We have begun

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John and I are off on the trip of our lifetime. In March 2008 we learnt that some like minded people wanted to travelf rom Australia to the 65th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy. John and I looked at each other and nodded "YES" we're in. My brother David Brown did it for the 40th in 1984 and now I'm bitten by the WII military vehicle bug because of my marriage to John. We had a fair idea of the vehicle we would take with us, our 1941 Ford Utility.

Well, the organisation then began and thanks to wonderful organisers in Brisbane we have learnt about shipping, heritage clearances, export and import, customs, itineraries, containers, shipping yards, customs agents and shipping agents, ad nauseum.

John had the role of getting the vehicle ready, I had the paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, gear to take, pack, airline bookings, campervan bookings for the UK, B&B for the UK, emails, emails, pack if you get my drift.We have learnt that this vehicle is one of a kind in Australia and must be brought back to Australia and not sold overseas - rats. That could have paid for the trip. But we have given the Department of Heritage and Arts our promise it will come back, unlike others on the trip.When preparing the vehicle,

John created a bed base for a most comfortable inner spring mattress to sit on top, a cupboard inside the tray at the back and brackets for the fridge to sit in. Oops, sorry about the dolly bird in the left side of the picture and will try and place pictures where they should go later. Anyway, then John decided to do a great big steam clean on the engine block and found the next problem, 2 weeks out from shipping. the gear box housing was busted!! along with other issues. Thanks Fiona for running around bearing and engineering places in Canberra!!

This program isn't letting me add any other images at this time so will continue.

Cheers
Fiona