Everything is about to change! (We need help) | Solo Van Life Australia

A rare and severe wet weather event for the month of May is set to sweep the state from the weekend. Widespread, record-breaking rainfall expected between 3 and 400 millimetres in areas, 10 times the normal amount. I know buddy, it's definitely time to leave. Well, for the first time ever, I think Occy and I might both be experiencing a bit of seasonal affective disorder because it has been raining non-stop for the last two months whilst we've been in the van and it really unfortunately looks like that's going to continue. The good news is we're about to have a bit of a change because we are finally going on a trip that I've been looking forward to for so long and that is a trip to the real Outback Australia, the Red Centre. We're going to be visiting Uluru and a lot of sites along the way. I'm so excited to be bringing you guys along for the ride and then be meeting friends in the middle and convoying with them from there. Now, where we're going is very remote so in this video I'm going to show you all the preparation involved in getting ready for such a long trip and also there's actually something that I need your help with so I'm going to be asking for that a bit later on. Sun will come out soon, promise. It is time to knock off probably the most important job off the checklist which is get all the mechanical issues on the van fixed. There's quite a few that I've been putting off for a while so I think this is going to be quite expensive especially considering the air conditioning's not working and it's not just a regas. The radiator needs to be replaced and there's a lot of other stuff too. I'm taking the van to Brisbane Daily Repairs and I'm going there because Dave, the head man, head mechanic from there has been highly recommended. All he does is Ivecos so he's the man to go to and yeah be good to get this aircon fixed because going to the NT, good old OCH, definitely needs a little bit of cooling. What are the chances I literally just hit a bin chicken or an ibis. It was flying across the freeway I was going 110. I've just pulled off and into I don't even know which suburb I'm in. I braked and I thought it was going to miss but it hit the top of the van. I really hope that it's okay but also that my van's okay because it sounded pretty loud. Let's have a look. Just get off the road. No. Oh there's even mark there. Ochi did not even react. Can't believe that. Not the best start. I feel really bad for the ibis. Get used to seeing that dint and off to the mechanic we go. Okay OCH, you ready to experience the aircon? How is that buddy? Well the aircon being fixed is definitely the good news story from picking up the van. It ended up taking two and a half days. Dave was super busy. It actually ended up coming to four and a half grand because he did so much work. He replaced a lot of stuff and yeah I actually think it was really fair even though that definitely hurts. All right on to the next. Good morning and welcome to Southport industrial sector. I am here because at 8 a.m which is only less than an hour away I'm booked in to have an antenna installed and also to get the solutions which is going to allow me to have the best internet and cell connection as I travel around Australia. I'm going to show you guys what I do and yeah I better get up and get going. Good morning OCH you buddy. Good morning. Good morning. Did you have a good sleep? So I'm being kicked out. Apparently OCH and I are not allowed to help with the install. When two worlds collide. How is my new aerial? This thing is an absolute beast. I am so pumped to have that ticked off. I will show you the whole system tomorrow because it's getting kind of late. That's right buddy it's not raining. OCH actually recently picked this toy out and I think it's appropriate seeing how we might be seeing some in the wild soon. All right get your crocodile mate. Yeah that'll show it the death roll. These NT crocs are not going to know what hit them. Okay well whilst we've got this clear weather I'm going to take you through the systems that got installed yesterday. Essentially it's in two parts. I got it all through Powertech and I'm going to link them in the description. They are offering 15% off to Max and OCHI viewers with the link below so make sure you use that one. And yeah let's start with the Self I Go system. So the installers did a really good job of actually hiding where the main unit is for the Self I Go but it is behind here in the dash. You can see that green light that's the power light so it's currently on and I have it switched here. And so 99% of the time I'll leave the Self I Go running because it's powered off the batteries in the back and it uses pretty little power so it's good to be able to have to constantly boost my cell signal. However if for some reason I know I'm not going to be in the van for a long time the switch is handy because I can flick it off and it's not taking any more power off the batteries. Look at this blue sky. And the other parts to the Self I Go system is the big ass aerial which I showed you before. OCHI wants to be involved. So I've opted for pretty much like a truck aerial on my bull bar which is going to help amplify the signal really well. It does make me think though what do you guys reckon? Do I need to paint this bull bar black? And then the final part to the system is the Self I internal antenna. This boosts the signal throughout the van and so the Self I Go units themselves are locked to a particular carrier. I opted to go with Telstra because they have the best coverage Australia-wide and just a little known fact is that cell signal boosters in Australia are actually illegal almost all of them except for the Self I. So that's one of the reasons it's so popular and really it's the best option for boosting that cell signal on the road. I'm really looking forward to testing it out in some remote places. Now part two of the system is called Coastal Connect. It's Powertech's own baby and I'm going to show you how it works. The system is made up of a Teltonika router and also a pointing MIMO omnidirectional antenna and that combo supports Cat 6 LTE speeds of up to 300 megabits per second which in simple terms is essentially it's really fast it gets really good reception through that antenna and what it does as opposed to the Self I Go is that it is also a Wi-Fi repeater. So for example if I was at a caravan parked or parked at the front of a friend's house where they have Wi-Fi network inside so long as I know the password it will boost that Wi-Fi signal into the van and then I can use it as a hotspot to share with everyone else. So super handy as well as that like the Self I Go you can put your own SIM card in there. So I've got another Telstra SIM in there so when I don't have a Wi-Fi attachment I have my own personal hotspot that's running all the time that once again gets better reception than my phone would. They both have a smartphone app. The Self I Go has one that shows you that it's working well shows you the signal strength signal quality so if that isn't good you can kind of move things around to get it right and then also the Coastal Connect has one and this is really important because if you click on the Wi-Fi section here it shows you all the available Wi-Fi connections and then if you've got the password for one you could click on it put in your password and it will save that for later so every time you come back you'll be able to log straight in off that Wi-Fi. As someone that relies on internet connection for work this was a really important job to get ticked off the list. If you're interested in getting your own setup I will link as I said Powertech in the description below there's 15% off for all of you guys and yeah I highly recommend them they've been awesome with their customer service and have helped me troubleshoot if I've had any issues. Okay before I move on to the next task on the list I want to thank today's video sponsor which is actually Audible. Without sponsors and you guys and my patrons these kind of trips would never be possible so I'm so grateful for all of you and yeah let's talk a because I use the Audible app on a daily basis pretty much and I've been listening to audiobooks for years it also gives me a chance to talk about my favorite books. Currently I'm listening to Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe it is very important for the trip that I have coming up because on this trip I really want to dive more into Aboriginal culture and history and I feel like in Australia like other parts of the world sometimes I feel like we're not taught enough at school and I think in this case we might have also been taught incorrect information. So very briefly about Dark Emu Bruce Pascoe essentially highlights that despite the fact that early settlers found that there was really large Aboriginal communities that showed signs of agriculture that was well ahead of their time as well as having housing and villages in more permanent setups despite that it was sold that Aboriginals were just hunters and gatherers and nomadic people and there wasn't as many of them and Bruce thinks that the main reason this happened was because ethically it was more justifiable to take their land if they were nomadic than if they actually had established dwellings there so it's a bit screwed up but essentially it's a big part of our history it's a very important part of our history and a part that needs to be acknowledged. Now with all that said if you don't know what Audible is Audible is the leading provider of spoken word entertainment all in one place as an Audible member you'll get one credit every month that's good for any title in the entire premium selection on top of that you'll also get access to the popular plus catalog it's filled with thousands and thousands of audiobooks guided fitness and meditations ad-free podcasts and also original content and the best part is with the plus catalog you don't need credits for those so you get unlimited access for those ones. If you've never used Audible before and you're interested in giving it a crack all you have to do is visit audible.com forward slash Occy or text Occy to 500 500 I'll also put it in the video description below and they will give you a 30-day free trial. It is particularly important for me to have Audible for these long drives coming up because as much as Occy's good company he doesn't really talk back all that much. Yeah it's not legal. Are you a guard dog are ya? Barking at that big bag tire man huh? Yeah you're terrifying. Hmm? Terrifying. Well unfortunately it seems as if my all-terrain tire dream is over for now. This is the third tire shop that I've been to trying to find tires that will fit the Iveco daily with dual wheels on the back. I swear I've seen online that people have done it so if anyone watching knows what all-terrain tires fit and the thing is they've got to fit with the dual wheels and they've also got to be load rated and it's those two things that seem to be most difficult. It's got to be rated over 107 load rating and then yeah fit. Kind of sad because Carsten from Carsten and Maxine talked to me they've just done a few of the off-road tracks in their combi and he said by far more important than four-wheel drive is having good tires because the roads are just really rough on the tires and it makes the whole ride a lot more enjoyable because it's a lot more smooth but yeah that dream's over for now. Just a little interlude from getting ---- done to getting life done. My water tanks are empty at the moment. It's still raining. I cannot wait for the dry sunny desert. Well for a change it is an absolutely cracking day today. I'm getting so excited because we're so close to setting off but today I've also got a bit of a treat for you because taking a break from doing van work. Occy's out and we've got someone that you might know. Hello. Now I was just saying to Jules that I reckon about once a month I get someone messaging me saying what happened to that nice girl that you met with in Tasmania? Still here. It's actually been a year since I traveled with Jules and Jules has had a big year. It's a bit messy at the moment. I'm moving to the Sunshine State and it looks like today the sun has definitely come out for me so I'm currently en route to a new house and putting van life on a semi-pause. Yeah and so you ended up doing the lap of Australia? I did part of the lap so I'm missing a couple states which is Northern Territory and Queensland but hey I'm here with a van in Queensland so that counts right? Jules is such a boss because in that last year she's bought a block of land in a location down south and now this place up north she's actually going to reno a lot of it herself so you're doing okay. Yeah. She's got lots of plans. I will be planning to visit but not until after this trip I think. And now we're actually going Ikea shopping to help kit out her house. Nothing's changed. All right today. Ock wake up buddy. I got a new Sony headset because the current one in the van, this Pioneer, is about 10 years old and it doesn't link to Bluetooth so I can't play like Spotify through it. It also doesn't even link with the cable and I can't put my Google Maps or anything through it. There is a beautiful rainbow going on out there and in here, ladies and gents, we have a new headset. So happy with the sound that that's putting out between the new headset and the speakers. It took a little bit longer than I thought to install like everything and I just had to change some connectors at Bunnings but we are all good and that song you're hearing is an absolute banger. It's Riley Pierce, my mate's new tune and yeah you'll definitely hear it in upcoming videos. Now I know some of you are probably thinking that that wasn't really an essential job for preparing for Central Australia but remember the distances in Australia are huge. Like Jules was saying she did over 45,000 kilometers in her lap and that is a lot of time to be spending when Occy doesn't talk all that much so I'll be able to listen to audiobooks, I'll be able to listen to bangers like that and also be able to talk on the phone with hands-free which is obviously super important to be safe. A couple of other things that I have ticked off that list though are I have gotten a shovel to help me dig out if I get stuck. I've also got ARB recovery tracks in the back. I've bought a diesel jerry can and I've also bought a water filter system and you know what I think I'm almost ready to leave there's one last thing that needs to happen. 1002, 1003. Now you will remember at the start of this video that I said I need your help with something. Well that is something that is so important to me. During the month of June I am taking part in the push-up challenge. What is involved in the push-up challenge is doing 3,139 push-ups across 24 days. That averages out to be over 130 push-ups a day and the reason for doing the challenge is that that number 3,139 represents the number of Australians that died by suicide in 2020 alone. Now I don't really have to tell a lot of you why this is something that's so important to me. I have lost people I love to suicide. I've lost friends, I've lost family, I've lost colleagues. As well as that I've seen firsthand during my time as a paramedic how much the number of cases of mental illness and suicide are increasing as the years go on. This is something that really needs to change and I think the change can start with all of us. We need to take away any stigma of talking about mental health and we really need to help raise funds for those services that are helping people suffering from mental illness. So in saying that what the challenge involves as I said I've got to do the push-ups each time. However it doesn't just have to be me. If you would like to join I have created a team on the push-up challenge. I'm going to link it below and you can join the Maxinocci team and join doing push-ups with me. I understand that that's a lot of push-ups so you can also aim for 25% of that target, 50% or 75%. If you can't do push-ups you can do sit-ups, you can do squats. They're very flexible and you can vary it around. If for some reason you don't want to partake in the push-ups or anything that's totally fine, there's other ways you can help. It would be really great if you guys could donate to the challenge. I'm going to leave the link for donating to my team below. My goal is to raise $5,000 personally for mental health and $10,000 for the team and all that money is going to go to Lifeline which is an Australian charity that is imperative for helping those with mental health. I would really appreciate your help on this guys and I'd be really stoked if you join the team as well. And finally if you also don't have any funds to donate at the moment that's also more than fine. All I ask from you instead is that you reach out to someone and check in on them, make sure they're doing okay and start that conversation. Poor old Occy was being so patient he really wanted to join the push-up challenge but unfortunately these hallways aren't wide enough for the both of us. Thank you so much for watching this vid. I know it was a different one from me. I hope it all comes together. I feel like it's probably the most I've ever talked in a video. I am going to be coming back at you with a lot more music and epic footage in the next few videos but this one I had a lot to get across. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did make sure you subscribe because really the adventure is just beginning. Just one more thing about the trip too. I didn't really say a time frame or anything but I'm going for quite a while. This could be months and months that I'm on the road for so it's going to be an epic adventure. I'm really looking forward to experiencing more of Australia's culture, history but also just the people you meet along the way is almost the best thing. So I'm looking forward to sharing that with you guys. If you have any suggestions on things you think I've forgotten to pack please let me know in the comments below because I will check them out. I'm in charge of my safety and Occy's and we'll see you in the next one. Bye guys. It's time to go. You ready to roll? Oh man your breath stinks. All right the best way to stay countable is recruit some friends. Hey mate. Welcome. You're on the vlog. I've got a challenge for you. We have to do 3,139 push-ups in 24 days. How many? Each one of those push-ups represents someone that passed away to suicide in Australia in 2020. Man I'm in. I'm in. I'm ready. Let's go. Yes. All right dude. I'm in. All right. Let's go. Perfect. I'm thinking maybe squats might work for me. I can't do one push-up so that's never going to work but I can squat it out for sure. Yeah man I'm in. Let's give it a go. That sounds brilliant. A brilliant cause of course we're in. We'll try We're going to be pumped bud.