Progress in Preparing for the Bushtracker

This wait while having the caravan built can only be called ‘frustrating’. It isn’t Bushtracker’s fault in terms of building delays, although having all of my emails to anyone in the company vetted and passed on certainly cuts the level of communication between the client and those doing the work.

My van is now up to the production stage, but I don’t know where production itself is up to. During the design stage, I had frequent and fruitful email exchanges with Philip to clarify points and make decisions. Since then, although I’ve sent emails off to find out when would be a suitable time to visit and to ask for progress photos that I believe Bushtracker take, I have had no real contact. I did ask Matt for reassurance about an issue of rotting floorboards that was raised on the BOG forum and got a quick and satisfactory reply from Steve, most of which I posted as part of the BOG discussion. In the end a phone call to Matt indicated where the van was up to and when would be a suitable time to visit. Obviously phone contact is preferable at times.

The various Bushtracker associated websites  are a wealth of information, allowing you to interact with other like minded people. I find the BOG website less intimidating than the forum. Some of the replies from the company on matters raised in the forum are a little less than diplomatic, often impacting people who are inexperienced and simply ask for advice. However, the technical discussions on both the forum and the BOG site are great. I tend to log in daily and either follow BOG posts in which I’ve become involved, as well as new posts, or I view all posts since my last visit to the forum and read everything that has been posted recently.

Trawling through back posts on both sites has been fascinating and very worthwhile. This morning, after reading posts and getting in touch with Sun Buster as recommended in one post, I received a ‘caravan weight machine’ to measure both LC and caravan gross weights.  Not essential, but certainly reassuring when so much discussion revolves around avoiding being overloaded in either van or LC. I was chased off what I thought was a public weighbridge the other day when I was attempting to measure the LC weight. The new machine will avoid such embarrassment.

I’ve read about batteries and their maintenance, although with lithium batteries there is less information on the forums and I still feel ill informed. I’ve read members’ experiences with air conditioners that caused me to change my mind from Dometic to Air Command Cormorant. I’ve sought and received advice on where to camp around the Sunshine Coast when we pick up the van, prior to the first service. As a result of information on the BOG site, I’m currently researching CGear products related to shade cloth and their ‘multimat’ that keeps sand and dust below the mat when parked up for a while.

In addition, Allison and I have been through all of our caravan gear and decided what will be taken up to the van and what wont. The gear all sits in the garage blocking space for the LC to be put away. We will make a visit to the Bushtracker factory sometime in the production process, hopefully mid December, both to review and fine-tune anything if necessary and to take one load up to the Sunshine Coast for storage until we pick up the van.

This will mean we will have a fair bit of space in the LC when we travel in January to pick the van up. However, I have ordered a set of Drifter drawers with a fridge slide that will take up some of the space. While somewhat more cumbersome than the clear rear area of the LC, the drawers will organise and tie down the LC storage. They also will make sure things don’t damage the back of the seats as happened on the Arkaroola trip.  I’ll have to pull the extra rear seats out prior to fitting the drawers but, as the kids are coming for Christmas, this can wait.

All this is filling in time while we wait for the van. I know it will be the best.  I know it will open up a new world of exploration. And, like the kid at heart I am, I can’t wait to get going. It will be a great after Christmas present for both of us, won’t it?