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!

50 days to go!!!

We sat down yesterday, and for the first time counted the days to our departure... Today we are 50 days out from what we hope will be a great adventure, our 12 month journey around Australia!

Friends have been asking me how the planning is going?  And yes - whilst the concept has been on the table for many years now, we are not much closer to having our trip planned out.  There is so many little jobs to do in order to get us prepared to go, that we have hardly had a chance to think about what we will finally do, when we haul down our driveway, get to the end of our road and flip a coin.  Heads = turn right, Tails = turn left.

The journey to this point begins back in 2009, when our eldest son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  We made a decision then that we would make a concious effort to live life to the full.  We had just started camping as a family, and a few months later we bought a four wheel drive - our faithful Terracan. In April 2012 we bought our camper trailer, Matilda.

Our first journey with our camper attached.

Our first camping weekend with the camper ended in failure (http://project2014australia.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/our-weekend-in-pictures.html), but we were hooked, and our dream grew and grew.

A Day On The Green - Mudgee

As we hit the fifty days to go mark, and started wondering how we are going to get everything sorted before we head off, we decided to accept an invitation to A Day on the Green at Mudgee with a bunch of old friends.  And what weekend it was.


All set and ready to go - and yes - no camper trailer this time!

Of course if you're going to a concert, the most important thing you need to pack is your tickets...  everything else can be replaced, or you can manage until you get home... 

We took off after work on Friday, planning on eating dinner on the way (Thanks to the Thermal Cooker).  All was going well as we pulled through Gunning.  We had decided on the most direct route to Mudgee via Gunning, Crookwell, Tuena, Bathurst, then on to Sofala and Mudgee.

It is a very pretty drive - scenic undulating grazing country, with a bit of dirt road between Binda and Perthville.  We were hoping on being through the worst bits before dusk.  But as they say, best laid plans...

Sydney as a tourist

We had long desired to give the boys a taste of Sydney different to their normal impression of one long traffic jam.  So almost a year ago, we booked an apartment near Circular Quay for a week with the intention being to live like tourists and show the boys some of the classic sights of Sydney.  We were extra fortunate that the Navy decided to host their International Fleet Review on the same week, so we also scored a fantastic firework display and parade of warships!

This week was quite unlike our normal camping adventures, however having rented an apartment, we were able to cook our own meals and make our lunches, saving a fortune on meals.  The other trick we used to sustain our lads on the days when we walked seemingly everywhere, was to buy a four pack of ice creams from the IGA or Woolworths or Coles supermarkets that were always just around the corner.Thankfully ice creams are the one food every one in our family likes!

So, live like tourists we did.  The Little Helper was fascinated by the public transport system, and it took him three days before he stopped pointing out each train and bendy bus crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The boys with the view from the apartment

The Little Fisherman was fascinated by all the warships, in particular the 5 inch guns - and was thrilled with a tour of the HMS DARING and the HMAS PARAMATTA.  A highlight for him was being able to hold one of the boarding party shotguns during the tour of HMAS PARAMATTA...

Oh dear... what have we created

Kanangra Walls - Boy's Weekend Escape - Close to Sydney

Sometimes it takes a woman to get a bunch of blokes together for a weeekend away.  My wonderful wife had succeeded where we had failed and managed to select a weekend for a group of old friends to get together and designate an official Big Boys Weekend!

The passage of time had seen us go to school together, cut our teeth in the big smoke, before dispersing.  As we all have children now, fitting a little time for our own friends is rarer and rarer as our social lives increasingly revolve around our children's schooling / sporting / music / scouting interests.

We met at the Boyd River Campground, in Kanangra-Boyd National Park, as it was almost the exact same distance for all four of us to travel to, from north, south and east.  As we all started closing on the park, the weather was looking pretty ominous.  It was about 3 degrees and raining sideways, when the suggestion that we bail and head to the Oberon Pub was mentioned...  but being tenacious males, we decided to persevere.

And I'm so glad we did. The weather cleared as soon as I arrived, and continued to improve all weekend.




Boyd River Camp