her at a certain pace.

As you can see, there are different campervan rental locations that you can drop by and visit in order to take a look at the options for these kinds of vehicles. There are companies that provide customers with other added services like a pickup from any local accommodations free of charge.

On the other hand, there are also some companies that are able to offer other services like a free of charge pick up from the Devonport Airport and Ferry. Several other companies offer a free service of pick up and at the same time a drop off from the Hobart and Launceston Airports. These cheap campervan hire Australia companies also have car rentals in place. It is a known fact that it is better to hire a campervan in order to get a vehicle and an accommodation all together which will potentially cost lesser. At the end of the day, you will appreciate the camper more because there is no need for to move luggage around and at the same time go through the hassle of going to different places one after another and checking in and out hotels every single time.

Other than the actual rental services that many rental companies offer, many of the cheap campervan hire Australia also provide their services with a warm as well as a more friendly kind of service, a more reliable set of vehicles as well as the types of rentals in order to suit everybody’s budgets.

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Buying a car or campervan as a backpacker in Australia.

Posted on December 19, 2011 by highcoun

So you’ve saved the money, you’ve quit the job. Time to go on epic road trip! But as a backpacker you got to ask yourself a few questions before you part with the hard earned dollars, do I buy or rent? Should I get a car or campervan? How far do I want to travel?!

Buy vs. Renting

Renting in the short term is a quick fix, it gets you where you want to go in the quickest possible time, but if you can afford to buy. I suggest you do it. It opens up so many doors as to where you can go, where you can work and where you can stay! Aus is massive and a vehicle makes it slightly more manageable. Before you get all excited and buy the first car with the crazy paint job you see on gumtree there are a few things to consider…

Buying a vehicle in Australia

Like buying a used vehicle anywhere it can be a minefield, it’s always a bit of a gamble, especially in a different country. Have a read of this article and you’ll be able to reduce that risk. Who knows maybe when you sell it you’ll get out of it what you put in, that’s the aim. Everyone likes a free vehicle for the year!

There are a few simple things to remember and steps to take, that will make the experience easier, and assist you in avoiding being ripped-off.

Set your budget

Set you budget and stick to it, take into account your insurance, transfer fees, unexpected breakdowns (they’ll happen), general maintenance, all the things that vehicles use to suck your money right out of your pocket into their greedy faces!

Swot up on the stats

Do your research, there’s no excuse not to. Think about what you want from your vehicle, find a model you’d would like to buy and get an idea of the market value, although vehicles that have been in backpacker hands hold their value pretty well. It’s that laid back attitude, ‘well I bought it for 3000 you can have it for that’. (Realistically it should be cheaper than what they bought it for!) Just keep that in mind when you go have a look at the vehicle.

Resource: Check out Red Book, the authority on used car prices in Australia. It will let you know about the typical price you would expect to pay for a particular vehicle.

Find the right car

Look at as many vehicles as you can, if you can find one with one lady owner who only took her cat to the playground on a Wednesday, you can tell it’s been hardly used, although there’s few out there like that, be aware that these backpacker vehicles have been passed on year after year from person to person, the previous owners list probably looks like the line-up for the Muppets on tour. Try and buy a vehicle which has had as few owners as possible.

Resource: When looking for used cars take a look on Car Sales, Drive and Gumtree.

Contacting the Seller

It’s always better to phone than e-mail.

‘Hey man got a van for sale?’

Yes they do, and they want to sell it. Ask as many questions as you can on the phone. Sound keen and interested but don’t give the game away. If you are less than a few minutes drives away ask them to come to you. Although if you’re buying from an AussieAustralian, go to their home address and check it matches with the registration certificate.

Check the car’s history

No matter how cool the owner is. Check the vehicles history, take a note of the VIN number which is normally somewhere on the engine or chassis and do a REVS/VSR check. It usually costs around $35 but it’s worth it to make sure it hasn’t been wrote off, stolen, or used as a dune buggy on Fraser island.

Resource: Check out Car History by Veda Group, they offer a simple solution to get all the background details you need about the car you’re looking at buying.

Looking at the car

Take a few notes from the advertisement and check if they line up in real life, such as the odometer reading, make, model and colour. Some sellers offer the package deal, where you get some camping gear with it, make sure that’s all in order as well.

Checking the car

Always look at a vehicle in clear daylight, so you can see everything the vehicle has to hide.
Look for rust under the floor mats or strange welds, it could be a sign its had a crash.
Get down and check if the front wheels line up with the back, if they don’t then your chassis is ‘crabbed’ – In other words, wrecked.
Check the engine for oil leaks, above and below, check the dipstick, if the levels low or the oil is dark and sticky, then chances are it’s not a well looked after vehicle.
Take a quick look at the oil filler cap, if there’s suspicious white stuff then the head gasket could be about to go, which is a pricey one to fix.
Look for plenty of tread on the tires
Check the body panels for gaps, if there is then it may have been in a crash.
Make sure the seatbelts work, there are no lose fittings, check bolts that sort of thing.
Start the engine cold, then give it some revs, look for plumes of dark or blue smoke, both aren’t good signs.

Test drive the car

Ok so you’re at the stage now where you going to test drive the thing,
Get in and move the steering wheel from right to left listen to for any strange noises.
Use all the gears
Try to creep off slowly with the handbrake on, you should be held back by the hand brake.
Listen for strange noises in the engine, don’t let the seller distract you buying talking or turning the radio on.
Make sure the clutch has a good bite.
Drive on as many roads as you can, up hills, down hills, even the motorway if you can.

Make them an offer:

This is the fun bit, you’ve found the one, now it’s time to buy it, don’t be afraid to bargain with the price, make a list of faults you’ve found on the car and knock them off the asking price, have fun with it, people warm to personalities be pleasant, but assertive after all they can only say no.

Payment and paperwork:

Now that you’ve got the price where you want it to be, make sure all paperwork is present and original, you’ll need logbook, service history and registration papers, but every states different, NSW rego’d cars require the most paperwork, where WA cars require the least.do your research on what’s required from you the buyer and the seller depending on the state.

If buying with someone:

If your splitting the cost with someone make sure you both agree on what course of action to take should you decide to go your separate ways at some stage. When that time comes and if one wants it and the other doesn’t buy the other person out, if you both want it, flip a coin and buy the other out, if neither want it..Sell it!

NEVER SEND MONEY TO A SELLER WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE VEHICLE FIRST IT’S A SCAM…DUUUUH!

So guys follow these steps and you should find yourself the perfect travel partner, one that will get you everywhere you want to go, will be there when you need it, you’ll probably even name it, you’ll never forget the vehicle you traveled Aus in… You and your new set of wheels will make some awesome memories.

Car buying resources:

Don’t forget the resources mentioned in this article.

Red Book: Car valuations
Car History: Check your cars REVS/VSR history

Looking for cars? Check out the following website:

Car Sales – www.carsales.com.au
Gumtree – www.gumtree.com.au
Drive – www.drive.com.au

Happy travels,

Love

Adam.

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Curried Sausages

Posted on December 17, 2011 by highcoun

Prep and cooking time: 35 Minutes

Here’s a really quick and easy meal to prepare. You’ll need 2 pots and a frying pan to get things running smoothly in the kitchen.

8 BBQ sausages
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1/2 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups of rice
Optional: Stir-fry veggies, chopped (Capsicum, Carrot, Beans, Broccoli)

Rice takes a while to cook so get the ball rolling with your rice on the boil.

Grab your second pot and fill it with boiling water, add the sausages and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Let them cool then remove the skin and cut into 3cm pieces.

Heat up your frypan, add the oil and cook the onions for 3-5 minutes. Add your curry powder and mix in the flour. Finally, pour in your chicken stock and add your sausages back to the pan. If you’re keen, add your stir-fry veggies now too. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with rice!

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Campervan Hire Perth and the Free Things You can Do in Perth

Posted on October 21, 2011 by highcoun

Campervan Hire

Probably the cheapest trip you’ll ever go on would be where your destination is Perth and if you pack that in with a campervan hire Perth, it’s going to be even better. There is nothing for you to worry about in line with flights and accommodation when you go by campervan. You’ll take things slowly getting from one place to another in Perth and you’ll have a roof over your head everywhere you decide to go. Even if it rains on one day, you’re safe from the cold and the wetness and you’ve got the ability to enjoy your experience of Perth.

Together with your campervan hire Perth, what will make your trip cost effective is the number of things that you can do where you don’t have to come up with a single cent. Maybe you want to get reconnected with nature, you can roam around Federation Walkway which is basically a620 meters of green. You have a great view of the King’s Park botanical garden there and also a nice view of the natural bush land below.

Strolling around Swan River foreshore is also a great idea where you have a view in contrast with what you saw at Federation Walkway. You can take pleasure in the city skyline here as well as a view of the King’s Park. While you’re here, make sure that you also pay a visit to the Swan Bells over at Barrack Square. Looking at the amount you’ve spent to experience these two things, the bill is still zero dollars.

Maybe you want to eat a nice simple meal in your Perth trip. You can eat some fish and chips, something that you’re going to pay for but it wouldn’t cost much, at Cottesloe Beach. The sunset view is the best that you can watch from your campervan hire Perth.

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Fine Art Print: Cootamundra: Open Road

Posted on May 25, 2011 by highcoun

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Moree Show 2011 Photos

Posted on April 9, 2011 by highcoun

Yesterday, I went to the Moree Show to check out all the awesome there. The police presence for the small show was incredible. There were officers everywhere! I was recommended not to stay out after 10pm as there was potential for things to get a little violent.

I had a great time checking the show out and ended up with a Whizz Fizz show bag. I normally go for the Warheads show bag but couldn’t find one this time around.

Far out, it’s hard to blog on a phone whist in a car going down a bumpy country road. Works got me traveling 2 hours west to do some work. Woot!

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