the long way round

i have been working hard to prepare the karavan for what we expected would be two weeks of self isolation on our lovely new 20 ha property in st helens. except the tasmanian government in all its wisdom decided that it is safer to sit in a government paid tiny hotel room. safer than out…

the electric stairs on the kk lead a hard life. somehow they are pretty much straight in the path of the stones and the dirt coming form the car. as a result the entire extending and retracting gets more and more tedious as dirt inevitably finds its way into the joints. i have disassembled and…

remember last time i finally managed to install the firewood cradle that’s been sitting in the garage for two years. amazing how much more room i have there now. and check how much more professional the karavan looks, too. there are a few more steps, however, before the cradle is fully functional. as it sits…

i’ve had the cradle for a while. i actually picked it up on the way home near brisbane, just after it had transpired that kimberley (the makers of the karavan) had bitten the dust. economically speaking of course. the cradle was a bit raw at the time, so i got the parts powder coated. and…

this is very difficult: we have experienced so much on our journey, and been to so many different places that were, for want of a better word: amazing in their own ways. let me give you some examples: the onslaught of all those selfie sticks certainly made it harder for us to enjoy the sights…

some time today we have complete one lap of the equator, i.e. since we set out on our trip around the country we have driven more than 40,045 km. we also got stuck for the first time today. the sand on Stockton beach is quite soft and deep, probably also due to the heavy traffic…

we started with a seven year old car with more than 150.000 km on the clock. does this make snowflake ‘frail’ or ‘experienced’? being an entitled elderly white male i predictably opted for ‘experienced’ so we hooked the van up to the disco, crossed all available fingers and hoped for the best. we were of…

we are almost home. a terrible thought, i know. we enjoyed the trip so much, especially the fact that we spent the entire time together and enjoyed all the amazing experiences as a family: every day, all day. is that a scary thought for you? if so we could not recommend the kimberley karavan and…

i’ve been a good boy and studied hard for my exams (which is also the reason I have been uncharacteristically quiet; the girls were busy and will post later), therefore i felt i could allow myself another tiny bit of tinkering. remember that i tweaked the rear door a bit, way back on the great…

as we were coming south towards sydney we just had to stop in ballina. we don’t know how remarkable or otherwise unremarkable ballina may be but it is the birthplace of thorny, our kimberley karavan (yes, with a ‘k’). that industrial looking grey place in the background is where the magic happened. past tense is…