Just a few ruminations!

OK, been on the road for about a week. Time to go back and reconstruct some of it and try to move on in the coming posts. When I first got here the Troopy was in flux. They had done most of the really serious work but outfitting the main interior was not done. Here’s a couple of photos of what it looked like when I got here.

So I spent a week in an AirBnB in the far Sydney suburbs, near Project Overlander, trying to purchase things that I’m going to need. Mostly stuff like a cookstove and pots and pans and sheets and towels.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t very well organized so made what seems like countless trips to Target and Kmart. At one point, driving through the Sydney outskirts, I decided to hit up Ikea. Yeah, that Ikea. It actually worked pretty well. I was able to get a lot of the “kitchen” gear I wanted. Then I was ready (sort of) to test it out. I spent a couple of nights in parks not far from Sydney. There was a big 4WD/Adventure show at the Sydney Dragway over the 6 through 8 of the month. I decided to go to it on Friday to see if I couldn’t buy some of the needed gear at a discount. It did work. But I ended up spending a shitload and feeling like I’m hemorrhaging bucks. Logically, these are items that I need and things that have to be purchased from high quality manufacturers. Things like ropes for recovery. Who’d want a rope that might break when used? So, from a practical perspective it made sense but emotionally signing the credit card slips got pretty tough. Well, it’s almost done. Still a few things that I need and I’ll get them in Brisbane.

I’m making my way slowly north. Spent a couple of nights in the Glenreagh Recreation Reserve. Didn’t take any photos. It started raining on my second day and it’s been shitty since. But I had good cell signal so I did all of the paperwork for a one year visa. Now I just need a medical exam.

Today I drove to Byron Bay. I was looking forward to exploring this beach and ex-hippy town. But it’s rainy, breezy, and the temperature is between 12 and 18 degrees. Just really shitty!

So far, it’s been OK but really mostly driving through relatively populated areas. Up near Glenreagh, it’s really pretty agricultural countryside. Lot of cows, some greenhouses and green grass. But no real adventure. And most of the driving has just been divided highways.

Well, that's the story for the moment. I'll try to get some stuff about Byron Bay later.