Western Australian summers are hot, sticky and dusty. Out in the bush there’s a gazillion flies waiting to descend on you like a black cloud the minute you step outside the car door.

Visiting places like Lake Ballard in October, spending Christmas breaks during Covid in the North west, and in the Goldfields, and spending the heat of the day up in my roof top tent to escape the flies got me thinking and and reconsidering my set-up for such trips.

There must be a better way, I thought.

While I love my set-up, I’ve often thought it would be good to have somewhere out of the sun, somewhere comfortable, where the flies can’t get me when Im on a longer trip. Somewhere to sit, to download and edit my photo’s in comfort, grabbing a drink or a bite to eat without having to climb up and down the back of Jack to get it.

The WA roads are heavily populated with all sizes of caravans, camper vans, camper trailers, motor homes and, and everything in between. Can you see where this is going?

I tried one option a few years back, buying a little 1985 Viscount pop top, I named Lil Vic. We picked him up and parked him in the back yard, having to take down the fence to get him in there, and putting the fence back up once he was safety tucked in. Gates were quickly built in order to get him and out. He was very cute but inside he really was pretty dated. I had a gist of a plan to fix that.

He went up to Port Gregory, so I could fly the Pink Lake, and down to Hamelin Bay so I could get some zen time in the Boranup Forest, and explore the bottom of the South West.

After those two trips I decided it was time to renovate, and impulsively took my plans further than initially thought. I stopped him back to bare floorboards and right back to the tin walls. Some electrical rewiring to bring him up to code, some new roof lifters to make it easier to pop him up and purchased the canvas replacement for his pop top skirt.

He was going to be my Covid project. I would refit and rebuild, and modernise his decor.

He sat in my backyard, still playing an important role. Lily decided he was her purrfect cat house and meowed her way into spending as much time lolling out in him as she could wangle.

He became the Lil Vic pub on the corner, providing a fantastic space to entertain in on a Friday night or over the weekends having a few drinks and ordering Uber Eats. He was a fun space to hang out and chill out, reading books, watching movies, providing hours or enjoyment for anyone - or any animal who was lucky enough to spend time in him.

Sadly and to my regret, I never got back to him as intended. Work got busy and weekends out shooting meant there was little time to carry out the renovation. As far as Covid shutdowns were concerned, I was never shutdown more than a day or two.

So…it was time to face facts. I caved in earlier this year, selling him off to a family with more time - and skills on their hands.

Thanks Lil Vic, for all the fun times. I sure I learned a lot through the whole experience.

Since then I’ve refined my thinking, done a ton more research.

I came up with another plan… Can you see where this is going?