I’ll be traveling in my Mazda CX3. No 4wd towing a caravan for me. Space is limited to whatever I can fit in or on the car.
Stage 1 My loverman stripped out the back of any unnecessary clutter. Back seat gone, and the spare tyre moved to a practical place where we don’t have to unpack the whole car if we need to get it out.
This trip will see me in remote areas of the Australian outback, with only what I can fit in my car. This means stripping it back to the bare bones to set it up for maximum space.
Zinar and Minnie, are coming along, and Zinar is on a special diet so I’ll have to take all her food with us. Luckily is all fits in the spare tyre well.
Stage 2 My loverman put a solar panel on the roof to power the car fridge. The fridge took up a lot of real estate in the back, but it will be worth the extra centimeters.
The solar panel is charging a power station which is handy for recharging the laptop and mobiles when I pitch a tent in the middle of nowhere.
Stage 3 Ian built a cover over the spare type well, and a built-in pantry box with access to the spare tyre well.
Last time we did a similar trip in a Toyota Corolla hatch back and we took an Esky, multiple plastic boxes for`f00d and cooking paraphernalia, and an double burner gas cooker with a gas bottle
Refilling with ice everyday was painful, and moving the boxes around in the to access different things was tedious, and the gas bottle took up way too much room.
This time along with the fridge we built-in one big box with part of the bottom that opens up so I can access the bags of Zinar’s dog food in the spare tyre well.
There’s enough space down he outside of the pantry box to put long skinny items such as the spare gas containers for the camping stoves, dog treats and collapsible water bowls, and my camp shower.
On the fridge side Ian built a slot for things like cling wrap, knives, grater, food net, and storage bags for quick access.
The car fit out is finished; now all I need to do is pack it up and see if it all fits!
Melinda Brack 