Around Oz the First Time - Chapter 59 - Seventh Week Down

We are now more than a week behind our “schedule”. In a “normal” grey nomad sense, this would not be an issue, but all three of us have things to do and places to be once we return. It doesn’t help that a good friend of the group has died in an accident while we have been on this trip, making all of us edgy, without talking about it, when you think of the fragility of life and the numerous things we want to do and see, the real reason we are wandering now. Silver Leader is on long service leave and needs to get back to work by a specific time and we have a conference we want to attend in early November. Forbsy luckily has an engagement party later in November so is not as time restricted as we are.

What the events of the last three weeks have shown, beyond the best laid plans of mice and men is that the three “P’s” of life are just as required in our situation.

Preparation ensuring you are ready for the things you know you can control. Yes, that means have a plan, but the plan, of course, needs to be dynamic, but it also means that those things we can control, like ensuring the van and the vehicle are in the best possible working order, should be part of the plan. Silver Leader contemplated a full service of his Jeep before he left Port Macquarie but let it slide, and although it may not have uncovered the issues with the Jeep, would have seen the vehicle in the optimum performance level.

Preparation to be ready for what life throws at you. We have been nothing if not flexible on our trip, mainly because we have had to. Other than the break downs we have been lucky, we have been travelling towards the end of the season here and vacancy levels at the parks and camps we have wanted to stay have been able to accommodate us easily. We have also been able to change the itinerary, and this happened early when the Missing Link was unable to join us, because he was bringing the boat, the planned time in King Ash Bay was deemed to have been inappropriate so we moved on, saving some days. In hindsight after talking to the young guys at the pub on pub crawl day, we probably could have gone, as there apparently there were potentially house boats and the like we could have hired, but that is a discussion for another day.

Preparation to be able to participate no matter whatever life throws you. The “woe is me” ethos will only send you down the rabbit hole further when things go wrong, or they are not going to plan, it’s the ability to make the best of a bad situation, that will save the experience. In Halls Creek, known by the locals as Hells Crack, we found a day to explore, driving around the countryside, and yes we spent a lot of time in the local hotel but we got to make some new friends there, particularly the bouncer and I am sure if we were to return the owner of the van park would remember us. Luckily here in 80 Mile Beach we have fishing, but that doesn’t suit all of us, and the internet issues are causing consternation, but we are making the most of it.

While we laugh at, and with Silver Leader, and his issues with the Jeep, we have a new van and Cruiser, the van went through its first service just before we left, and the Cruiser was serviced in Darwin. We would expect our situation was utopian, but the next trip, with the events of this trip, we will certainly be ensuring the Cruiser and the van will be at optimum, serviced before we leave, and serviced with a view to the trip, rather than just a check the oil levels etc. It might cost a little more, but the peace of mind, knowing you have done the best preparation, but mindful that things do go awry at times.

And once the first issue raised its ugly head the knock on effect has meant, that a simple repair, because there is the urgency to get back on track or you are broken down in the “middle of nowhere”, may take away what might be termed the “sensible approach” of investigating “why” the break down occurred. Eradicate the condition, rather than simply treat the symptom.

The Jeep initially had an alternator failure, which we replaced in Halls Creek, now the fan belt and the tensioner require replacement. It may have been the tensioner, starting to fail which caused all the issues in the first place. Would this have been found in a service – probably not – but to me it seems that this was the root of the problem.

Vehicles now are so complex. You pop the bonnet and there is little room to move. Unlike in older times when a basic mechanical knowledge, and in the heyday of one of my uncles, no 8 wire, could fix anything. I remember a time when dad looked under the bonnet of one of the work vehicles at Uncle Lionel’s farm to see both engine mounts secured only by no 8 wire. Certainly, wouldn’t work now, so our reliance on professionals to ensure we can get to where we want AND RETURN is greatly increased.

There are things we can do. Obviously, we can ensure all the levels are good, but when we talk to our service manager, let them know what you are doing and suggest, rather than a normal service they give your vehicle a real look over.

In real Grey Nomad mode, it’s a lot easier I suspect to simply just wander, and if one park is full, there are free camps and other parks to investigate. Many parks will not take bookings, and its first in first served we have found, so moving early can be an option, and some like here at 80 Mile Beach, they do not take visitors after 7.00pm, and they actually close the gate.

I suspect you could say the real Grey Nomad is nothing if not flexible, but as much as possible be ready for anything.