AND WE'RE OFF

So were now on the road, after days of intense cleaning, packing and researching, were off.
Making the van our own has become the object of many days as weve scoured charity shops and customised our little vanny. The conundrum of the lack of table in the van was one that had to be sorted as how could we have romantic meals with no table? so we got in touch with Mackenzie, a boatman, potter and all round handy man by trade, who luckily is a good friend of Eve and Ross. While currently bilding his own house and fixing his boat trailer he kindly had time to help us and fortunatly to us seemingly has every tool and material going. Oh and buckets of advice to help us. With a little, well alot of help we did it, the purfect table for the most lovly van of ours!

With all the van packed and ready we enjoyed our last evening with our ever so loving hosts Eve and Ross, we have become close over the weeks and can not say how much the love and help that we have felt has been really appreciated. So thank you Eve and Ross for such a kind welcome to Australia. The evening was a grand leving do, we invited Makenzie and anna his lady to join as a thankyou for the help, with me and storm as the cooks we made a fiest! not to forget the quinoa bergers eve gave to the array of delights. With a final thankyou speach from my stormy boy I couldnt have been more proud.

With adventure in our hearts and a feeling of real gratitude toward my family we set off.

With many items to pick up and a aldi shop to be done we headed for Colac and spent many hours finding all the bits and pieces that we needed including Roadside service insurance, a definate as we aint got a clue about engines . . yet!

 We left late after dinner which we enjoyed in the central park, enjoying the freedom a van brings with being able to cook anywhere, and headed to Apollo Bay back on the coast, the first night time driving to be done, verry exciting! With the wind in our hair, the sunsetting behind us, oh and the mass amount of beers flying everywhere that Storm insisted on getting from aldi we drove late into the night. Finally to rest at a turn in off the road next to some other campers. First night in Vanny!!

MONTH LONG BLOG

WE BOUGHT A VAN!!!

Well, we've been here a month now! So we think its probably about time we updated the blog eh?

Were still in 'lovely' Lorne, BUT, not for long! Jaimie's knee is almost fully recovered, we've been walking and swimming everyday, the weather and sea temperatures have been beautiful!. And . . . WE BOUGHT A VAN! The last couple of weeks have really been consumed by the search, i.e. - what type?, what year?, what test?, what certificate? What, what, what?! . . With neither of us being the most mechanically minded of people and not pretending to know a great deal about Australian road and vehicle law. But all the stress and furious ponder has finally paid off, as we are now the proud owners of a 1985 Toyota Hiace, pop-top and long wheel base 'don't you know'.

Being two hours from Melbourne (the nearest major city), rite on the Great Ocean Road which is scattered with small beach-side communities like Lorne, heavens for holiday makers, the retired, and of course surfer / travellers. There are campers everywhere you look, especially Haice's which seem to be the van of choice, I know, now were in the club too! But it makes sense, as they're a similar size to the Transporter or Combi, a fraction of the price and far easier to find parts for. Also because theres so many around the place, the mechanics in these small costal villages and further afield are well versed in the maintenance and repair of them. Anyway, my point is that although there are so many of these vans about, none are stopping, just passing through, stopping for a few days surf and then moving on to the next spot. Which, for someone in the market for one of these things is highly frustrating! Because you know that in a few days time once some of these vans reach a major city (Melbourne, Adelaide or Sydney) they will be up for sale on Gumtree! Still a nice taster to see them around, we've definitely been given some funny looks as we sneak around the car parks, nosying up all the campers, the different layouts, colours, roofs and accessories!

So, it was looking like getting up to Melbourne and 'hosteling' it up whilst we searched was gonna be our only chance. Until . . Jim spotted one in Geelong, a small town about an hours drive from here. A little out of our price range but worth a look none the less. We were first to contact, which is invaluable in these matters as we'd already learned how fast these things move hands. The next day were up to Geelong to meet Rob and Lyne. Needless to say we fell instantly in love with her, apparently all motor vehicles and boats are feminine, I'm not too sure why, perhaps a way for petrol heads to justify they're often obsessive relationship with inanimate objects? Or mask they're obsessions in conversation, as being underneath 'her' for an afternoon is rather more interesting for us non-mechanic minded folk, than being under a van. All fine, but if you ask me the vans a Graham . .

Rob and Lyne are lovely, they talk us through everything we could possibly want to know about the vehicle and its history. We go for a little drive out of the city and in a quieter area Jaimie has her first taste of driving a Hiace, having not driven for nearly three years she's a little nervous but takes to it as if she's been driving one for ever, a good sign! The vehicle is solid, having only three previous owners and being serviced regularly with all up-to-date service history she's a gem. A damn sight better than other vans we looked at, ragged around the country multiple times. She's done 320,000 K and she's got her original engine, lots of the vans we'd seen of a similar age had similar milage or 'kilometreage' on they're second engine! It's obvious Rob's loved this van dearly for the eight years he's had it and tells us ways we can maintain its great condition - “change the oil every ten k and make sure you have the tyres rotated and re-aligned, only use premium unleaded . . ”. Were grateful for the advice, and we plan to keep her fit. Rob tells us they're only selling because, after some recent health issues himself and Lyn have decided to sell up everything and live on the road with they're two dogs, and as beautiful as our little camper is, they're ready for something a little larger. So they hit the road in they're new Winnebago on friday, heading for Tasmania. Maybe we'll meet them again on the road somewhere, we hope so.

VALENTINES DAY

Well, to be honest, we completely forgot about valentines day. Not that we're so deeply besotted by each other and everyday is but another celebration of our love and companionship that a day dedicated to such a thing would make no sense at all, if for some reason we were indeed able to take our attentions away from each other to consider anything but one another. But yes, we forgot. Luckily we had an amazing day none the less. We spent the day taking pictures along the beach. Early on we stumbled across what I believe is a heron (but given my bird knowledge it may not have been a bird at all, so please correct me if I'm wrong). Jaimie has been teaching me the basics of photography, which, all credit to her must be absolutely antagonising. Post grad media student indeed! Alas I'm getting there, all in good time, and were having fun. This day in question, I had been keeping myself occupied taking pictures of a bridge whilst Jamie figured out how best to shoot the Heron, not the angle exactly, but more how she may get low enough to see through the viewfinder given she can't bend very much at all. A comedy duo for sure, especially as I finally bored of the bridge and decided I should make sure I got a pic of Jamie and the heron, just as she was finally getting the shot she wanted! 

Later that day we took a walk to the pier down the coast, a spot we've been walking to daily. Whilst sitting there on the wooden bench looking out to sea, Jamie commented “urgh whats that in the sea?”, at first glimpses it did look as if a large globule of oil was floating up the shore with the in coming tide, but on closer inspection it was actually a large sting ray. We'd both never seen a ray outside of the aquarium and found it intensely mesmerising to watch. Majestic and elegant it moved seamlessly with the waves, its long black tail ever so slightly protruding the waters surface with its sharped spikes. Absolutely stunning. Then! Another bloody one turned up and they began to frolic around each other, playing in the waves like soggy, burnt pancakes discovering the joys of piggy backs. Or . . like hungry sting rays fighting for food washed ashore by mooring boats nearby, but whatever.

JAIMIES BIRTHDAY

So my 23rd birthday and for the first time its hot and sunny! Stormy surprised me with a trip to Melbourne, our first glimpse at the big city ill have you know. Overwhelmed with

excitement and with just cause, as we were booked into a hotel in the hart of

Melbourne sky-rise centre. The weekend unfolded as a seamless

ongoing bubbly event of being wined and dinned and treated well.

For a birthday away I couldn't have felt

more loved from the mass amount of messaged received to family and friends skyping, oh and to top it all off meeting up with our lovely chazzy baby our last housemate from bristol for a few drinks and some pizza.

Wow I cant quite believe how far we have come, that is geographically and physically but with both my leg and eye so much better, were both fit and ready for an adventure, good job thats what were up to.

My birthday was topped off by my surprise present from my boy, A custom made hula hoop from the main distributors of circus equipment in australia! WOW. Arriving at the shop

with me having no clue of where we had been heading, we entered a grotto of fabulous gizmos

and gadgets of the circus kind. I not only chose

the size of my hoop but the exact colour that the tape would be.

Within 10 minutes I had the most elegant gold, black andsilver hoop, well only such a hoop

would do for a lady.

Such a wonderful birthday and I did so ever enjoy love you all lots.

RAINBOW SERPANT FESTIVAL

After Jaimie's cousin Adam traveled some of Australia last year, Rainbow Serpent festival has been on the cards. Only a couple of hours from Lorne, Rainbow is noted as one of the country's best festivals. We get a lift from Jamie's family to Geelong and from there

we take a bus heading for Ballarat a town famous for its gold mining past.

The public transportation in Australia leaves a lot to be desired, coming for the UK we are stunned by the limited services for travel outside of the cities, buses are

infrequent and a train network is near non existent, still, with a little patience and some adventure in your heart you can get by). From there another bus takes us to Beaufort, adesolate little town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. But as soon as were off the bus we know were in the rite place, as a woman sticks her head out of a parked car nearby - “Hey g'day there, you guys heading to Rainbow? I'll drive ya for forty bucks? . .”. We kindly decline her offer, and take our

chances hitching a ride to the festival site, as were a day early for the shuttle bus.

With the young and beautiful Jaimie on the road with a thumb out and a disgruntled, overheated Storm concealed in the shade of a cafe canopy, cold drink in hand we have no trouble finding a lift. We meet a group of Rainbow veterans, happy hippies from Melbourne who invite us to camp with them once we get to the festival. The festival is amazing, with an emphasis on well being, vibrancy and the psychedelic we feel rite at home. Well versed in festivals as we are, this one was a new experience for us both, given Jaimie's knee was still recovering from a dislocation. So, less hours spent stomping on the dance floor and going crazy

for three days solid (the prices of stuff compared with the UK also shaped our experience hugely). A different experience yes but a refreshing one, for all the festivals we've been to across the world and all the money spent on tickets, in reflection we've only ever scratched the surface of stuff you can do at these things. Yes, it's amazing, who would have thought it, for your £200 theres more happening than sessions at the campsite and the DJ's!! So anyway, we took advantage of being somewhat disabled from the usual routine and got stuck into some of the workshops and talks that were happening. I learnt all about 2012 and “The Awakening” and the 26,000 year planetary alignment, Jaimie learnt all about the health benefits of super foods and raw chocolate, she also got stuck

into a hoola-hoop dance workshop, I made juggling balls and learnt some new tricks, and with the help of a local mushroom speciality . . . we spent hours stomping on the dance floor and going crazy, of course!!

Besides all that mischief and malarkey, we met a lovely bunch of people from Adelaide, all musicians and media folk who besides spoiling us rotten at they're campsite, invited us up to Adelaide for the fringe festival, the largest fringe festival outside of Edinburgh

apparently. So that will be our first proper adventure in the van, a 500 mile journey along the south coast, not bad for a first journey, about the equivalent of Landsend to Edinburgh. leaving this wednesday! Of course we have absolutely no idea who is playing or what there is to

see, but with local hosts / guides and the Womad festival which is happening at the same time as the fringe (which, by the way is called Womadelaide! genius) We're sure to have an

amazing time!

THE BEGINNING

What better medication for a knee dislocation,

no angst, bitter cold nor bitter frustration.

The kindest of offers from the kindest relation,

helps us leave in a hurry no worry or hesitation.

To a land of uncertainties,

but by no means a needless-location.

No Leg Room from Jaimie Beynon on Vimeo.