More Preparations

Forgot to mention a couple of other jobs I have done in preparation for this trip.

I arranged for an increase in the payload I can carry in the caravan. I did some research about what was required. To cut a long story short I went to an engineer at South Windsor and he approved an upgrade in my Aggregate Trailer Mass.

I'll just pause for a sec to let you know this will probably be my most boring post. No photos to show on this one. Just some technical stuff that a lot of people won't be interested in but are, in fact, pretty important.

Caravan manufacturers allow about 400kg payload above the tare weight of the vans they build. Mine was only about 360kg. It is barely enough for anyone. The fact is that most vans are capable of having a greater payload but you need to go straight back to the manufacturer when you buy it or go to an engineer if it is after that to have a change made to your compliance plate and rego certificate. So I achieved a 180kg upgrade on my payload. Happy days!

Another thing I had done was have a 'Water Watch' fuel filter with in the cabin alarm installed to protect my engine from water contamination in the fuel.

Less than two weeks before we go now and we are on top of the jobs we need to do before going. Less pressure and that relates to more excitement. Yep getting excited now.

Preparations and Plans for Our Second Big Trip

Yeehaaa!!!!! In three weeks time Linda and I (we) are heading off on our second big trip. In 2013 we travelled for five months through central Australia and experienced most of the wonders of the NT. The whole blog of that trip including some great photos can be viewed on www.firstbigtrip.blogspot.com.au. If you do a google search to try and find the blog it will show options, one of which is ‘Linda & Pete’s Travels 2013’, that is the one you want.

Our blog for this trip is www.secondbigtrip.blogspot.com.au and on a google search you should see ‘Linda & Pete’s Travels 2015’. I have been busting to do this trip and start blogging again.

Our main plan for the trip is to tour WA extensively and spend a fair bit of time in SA on the way home and expect to take about 12 months. We will again visit the Flinders Ranges as a first destination. Although we have been there twice we have not seen it all. Then up through central Australia again and visiting Uluru and Kings Canyon on the way. When last at Uluru it was overcast the whole time and never got to see changing sunrise and sunset colours on the rock. I had hurt my back at Kings Canyon and did not get to do the scenic walk. So we get to go to those places again without going much out of our way. Then another bit of a look at the West McDonnell Ranges near Alice Springs before heading toward WA.

For the first three weeks we will have some travelling companions, Linda’s sister Jan and brother-n-law Ross. They will travel with us as far as the West McDonnell Ranges. They will see a lot more on their way back and we will continue on.

It was not sitting to well with Linda for us to be away from home for a whole year without seeing our girls so we have decided to fly home in August for a wedding we have been invited to and also for Christmas. We will put the van and vehicle in storage for a couple of weeks each time.

So why has it taken so long for us to get going again? For those of you who followed our last blog you would have read that we intended on touring QLD for about three months over winter last year. Wow that year turned out to be different!! What a year! Our daughter, Jacqui, got engaged to Rowan at the start of the year with the wedding to take place in October. With the wedding coming up there was no way we were spending three months touring QLD.

The wedding was one of the greatest day in our lives. We didn't mind putting off our plans for it.

Then something I had been thinking about for some time came to the fore. With one daughter moving out this was the perfect opportunity to downsize. To keep a long story short, after a bit of convincing Linda came on board. We then set about renovating the house and then sold. It took a while but we found a house and bought and achieved our down size.

That allowed us to upgrade our tow vehicle from the Mitsubishi Challenger to a brand new 4.5L turbo diesel Land Cruiser (LC). The extra weight of the LC is the greatest advantage in my book as it creates a much safer towing situation. The Challenger was a great vehicle and it will likely appear in some of our early photos on this trip as we sold it to Jan & Ross who are starting off the trip with us.

I put a bull bar and snorkel on the LC. I had my mate John O’Malley set up my hitch as well as all the electrical set up for towing and also raise the rear diff breather and install an additional battery for the fridge freezer. Toyota had already raised the breather on the front diff and the gear box. I made up a water bra and with all that I am ready for river crossings. There is likely to be a lot of camping to be done on the Gibb River Road in the Kimberlys where we will leave the van behind.

The new tow vehicle:

 

We still have a lot of things to do to be ready to go. All Terrain tyres are going on the LC this week. I will be helping our daughter and son-n-law move house. There are things to buy for our trip including fishing gear. There is also a bunch of things to be done around the house.  Even with all that I think that there has been a lot less to do than before we left for the 2013 trip.

I don’t know if I will get the chance to blog again before the trip begins. I will also be posting the blog on facebook so that might be easier for some of you to follow the blog if you wish. Anyway you can bet we are excited about the trip.

 Bye for now and God bless,

Pete