I. Can. Hardly. Wait!

I still call her, Matilda. Just a month ago we collected Troopy from the dealer in NSW. That was the day that my eye had the retina tear, and that began a cascade of anxiety for me that was overwhelming. It is a very long healing process, but all is going well with my eye and I am very, very, very grateful! The true excitement regarding Matilda II: Troopy, has indeed been much dimmed by my anxiety and that is a shame. She is an awesome, sweet vehicle and is now registered and taxes paid (American friends, don’t even ask, you would not believe it). She has had her bits and pieces added and sorted. She. Is. Ready.

 

Matilda II

The biggest change was having her electrical system re-done and upgraded. We now have the battery capacity to be unplugged, yet functional for at least two days. Then all we would need to do is run the engine a bit to recharge. She has an excellent UHF-CB radio fitted as well as a mobile phone booster cradle and antenna. She now has cruise control for those stretches of highway where that is indispensable. She has new LED lighting on the inside and on the outside over the “cook camp” side as well (the stove and sink slide out of the passenger side, I neglected to take a photo of that). She has a converter and more plugs and power-points for our various chargers. She has a light-bar mounted over her spotlights that will illuminate the road ahead and way out to the sides as well. She has 5 excellent all-terrain tyres that are chomping at the bit to get dirty. She is sitting… and waiting… and I can hardly wait as well!

            

We have not yet "moved in" but that's where we'll live (the bed will of course, be above this). 

Her cockpit and helm.

As with Matilda One, Black Swamp Bird Observatory is represented.

I will post photos with her with her pop-top up sometime. But other than that, this is Matilda as she is now… the second version. I actually did lay my hands on “Matilda One” and “Matilda Two” creating a bridge between the two so that the essence of the original Matilda could transfer into her new physical body. No, I do not really believe in such things, but I did do it. And I still want to call her, Matilda, as that is who she is to me. Lynn feels that Troopy is her new name. We will see. What we call her is not as important as who, and what she is. She is the transportation that makes (almost) all of Australia accessible to me. She has two 90 liter diesel fuel tanks, giving her a range of over 1200 kilometers. She has a 50 liter water tank. She has V-8 turbo-charged (whatever that means) power to spare. She is SO ready.

             

LET'S GO!!!

PS, Here are photos with her top up and kitchen out and of the bed in the pop-top.

I. Can. Hardly. Wait!