Wednesday 24th February - Berkswell to Felixstowe

I know the post is a bit late, but you soon get out of the habit of blogging.  We thought we should let you know that the Land Rover was successfully loaded into a container and is now on its way to Australia.

The day after we got back Ben came over and gave the Land Rover a thorough check, tightening the wheel bearings, replacing our weeping clutch master cylinder, fitting new olives to the fuel pump we had changed in Jordan, and fitting a new transfer box output washer as it had been leaking leading to a somewhat inefficient handbrake.  Other than that he commented that the vehicle was in better shape than he expected for having completed 13596 miles.

The next day was MOT time, but not before Ben fitted a replacement near side bump stop down the road from the garage (the original having gone missing at some point on our travels).  Needless to say the Land Rover passed the MOT with flying colours.

A few days rest ensued before we got on with preparing the Land Rover for the next stage of our journey.  We repacked the back, removing items that we hadn’t used and those not required for Australia (like our winter gear), and swapped out our large Zarges boxes for some more suitable smaller containers.  The other major task was to clean both the inside and out in order to satisfy Australia’s quarantine service, whose job is to minimise the risk of exotic pets and diseases entering the country.  Mud was scraped out from all the nooks and crannies that comprise a Land Rover’s chassis and underside, followed by a thorough pressure wash then a liberal application of Waxoyl.  Progress was hindered slightly by snow, which had us both excited as we missed out on the big freeze, but it was soon gone.

Inside was swept out before being washed down and then vinyl cleaner was used to produce a better than new shine.  You would hardly believe it was the same vehicle when sitting in the driver’s seat - let’s just hope that it’s good enough for the Australian officials.

The drive over to Felixstowe in the drizzle was uneventful and we found the shipping yard where we donned our reflective vests and waited for our container to be bought out.  We knew we had to remove the roof tent, but hoped we could squeeze the Land Rover in with the roof rack still attached.  After airing down the rear tyres and applying two burly assistants to the back, the jerry can holder inched in with a millimetre clearance.

Secured to the floor by straps through the jate rings, the Land Rover was shut into the container and the customs seal applied.

We experienced a moment of concern as the container was lifted and driven off, although the main separation anxiety started on the drive back from Felixstowe.