A few nights in the Victorian High Country - and a broken Amarok

Every now and then the moon and stars and moon align, and I get the opportunity to take off for a couple of nights with the guys who introduced us into four wheel drive touring.  This is a part of Australia that we have not spent much time exploring, and I was looking forward to changing that.  I also knew I was in good company.  These guys have forgotten more about four wheel driving than I'll ever learn - and I was eager to pick up some tips.

Jo had given me a leave pass for a few nights, so I packed the car with essentials for a solo few nights.  A swag, some beer and a ten minute run around Aldi had me stocked with enough food for the adventure.  

Jo's only instruction: "Don't break Rocky!"  

I confidently assured her that I wouldn't do anything silly and would bring the car back in tip top condition in a couple of days....  How wrong I was!

On the road again... time to get everything ready!

I can hardly believe how quickly time has been flying by since we have returned home from our big adventure.  Two years ago we were kicking around the Red Centre, marvelling at Uluru in all its glory.  Life has moved on, the kids continue to grow like weeds, and things have settled back down to a new normal.

Or have they...

Over the past few months I have been finding myself increasingly torn between hitting the road again, or staying put.  Even devoting energies into a new blog (https://rockfarming.com/) hasn't been enough to convince me that home is where it will be at for ever.  Indeed the feet are growing itchy again.  Just as well that a new adventure is on the horizon.

The  Simpson Desert

It is an iconic trip that isn't to be taken lightly.  When I think back to our first foray into 4WD touring, it seemed a remote, distant possibility.  Now with a little bit of experience under our belts, we  think we are ready to give it a go.

This will also be our first extended trip without our trusty Aussie Swag camper trailer (Matilda).  Whilst camper trailers are not banned in the Simpson Desert (yet), all my research suggests they are a silly idea.  We decided that towing through the desert will entail too greater risk of stretching our chassis, or worst still, friendships. 

The site supervisor tests the extra height 

Whilst our camping configuration will be very different, there are no real changes for Rocky other than a 60 litre water tank installed under the tray. This took a friend and I the best part of a short school day to get fitted.  I opted for a simple caravan tank and standard fittings, with a gravity feed on the tap.  It works a treat!

Bullbar Installation - Amarok Style

With a long list of equipment and toys to be fitted to Rocky, saving a few pennies here and there is always a good thing.  One such opportunity arose when a second hand ARB bullbar came up for grabs.

After sitting in the shed for a couple of months, I finally got around to organising a day for fitting the bullbar.  Now with such a big job - I figured I would be wise to have a helper.  In fact, I would be really wise to enlist the help of someone who knows what their doing, so I could be their helper.  Andrew was indeed that man, without whose help I could not have fitted the bar.

The ARB instructions are available online - so we printed them out and followed them.  Overall it went really well - except for a few minor bits missing.  Ever resourceful, Andrew had enough bits in his shed to keep the fitting on track.

The bumper off shows a lot of plastic and foam!

Rocky settles in

It has been a busy few weeks, and opportunities to get away under canvas have been few and far between.  We did manage a couple of nights down the coast with friends, and a mad dash to the big smoke for a night - but on each occasion we were staying in a fine house with four solid walls and a roof.

The little fisherman did his best to remove as many fish from the Tasman Sea as he could - however luck again was against us.  Thankfully one of our friends did catch a Pacific Salmon, which is in our freezer awaiting an opportunity for the Little Fisherman to sample the fruits of his labour.

Rocky now has nearly 3 000km on the clock, and continues to impress us with its comfort and capability.  I have no idea how I ever survived so long without a ute!

In that time we have used Rocky as:

A farm truck

A work truck

Rokin Around Oz

At last I received a call that our new car was ready to be picked up. We had been looking forward to the call for a few weeks, since deciding before Christmas that we wanted a dual cab ute to travel around the country.

It was also time to farewell our old faithful Terracan, the car that introduced us to four wheel drive touring, took us to some magical places, and encouraged us to dream of heading off next year for a lap around the country.  The car that indirectly lead to this blog - through all the support at the Australia4WD forum.  Wow.  Our next set of wheels would have some big shoes (tyres?) to fill!

Terry, as the Terracan was affectionately called, was given a final wash, filled with fuel and taken into town. The dealer was surprised when I handed over the car with all the receipts, papers and both sets of keys. I hope some other family can have as much fun exploring the region in Terry as we did.

Terry all cleaned and ready for a new life.

But of course reminiscing is short lived when your next new toy is parked in the same lot. Our new set of wheels was sitting there, with a monstrous steel tray and tow bar ready for work.

Melbourne 4x4 Show

I had the pleasure of attending the worlds biggest toy store last weekend as part of the Melbourne 4x4 and Fishing Show.

What a collection of stuff - and how easy it would be to blow a couple of hundred grand in no time... Of course I had been sent without my credit card to avoid too many impulse buys :)

Over 35 000 people attended the show over the three days of the show. Thankfully Friday was a little quiet, so I was able to sneak away and check out some of the great gear on show.

I stopped in on the guys from Aussie Swag Campers to check out their new model. They now have a neat diesel heater in their 2011 model, and I think the changes they have made to the kitchen over the years has been fantastic. I enquired about putting a new kitchen box on our 2005 Aussie Swag, but with the changes up front adding too much tow ball weight, the whole axle has been moved forward about six inches. Hmm, too big a job for this punter.