The van comes home

A few years ago we were camper trailer people, using our Trak Shak for several years until we realised we were avoiding going away because we couldn't be bothered drying out wet canvas and quite labour intensive. We purchased our Jayco Expanda 16:49:4 in early 2018 when we received some money after my uncle suddenly passed away (we have put a little viking on the back of the van in his memory). Since then we have done several weekend trips away and a couple of longer trips up the east coast.

The last time we took the van on a trip was back in October when we went to Queensland to stay with my Dad. Since then the van has been sitting 15 mins down the road on Dave's Mum and Dad's property to avoid filling it with dust (we live on a dirt road). For new years we stayed at Dave's brother's house in the van, deciding it would be a good idea to bring the van home so we could start throwing items into the van as we pack up the house.

At our house we have a great spot to tuck the van in the backyard, however the challenge is getting it in there as it is a very tight squeeze with some difficult angles. Thursday afternoon we set ourselves the challenge of getting the van in place. Dave used the ute to reverse it up

the driveway, 10 adjustments later and the van was right in the middle and the ute could help no further. Introduce the fancy jockey wheel Dave's brother had built, hoping it would allow us to push the van into place, easy! Haha. First we had dramas while Dave tried to figure out the best way to attach the jockey wheel so it worked (we had to juggle it around a couple of times). Every now and then we had to stop and chock the caravan in place while something was adjusted and while listening to it creak I was having visions of the van rolling through next doors fence. After a lot of huffing and puffing we we ecstatic that we managed to get the van in place.

With the van now in its temporary home we started looking at a couple of upgrades we need to do before we leave. One of the most important is replacing our mattress as we refuse to spend the year sleeping on such a terrible bed. So we spent the next half an hour wrestling with mattresses and couch cushions trying to test and measure what height we have to work with for our new mattress. Now to shop!

Packing has officially begun with the first 6 boxes containing the mountain of Christmas decorations that we own. While digging in the garage roof for my box of boxes (for all my special ornaments) we found my old saxophone from when I was at high school and we once again began the conversation of whether it was worth selling it. Well, the kids found us looking at it and wanted to see how it worked so I broke out the 20 year old reeds that were still in the case, shocked that they were still ok, and gave a small but terrible demonstration. The girls insisted on having a turn and actually played quite well all things considered. Of course we are now not allowed to sell the saxophone and they are both arguing over who will learn to play it.

On a positive note, Dave has been making great progress while on annual leave, working towards finishing the renovations. Hopefully by the end of the week our front deck will be finished, the last of the big projects!!

Official countdown:

Days until we leave: 84

Boxes packed: 12

Boxes left to pack: Still too many