And We’re Off

It isn’t the trip around Europe and the US that we originally planned, but after 6 months of planning, purchasing (a lot), weighing (a lot), packing, and a hip surgery, we were finally able to pull it all together and depart on 19th February 2021.

In April, when we realised that the Australian borders were not going to open again for a very long time and that our European trip was not going to come to fruition, we still had the urge to travel and have some adventure. So, we decided to do another trip around Australia. But this time it would be different – with kids in tow and with something a bit more comfortable to live in than a tent. We decided to buy a caravan.

Our First Caravan – Swift Sprite

Shortly after we bought our first Swift caravan in June, we realised that it was not going to be suitable. It did have a wonderfully huge living room space that converted into a queen-size bed for the kids. But we quickly realised after moving cushions and tripping over them, that this was never going to work! It also had such low clearance that it scraped the ground when we went over small speedbumps. In fact, the whole water tank dropped out of the bottom after going over a small speed bump! And, the window broke and needed replacement from the UK! There is only one guy who can order it from Australia and he said it would take 5 months! After 2 months of him not even returning our call, we ordered it ourselves from an online shop in the UK. But of course, they didn’t ship overseas so we had to make other arrangements. Thank god for my very good friend in Bristol to whom I owe many beers!

We decided to upgrade and buy a “proper” 4WD car, and an Aussie made caravan and do it “right”.

Upgrading and Becoming More “Aussie”

The new caravan is a semi off-road (we haven’t tested this yet). As you can see, it has much higher clearance and cladding which should make it a bit more durable on Aussie roads.

Although we originally wanted a Toyota Landcruiser car, we quickly realised that they were above our budget. So, we bought a used Ford Everest and then upgraded it substantially. We removed the back seats (seats 6 & 7) and replaced them with a fridge and a spare battery. We also upgraded the suspension, added a snorkel and a roof rack and bought a bunch of 4WD drive gear for it. When we first bought the car, the kids named it “Evie”. But after all this, “Evie” was transformed into “The Beast”. She’s ready to hit the road, and so is R after he completed his 4WD course last November.

Caravanning

Who would have guessed that caravanning is so complicated and numerical? It has been a very, very steep learning curve! (We’ll probably do a separate blog at some point about that alone). It’s been difficult to learn about all the various weights and limits and how to balance everything. And then there’s the driving….

It’s pretty scary having a 3 ton vehicle behind your car when you’re driving (especially downhill). And if you’re on a bumpy road (which are most roads in Australia) there is sway and the fear of tipping over or crashing.

But, living in the caravan is certainly more comfortable than any tent. And our shower is also excellent – better even than what’s available in the caravan parks.

Our Belongings

The other decision we had to make was with what to do with our belongings. When we did the budgeting, we realised that we wouldn’t be able to afford to put our stuff in storage while we’re travelling. So, we made the decision to build a wall between our double garage and the 3rd garage and put all the stuff from our 4 bedroom house into that 1 car garage space! Needless to say, this involved 2 garage sales, a big delivery to the Salvation Army and plenty of measuring. It really put our Tetris skills to the test! For about a week and a half we were up late lifting and moving.

We also needed to fill in the pond and the hole we had for our ground level trampoline before the tenants moved in on Friday. R was recovering from his hip surgery but still worked several 16-18 hour days in the lead up to get everything ready. Well, we managed to have it all completed at 11:30 (the deadline was noon!).

And We’re Off!

Off we drove to our first stop, Lithgow.