Soo, now we have finally made it and prepared our car for travel. That was a lot of work but we are satisfied with the result and we are looking forward to the adventures in our flexible 4WD campervan :D
From Wednesday until today, Sunday, we have been staying at the campground that I mentioned in the last blog post. We had thought that we would be able to go to Kakadu National Park on Friday, but building the bed delayed our departure a bit.
We slept in the car on Wednesday night to test it out. The car dealer told us that it gets pretty hot inside the car and he preferred sleeping in a tent. But we actually liked sleeping in the car better because it provided more protection and a comfortable bed. We kept the window in the trunk and the side windows open to let in air.
After the night, we decided to build a bed. This required some planning and preparation. But we also had other things to take care of, which is why we drove back to Darwin. For example, we went to our banks and the post office to pick up our bank cards and PINs. Then we went to our old hostel because I was supposed to receive a letter about the fees I have to pay for transferring ownership of the car. But unfortunately, there was no letter for me and logically they also wouldn't accept it anymore since I am no longer a guest at the hostel. So we called the Department of Transport of Western Australia to see if they had already processed my transfer. It was difficult to understand them on the phone, and in the end they said that we have to transfer the car to the Northern Territory because we are not permanently in WA. It's really strange because other travelers can do it and you can read online that Australia is more relaxed about these things. Anyway, we won't transfer the car because we would have the same residency problem in the NT. Plus, a WA license is more practical for travelers because you can do everything online or by mail. In other states, you have to be there in person for the transfer. In the end, it doesn't matter where the letter with the fees ends up because I just want to know the amount. You can look it up online and pay online as well. But I can't access the online service. So I sent an email and now we are waiting to see what happens. Organizing things takes quite a while.
After taking care of the paperwork, we got a few other things. For example, we needed a new windshield wiper. And we wanted to buy new boxes that we could slide under the bed in the car. The old ones were too tall for that. So we went to all the stores that had those boxes and checked the sizes so that we could adjust the height of the bed accordingly. We found good boxes at Kmart, but unfortunately they were sold out. An employee said they should be back in stock the next day. So we planned to come back the next day. We also picked up a pocket knife, a dish brush, and a headlamp (so practical for camping!) at Kmart. Then we had one of our gas bottles refilled at a camping store because it was empty. We have two so that we don't suddenly run out of gas at the campground and can't cook anything. We also went to an automotive electronics store, jaycar, where we bought a cooler box for $45 that can be plugged into the car's cigarette lighter to cool. We also bought an adapter that converts the power from the cigarette lighter into regular sockets. This way, you can charge a tablet or camera battery while driving, for example. Finally, we went to Bunnings, an Australian hardware store, to look at the wood that we could use to build the bed. But the next day we wanted to go back there to get some advice once we had a detailed plan with measurements.
Back at the campground, we measured our car and made a plan. However, we couldn't make the plan as precise as we wanted because we didn't know which boxes we would get and what size they would have. And since there isn't much space in the car, a difference of 5 cm matters. By this time, it was already quite late and we went to sleep. One last night on the air mattress in the car before the next night on the actual bed.
The next morning, Friday, we set off again and went to a tool hire store because we wanted to rent a cordless drill. Unfortunately, they only rented out big tools and the smallest one they had was a drill. But that wouldn't have helped us. The Bunnings store also didn't rent out such small tools, so we had to buy one. These tools can quickly become expensive and we didn't want to spend $100 for a one-time use. So we bought the cheapest cordless drill we could find, which could be charged with a USB port. It cost $30 and we could charge it in the car with our portable power bank. We also bought a mini spirit level for $3 and the wooden slats for the frame, the size of which was already determined. We assembled the frame with the brackets that were already in the car because the previous owners had a bed in it, which the previous owner had removed. They had saved the screws and brackets so we didn't have to buy anything new. We assembled the frame in the Bunnings parking lot because building was not allowed at the campground. The parking lot was also convenient because we could go back into the store if we needed something.
Unfortunately, the cordless drill didn't work as well as we had hoped because it was too wide to reach the screws of the bracket attachment that connects the boards at a 90° angle. Plus, the drill wasn't very strong. After we finished the frame, we went back to Kmart for the boxes. Unfortunately, we found out that they were also sold out that day and wouldn't be back until next week. What a stupid and forgetful staff. So we had to look for other boxes. We found some at Bunnings that ultimately fit well.
Once we knew the height of the boxes, we could measure the height of the supports needed for the bed. We went back to Bunnings and had the supports and board cut. Interestingly, the offcuts from the frame construction fit perfectly as 4 supports, so we only had to have 5 more cut. There was another salesperson there who showed us a completely different type of wood. One board from that wood cost only half of what we paid! I was a bit annoyed that the previous guy didn't show us this wood. But the annoyance disappeared when we realized that this new wood was much harder than the old wood and our cordless drill couldn't handle it. We could actually screw it together by hand! But we had to somehow screw it together and so everything took a bit longer.
We went back to the Bunnings parking lot and continued screwing until 10 pm when we had enough (Bunnings closes at 9). Since we hadn't eaten much and drank very little since breakfast, we went to McDonald's and treated ourselves to a Family Value Pack. We got 2 Big Macs, 2 Cheeseburgers, 6 Chicken Nuggets, 4 small fries, and 4 drinks for $19.95. Really good! And we devoured everything except a few fries :D The ice-cold drinks especially felt great.
Since we hadn't quite finished the bed and still needed to attach the board and assemble the folding part, we went back to the Bunnings parking lot the next day. This time we were really lucky! A friendly Australian guy heard the weak sound of our drill, said that he had a decent cordless drill in his car, and offered us to use it while he went shopping. Of course, we accepted the offer! And guess what: with the right tool, we screwed in 4 screws in 5 minutes instead of 1, even though they were the long screws for attachment. He came back before we had all the screws in and even though he was in a hurry because he had to take his daughter to the dentist, he took our screws and hammered in all the remaining ones. It was so fast!! We were so grateful. Well, then our bed was finished :D And actually, all the measurements fit and it looked sturdy. Thank goodness!
So we were able to go shopping for the upcoming camping days in Kakadu National Park around 1:30 pm. Later, at the campground, we comfortably unpacked our new boxes and even had time for a visit to the swimming pool :D In the evening, we had a nice conversation with three girls from Oldenburg who had also been staying at the campground for a few days and had just bought a car. It's always good to exchange experiences with other travelers! We also had a good conversation with an Australian retired couple who have been traveling around the country in their motorhome for 6 years and who told us how great it is to be able to travel so easily nowadays.
So it was a very exhausting but also nice and productive days at Hidden Valley Tourist Park. This morning, we set off to Kakadu National Park to meet up with Karo and Matze and celebrate Andi's birthday a bit. It was really great. More about that and Kakadu in the next blog post. Until then, cheers!
(By the way, we were able to sell our old air mattresses for $15. So we got back half the cost of the cordless drill :D )
