Hi guys, I'm sort of back again. I have more reliable access to the net now and have settled pretty well in Tasmania (moved from Queensland a month ago).

As you can see in the pic, the buggy still lives, but it does need a cleanup and I've yet to bolt the front bumper back on and install the new aluminium dash since towing it behind the Peugeot all the way from Gympie to Melbourne, a whole 2300 km the way we went.



I had to move it out of it's hidey hole to put that log that's in the wagon in against the wall. Now Col (KruzinKombi) manages to fit a few logs in his Kombi, but this one is 1.7 metres long, 40cm diametre and weighs a fair bit, and I had a heap of firewood stacked around it too. I'd love a Kombi but until I score one the ol' Peugeot will do I reckon. Towing buggies on A-frames interstate with a 0.8 ton load and carting logs and even a Greenfield ride-on mower (we pushed it in easily) she'll do the job for now. The bullbar drops down as a carry-all too by the way...

The trip down from Qld was absolutely hassle free with no oil or water used (it's trying to be a VW I reckon) and the buggy towed perfectly on it's A-frame. I left the big rubber on the back for the whole trip even through I planned to swap the narrower front wheels to the back to make it tow better. I had no time to swap the wheels as I left (had a deadline) so I thought I'd do it later in the trip, but it towed so well I didn't bother changing them. I designed and made the A-frame the day before I left and finished it off, painted it and fitted it up in the last hour before hitting the road, so it had no testing. It worked really well though and was quite easy to reverse as well, it'ss see more use yet...

When we got to the ferry dock in Melbourne, I pulled into the carpark and in less than 30 minutes put the buggy back on it's wheels and the A-frame on the roof of the Peugeot in order to drive them onto the ferry as seperate vehicles so they'd travel free. Once in Devonport, I drove the buggy and Narelle drove the Peugeot over to the other side of the town to finally see home.

The whole trip took 3 days as we were taking it easy and the rig was so heavy (we had over 200kg of TV studio camera gear onboard the Peugeot plus all my tools and workshop equipment).

Now that I'm here, I'm going to spuce up the buggy and re-register it under Tassie rego and find some beaches I'm allowed on. Gotta make it shiney first, then go out and get it dirty...

Hi Steve
Wow man, thats a big move, with a huge difference in climate conditions. What was the main motivation for the move!
I have a friend that has a 504 wagon, an automatique! very tuff and well engineered cars, I have seen pictures of factory 504 4X4's.
Whats all the TV equipment for, do you do doco's or something?
Well I hope your move is a big success, and you like it down there.
Rob......

Steve sorry I didn't catch up with you at the mkt but you might be interested to know that we are planning a run to Couta Rocks on the West Coast (huge dunes) maybe long weekend in March so keep posted. About 2 hours from Devonport and have a shack to stay in.volma

Please Explain

TAS 2 QLD 0 :thumb

Welcome back Steve! :thumb I've been wondering where you've been, I hadn't seen you post for quite a while.

Last I heard, you were spending a lot of time with your business in Gympie. So what happened with that?

Oh, and why Tassie? :o You're gonna freeze your butt off!!! :jesus

Enjoy Tassie:thumb

Lot's of people buying down there now.

Love these VW household moving stories, like The-Bronze earlier in the year, now you. Quite an excercise.

It is an extreme move from Qld to Tassie climate wise, did the heat get too much for ya?

Enjoy Tassie, Its lovely.......good weather for VW's too, nice & cool.....

OK, what happened is I found someone, or rather she found me. I moved to Tassie both to be with her and for the change that I needed. I'd lived in most states of Aussie, but never even visited Tassie until moving here. The decision was made about 2 weeks after finding each other, I moved about 2 weeks after that and have been here for about 5 weeks now and all is well. I'm a lot happier than I was, even though I miss my sons dearly and will have to keep flying up to Qld to see them, and I'm feeling more motivated and creative now. I'm absolutely loving it here and am settling in with the locals really well. So Qld will just have to learn to do without me...:P

Oh, and as for the camera gear, no, I'd sold it to someone and brought it down to deliver it. It's ABC's first TV camera from the early 50s.

As for freezing my butt off down here... That will never happen, although ya nipples tend to hurt a bit when you're wearing a t-shirt in the snow... LOL

And this is my boys just before I headed south for the winter...:bounce

Does this mean we have Manx Club Australia Tassie Branch ? 4 Members and counting.:o

Hey, good luck with it all. A big step by you, it sounds good

OK so what did the local Taswegians think of the mad northerner wearing a t-shirt in the snow?? Brrrr: :jesus

We've got more sense than to go near snow, let alone stand in it wearing a t-shirt! Does this mean another one for the cavalcade in nov?

Welcome To Tas Steve

And it was good to hear you say about the weather the other day at the don market
As it rains down my way a fair bit, you just put up with it----love it when people say too hot -- too cold --too windy THATS LIFE!

Sorry to hear that you had to move away from your boy's but I hope you and your partner enjoy our hospitality.

Can't wait to see the picks of the buggy in the snow


Cheers Rick