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Have Toys, Will Travel.

155K views 1K replies 53 participants last post by  rbentnail 
#1 ·
After 46 years of grubbing around in the internal workings of aircraft too numerous to mention, I decided that I had had enough, so I told my boss to stick his job up his ass, and I retired,,, about 6 weeks ago. I ordered myself a new Jayco Basestation, Toyhauler caravan, and soon my girl and I will hit the road and join the ranks of the Grey Nomads who circulate endlessly around Australia, never to be seen again.

Today, amidst great excitement, and the exchange of a huge wad of cash, we took delivery of the new caravan. Below are a few pictures to celebrate the event. We still have a lot of setting up to do, and will take a few short practice runs to iron out the bugs. We also have to move out of the house which we are renting, and get rid of a life times accumulation of junk. Space is a bit limited in a caravan, especially when half of it is a garage. Then we will set off, probably in mid January.

You didn't think I would abandon my bike did You??? But what I'm looking for now, is one of those 20mm cannons to mount on the back of my ute, so that I can shoot at any aircraft that happen to fly over my camp. There should be plenty of them lying around in Iraq about now.





















 
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#2 ·
Nice! My wife and I plan to do this same thing (around the USA) when I retire in a couple of years. We've been trying to decide if we should get a toy haling trailer and truck or a class C toy hauling motorhome. Did you contemplate the same or was your choice an obvious one?

Hope your adventures are safe and many!
 
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#3 ·
I didn't want a motor home because they are too big and cumbersome. If for instance, you are parked up in a camp ground, and you want to pop down to the local shops to pick up a loaf of bread, you have to pack up your entire camp to do it.

With my setup, my vehicle, which is a 4x4, is available for shopping or off road exploring, or, I can pull out the bike and tour the local area, and even camp out for a few days using the small bike trailer. :)
 
#4 ·
That makes sense and is the same argument for the two vehicles option. However, if you just needed bread, you have your FJR to run that errand! Needing a couple bags of groceries is a completely different situation... ;)
 
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#5 ·
Now that's an awesome set up! I'm envious! I retired in 2009 but have just been planted here in the desert since then (not that that's a bad thing, mind you).

I've often dreamed of selling all the junk, buying a rig similar to yours and just going wherever the days take me with no particular destination in mind.

I might still do it once/if the GF sells her espresso shop here in Lakeview. Anyone looking for a turnkey business they can just walk right into and take over? Perfect for someone (or their spouse) transitioning into retirement.

Prime location - in the middle of nowhere...
 
#6 ·
Nice! Was thinking along the same lines. Keep us up to date on your travels! Do what you can while you can...!
 
#8 ·
hey Bernie make sure the missus gets some practice runs because you are going to stop jump on your bike and tell her to follow especially when you get to the no speed limit roads in NT (let us know if you get to the 250kph top speed) and good on you Bernie perhaps you can carry a moped on the back of the bike trailer so as you can run down the shop when you have set up camp away from camp with the yammie/trailer now that would make you king of the nomads and remember the nomad slogan adventure before dementure
 
#10 ·
That is awesome, Bernie. Make sure you keep my telephone number in your phone in case you are over on the east coast :)

Next weekend is our State of Origin ride and we will be doing the Oxley Highway - you'll remember that road from a few years ago :)
 
#12 ·
I hope it works out ok and you manage to get everything in that you need.
From experience I know its going to be fun.
We are no where near retiring yet but went the motorhome direction a few years ago.
The is nothing like been able to pack up and head for the hills for several weeks.
Long term if/when we retire we want to tour Europe during the winter months with the bike.
This is our current setup (Picture was taken earlier this year on our way to Switzerland)
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#13 ·
Here are some inside Pics of the Toy Hauler. Since the last pics, I have added a ride-on front wheel chock which supports the front end of the bike, and stops fore and aft movement, so the tie-down straps only have to stop side to side rocking of the bike.

The trailer has a kick down stand at the front, and 2 removable vertical stands at the back, so it cannot roll around on it's own wheels, so it should only need a single tie-down strap at the front.

I hope that is enough to keep things steady in there.



















 
#16 ·
We have done a couple of local trips with the rig, and everything seems to work OK. We are in the final phase of moving out of our house and getting rid of 35 years of accumulated junk, and we should be ready to rock and roll early next week, I cant wait.

I have fitted a wireless modem with external antenna to the van, so we should have internet access for most of our trip. I will keep this thread updated with news of our travels.
 
#19 ·
Well, today is the first day of the rest of our lives. At last, we finished packing up the house, loading the caravan, final inspection and handed the keys back to the landlord.

We didn't go far, only about 50 Km out to a caravan park at Serpentine where we have booked in for a week. Arrived at midday, and it was stinking hot without a breath of wind, we set up the van, switched on the aircon, went inside, and stayed there until sunset. It must have been above 40C all afternoon.

When it was safe, we had a stroll, a couple of iced Scotches, a feed of grilled Barramundi, and settled in for the evening. There is no TV signal here, so we are both busy surfing the net.
Here is a picture of Lynn gasping for breath in the stifling heat.







 
#21 ·
Well, today is the first day of the rest of our lives. At last, we finished packing up the house, loading the caravan, final inspection and handed the keys back to the landlord.

We didn't go far, only about 50 Km out to a caravan park at Serpentine where we have booked in for a week. Arrived at midday, and it was stinking hot without a breath of wind, we set up the van, switched on the aircon, went inside, and stayed there until sunset. It must have been above 40C all afternoon.

When it was safe, we had a stroll, a couple of iced Scotches, a feed of grilled Barramundi, and settled in for the evening. There is no TV signal here, so we are both busy surfing the net.
Here is a picture of Lynn gasping for breath in the stifling heat.
Enjoy the summer and "The good life" Bernie!
 
#22 ·
We've been camped up at the Dwellingup Caravan Park for 9 days now, and what a busy time it has been. We had Lynn's 2
grand children stay with us for a week, and their parents for a night, then Lynn's inlaws for another night. This weekend,
another mob of friends are arriving, and we will be going up to Quindanning for a "Casey Chambers" concert on Saturday
night.

On top of that, we had a series of dry lightning storms come over, which started some 100 bushfires in the forests along the escarpment above Perth. The closest was at Waroona, about 30 Km from us, and the fire fighting choppers used the sports field at Dwellingup to fuel up for a couple of days, which caused much excitement in the village. Crop spraying
aircraft converted for fire fighting, were also using the local airstrip for refueling, and their approach route was right over our caravan, noisy buggers.

Today, we finally managed to drag the bike out for a ride, and we went down to Waroona to check out the damage, and also went to check out the caravan park at Logue Brook Dam, but there was a fresh fire flareup near Logue Brook, and the road in was closed. A huge storm cloud formed above the fire, which was most impressive in the otherwise clear blue sky. We have decided to go to Augusta next week instead.





















 
#24 ·
Bernie, you got me really looking at toy haulers now!
 
#26 ·
I know I will, retirement is still 1-2 years away!
 
#27 ·
A mere 9 yrs & counting.

I've tried to persuade SWMBO to do similar touring around Europe. After a lifetime at sea I quiet fancy looking around the interior. However she's not so keen.

I'm hoping these pics might inspire her.

Otherwise we might end up doing the Rhine/Danube cruises.

Happy trails.
 
#28 ·
After 2 weeks at Dwellingup we have moved down to Augusta, and what a relief that has been. Although Dwellingup
is lovely, it's March Fly (Horse Fly) season there, and it was a constant battle from dawn to dusk, to stop the
**** things biting us. They have a painful sting which iches for days afterwards, and the weather was still hot.

Augusta is generally 5 to 7 degrees C cooler, and there are no March Flies or Mosquitoes to bother us. There are
4 caravan parks here, and they are surprisingly busy, but we managed to get a good spot. We dragged the bike out
this morning and took a ride up to Yallingup for lunch and a bit of sight seeing. The air was a bit smokey from
the bush fires which are still raging a hundred miles away at Walpole and Windy Harbour.

Here are some photos of the day. I would have liked to take a lot more, but it's so difficult on the bike, having
to stop, take off helmet and gloves, open top box, take out camera, take pictures, then re-pack it all.

BIKE & VAN AT AUGUSTA


LYNN AT HAMELIN BAY


HAMELIN BEACH


DOCK AT HAMELIN BAY


FISHING AT HAMELIN


THE CATHEDRAL, CAVES ROAD


THE CATHEDRAL, CAVES ROAD


THE BIKE


MARGARET RIVER MOUTH


MARGARET RIVER


MARGARET RIVER MOUTH, CLOSE UP


YALLINGUP BEACH
 
#29 ·
The peace of our afternoon siesta was disturbed when a wasp dragged a defeated Huntsman spider across our front carpet.
It was difficult to get nicely focused pictures because the wasp wouldn't stop, at one stage I thought it was going to
have a go at me when I got too close to it's dinner.











 
#32 · (Edited)
AAAHHH reminds me of my wedding. {me being the spider}.

Before you posted these pics the best representation of our courtship was the pic below. {me being the zebra, of course}

Don"t stop giving us updates Bernie. We are living vicariously through you.
 

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