Four Weeks To Go!!! (Uluru Trip)

Excitement is building as we start the preparations for our food, Engel is out and ready to fire up for our frozen food, van is cleaned and ready to load with new food as the non perishables are now rotated and the truck, well, just ordered a new side Awning from Powerful 4x4 and will have that installed by the weekend. In anticipation of the cold nights we have our clothes purchased as mentioned before but we also have a kerosene heater from Ray's Outdoors.


Reliability is a must.
Our old girl has get us home many a times on our big journeys

Grease and oil change for both the van and truck to happen over the next couple of weeks.Generator has been fired up and will go in for a service next week. Car preparations are minimal, other than a major service all other things are good to go. roof rack needs slight adjusting, Jerry Cans strapped in, rear draws either tidied up or replaced, Rob has been working on these so hopefully they will be close to being done. Finally, checking all the electrical and brake lines, it an idea to cover any exposed wires with conduit or similar. Our experiences have seen us lose power to brakes and other equipment on our trailers due to the sharpness and size of the rocks that can get thrown up when driving the outback roads, not mention what they do to tyres, Rob is a little more experienced at that than us. 
One thing you can be sure of when travelling Australian roads, they are unforgiving!

Signs really don't give justice to these road beasts

A sturdy rig is definitely needed and maintenance is critical for reliability. The last thing you want when heading to the Australian Outback is to be stuck on the side of the road for hours with Road Trains screaming past.
We hope to get some shot of these while we're out there, but we will certainly be giving way to these huge vehicle
With the new Sony Action Cam attached to the Bull Bar, I'm sure we are going bring back some great footage both Video and Still shots.

Well, that's it for now, if you're interested in finding out more, follow us or just send an email and we'll get back to you as soon as possible (or in our next Mobile Coverage area)

It's going to be weird not having any of our kids with us on this trip, usually we have at least one, this time, just Lyn and myself, (in our car) and Rob and Jo in theirs, so maybe second honeymoon.
One thing we've come to realise after 18 years of marriage is you definately need time out from the kids at least once every couple of years. Now that ours are at an age they can fend for themselve, even a weekend away make it a little more special. But, quality family time is just as important.



Our "Home Away From Home"

Uluru Trip 2013 Preperations

With only a few weeks to go we are loading the van and getting things organised with it. The Proudley's (Rob and Jo) and ourselves have gotten together and arranged most of what we want to do on our 2 week journey (yes, I know! Not a lot of time), you'd be surprised how well they work out and are great preparations for bigger, longer trips later.

Shopping for our Winter Woollies has been done, as the night are expected to get down to around 1, (or less) we want to be prepared for the worst. We've purchased and installed new bedflys to help trap in some of the warmth and hopefully eliminate the condensation build up that we've experienced in the past.
Our truck is nearly there, looking at a Side Awning for our quick stops on the way, and I'm going to install another battery isolator to charge the caravan battery via Anderson Plugs whilst we are travelling. Then, I think it will be ready to do the Major Service just before we leave.

Itinerary is set, but like most itineraries, it's only a guide. I won't go into Where, When or Why with you at present, but will certainly give you all the details as we hit the Hard Top.


To give you a bit of a guide of our trip, below is our intended route.


View July 2013 Trip - Uluru in a larger map


Now that I'm use to how this works, I hope to give you regular updates and photos.