On the Road!

"One small step..." a link to the web album has now been established:  Click on box marked "Viking Journey Web Album" above the entries.  It only has a couple of photos at the moment but additional photos will be uploaded as the travels progress.

All things now finalised, booked the ferry for 20th July - an evening departure & a night crossing.  My plans at this stage are to travel to Brisbane via Griffith, Bourke and Charleville, where I'll head east to Brisbane. This should give me a good feel for traveling and further fitting out requirements for the van - mainly to get it more self sufficient power-wise, with solar the most probable option.  From Brisbane I'll do some trips, including one to Townsville in Sept. to meet up with a Vietnam Vet friend who will be there at a reunion.

Packing has been interesting to say the least.  What to take, or more to the point, what not to take, has been a challenge.  So, first in was the fishing gear (Man School had a unique set of priorities), tools took a while, there are way too many clothes packed and some won't return, and you know, I'm sure that sewing machine will generate a story or two! 

Getting the van ready has been interesting.  Testing it at Cozy Corner on the East Coast was fun, winter not-withstanding.  The discovery of leaking coolant on this trip resulted in replacing the radiator, the only fault found in the pre-departure Service.  The drivers seat had a list to port, so I had it's frame straightened & the padding made more comfortable.  The van is currently set up mainly for frequent connection to 240VAC, with a 12/24 VDC fridge, 1.8A battery charger and a small wet cell house battery.  I intend to mainly 'free camp', so will need some method of storing/generating more electricity for longer excursions.  Studying electricity options proved rather involved, so still have to do more work on the exact details for solar, my preferred energy option.  So far, a 'smart charger', 105AH deep cycle battery, inverter and a laptop DC to DC power pack have been obtained.

A UHF radio has been installed, requiring an antenna bracket on the front bullbar and the discovery that it is very difficult to get any access behind the dash!  I can only conclude that the whole dash comes out as a unit somehow, but equally difficult is finding a workshop service manual. Unfortunately, I purchased a GPS navigation system, which was a 'dud' purchase from a supplier very unwilling to either repair/replace the unit or come up with a refund.  The supplier stalls, balks, gives useless 'instructions', requests returning the unit 'for inspection', which he claims it works fine but the unit is returned in the same condition it left, i.e. not working properly.  Meanwhile charging me postage both ways, hoping by stalling long enough I'll give up.  I will probably have to write off the purchase, but will broadcast the supplier - helomolto - all over the internet. 

I return to Tasmania in November, and will remain until after New Year's, when I plan to head for the mainland again, cross the Nullarbor and into southern Western Australia, where there are some terrific forests & reasonable fishing spots. 

I return to Tasmania in November, and will remain until after New Year's, when I plan to head for the mainland again, cross the Nullarbor and into southern Western Australia, where there are some terrific forests & reasonable fishing spots. 

So, sad goodbyes having been said, the final checks having been made, it is On The Road - with a few nights in Launceston along the way!  One final photo of a snow covered Mt. Wellington on my morning walk on the beach.