Day 111: Brisbane - Rainbow Beach

We survived two days in the trailer. The bed was surprisingly comfortable, either that or we had just spent two weeks too long on an inflatable bed...

With the car packed up we set off in the direction of Fraser Island. On the way we stopped at the Ginger Factory and sampled their delicious wares.

"I'll have ginger with everything!"

We were feeling a bit gingerly after ploughing our way through big bags of ginger biscuits and lemon and ginger shortbread after having steak with ginger chutney for lunch, quickly followed by ginger and chocolate ice-creams.

So when we arrived at Rainbow Beach, the gateway to Fraser Island, it was getting dark. I am hoping we are not going to get into a habit here but we once again rented a cabin thinking that it couldn't get any worse.

Let's put it this way... it didn't get any better.

Em

Day 109: Tugun - Brisbane

We have turned into trailer trash!

Our car is in the garage getting all the bits we have ordered, this will take two days.

We were very disorganised this morning and as a result we were late coming up from the Gold Coast. There was no time to set up the tent and unload the Prado, so in our haste we rented a cabin.

I have often wondered what these cabins were like...

I need not wonder any more...

The cabin slept 5, there was the double bed and 3 vinyl bunk beds. The first thing that hit me was the smell of cheap aftershave. It was as if the place was doused in it. The beds looked like they had seen better days, lots of them and there was a tiny shower tray with a curtain that gave the cabin en-suite status.

I may have to sleep fully clothed and levitate.

One small bonus, there is a TV and we haven't seen one of them for a long time. We may even find out what is going on in the real world.

Em

Day 102: Brisbane - Surfers Paradise

Viva Surfers Paradise!

We set off this morning, bright and early. Well not so bright and not so early. Why is it whenever we take a tent down it rains?

We waited for the rain to abate so we could speed pack the car. Check out of the camp site was 10AM, I think we managed to leave around 11AM with a decidedly damp smelly car interior, ahh we miss Henry!

It only took us 40 minutes to drive down to the Gold Coast. We were very surprised at the sight that greeted us when we arrived at Surfers Paradise.

Surfers Paradise is very built up, it has Q1 the worlds tallest residential building, skyscrapers of every shape and colour you can imagine. There is even a Versace hotel which we could only gaze at across the water from our very barren caravan site.

The weather was not great and it took us over an hour to pitch our tent because the wind kept interfering, no bugger offered to help us either. Some man kept on coming out and watching us struggle, it was really annoying me.

With that exhausting us, we spent the rest of the afternoon recovering.

Oh, and looking for the tent pole bag that has disappeared, more than likely blown away... it was there when we started, I am hoping it is under the tent.

It's bloody windy, I hope this tent stays up.

Emelie

Day 100: Brisbane (OJG)

Hey all,

I thought I would write a summary of the last week or so, not that there is much fun stuff to tell!

Basically changing our means of transport, our home, and our daily routine has knocked us for six!

First off, we spent a lot of the time downsizing all our possessions. It is amazing how much rubbish comes out of a Kombi! We got Henry emptied, sorted out all of the bits into piles of "need" and "don't need", and then repeated the process about 2 further times on the remaining "need" piles!

Once that was done, we gave Henry a good clean (and found out that a mouse had just moved in 2 nights before, it likes almonds!). I sprayed a few of the rusty areas on the outside with white paint, before we filled him up with our "don't need" pile, and took him to Custom Offroad where he will go into storage. Of course about 4 days later we had another box full of "don't need" stuff!

Whilst shedding our old skin we have also spent a lot of time preparing our new one! The Prado needed several modifications in order for it to tour and off-road better. We gave ourselves a budget for this, and as usual the mod I wanted the most was cut out! I will do a separate blog entry with plenty of detail when we have all the mods fitted. Suffice to say that it took about 2 days driving around car orientated industrial estates before we found ourselves a good deal. Unfortunately they would not be able to get all the bits and start work for another 2 weeks. Sigh.

Once the big stuff was out of the way, we needed to get all the smaller bits. Top of the list was a new larger tent. Emelie wanted to stick with the Black Wolf Turbo Twin tent and we found a large 6m x 2.4m version. It cost a small fortune, but we were assured we were buying the best money could buy... yep.... we were told wrong!

After 3 days (it would have been less except for a bank holiday), we took the tent back. We took it back on the basis that it was missing a tiny toggle loop at the top, which in itself was not actually a big deal. However the night before it had rained really hard, and as luck would have it we woke up with several pools of water inside the tent. Most tents use a 2 layer approach to stop rain coming in, but Black Wolf have to be all smart and just apply a rain resistant coating to their single layer. This works fine, as long as nothing touches the sides. Suddenly the large tent becomes very small, and frankly rather pointless. We had other gripes too, but I won't go into all of them.

Having had enough of the big camping shops, we found a nice small one that recommended us the Coleman Northstar. Even better, they had one of last years models available for half price. This tent is perfect in just about every way: Strong supports; Lets lots of light in; Tall ceiling all over; Huge awning; Small packed size; Carry case has plenty of room (no wrestling required). On the negative side, it can get hot during the day, and of course bloody cold at night!

To go with our new tent we have had to buy a few new camping accessories such as foam mats, groundsheet, outdoor lantern, and even a couple of rugs and side lights to make the tent feel just a tad more homely (it really does helps).

And then, I remembered that I still had to do the vehicle owner transfer. In Australia it is really good, because they have loads of public locations run by the Department of Transport, where you can sort out all of your vehicle related needs! Easy... Well it was in WA, so it should be here in QLD...

[note: I don't want to frighten people off by using lettering that is too big or garish, or with a flashing background (Dave!), but believe me when I say that the following line should be a lot bigger!]

I WAS WRONG!!!

How wrong? Let me tell you! I take the 1 page transfer document which the previous owner partly filled in (I filled in the rest), the 6 page recent safety certificate for the vehicle, the 1 page original vehicle receipt, and of course all the paperwork for myself that I can find. At the nearest Department of Transport office (hall would be more appropriate, it was a big place), I join a queue for about an hour. I get to a clerk, who takes all my papers, undoes the various staples, and promptly asks me for my Queensland driving licence! I don't have one, I reply. She then asks me for my Queensland address. I don't have one of those either. She then tells me "ok, well I cannot help you, this is not my problem", re-staples all the documents and hands them back to me.

Excuse me?! I protest. After all, what if people have bought a vehicle but are from Sydney or Melbourne, or what if they have no address at all? Am I supposed to just go back to the sellers and tell them sorry, I am not allowed to have this car?!

After explaining a few of these scenarios, the lady just could not see how crazy their system was. However, her lunch break was due, and seeing that I was not leaving, she raced off to her supervisor who instructed her to give me another handful of forms. After another 10 minutes of discussion, I walked out, absolutely furious.

In order for me to legally acquire this vehicle, I had to not only fill out the F3220 transfer form, but also a Queensland Department of Transport Customer Application form! I have to additionally supply my passport, UK driving licence, bank card, medical card, a recent document with an Australian address, a Queensland "Garage" address (if this belongs to someone else, they have to then fill out yet another form and supply a recent utility document with their address). How many times do they need to verify my identity?!

After sorting out all of the above, I went to a different DoT office, and handed over the stack of forms and documents. The woman behind the glass inspected all of it, and then told me she could process all of this, but that it would all be legally void as I would need a QLD driving licence. At which point she handed me several new forms that I would have to fill out. She saw the look of despair on my face, and said that I could do the licence another day, and how did I want to pay the $610 tax? Arghhhh

So, after a solid day of driving around acquiring more and more paperwork we finally became the legal owners of the Toyota Prado, woo-hoo, although technically we are still not sure if we are legally allowed to drive it?!

And that in a nutshell has been our last week. I told you there was no fun stuff!

Actually, there was one little thing that brought a smile. This pigeon (Ben, can you name it for us?) with the cutest feathered feet that kept on coming up to our table in a cafe near the industrial area. We returned a few times to the cafe, and the pigeon was always there marching up and down along the tables, like a Sergeant major inspecting his squad. Very cute!

Day 97: Brisbane

Traffic is really bad in Brisbane.

Everywhere we go, no matter what time, we end up in a traffic jam and all through the night we can hear the highway traffic from our camp site. I have resorted to wearing ear plugs.

I believe the road infrastructure here has a lot to be desired and there is talk of tunnelling under the river to ease congestion. I think it is going to take a lot more than that.

Brisbane also claims to have over 500km of cycling track. Most of the cycling track we have seen appears to be an after thought where a bicycle symbol has been painted where cars parallel park. Which means if you are pelting down the road at 25km/h and someone opens their car door... your buggered.

Emelie

Day 95: Brisbane

"I have got a surprise for you tonight"

Oly really knows how to get my attention.

"Oh?" I replied, desperately trying to remain calm, flicking an invisible speck of dirt off my t-shirt in an uninterested kind of way.

Oly is really good at surprises, they are always the best ever, exactly what I have always wanted and needed. He manages to do it every time. Me, on the other hand, I have to tell him what I have bought him for Christmas because I am so excited, plus I sneak a peak at my presents under the tree. In my defense, I do it less since I have got older... probably something to do with time flying by and before I know it, it is Christmas eve and I still have a turkey to stuff.

I spent the most of the day wondering what I had done to deserve a surprise and the rest of the time wondering, and audibly guessing, what the surprise was, much to Ol's exasperation.

"Are we going to the cinema and sitting in the Gold section?"

"No"

"Are we going to visit someone?"

"No"

"Are we going out for a meal and you're going to romance me?"

"No"

"Monster truck racing?"

"No"

"Are you sure we aren't going to the cinema?"

"What time does it start?"

"What should I wear?"

"Will there be many people there?"

"Will I have to participate or are we spectators?" (it better not be one of those Hypnotherapy shows)

I bet he wished had just surprised me rather than give me 10 hours in which to vocalise my excitement which rapidly turned to vocalised apprehension around 8PM when we were walking down dark back streets in the middle of Brisbane's "Valley" and Ol was starting to look lost. It didn't help when I saw the Church of Scientology.

We finally turned a corner and walked past a huge queue which snaked around the block. As we went past the start of the queue, I caught a glimpse inside of a poster with the word "Joe".

"So we are going to see Eskimo Joe then?" I asked as if i had known all along.

"Yup"

(hurrah!)

It was the opening night of Eskimo Joe's "Beating Like a Drum" tour at the Tivoli Theatre. When we got inside a Brisbane band we didn't know, Iron On, were playing and after about 30 minutes of roadies faffing on stage, Little Birdy came on. Finally around 11PM Eskimo Joe played for an hour.

Both Eskimo Joe and Little Birdy are bands from Perth. Eskimo Joe were excellent, we would happily see them again. They were worth the very very very long wait... the lead singer, Kav Temperley, worked the crowd well. We were a little thrown by his accent which sounded English. Oly and I did that "Well I never, fancy that!" look at each other when we first heard him. I have it on Google authority that he is from Fremantle and travelled a lot as a child which could account for him betraying his Aussie lilt.

On the negative side, they really do need to get their roadies sorted out. The time between each band was too long and we were starting to lose interest waiting for Little Birdy, let alone Eskimo Joe. Maybe this is normal in Australia... wouldn't stand for it at Brixton Academy!

Em

Day 92: Brisbane

We collected our new landcruiser today. It is bliss to drive. Poor old Henry, we picked him up from the mechanics and it turns out that he is definitely only firing on three cylinders.

All the cylinders were replaced in Townsville at B & J Auto and had a three months warranty, but as we were in England for the three months immediately following the engine rebuild we haven't got a leg to stand on, or four cylinders to fire on, come to think of it.

Henry will be going into storage in Brisbane for a year, he deserves a rest and so do we. Our trip wont be the same without him but we just couldn't continue to pour money into him.

This week is going to be a busy week for us and a very boring week to blog so I will save you all from the pain of having to read about how many 4wd shops we have visited and how much sorting out we are doing.

Unless of course you really want to hear about it...

Emelie

Say hi to our new Prado! (OJG)

Well we have done it, we have bought our new vehicle, a Toyota Landcruiser Prado TX Diesel.

So how did we come to this little gem, well I'll go through it really quickly!

First off, Toyota Landcruisers are the 4x4 of choice in Australia. Well it's brother the Toyota Hi-Lux is famous around the world for being nearly indestructible. The Landcruiser isn't far off that title, but with a lot more comfort. It also wins just about all the 4x4 awards. Repeatedly.

Additionally, it is also the vehicle of choice for the various government agencies, and also their vehicle of choice in terms of "subsidised transport" (more on that another time).

As such, out of every 10 4wd cars, at least 7 are Landcruisers. To say they are popular really doesn't do the phenomenon justice. This in turn means that even in the middle of the outback, you are likely to find Landcruiser mechanics, some will even carry a few spares.

The Prado is a Landcruiser sub-species if you like, that has been shortened just a tad and given a slightly smaller engine. As such it is a bit more manageable. and a lot more fuel efficient. A bit more tourer than off-roader. That is not to say that it cannot handle itself off-road, far from it. It still comes 2nd or 3rd in most of the off-road awards.

So that is how we narrowed the choice down to a specific model. Next the model specifics.

Prados come in 4 standard version. In Effect: Value; Standard; Standard Plus; Deluxe. I had read of various problems with the value model, and in any case wanted some of the extras in the next package such as AirCon, ABS, Cruise Control, Remote Locking, and so on. The Deluxe was something I actually didn't want! Apart from the leather seats which I thought was giving the wrong signal when we go to certain places, it also has a lot of electronic driver aids and air suspension, both of which are a lot more prone to reliability problems. So either of the middle two would have been fine.

Petrol or Diesel. This debate will go on forever! The cost difference at new is about $1000 (£400). The cost difference on a 2nd hand vehicle is between $6000 and $8000. Additionally, even with that kind of price difference (the petrol ones are the cheaper for those that did not know), for every diesel Prado trying to be sold, there are at least 10 petrol Prados. So the technical differences? The petrol has a lot more grunt, no doubt about it. It also only needs a service every 10k as opposed to every 5k for the Diesel. The Diesel on the other hand has about 30% better fuel economy, is a lot more reliable, and has a 2-3 times longer life expectancy.

Minor Details: We wanted it to have done less than 150,000 kms. We were ok with any colour as long as it wasn't gold (we saw several gold Prados that the dealers simply could not get rid of!). We ideally wanted Automatic. This is no sports car, and realistically it will spend 90% of its time on the motorway.

Finally, price and year. Prados were introduced in 1996 (technically known as the Landcruiser Series 90 or Series 95), and since then have had one major change in 2002 (series 120). A new Series 120 with the above requirements costs about $56K. A 2nd hand Series 120 costs between $39k and $48K depending upon extras and mileage (and colour!). A 2nd hand Series 95 costs between $28k and $33k. Prados are available for less, but not with Diesel or with less than 200k on the clock.

So, we opted for the Series 95 (which should hold all of it's value if we decide to sell it again after our trip), and after a lot of research we found a real "bee-yute"! It was everything we were looking for, and although the price was a bit on the high side, we went for it. So far we are very happy!

Although we are not certain if it will get a name, we welcome any suggestions that you might have!

Day 91: Brisbane

We visited Cathy and Nina, friends of Oly's mother, this afternoon. Cathy and Nina own the Yeronga Natural Therapies clinic where Nina is an Acupuncturist.

They have a lovely house by the Brisbane River where we sat on the balcony and ate cream cakes and pastries while sipping English breakfast tea (without staples!) It was all very civilised, and delicious. Actually I am going on hearsay that the cakes were delicious, I was being good and refraining, Oly on the other hand was enjoying every crumb and flake! When beads of sweat started to form on my forehead I knew I had to stop staring at the plate.

Early night tonight, we have to drop Henry off to the mechanics (again) and hopefully we can pick up our new vehicle if it passes the RACQ test.

Em

Day 90: Brisbane

Henry, Oly and I, limped into South Bank where we parked. Oly and I then jumped on the bikes to ride across the river to Brisbane.

We spent the rest of the afternoon cycling around the Brisbane Botanic Gardens enjoying the views. It was nice to do something other than worry about Henry and how we are going to transfer over to the new car. We always have another day to do that.

Em

Day 89: Brisbane

The rain has finally caught up with us. It is very soft and we hardly noticed it. As a result everything we left outside got wet, including our towels which isn't much fun when you need a shower of the soap and shampoo type.

Tonight we met up with Sue, a friend of Oly's grandmother, who lives in Brisbane with her sons Ted and Sam. We all went to dinner at Cinco in Camp Hill and had a truly fabulous meal, I had lamb rack and Ol had the fillet of beef. Peter, the chef/owner, is also a friend of Mam-mam and Sue and we were made very welcome. We will definitely have to go back before we leave Brisbane.

I am salivating already!

Em

Day 88: Brisbane

Henry is running really badly... so bad we are worried every time we go up a hill. He crawls at 5kmh with our foot to the floor and in first gear then threatens to stall whenever we slow down.

So we have decided to take it easy today and get things in order for the new vehicle.

Emelie

Day 87: Brisbane

Today is ANZAC Day.

ANZAC is the acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who landed on Gallipoli, Turkey on the 25 April 1915. This was their first major military action.

This date became a national holiday in 1916 to remember those who have died in wars, past and present, and honours returned servicemen and women.

Oly and I went to the ANZAC Day parade here in Brisbane. It was good to see a huge turn out of spectators lining the streets and buildings, clapping enthusiastically as the servicemen and women, serving and veterans, marched by to the bands.

After the parade we went for a cycle around South Bank, the self proclaimed area "where Brisbane comes to celebrate"... It is south of the river from Brisbane and is very nice in a touristy way. Lots of restaurants and greenery. We didn't stay long, too many hills.

Emelie

Day 86: Brisbane

Oly has done lots of research on Landcruiser Prados and has called up dealers and private sellers for viewings which we have been doing over the last couple of days.

We have finally settled on a 2002 Prado TX all the way up in Cabulcha and have put a deposit down.

Now all we have to do is get the RACQ to check it over.

Simple as that...

Emelie

Day 85: Brisbane

Henry had to wait at Custom Offroad for 5 hours until his engine cooled down so Peter could adjust the tappets.

We made ourselves busy by going to view lots of Landcruisers, we have decided a Prado is the way to go. It is sad to think we wont be doing this adventure with Henry and we are battling with our conscience, but he leaves us and our bank balance very little choice. I must admit I am secretly excited about being able to go more than 80kmh along the highways, not to mention comfortable seats and aircon (even tho we say we wont use it), offroading is just a bonus.

So here we are, Henry is tweaked and we are working out our strategy.

We have much to do.

Emelie

Day 84: Brisbane

We explored Brisbane city centre a bit today, it is pretty small but nice. Everything is very clean and there is an interesting mix of old and new architecture.

We are back at Warrawee for the night and have had a lovely dinner with Danny's mum and dad. We really like what we have seen so far in Redcliffe and will have to come back and explore a bit more on our bikes.

Tomorrow we are up early again to take Henry to Custom Offroad for tweaking. We knew that having a VW kombi would involve being at the mechanics more than your average vehicle... but this is crazy.

Em

Day 83: Brisbane

After a wonderful nights sleep at Warrawee we decide to try another caravan park after the last one was so bad.

We ended up in Newmarket Gardens Caravan Park and it wasn't much better than the last. The tiny pitches are all on top of each other and we are bumper to bumper with the row behind as well.

Our instructions are to nurse Henry until we get him fixed on Monday so we are taking it easy with him. We wouldn't want him to feel left out!

Emelie

Henry?!

Well the last few days have been a little sad. Some of you will probably say this day has been coming for a while, but we never thought it would. Really. So what have we have been doing the last few days? Well nothing to do with adventure, that much I can tell you. We have been looking at buying a new vehicle! Yes, we have decided to let Henry have a rest for a while.

We feel terrible, but we have just come to the conclusion that if we are ever going to make it all the way round Oz we will have to buy something which is a little more capable. I started to get doubts around Cairns, as little problems popped up here and there. After several visits to the Mechanic, we left for Brisbane. In Bundy I noticed a small oil leak, and by the time we finally got to Brisy it was quite serious. Yet another day wasted at the mechanic.

I honestly think that Henry has breathed a sigh of relief. He enjoys short journeys cruising at 80km/h, with long rests. He also likes to build a rapport with just one mechanic, not a different one every few days! I hate to admit it, but I checked back on actual days driving any serious distance, Henry has done 22 since Perth, and covered a not so bad 7,500km. However, he has also spent about 20 days in workshops with 12 different mechanics, and cost... well too much.

We love Henry to bits, and we really will miss not having him with us. But we intend to store him somewhere, and pick him up once we have found a place to live. We are also wary that the rest of our journey around Oz might not be quite such an adventure without him, except that we are looking to a buy 4x4, and as such we will be able to go a lot more places! So the adventure might have changed a little, but it has definitely not lessened! Henry will be with us in spirit all the way.

With a change of vehicle, our daily routine and setup will also change considerably. Specifically most 4x4s have no bed or table, so our temporary home will move from the vehicle to the tent. We'll see how it goes, and no doubt keep you all updated!

Oly

Day 82: Brisbane

We have spent the morning at Custom Offroad in Stafford.

Henry went in with an oil leak and Peter kindly fitted him in between working on an iguana beach buggy.

So what was wrong?

The seal on the oil filter was damaged and Henry was not performing very well. So after lots of testing we found out that number 4 cylinder was giving no power at all. So we had only been running on 3 cylinders, who knows for how long?

At first Peter thought this would be a big job, but then he checked the tappets and found they were out of alignment. We booked Henry in for Monday as they had to be fixed when Henry's engine was cold. Oly asked if this would give back the full power of the cylinder and Peter was doubtful.

We went the the shopping centre for a coffee (artistic licence as Oly doesn't drink coffee, I am just setting the scene) and after much deliberation we decided to go and see what was out there in the form of 4WDs, namely Landcruisers.

When we got to the car sale forecourts on Gympie Road, Henry decided to dump a puddle of oil which was quickly followed by a billow of smoke. We limped back to Peter and he fixed the gasket seal which wasn't tight enough and off we went again.

We have had a look at a few vehicle and have decided a Landcruiser Prado would be a good choice if we were to retire Henry.

I think we are going to sleep on it, luckily for us we are staying at Danny's parents B&B, Warrawee, in Scarborough. I think we will sleep very well...

Emelie

Day 81: Bundaberg - Brisbane

Here we are, at the end of our Rockie to Bundie to Brissie dash via the biggest pineapple we have ever seen!

We arrived in Brisbane late afternoon and only had time to find a caravan site before it got dark.

Trusting the Big 4 brochure we booked in to their 4 1/2 star Gateway Village Caravan Park. It was really disappointing, there was a strange atmosphere, the sites were tiny and the neighbours near and far were very noisy... I don't know where Big 4 get their star ratings from as they are not consistent.

Did we mention Henry has an oil leak, Oly noticed it in Bundaberg and it seems to be getting worse. Early night for us, we need to find yet another mechanic...

Emelie