Tina’s off and Flying

An overcast Saturday morning greeted us when we awoke in the Barossa. Jason was not well so off Kirsten and I went to town to get some supplies. Well the shops don’t always open that early so we decided to look for some country to explore. The overnight rain had made this much more appealing.
So we went for a drive and it didn’t take long to find some nice slippery tracks. Some mud driving practice is really what I have been looking for and we had found it. Slipping and sliding with mud flying everywhere it was great. Anyway thought we better heads back.
We all got organized and drove to the Airfield to meet Glen under gloomy skies. So we weren’t sure if flying was going to be a good idea today. These are not exactly big planes. But the weather was good and off she went into the Sky. The kids were most impressed by it all. A quick flight was all that was possible with rain setting in but none the same I’m sure it was a great experience.
Didn’t get that much work done but we did get some little jobs completed. We did have time for the odd nap and beer drinking. Hopefully next time the weather will be kinder.
Another early start to get the Kids to School on time. All packed up nice and early and ready to leave for 7.00am. But then our first breakdown. Well not really the car started fine just the alternator doesn’t work anymore. Not good news but at least it didn’t happen half way to QLD where I’m sure the replacement cost would be much higher.
Back home and nothing much has changed still raining but it is spring.

Spring has nearly Sprung

After our fruitless effort fishing on Monday we have been concentrating back onto getting ready for QLD. The Canoe rack is at Snowy’s. I would say getting welded up but for those of us who know Snowy it always going to be ready soon, but he did share some great canoeing stories with us. We are going to pick up the awning for the Tojo next week and the Solar shower is now completely designed and will also be our big project over the next few days. The wiring is now completed so that was a crucial item to be completed.

We are in the Barossa this weekend hopefully painting the picket fence. Wow that nearly sounds like I’m looking forward to it, but I think some good late August rains might solve that problem for us. It has been really nice and sunny the last few days only 15-16 degrees but it is getting closer to spring so the nicer days will come. September is always my favourite month in Adelaide.

We have made a draft of our route to Bris Vegas just so we had some idea. I was more in favour of just driving in the right direction. It is now less than three weeks till we take off so the pressure is on.

We have been practicing our bush cooking and knocked up a great Chicken & BBQ rice the other night for our first use of the new plates.

I know we keep saying it but we will have some cool photos soon I promise.

Pt Willunga

We went fishing today, because we could! at Port Willunga, it is so beautiful down there, no fish!! but the view was worth it. The water is so clear and inviting, a little too cold still for my likings, and to top it all off we had a nice sunny warm morning. It also happened to be a doge tide and from what I’m told by the experts…….”when there’s a doge tide don’t bother putting in a line!” Oh well at least we gave it a go. This gave me a chance to start on a project Andy and I are keen to do all the way around the country, I took a plastic bag walked up the beach and picked up all the rubbish I could see. We will write more about this in our section called “Environment” we hope to get this up and running soon. More details to come…..

I have got the damper in the Cobb down pat now deliciously light and fluffy. I love the oven, we have baked cakes & cookies and all have turned out fantastic. Just ask Michael, Jason & Kirsten made him a cake for his birthday early on in August.
Andy finished work last Wednesday and we have been taking it pretty easy for last few days, but today we got back into working mode, Andy has finished the mammoth task of tidying up the wring behind the dash etc. Good on you Andy! Mum and I have been working on new curtains for the van too, although they are not needed for the trip to QLD, I wanted to get that job started.

Counting Down the Rainy days

Hi All,

Not much to report over the last two weeks other than rain, hail, wind storms and frozen mornings. I hope the farmers don’t complain about the rain this year because I can tell you there has been plenty.

We haven’t really done much work getting ready for the trip other than continuing the difficult task of preparing finance and logistics. Modern society really has us locked up. It is no wonder we all have to work.

We’ll on a brighter note Tina has now finished work and has become a “Self Funded Retiree” That just leaves me with two weeks to go and then we will have no excuse in finishing off the 56 jobs we have on our list.

We discovered a couple of water leaks in the Caravan over the weekend but I’m not surprised if it rains hard enough and long enough I suppose we would leak too!

So next week it will be full steam ahead, well at least after a couple of days sitting around drinking home brew to excess. We must do this because we need to do some planning and all good planning is done when to much beer has been drunk.

As soon as it stops raining I will take some pictures and add them to the Blog. Expect some real exciting updates over the next few weeks prior to our trip.

We will try to catch up with as many of you as we can prior to us going on our first adventure if not we will back in SA in November.

Kapunda Weekend

Although this had nothing to do with our trip or getting ready it was such a fantastic weekend we had to include it.
A weekend in the Barossa, accommodation, food and all the Beer you could drink. Well sounds great but there was a catch. We had to work on getting a property ready for renting. A small task you might think but well let me tell you this was no ordinary task. 41 metres of Picket fence with feature posts stepped picketing and multiple gates. Chuck in a couple of trees to cut down an a dry Blue stone retaining wall over 20 metres long and not quite the cruisy little weekend you may have thought.

Add to this three of the coldest days ever with some rain and Hail and this was a weekend to remember. The food was great the beer was better the company was fine but the weather well that certainly made it an interesting challenge. We had a great time but are both very sore. We will add some photos once we get hold of them and then you can see just what a big job the fence & retaining wall were. All in all a great weekend and one we will talk about for a long time to come. The owners were more than pleased.

Just one thing if you go anywhere where it is so cold that your door handles are frozen in the morning move to bloody Queensland.

The Oven

This weekend has been wetter than last, but still we managed to get more jobs marked off the list. The list that continues to grow with the more time we have to think about what we need to get done before “D” day. Oh well at least we will have a little luxury and will be ready for what ever pops around the corner, although neither of us were in the Scouts, one of our mottos are you can never be too prepared.
This weekend we put in the oven, we are very proud of our new oven, as some of you may know we love food so this baby will be a major part of our lives! You will also note by the photo it will also play a roll in keeping us warm!
Hoping the next weekend we have will involve some sun & fishing. None has been done so far & we have many beaches to choose from, hopefully we will be able to tell you about our catch next soon.

Willunga Move

On the 1st of July we moved to Michaels place in Willunga (well actaully Whites Valley) We are now living the beginning of our dream . Life in a 15 foot van has its challanges and espically as it was just the coldest wettest week for three years.

We spent the weekend with the Kids so 4 into a van was lets say interesting.