The road North {Winning again - Karratha}

No pictures for the last few days as it has been pretty busy.

We arrived at Winning again and J got right to sorting out the car.  New bearings and shocks to put in.  I got working on emptying all the things we wouldn't use on the Gibb into various places of storage around Winning {sorry A}.

Next it was time to get away and head to Karratha to get food and supplies ready for our big holiday with friends {and their friends}.

Two days of shopping, packing, moving more stuff out and getting organised and then it was time to hit the road for our big drive to the Kimberlies.

YAYA

Carnarvon {Coral Coast Tourist Park}

A lunchtime arrival and a nice early evening shower = one very happy woman {and daughter}.

We arrived at our 'luxury' two night spot, close to town and cheaper than the others I called/looked up at $45/night.  A load of washing, some school work, trip for some fresh fruit & veggies and a lovely roast for dinner.

Alright so, other than all of the above and a hot shower this stop gives us a chance to do a big shop to stock up, fill up all of the tanks {fuel & water}, let Kaleb attend an online lesson {as he has missed the last few} and do a big load of washing.

Firsts

First night in the camper - CHECK

First night cooking in the camper - CHECK

First lot of dishes in the camper - CHECK

First spider in the camper - CHECK

First mouse in the camper - CHECK {OMG would have liked to not have this one in the camper}

Lots of firsts and many more to come.

Riding Around

The smalls have bikes & now so do we.

For the first time since I was a teenager.  Now when I say teenager I mean teenager.  Think year nine early 1990, use to get to school bike.

Now at the age of 32 years I now have a new bike.

It's on the way

FINALLY!

Our new 'home' is on a truck and should start heading towards Western Australia.  It is due to arrive on the back of a truck this time next week & we shall head down to get it on the Monday.

Can't wait to actually have it here, to see it, to pack it, to unpack & no doubt repeat those steps several times.

Count down is really on.

Storage

Well the house is all but empty, after many trips to the tip, giving items way & of course working out what to store and what to take.

I took a drive to our storage container today to see how much space we had & there really isn't all that much left and it will be well & truly full by the time the last items are taken up their in a few days time.

What do you travel in?

That was the biggest question that we faced when planning our trip and after lots of researching, reading, looking & analising we decided on a camper trailer. Now that was decided we had to work out which kind.

WOW the simply number that are on the market it astronomical.

We wrote a list of what we wanted to have as a minimum:

* easy to access kitchen

* quick set up/pack down

* closed in side storage

* fitted electrical & plumbing

* quality made

Certainly didn't want the pop up type and we wanted the ability to change the size of the main room & enclose the annex.

So what did we decide on? A Complete Campsite Uluru XT with a few modifications.

The kitchen was a big pull for me, given this was going to be our 'house' it had to have everything right at my hands and easy to get to. We also added a shelf & light to one of the side storage cupboards on the camper, just inside the main door.

We changed from the standard 14 foot to a 16 foot to give us more space for the small people in the main part of the camper {along with the annex}. So it is slightly longer but will work well. We also added a thermal blanket to help with the heat/cool factor of the camper given it is made from canvas, this should make a big difference to the overall comfort of it. We also got the side walls for the annex.

J decided to go with 17" to match the Patrol, some DC to DC charger, extended draw bar & bike stand. We will also go with solar panels with generator back up but we shall get these once it arrives.

So with the house settling on the 4th we shall be squatting until such time as our camper arrives. Fingers crossed it arrives on our side of the country mid January as planned. Then the packing truly starts!

And so it begins

 So we are going to do it!

Justin has even started working on the house to get it ready to go on the market. The plan is to have it ready to go by the latest March and see what happens, if we are ready earlier then we will put it on the market earlier. Our break over Christmas will now be spent finishing the concrete drive to the shed and out the side near the veggie gardens. Then the New Year i will get an agent or two out for a price guide.

Super excited, scared, nervous & really would leave now if we could.

Remind me how much I want to do this when I start complaining about home opens, garage sales & packing up an entire house to pack into a camper.