Lucy's Flight
The girls all left for Australia at the start of June. Macklin and I decided to stay behind until we could get Lucy on a flight. Lucy couldn't land anywhere in Australia but Melbourne and with Covid in full swing there is was few flights to Australia and Melbourne being further away from USA most flights fly into Sydney first.
We got our hopes up when Qantas and the Australian Government announced some direct flights into Melbourne in June however we called Qantas within 1 hour of the announcement and yet all the space for pets was already filled. In fact we were told there was a waiting list of about 9 pets per flight. We were a bit suspicious that agents must have been given priority or previous warning however what can you do. One of these flights is the flight that the girls ended up taking. Plenty of space for people.
After calling around and talking with airlines and agents I eventually found an agent that could transport Lucy via New Zealand for a reasonable price. Unfortunately they couldn't get her on a flight until July. The consequence of this was that Lucy's tests would expire and have to be done again at very short notice. In fact her final worming and export inspection was going to have to be done on the day of her flight. This turned out to be a major drama as all the vets were full and I spent the whole day running backwards and forwards between the vet and the Department of Agriculture to get her papers in order. I was so thankful to the officer at the Department of Agriculture who stayed until 5:30pm to ensure Lucy's papers were stamped. Normally they close at 4:00pm.
Truck and Camper Mods
We kept ourselves busy waiting for flights by getting the camper prepared for the next leg of our travels through South America. We also needed to sell the travel trailer. Our next trip will likely not include the kids so we decided to sell the trailer. This meant that all the things we carried in the trailer now needed to be carried in the truck camper. Unfortunately a truck camper does not have much storage. The sides of the truck bed take up a lot of space that could otherwise be used for storage. We previously investigated flat bed manufacturers so we arrange a time with Alumbody in Orange and camped out at their shop for the week whilst they fitted a custom flatbed for us. We wanted a flatbed that was mounted as low as possible as the normal bed has the camper sit between the wheel arches. With a flatbed, the bed normally sits above the wheels. With truck campers, mounting higher can cause excessive body roll and poor fuel economy. The custom bed design had lower frame rails and cut outs at the back to allow the wings of the truck camper to fit. It turned out to be a bit of a learning curve for Alumbody as a few things weren't anticipated with the changes however it all turned out really good in the end.
We spent another couple of weeks fitting aluminium (aluminum in USA) toolboxes to the flatbed and a diesel heater to replace the propane heater. The thinking was that every country has different propane bottles and fittings so if we can eliminate the need for propane for the heater we shouldn't need to endure the process of changing bottles too often. A hydronic diesel heater to cover hot water and heating would have been nice however it would have been too difficult to retrofit in the camper. We can heat the water with electricity supplied by shore power or solar or generator to minimize propane use. We should last a few months between fills if we primarily use propane only for cooking. We also fitted air bags as with all the extra weight we were starting to get a bit low in the back end.
Selling the Travel Trailer (Caravan)
I called a local RV dealer to get a quote for consignment of the trailer and was told that they would prefer to buy it outright however the best they could offer was $9,000 subject to inspection if it was in good condition. I thought this was a bit low as all the rest of the sellers on the net were asking about $18,000. I thought I would try and sell it privately. I put it on a few local websites for $15,000 and was inundated with calls. Sold that day for $14,700. It was a relief that it was so easy to get rid of it. I think the purchaser later sold it again for an ask of $18,000. I didn't have the time to muck around with it so happy for them. We bought it for $20,000 so $5,000 plus a bit of maintenance for eighteen months use was ok to me.
Macklin's Project
Macklin spent the time making a portable second computer monitor screen out of my old laptop that died. It was a very professional build. The sad news is that a couple of weeks later the screen died so now we might have to buy a new screen to go with his frame.
Lucy always wants to be top dog and decided that if she slept on Macklin's bunk she would be higher than everyone else. This did make it a be awkward as Macklin's bunk was not exactly spacious. Macklin did have a nice pillow though that Lucy decided made a nice bed when Macklin wasn't using it.
Steve's Project
We were hosted by in Los Angeles by Steve and Cheryl who were just fantastic to us. Steve is building his own Expedition Camper from scratch. I was just amazed at what he has built within a couple of months. He has built the shell in a sandwich style composite foam, plywood and fiberglass waffle. It is very strong. See https://workingonexploring.wordpress.com/the-rig-build/
