Tassie West Coast - Stony Cape to Arthur River

We left the beautiful Tamar Valley and headed west.  With no schedule to keep, and no real agenda, we enjoyed a leisurely drive generally in the direction of Stony Cape, west of Smithton.

The weather was threatening, but we enjoyed a pile of hot chips in Sheffield, famous for its mural lined main street.  I had to get a snap of the boys in front of a Mountain Rescue themed mural!

Tasmania - Tamar Valley

We survived the crossing of the fearsome Bass Strait in style on the SPIRIT OF TASMANIA.  With three metre seas, we feared the worst, but thankfully the boys slept through the worst of it, and in no time at all we were roused from our bunks to be greeted by a drizzly day at Devonport.

We were extremely fortunate to be staying with friends on the beautiful Tamar River, near Beaconsfield.  We were made to feel at home, and in no time at all, Matilda was set up on the front lawn with a view to die for.

Our fantastic first camp in Tasmania!

The next couple of days we explored a little of the local area.  Being so close to Launceston, we headed in for last minute Christmas shopping, and the compulsory stroll in Cataract Gorge.  The boys powered up the Zig Zag walk, and we enjoyed a ride on the chairlift, before returning on the easier walk on the western bank to Kings Bridge.

On the road at last. Home to Melbourne

We aimed to get away at 8am precisely and would you believe it we actually made it away on time!  And then at 8.07am just before we turned onto the main road, guess which Numpty remembered he had forgotten to turn the power off.  So we made our second departure at fifteen minutes later than planned... Not too bad considering we will now be spending the next twelve months or so living our own schedule!

The reason for our early departure was to catch up with friends in Bombala for morning tea.  We had a delightful time catching up, whilst the kids squeezed in a ride on a pony before we headed down the coast to Eden for lunch.  

One sleep to go - Setting off for our lap around the block tomorrow

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is our departure date.  This moment has been years in the making, and I am a little excited, and mostly exhausted!

I thought I would keep this a short post, except to thank some of the many people who have helped us get to this point.

At the risk of missing someone, I want to thank some of those wonderful people.

Firstly a big thank our to boys, who have embraced our camping lifestyle and bring so much joy to us when we see the world through their eyes.  We hope this year is one they will remember forever with fondness, and excite in them a passion for learning, travelling and all things outdoors.

Our parents I suspect initially thought we were mad... until they saw our camping set up which confirmed their beliefs.  That said, their support has been wonderful, culminating in a week long working bee at our little house getting it ready for tenants.  It is due in no small part to their efforts that we can leave our house knowing it is in tip top shape.  Thank you. 

I have the most amazing manager who gave me approval to pursue this dream way back in early 2009.  I also work with a great bunch of people who will cover my shifts for me whilst I am away - which will provide its own challenges and I appreciate no end.  

We are fortunate to be part of an an incredible tight knit community, and we have been touched by everyone's support and encouragement. From offers to keep and eye on our home, to completely unexpected little farewell gifts, and even looking after our little pooch, we have been blown away. We will miss you all!  Our school and it's wonderful teachers have been so supportive of our plan, we leave well armed for a year of homeschooling. 

And of course, Jo, who agreed to my foolish adventure.  She has worked tirelessly on all the boring bits to make sure that everything will carry on at home in our absence that needs to, and what needs to find us will find us.  An incredible woman and a tower of strength.  Thank you!

We are so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives, that funnily enough on the cusp of our grand adventure I feel a twinge of sadness.  Almost like being on a ship leaving for a long deployment, we will soon settle into our new routine, but we will miss our wonderful friends and family still at home.  Sometimes you have to leave to really appreciate how fortunate we are to be surrounded by such great people.  However unlike ships of not that long ago, we will be not far from mobile phones and email, so we hope to stay in touch!

And so here we are... Almost all packed, and due to hit the road at 8am tomorrow.  Fingers crossed we will get away before lunch, after all, what could possibly go wrong!

11 Days Out From A Year On The Road...

We are officially 11 days out from our year on the road... and the nerves are starting to show as we try to get everything ready to go.  In fact it was as good as called off this morning!

For the past few weeks our focus has not been on the trip at all.  Rather we have been busy trying to get our house ready for tenants to move in, ensuring schooling is in hand and all our furniture is packed away. Whilst the trip has been foremost in our minds in one way - it has been the furthest from our minds in terms of what we will actually do on our adventure.

Indeed we have often joked that we will start the
planning for our year on the road, once we finally get on the road!

That said, in addition to all the household jobs we are trying to get on top of, there have been a few last minute jobs to do on the camper and the Amarok too.  Nothing like leaving things to the last minute.

One job on my list for months was fitting a pair of helper springs to the Amarok.  A simple job - but I finally admitted I didn't have time to fit them, and organised my lovely wife to have them fitted at the local mechanic's.  Unfortunately the young fella who put them on didn't appreciate the dynamics of the suspension and the U bolts were striking the chassis.  

Argh.  Wasn't particularly happy about spending that evening pulling the U bolts off and turning them over - but it had to be done.  I guess the reverse of Parkinson's law is also true... (Parkinson's law states that work expands to fill the resources available to do it.  I have discovered that if your resources shrink (in this case time), the somehow you manage to fit it all in regardless!).

Upside down Miss Jane

Much better

Some good came of it - the road test!

But wait, there's more.  We decided we really should fit some bike racks for the kids bikes on the front of Matilda.  The most cost effective method was to buy a fork mount and bolt it to the top of the pantry box...  Not a big job, but placement was important to ensure that we can still use the hot water system on extended camps!  I ordered the parts on eBay - only to be told after four days that they weren't in stock, and I could upgrade my order or cancel it.  It was Friday afternoon - they were supposed to be delivered that afternoon.  Not happy Jan - I cancelled the order and picked up the parts from the local Roof Rack City - for $0.02 more than Mr eBay!

Making sure it all fits.

Got to get it just right!

And then we decided to take it up a notch.  In order to give the food a bit of protection from temperature extremes, we had been meaning to line the top of the pantry with carpet.  Having experienced the pleasure of trying to line the Amarok's canopy with carpet previously, I encouraged Jo to give it a go.  After a few false starts, she got fair cracking and to be honest did a great job.  We had more timber holding it in place whilst the glue set than is holding our house up...  The only casualty was a bit of hair that came in contact with the adhesive...  but as we tell the kids: "It will grow back!".

And finally this morning we hit crunch time.  For the past few weeks our study has had all the furniture removed, and replaced by all the stuff we might want to take with us next year.  Some of it is not negotiable, like the medical supplies, however some of it is best described as discretionary.

We took the point of view that if we might want it - then we should put it in the study so we could at least consider whether we want to take it or not.  Well this morning we pulled out all the camping chairs, BBQ, water jerry and so on and started our game of Tetris.

Hmmmm...  One thing is certain, the box isn't getting any bigger!

We both had a few different ideas - tried to work out what we would use every night and what we would perhaps use less frequently.  Mulled over where the emergency water should be - had a somewhat heated discussion over the size of the laundry bucket and damn near divorced over the where the awnings should live... 

We must be getting stressed...  But friends had warned us that just before you head off, the task will seem impossible and you will find yourselves asking if it is worth it.  Thankfully we both calmed down and the adventure is still on!  

I must be a lucky bloke!