Wrap Up {Edition 15}

HELLO + WELCOME to the regular Wrap Up of what’s been going on behind the scenes at Aussie Overlanders HQ. It is all systems GO as we head into the final few weeks before hitting the road.

Let’s dive straight on in.

SUPPORT ANNOUNCEMENT: LIFESAVER BOTTLE AUSTRALIA

We are stoked to announce that LIFESAVER BOTTLE AUSTRALIA will be supporting our expedition with their INCREDIBLE jerry cans and water bottles for the epic expedition ahead.

Why are we jumping up and down with excitement? Well, take a seat and let me rant… or better yet just watch this TED Video:

Click here to watch video on TED

The upshot is that LIFESAVER BOTTLE AUSTRALIA create incredibly powerful and robust water filtration devices. You see, the smallest bacteria are about 200nm (nanometres!), the smalest viruses are about 25nm and yet the LIVESAVER devices filter to 15nm. For the tecchy specs click through here. What is means for us is safe drinking water anywhere, anytime. Perfect for the remote locations we plan on 4X4’ing to where the only water we can access will be hand-pumped from wells or questionable sources.

Along the way we will give another LIFESAVER jerry can to a community in need. This will be unplanned and we’ll judge it as we go along through remote Australia or Africa as to who could really benefit from this life saving device. Giving back is VERY important and we are stoked that LIVESAVER BOTTLE AUSTRALIA are on board.

We’ll let you know what we think of the gear as we hit the road. For now, click here to head on over to their website and be prepared to be impressed.

 THE MAG

Hot off the press: Pat Callinan’s 4×4 Adventures Magazine Edition 6 is out now! If you are in Australia we wholeheartedly encourage you to get down to your local newsagency to pick yourself up a copy. Or better yet subscribe here.

It’s a stunner (for 4X4 peeps + all travel lovers) and we will be mighty proud to start have our articles published in its pages come May.

CUSTOM MADE 

We have commissioned a terribly talented bloke to create two custom holders for the rear of the vehicle.

One --> A custom rear arm carrier. This will hold our gas bottle, LIFESAVER jerry can and Snow Peak Fire Pit (available from DRIFTA).

Two -->  A custom rear door wheel mount to hold our shovel and a light bracket with a 360′ swivel head. The light has multiple purposes. One of which will be security. With the flick of an internal switch we will be able to turn on the flood light to shed some light on THE SITUATION. Secretly we are dreaming THE SITUATION will be a roving pack of lions in full view!

These two doobies are quite an expense. However we had to way up the pros and cons. It’s all a massive negotiation and compromise when building a tiny house on wheels and when you want everything to be easily accessible. So, we landed on this as a solution. And the gear will be landing at Aussie Overlanders HQ soon!

ALL OUR WORLDLY POSSESSIONS

We are selling all our worldly possessions. Well, most of them. And it is a FULL ON experience.

It is oh, so easy to say you want to get rid of everything. But when it comes to selling that comfy rug for a quarter of the price you paid, or ditching the Sex & The City DVDs you’ve watched within an inch of their lives or saying ‘Sayonara!’ to the Hugo Boss shirt/mower/gym equipment.  All the meaning you attach to things things bubbles to the surface.

ALSO, an observation. People seem to be VERY perturbed when we mention we are getting rid of our STUFF. That, or they want to swoop on in and claim it for themselves. It’s kinda weird. However most then proceed to say ‘oh yes, I have so much STUFF I don’t need… really should get rid of some of it’…

So, in the spirit of taking a strong dose of ‘harden the hell up and get rid it!’… we have a garage sale in the works this Saturday + 1078 things listed on eBay.

TROOPY IN WITH DRIFTA

Troopzilla is in with DRIFTA (catch up here) and we will be heading to the DRIFTA factory this coming Monday to pick up the vehicle.

Excited is an understatement. As is anxious! Our 4×4 is going to be totally transformed into our home. Ready to put all the gear in. Ready for all this to come together. Ready to take off.

Also, when we are up there next we’ll be taking a tonne of photos of video for those who are curious about DRIFTA. There seems to be a lot of you!

Next Monday will be a BIG-BIG-BIG day for the preparation on this expedition.

TIME OUT TO TAKE IT ALL IN

You may have noticed that last week things were a little quiet around here.

We were off in Asia celebrating Gareth’s birthday. We hit the re-set button,  took a moment to soak up this very exciting time in our lives and indulged in a bit of relaxation before hitting the bumpy road. SO lucky + SO grateful. We are now refreshed and ready to tackle the final weeks of preparation!

So, there you go. That’s us all wrapped up. Tie a red ribbon around us and put us under the tree.

Just a few weeks to go until we hit the road. Cue: chaos.

Cheers

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