Friday 6th July – Well we are all packed, hooked up and raring to go on our biggest trip yet, 8 weeks, yeah. There has been a lot of preparation for this trip, loads of cooking and pre mixes ready to go. Being restricted on foods does make things a bit more difficult and creates a lot of work but it’s worthwhile to make sure I’m not crook on the trip. You can see my web site Simply Grain Free to see the food restriction I (Kate) have and how I manage, I have even co-written a cook book. Makes life interesting 🙂
Other preparation has been some more modifications to the Ute. The rear was hanging a bit low last time, so we have new springs and a bit of a lift done on the rear by ARB, and Chris installed some Air Bags to help give extra lift when needed and a smoother ride. We now have a winch, driving lights, CB and have upgraded the tyres to Cooper ST Maxx, and we now have two spares for the Ute. The trailer and Ute now have the same size tyres, so hopefully we will not have the issues with tyres we did last trip.
We have also put a Stone Stomper on the trailer and an extra Jerry can holder. We don’t expect we will have too many issues with flies this trip, mice maybe. Fingers crossed there is no mouse plague this year, but we have picked up some extra led strip lights to throw under the trailer and Ute to help deter the little blighters.
Unfortunately we had some horrid individual try and break into the Ute earlier in the week. Looks like they use dsomething like a tyre iron. They did some damage but didn’t get in. They bent the door frame a bit, and the seal, leaving a gap (where the tyre iron made it through) so it wasn’t dust or water tight as it was, also made some deep scratches. Police and insurance mob were called, getting it on record and ready for a proper fix when we get home as we didn’t have time to get it fixed before we left. Chris managed with quiet a lot of effort to bend the door in enough and we ran an extra seal along the door to help seal it. We have also taken extra seal with us just in case it’s needed. Tell you there are some really rotten people around, as a friend used to say “bless them with a brick”
We also know that there are some wonderful people out there, many we have the fortune of meeting on the road so we won’t be put down by this and are excited to be heading off. So where are we going on our great adventure this trip. We head west to Birdsville via Roma and Mitchell. Spend a day or two in Birdsville before hitting the Birdsville track, taking our time and enjoying everything the track has to offer. Then along the Oodnadatta track, Dalhousie Springs, Alice Springs, Uluru, Kings Canyon and MacDonald Ranges, then north, who knows maybe into Kakadu. Lawn Hill has been on wish list for ages so hopefully we will pop into there as well. After that we don’t know, where ever we want in the time we have left. Should prove to be a great trip with some iconic destinations. 🙂