A new chapter begins

The idea for this blog came to me on a recent trip to Apollo Bay that I shared with my siblings and their partners to attend a funeral of a treasured friend of our parents. Pat and Jim raised 9 children and whenever they visited our quiet dairy farm in the Yarra Valley they brought heaps of colour, fun and laughter. Jim died while we were in Singapore and now Pat has joined him along with my mum and dad so they will all be upstairs sharing a toast together by now; the boys on the beer and the women with a sherry. 

Apollo Bay is situated on the Great Ocean Road and as we drove west I noticed the great number of caravans on the road, in the townships and every camping ground. The travelers were making the most of a long weekend in the great outdoors and my enthusiasm to join them escalated. A few months back we bought a caravan and a car big enough to pull it, but up until now the van hasn't ventured out of our backyard. The wet season in the Top End is probably not the best season to try caravan travel.

In 2001 we bought our first 4wd after driving Land Cruisers and Troopies while working at Katherine School of the Air. We enjoyed driving across the Territory so much during the week we wanted to explore further on the weekends. With two boys in the back seat we went east to the coast at Nhulunbuy with Phil and Jean, west to the coast along the Gibb River Road with them too and south out and around Alice Springs to name a few adventures. One of the most challenging trips was the Humbert Track in Gregory National Park with Yve and John. 

Adrian even learnt to drive in our trusty 70 series Land Cruiser that we nicknamed Ted in memory of a junior boys' soccer coach from Cobram who was tough and tenacious but had a heart of gold. Ted never let us down but once we moved to Darwin it was time to downsize to something more suited for short trips and small parking spaces. 

We've had a zippy little Mazda3 since we returned from Singapore and loved it, but it was never going to tow a caravan so it was time to upsize again. Now we have a Ford Everest that is packed with technology upgrades. We don't even have to get out of the vehicle to engage and disengage the hubs any more! How good is that? After much deliberation we have agreed on another nickname. Very inventive: Ted Too. Of course in typical Aussie style it was immediately abbreviated to Ted. The very next weekend we took it out for a spin on the Marrakai Track and it didn't disappoint. 

Next came the van and after lots of advice from people with experience, coincidentally including one of those 9 children mentioned above and his wife (John and Pauline), as well as trusted friends from as far back in Butterworth (Jenni and Glenn) and Yve and John who have been living in theirs for a few years, we bought a Retreat Brampton. This is not one of those wind-up models like we have had in the past, but a full sized van with toilet and shower. Classy! We are not going to get stuck in Port Augusta with a campervan that wont wind up this time around! The pic below is not the occasion mentioned in Port Augusta (note the smiles), rather just our boys having some fun with other kids we met up with along the way. That shot is taken in Broome 1998.

And that was our Fab Franklin all set up in Kakadu on the same trip. That design is so good for ventilation but it did have some drawbacks.

This time around we have the reasonable sized fridge, leather seats, ensuite and even outdoor speakers. And now that I have come up with the title for this blog it only seems appropriate that we call the van Joy. 

So should you come across Ted and Joy on the road or under a shady tree make sure you say hello. Ted came complete with a CB radio but we're not sure how they work yet; its a learning journey. Another chapter in the journey we have undertaken together.