Cabin Fever

3 Weeks since we arrived Home.

Blog entry by Will.

Ozzie, our neighbours dog, comes out to greet us, the morning after we got home.

Right now it's raining outside, cold & dreary. Jenny is sewing & has an acute case of "Cabin Fever" she is keen to hit the road again. Who's idea was it to come home in the middle of winter ?

Jenny is so bored, she has decided to do some sewing !

The main reason for letting our Europe trip come to an end and coming back to Oz was so we could sort out unfinished business. It feels like we have not done anything over the past 3 weeks, but that isn't the case.

We have:

Caught up with Family & Friends.

Been on a couple of long bicycle rides.

Submitted all out tax info to our accountant for processing.

Sold many items laying around the house, that we no longer use.

Been on a couple of motor bike rides.

Continued with the VW Kombi repairs and ordered new interior cabinets.

Had many lazy mornings in bed.

Helped my Dad clean and advertise his F100 truck for sale.

Tidied up around the house.

Sorted out various business obligations.

During our first week home, we decided it would be a good idea to go for a 20km ride along the Kwinana Fwy cycle path on a very wet day.

Jenny with her bike "Little Bubby" near Serpentine Dam.

It was a cold day for a bike ride.

We weren't the only ones out for a ride. Riders crossing the Dam wall headed for Jarrahdale.

Lazy morning in the winter sunshine.

Dixie Van, I started removing the side windows but found a small amount of rust that required some repair work.

Rust isn't to bad for a 40 year old Kombi.

Sliding door window removed, rust repair begins.

Neutralise it with some rust inhibitor paint.

New flooring, fridge & interior cabinets still to be fitted.

It should look some thing like this when completed, except the floor will be wood look.

(Photo from Kombi Cabinets, Queensland, who are making our new ones, thanks Tony)

Selling stuff....Kombi stove & old cabinet. Sold.

3rd row Landcruiser seats, could be hard to find a buyer.

Surfboards no longer used, get rid of them...sell...sell...sell.

The "Old Man's" ute....Sell, took me all day to clean it ! 

So I guess we both haven't been too slack. Now what ? Well some of the plans we discussed while touring Europe are going to take a bit longer to achieve then we hoped for.

We have investigated a North America cycle trip along the west coast from Vancover, Canada to either San Diego, USA or maybe even further south into Mexico. The weather window departure date for this trip has to be June 2016 & if the Australian dollar slides much lower against the Greenback then it might become to expensive. Jenny & I will make the call on whether to book our flights or not, early 2016.

So what about the here & now ? Like all good adventures, the inspiration came after a few drinks. The next morning we discussed the sanity of it and if we were both still keen.....YES we are ! So Jenny & I are going to tackle the Nullarbor, which from memory is Latin for "plain with no trees".  We also want to focus on South Australia, particularly, Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula and Kangaroo Island as we have never visited any of these areas.

It gets pretty windy out there on the Nullarbor, so to make sure you get a majority of Westerly tail winds you need to be on the road by the beginning of September at the latest. It will be cold at times but I don't mind so long as we have tail winds. If you leave the departure for to late in the year, you cop savage easterly winds, hot weather & heaps of annoying flies !

The preparations have already begun, new front Ortlieb Panniers have been ordered to replace the ripped & damaged cheap Chinese ones we chucked out in the UK. Spot gen3 Tracker (with SOS & HELP functions) has been ordered, Maps down loaded to DavoGPS, routes selected and much more.

The plan is for us initially is to be on the road for 3 months, then either drive a Campervan Relocation or fly home for December. Then after 4 to 6 weeks at home do the reverse to where we "paused" the cycle tour and continue onwards to the East-coast  then hopefully New Zealand...So that's the rough plan. Departure date is before the 31st of August.

Proposed cycle route for next cycling adventure, via, Hyden, Norseman, Nullarbor, Eyre & Yorke Peninsula's, Kangaroo Is. Adelaide. September to December 2015. 2500kms+.