Adventures in My Van

[ambientgoat]

This thread is for photos of your van out in the wild as nature intended. Done a river crossing in the van? Been on a surf trip with the lads? Decided to drive across the country on a Tuesday just to see what was there?
Lets see the photos and hear the story.

I'll start off.

We went to Van Nats the long way this year, nothing like driving from Adelaide to Bathurst via Broken Hill with a motor you got running days before to add some adventure to life.

We'd had a minor breakdown in Broken Hill due to a clogged internal fuel filter in the carb so I was feeling good when I took this shot somewhere along the barrier highway. Loved the endless blue of the sky.

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Spirits were less optimistic a few hours later when we broke down in Wilcania as it got dark.

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I can't recommend premium roadside assistance enough, this a day later, random road north of broken hill taking the old girl on a shakedown run (fully rebuilt carb) before we made the second attempt for Cobar.

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[Big Rob]

Yep, That's an adventure. The fun of owning a cool car is getting it out and driving it.

If you hadn't broken down and driven straight through to Bathurst without any trouble, then you wouldn't have the story to tell. You'd get to Bathurst and someone asks "How was the trip?". You reply "Good"..... That's it. Instead you have a tale to tell with a bit of drama but you met people you wouldn't have otherwise and have possibly given them a story to tell too..... "You should have seen the Sandman that broke down and we helped fix..." or " This bloke was driving a Sandman along the dirt road!"

Inspiring.....

[SLR_dave]

Love the endless blue sky shot, that's one of my favorite things about road trips inland, that huge blue sky. Reminding me of the video for the song "This is not the way Home" (The Cruel Sea.) A classic road trip tune.

[Sandaro]

Good thread Goat, as already said, its the trouble you get in on a trip (and hopefully out of) that become great memories
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This was a trip 25 years ago after finishing High School to central NSW, when it was still legal to carry people in the back. Yes, 8 in the sandman + luggage. A great trip.

[Red 76]

Great thread for going through the old pics.
Here is my old van being used so my skis did not get scratched.
Work Friday, drive from Adelaide overnight to Falls Creek. Ski Saturday sleep in car park ski Sunday drive back Sunday night.
Straight into work on Monday.Blue Van 17.jpegBlue van 16.jpeg

[stickthis]

Are utes ok also? haha!!! Oh the adventures myself and my mates have had in Hq-B utes....

[ambientgoat]

Utes are totally allowed. I'm sitting in one now, in fact the one I'm sitting in used to belong to a mates grandfather. Its adventures in this beast that started the obsession.

Great photos red, I guess you love snow more than sleep.

[Big Rob]

Sleeping in the van at the snow!!! Man, that would have been interesting. The things we did when we were young and free.....

[juzanobody]

Great Idea goat, you deserved to start it, not sure if i should repost the others from the intro thread most of my photos are over east, probably moth or termite eaten, I only kept a few with me, mainly with the dutch backpacker, for obvious reasons!!
Long story short, Had the 4 speed swapped for a th350 in Perth while I was bush, they had it for 3 weeks, must have started it the day before pickup, got dropped off early morn at the workshop, waited all day, they took it for a test drive, it came back towed, after much discussion & suggestions I slept in the van overnight in their yard, more bullswool the next day, but I had to drive over east to get my kids for christmas, left in a half finished job, gearbox spreads itself over the road, no body stops for the scruffy guy in the van, ask a truckie on the radio could he ask if someone from the Nullarbor roadhouse could come get me, turns out he's from my home town, unhooks his 2 trailers while i unhook my tailshaft, he comes back, tows me bobtail back to this trailers, I hook onto the trailers while he does the same then off we go 130 odd kays at 120kph, looking up at the fridgey doors, very short tow cable, get to the roadhouse, happens to be a drop deck with a Lj torana on it, the owner is wearing glasses with only 1 lens, he unhooks his truck to chain the van up & we have much more adventure on the way to the S.A / VIC border where my brother in law towing it the rest of the way, get's into a huge tank slapper down a hill, cars coming the other way going bush because we were using both lanes, somehow kept it all on the wheels, got it home, because I had it on the other side of the country, no warranty Sucker

culling.jpgdo I really need all this extra pipe.jpgpicking up a project.jpgsmokin' it.jpgthe rock.jpg

[Vombil]

^^ and i thought i was running the gauntlet driving from margies to perth in a Wb ute that had mismatched coloured panels, rusty floor ventilation, a broken screen, bald tyres and overheating tendencies... didn't yield a story

nullabor is a pretty lonely place. great story, great pics