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Campervan Conversions And #VanLife

It’s perfectly possible to sleep in the back of most cars in a pinch, as long as the rear seats fold flat and you have a reasonable bit of padding underneath you and a pillow (speaking from experience here).  However, I wouldn’t want to do it for more than a night or so in a row without very good reason.  If you like to stay in campgrounds or in the middle of nowhere but don’t want to lug around a caravan, then possibly the answer is to build your own campervan, giving you more versatile motoring as well as the ability to take secure accommodation with you – and making it easier to find a park when you stop in to pick up supplies.

If you want to convert a vehicle to a campervan, you need to start with the right one.  Vans are always popular and give you more floorspace and headroom in your mobile bedroom, but it’s also possible to convert a sizeable SUV or MPV.

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When Should I Disconnect My Car Battery?

There are various instances where you might need to disconnect your car battery, including performing maintenance, replacing the battery, resetting the car’s computer, or storing the vehicle for an extended period. However, not every motorist knows how to perform this rather simple task.

Let’s take a look at how to disconnect your car battery in a safe and practical manner.

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A Rally With A Difference that Makes A Difference

Bendigo to Pooncarie to Milparinka to Innaminka to Betoota to Isisford to Beylando Crossing and then to Townsville; now that sounds like an insane adventure!  It’s an adventure just waiting for you to register, and it’s an adventure you could be on during 18th–26th October in spring 2024.  Then there’s another one in autumn 2025.  Are AWDs, 4WDs or any buses allowed on this rally?  No, only vehicles with 2WD can be entered. 

But that’s nuts!  Yes, but it’s also a blast.  These car rallies have been happening for quite some time now, and they were first brought into being by James Freeman.  He is somewhat of a legend round these parts, as, sadly, James lost both of his parents to cancer just 12 months apart from each other.  This was devastating and a really heavy burden for James to carry, as you can imagine, but James and his family nursed their parents through the last stages of their lives.  In order to bounce back on top of things and to help him to make a difference, he carefully planned and instigated the first Shitbox Rally.  The Shitbox Rally is a car rally that is all about having fun while raising money for cancer research. 

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Why Would You Wear Driving Gloves?

Take a look around the cabin of your car – or a new car – and check out all the different storage compartments.  One of the most important ones you’ll spot is the glovebox.  You’ll find many things in a glovebox – mine has a mileage logbook, a paper map, several CDs, the driver’s manual, several paper serviettes, some compostable teaspoons and a half-eaten packet of nuts.  What you’re less likely to find in just about any driver’s glovebox is… a pair of gloves.

So why is this compartment called a glovebox rather than, say, a mapbox or just a plain old cubbyhole? Well, the reason is that in the early days of motoring, wearing driving gloves was de rigueur, so one needed a place to put them when one wasn’t driving.  Hence the need for, and the name of the glovebox.

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