2 weeks to go!!!!

 As I type this, it is still quite a distance from feeling “real”. 

Sarah and I spent much of the day packing the non-essentials from our home into boxes in preparation for our new tenants. We have bit the bullet and committed to a four month lease agreement beginning the week after we leave. Our home will have the majority of the furniture here with just the beds packed up and put in storage. Our cutlery and crockery will also remain here for the tenants’ use. A exercise in trust? Finance? Craziness? Who knows... We both feel strongly that if anything gets broken, it can be replaced. Memories cannot; however, be bought and sold.

In terms of preparations to the van, I have been doing a heap of mods and installs over the last few weeks. No, I am not handy, have no qualifications or trades...unless hours of YouTube research somehow qualifies me for something? 

The underbody of any Jayco caravan can be likened to a game of Russian roulette, or perhaps Forest Gump could more aptly describe the quality control processes employed by the caravan giant.  We have owned four Jaycos and each of them has had different configurations to the gas, water and 12 volt lines. Our current van has two tanks, a tap on the a frame, a hot water service and a gas bayonet, all with various pipes and connections that sprawl across the underside of the van. Rocks and debris from the Gibb and other rough roads will likely cause damage to these connections and pipes, so some protective work needed to be done. Armed with a couple of hundred cable ties and kflex rubber, I set about wrapping and securing every single water pipe under the van. Hopefully, this will be enough!

Next up was the purchase and install of the mchitch, off road coupling. I have never used one of these before and it had come with some good reviews and recommendations. Given the locations we are going to travel to, I thought it a worthwhile investment. A test tow soon proved that my installation skills were not as bad as I thought, with the van obediently following the prado around some of our local streets. Hookup should be a much easier process now with this hitch and the clevis hooks. 

A proper stone deflector is an absolute must! We have previously engaged the services of Stone Stomper, to fabricate a heavy duty stone guard for us. Our Expanda survived the Mereenie Loop and some of outback Queensland’s rough roads due to its protective qualities, so there really wasn’t any consideration of an alternative. Simply a great product with old fashioned service. 

Lastly, an Anderson plug for the newly purchased solar blanket. A quick test run showed the blanket works and charges well in full sunlight. Hopefully this will enable us to keep running the Waeco as a freezer for longer; especially when we are camped at some of the more remote places for a few nights. 

I am assuming this is right!

Still so much to do with so little time!