2026-02-13
7:00 The weather forecast for this weekend includes multiple riverine flooding and severe weather warnings for most of SE Qld, but assuming we aren't flooded in, it's handover day. The Prado is all packed with the bits and pieces for installation (Purpleline Quattro Mover, Sirocco Fan) as well as the tow mirrors. We plan to set off early if the forecast rain happens so as to not get flooded in at home. After the handover, we're driving up to Maryborough to Mum & Dad's as they have a nice concrete slab to put the van on and install the mover. The mover is kinda essential if we want to turn the van around at home, as the front yard does not have enough room to turn it around while hitched up.
11:00 The weather held out and we ran through the handover. Here we are all hitched up ready to go.
Next on the agenda was driving north to Maryborough. We opted to do the Gateway and pay the toll, on the grounds that we wouldn't need to drive through town. While this was true, the Gateway and then the Bruce Hwy were terribly congested (down to stop-start in places). Somewhere after the Caboolture turnoff, we learnt just how far it takes to stop the Prado and Van in an emergency when the traffic ahead all stopped. Luckily, I was keeping about 300m between us and the traffic in front of us, and we used 295 of those metres to stop on wet roads. The ESC (electronic stability control system) we had installed paid for itself in that moment, with the van stopping neatly behind us (as opposed to jack-knifing, which was a definite possibility).
15:20ish We arrived at my parents place and got the van in to the yard. It almost immediately started to rain heavily, so we retreated inside. Work will have to wait until tomorrow.
A little later, Mum pointed out a dangling cable under the van. I'm not sure what it is meant to be connected to, but that will be the first job tomorrow.
