Last year, I spent most of my time, between hospital and visit to specialist.. An old friend parked next door to me once said: “most grey nomad play the rubber travel! From a doctor to a caravan park to another doctor to a different caravan park to another doctor and the wheel goes around..”

 I can now vouch for that as most of the past 18 months have been exactly like that.. We all know that we can’t expect any changes if we do the same thing every day, so this year I would like to break the chains and try something different.. It may end up put me in hospital permanently, as I will try to stop the treatments for a while and see if I can break that rubber, but I really don’t care! This was not the original plan!

This 1st of March I started the engine and made the decision to go.. First stop was Toowoomba where I gave Gigi a complete grease and lube, plus I had a few matters to settle with some friends.. Then upon receiving confirmation of some good news, I parked for the night in Clifton at the usual place.. Charlie came around for a meal and to say farewell.. I really feel lucky to have friends like Charlie in my life..

In the morning I was confronted by the coffee machine not working. Didn’t pay much attention to it, and decided to hit the tarmac and for the next stop, Inglewood…

 This place was famous for the fruit bat making it impossible to sleep at night in the rest area.. I’m pleased to confirm that they have relocated the bats and the area now Inglewood is very peaceful and enjoyable..

The next morning I discover that my Jacks assist were also out of action.. A quick check to the battery bank confirmed the worst.. They were on their way out.. What to do? Turn around and go back to Toowoomba for a replacement or keep going and see what happen? I took the second option and left Inglewood, continuing in a South Westerly direction… By the evening I was in Cobar.

Parking at the Cornish Rest Area, was easy as there were only another couples of vehicles.. After a great night sleep, I look at the batteries, and yes, they were definitely on their way out.. Then I remembered that I had a generator to use for those emergency. And so, coffee and breakfast was served..

The lack of power in the morning it also meant that I was no longer able to level the bus at night.. From now on, I will have to find level spots to park until the batteries are replaced..

Left Cobar with a dieing battery bank I decide to press forward and once again by the end of the day we had reached Peterborough in South Australia..

I had stopped here previously back in 2009 with my daughter on our way back from Perth, so that did bring up some good memories.. Again an early night with no TV or any other form of technology available due to lack of power (and interest. To be honest, I was very tired)

Early morning again got few landmarks out of the way.. Crossing the beautiful Horrocks Pass, it was then the turn of Port Augusta, followed by Kimba to say hello to the giant galah, then ending the day in Ceduna for another great night sleep.. The lack of power during the evening and early morning mean that I was now on a mission to get to Perth as quick as possible to replace the faulty bank…

From Ceduna it was all down hill on the Eyre Hwy to the Border Village, then Eucla, Mundrabilla, Madura, Cocklebiddy, Caiguna, the 90 mile straight, Balladonia, then Norseman..

I originally planned to stop in Norseman, but I didn’t want to sleep in the truck stop area, so I kept going for Coolgardie, where after 1330km I was able to find another great spot to stop for the night.. Nearly there…

In the morning I headed South West for Southern Cross, then to the final destination of Beverley, where my friends were NO longer waiting for me (they were hiding in the next village).. It was fun to find the spot completely empty and no trace of their vehicle.. I wanted to surprise them, and instead they surprised me..

We were finally reunited after more than 7 months of travelling.. First order of the day was to reinstitute the happy hour, followed by rules n.2: No stress!

Two days after we got to Perth to pick up the new batteries and replaced my old and now faulty and extremely swollen up batteries.. I was actually lucky they didn’t explode as it would have been a mess in there in such confined space.. Apparently the failure was due to one of the battery no longer holding the charge, making the entire setup over heating while the MTTP was trying to charge the bank..

The tell tale was actually there. I just didn’t see it at first when I check the Victron monitor. The batteries has started to go down more than 24 volts since Toowoomba to the point of being 13.6 volts when I did reach Beverley.. Lesson learned. Keep an eye on the daily battery report provided by the Victron BMV..

There are still plenty of people on the road, and I’m starting to believe that not everybody will go back to holidaying overseas again.. The prices are also still a bit high especially for fuel and accommodations. Luckily we don’t really seem to need the last one…

Where do we go from here?

Well.. I do have a wish in my bucket list and perhaps now it will happen.. And the beauty is that I can still try to help other people on the road.. After all, that was the other wish in my bucket list, and also the original plan before my health gave up on me so quickly!

Until the next, drive safe…