A number of people have asked me how we came to take this time off to travel and what precipitated it. Here’s what happened…

Back in February last year I was sitting around one night randomly surfing e-Bay and looking at motorhomes – big converted buses – and dreaming of how much fun it would be to simply buy one and shoot off. I was drooling at the thought of it…

At the same time I was contemplating how safe and predictable and routine suburban life can sometimes be and it was annoying me. While I have never felt myself ‘locked down’ I was aware that the degree of spontaneity in life had decreased as we lived ‘responsibly, with kids in school, a house, a dog etc. I was also at a point where I was weary from 6 years of mission work and it was easy to see other possibilities.

That night it was as if those two thoughts spontaneously combusted and I found myself saying to Danelle quite seriously, “Look, let’s buy one of these babies and hit the road.”

“When?”

“I dunno – give it a month?”

“What?!”

“Ok 6 weeks…”

Danelle is much more spontaneous than me when it come to the little things of life, but I tend to make bigger decisions more rapidly. This was a bit too rapid for her.

“But… what about our house?… Winston?… earning money?… Upstream?… your business?… kids schooling?…”

“We can sort it out. I mean why wouldn’t we?! I reckon life has got way too safe and we should just take off and have an adventure. Who knows where it could lead?!” I thought my argument was quite convincing… but that’s where we are different…

I was quite confident we could do it. I was seriously motivated, so nothing looked too hard. I don’t think she took me anywhere near as seriously as I took me… If she had said ‘lets do it I think I would have hit ‘buy it now’ and started packing.

However over the next week we negotiated a deal that both of us could live with. We agreed to take a year to plan, save and prepare and then do it in April 2009. I wasn’t super happy with the deal, but it wasn’t a flat ‘no’, more just a ‘steady eddy’.

So the 14 months of planning gave Danelle time to catch her breath and me time to work my butt off and earn some $$$ to pay for the trip. As with most things the ‘anticipation’ phase is half of the enjoyment.

Along the way we gave a lot of thought to the most suitable travel vehicle and after much consideration we decided on the Jayco Eagle camper van.

The big crazy motorhomes looked great, but with the cost of fuel, the higher upfront cost and the limitations on their maneuverability we decided against them. I still reckon they’d be fun… if I had a spare $200K…

The Camper cost us $15K and because it was so cheap we figured it allowed us more $$ for other things. In the end it was a toss up between an expanda van at $30K which would give worse fuel economy or the Eagle which was cheaper, but obviously less convenient.

As we travel now we still aren’t always convinced we made the right choice, as there are days when more space and less set up would be nice, but maybe a bigger van is for next time (yes – there will be a next time). The Big Thirsty Bugger (BTB – previously known as Big Red) drinks gas at 4km/l and petrol at about the same so we wouldn’t want to lower those figures at all.

When we left Barn Hill we managed to get the pack up done in about an hour without going too hard and that felt good. So I imagine as time goes on we will get smarter with it all and get better at it.

I don’t think there is a way to get BTB running at any better economy although one of the friends we made along the way tells me drives at 75-80km/hr instead of 95 and that makes all the difference. I just can’t imagine driving that slow around the city let alone in the bush!

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Well the decision to travel with an Espresso Machine and Coffee Grinder instead of a chemical toilet has been a most excellent one.

A month before we left I scored a Breville Aroma from a local garage sale for $40.00. Usual story – used once and it ‘didn’t work’… (Loose translation = I have no idea how to make coffee) and it has delivered surprisingly good coffee – although that may be as much about the beans and the barista…

For those considering buying one it is a good little machine for the money. Having used a Sunbeam EM6910 for a good 18 months now I’d have to say it certainly isn’t in the same league, but it can still churn out a decent flat white.

Its limitations:

• Only one pump so it can’t deliver coffee and texture milk at the same time – no biggie really

• No auto settings – for people like Danelle… If you hit ‘pour’ it will pump water thru the portafilter until there is no water left in the tank.

• Lacks a hot water stream so you need to boil the kettle if someone is a black drinker

Positives:

• The steam wand does a good job of frothing milk

• We find that although the double portafilter looks small we get two ‘cup’ sized coffees out of it with no problem.

• It is small and therefore more portable than the Sunbeam.

All in all if you are doing some powered site camping and you are a coffee lover then it’s a decent option. We were going to revert to the stove top, but its just not the same.

One strange problem I have encountered is that on two occasions it has been unable to pump water thru the filter. I wasn’t sure whether the portafilter was blocked or the coffee ground too fine. Ironically both times when I had offered to make someone a coffee… After 3 or 4 attempts it righted itself, but I am yet to detect the problem.

The beans I roasted before leaving have almost come to an end now and as you can guess they are getting a tad stale. Still quite drinkable and most people wouldn’t notice, but we are on the decline in terms of quality so I have had Ryan ship me up 4kg of my green beans from home and this Sunday for my birthday the kids are getting me a popcorn popper so we can always have a fresh brew wherever we go.

I know it’s a tad obsessive, but some things in life just aren’t worth doing badly…

I haven’t had a coffee in Broome yet, but I have seen one Fiori sign which suggests there may be something good happening.download don t answer the phone dvd

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With being on holidays I expected to stack on a bit of weight. A few extra drinks, lots of goodies and some lavish evening meals. I tend to indulge a little when away…

But the cook has been serving up a fair few vego meals and we have been eating much less meat – cause it would be cheaper just to buy a cow and strap it to the roof rack.

We also haven’t been eating much at all between meals and going to bed at 9.00 means not a lot of evening snacking. So I haven’t gained much at all. Not quite slim Jim, but neither am I lining up for Biggest Loser.

I’m a bit concerned about the long term impacts of a diet deficient of large amounts of red meat though…

We will need to fix that one…

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On the way from Karratha to Port Hedland Big Red’s air con stopped working. I was ready to kill someone…

It happened as we were leaving Karratha so we quickly ducked around to the auto elec and asked him what we should do. He talked about different head pressures in the NW rather than the city and said he could degas and regas… We switched it back on while there and it came back.

I wasn’t up for spending $270.00 for something I wasn’t convinced needed doing so I said we’d shoot off and take a chance on it. It was about 36 degrees and we were headed for Port Hedland.

I prayed.

A lot of use that was…

The air con dropped out every two minutes or so for the next hour. I got a stress headache from being so angry.

After an hour it came good and we drove into Hedland slightly less annoyed. The next day was a Saturday so we didn’t bother trying to book it in to get looked at (thankfully).

We drove to Barn Hill, with no problems until we got to the final 5kms of the trip and it spat it again. Hmmm… This is not looking good….

Fortunately we didn’t feel it too bad on that occasion.

I called the air con expert who fixed it previously who spoke of dodgy wiring connections etc etc… I wasn’t convinced.

So today, working off a bit of a hunch, I got online and did some research as to whether engine temperature can affect air con performance and guess what?…

It turns out the GQ Nissan Patrol has a cut-out switch at the base of the radiator that comes into play if the engine temperature gets too hot. I read thru several forums where guys have driven themselves insane trying to sort this stuff out, only to discover this switch…

It seems the combination of a fully loaded car, a very hot day, a camper trailer and driving at 100km/hr tipped this baby over the edge.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!!!!

What’s the deal with Nissan designing a 4WD with an air con that works unless things get too hot?!

I trawled thru the forums and read of people trying to resolve this problem with mammoth radiators and new fans and all sorts of gizmos, but usually without success. I also read of blokes with other Patrols who never encountered the problem.

However the general consenus was that extreme weather conditions, heavy loads and fast driving can combine to cause the problem we are experiencing. So on the one hand I am relieved to have solved the issue, but on the other I am still livid at the fact that no one knew this in the first place.

It seems it is not worth disconnecting the switch as it will inevitably lead to a fried motor – although one forum writer took that action and suffered no consequences at all.

The original reason I dropped the car in was because on several very hot days the air con cut out… That was it… There was nothing else wrong with it…All the other nonsense has come subsequently.

So it seems that we have a car with mind of its own when it comes to air con. If it gets a bit hot then it will switch itself off. Apparently Nissan do not see this as a design flaw…

What the?…

To be fair the air con has done very well on this trip with the exceptions of those extreme days, but I wonder what it would mean if you lived in the NW permanently?

I think the solution may be simple.

Back to Landcruisers…

So we will see how we go for the rest of the trip, but given we are in the hottest part of the world, with heavy loads and doing high speeds there could be moments when we offer a few well chosen expletives into the bush.

I realize some of you don’t give a toss about my car issues, but I write this because some other poor bloke will one day do a search for ‘does GQ Patrol air con cut out when hot?” and they may just save themselves a truckload of pain and $$ in the process.

More info or or

Surely a lay-person shouldn’t be expected to know this?…/

Located 130km south of Broome right on the coast, we had heard this place was pretty nice and allocated 5 days of our trip to staying here.

We weren’t sure quite what to expect, but it has certainly been a winner. The campsite is located 10km down a dirt track and is easily accessible by 2WD. The powered sites are situated among big shady trees and the unpowered are on the other side along the ‘cliff’ edge. For a family of 4 it costs us $38.00/night, but it is $24.00/ night for a couple.

You get power, water and a heap of space to spread out in. The beach is just a 200m walk and it is sensational. It is white sand over red rock and because of the wave action the beach is littered with quite beautiful rocks and shells. The water is warm and we have been really enjoying our time here.

There were a couple of other families here during our stay as well as the first wave of ‘grey nomads’ (an Aussie term for the retirees who make the annual sojourn north during the winter months). I was a tad worried that 5 days in the same spot with nothing to do or see might drive me crazy, but the time has flown and we have loved it here.

It seems the day starts off quite cool as there is a nice breeze during the night (I slept with the doona over me) then it warms up rapidly and the wind has been blowing strong the last few days thru to lunchtime. As I sit here and write this (Thursday) it is blowing at maybe 25knts and making it pretty unpleasant, but most days have been better than this. It does get very hot through the day until about 4pm when the shade increases and the sun loses some of its intensity. The evenings are beautiful and the mossies are minimal.

It seems there is a regular crew who come here for a few months at a time and a little community has formed among them. If you are a retiree and looking for a different experience of community then this could be a great adventure. Bring your dinghy and some fishing nouse and you’d be set. It’s a dog friendly place so you can even bring your mutt if you are so inclined.

We did consider coming back here for another week after going to Broome as we are about to enter crocodile country and swimming venues might be a little more restricted, but knowing there is still plenty to see we thought we would just press on.