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.