Do you think it’s odd .........

[Cuppa]

..................that I should be feeling a tad excited about getting an addition to my Patrol that I hope never to need? .............. ‘cos I am.

I’ll be leaving home at an indecently early hour tomorrow morning to take the car down to Harrops Engineering to get the front locker fitted.

I think the excitement is more because getting this done is a clear indication that things are happening, the time is getting closer, the long held dream is almost a reality.

I may even post a pic of a new switch on the dash tomorrow night! :D

[Maxhead]

You should be feeling like a little kid in a lolly shop! Definitely. Its a good bit of gear so anyone getting it fitted should be excited







...........on the road

[Winnie]

Not odd at all mate and to be honest I would suggest you use it more than you think you would need it.
It makes driving so much easier and puts far less stress on your vehicle.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[TPC]

I have been trying to decide if I should get a locker or a winch or both.
My misses made the decision for me and I am not getting either. :(

[NissanGQ4.2]

I contemplated getting a locker but considering I can't start the Patrol I don't think a locker will get me anywhere :(
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And I'm under the thumb and the missus would never agree 2 me buying one :(:(:(

[Maxhead]

I have been trying to decide if I should get a locker or a winch or both.
My misses made the decision for me and I am not getting either. :(
I think you should man up and get both:)







...........on the road

[TPC]

I think you should man up and get both:)







...........on the road

I think if I got both I would end up a eunuch.

[Rossco]

Nice 1 cuppa, i reckon you'll use it too they're bloody great. . .

Same with me, was always a long term dream then I thought stuff it . . . Luv em 😊 . . .

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

[Maxhead]

Nice 1 cuppa, i reckon you'll use it too they're bloody great. . .

Same with me, was always a long term dream then I thought stuff it . . . Luv em 😊 . . .

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk
Just remember to tell her it's a safety mod. 100% necessary;)







...........on the road

[macca]

Great bit of gear, you will enjoy it when you flick the switch.

Nice mod Cuppa.

[Cuppa]

Nice 1 cuppa, i reckon you'll use it too they're bloody great. . .

Same with me, was always a long term dream then I thought stuff it . . . Luv em �� . . .

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

Just to clarify, the dream isn't to own a locker, but getting it fitted is a clear sign (along with my wife retiring at the end of June) that the dream of indefinite remote travel is not far away . For the record, I have the best wife in the world, & when I told her about a locker being good 'insurance' a couple of years ago (for just the reasons Winnie posted) she insisted that we have one. :)

On dreams - the one we are about to embark on for the rest of our lives (unless we decide to do something different) is the fourth in a 'series'. The first was to move to Australia back in '87, getting visas took several attempts over several years, but we didn't give up. Second was to move to the bush & live an isolated self sufficient lifestyle which we did for 20 years. It was hard yakka but we loved it. Third was to convert a bus & travel around Australia. That took over 5 years of planning & saving & is probably the best thing we have ever done together, & it brought us closer together than we imagined was possible. Now 7 years later we are close to beginning the next chapter. The theme of our lives together going right back to when we met in 1980 ihas been deciding what we want, making a plan & being persistant in making it happen. It's something we feel proud of. When either of us has felt we have been going nowhere or the plan has been languishing the other has always managed to provide the needed support. We're a pretty bloody good tag team.

[TPC]

Just to clarify, the dream isn't to own a locker, but getting it fitted is a clear sign (along with my wife retiring at the end of June) that the dream of indefinite remote travel is not far away . For the record, I have the best wife in the world, & when I told her about a locker being good 'insurance' a couple of years ago (for just the reasons Winnie posted) she insisted that we have one. :)

On dreams - the one we are about to embark on for the rest of our lives (unless we decide to do something different) is the fourth in a 'series'. The first was to move to Australia back in '87, getting visas took several attempts over several years, but we didn't give up. Second was to move to the bush & live an isolated self sufficient lifestyle which we did for 20 years. It was hard yakka but we loved it. Third was to convert a bus & travel around Australia. That took over 5 years of planning & saving & is probably the best thing we have ever done together, & it brought us closer together than we imagined was possible. Now 7 years later we are close to beginning the next chapter. The theme of our lives together going right back to when we met in 1980 ihas been deciding what we want, making a plan & being persistant in making it happen. It's something we feel proud of. When either of us has felt we have been going nowhere or the plan has been languishing the other has always manged to provide the needed support. We're a pretty bloody good tag team.

I am very jealous and admire your courage to go through with this.
Look forward to following your travels with the blog you will undoubtedly produce.

[Bacho86]

Good on you Cuppa [emoji106], look forward to reading of your adventures!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Maxhead]

I am very jealous and admire your courage to go through with this.
Look forward to following your travels with the blog you will undoubtedly produce.

Hopefully He'll keep this up
http://www.cuppa500.com/CCC/CCC.html







................on the road

[Rossco]

Awsome Cuppa, very jelly but all the best for both of you guys. We're extemely lucky to live in such a beutiful place, enjoy look forward to the adventures [emoji5] [emoji5]

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

[Avo]

I contemplated getting a locker but considering I can't start the Patrol I don't think a locker will get me anywhere :(
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And I'm under the thumb and the missus would never agree 2 me buying one :(:(:(

you need a winch

[MB]

Fair Dinkum inspirational Cuppa mate, ripper life story so far, keep living that dream you two :-)!
Can you please also keep the photo comp running from satellite internet out the back blocks of Aus mate, we all love it ;-) !!

[Cuppa]

Fair Dinkum inspirational Cuppa mate, ripper life story so far, keep living that dream you two :-)!
Can you please also keep the photo comp running from satellite internet out the back blocks of Aus mate, we all love it ;-) !!

Don’t worry about the photo comp Mark, all taken care of, it’ll be in good hands. Looking forward to getting some new pics to post as entries.

[threedogs]

Just make sure you practice and practice and practice some more
no point having all the gear with no idea on how to do it.
E-lockers are a good bit of kit be it a bit pricey probably to
counter the cost of a compressor. Look forward to plenty of pics

[Cuppa]

Just make sure you practise and practice and practise some more
no point having all the gear with no idea on how to do it.
E-lockers are a good bit of kit be it a bit pricey probably to
counter the cost of a compressor. Look forward to plenty of pics

Don't worry TD, we have years of practice ahead of us. 😀

[the evil twin]

Now that we have met, I wouldn't call anything you did as "odd", Cuppa :D

Anyhoow... as mentioned by others... 'traction' beats 'momentum' hands down when talking about lower stress and reduced damage to your truck :049:

[Cuppa]

Hmmmm ....... I'll take that as a compliment ET! :)

[threedogs]

Don't worry TD, we have years of practice ahead of us. ��

just engage before you need them, they are an awesome bit of kit.
takes a lot of stress out of the driveline used correctely

[TimE]

Great news that dreams can become reality, good luck to you and your beloved and safe travels.

My Mrs has finally been pensioned off, or so I thought, she has been doing a bit of contracting since leaving the PS, but has agreed to 6 months of travel per year, get away from Canberra winters!

I now have elockers both ends and 43% reduction gears, can't be beaten .................. and if you don't tell your mates you have them they will be astounded at the level of skill you demonstrate in climbing that "impossible" track ;)

[Cuppa]

Just home after a very long day in Melbourne. Left home just before 6am & got to Harrops at 8:15. Left Harrops at 4:45pm & got home at 7:45. Western Highway had the worst stop start crawling traffic jam I've ever experienced, went from the slip road off the ring road all the way to Melton.

Very impressed with Harrops, very professional & helpful. Dropped me off at the rail station so I could spend the day in the city, phoned me with updates, & picked me up from the station. The mechanic who did the job gave me a comprehensive report on the state of my diff/seals etc. He asked me when I last changed the oil. Told him the truth that I did it about 30,000 kms & 5+ years ago when I first bought the car, expecting him to tell me it was pretty ordinary, but in fact he said it came out like new, no metal in it at all. He said that the diff, bearings & seals were in excellent condition backing up the maintenance report that the diff had been replaced by Telstra shortly before I bought the car. I had thought that they fitted a complete new diff, but hadn't been 100% sure whether it had been a brand new diff assembly or a used one, or just new diff cases with the original diff gears. It appears that it was in fact a brand new complete assembly. The reason the mechanic asked, was 'cos he wondered if I had changed the oil very recently just before taking it to them. (I'm not that silly!).
I don't know if purchasers who get their elockers fitted elsewhere (or do it themselves) get a Harrop 'show bag', but I did. Includes a Harrop T shirt, 3d adhesive badge, sticker & a keyring. Nice touch from folks who clearly know how to do customers service. I listened for any transmission whine on the way home & could hear none.

[the evil twin]

[QUOTE=Cuppa;727726]snip... Just home after a very long day in Melbourne. Left home just before 6am & got to Harrops at 8:15. Left Harrops at 4:45pm & got home at 7:45. Western Highway had the worst stop start crawling traffic jam I've ever experienced,
[QUOTE]

... and now you are fully locked the reason you were driving on the Highway is... what?

You do know that big green median strip and Korean hatchbacks aren't just there for show eh :210:

[Cuppa]

It was tempting ET, but I thought the D/head who went past me on the hard shoulder in a souped up sporty little red number at a high rate of knots & even higher revs would provide the cops with all the bait they needed!

[Cuppa]

Hopefully He'll keep this up
http://www.cuppa500.com/CCC/CCC.html

...............on the road

Or this http://www.cuppa500.com/_Big_Trip/Archive.html
My whole website, despite not having been updated for 7 years still gets a regular trickle of visitors, with the total number of visits now over 192,000 http://www.cuppa500.com/Home.html

In response to Nissheads kind comment, yes I do hope to start blogging again when we once again take off. In fact I'm hoping that it might once again become an integral part of our travels. Not only was it good to share our previous blog (which from the feedback was clearly well received), it is so much better than just a relying on photos & memory to look back on. We always think we'll remember all we see, but then forget far more than we remember. Having a written blog helps to bring it back to life in ways that photos alone don't, the memories 'between the lines' come flooding back along with those in the text. When re-reading what I wrote I can even feel what I was feeling when I wrote it! At times writing was a chore, but as most here probably realise, I do actually quite like writing, and the process of doing so whilst travelling previously helped a lot to focus on what we were experiencing together, placing us in the moment rather than simply 'passing by'. MrsTea had a notebook by her side in the passenger seat & I would say 'note that down' whenever something took my interest. Doing so served as a sharing function between us, & kept up our level of intrigue & interest in the country were were passing through. Basically I think we noticed far more because we were always on the lookout for things to notice. And without her notes I could never have written a weekly('ish) blog. It was too hard to remember what day it was often, let alone where we'd been & all we had seen & done over a week, usually each note was just a couple of words or a single line, but they were great memory joggers.

Tonight I've been contemplating the possibility blogging again. I'd like blogging, together with photography, fishing & bushwalking to become integral parts of our adventure & exploration. It's hard though because the software I used previously is now obsolete & I would have to learn a whole new package. I want to be able to compose/edit offline, so I can happily sit in the middle of a desert putting a blog entry together ready for uploading when we get close enough to 'civilisation' to have a phone signal. I think I'm going to do it, I think I'd regret it if I don't.

If there is anyone here who has ever used either or both iWeb or Rapidweaver software I'd be interested to hear whether you would consider Rapidweaver a relatively easy transition from iweb. I definitely want 'drag & drop' software, & definitely do not want to have to know anything about html or coding......... and it has to be Mac friendly.

[gubigfish]

Hey Cuppa,

Check out wordpress, started out as a blogging platform and then became a website platform but still has the blogging capabilities in it. For your offline stuff, create a word document or mac equivalent if you don't have office and then just copy and paste the text, upload your photos and put them where you want them.

[Bush Ranger]

Would you be writing a story or two about your trip and selling them to a mag for extra cash Cuppa?

[TPC]

Would you be writing a story or two about your trip and selling them to a mag for extra cash Cuppa?

Would be worth giving it a go, you do have the gift of the gab.

[Cuppa]

Dunno, folk have suggested I do that before, but I reckon if I were to try it would change the nature of how & what I write. I'm pleased that others get something out of my scribblings but if it became a 'job' I'm not sure I'd enjoy it. I suppose if there was interest in something I'd already written I might be interested, but not in having to write for a publication.

[pearcey]

G`day Cuppa. Have always enjoyed your writings, the little arguments you propose and the sensible solutions.
So on that argument I would stay with the blog only. The mag editors will shunt your story around to suit themselves and to what they think their readers want to read.
I myself do a day by day hand written diary, but never seem to get it on the computer , or in a blog.
Looking forward to your travel log.

[Bush Ranger]

Dunno, folk have suggested I do that before, but I reckon if I were to try it would change the nature of how & what I write. I'm pleased that others get something out of my scribblings but if it became a 'job' I'm not sure I'd enjoy it. I suppose if there was interest in something I'd already written I might be interested, but not in having to write for a publication.

G`day Cuppa. Just write a blog (several if that`s the case) and send it in to a mag, they`ll edit for sure, but it would be a good way to earn a bit of money. I think 4WD Action were paying around $700 at one stage for a trip story. When I drove across to WA back in 2014, my father wrote most of the things he saw at night after a days worth of travel. He jotted down various things along the way too and asked me for any other info. If he was stumped, I`d showed him photos on the camera to jolt his memory. Any way.