D day preppers.....

     Car service.....Done       Van service......Done.......So at this stage, with less than two weeks to go, things are on track.  

      We took the van back to Geelong for its service, there were  couple of small things that were to be rectified, completed in good time and a cheery manner.    This trip did not go entirely to plan, whilst parked in the yard at my mothers house, I was showing my brother the equipment I had installed to help us on the trip.  

     I explained the tire pressure monitoring system I have put on the car and van, the state of the art GPS, the rear view camera, etc.   While explaining all this stuff, a beep....beep....beep.. comes from the dash.   Yep, sure enough the tyre pressure monitor, beeping, telling me that the left front tyre on the van had lost pressure.

     So, next I show him me, changing the van tyre in the relative comfort of mums front yard.   It did however prove the effectiveness of the TPMS, and had this happened in the middle of the outback, would have certainly saved damage to the tyre and or van.   Money well spent I feel. 

      The run home from Geelong went without incident, the van is tucked away ready for the trip.  The offending tyre has been repaired, who would have thought a tiny bit of bone (I suspect rabbit or possum) could find its way through all the layers of a tyre?  Anyway....tyre fixed and back on the van.

      Bev is busy organising all manner of fare for the trip, and we are working out where and how best to store it in the van.   We will be buying food and the like during the trip, but we have found it best to have a few things tucked away, for when -  a) Things don't go as planned....b) We are in the middle of no-where and can't buy anything...or c) Just can't be bothered. 

     We have been watching the weather along our planned route, day-time temps are going to be 30+ for most places, so we will pack accordingly.  Night-time temperatures in these area are notoriously cool...so we will pack accordingly .

     There are still a few road closures in place in the Gulf country, places in the Burketown, Lawn Hill, Gregory Downs and Camooweal areas.   So we will keep an eye on them, and adjust our route if required. We don't expect to be up that far for another 5 weeks or so....we'll just cross the fingers and wait.

     So as D day fast approaches.......our preparation or on track, and we are looking forward to hitting the road and heading North.