triplog

Shortly after this photo was taken, the troopy was handed over to her new owners. All the best to Bec and Ross, may she serve you well.

Don’t all get too excited, it’s not populated yet …but we are slowly approaching readiness. Note that we’ve put the baby capsule in the side position, not the middle of the seat. That way, we can still fold one seat down and fit boards in the back. It’s all about priorities.

(Thanks to Ang for the photo.)

It pains me to write this, but yes, we’re selling the troopy. Our faithful steed and home for the bulk of the last two years is on the market. Up until now, it’s handled everything we’ve asked of it without faltering, but unfortunately, legally carrying a baby capsule (without ripping the interior out and refitting) is asking too much.

What happened to the good old days of 7 kids piled in the back of the Kingsy, with the newborn riding on mum’s lap in the front (presumably while she’s smoking a Winnie Red) and hubby sucking back a can of KB with one hand on the wheel? Gone are the days, my friends, gone are the days…

PS - Always garaged, 1 elderly owner, only ever driven to the corner shop and back *

* heehee. No seriously, she’s an awesome 4WD. If you’re ever gonna do some serious Oz travelling, a diesel Landcruiser’s your best bet for any number of reasons, from durability, range and reliability through to the availability of spare parts.

I’ve spent the last few days in limbo, otherwise known as the Gold Coast. After hanging out in Burleigh on Sunday night, I’d headed further south, all the way to Tugun (about two suburbs away), when I got a call from Keenan - I’d thought he was living somewhere just south of the border, but turns out he was one suburb back the way I’d just come, in Palm Beach. So we hung out for beers and dinner at the local surf club on Monday night - it was good to catch up, we figured out the last time we’d seen each other was around 5 years ago - then on Tuesday morning I bid him farewell and was all set to head south into NSW.

I made it as far as Tweed Heads, when the clutch on the troopy decided to give up the ghost - it had been threatening a caper like this for a while. So off I went to Keenans mechanic, Roger, where I was told I couldn’t the car back until Friday. Keenan kindly put up with me as a house guest for the rest of the week (I owe you, mate) while I waited. And waited. With no surf.

Anyway, this afternoon I finally got reunited with troopy (and dis-united from over a grand), and hit the road south. I intended to drive through Byron Bay, just to see what had changed, and then keep going further south until dark… but lo and behold, as soon as Main Beach hove into view, those plans went out the window. There was surf. My home state (sorry Jane!) had laid out the welcome mat.

I managed to keep it together long enough to snap off the pictures above, then bolted for the water. It was offshore, warm water, head high and getting glassier with each passing minute. Oh yeah…

After our stay at the Daly Waters pub, we headed onto a dirt road again - the Savannah Highway, which runs from the NT through to the Queensland east coast in Cairns. We finally crossed the border on Sunday (the 7th of September), passing from the Northern Territory into true cane toad country and the land of Four X.