Next step in our set up

Our van went in on Thursday to have the leak fixed and we hope to have it back by next Thursday or Friday.

We have had Rhino Lining applied to the tray of our ute and a canopy fitted as well. We picked the ute up yesterday and ARB have done a great job. We will be able to put 'stuff' in the back now and not have it slide everywhere. They are going to give us a quote to attach some hooks to tie boxes, etc to, to make them even more secure. We only have to buy a solar panel/s which we will do later in the year, early next year. We have a 4 week trip coming up in July, which we will use to work out what else we need. We only want to have the necessities, not all the bells and whistles.

First Trip in Van

Friday, 10 May was overcast as we set off for Brunswick Heads for the weekend. It will be a good test for the van if it rains. We called in to see Bruce's brother, Mike and Mandy, at Eltham, to show off the van. They loved it.

We managed to get the van set up without too many hassles, and in the rain. Yes, it had started raining by the time we arrived. We had booked into Terrace Reserve Holiday Park. It is in a great position, being right in town and across the road from the cafes. It rained most of the weekend, on and off, and quite heavy at times. We managed to get a couple of walks in, a couple round town and also out to the end of the breakwater. The Brunswick Hotel has a fabulous courtyard area out the front which is very substantial and we had a great lunch there on the Saturday. We were very happy with the caravan park and would happily go back.

Unfortunately, we found we had a leak in the van next to Bruce's bed. The water got in through the side of the van near the shelf that goes round the inside of the van , into one of the cupboards and down the side, wetting all Bruce's bedding. It's covered by warranty, but a pain nonetheless.

We had a lovely relaxing weekend. I got quite a bit of sewing done, as well as reading. Bruce caught up on his reading and also did some computer work. We had lunch at the Brunswick Hotel, a great put with a fantastic courtyard area out the front. Lunch was lovely.

We packed up on the Sunday morning and headed home, stopping at Chinderah to have morning tea in the back of the van! We were happy with our mileage getting 8.7km/litre. It won't be quite as good when we get the canopy on the back of the ute next week, as we will then be able to carry more in the car.

It was Mother's Day and Matthew and Katrina came over for dinner that night. We played one of the card games we bought in Melbourne last year when we were there, called Scopa. A great game. They loved the van.

 This is a photo of the van hooked up to the ute as we were about to head off on the Friday.

We pick up the van

We picked up our van last Friday, 3 May. It was a day of information overload. Our appointment was at 10 am and Tony went through everything inside and outside the van, explaining its use. While we were occupied with him, the electric brakes were being installed in our ute. We left City Caravan Centre about 2.30 pm.

We will spend the next week putting everything in the van and head away to Brunswick Heads on Friday for the weekend to christen it.