The shake down continues.

Our next stop on the Vecto Shakedown has been Gladstone… camped right on the beach.
And honestly, it’s a beautiful spot.

Quiet water, beach walks, canoeing, sunsets, campfires and those classic WA coastal evenings where the sky slowly turns orange while the tide disappears into the distance.
The sort of place where you sit there and think:
“Yep… this is exactly why we bought the caravan.”
We spent a few very relaxed days here just slowing down a bit. Morning walks, a paddle in the canoe, plenty of sitting around and generally doing not much at all.
Which, it turns out, is actually one of the great joys of travelling.
BUT…
There was one small issue.
Actually… about 14 billion small issues.
The flies during the day were absolutely relentless. Full respect now to anyone who invented the fly net hat because mine earned its keep immediately.
And then at night… the moths and beetles arrived.
Apparently Gladstone operates a full day-and-night insect shift system.
So while the location itself was fantastic, we did spend a fair bit of time retreating inside the van.
The upside of that though was we really got to test the off-grid battery system properly. Longer periods inside running lights, testing the aircon, charging devices, editing videos and generally living in the van without external power.
And so far, the Vecto is handling it all really well.
That said… the whole point of a shakedown trip is to actually FIND the little issues before the big lap begins. And yes… we’ve definitely discovered a few more things that need tweaking or adjusting before August.
Nothing major.
Just the usual “learning your new caravan” stuff.
I also managed to spend some time editing our Europe footage from a couple of years ago — including our narrowboat adventure through England. So while we’re travelling Australia, I’m simultaneously editing ourselves floating around the English countryside at 4 kilometres an hour 😄
The travel pace so far has been perfect.
No rushing.
No strict schedule.
Just slowly working our way north toward Coral Bay later this month.
And honestly… we’re loving this lifestyle more and more.Read more