Day 41- Mount Isa

I am going to bore you again today with nothing interesting. Slow and lazy morning. Tim did an oil and filter change on the truck. I cleaned out some of the cupboards in the van that seem to be accumulating junk. Jordy cut paper with scissors and made snowflakes, and played with a balloon (short lived with the prickles in the grass!).
Darcy walked around collecting sticks (one of his favourite things to do) and played in the dirt (another favourite), and ate lots of food (his absolutely most favourite thing!). Later on in the morning Jordy and i went into the tourist info centre to have a look at The Isa Experience which is pretty much a museum and gallery. Mum and Dad went to the Underground Hospital (built by volunteers during WWII after Darwin was bombed in case Isa came under threat), and Tim and Darcy stayed adn did some work at the van.

Jordy and i had a great time at the museum. I kept trying to read and look at something and Jordy would yell "Look! Come here and look, Mum!" and drag me on to the next thing he had discovered. He especially liked the old telephone exchange desk with all the buttons. Mum and Dad said the hospital was interesting and good to see but there was not all that much to look at. They were finished and back to pick me up and we were only half way through the museum. They lucked out and were able to duck in and join me without having to pay so that was good.

We got back to the van and Darcy was giving Tim a hand being a big help working hard to install a fan at the back of the fridge. Darcy could not get the wiring quite right though and even after a couple of goes it was still not working. The fan motor died so we'll have to get another one next town we get to.

We talked about going out to Moondarra dam this afternoon before it gets too busy with holiday people tomorrow but we wanted to get one of Darcy's vaccinations done and appointments were limited so i did that instead.

And i wanted to go up to the lookout at dusk this afternoon (apparently the best time to see it) but dusk sucks as a time to do anything except bath and feed the kids so that did not happen either. I'll try for sunrise in the morning or give dusk another go tomorrow.

After dinner (homemade pizzas which were a big hit all round) Jordy took the torch and wandered off in the dark around the park area. Tim watched for a bit and then went over and asked what he was up to. "Lookin for frogs" apparently. We suspect that Dad must have shown him the cane toads cos when Tim pointed one out the first thing he did was stomp on it. Then he stomped again and again! Poor (disgusting) thing was only half dead so Tim showed him how to squish it properly. Now i would have thought that squishing a frog would upset him cos he loves animals and is forever telling me that the ants or spiders etc are his friends... but, no. He happily yelled "look, his bum's all red!". And then the two were off spot-lighting looking for more to stomp on. They got more than a dozen. I'll admit i don't really like the cane toads. I saw one for the first time ever at Innisfail and they give me the creaps. I like a nice pretty green frog any day.
It is now 9:30 and Jordy is still outside spotting toads with his Grandma! He had a nap today (i hate that!) and he is powering through.

Day 10- Caboolture

Another busy day and another day of worry about the weather. We drove back into North Brisbane to catch up with friends and to pick up our new inner spring mattresses. I had looked at the map and the directions looked really simple especially seeing as we were just in the suburb around the corner the other day so we did not pack the laptop..... but things are never that simple. We drove around a bit and went the wrong way a couple of times and eventually ended up in the right place. From now on when we don't have a map i am going to write down the directions!!! and insist that Tim have a look at where we are going.

It was great to catch up with the lovely women from IP and the kids all had a ball playing in the playground. I managed to share around some of the cloth nappies and woolies that i did not put in storage and Darcy's highchair that we packed but discovered took up too much room. Now i just have to wait to see what photos Aleza snapped for us :)

It would have been nice to stay longer but we had to head off to get our mattresses from Made To Measure Mattresses... i was a bit worried about how they would fit after the mess with Jayco but they fit perfectly and are actually even more comfortable. They are in two parts and we'll have to take them out of the bed ends to travel but it's worth it for the comfort.

Back to Caboolture to start the pack up. It had been raining steadily all day so we had a wet pack up. One of the down sides of the expanda ends i suppose. Tim and Dad ducked into the 12volt shop to grab a fan and step for the van while Mum and i tried to plan the next leg of our journey. Difficult to know where to go with the cylone and the rain along the coast.... ??

Had a roast chicken in the Weber BBQ and jacket potatos in the microwave. Sat up til far too late playing on the computer looking at travel distances and chatting to the Marshalls who are further up north.

shake down cruise

we are midway through our shake down cruise to Sydney and back. Time to get the bugs sorted and see what we need to do/change/fix/pack before we head off for good.

A few little things... all sorts of issues with our internet connection. We signed on to Telstra Next G (only company with remote coverage) but if we had a choice i'd go someplace else. They were deadset useless to deal with and made an absolute mess of things. I hate to see my mobile phone bill after the multiple phone calls and hours waiting for them to fix it. I hear that Westnet will soon have wireless internet but we've had to sign up for a three year package with Telstra. If you are thinking of travelling make a phone call to Westnet!!!!

Our 12volt is not working so when we get back we'll have to sort that out.

We got an innerspring mattress for the rear bed from the Jayco dealer here. Wanted one for the front bed but they gave us the wrong size and after a second trip back to the showroom they could not figure out why their computer system had no information on the size of mattress we needed.... ??? So we'll try another Jayco dealership as we head up the coast. I would have liked to have used Made to Measure Mattresses but they never phone back when they say they will and can't tell me if they can make it to suit our van or not.

But we've had a range of temps here from 44'C for a few days to hail last night and lots of rain! And the air con worked rather well and the van bed ends don't leak so we're happy with that. The fridge struggled a bit so we'll fit those fans that other Expanda owners have talked about.

I've wanted to get out and go for a walk to practice some of my photography lessons but it's either been waaaaay to hot or sprinkling (now) so i've not had a chance. I'm itching to do it though!

With all the rain up north we are not sure of our travel plans. We'll wait and see until late March but instead of crossing through the the NT gulf we might need to drop down to Cloncurry and head in that way. Which would be a shame cos it would mean missing Lorella Springs. Got an email from them last night and we could have worked there for the tourist season too but we have already made arrangements with Litchfield so.... next year maybe!!

new water tanks

Here are the new stainless steel water tanks. They look pretty good i think. Because the old plastic ones were shaped a little and more rounded we actually fit a lot more water in these ones so that's an added bonus. We had the two of them made for under $950.

We're in the process of getting our wireless broadband sorted out. Telstra Next G obvioulsy as no one has has coverage in the centre. And we need to change one of our mobiles over to Telstra too. We'll keep the other with Optus to increase our chances of getting a signal from someone everywhere we are.

Tim has set up some great tracks along the top of the truck and a winch so he can get the boat up on top by himself. Not easy, but do-able. He also came home the other day with a couple of steel rods to use as legs... looks pretty clever! I'll get a photo of that next time he's playing with it.

I keep remembering at odd times of the day that we never heard back from the caravan insurance people in Perth that i liked the sound of.... must get that organised! We have basic cover at the moment but i want something more suited to people LIVING in their caravan.

take it to the experts

Dad took their van (second hand 2000 Regent) to Cruiser Caravans to have a check-over. After they bought it Dad discovered some water damage and leaks in it and a few other issues that really had him concerned. Actually, for a while he was really kicking himself thinking he had just bought one big problem... but the guys a Cruiser went right through it.

Looks like the leak was in the lights so they were replaced, new seals, they treated the damaged timber etc etc, the sink tap had a leak so that was replaced... a few other bits and tidy-ups. It cost $1100 including parts but for the peace of mind that it is all done properly i think that's great value.

Tim and i are getting some quotes for our annexe. The Kakadu awning walls look good but the really snazzy setup is quite pricey. The Awning Man does a nice annexe with a beer garden!! :) and it's not a bad price. Essentially for the same price as the basic Kakadu setup we would get the full beer garden extension through The Awning Man. Under Cover Canvas in Ballina is nice and close by and their website looks good too... I think it will end up around $2,500 which, although expensive, will be worth it for us seeing as we will be living in the van for so long and it will double our living area. The extra beer garden shade area too will be great.

I'm getting the Lemair washing machine from The Good Guys for $350. I could have bought it direct from the Sydney factory for around $300 but the factory is not near where we will be so it's not worth the extra travel.

more little modifications

Today Tim and some mates lifted the suspension on the van (actually i think the mates did most the actual work and Tim fetched tools). It's now super high!!! Looks odd but will be helpful in getting us into some slightly more off-road type locations. We are going to need a step (or two) to get into the van now though.

What else... he had some roll bars made for the back of the truck which we can use to make a canopy for the front half of the tray (for our washing machine and lounge to go!). He also connected up the gas lines on the bottles so that both are connected at the same time. We got a hose with a metal braid through it so there's less chance of stone damage.

We had a look at a Quintrex boat. It's probably a good bargain but it's more than i had imagined we'd be spending on a tinnie. So we have a few other priorities first and if the boat is still there in a few weeks we'll see what happens.

We had Garage Sale II at mum and dad's house. Sold some more bits and pieces. Now pretty much everything else that is left will be given away or thrown away.

I've ordered a few bits online for me and the kids. A summer weight sleeping bag for Darcy. A Lunette cup for me. A bed liner in case of night or nap time accidents! A matching pee pee pad car seat cover that is not really for either of them in particular but might be handy for Darcy for TTing in the future. Some OneWet NooneeWilga pants for Darcy.

I'm getting some quotes on annexe walls. I like the look of the Kakadu All Seasons ones but we'll have to see how the pricing comes out. They would give us some nice extra living areas. You can't see the photos online but even in addition to the actual annexe you can lift the window covers on the long side and on both short ends up and use tent poles to erect the canvas to form another awning area.

And i'm chasing up a little washing machine. I think we'll get the Lemair (like most other caravanners!) and i can get one from The Good Guys for $350 but apparently you can buy them direct from Lemair in Sydney..?? You used to be able to anyway so i'm waiting til Monday to check on that.

Contacts for our house are supposed to be exchanged soon and it will be going though with a super quick 28day settlement! wow! So the next few days will be spent getting rid of the piles of storage stuff and rubbish in the garage and working out the best way to store stuff in the van.

more van maintenance and add-ons

Tim replaced all the water lines yesterday. They were disgusting!!!! We had intended to get some of the sanitising tablets to clean up the water tanks but they were full of sludge. So we are getting a price to get some stainless steel ones made instead and replacing them. Much nicer. I don't think the previous owners ever cleaned them??

Have not heard back from Made To Measure Mattresses... will have to call them. Or maybe head into the local Clark Rubber and see if they have latex overlays.

We lost the sink plug yesterday and it took us half and hour to find it... must buy spares!

Tim got a great deal on two batteries. We got the better AGM (absorbant glass mat) batteries instead of the gell cells. 100amp hour ones i think. Tim got them for $320 through a mate! YAY! Massive discount. So with fully charged batteries we should be ok to run the microwave, lights and important stuff for a few days without power. We'll get solar put on once we get up north and can head in to an actual shop-front that specialises in solar.

And we bought a Weber Q200 baby bbq. The van does not have an oven (just a cooktop, grill, and microwave) so this should set us up for lots of meal options.

additions and repairs

we bought a 12volt LCD tv for the van yesterday from Bing Lee for just under $600. It's a 22inch high definition flatscreen sort of one with a built in DVD that also takes your SD cards for photos etc. We chose the biggest screen available for the space we had on the wall! LOL! Looks good.

Tim spent the day repairing the flyscreens on the windows. Bugger of a job but it's coming along well.

The latex mattresses from the Bedding Co in town are near on $1,300 each! wow. They feel lovely to lay on but we are going to see if we can find something for a better price. I've sent an email to Made To Measure Mattresses and i'll see what they can do.

I really need to get some replacement parts for the back clips of the drawers. Tim found a DIY caravan repair shop online with lots of bits which will come in handy but i can't see the drawer clips.... off to the Jayco dealer in town i guess.

out of the house

We moved out of home a couple of days ago in preparation for selling the house. We are staying in a big work shed (it's sort of like a mate's work shed) but we have showers and toilets and can use the power etc so it's all great. And there is room for Jordy to play- although there is no grass :(

But the open house went really well. We've had a few offers already so now we just have to wait and see if we can get what we are asking and how soon we can settle.
Here is an 'after' shot of the house all nice and clean. (cleaner than it has ever before been!!! LOL!)
We have sooooooo much to do to the van to get ready. Now that we have the house as sorted as we can for the time being we can now focus on getting our rig set up.

And here is Darcy trying to escape from the van already. Little Adventure Boy can reach the handle and open it so we have to keep the door locked even when we are in the van!

We bought a nice little 22inch flat screen yesterday so i can now catch up on the news- i have not had time to see what is happening in the world for a couple of weeks. And we went and had a look at latex bed mattresses this afternoon. The foam mattresses we have in the van are ok for a long weekend but no way we could put up with them for longer than that. Next we have to get the annexe sorted.

the joys of packing

i have been clearing out our clothes.... i started with various boxes; one to take, one for storage with family (mostly maternity clothes), one for winter clothes to store on the truck, and one for the garage sale. In the end i had one box for storage, two boxes worth for the garage sale, one box to store in the truck, and two boxes worth for in the van with several items that i'd add in to the van if there was room.

Then i started on the kids wardrobes and did the same.

Then i had another look at how much storage room we actually have in the van!!!!!

ok. Slight problem. I need to condense the wardrobes of four people into this much space.

Two thirds of the stuff i wanted to put in the van for me has gone back into the garage sale box and winter clothes have been reduced to bare minimums. Same with Jordy; out of a bedroom where he had three large drawers and hanging space Jordy now has one little drawer for ALL his clothes! Wow! Darcy has one little drawer. Singlets that the boys are sharing and everybodies pyjamas goes into another drawer. Cloth nappies & wipes will go into the other main van drawer.

Then inside the robe doors i have a stack of four plastic drawers. I have one for warmish clothes and one for regular clothes. I suppose i had best leave two for Tim. Everything else has to hang. I've triple-hung my clothes so that each hanger has three items on it.

I'm yet to pack my swimmers or socks or undies.... or shoes!!! i wonder where we will put our shoes... ?

ideas for van modifications

Amazingly enough there is a Yahoo! group just for people who have Expanda vans! I've been having a read through old posts and i've seen a few things that other travellers have done to make their Expandas more comfy including fitting washing machines and dryers in the wardrobe, dishwasher under the breaky bar, complete home entertainment systems in the cabinets etc!! and i think WOW! While that's not something we need i've also seen some other little alterations that look handy. Although i admit the washing machine in the wardrobe is tempting but i think we need the clothes space.

• Removing the table leg and making it a drop-down table with a much smaller support.
• Putting slideout baskets in the wardrobe.
• Door mounted baskets inside the sink cabinet.
• Stainless steel splashback behind the sink.
• External PVC pipe storage containers for tent poles and bed flys etc.
• Hanging racks in the shower cubicle.
• An elbow on the shower to turn it sideways near the taps (have to see if that suits our model).
• Towel airers mounted on the external body of the van.
• Sludge hose carriers under the van (no idea how this works! but i'll pass it on to the sludge expert!)
• Little wheels under the rear of the van to help with reversing up curbs.

a whole world of great little ideas to make life easier on the road.

a big decision

We have always known we would travel. But it was always something we would do after the next baby, when we had paid off the house, when work permitted, when the children were older..... and then one day amongst the looming recession, stock market doom and gloom, and an increase of financial pressures we looked at our life and looked at our boys and then looked at each other and said "Why not? Let's just go."

And so we are going.

It feels wonderfully liberating to have made the decision. But the task ahead of us is not a simple one. There is just so much to be done to sell the house, set up our caravan and prepare for our future. Some of it is wonderfully exciting to plan! Flipping though caravanning magazines, our Camps 4 bible, imagining where we will be in six months or next year... and some of it is downright daunting; insurance, budgets, opportunities for work, buying the right gear.

I can't wait for the journey to begin. And i can't wait to share it with you. If you are thinking about travelling with children, or wondering if you could possibly live in a caravan for a couple of years then i hope we can share a few tips or offer a little inspiration.