Month: June 2017

Vehicle Prep

I spent Saturday on a hobby farm with my head in my truck.  It was productive as I’ve added lights, and in-vehicle storage.


The lights I’ve chosen are a compromise between cost and function. Leaning heavily towards cost. Lights in Australia can cost anywhere up to $2000, a princely sum that is not in the ballpark of what I’m willing to pay. So for $200 I bought some lights from an online store, with the associated wiring kit.


The vehicle storage that I’ve gone for are the ute drawers.  The drawers are a kit, and offer a nicer way to storage all of the random bits that are needed on a trip like this in a managed way. Three weeks living out of plastic crates and a broom to pull them forward wasn’t overly appealing. This kit came with a fridge slide included, an essential bit of kit when you’re away as long as we are.

Continue reading “Vehicle Prep”

Getting Away

When I feel the need to disappear into the bush and get away from the city the areas I go to can vary from camp sites with designated camping areas, through to overnight on the beach, all the way through to sustained camping in the bush. A normal day trip of 400km round trip and camping of further than this means that the transportation of myself, my gear, and sharing the load across the group when relevant is key. I’ve camped with both a jeep and a ford ranger and wanted to share the pros and cons that I’ve seen so far.

The 2006 Jeep TJ Wrangler that I had went everywhere that I pointed it whilst laden down with all the gear mentioned, typically with additional bags of firewood and jerrycans of petrol as well. This was definitely the most capable 4wd I’ve owned, however ran out of space as soon as you looked at it hard. Continue reading “Getting Away”

Dreaming of warm summer days

I’m only 8 days away from my overland trip to the Kimberleys in North West WA.  After almost two years of planning, and an extended period at work without a break I can’t wait to get going.  Winter hit in force in Perth last night, cold, wet, and howling winds. Today is probably what P-town would consider the first real day of winter, although in comparison to Glasgow (my hometown) it’s a pretty nice summers day. Continue reading “Dreaming of warm summer days”

Coffee – Part One

Coffee is one of my favourite things in the world and you can normally find me working in a coffee shop somewhere in Perth and Adelaide.  This means that I tend to look for a coffee shop with great coffee, free wifi, power, and understanding staff. Normally i can find three of the four, power is still an issue.

Whilst I’m still looking for this Nirvana for the modern day road warrior I’ve also bought a Nespresso machine recently and been very impressed with it. On the days when I don’t have meetings in the city and for just general coffee fixes this is a superb way of getting coffee very quickly. Continue reading “Coffee – Part One”

Lost and Found

I was lucky enough to spend the latest weekend at Cervantes, a small fishing community about two hours North of Perth.  Cervantes isn’t as well known as Lancelin or Margaret River, but has a charm all of its own.  The biggest reason visitors head there is to see the Pinnacles, a petrified forest at the nearby Nambung National Park.  Anyone familiar with Billy Connolly, the Scottish comedian, and his tour of Australia will no doubt be familiar with these standing stones and his naked dance around them.

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I went to the Pinnacles for a slightly different reason, although I did pitch the idea of the dance I was knocked back by my better half.  The West Australian Opera performed in the desert, which was an amazing experience.  The venue was suitably spooky. Continue reading “Lost and Found”