Reproduced by  courtesy of  On the Road Magazine

In the wild days of the American West, wagon trains would have made an awesome sight as they snaked a dusty way along the prairies to greener pastures. The new settlers' overnight camps would have been an equally fantastic scene, with wagons circled around a central fire and family groups gathering to cook and yarn after a hard day on the trail. Imagine modern day "wagons" in a similar setting.

Something along those lines actually happened, when five off road caravans trekked from Melbourne to Brisbane via "the long way". Gary Kratzmann was one of the participants on the 7000 km journey, and his recollections of the trip include the nightly "wagon circle" that was made on their desert camps.

"It was an absolutely fantastic trip. I loved it," says Gary. "I'll never forget the country that those vans covered, nor the nights spent under the stars in the middle of nowhere."

While bush camps were made wherever possible, the crews were far from being without luxuries, everything they needed was towed along behind the vehicles. Gary's van, a off road Escape, was fully equipped with a solar system, hot and cold water, a shower and toilet, and even a 12 volt bug zapper! Cooking duties were shared between the crew members, and both campfire and "inside" caravan cooking equipment was utilised. In fact, steaming the nightly vegetables gave the cook the excuse to wash away the day's grime under a hot shower.

"No, honest Cobber, we always park the vans this way. Er, would you like a marshmallow?"

When it was Gary's turn to cook, he opted for a simple and tasty meal rounded off with a warming nightcap. He started by marinating enough steak for everyone in a teriyaki marinade base, and recommends Fountain brand as nice. While the steaks were marinating, he got the fire and hot plate up and running, then let the fire quieten down.

As an accompaniment, Gary wrapped potatoes with their skins left on in foil with a little butter, then set them to cook on the coals. When they were getting close to ready, he started the steaks cooking, then prepared bread "egg rings" by removing the centre of single slices of bread and buttering the edges. These were put on the hot plate, eggs broken into the centres and a little cheese sprinkled over the top. Gary served up his Desert Delight with baby carrots cooked over the gas in the caravan. The meal was finished with Coffee on Milk - a couple of marshmallows dropped into the hot milk coffee and allowed to melt to a creamy consistency - some chocolate biscuits and a glass of port.

Another meal favourite was damper, cooked in the coals or in one of the caravan's ovens. Damper proved to be a versatile snack or meal, and was prepared for smoko or breakfast, or even to go along with a meal. The following recipe is for a savory damper, filled with bacon and tomatoes. It's great eaten hot or cold.

Desert Damper

3 rashers bacon, chopped

1 x 400g tin tomatoes, chopped

1 onion, chopped

Few dried herbs if you fancy, such as oregano and parsley

3 cups self raising flower

Pinch each of salt and sugar

60 grams butter

1/2 cup water

Excess juice from filling

Paprika to taste

Method - fry bacon and onions until onions are soft, then ad the tomatoes (with juice) and herbs. Simmer for a few minutes, then strain and reserve the juices.

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl, then rub the butter through until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs Make a well in the centre and mix in the juice from the filling and enough water to make a pliable dough. Divide the mixture in half, and push out each piece to a rough circle.

Either line a greased cake tin or tray with the first piece of dough, or rough it out on foil if planning to cook the damper on coals. Top the first piece of dough with the bacon/tomato mixture, place the rest of the dough on top and seal the edges. Glaze the top with water, and sprinkle with paprika, hot or mild, to give a true "deserty" look to the damper.

Cook in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes, until the damper sounds hollow when gently tapped. Serve hot or cold.

Gary's Tips for Desert Caravanning

When preparing your vehicle AND caravan for off road travel, pay particular attention to the tyres to avoid unnecessary blow outs. Suitable all terrain tyres should be fitted to both tow vehicle and van. So if your rig is straight off the showroom floor, make sure you're not heading bush with highway tyres all round.

For corrugations - NOT rough or rocky ground - lowering the tyre pressures by about 5 or 10 pounds will help absorb the vibrations that corrugations cause. Tyres should be re-inflated when the going gets smoother or rougher.

Travel in groups when heading off road to remote areas, with at least two vehicles in the group. A good quality radio for communications is also imperative, as is plenty of drinking water for each person in the group.

Leave no evidence of your camp behind when you leave in the morning.

The ultimate puppy dog test! - it passed!