Day 1 - Dixons Creek to West Wylong
Monday, February 8, 2010 at 04:56AM Hello family, friends & people we know. Well the time has finally arrived, today we departed our beautiful home (Saltbush) and headed off on the first day of our four month adventure.
The time since the wedding has been spent mainly cleaning, organising things for when we are away & packing for the trip. Most of you will have packed for a weekend away or even an extended holiday, but imagine what you would take with you for 4 whole months!
Our LandRover has a towing capacity of 3.5 tonnes, I reckon we are pushing pretty close to the limit. Vanessa has wondered over the last week why I get frustrated when she asks “James can I take another pair of shoes?”.... She already has 10 pairs in the Van!... we are staying in caravan parks in remote areas, not the Hilton in the city!
Do you know how much a can of beans, soup, or tomatoes weighs? A bloody lot! Especially if you have 20 or 30 of them in your caravan cupboard! But I’m not complaining..... when the Discovery is struggling up the hills at 60Km/h with 15 cars stuck behind us all screaming that caravans should be banned from the road.... I’m thinking.... “Can’t wait till dinner tonight”
Yesterday we went to bed early & decided that we would leave by 8am, well we actually drove out at 1030am, best laid plans.....
The trip was fairly uneventful... got my CB radio stuck on channel 40 (the truckie channel)... The truckies are a good source of road information, But some of the conversations are “Colourful”.... I reckon truckies are the only people who can manage to fit the “F” word 5 times into a 10 word sentence!
The only idiot we saw today was on a narrow country road who proceeded to overtake us on double yellow lines on a left hand bend (there was no way he could see what was coming) Dickhead! (Apologies to mum & Sandy for the language)
We are sitting in the van at West Wyalong tonight, they have a DC3 parked on a pole out the front! What the!.... we took a new GPS with us, I’m not happy with it! for those of you who have one of these gadgets you will know that you can choose the voice that gives you instructions. Ours does not give you much of a choice..... we had Mandy who speaks in an American accent on for a while but she was annoying, we then chose Ken from Australia... who actually speaks in quite a posh English accent..... but guess what, our GPS unit has the capability to record your own voice!.... so watch this space, Ness & I are going to record real OZZIE GPS voices, Shazza & Bazza from Yarra glen, we will do your GPS if you like? Just think “Slow down ya dickhead!”.... or “Turn around peanut”
Do you know that our van has a digital antenna on the roof, great for anywhere that has digital TV! Not real good in West Wyalong, my favourite TV show is on tonight.... Man VS Wild, I can hear the sound but the picture is not good..... how am I supposed to learn how to rescue me & Vanessa if I can’t watch Bear Grills (yes his real name) & learn my survival tactics!
Ok, might have to ditch Bear Grills & watch a DVD.... will probably put on an episode of Top Gear & watch Jeremy & his team drive exotic cars at way over the speed limit..... will keep me going throughout tomorrow when we sit in the car with 3.5 tonnes of caravan (or should I say 1.5 tonnes of van & 2 tonnes of Vanessa’s stuff!) struggling along at 80k/hr
Adios till tomorrow, James.
Reader Comments (7)
Thanks for the post James, great to hear that you two finally got away! Just be happy Ness only has 10 pairs of shoes with her if it were me I'd make you build an annexe to house them :) Looking forward to hearing about your travels , Love Mare
So great to hear from you and best wishes on the trip..as for the ten pair of shoes...what are you going to where the other 110 days!?
Happy trails. Look forward to hearing the next update and adventure. Safe travels and talk to you soon.
Only 10 pairs, it is a 4 month trip. You never know what the occasion might bring. I brought 4 pairs of shoes to the Yarra and that was only a 3 nights well 2 nights in albury as well.
Love Sarah and the boys
James and Vanessa
I can fully identify with the annoying voice on the GPS - I think we had mandy all the way from Brisbane to Yarra Glen then all the way back via Sydney to Brisbane
while we were in Sydney, Mandy got us lost (according to Brad) which took us through a real slummy area and added half an hour to our trip - so I hate her too
as for the shoes, they are a essential part of a womans wardrobe and the real reason you are weighed down is because of the 10 handbags Vanessa has stashed in the van to go with the shoes. (sorry Vanessa, but he would have noticed them eventually)
have fun see you soon
Heather
West Wylong. Now that's is a top spot:)
Great to hear that the trip has finally come to fruition. Best wishes and safe travels to you both. If the Land Rover breaks down, I know a good diesel mechanic.
Thanks for the email guys. It'll be great to keep updated with your travels.
Cheers to a safe, troublefree, exciting journey.
And James, another thing we have in common - Bear.
What a legend hey!
He was in the Panama again last night.
I have Bear's adventure in Scotland that Marc bought me for XMAS.
Looking forward to watching soon.
Take care. love sandy marc and benny.xxxx
I love this ! This site is great to see and hear what is going on with you guys .... so you're on the road and all going well so far - other than driving at 80km/hr then teasing yourself with TOP GEAR ! BOX LOVES TOP GEAR TOO .... love the commentary very very very amusing :) would love to hear the truckie talk !!! And recording your own GPS Voice LOVE IT - how much fun !! That would be hilarious !!!!
Can't wait to hear about the adventures and travels along the way ... SAFE TRIP and more importantly ENJOY !
Take Special Care - Mr & Mrs BOXHEAD XOXOXOX