It wasn’t such a busy week this week, well not on the planning and preparation front. We did however begin working our way through the long list of farewell dinners to which we’ve been invited. It seems as if there is an unending procession of folks who want to wish us well and see us off with a dinner. And who are we to say no to a free feed!

Mind you, the rich food, coupled with drinks and some pretty late nights, followed by a string of early mornings saw my brain function spiralling out of control into a severe state of lethargy. Therefore I only did what was absolutely necessary in relation to the trip planning this week.

In fact my only goal for this week was to finalise the extra wiring in ‘The Beast’, in readiness for a trial run on the weekend. Thus I spent the entire day on Friday working on it, under the gaze of a sizzling hot sun, which made everything feel like it was going to melt, myself included. With no available option to work under cover anywhere, I battled through the heat to get it 99% complete. I was happy with the outcome, and now have the UHF radio connected so I can chat to the ‘other’ truckies whilst on the road and a trick little battery monitor to allow me to keep an eye on all of our power use. The wiring to the caravan plugs was also finished, so that the fridge and battery charger in the van can be plugged in, keeping that end of proceedings in check.

It was not a moment too soon that I had managed to complete my work on ‘The Beast’ as on Saturday morning, after a trip to a local craft market, we hit the road for a bit of a road trip. We are spending the weekend in Yarrawonga, visiting Becs family. It’s a catch up to celebrate Becs birthday which was on Saturday (Happy Birthday sweetie) as well as her mums, which is coming up next week. Happy birthday goes out to Linda for next week also.

Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You…

As well as getting to spend some quality time with the out-laws, oops, I mean in-laws, this road trip was the perfect opportunity to try a number of things out, not least my wiring skills. It’s also a good chance to see how the dogs will travel in ‘The Beast’. It also provided us with an in sight of one of the downsides of having a ute, even a bloody big one like ‘The Beast’. With us and the dogs packed, the dogs travelling in style on the back seat, there isn’t a great deal of storage for the luggage. With the back floor well area stacked high, the tool box chockers, we still had a bag of clothes rolling around in the tub. Thankfully there’s no rain forecast for the next few days, because without that canopy we’re getting, things may have gotten a little damp. It’s something we just need to be aware of.

It’s a 3 hour trip for us to Yarrawonga, and a pretty easy drive, but it at least gave us a bit of an idea of what our day to day lives will be like in the near future. ‘The Beast’ barely worked up a sweat, pretty much just idling along at 110Km/h. As a bonus, my electrical work held up and Alvin and Bethany both travelled well, soon going to sleep in the back seat.

Having arrived in Yarrawonga early Saturday afternoon, we had dinner out again Saturday night at a local restaurant. I managed to chow my way through not only my own meal, but pretty much finished off everyone else’s as well. If you’re ever in Yarrawonga, I can personally recommend almost everything on the menu at ‘Pelicans’.

Going out to dinner meant having to leave Alvin and Bethany alone in the strange environment of Becs brothers’ house. Something that they are very much not acclimatised to, but which we need to get them used to. Apart from Bethany throwing up most of her dinner as we went to leave, hopefully just from stress and not anything more sinister, they seemed to do alright. They were certainly excited to see us when we returned, and there was no major damage that would suggest that they tried to claw their way out at all, so we put that down as a pretty successful trial.

Sunday saw me spend a frustrating few hours surrounded by iPhones and computers, trying to figure out how I’m going to keep this blog updated successfully while we are on the road. What I had expected to be an easy accomplishment, turned out to be a little more difficult than envisioned. I’m not sure if it was computer issues, phone issues, user issues or a mix of all 3, but I eventually found a work around that got everything hooked up and working. There has to be an easier way, but I can’t see Bec letting me upgrade to a new computer, which would be my favoured option.

The afternoon was spent lazing about at Becs parents place, where there was 5 dogs running around, all getting under our feet, excitedly trying to attain dominance over each other. I escaped the rat race for a while, secluding myself in a back room to watch the first round of the rugby league. Go Storm. The evening was topped off by a delicious dinner cooked by Becs dad, before we retired to Becs brothers’ house for the night.

Unfortunately, I awoke, well rested, but to the news from Bec that Bethany had been sick a couple of times again over night. With her recent health issues, I’m a little concerned about this recent development. I can only hope that she is okay, and with a visit to the vets already scheduled for during the week, we will be sure to make mention of it. I have a feeling that it may just be a combination of the excitement of the other dogs, being out of her comfort zone and the few too many treats that they’ve had courtesy of Becs mum and brother. Fingers crossed.

As I write, I’m sitting comfortably on a deck, enjoying the early morning sunshine and fresh country air, coupled with a nice strong cup of java. If this is anything like what we can expect while we’re away, I can’t wait. In fact, I already don’t want to go back to work, and the trip hasn’t even begun.

Although my reverie was shattered when Bec realised that Alvin had gone missing. It was an anxious several minutes before we realised that he had gone exploring beneath Becs brothers house, and gotten himself stuck. He was a sorry sight, trying to get back out through a hole that was way too small for his frame. Thankfully we managed to coax him back out the other side and he was none the worse for his short adventure. Very out of character for him.

A short few hours later, we found ourselves back home, ready to relax and face the coming week. I’ve got some time off of work, so will be keeping busy at home. Finishing the preperation of ‘The Beast’ is at the top of my list, followed by starting to look at the caravan. I will also be visiting the caravan and camping show at Caulfield, so stayed tuned for a special review of that.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.