Time to Roam Magazine Issue 12 - December/January 2015 | Page 20

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upfront feature
Vintage Barnes from his Cold Chisel days.
Viscount Ambassafor 36ft Triple Axel

I’ve done gigs where all of us just roll
out swags backstage on the floor. The
Australian rock and roll community are
used to doing gigs all over the country
and basically sleeping where they fall,
usually on a swag or on the floor.
One time we were all up at Seal Rocks
and there was four American guys surfing
their way around the country and they
had little swags and they were all sleeping
in the back of a station wagon and we
were next to them with all this fancy gear,
a 6x6 tent and all sorts of stuff and I get
this emergency call to go overseas and
do this show and I didn’t even have time
to pack up. The guys got to know us
cause we were all singing by the camp
fire. They didn’t know who we were and
I said to them are you going around the
country and camping like that and they
said yeah we don’t have much money
and I said do you want all this camping
gear? So they took it and we left and to
this day we still get messages from them
in America. They were so grateful to get
all our gear. We felt bad leaving it but
they loved the gear and it inspired their
trip and they had the best time ever.

Has camping inspired you
to write any songs?
Not really, we just get out there and
sing cheesy campfire songs. We
get the acoustic guitars out and sing
America songs, “Been through the
Desert” and “Muskrat Love”. We sing
campfire songs so the kids can join in
and Diesel, my brother-in-law, comes
camping with us. He’s the campfire
song specialist. He knows every
bloody camp song you can imagine.
When we go camping we do it luxury
style because we all love cooking we’re
all really good cooks my wife Jane and
her sister, we make risottos and we
catch fresh clams from the sea and we
sit around with Diesel and my daughter
Mahalia and David my son and we sing
camp songs. We do great harmonies.

Tell us some more
about the caravans.
The Avion I’ve had for about eight years.
A mate of mine was coming over from
the United States and we brought it

back. I love the shapes of the vans.
The Avion is a 1966 and the Airstream
is a 1972. It was on the South Coast
in a caravan park and they contacted
me and I’ve been slowly doing it up.
They are both actually good to tow.
We took the Avion to Deniliquin Ute
muster where I performed and used it
as my dressing van. I‘ve also taken it to
Seal Rocks and to mate’s farms. I collect
them mostly because of the shape. I just
love them and I like the Americana thing.
They’re made in old World War Two
plane factories. I like the concept of
changing weapons of destruction
into something enjoyable.

Do you have any camping tips?
Tell us any must do’s and don’ts.
The best thing is leave a place the way
you find it. I hate seeing camps where
people just trash them. There are some
really beautiful places in this country.
Basically just respect the country, the
land and the other people that are using
it. That way we’ll all find it a lot easier
and enjoyable to get around.

Time to Roam has 5 personally signed copies of 30/30 to
giveaway. Simply write in and us and tell us your favourite
Barnsey or Cold Chisel on the road or camping song.

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