Where the Hell have I been?

[Mad Aussie]

I have to say "wow", too. Sounds like you're still in the middle of getting on the road full time. Please, keep us updated, at least occasionally, and let us see where you are from time to time.

I intend to for sure. But with money suddenly becoming scarce, it might be 6 mths or more before hit the road for real. That's ok though, plenty to do around here at my brothers place to help him out yet.
Yesterday I made wall braces to hang his fiberglass canoe up to it can be put on top of his Landcruiser easier. Also made extension brackets from his roof racks and put a roller on so the canoe can be slid off the car by one person at the water. Hope to test that all out in a few days time

[Mad Aussie]

Quick update ...

Still in Beerwah and will be for some time yet. The economy has really put a dent in our plans at present but we are slowly chipping away at the things we need/want.
Work on the caravan (trailer) is progressing.
I've rewired and fitted electric brakes and put a brake controller in the car.
We've cut off the old corner stabilisers and fitted new, stronger ones.
I've totally painted the underneath and chassis with bitumen underbody paint to seal it all up.
That was after moving the original water tank and fitting a new, larger one as well.
I've fitted a 12v water pump and new plumbing to the tanks so they can be separately filled and used via either the handpump or the new electric pump.
New chains welded to the drawbar.
Removed and replaced a bit of dry-rot from under the doorstep.
Sealed the roof.
Fitted shelves to existing cupboards and replaced some sliding doors.
Built new cupboard/storage.
Fitted removable extensions for our office spaces to give extra room for keyboards etc.
Added new shelving in corners for convenience.
Completely added a new 12v system of LED strip lighting to inside of cupboards so the light comes on inside the cupboard when we open a door.
Replaced old incandescent 12v lights with new LED pads.
Replaced the silly single powerpoints with double and 4 point units.
Replaced all cupboard door handles with new ones.
Made bed hinged for easier access to storage underneath.
Made hinged stove cover.
Made new utilities (knives, forks etc) drawer.
New 12 pin trailer connector on both car and trailer.
Leanne and her mum made and fitted new curtains.
Brought a proper pop-top air conditioner unit, but yet to fit.

And there's still plenty to go yet.

Hi everyone watching this thread ... We left! Yep ... today (at 3am) we rolled out of Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast (about 100 kms nth of Brisbane Queensland) and drove to a small town called Casino in New South Wales. Not sure why it's called Casino as there's none to be seen.

My last update (quoted above) was in December and, at that point, I still had plenty to do before we could leave. Easter seemed a possibility depending on work but winter (May, June, July here) was more likely it seemed.

However, with some changes to the plans, and lowering of standards perhaps we now live temporarily about 5 hrs drive south of where we did before. Mind you, everywhere we live now for a couple of years, will be temporary

So ... the work on the van continued ... but severely affected by rains that started back then and didn't stop until a couple of weeks ago. It was amazing. At one stage we were literally isolated at the back of my brothers property, unable to move the caravan out due to the ground being so soft and water logged. There was algae growing in the grass and puddles. We could scoop it up in our hands. Never seen anything like it. In between rainfalls I did what I could and then the last couple of weeks have been very busy finalising the work for the journey.

I got the air-conditioning in, finally.
Put in a 400W solar panel system with twin batteries to run our 12 volt systems.
Finished the extra cupboards.
Put in twin expelling 12v fans for the fridge to help the cooling process
Fitted a 'Nudge' Bar to the car
Fitted a Mobile phone antenna for internet connect in the car so if it's unavailable at the caravan we can drive to where it is with the laptop.
Fitted gas struts to the pop top
Fitted gas struts to the bed for easier access to the storage underneath
Flipped the axle to below the leaf springs to allow more height for stabilisers and hanging spare wheels underneath

Today is Easter Good friday, and we had originally intended to leave just after Easter but when other family members (both my brothers families and my parents) decided to do a road trip for Easter we chose to leave with them this morning as our intended destination (Evans Head on the coast) was along their route. However, Easter had the coastline booked out so we chose Casino which is inland an hour or so. We will see the family again on their stopover on their return journey. At that point, we may not see any of them in person for a very long time.

For those interested in following our journey ... you can do so on our Where's Sooty? facebook page ... https://www.facebook.com/WhereIsSootyToday?ref=hl where we will endeavour from now on to regularly post random shots and info from our trip.

Hopefully I'll also find time to come here and post a few shots as well.

So, we are giving the dream a go ... and are intent on making it happen. Failing something going very wrong, we hope it does