Van Journal Week 1: The way to Tasmania

Van Journal Week 1: The way to Tasmania

So you say when life gives you lemons ...

It can be good to live after proverbs, but I admit that it is hardly a fair comparison to weigh a few citrus pieces against a sudden global pandemic. In any case, the meaning counts behind the words. That means how do we transform a bad situation into a good one - but is it fair to describe our position as "bad"? That could be the essence of the old saying that there are no bad situations, only half empty glass perspectives.

It helps to think like this because there is always someone who is worse. But that doesn't mean it was easy. To just express it, it wasn't the best year to be travel bloggers. But as I see it, it is not our title that defines us, but our way of life and ours had certainly come to a standstill. That was the most difficult part.

Nevertheless, our inner Stoiker told us that we should ignore what could be and take another way to continue our nomadic lifestyle. So when life gave us a pandemic, we built a van.

Introduction to the van Journal

If you have ever stumbled through this blog, you know that our main focus is on the adventure and the goal, not on the author. However, I missed the letter of diary because it blames me to take the time to think. I also think that this type of articles would be useful for others who are planning similar trips.

That is why I will write a weekly summary of our adventures in Australia in our self -converted Ford Transit Campervan in this series of blog posts. It will have a tone similar to our Sailing Log and I hope that other aspiring Van travelers inspire to set off and see this incredible country!

Our van: Get to know clifden

Get to know Clifden, our 2013 Ford Transit Hochdach residential home with a long wheelbase. She is a big girl, but we love her. After our flights were grounded and brought back to Australia with the hightail, we decided to buy them as the mostly empty panel van and to convert them into a completely independent campervan. In this way we had a ticket to continue life in motion.
Alt = "We are looking for a touring car">
We named our Van Clifden after a particularly stubborn mouse with which we had the pleasure of sharing a home during our first sample of van life in New Zealand. We also baptized this mouse after she sneaked into our rental van in Clifden on the South Island.

our structure

We built our van with the intention of living full -time during the journey. So we wanted a room in which we cook, sleep, eat and work. We wanted to use it as a means of adventure and not constantly have to move and change things on the go.

We have made it, a fixed double platform bed, a fully equipped corner kitchen with a large sink, running water and induction hob, a standing cooling/freezer, double-sitting benches, a dining/work table in full width, an pull-out toilet, an external heating water shower and lots of storage space.

Below I add some photos of the final building from March 2021 when we are finally ready to take to the streets.

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

• Alt = "Van Conversion Australia by WE Seek Travel">
• Alt = "Van Conversion Australia by WE Seek Travel">
• Alt = "Van Conversion Australia by WE Seek Travel">
• Alt = "Van Conversion Australia by WE Seek Travel">
• Alt = "Van Conversion Australia by WE Seek Travel">
• Alt = "Van Conversion Australia by WE Seek Travel">
• Alt = "Van Conversion Australia by WE Seek Travel">
• Alt = "Van Conversion Australia by WE Seek Travel">
• Alt = "Van Conversion Australia by WE Seek Travel">

Our first week in a van in Australia

I would suspect that moving to a van may sound like a victim for most people. However, life in a confined space is not foreign to us. We have spent the better half of the last four years to live from a backpack and not spend more than $ 50 a day for us. And in the middle of it we had spent four months to sail the Australian east coast on board a self-made 50-foot sailing ship.

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

Our real plan was to make it to Tasmania, a place that both Haylea and I had read so much, but had never had the opportunity to visit him. It is the only place in Australia that really noticed us in terms of adventure opportunities.

But first we had to make a few last errands. Our van is registered in Queensland and therefore we had to go to an engineer from Queensland to have our work validated. This means that the corresponding documents are submitted to register Clifden as a motorhome. We also upgraded our suspension to cope with the additional weight that we had added during the construction. The same engineer was also able to increase our GVM or permissible total weight of the delivery van from 3550 kilograms to 3900 kilograms.

When the Australian summer came to an end, we found it perfect to enjoy the last warm sun rays in the Sunshine State. We drove from Empire Bay on the Central Coast to the Gold Coast during a day to spend more time on the beach.
Alt = "The paradise of the surfing sunset">

• Alt = "Surfer near Burleigh heads">
• Alt = "Surfer paradise beach">
• Alt = "Surfer near Burleigh heads">

This first week of Australian van life was much slower than we are usually used to from travel. No major missions were planned. Instead, we really just wanted to test the van and iron out possible wrinkles before we make our way to Tasmania.

I was very excited about giving me a reason to get the camera out again. That was a refreshing feeling after I had concentrated so much on planning and building for a few months.

A big test for the van was a trip to Mount Tamborins. Although there were no wild, unpaved roads, the winding climb and the resulting departure aroused our trust in Clifden after we had mastered the hills like a world champion. At the top of the mountain we also made a stop at the Curtis Falls before we “secretly” camped in a side street.
Alt = “Curtis Falls MT Tamborins Waterfall Hike”> Curtis Fall
In fact, we had to fall back on stealth camping a few times this first week, as the Gold Coast does not offer many options for freedom camping. Although it is quite obvious for the trained eye that our van is a motorhome, we still think that it is okay on the stealth front. Well, we had no major problems with the Gold Coast, which is apparently notorious that the rangers knock on the door at 3 a.m. Alt = "We are looking for a touring car"> Our first sunset place on Mount Tamborins
The technical acceptance was also a success. The entire process was more thorough than I originally expected. However, the engineer was impressed by our performance and liked to go through the paperwork. However, there was a hiccup. An emergency braking test was required as part of the GVM upgrade. In retrospect, we would have done well to secure our closures for the toilet slide better. A stopped stop at 60 km/h unfortunately broke the lock and let the toilet fly. But still, these were the small necessary repairs we were looking for, and we were definitely glad that the toilet itself was up to!

When all errands were done and the paperwork was done, we set off again. This time we drove south back to Central Coast to organize our last tasks before we continued to Tasmania. We took the time to return to the south and stopped for one night in Yamba and Crescent Head before we ended our short test run in Clifden.
Alt = “Delphine at Yamba”> Dolphins at Yamba
Alt = "sickle head drone"> Half moon head
Alt = "aerial recording gold coast">

towards south to Tasmania

There is so much to see on the Australian east coast. This fact impressed us even more after we had to skip so much, but the clock ticked.

We had booked a ferry ticket on board the Spirit of Tasmania for March 20. This only gave us a few days to get to Melbourne after spending some of the Central Coast. If you consider that we were in Queensland a week ago, and now we are here and are leaving the harbor of Melbourne on the spirit. That is almost 1800 street kilometers behind us and that was only the first week! Below are a few pictures of the very closely compressed last stage by Victoria.
Alt = "We are looking for Travel van Deck Rough"> See Hume
Alt = “Victorian streets Lake Hume”> See Hume
Alt = “van drives through the black lane drive”> black lane drive
Alt = "black lane drive delivery van"> Black lane drive
All in all, you can say with certainty that our first week in Van Living was a bit unconventional. Driving a little too much is also fair to say. Regardless of this, we are both enthusiastic about being on the road again, as the bass Strait is waiting for us on the other side!

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