When we decided to travel around Australia, there were a lot of questions, where will we go? How much will it cost? Will we make it? The important thing is to take the first step!!!

So one of the major things you need to get around Australia is a vehicle. Now the vehicle that you have, can you say that you could easily drive around Australia right now with no preparation? Probably not.

I put my vehicle into All Four X 4 at Kotara (Newcastle), for a pre-trip inspection as I knew that if I did it myself then I probably would have missed something and/or ignored a few of the problems with a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude. The benefit of getting someone else to look over the vehicle is that they are completely independent to you and your vehicle, and also that they get paid to do this. This means that they are more likely to pick up on certain problems that you won’t, why? Because the more they pick up on, the more money they make. Now don’t go freaking out and think that I have lost my marbles, but it’s true.

When I got the phone call about my vehicle to tell me the problems that I had, I was almost floored!!! I knew a few things needed fixing, but would never have picked up on some of the things that All Four X 4 did. One wheel bearing that I had only replaced 12 months ago was failing, there was a rear axle seal that was leaking, fan belts needed replacing etc etc etc. So at this point I had two choices,
1. Get everything fixed and cost more money than I had anticipated
2. Bury my head in the sand and hope for the best.
I usually go for number 2!

Then one of the mechanics said to me, “How much will it cost you to fix now, as opposed to getting it fixed in the middle of Australia”
It made sense, the cost of a satellite phone call could be more than some of the parts that needed replacing. Then to get them shipped and installed? Not worth the effort.

So, I got everything fixed that needed to be fixed and also got a few parts of the vehicle that would benefit in the end, eg. secondary fuel filter, catch can for the turbo etc.

I have to say, now I can drive my vehicle without worrying about what’s going to fail when because I simply buried my head in the sand!!!

So even if your pretty vehicle savvy, mechanically minded etc. It is still very important to have someone independent look over your vehicle, to make sure that it is not only mechanically sound, but most importantly SAFE!!!