Charlie is getting new legs and a hand

Well finally made the decision on suspension (i.e legs) and winch (hand) for Charlie. Went with Ol Man Emu standard setup and the Smittybilt X2O 10k winch. Links and details to both products are below.  Hopefully it won't be long till we get the call that the parts are in. Will put up before and after pictures when they fitted.

Dad is just a little excited ..... for Charlie of course ...

Smittybilt winch : http://www.smittybilt.com/product/index/152.htm 
Old man Emu details 

Components in this kit include:

• Coil Springs (Front) (3027 x 1 pair)
• Coil Springs (Rear) (2910 x 1 pair)
• Nitrocharger Sport Strut (90008 x 2)
• Nitrocharger Sport Shock (Rear) (60076 x 2)
• Estimated Lift:
• Front: 20MM
• Rear: 35MM

First trip in Ernie

Well the first trip in Ernie was a bit of a family affair with two additional family members joining us and sleeping in the annex.  Staying down in Kiama Easts Beach caravan park, chilling out next to the beach.  It was a good way to start the experience with all the comforts that a powered site offers.  Even took down a little fan heater to ward off the chill in the evenings but really it wasn't needed.

This is a view before we left.  Every storage spot was taken up as we were carring a few extra kgs of gear with the extra family members.  Really impressed with the storage capacity.

 On the way to Kiama via the Hume Highway.  Charlie looking fully stocked and tail heavy.  Still averaged 12 - 13l/100km on the way down.  A uneventful drive down the Illarwarra highway and then to Kiama via the Jamberoo pass.

We woke to this view in the morning, not bad I think

Kids spots in the main tent section

From the front

A fully stocked kitchen

So overall a very easy start to the journeys we will be having in Ernie.  Came home via the Nerriga road which still has 10km of dirt and glad to report that all seals worked perfectly, even if Ernie did get a little grotty on the way.  

Things to figure out still:

• Water pipe and a more permanent location given we have to connect it each time.
• Just figure out where we want to keep certain things.  There are so many storage options we spent a lot of the time looking for things
• Need to look into getting an inverter so that we can use the 200AmH of batteries we had.  Only used the fridge and lighting for the weekend, using approximately 10% of the juice although we did have 240v running most of the time for powering phone charges etc.
• A secondary set of pad lock keys somewhere else.  Slight delay on departure due to Griff locking them inside the trailer during pack-up...