21000 MILE TRIP IN OUR COMMER VAN.

November 2013 update.

21000 MILE TRIP IN OUR COMMER VAN

DSLH=21120Miles

The adventure has now come to an end and we are safely back where we started from last December.  Our crossing of the 1200klm Nullarbor Plain took 3 days to complete.  This was our second crossing during the trip and one of the final legs on the journey that clocked up just over 21000Miles/33800Klm in 11 months.  

Although heavily loaded and towing a heavy trailer the Commer's original 43 year old 1.7L motor performed beautifully not missing a beat as we traversed 2750klm in the last week of our journey.  After arriving in Norseman and a nights rest we traveled another 475klm to spend a night in Merriden and then another 410klm to Mandurah to spent a few days with Amanda's Parents.  Finally we returned to my family in Nannup where we had departed on this trip last December.

Here we go, 1200klm of desert lay ahead of us as we make our way back to our home state WA.

Camp site Great Aust Bite.

Although there is not a lot to see on the Nullarbor, you often see some unusual things such as these brave seniors running around Aust to raise money for cancer research.

www,runningrawaroundaustralia,com

Eagle enjoying roadkill breakfast.  100 klm to WA Boarder

                                                                   Rooey ll greats you at the boarder WA/SA

Roadhouse distance sign Madura

            Abandoned cars are a common sight and this car transporter was a hard one to miss.  The truck blew a tyre and then caught fire, driver escaped ok.
The owners of the vehicles had chosen to fly and truck their cars over.  Wouldn't want to be the one to inform them.

Made it to the boarder, still 700klm to the nearest populated town.

Doing her share of the driving.

Finally roll into Norseman.

OK, THE TRIP STATS

Travelling time - 11 months
 Fuel Consumed - 5007 Liters premium unleaded
Most expensive fuel - $2.20L
Least expensive fuel - $1.59L
Cruising speed - 78kph/47mph
   Parts replaced- Starting motor, Distributor, Manifold Gaskets, Heater tap, Suspension link pin, Tyre x 4.
Minor break downs- 1, fuel system blockage due to additives in modern fuel eating away tank lining
 "Snake skin".
Major Break Downs- 1, suspension failure, broken link pin due to metal fatigue and lack of lubrication.

Hottest travelling day- 46'C/114.8'F
Coolest travelling day - minus 8'C/17.6'F

Best part about the trip- The three of us being together.
Worst part of trip- none.

We have been so lucky to be able to undertake this adventure with Amelia before she starts school.  We have many wonderful memory's that i think none of us will ever forget.
Now it is time to find somewhere to live and to return to what is considered to be a normal life.
The Commers days as a camper are now over and she will be re-converted back into a bus and used to ferry us and passengers to and from car events and shows.

21000 miles in a Commer Van, some highlights

Thank you for reading our blog.  We hope you enjoyed being with us on our adventure.

What a time was had.

Click here to see the Commers current location

DSLH= 21120


On Commers

Did you know?.

The Beatles often traveled in this Commer bus,

Commer Van Oz Tour's October Update

October Update.

DSLH=18700miles

Melbourne was its usual busy place and the roads out of the city were heavily packed with traffic.  Unlike in Tasmania the lumbering old Commer received little tolerance or patience from the city dwelling motorists and after a couple of hours it was great to be back on country roads again.

Gumsan

First stop over on the mainland was Ararat 150klm north west of Melbourne.  Here we visited Gum San the Chinese Heritage Center and learned about how the Chinese had first discovered gold on the site that is now Ararat and of the hardships they experienced during the gold rush.

Confucius

Confucius say,

He who drive old Commer across 

Australia "is looney tunes!"

The sign read "Bus Parking only"
We are a bus really,  honest!

Big Koala between Ararat and Horsham.

We arrived in Horsham in time to relax and enjoy the towns annual agricultural show.
Great fun was had by the crew, especially Amelia. 

Check out that fairy floss WOW! and the sugar high smile. 

Pony mad.

Yeah! Show Bags!  more toys for the Commer to haul.

White Kangaroo at Renmark

Camp site on the Murray River near Renmark

Paddle Steamer 'Industry' at Renmark.

During our stay on the Murray River we boarded the Paddle Steamer 'Industry' for a lunchtime cruise and it was great to see this grand old ship still in operation for tourists to enjoy.
Built in 1911 this ship still uses its original steam engines and still gets along at a surprisingly fast pace.

From Renmark we moved on to Crystal Brook and then Port Augusta.  We stayed in Pt Augusta for 5 days so that we could take the Pichi Richi Steam Railway tour of the Flinders Ranges.
We had also originally planned to head north from here but the hot season had started early and day time temps north of Pt Augusta were already hitting the 40'C+ mark.  So after Pt Augusta we decided to explore the Eyre Peninsular and find some cooler weather.

The Pichi Richi Railway is the oldest surviving section of the original Ghan Railway that connects Adelaide with Darwin.
The train takes tourists on a trip From Pt Augusta to Quorn approx 50 klm away and after a two hour stop over returns to Pt Augusta.  The trip takes approx 5 hours.

Under steam

Enjoying the view

Next we headed around the Eyre Peninsular and visited a few towns on route.

First we spent a night camped near the lighthouse at Port Lowley then another night at Port Gibbon and Lipson Cove.  The scenery on the peninsular is spectacular and there are many great free camping spots.  Unfortunately the insects were at their worst this time of year and swarms of flies and biting insects kept us moving on the following days.

Camp, Pt Lowly

Camp, Lipson Cove

Dolphins playing meters from our camp Lipson Cove.



Another night was spent at Pt Lincoln and Coffin Bay before making our way to Ceduna in preparation to cross the Nullarbor Plain for the second time this year.

We are a little nervous about chancing the Nullarbor in our old Commer for a second time as she is now a lot heavier with all the extra bits we have collected during the trip.  We also need to load her up with extra water and fuel.  So the 43 year old little 1.7L motor is working very hard.

Fingers crossed we will make it back to WA OK.

Click here to see the Commers current location.

On Commer's

Did you know?

Commer designed and built its own diesel engine for their commercial vehicles.

The engine was a two stroke diesel 3 cylinder engine with six pistons horizontally opposed.

This engine had a unique knocking sound which gave it the nick name "Commer Knocker".

Click below to listen to a Commer TS3 "knocker" Diesel engine.

Commer Van Oz Tour September Update!..

September Update!.

Distance since leaving home 15800Miles

Our tour of Tasmania ended on the 21st of September and although we had been there for nearly four months we still had not seen everything that Tas has to offer.

During September we added the West and North coastal towns to our list of visited places.  They included the unique mining town of Queenstown and beautiful Strahan, a long lost mining ghost town called Luina, then onto Burnie and picturesque Penguin. 

During much of our stay in Tasmania we based ourselves at Swansea, a friendly and very scenic holiday town on the sunny East Coast.  We rented a old holiday shack for the winter and planned our trips to explore the island from there.  The people of Swansea enjoy mild winters compared to much of Tasmania and they reflect the relaxed and friendly atmosphere that the town has.  Between trips to explore this beautiful state Amelia attended prep school and Amanda worked at the local Child Care Center.
The Commer was well received by the locals and we were told the historic local store 'Morris Stores' established in 1838 and still operating today, used a Commer like ours in the 1960's for delivery's.  Morris store is treasure trove where you will find everything you need at great prices.

As we leave Swansea we feel a little sad as it is a very easy place to fall in love with.

Visions of Swansea.

To the fantastic people of this seaside town we say a big thank you for making us so welcome and inviting us into your community.  

Approaching Queenstown.

Rain Forest, near Queenstown.

The Eagle, River cruise Strahan.

Meeting the Skipper

Cows grazing in the long paddock,  Gotta love it.

More old Mining tunnels

Smelter ruins to explore.

Mining town of Zeehan with Gaiety Theater far left.

Gaiety Theater, preserved

Gold mine ruins.

Another interesting place visited was the ghost town of Luina.
Actually we chose the spot as a overnight camp and soon realised we were in a the remains of a once thriving small mining town.  A quick google and we found the photo below.  A coincidence that we had set up camp in the same street as the picture.
Luina was established in 1876 during the gold rush and once had over 70 houses a School, Shop, Hotel & Post office. With the closure of the nearby Tin Mine in 1986 the town soon became abandoned and the site is now managed by forestry Tasmania.

Luina, Scene of car accident 1970, Commer is parked today where yellow vehicle is in the 1970 picture.

We had originally planned to prospect for gold in the area but after finding the remains of Luina I couldnt resist swinging the detector around the old town site, below is some more 'articraps' found near our camp.

Some of the items found on the house sites around our camp,

with 15 pre-decimal coins including one silver three pence.

Amelia, enjoyed playing Archaeologist and trying to restore some of the cars.

All the hill climbs around Tasmania have taken their toll on the old Commer and this months mechanical challenges included a blown head/manifold gasket and a faulty starting motor.

Replacing blown gaskets, leaking heater tap, repairing damaged starter, resetting valve clearances and full service ready to continue tour on the mainland.  With the electric starter out of action it was out with the starting handle until repairs were made.  luckily our spare parts dept "the trailer" had the parts needed ex stock and i was able to fit them at Swansea before heading back to the ferry.

On Commer Vans

Contrary to popular belief the Commer PB van is actually very easy to work on.  The floor is easily removed in sections to gain access to the engine bay and there is plenty of room to carry out repairs. A chap in the UK has successfully transplanted a Supercharged V8 into his Commer Van.

See this link http://forum.commervanfan.co.uk/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6244

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In early September we had my Mother and Aunt come to join us on our adventures for a few days.

The Commer had a well deserved rest and we hired a car with enough seating for all of us and we headed of on a short tour of the south to show our guests some of Tasmania's highlights.  It was nice to have some visitors and Amelia loved spending time with her Nan.

Posing with the hire car and enjoying a bit of sunshine on the beach at Dolphin Sands/Swansea.

Historic Port Arthur,

convict penal colony ruins

Even Mum enjoyed exploring old tunnels, this one near Strathgordon.

                                                     

After Mum had left we had some more visitors Joe, Crystal and Sunny from Qld, we had met them five months earlier in Canberra and like us they were on tour in a van and travelling with a five year old.  Amelia and Sunny enjoyed a few days playing together and it was great to meet up with fellow travelers again.

Sunny & Amelia with their rigs!.

With our visitors continuing with their travels it was time for us to break camp and make our way back to Devonport and onto the ferry to Melbourne.  The ferry trip back was a lot smoother than the trip over and we arrived in Melbourne at 6AM.  We were welcomed back to Melbourne by Alex, Amelia's cousin and it was great to see her before we headed out of the city.

Goodbye Tasmania, its time to leave

Arrival at Port Melbourne, Ferry in background.

Alex, Amelias Cousin met us in sunny Melbourne.

Former Rootes factory Port Melbourne. Our Commer was assembled here or at the Chrysler plant in SA.

Before leaving Melbourne we stopped outside the building that was once the main Rootes assembly plant.  Almost all Rootes vehicles including Hilman, Humber, Singer, Commer were assembled here from complete knock down kits exported from the UK. Unfortunatley I am not 100% sure if our Commer was assembled here or at the Chrysler Commercial Vehicle Factory in South Australia as Chrysler assembled many Commer's.

------------------------------------------------------------------

On Commer History,

Did  you know? 

Commer's were used by the British forces throughout the first World War

This Commer is MYRA a famous truck that served with the 70th Motorised Transport Division and carried ammunition to the front lines.  Driven by Private Joseph Coxhead 'pictured'. also known as “Mournful Mike” or “Coffee Coxhead” and his mate Private John Chisholm, both of The Army Service Corps.  MYRA was known as The “Crack” of the Siege Parks and from the interior to the coast as The Flying Commer

The Pride of the “B” Outfits

Myra and her brave crew did their part in supplying the front lines throughout the conflict.
Below is a list of some of the places MYRA worked during the War.

Rouen, Albert, Bapaume, Biefvillers, Hazenbrouck, Cassel, Les Moires, Caestres, Cartigny, Aizecourt, Peronne, Roisel, Longavesnes, Linnent (?), Ham, Cerisy, Corbie, Bray, Flesselles, Belloy –sur-Somme, Betaucourt-les-Dames, Hesdin, Flixecourt, Daours, Amiens, Villers Bretonneux, Villers Carbonnel,  Bohains, Busigny, Le Cateau , St Souplet, Mauberge, Landrecies, Jument (?), Biache, Abbeville, Reuchatel, Rouen.

MYRA, Born 1913 Still Going Strong 1919 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DSLH =  15800Miles

Click here to see the Commers current location.