Momentary Gap (OJG)

Hi everyone,

I know it has been a short while since my lost post, or even any post by us. So I thought I might go over some of the highlights of the last week.

Overall we have been spending money getting stuff for the van. It seems that no matter how much we spend or how much stuff we accumulate, there is always a list of bits that we still need to get. Add to this the issue of getting value for money (and therefore buying things, seeing them cheaper / better somewhere else, taking back old ones, getting new ones, etc) and also not knowing all the best places in this city, and I think it is easy to see how this task can drag on.

Also, dare I say it, my idea of the perfect kombi contents is not necessarily the same as Emelie's idea! But we are getting there ("You can choose the sheet colour, and I will choose the cutlery").

Speaking of colours, we are pondering on having the Kombi re-painted. It is not a necessary expense, but we feel it might be a nice way to personalise it to us. So all suggestions welcome, and I will try to attach a few colour scheme examples after this blog entry. Also the name is still evading us, much to our annoyance... but I reckon Frodo could be a winner soon.

So apart from endless visits to shopping malls, we had a really nice late breakfast in Freo last Sunday with Dick & Alpha and their "posse" :D They all saw the Kombi and loved it, especially the kids who wanted to stay in it instead of going home. After that we went to Emelie's dad's place for dinner where several of Emelie's siblings also came. It was a lovely day all round.

I think it worth mentioning at this point, that the weather is really bad! Seriously. And I for one am no stranger to bad weather, but I have realised there are 3 issues that are compounding this dire coldness for me. First of all, I brought more or less no cold weather clothing over here. Secondly, the house we are staying in is not designed for cold weather. Thirdly, I AM EXPECTING HOT WEATHER! NOW! Puffy... anyway, forecast for tomorrow is more rain and wind.

We took Frodo (ex-Charlie) for a check up a couple of days ago, and he passed with flying colours. In fact even better than expected! Kurt (the guy at V-Dub Repairs) said that we could quite literally start our journey tomorrow, and he doubts that we would have any serious problems for the whole trip. Mechanically Frodo is absolutely great. Bodywork is not as great, but still ok. Emelie and I have written a list of things that we would like to get done and we will probably take it from there.

The vague plan for our adventure is currently like this: On Sunday head South to Margaret River for about 4-6 days, where we will drink plenty of wine, see the sites, and most importantly try living in Frodo. We are hoping that this will show us what additional items we are missing, and what Kombi work needs to take priority on our list.

After Margaret River, head back North to Perth to organise any further repairs and stocks. Depending upon the level of work required we will start the journey full on, probably 5 days after that.

Oh and we finally tracked down the 2 essential books needed for a Kombi when attempting long trips. Thank-you Gavin for letting us know where those bookshops were, we found one book in each shop. I will also be posting a list of all our essential reading in the near future!

What else, got to see some kangaroos finally (well I got to see quite a few on my journey down from Exmouth, but I will talk about those another time). The ones that Danny and Jody showed me are in a park nearby, and they can roam freely in or out. They are a lot smaller than I was expecting, but they are cute and when they jump along you can't help but giggle. No doubt these little guys are the first of many many more.

Well that is it for the moment, I will write a 2nd entry very shortly about my arvo (afternoon) at AQUA.

Oly