The registration on the truck expires on the 10th of June. Not awesome because not only would we be on our trip by that stage, but how would we renew it's registration whilst in Russia. It'll be shipping out mid march so time is of the essence.

On a previous visit to the RTA, after swimming through the 'you can't do that' attitude, we realised that renewing the rego ahead of time would be an option. I couldn't remember the specifics about it, so we visited the RTA this morning to clarify. Even the topic blew her mind... "you mean your taking YOUR car overseas?" as if she had misheard me. However, once she thought it trough we came up with some results. The short of it is, we can renew the registration up to three months before it's expiry and a pink slip is valid for 6 weeks prior to renewal.
This is all good news. In a few weeks I'll go get the pink slip done, then renew the rego on the 10th of March. The window sticker will actually be for 15 months which is cool. I had fears of arriving in Russia but having difficulty moving it without the sticker.

I feel like my job in this trip is preparing the car. I know I go on and on about it, but its my responsibility. It'll get a full service with synthetic oil before loading it on the ship. I'm also going to change the brake pads and maybe shoes too before we go because it's something I can do. I've always had this fear of a clutch failing. It happened towards the end of our last trip. It wasn't a deal breaker and realistically, we could have driven another 30,000km in it's state. But it's almost like a single point of failure that concerns me. You can run on a few less cylinders, one tank, one tail shaft, one diff, a few brakes, no heater, no aircon, no electricity, one gear or one range, but you can't run without a clutch. The beauty is, they typically don't fail instantly. You'll feel it slipping long before you can't move the car. But as you embark on an isolated stretch of Mongolia steppe or sandy Kazakhstan with the thought in the back of your mind "gee, I think that slipped when we went up that mountain yesterday" the uncertainty will rise and I will begin to stress.

You may suggest 'why don't you just replace it ahead of time?' Well because I suspect it would cost at least $1500 and if it doesn't need doing that sounds like a waste of money.

On the Pajero, it had an inspection window on the side of the bellhousing. I don't think this one has anything like that but I assume you could measure the width of the pressure plate to determine life span?

 I've rebuilt our laptop with a fresh install of it's operating system, all new drivers, 4x the memory and upgraded the hard drive. Not only does the new hard drive offer twice the space, it offers much more speed and better battery life. That and it's oddly quieter. I'm posting this post from the laptop to make sure it all works. Weirdly, I need to seriously start thinking about the in-car navigation. I had been procrastinating on such a purchase, but I really need to act sooner rather than later. I might go down and measure it to make sure it'll fit.

The second picture is a bit of a laugh. I took this picture milliseconds before a guys head came into view (if you look close you may be able to see him behind the snorkel). I was taking the picture of our car kind of 'in context' of the street. When I walked up to the car, the old guy said "You're flirting with danger there". To which I replied, "what's that mate? no front number plate?". "No, parking front in in a reverse in spot". Maybe he was just making conversation but it's so stupid. why can't people just mind their own business?

So Cassie's Letter Of Invitation or Visa Support letter has been ordered and should arrive on the 7th of February.

 Position: 12-01-14 16:54:32 -0800
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