Two days at Lake Macquarie

Just before everyone in Sydney takes off to discover just how nice everything around Sydney is, I decided, spur of the moment to take myself up to Lake Macquarie to discover the camping facilities in this area. In the past I have spent many a weekend sailing the lake with my friends Brian and Cherri, who also happen to live on Fisherman's Point, high above the waters with a wonderful view to boot.

Naturally, I met with them and we spent several hours catching up.



The Lake was beautiful and tranquil as ever, not too many visitors before the big rush over Easter and so turned out to be most relaxing, giving my van the first basic workout, as well as myself. My pull-out sun roof did indeed pose some challenge until I figured out exactly HOW it all works. On my second night I was already an expert and it took no time at all to set it up.

The Swedish two-burner stove also performed well, surprisingly quick in heating my daily dose of hot water for my obligatory pot of coffee each morning. I have used a similar type of stove fired by methylated spirits on a Yacht before and can't remember anything negative from that time either.

First Trip West to Bathurst Area

Ok, so its time to run the first "Test". Having made numerous alterations to the interior, like battening down lose fittings (table top and stand as well as the extension to form larger sleeping area), 2 Fire extinguishers, checked out cooking facilities etc. etc. Working out a Check list for what needs to be done prior to any departure was also part of the exercise.

Now its time to give it all a run and to discover what may still be missing or what needs to be altered. My friend Eckhard and his lovely wife Suki have suggested to do that run together. We want to leave after the Easter School holidays - so we will be leaving in the early part of April for a few days. I am very grateful to have the company and input from two long-time friends who are "old Hands" at this Campervan business - so their input will be much valued in a true hands-on environment.

I am also looking forward to re-experiencing some of the highlights around this area, particularly "Hill End" an old Gold-mining town which I have last visited more than 40 years ago! Of course there is lots more to discover. My camera is ready as I will be reporting how it all went.

Below a couple more pics showing the van in all its "Glory" in front of the house.




Nearly forgot to mention, I discovered that the installed Radio was set to japanese FM frequencies - totally useless of course in Australia. I had a new Radio installed with CD Player that also playes MP3 and WMA files. Great Sound!

I have picked up the Van

Yes, I have picked it up and driven it back to Sydney from Brisbane, taking about one and a half days, with one overnight at Tenterfield. A great way to get used to driving this Turbo Diesel, also to find out its strong or weak points.

I am very impressed with its performance and handling at higher speeds. Fuel consumption when pushing the vehicle is around 13 liters/100km. Aircon is working fine and you don't have to feel uncomfortable, even on a hot and humid day.

The biggest challenge ought to be the available storage space, given the available compartment under the seating and what is needed as a "must have". The installed lighting for the interior was not adequate or rather, non-existant. I have since installed a series of 240 LEDs that are low in power consumption while providing good lighting in the living space.



LEDs are very bright when you look straight at them. I have mounted them inside 20mm Aluminium chanels to provide indirect lighting instead, mounting the chanels around the pop-top frame, pointing straight down. As it turned out, a good solution, providing excellent ambient lighting in the living area, the LEDs not visible. Had a bit of a problem, getting the double-sided to stick to the fibreglass frame, but after wiping the surfaces with solvent to remove any surface contamination, the tape adheres very strongly. Each set-of-60-LEDs draw just under 400mA, all 4 sets drawing less than 1.6A from the 12V supply.

Progress Report on the Van

John Jeffreys at "Motorhome Conversions" advised two days ago that the vehicle is ready and is currently going through the Australian Safety Certification Process where it will receive the required "compliance plate", necessary for registration of the vehicle in Australia. This should be completed by the end of this week.

I look forward to collect my acquisition sometime next week and make my first trip back to Sydney. I intend to use the "New-England-Highway" instead of the "Pacific Highway", which carries a lot more traffic. As the distance is about 1000km I will give myself 2 days to drive back, also giving me a chance to spend my first night in the van.

Both, Jonathan and Talia are very excited to come along for a trip with "Grandpa", in fact, Talia has already decided that the van will need decorating and has created an appropriate design for the outside. (refer below) I like it so much, that I seriously consider having something similar made in Vinyl ...

The Campervan

Yes, the van to take me around Australia has been found. Due to good fortune, the help of my friend Eck, the vehicle has been found in Brisbane. Last Wednesday, Eck and I flew to Brisbane, rented a car for the day and drove to Slacks Creek, a suburb south of Brisbane CBD where we checked out a number of campers at "Motorhome Conversions Company". This outfit imports used vehicles directly from Japan and converts them to Campers. Their preferred brands are Toyota Hiace Vans and also some large Hino buses which they re-build into large Motorhomes, definitely way too big for my purposes and requirements.


I decided on a Toyota Hiace 1996 Model with 3L Turbo-Diesel and constant 4-wheel drive. The fitout had not yet been completed and needed still the installation of a fridge, a sink and 50L watertank. The layout I decided on has two beds that also convert to a double-bed if needed and all converts into 2 large benches for seating during the day with a removable table between them.




The cooking facility is a two-burner stove that runs on Metho instead of propane, the whole cooking setup rotates in the doorway so cooking can be done outside under the roll-up awning without having to stink-up the whole vehicle. Naturally it is equipped with a pop-top so it is easy to get around inside.

The car had done 105,000 km which is next to nothing on a Diesel Engine. Toyota was at the top of my list of preferences as they are well known for their reliability. This particular Hiace configuration has never been sold by Toyota in Australia and so, not very many of this version are in this country at this stage. The engine had a look of having been well looked after. Unfortunately I was not able to drive this particular Vehicle as it was parked right at the back of the Hangar and it was too difficult to move while we were there. Instead I drove another van from the yard that had the same engine - I was very impressed with the power and the handling, the 4-wheel-dive system obviously played a part in this. There were 5 Hiace 4-wheel-drive Hiaces on display, all at various stages of re-build and one ready-to-go that was rear-wheel-drive.

In about 10 days the vehicle should be ready for pickup when I will fly to Brisbane once more and drive back from there to Sydney.