The closer we get to ‘D’ day, the busier we seem to be. This weeks tasks included making a valiant attempt at completing a laundry reno that has been on the back burner since about October last year. Bec finally put her foot down and said it has to be done and dusted before we go. Trip planning was again visited with a gusto, there was a day out, I picked up ‘The Beast’ with new canopy completed and then by weeks end all four of us were suffering from some sort of illness or ailment.

My efforts in the laundry saw some excellent progress by Monday afternoon, which left me feeling rather satisfied with myself and confident I’d be done in time to enjoy a game of golf with a mate on Wednesday afternoon.

Naturally, you shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch as the adage goes, and I awoke on Tuesday morning with a cracker headache and a nasty dose of ‘influenza masculine’, more commonly known as the ‘Man Flu’. Not known to affect females, the man flu is enough to bring most mere males to their knees.

I battled through it however, to make a moderate impact on the laundry reno during the day. I sadly succumbed to the symptoms by Tuesday evening, forcing me to cancel my much anticipated round of golf for Wednesday, before curling up in the foetal position, wrapped in a blanket and trying mostly unsuccessfully to get a good nights rest.

Wednesday was an anxious day, as both Alvin and Bethany were off to the vets for procedures. Bethany was to have a rotten tooth out, which meant a further round of anaesthetic for her, while Alvin was having a small mole sliced from his side. I dropped them both off at the vets for 11:00, where they thankfully weren’t overly perturbed. I think being in the same cage helped settle their nerves, if not mine.

Having left the babies, I popped in for a surprise visit on ‘The Beast’, to see how the canopy is progressing. The frame work was nearly completed and is looking the goods, while I have been assured that the canvas is also well on its way. It’s exciting to see it so close to being done and I could only hope that it will be done by the weekend.

Once back at home, I spent the rest of the day sitting at the computer, working on making sure the trip will be as effortless as possible. My ‘man flu’ symptoms prevented me from doing anything more strenuous, so once again the laundry has to take a back seat.

In any case, there is still a number of things that I feel need planning for, prior to our departure. Whilst Bec would be happy to plan along the way, or just drop into towns hoping for the best, I like to have a good idea of where we’re going to park the van each night. I’m not so fastidious that I’m going to book caravan parks, although by all accounts for some of the more popular areas, we probably should be thinking of doing exactly that. No, I’m happy so long as I have a detailed list of each caravan park we may avail ourselves of, to enable easy selection along the way.

With Bec home from work, we went to pick up the babies from the vets. Thankfully they had both come through their procedures well, although were looking a bit worse for wear for their efforts. Bethany had required two teeth out, which had revealed a nasty abscess beneath them. Hopefully this might help explain why she has been so out of sorts lately. Alvin had also needed a couple of small lumps removed, but he was apparently an extremely well behaved little man. He only needed a local anaesthetic, sitting indomitably whilst the vet cut off the offending lesions and stitched him up.

Back at home, I think the day caught up with us all. With my head still reeling from the man flu, Bethany still mostly in a drug induced stupor, Alvin walking around like a wounded soldier, courtesy of a bandage encircling his torso and even Bec mentioning that she wasn’t feeling quite right, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it, we were a pretty solemn household.

Thursday saw me hitting the tools again, despite my continuing infirmity, in a last ditch effort to complete the laundry before week’s end. We have plans for the remainder of the week, and this was my final chance. It took me the entire day, but I finally got to a stage where I realised it just wasn’t going to get done. Damn it. Another day or so should do the trick, but will have to wait until next week now.

Thankfully, Bec arrived home from work, rather carefree about the fact that the laundry wasn’t done. She seemed more concerned about the nasty case of gastro and diarrhoea that had gripped her. I should probably feel bad that I felt relieved that she didn’t care that the laundry wasn’t done!

We were up for a big day the following day regardless of sickness or health. We had pre-purchased tickets for the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, which is an annual pilgrimage for us with my grand mother, Granny. Not wanting to waste the tickets, a trio of walking wounded were we. Me with my ongoing man flu, Bec battling back an almost unending need to visit the loo and Granny with her odd assortment of ills. An enjoyable day was had by all however, as we made our way through the usual array of gardening displays. In some respects, we were glad that the show was not quite as large as has been in previous years, as by mid-afternoon, we were all ready to head for home.

Saturday was a day of great excitement, as ‘The Beast’ was ready for its homecoming. Having been away for just over a week, the drive way was beginning to look a little bare and I was missing it. With nervous anticipation, Bec dropped me off at the factory, where to my delight all was done and ready. A magnificent feat of engineering by the blokes at ‘Custom Boats’ to get it all put together in only a week, and looking an absolute treat. It is exactly what I had wanted, and pretty much scoured the nation looking for someone to build it, only to have it done 10 minutes from home.

One happy man now that canopy is done.

Not only will the canopy give us a whole lot of extra weather resistant, hopefully thief proof, storage, but it gives us a huge mobile secure dog cage. With integral roof racks and a hard roof that can be walked on, we also have somewhere to tie down any longer items, not to mention I’ve had a fold out awning affixed to the passenger side, which will shade the side and back of ‘The Beast’. You just can’t imagine how relieved I am to have that little job crossed off the to do list!

Happily, I can also report that the dogs are recovering well. Bethany is still on soft food for a few more days, while we have kept Alvin wrapped like a mummy to prevent him from scratching at his stitches, but none the less they are both coming along fine.

By Sunday, we were also both feeling mostly better (Bec more so than myself, but I will continue to battle through my aches and pains in silence for her sake), so we finally completed a task which we have both been putting off for weeks. The chore of going through the caravan with a fine tooth comb and getting rid of anything that we can deem to be non-essential.

Easier said than done, and for every one thing we did chuck out, I’m sure we put two things in. Think about it. Think about everything that you use on a daily basis. Think about what you could do without, and then think about what you couldn’t. If you’re anything like us, you probably have a house full of things that you absolutely can’t live without. So how in the hell do you fit all of that into a space that’s no bigger than a generous sized living room. We will be living in this thing for 6 months. At home it takes me exactly 10 steps to go from bed to the en-suite to take a leak. In the van, it’s only 8 steps and I can stop in the kitchen for a drink and the lounge for a rest on the way. Six whole months. What were we thinking?

Bedroom to bathroom. 8 short steps.

In any case, I’ve updated the rig pages, so you can have a bit of a guided tour of ‘the van‘. I’ve also posted an update to living with ‘The Beast‘, now that it’s all trip ready and just waiting to go.

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