Hit the road family (technically you can't come back) - The madness starts here

It's been a journey months in the making and in the true way of things when heading out on the highway (while looking for adventure), many a spanner was thrown in the works. We made it of course, just but nothing ever goes to plan on a road trip does it?

(Nothing this bad thankfully..)

THE PLAN 

Spend a few days driving from Gold Coast Queensland to our new beginnings in Albury New South Wales with a few stops along the way. Due to Greater Sydney and their recent adventures having a punch on with Covid, we decided to go the long way - starting off coast side but then heading inland and giving Sydney a nice wide birth. This would add a few hours to our journey of course but we could visit the Golden Guitar in Tamworth, the Zoo in Dubbo etc.

ONCE WE CROSS THAT BORDER LINE..

The title isn't a joke - once we drove over the border from Queensland to New South Wales, we couldn't turn back due to a lack of permits needed for re-entry. So it would literally be no turning back once the wagon got rolling..

THE CAR

Well it was to be my wife's 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer until two weeks before lift off, the compressor part of the air conditioning system crapped itself a very expensive related death. Which left my 2000 Nissan Stagea and it's developing list of hiccups.

STAGEA THE PROS

-Plenty of space in the back to carry all our clothes, entertainment, valuables, spare oil and transmission fluid
-Aircon works
-Automatic so easy to drive
-Recently serviced
-Has RACQ roadside service just in case

STAGEA THE CONS

-Not great on fuel (needs at least 95 ron fuel)
-No cruise control
-Many mechanics in the middle of nowhere have never worked on one. And we were driving a lot in the middle of nowheres.
-Even serviced, there were a few things that need replacing/fixing (front struts, oil leaks, turbo making noise, transmission leaks etc)

But with fresh oil and filter and a safety check, what could possibly go wrong here? Don't answer that yet, the obvious answer is on the way!

Coming up next - Hit the road family Day 1 - Broken, like your dreams