We have finally gotten around to testing out our MSR multi-fuel stove this weekend, and the results are good and un expected.  As mentioned in previous posts we used the excellent, super efficient Jet Boil system on our last tour and this is all we have to compare the new stove to.  Firstly it is a very small, lightweight package although it is a little bit fiddly to initially set it up (the flexible fuel hose wants to say in the bent position, but i’m sure this will become more flexible the more we use it).  There is also a little bit of nerves involved, at the though of setting light to pressurised petrol – especially with the girls close by, but once you get past the little niggles it is a remarkably simple system to use.  We opted to cook a very complicated meal of tinned soup and within a couple of minutes we had hot soup, and with the simmer control it was very easy to regulate the flame size and temperature.   Continue reading →

We have another package coming from the motherland (England) it’s our shiny new Orlieb panniers.  We used these on our last tour of Europe and they were faultless & always kept our gear 100% dry even in the heaviest downpours Europe had to offer.  There seems to be a strange trend in Australia at the moment where all the retailers want to charge double the price of the UK – bizzar but true!  We are going to be using 4 of the largest size panniers and at 40 liters per pair of storage it should hopefully give us enough room for all our gear – we just need to figure out where we are going to put the girls clothes, food and nappies…….

As I sit here and type this, there is probably one of the most important elements of our trip making it’s way over from the UK, thanks to Jay’s parents, our beloved Tipi!  It’s huge, bright yellow and we love it – find out more about our tipi, and other equipment we will be using, here on our gear page.

Today our new dragonfly stove arrived!!!  Test and review to follow.