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Published: October 4th 2006
Steve and his van
We were nice and dropped off Steve, the previous owner of our van, at the airport on our way out of town. We actually hung out with him quite a bit while we were trying to sort everything out! (Hope you don't miss travelling too much!) Heading out!
The next morning we carried our packs to central station and headed across town to King's Cross to pick up our van. Carolyn's mother had wired the money to the owners account, and we had only the paper to sign and then it was ours. We realized on the way there, that we hadn't really done much back-packing as this was the first time we had really had to carry our bags any distance, and it really wasn't that far! We dropped Steve off at the airport, and headed out of town in our newly acquired van - dubbed Betsy! To see it, the name is very fitting, and when you come to a fairly steep hill and she needs a little encouragement, it rolls right off your tongue.... common Betsy...common! We had to head to the state of Victoria to get the van's registration switched over to our names (Victoria Plates), a distance of 600km south.
Holy Wallabies!
We drove until it was getting dark, as Carolyn had heard we weren't really suppose to drive at night because of wildlife on roads. We sure passed a number of dead wallabies - it litterally
seemed like you would see one ever couple hundred feet! I felt invincible with the bull bars on the front - but was getting a little tired, so we pulled over to one of the rest stops on the side of the road. These little rest stops are all over the place - no more than 30kms or so between them. There are so many signs warning that 'fatigue kills' that they must have had or still do have a problem with people falling asleep at the wheel. Some of the stops even hand out free coffee and cheap sandwiches! It is spring here right now, and can still get quite chilly in the night! The first night we almost froze - the thermometer read 5°C in the morning! Brrrrrrrrr..... We had a bit of a problem getting the van started the next morning - and I had the carborator half apart before finding the accelerator pump on the side that allowed it to finally start! If it's cold - I just hold down on it and it starts up pretty much right away! I think we would still be there if I hadn't found it though.... This was the
start!
Canberra
We stopped in Canberra on the way south (the capital of Australia), and checked out some of the tourist sights. There was a festival going on with tons of flowers from all over the world. Canada even had an exhibit (some flowers making the flag with two hockey sticks crossed through the centre - go figure!). We did a lot of walking, saw the government buildings and some of them are quite impressive. There is a whole scheme to the city, dreamed up by some guy in the early 20th century. Quite impressive actually.
Roadworthy Test
We made it on to Wodonga Monday (the closest city in Victoria from Sydney). We made straight for the licensing office and were told that the mechanical safety we had was not valid, we needed one to be done in the state of Victoria (ours was NSW). So we found a garage that could do it. The next morning (after staying at a real campsite with plug ins - hooray for the heater) we took Betsy in, and came back after walking around the town to find out that our van needed some repairs before the
Floriade
On our walk to the Lake in Canberra, we stumbled upon this big flower festival. It was beautiful! mechanic would let it go. Two of the rims were 7" wide with 6" rubber on them, while the other two matched - 6". The key sliped out of the ignition, a common problem on these vehicles (they all do it, so it seems funny that they stick me with that). And the engine had an oil leak. We had 7 days to get these repairs done, so we started driving around to all the scrap yards looking for suitable parts. A couple places had the proper rims, but all were old and rusty while the ones we had were aftermarket sunrise mags, so pretty nice to look at. With the realization that I was going to have to sell this van in less than a year - I figured it in my best interest to keep it looking tip-top! We ended up ordering two new ones for $65 each - which wasn't too bad as I was able to sell the 7" ones for $10 each.
We found a guy who had a used ignition barrel we could swap, that actually had a key that stayed in! I switched it with the old one and to my surprise
Carolyn freezing by the lake
We are terrible,and can't remember the name of this lake right now (shouldn't have left the journal in the van...) there was a water jet to commemorate Captain Cook, but it wasn't going because it was too windy. my other key (the one from the old ignition) worked in the new one! WHAT?? AND, it slipped out! Oh well, I was sure to give the mechanic the new key when he checked to see if it stayed in later. It is actually quite handy to have a key that slips out too, because we can turn it to accessory and pull it out when we listen to music in the evening. All these repairs took 4 full days to get done - and then while driving across town the air pump seized up! Smoke was pouring out of the engine, and Carolyn looked like she was going to cry! I pulled off the belt (luckily it is belted by itself) and we were able to keep going. Turns out it hasn't worked for a while anyway because the whole inside was all rusted out - not a big deal really - helps with emissions a bit, but I'm told they usually stop working upon leaving the factory.
Roos and Kaolas!
While we were waiting for the new rims to come in, we did do a bit of sight-seeing - went up to a zoo just
outside of Wodonga. It seemed a little sketchy at first - animals running around all over the place, so we were almost a little afraid. They gave us two bags of food when we went in and told us to feed the roos and koala bears (I was a little hungry, but decided that animals could use it more than me). As soon as the animals saw or heard the bags they would swarm you! It was really fun to get up close and personal with the animals. I don't think either of us had really seen kangaroos (alive) yet!
Other Albury-Wodonga tales
This whole time Carolyn had the flu, which turned into a sinus infection, so it was pretty miserable for her at times. Carolyn picked up some sort of bed bug from the Hostel in Syney and had about 50 bites all over her too. They soon got me as well, and I had a similar number of bites. We washed all the bedding and they seem to be gone now. We are thankful not to have to deal with these for the rest of the trip though - as we won't be visiting hostels very often!
We stayed the nights in caravan parks because we wanted to be able to plug in our little space heater with the dipping ouside temperatures.
People here are very helpful, but give directions that are impossible to follow. Example ' Go to the roundabout, go by the car hire place, then keep going and it is to the left. This usually means it is on the other side of town.
Friday afternoon, we finally got our safety done, after paying the mechanic to fix an oil leak that still seems quite leaky... Had to add 3 quarts of oil on the drive back to Sydney! But, it got us the paperwork we needed to get the registration switched and get us on our way, thankfully before the long weekend! They also let us extend the "REGO" for an additional 12 months then too, which will have saved us a lot of trouble to try to get this done come December when the current one runs out.
Camping in the Van!
The van seems to still have a few smaller problems - still the leak, and something with the fuel delivery that causes the van to surge,
mostly while driving in town. It is fine on the highway though, and we'll get it fixed in due time. Camping in the van is quite comfortable - the bed folds down, and with the fridge and stove meals are a snap! I was anticipating losing weight, but at this rate that probably won't happen! There is a sink with a 40 gallon water tank under the van. There is a little handpump on the sink - that has a bit of a leak, but needs only a new gasket I am sure. There is a main storage cabinet for clothes, a food cupboard - 2 shelves about 24" long, and a pots and pan drawer under the stove. I am going to add a few more shelves at the back for water and small things like paper towel. Probably the most unpleasant thing is having to go to the washroom (down here it is haing to go to the 'toilet') in the middle of the night. Carolyn usually wakes me up and we go together. It really isn't that bad though, especially as we are now heading north and it is getting progressively warmer... bring on the beach!
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