- 3 months ago
Welcome back to episode 19 of our van life conversion journey! Can you believe we're already on episode 19?
Time has absolutely flown by, but don't let those hyperlapses fool you - each episode represents 2-3 days of solid work condensed into just 10 minutes of footage. Some of those seven-hour work sessions you see zipping by in seconds took everything we had!
Today marks our FINAL full day at this house sit, and we're under serious pressure to get critical work done before we have to leave tomorrow morning.
We've got just six weeks to complete this entire van conversion, and the clock is ticking louder than ever. Tomorrow we're heading out for a photo shoot (which we'll definitely be taking you along for!), so today is absolutely make-or-break time.
We're tackling some essential structural work today, starting with filling those annoying gaps around the drawer mechanism on both sides. These spaces need to become functional storage on the passenger side and house our electrical components on the driver's side - no wasted space in van life! We'll also be installing our brilliant IKEA bed base solution that cost us about 200 bucks. This metal frame with bamboo slats is perfect for airflow under the mattress, which is absolutely crucial for moisture management in van conversions.
Speaking of moisture, we learned so much from the van life community about preventing condensation issues, especially around sleeping areas. The fridge and solar setup underneath will actually provide some welcome warmth during those cold nights - though one of us sleeps under two duvets with a heater on while the other is constantly overheating!
We're also covering the roof insulation with plastic today to prevent anymore insulation bits falling on us during the final build phases. It's those little quality-of-life improvements that make all the difference when you're working in cramped quarters on a 15-degree incline driveway!
The location has been absolutely perfect for this build - Bunnings is literally two minutes away, Coles down the road, and we even discovered Uncle Dan's liquor store where we met some fantastic local gin distillers. We're already planning to feature them in a future episode about craft gin making!
Looking ahead, we're incredibly excited about our plans for next year. Instead of spending another winter in Queensland, we're planning an epic journey north through the heart of Australia. We'll be hitting Uluru, Kings Canyon, Devil's Marbles, and making our way to Darwin by mid-May to early June. Having lived in Darwin before, we can't wait to share more of that incredible region with you and catch up with old friends.
The van is really starting to come together now, and seeing it take shape after just two months of work feels incredible. Some people take two years for their conversions, but our house sit deadline has kept us moving at lightning pace.
Time has absolutely flown by, but don't let those hyperlapses fool you - each episode represents 2-3 days of solid work condensed into just 10 minutes of footage. Some of those seven-hour work sessions you see zipping by in seconds took everything we had!
Today marks our FINAL full day at this house sit, and we're under serious pressure to get critical work done before we have to leave tomorrow morning.
We've got just six weeks to complete this entire van conversion, and the clock is ticking louder than ever. Tomorrow we're heading out for a photo shoot (which we'll definitely be taking you along for!), so today is absolutely make-or-break time.
We're tackling some essential structural work today, starting with filling those annoying gaps around the drawer mechanism on both sides. These spaces need to become functional storage on the passenger side and house our electrical components on the driver's side - no wasted space in van life! We'll also be installing our brilliant IKEA bed base solution that cost us about 200 bucks. This metal frame with bamboo slats is perfect for airflow under the mattress, which is absolutely crucial for moisture management in van conversions.
Speaking of moisture, we learned so much from the van life community about preventing condensation issues, especially around sleeping areas. The fridge and solar setup underneath will actually provide some welcome warmth during those cold nights - though one of us sleeps under two duvets with a heater on while the other is constantly overheating!
We're also covering the roof insulation with plastic today to prevent anymore insulation bits falling on us during the final build phases. It's those little quality-of-life improvements that make all the difference when you're working in cramped quarters on a 15-degree incline driveway!
The location has been absolutely perfect for this build - Bunnings is literally two minutes away, Coles down the road, and we even discovered Uncle Dan's liquor store where we met some fantastic local gin distillers. We're already planning to feature them in a future episode about craft gin making!
Looking ahead, we're incredibly excited about our plans for next year. Instead of spending another winter in Queensland, we're planning an epic journey north through the heart of Australia. We'll be hitting Uluru, Kings Canyon, Devil's Marbles, and making our way to Darwin by mid-May to early June. Having lived in Darwin before, we can't wait to share more of that incredible region with you and catch up with old friends.
The van is really starting to come together now, and seeing it take shape after just two months of work feels incredible. Some people take two years for their conversions, but our house sit deadline has kept us moving at lightning pace.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Welcome back guys. What day are you on? Have you been counted?
00:05I don't know much about days, but I think right now we're shooting for episode 19.
00:1219. Wow. It makes it sound like I've been taking my time, my sweet ass time with this.
00:19I definitely agree with that. I know that there's been a lot of time spent planning,
00:24which is super important, and there's a lot of time been spent waiting on other people.
00:30And I think that's really, unfortunately, a normal process.
00:35Yeah, yeah. Look, I suppose the thing also that I need to acknowledge with this is that some of
00:39the episodes that we've done, there's been two to three days of content that goes in,
00:44or filming that goes into one episode. So, hey, you're only getting 10 minutes,
00:49which is a condensed like three days. Some of those hyperlapses you're seeing,
00:53that's like seven hours of work. So for those of you watching, I had a chat with the guy who walked
00:59past the front of the house a couple of days ago when the dogs were barking. And he said,
01:04oh, you're turning the van into like a little mobile home. Yeah. And he said, oh,
01:09those videos on YouTube, they make it look really easy. Like it happens so fast.
01:16Yeah. So don't get fooled by the hyperlapse, mate. I don't move that quick. This doesn't happen that
01:20quick. No. But in saying that, compared with some people that we've been connecting with on YouTube
01:28and on Facebook and stuff like that, some people are taking two years to do that. Oh, yeah. Now,
01:34to give you some perspective, we bought this van maybe two months ago at the most. Yeah. So,
01:41compared with some people, we're actually moving quite fast. However, we have a deadline. A lot of
01:48people just kind of do it in their spare time. We're doing it while we're at a house and we're
01:53only here for six weeks. And today's the last full day. Tomorrow morning, we're off out. We've got a
01:58photo shoot tomorrow. We'll take you for a journey on that one as well. Yeah, that'll be fun.
02:02Something a bit different. Yeah. I suppose there's been a lot more going on too, other than just
02:07working on the van, working full time, looking after the dogs, selling the Suzuki Swift. My God,
02:13the work that's gone into everything that's been happening around us has been huge. And,
02:18yeah, still doing all that while working full time. I don't know where I find the time. Well,
02:22you've been going to bed really early and getting up very early. Yeah, that's true. But this house
02:28makes me feel like I'm camping. It's got that body clock reset sort of thing going on. I think
02:32because it's quite a cold house. Yeah. You just want to go to bed and rug up.
02:38But a great little spot. It is a great spot. Very convenient. Like, Bunnings is literally like
02:43a two-minute drive around the corner. Coles is just down the road. If you're after a farmer's
02:48market or stuff like that, that's literally just down the road too. In fact, last night,
02:52we went to Uncle Dan. The good Uncle Dan, not the bad Uncle Dan. There's an Uncle Dan down south,
02:57who's a bleep that one out. Those of you who are Australian, you'll know who I'm talking about.
03:03We went and saw the good Uncle Dan last night. The one who look us up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And,
03:10yeah, we had a chat with a guy out the front who was doing a gin tasting. Nice young guy. Well,
03:15he had a whole range of stuff. So he had a couple of rums and a gin and an espresso martini. Yeah. And
03:22they were delicious. Yeah. So we are hoping to tee up an episode and we will introduce you to them
03:29in a few months' time. We don't have any space in our calendar right now. We're going to go on a
03:34gin making session, I think. Yeah, I think that would be really fun. It would be good. We'll see
03:38if we can chat with the distiller or the owner and we'll get a bit of a backstory. Come for a ride with
03:42us. Not naturally in the van, because it's only now where they've got two seat belts or three.
03:46Well, you can virtually. You can. You can live vicariously through us, should you choose to. So what are we
03:51doing? Okay, so today the plan is Matt would like to fit this little gap here and that gap there.
03:58Oh, yes. Dealing with the me off camera again and you can't see down here. Just imagine.
04:04A little bit, thank you. Use your imagination. Imagination. So you can see it better on this side.
04:12You can see better on this side. So there's a gap on both sides of the draw mechanism and we just want
04:18to close it off to create a cavity where we can use for storage on the passenger side and electrical
04:24stuff on the driver's side. That shouldn't take too long. We should get it done within an hour,
04:29I imagine. Yeah. And then we're going to... We'll do some bracing. Yeah. No major work with that.
04:34That'll be easy. Yeah. So all the pretty hard stuff has been done. Yeah. The next step is we're going to build
04:40the bed base and Matt decided to go and grab something that was pre-made, which I think is a
04:46fabulous idea. And we went to Ikea and got a base, which was about $200. About $200, yeah. It was a good
04:54solid... I think it's a metal bed frame, like box tubing, and we can trim the legs off short so the
05:00legs don't actually stick down over this. But it's got a good light bamboo sort of slat system built into
05:06it. Some of the videos that we've seen and the posts that people have shared when it comes to
05:10their vans and how they're managing moisture is largely around the mattress. So airflow with the
05:15mattress is important. You would have seen on the previous episode. If not, go back, have a look at
05:19episode 18. We've cut breather holes in around the carcass for the fridge. I think we're going to be
05:24okay. So look, I'm a bit of a wuss these days. I don't like the cold. So any warmth that the fridge
05:30kicks out and any warmth that the solar setup kicks out is directly under the bed. So what's the
05:34essentially going to happen is he's going to be snugly and warm and I'm going to be roast because
05:38lately he's been sleeping under two duvets. I'm trying to sleep under one and I keep pushing the
05:43duvet back because I'm cooking. And it is, yeah, under two duvets with a heater on. Oh, it's been cold.
05:50So warning to anybody who wants to travel up north, it is stunning up there, highly recommended.
05:56However, if you stay for more than a couple of years, you will climatize. Oh yeah.
06:00Coming back down to the southern parts, if you go south of Mataranka,
06:04you're probably going to freeze your butt off. Yeah. For those of you who don't know where
06:08Mataranka is, it's about 600 kilometres-ish, maybe 500 south of Darwin. Not that far south really. It's
06:14pretty cruisy, four and a half to five and a half hour drive, depending on what speed limit you do.
06:20We may have or may have coming up some content in relation to that beautiful little spot. Oh my
06:27God, stunning. I'm so looking forward to getting back up there. Yeah. So we're just as a prelude,
06:32we haven't officially got it in our calendar, but the intention is that this time next year,
06:39we're not going to be spending winter in Queensland. We're going to go north. Yeah. And...
06:44We'll go up through the centre, we'll do Uluru, head up into Kings Canyon, straight up Devil's Marbles.
06:50We're going to start heading north in about late April, I think it is from memory. Yep. Late April,
06:57early May, and we plan to be in Darwin probably mid-May to early June, I anticipate, which is going
07:07to be so much fun because I'm really looking forward to catching up with our friends and being able to
07:11share a bit more of the adventure. When we were living in Darwin, we took lots and lots of photos,
07:16but we haven't put a lot of content together for our channel. And apart from the fact that we love
07:22Darwin and we want to go back. This is a good reason. It's a good reason to bring you on the
07:27journey. Yeah. Something else we're doing today, you can't see it in this shot. You have seen it in
07:31previous shots. If you haven't, go back, check our other episodes. You'll see it in previous shots.
07:35Do you want to slow down? It just sounded like you said birth episode. Birth episode.
07:41We're going to put some plastic on the roof. That might actually be what we should do first,
07:45really. We'll mask that up. So you can watch the hyperlapse of that. We're going to cover up the
07:49installations so that we don't have too much of that dropping on us over the next few days.
07:53Birth episode. Birth episode. Before we wrap up and go into hyperlapse, I think it would be quite
07:59funny to tell you a story about when we decided to leave Darwin and we got to Mataranka. Oh, now let's
08:07save that for the Mataranka video. You want to save it? Okay. Yeah. You guys will have to catch us on
08:12another episode. Yeah. And as we just said, it's probably a year away from now, but it just means
08:18you just have to stick around a bit longer. Yeah. There's a fair bit to share with Mataranka. It's
08:22a great little spot. Daily Waters as well. You just have to check them out. You just have to check them
08:27out. And if I remember when we shot the videos, I'll come back into this one and I'll put the little
08:31card thingies up here. So I think you're watching us. We're on your screen. So it's either there or maybe
08:36there. I don't know. Figure it out. It's reversed. It's reversed. I think. So it's over there. We're
08:41still working this stuff out. So forgive us if we're very crude and don't get it.
08:48You can just live with it. We have to. Sorry, not sorry. Let's get into it then. We're going to
08:55start working on this. Yay. All right. And we've got a very, a bit of a hill to work on today.
09:01Yeah. Yeah. Probably a 15 degree inclined at one at the moment in the driveway. So yes,
09:06the van is very much uphill for us today. Do not open the fridge slider. It will just go
09:11straight out. See you soon. Bye.
09:13Let the circle run. Turn the wheel, turn the soul, let the name take control. Heartbeats,
09:30tollbeats, truth in the hole. Jaram, I'm Allahu. One sound breaking through. Dance in the dust with the one
09:38that is you. Turn the wheel, turn the soul, let the name take control. Heartbeats, tollbeats,
09:43truth in the hole. Jaram, I'm Allahu. One sound breaking through. Dance in the dust with the one
09:50that is you. Desert wind and the ocean wide. Both call the lover to look inside. Not east, not west,
09:57no place to hide. Only the heart where the name resides. Heavy zikar, every drop of every sacred flame.
10:02Points to silence underneath the name. Turn the wheel, turn the soul, let the name take control. Heartbeats,
10:06tollbeats, truth in the hole. Jaram, I'm Allahu. One sound breaking through. Dance in the dust with the one
10:14that is you.
10:15Lay down pride, pick up the drum. Spin like the dervish, become the one. From Mecca to Rishikesh,
10:41Kingston too. All roads spiral back to you. Yana B, Jai Ma, every breath about. Surrender is the only
10:48vow. What do you seek? Union, union. Where does it live? Inside, within. What do you leave?
10:58The thorns, the fear. What do you sing? The name's so clear. Jai in my hand, and the sun goes low.
11:06Children laugh when the mango grow. Hands in the air, no need to preach. Truth is love beyond the reach.
11:18Bow to the light in every eye. God is a dam, we don't have to try. Turn the wheel, turn the soul,
11:28let the name take control. Heartbeats, tollbeats, truth in the hole. Jaram, I'm Allahu. One sound breaking
11:35through. Dance in the dust with the one that is you. Turn the wheel, turn the soul, let the name
11:41turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn
11:54the wheel, turn the wheel. Turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn
12:02the wheel, turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn the wheel, turn
12:08Let's get started.
12:38Let's get started.
13:08Let's get started.
13:38Let's get started.
14:08Let's get started.
14:38Let's get started.
15:08Let's get started.
15:38Let's get started.
16:08Let's get started.
16:38So I've got some brackets that I'm going to fit.
16:41However, the inside of that van is curved.
16:43So I need to achieve this result.
16:47So that one's been shaped for that side.
16:49I'm going to shape this one for this side.
16:51Basically, what will happen is this flat piece here, that's going to mount up against the back of the timber.
16:55And the curve and the curve and the curve and the contour is going to be able to put a 20mm metal screw straight in and that'll pull it tight and hold it against the body of the vehicle there.
17:05There's a cavity.
17:06Nothing behind it that I need to worry about at this point in time or later.
17:09It's all good.
17:10It's all good.
17:11So that's what we're up to.
17:13So that's what we're up to.
17:13And hopefully that helps stabilize it.
17:15And hopefully I don't need to put another one of these further down towards the bottom because that's going to be an absolute pain in the ass to do.
17:19Hey, we'll be back in the door.
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