Van Journal Week 1: The Road to Tasmania

Van Journal Week 1: The Road to Tasmania

That's what they say when life gives you lemons...

It can be good to live by proverbs, but I admit that weighing a few pieces of citrus against a sudden global pandemic is hardly a fair comparison. In any case, the meaning behind the words counts. That is, how do we turn a bad situation into a good one – but is it even fair to call our position “bad”? This could be the essence of the old saying that there are no bad situations, only half-empty glass perspectives.

It helps to think like that because there is always someone worse off. But that doesn't mean it was easy either. To put it simply, it hasn't been the best year to be a travel blogger. But the way I see it, it's not our title that defines us, but our way of life and ours had certainly come to a standstill. That was the hardest part.

Still, our inner stoic told us to ignore what could be and take a different path to continue our nomadic lifestyle. So when life gave us a pandemic, we built a van.

Introduction to Van Journal

If you've ever stumbled across this blog, you know that our main focus is on the adventure and the destination, not the author. However, I missed journaling because it holds me accountable for taking time to think. I also think these types of articles would be useful for others planning similar trips.

So in this series of blog posts I'll be writing a weekly recap of our adventures around Australia in our self-converted Ford Transit campervan. It will have a similar tone to our Sailing Log and I hope it inspires other aspiring van travelers to get out there and see this incredible country!

Our Van: Get to know Clifden

Meet Clifden, our 2013 Ford Transit high-roof, long-wheelbase motorhome. She's a big girl, but we love her. After our flights were grounded and hightailed back to Australia, we decided to purchase her as a mostly empty panel van and convert her into a fully self-contained campervan. In this way we had a ticket to continue life on the move.
alt="WE ARE LOOKING FOR A TRAVEL CAR">
We named our Van Clifden after a particularly stubborn mouse that we had the pleasure of sharing a home with during our first taste of van life in New Zealand. We also named this mouse Clifden after he sneaked into our rental van in Clifden on the South Island.

Our structure

We built our van with the intention of living in it full-time while driving. Therefore, we wanted a space where we could cook, sleep, eat and work. We wanted to use it as a vehicle for adventure and not have to constantly move and change things along the way.

We managed to add a fixed double platform bed, a fully equipped corner kitchen with large sink, running water and induction hob, a standing fridge/freezer, double bench seating, a full width dining/work table, a pull-out toilet, an outdoor heated water shower and plenty of storage space.

Below I am including some photos of the final construction as of March 2021 when we are finally ready to hit the road.

Interested in our structure? Read more about our complete step-by-step process here.

• alt=“VAN CONVERSION AUSTRALIA VON WE SEEK TRAVEL“>
• alt=“VAN CONVERSION AUSTRALIA VON WE SEEK TRAVEL“>
• alt=“VAN CONVERSION AUSTRALIA VON WE SEEK TRAVEL“>
• alt=“VAN CONVERSION AUSTRALIA VON WE SEEK TRAVEL“>
• alt=“VAN CONVERSION AUSTRALIA VON WE SEEK TRAVEL“>
• alt=“VAN CONVERSION AUSTRALIA VON WE SEEK TRAVEL“>
• alt=“VAN CONVERSION AUSTRALIA VON WE SEEK TRAVEL“>
• alt=“VAN CONVERSION AUSTRALIA VON WE SEEK TRAVEL“>
• alt=“VAN CONVERSION AUSTRALIA VON WE SEEK TRAVEL“>

Our first week in a van in Australia

I would guess that moving into a van might sound like a sacrifice to most people. However, living in a confined space is no stranger to us. We've spent the better half of the last four years living out of a backpack and spending no more than $50 a day on ourselves. And in the middle of it all, we had spent four months sailing the east coast of Australia aboard a self-built 50-foot sailing ship.

So our first test run at Clifden was more of a luxury than anything else. For the first time we had our own space and could still travel!

Our original plan was to make it to Tasmania, a place that both Haylea and I had read so much about but had never had the opportunity to visit. It's the only place in Australia that really caught our eye in terms of adventure opportunities.

But first we had to run a few final errands. Our van is registered in Queensland and therefore we had to seek out a Queensland engineer to have our work validated. This means submitting the appropriate paperwork to register Clifden as a mobile home. We also upgraded our suspension to handle the additional weight we added during construction. So the same engineer was also able to increase our GVM or gross vehicle weight of the van from 3550 kilograms to 3900 kilograms.

As the Australian summer came to an end, we thought it would be perfect to enjoy the last warm rays of sunshine in the Sunshine State. We drove from Empire Bay on the Central Coast to the Gold Coast over the course of a day so we could spend more time on the beach.
alt="THE SURFER'S PARADISE SUNSET">

• alt=“SURFER BEI BURLEIGH-KÖPFEN“>
• alt=“SURFERPARADIESSTRAND“>
• alt=“SURFER BEI BURLEIGH-KÖPFEN“>

This first week of Australian van life was much slower than we are usually used to when traveling. No major missions were planned. Instead, we really just wanted to test the van and iron out any potential wrinkles before heading to Tasmania.

I was very excited that this trip gave me a reason to get the camera out again. It was a refreshing feeling after a few months of concentrating so much on planning and building.

A big test for the van was a trip to Mount Tamborine. Although there were no wild dirt roads, the winding climb and resulting descent gave us confidence in Clifden after we tackled the hills like a champ. At the top of the mountain we also stopped at Curtis Falls before “secretly” camping on a side street.
alt=“CURTIS FALLS MT TAMBORINE WATERFALL HIKE”>Curtis Falls
In fact, we had to resort to stealth camping a few times that first week as the Gold Coast doesn't offer many freedom camping options. Although it's pretty obvious to the trained eye that our van is a motorhome, we still think it's fine on the stealth front. Well, we didn't have much trouble on the Gold Coast, which apparently is notorious for rangers knocking on the door at 3am.
alt=“WE ARE LOOKING FOR A TRAVEL CAR”>Our first sunset spot on Mount Tamborine
The technical acceptance was also a success. The entire process was more thorough than I originally expected. However, the engineer was impressed with our performance and was happy to go through the paperwork. However, there was a hiccup. An emergency brake test was required as part of the GVM upgrade. In hindsight, we would have done well to better secure our locks for the toilet pusher. Unfortunately, a slammed stop at 60 km/h broke the lock and sent the toilet flying. But still, these were the small necessary repairs we were looking for, and we were definitely happy that the toilet itself held up!

Once all the errands were completed and the paperwork was completed, we hit the road again. This time we headed south back to the Central Coast to organize our final tasks before heading on to Tasmania. We took our time heading back south, stopping at Yamba and Crescent Head for a night each before finishing our short trial run in Clifden.
alt="DOLPHINS AT YAMBA">Dolphins at Yamba
alt=“Crescent Head Drone”>Crescent Head
alt=“AERIAL VIEW GOLD COAST”>

Heading south to Tasmania

There is so much to see on the Australian east coast. This fact impressed us even more after having to skip so much, but the clock was ticking.

We had booked a ferry ticket on board the Spirit of Tasmania for March 20th. This only gave us a few days to get to Melbourne after spending some on the Central Coast. Considering we were in Queensland a week ago and now here we are, just leaving Melbourne port on the Spirit. That's almost 1800 kilometers of road behind us and that was only the first week! Below are a few shots from the very tightly squeezed final leg through Victoria.
alt=“WE ARE LOOKING FOR TRAVEL VAN DECK Rough”>Lake Hume
alt=“VICTORIAN STREETS LAKE HUME”>Lake Hume
alt=“Van drives through Black Spur Drive”>Black Spur Drive
alt=“BLACK TRACK DRIVE VAN”>Black track drive
All in all, it's safe to say our first week of van living was a bit unconventional. Driving a little too much is also fair to say. Regardless, we are both thrilled to be back on the road as more adventures await on the other side of Bass Strait!

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