Oct
Is it just us or is time moving monumentally fast at the moment? There are CHRISTMAS decorations popping up at the supermarket and the year ‘feels’ like it is drawing to a close. Well STOP IT World, it is only October and we all have a load more living and doing to get done in the next 3 months. Right?
Well, one of our bits of ‘doing’ that we got done this week was having the the top of our 4WD Toyota Troop Carrier sliced off! Scroll on down for a bit of decapitation action.
POP-TOP CONVERSION
We excitedly and nervously drove the Troopy in convoy over to Daniel at Mulgo for it’s pop-top roof conversion at 9am last week. By 1pm the roof was cut off and we received a ping in our in-boxes with a photo to prove it. It was pretty shocking to see our beloved car decapitated! That said, we have the utmost confidence in Daniel. The last vehicle he converted was granted an engineering certificate that attested the modification had actually made the vehicle stronger than the original build.
By late afternoon, we were pretty sad to see the exterior of the windscreen revealed as it has been totally rusted out. However, I guess its what you expect on a car that is twenty-three years old. What does this rust mean for us? More money.
^^ A precise slice
^^ There goes the roof
^^ Troopy decapitated
^^ Oh, Hi Olly!
^^ The new frame goes on. Muchos, maximus excitement!
THE 4WD AND ADVENTURE SHOW: THIS WEEKEND
The guys doing our roof conversion will be exhibiting at the Sydney 4WD & Adventure Show this weekend (12-14th October – get down and see Daniel’s handiwork!) and if our roof conversion is complete Daniel is keen to show off the Troopy. At this stage the roof looks like it will be ready but not the canvas sides. We’ll let you know Friday if this goes ahead, if you are interested in the show keep your eye on our twitter and facebook feeds to see if the Troopy will be making his first ever public appearance.
INSPIRATION: THE RIVER GAMBIA EXPEDITION
Image via Jason Florio. Found here.
I came across an epic expedition which will begin in a few days time starting from the source of The River Gambia and ending on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa. It is being led by adventurous New York based photographers/writers Jason Florio & his wife Helen Jones-Florio. It’s people like this that inspire us + make us want to lead our life the way WE want to (I also wouldn’t mind taking pics like them either). Their desire is to “create an historical – visual /audio/written – document of the peoples, cultures and environment along one of Africa’s last, free flowing, major rivers – The River Gambia”.
We reckon what they are doing is awesome and are so inspired that we have helped out with a small sponsorship via their Kickstarter campaign. At last look the guys had exceeded their $3500 fundraising goal. I love how sites like Kickstarter can help people realise dreams that may have otherwise not happened. Good luck guys and stay safe.
PREPARATIONS: DIVIDE + CONQUER
Image Erica Guttery. Found here.
We have set up an adventure think-tank room in our home (!!). The walls are covered with maps, photos, lists and Australia/African highlights we’ve read about and scrawled on clusters of cardboard. It’s pretty exciting to arrive home and have a massive map of AFRICA staring at you, willing you on. Right now we are both feeling like we want to get on top of a few admin tasks. We’re stuck between the thinking of ‘its too early to do that yet’ and ‘we really have to do that now before there are a billion things to do at once’. So over the next short while we want to tick a few things off and kick a few goals. Divide and conquer… will get it done, right?
BEACH WALKABOUT: BOAT HARBOUR
This afternoon we stretched our legs for a good hour running along the beach in Cronulla up to Boat Harbour. The sun hung low and disappeared behind an insanely dark cloud and stretched a shimmering twilight across the ocean. Our feet crunched hard against the sand and we fell in love with Sydney all over again. Ahhh… bliss.
Have a wonderful week all you amazing adventurous souls. Get outside. See this incredible World. Spark YOUR dream.
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