our new project - the new van

Well we picked up our new caravan yesterday - an old Windsor van..circa 1980!!!!  We decided that we wanted a bit of a project on our off days here in Kalgoorlie and found this advertised in the local rag a few weeks ago, after a bit of tooing and frooing we got it for a good price ($8500).   Yes a bit of a come down from the lovely big Jayco, however its nice to not have so much money tied up in something sitting outside for the majority of the time unused.

So our plan is to do it up and use it for the odd weekend trip this year and for the coastal trip to Perth we plan at the end of the year and then the long trip back to Qld next year maybe stopping off in a few places along the way.  Structurally it seems pretty sound and does not leak which is the main thing, and for a much smaller van than the Jayco its really quite roomy inside.  We are going to put it in to the garage asap and check out the frame and get the wheel bearings sorted and probably a couple of new tyres fitted, then next job is for Mal to check out the wiring and the gas and water systems.   It towed really well round to the flat and you could hardly notice it on the back of the ute...so different from towing around the huge Jayco, so I may even start driving and towing it when we are on the road.

We are heading to Perth in a couple of weeks for a weekend there which coincides with the big Caravan and Camping exhibition so we hope to pick up some ideas and goodies for the van there.  I have already made a list of what I want to do to the van (much to Mals disgust) but the first task will be to clean it all out...there is a load of crap in it which we just don't want so will cull it all out and do a big clean first.

Apart from that life in Kalgoorlie is pretty much work work work at the moment.  Mal is working 6 day weeks with only one full weekend off in every four.  I have been doing a lot of night shifts lately and extra hours which is a real pain but the ward is so short staffed and its probably not going to change any time soon.  There was a front page article in the local paper last week (planted by the union I suspect after some phone calls from stressed staff) regarding how short staffed we were and how stressed we are all getting.  Prompted some lovely local catering firm or cafe to start dropping in food for us randomly.....nice to know someone cares!!

I got a promotion to Clinical Midwife which means a lot more hassle but a bit more money.  I am enjoying it though and means I get to boss others around...LOL.

The weather is still pretty warm with temps mainly in the late 30s.  Today its raining for the first time in a long time - the aftermath of cyclone Rusty which hit northern WA, and the temp is a lot cooler.  I never thought I would hear myself saying this, but its nice to have some rain and cooler temps, though we are sure we will be moaning when winter sets in and it becomes more the norm.  Little Chip is being extra snuggly today as its cooler which is nice.

Here are some photos of our new van in its original state.  We will make sure we take lots of progress photos as we do her up...