Test Run In Progress

Well we have been here in sunny Yeppoon since Saturday - sorry for the lack of updates so far but it's been hectic one way and another. We have had a few trials and tribulations, but the majority of these have been inexperience and/or lack of knowledge, both of which (thankfully) should be relatively easily overcome.

Our trip up was good but we were both surprised about how much work towing a caravan is. By that I mean the need for supreme smoothness around the corners, and the need to stay right in the middle of your lane at all times (the van is a good 2 feet wider than the car!). The smooth cornering was the one that caught us out a few times - if you're jerky in your cornering, the van tends to slop side to side until it either corrects itself (which it does most of the time within 10-15 seconds) or you straighten it up using your manual-override on the electric brakes. The feeling of 1700kg trying to pull the back end of your car to the left, then right, then left, then right etc is NOT pleasant. The brakes are great on the van though, and hitting the override almost pulls the van straight. Very impressive. Also worth a mention is the fantastic weight distribution hitch we're running - it turns the (understandably) saggy rear end of our Commodore (understandable when loaded with a big caravan on it, atleast...) into a beautifully level towing machine. Very sweet.

The trip up took a long time - 11 hours in total, which is excessive for 650km! We were stopped for 1.5-2 hours waiting for an accident to get cleared just outside Miriam Vale - this crash served as a good reminder not to overtake when a semi trailer is coming head on. We also stopped for about 2 or 2.5 hours in total for breaks, and otherwise sat on between 90 and 95km/h which is a good speed without being crazy. I was very concerned at the first petrol stop to find a thin film of oil smeared across the front of our brand new bright white caravan. This car has to do us for a LOT of miles, so we really need to fix this! It looks like the guys who serviced our car a week or so ago have over filled the oil, which I am reliably informed can cause this kind of oily exhaust behaviour. I hope this is the case, and there's not something else happening. K-Mart Tyre & Auto (Rockhampton) are looking at it tomorrow, in order to hopefully fix their Brisbane counterparts' errors without much effort and/or cost.

I had considerable trouble putting the annex up when we got here, and to be frank I made a mess of it in a lot of ways (mental note - align sail track on rear end of annex - NOT rear awning pole - to rear of concrete slab). But it's up, and stopped us getting wet on Saturday evening when we got a reasonable sized storm. Nothing got wet, so it can't be THAT bad I guess :) Still, I have learned a lot and next time will be much better. I refuse to redo the whole thing (which is what it really needs) because it flaps in the breeze a bit - sounds like too much like hard work for little reward. It might be sub-optimal, but it works fine enough for now. Next time will be better.

Grace has been unsettled since the travel the other day, I think she's out of kilter with her routine quite a bit. She is often quite grisly, but once she gets used to her new home she should be right we hope. She's sleeping as I type this about 2 feet away from me. Cute little thing she is. It's so difficult - all she wants to do is run around and explore, but the place being as it is, you need to keep her in check at all times - she is literally into everything!!

We're staying at a place called Kinka Beach, which is about 10km south of Yeppoon. It offers nice views of Great Keppel and surrounding islands, and a beautiful bay which is a beautiful turquoise colour. The van park is directly across from the beach, so we get nice sea breezes and sea noises.

We visited my Aunty Mavis & Uncle Ron yesterday, it was great to see them again. They don't change much. My Aunty Mav is special, she was always like a second mum to me, she's a real peach. Looking forward to catching up with them again a couple more times before we leave on Saturday.

Our plan at this stage is to go back to Brisbane on the 23rd, spend Christmas and New Year with Anna's and my families, and head off to NSW early in the new year.