First post of the trip ....

We have finally hit the track and started our big adventure.  We left Sydney on the 8th December heading straight for Melbourne to jump on board the Spirit of Tasmania on the 10th.  Looking back it was such a mammoth, whirlwind effort with one of the few things we never organised before departure was our mobile internet.  All is connected now, hence I can do a blog post :-).

Heading to Port Melbourne had its challenges - a snapped alternator belt along the way.  Thankfully we were on track to arrive 2 1/2 hours early for the boat and with our set back we arrived with 15 minutes to spare - STRESSFUL!  It was such a relief to be on the boat, not only due to the immediate hold up but also the last seven months of saying "we're leaving in roughly 3 weeks time".  It finally has happened, we have finally begun ... seems a little like a dream.

Devonport - first pic of Tasmania!

The wake up call at 6am was so exciting.  I very rarely bounce out of bed ... but this day I did as did everyone else.  Stepped outside and saw Devonport - it smelt so fresh and the air so crisp.  I think I spent about 3 days pinching myself that we really were in Tasmania and we really were on our year trip.

Waterhouse Conservation Area

After planning for a while that we would head to Bay of Fires area first, Stephen says let's check out the top - so up near Bridport to Waterhouse Conservation Area we went.  We were welcomed with a beautiful, private beach camp area, with fire pit and our own walkway to the beach.  The beach - footprintless sand and aqua water with little rock islands - WOW plus the camp fees .... Nil!

After looking at weather reports we decided to head over to the east coast after three nights.  As everyone says, distances are short in Tasmania but travel time long.  We rolled into St Helens in the very late afternoon, checked in at Information and decided on Dianas Basin for our next camp of two or so weeks.  Again we got a great spot, deserted beach, lagoon, great bird life and camp fees of .... Nil!

Highlights of St Helens - the fishing (we had many a meal from our catches), Christmas (that might warrant a separate blog post), Lil's birthday (berry crumble), sampling and cooking local produce.

During our time there it got busier and busier.  The newer group being not quite the type of people we want to be around on New Years Eve as many a night previous they were carrying on as if it was midday well past 2am ... even with the police giving them warnings we decided it was time to make tracks and head to Myrtle Park about 30km out of Launceston.

The platypus!

What a great decision that was - Myrtle Park is a large council run camp ground on a beautiful river with trout and platypus - we've heard of the latter being at many a place, but could we ever spot one ... NO.  We were hoping this would not be the case again ... and to our great delight it wasn't.  Both nights we sat by the river at a spot a previous camper had told us of in St Helens we spotted the cute little fury creature!

That's all for now ... hope you enjoy some of the photos below.

Wood carvings at Scottsdale

Beach at Waterhouse Conservation Area

Pademelon at our camp

Beautiful beaches of St Helens

Campfires before bed

The rainforest walk to St Columbus Falls (near St Helens)

Local grown berries for crumble

Stephen's catch of the day!

Dan's catch of the day!

Christine's catch of the day!

Lily's catch of the day!

Natasha's catch of the day!

A fisherwoman in St Helens catch of the day!

September Update ....

So glad I didn't make any wild statements of promising to blog on a more regular basis!

Hornsby has been the start of our adventure for about four months now .... would we have sold the house when we did if we'd known how long finishing the trailer would take?  Probably not!  But we'd probably be even further behind as Stephen would have to keep working to keep up with mortgage payments etc - so all in all it has all worked out well.

August marked two years since this wild and crazy camper trailer design all began.  Out in the back of Broken Hill discussions started on a design that would suit the six of us, to be fully off road, less canvas than a conventional camper trailer and provide solid beds for us all.  Hand drawings began, which led to engineering designs on the computer and the start of the build in September 2011.  A year after the first weld we are ALMOST finished!  It has been a HUGE effort and AMAZING engineering and creativity from both Stephen and our family friend Bill Carver.

In our first week in Hornsby I managed to be behind the wheel of the vehicle as it overheated and damaged the motor beyond repair  - like how I worded that :-) ?!  Four months later the head has cracked.  Was it dodgy in the first place?   Could it be our turbo, the injectors?  More than likely a dodgy head, but once you fit an after market turbo, which we have had on our vehicle for many years the warranty is void....bummer.  So we are off the road again, have a little canvas work to finish off, a rather large, highly engineered hinge to fit, some minor fit outs and then we can hit the track for our adventure.  Starting close to home at Mount White while we check out everything, pack up all our things and last preparations to get the show on the road.

 

Tool box area

Tool boxes with multiple access doors

Helping Dad

Fitting the arms that hold our beds

one arm with side closed

Before top bunks ... testing the new arms.

Bunks will go about here ....

Top bunks fitted

Canvas over the beds

Frame for the door

Stabilising leg

Side Canvas Bag

The Last Month ...

My blogging regularity is very poor!  I tell myself I'll attempt a weekly blog and then I don't even get a monthly blog in ... so I won't promise anything - you will just have to take them as they come.

Our house is SOLD, settled, cleaned and vacated.  A VERY big step in the beginning of our journey.   Although, when does a journey really begin?  I believe life is one total journey and there aren't any real beginnings - just lots of turns, tracks and paths.  Our family, our businesses, de-cluttering our home, selling is all integrated in being a part of the next phase in our lives.  As is where we are living now ... my parents in Hornsby Heights.

We have been in Hornsby for a month, in a medium sized, three bedroom home.  Eight people co-habitating together and surprisingly or not - quite peacefully!  I have to say I think generational living is how it was meant to be.  Raising a family in the traditional way with hubby at work all day and mum at home with the children can be quite draining, stressful and tiring, but with the help of the grandparents full time it has been so much easier as we share jobs and responsibilities.  It is not only more helpful for me (the mother) but also a great experience for the children, to bond further with their grandparents and enjoy each others company.

Vivid Sydney

What have we been doing this last month?  I've been acquainting myself with Hornsby Westfield (quite a maze of a shopping centre), our eldest with Hornsby Library and the younger three with the park at the top of our street.  We took a trip to Sydney for Vivid Sydney and battled the crowds, we're finishing off reading the Narnia series books so we can take a visit to the Power House Museum for the Narnia Exhibition - trying to make the most of being in Sydney.  

We've also caught up with a few friends up the coast and I should mention here I also managed to totally cook our engine on one of those journeys.  Therefore Stephen as spent his time building our trailer AND fitting a reconditioned engine to the patrol this time adding an "engine watch dog"(keeps an accurate watch on the engine temperature and has an alarm when too hot).  And yes, as everyone has mentioned - better now than later - having it happen while we are out in the sticks somewhere.  I think Stephen would have preferred it didn't happen at all - but we carry on, build on and hopefully SOON we start our new path on our journey and head north to Cape York before the wet season begins.

   

You don't need it all ....

Trailer returning home ...

Well it's been a while ... maybe they've already gone bush some of you maybe thinking.  No - been busy busy busy!

The trailer had the sheet metal work done just before Christmas and is in our back yard with all the intricate work happening to it.  Water tanks fitted, floor mounted, storage boxes over the wheel arches fitted, wiring run through, hoses and fittings being installed.  With Christmas in the middle it probably slowed down a few things - but the ball is definitely rolling at full speed again!

The house will be going on the market in the next week or so.  The MAJOR clearing out has continued - utilising our local freecycle, council clean ups, neighbours bins (hush they don't know), gumtree and passing things onto friends.  I think some of my daughters friends may not be allowed to visit anymore as their children leave with many "new" things to stock up their bedrooms with!

It's been a tiring but rewarding experience.  Finding lost items and most of all actually knowing what is in the house and exactly where it is is such a time saver!!!  The garage is still a work in progress and it didn't help that the real estate agent did suggest that the state of the garage didn't really matter at this point - oh well it will be empty one day!

Something that most of us know but never really try out fully - you really don't need all the "stuff".  I have not missed for anything.  Just two days ago I gave away my rolling pin and boar, which I seldom use.  The next day I decide to make cinnamon scrolls and needed to roll out the dough.  Hmmm no rolling pin - on the bench was a kilo of honey that had just been dropped in by a friend - perfect rolling pin!  You can always make do and really it's not that you "just make do" you actually do completely fine ... it isn't all necessary at all.  As I've started working with Destiny Rescue I notice more and more how precious life, family, health and safety are and not my house or address and what I fill it!  It doesn't really add any lasting value to my life at all.

You can check out the wonderful work of Destiny Rescue on their website here:
http://www.destinyrescue.org/aus/
My roll with them is a jewellery consultant - selling jewellery that is hand made by the girls they rescue to raise money for the running of the safe homes and pay (double the award) to the girls.

small selection of Destiny Rescue jewellery

Chassis is Coming Together

Welding has begun, the chassis is coming together!  Every little step taking time and patience.  These first steps have helped us understand the real time and effort this build is going to take - but it is exciting, even though there is so much to do!

The design has taken countless hours in coming together.  Every detail being VERY important to the millimetre.  Some of the finer details are still being sorted - which may not be wise since we have began building, but it's the way it is now.

We chose a Gaffa independent coil suspension from WA.  Since we took delivery of the suspension we have read a few blogs about similar suspension builds failing.  Thankfully we chose the Australian design and not the Chinese copy.  Taking a closer look at these copies, they don't have the same welds and extra reinforcement that the Gaffa brand do.  So we feel pretty confident ours will hold up.

Along with our suspension we ordered a Unitank water tank, also from WA - who kindly dropped off the tank to Martins Trailer Parts and it was all delivered on the same crate.  For those health conscience organic freaks such as myself (Christine) we did check to see if the tanks had BPA in the plastic - they assured us they were BPA free - which was quite important to me as it will be a large proportion of our entire water source for quite a while.

It didn't take much time at all for Stephen to decide his welding expertise should be kept to the tacking and we hired an experienced welder to weld the structure of our new home together.  Peter has been fantastic and has joined Stephen working close to midnight some evenings and on weekends.

A little frustrated this week as we've had a few hitches with the hitch plate and will organise take 3 early next week.  Just a few millimetres out with cutting the holes just doesn't work!  So, all being well next weekend the hitch will be attached, the hubs and brakes put together, wheels put on and the chassis should be rolling!! YAY!

Here a few photos of the progress so far ....

The very first weld/tack made by Stephen with Bill our friend and engineer looking on!

The frame begins ... is that a boat you're building?

Measure twice ... cut once.

Peter our welder working hard ... Thanks Peter!!

Suspension now on the chassis.
Our eight year old daughter was looking at it strangely for a while and then with relief in her voice said "oh it's upside down"  She was picturing that strange device on the inside floor of the trailer.

Grinding for a smooth finish

Following the design

Testing the Camp Shower

The camp shower has been tested!  No one wanted to brave the back yard, so it was set up in the bathroom for a few days ... hot water system, jerry can, gas bottle, pump, battery and battery charger!!

We went around in circles for a while trying to choose a hot water system.  One major factor was to choose how much money we wanted to invest into it and whether we thought some of the conveniences were worth the big bucks!

We decided upon an instant, portable hot water system.  That way we can use it with our trailer for washing up and also move it to the shower tent for a nice hot shower.  It heats up 30 degrees C above ambient.

Our trials in the bathroom have been a success.  It didn't get packed away until every person enjoyed the pleasure of the system.  Water sat in a jerry can, was pumped into the unit, which is attached to a gas bottle and instantly hot water comes out of the nozzle ... amazing - and you don't even have to ignite the gas and it even turns itself off when you release the nozzle!!

The brand as you can see in the photo we chose was Red Rock.  There were other similar, cheaper brands from the USA, but the three year warranty and dealing with people from our own country won us over.  You can find them on Ebay.  They have a set price or "make an offer".  I recommend making an offer - they do accept.

Becoming a Reality ....

Friday saw the big delivery arrive ... the suspension plus related parts for the build of our new home!  The awaited truck arrives out the front, I quickly text Stephen with the news, open the door and the delivery man says "where's your fork lift?".  I give a "you've got to be joking" look, he gives the same look back as we stare at the pallet on his truck holding 120kg of metal.

We discuss having to pick up our delivery from Toronto, if we have any neighbours who are strong and able, what the builders would say up the street if we went and asked for their assistance.  The driver was kind and thankfully strong and we undid the straps (which I will admit that I first fetched him a kitchen knife to cut them before realising they were metal straps which required pliers - big female moment!!)  Again, the driver was kind enough to make me feel better by saying his Misses would have done the same.

So after some unloading and sliding a 100kg frame off his truck onto the grass we now have the beginnings of the new camper trailer to compliment the only part we already had - the hitch.  So now the suspension, brakes, hubs, bearings, hitch, water tank are in our drive.  Metal that has been purchased has now been bent and we are almost ready to begin assembly.

I will do a blog at a later date when I can sit Stephen down and actually write about specifications etc for those that are interested in the finer details ...

Talking of finer details ... I went to the 30% off everything sale at Spotlight last week and picked up a beautiful doona cover for our camp doona and some for the kids doonas which we will use on our trip too ... I'll put up photos later.