Two Sams TravellingThis week we made the decision to come back to Tasmania early on the Spirit of Tasmania, with a few factors helping to make the decision.
Travelling Australia full time was one of the best decisions that we have ever made, and we are so grateful to be able to explore this beautiful country we live in. Travelling full time is not always as perfect as it is portrayed on social media though and things do go wrong for us. So, why did we decide to head back to Tasmania early?
Camper problems
We have had so many problems with our brand new camper trailer, and the lack of after sales support we received from Lifestyle Campers was very frustrating and disappointing. The issues we had affected our trip a number of times, with the latest issue causing us to have to abandon our WA travel plans and head back to Victoria to have it fixed by an authorised dealer (Camping Adventures). We were then without the trailer for three weeks and living out of the car and in our swag/rooftop tent as we waited for Lifestyle Campers to provide parts to fix the kitchen. In the end Lifestyle Campers would not provide parts under warranty and Camping Adventures had to fix it themselves. Having to constantly deal with the camper breaking was wearing us down and making the trip less enjoyable, and we were just waiting for what would break next. We were going to try and sell it over in Victoria before coming home, but we decided to bring it back on the boat early so we could take some things out of it that we could repurpose and get it ready to sell. We also had to return our new rooftop tent due to it having a few issues and not meeting our expectations, so we are currently weighing up our options for our next set up.
Weather problems
As we had to abandon our WA plans and come back to Victoria, we went from warm and sunny 30+ degree days, to rainy, windy days under 20 degrees. We also had to battle some very cold nights and that wasn’t the best when we were camping in a rooftop tent. We were having to change our plans to avoid floodwaters and the future forecast was predicting more wet weather. We wouldn’t be able to get out and explore and we didn’t really have too much time to be able to sit out the weather. We also didn’t have the flexibility to be able to travel far to somewhere with nicer weather as we have things booked in Melbourne in early December, or we were looking at visiting places we had already been.
Health problems
The stress of the broken camper was starting to affect our health both physically and mentally, so it was a bit of a no-brainer for us to prioritise this first and spend some down time at home to get better. Sam is suffering from multiple joint infections and it limits his ability to be able to set up and pack up the trailer. The infections have limited his mobility so we haven’t been able to get out and explore as much as we would like.
Car problems
The Patrol has been a very reliable car for the trip and other than the clutch going, we haven’t had any other major issues. It is starting to sound a little sad though and there are a number of things that need replacing or looking at. Some of the components are also wearing to the point that it is becoming a safety issue. We also need to pull everything out and give it a major clean and get some of the dents and scratches fixed up. We are excited to do some improvements and fixes to the Patrol to make it a great touring car for the future.
Availability on the Spirit of Tasmania
If you have tried to book the Spirit of Tasmania recently, you would know that trying to get on the ferry soon is impossible as it is booked out months in advance. We were looking to see if we could come back a bit earlier in December and we saw that there was space on the ferry the next night. After weighing up our options, we decided it would be for the best to come back early, based on the reasons listed above.
Cost of living increase
The cost of living has increased so much since we started our trip back in January. We have had to adjust our weekly budget a number of time since being on the road and with the cost of diesel and food increasing even more, we were going to struggle to stay within our new budget. We had already spent our budget that we had allocated for the year and even though we had funds available to continue for the rest of the year, we were worried we would have to be watching our spending and not enjoy our time away.
So, what’s next for us?
We have always loved travelling and won’t stop it now that we are back in Tasmania. We are going to take advantage of having some more time off work and do some trips around Tasmania before the end of the year. We also have a two week holiday booked in December and we are looking to travel from Melbourne to Sydney, stopping in some of the areas we missed as part of our lap of Australia. We will also be planning more trips to the big island for the future and a WA trip is definitely on the cards!
