Power Steering Failure in Winton | Van Life Australia

The mechanic finally managed to squeeze us in.

He listened to the Hiace for all of thirty seconds before delivering the diagnosis with the confidence of a man who has spent decades disappointing travellers.

“Power steering pump.”

Apparently ours has decided it has contributed enough to Australian tourism and would now like to retire.

The replacement will take about a week to arrive, which presents a logistical challenge when you’re in a town that isn’t exactly overflowing with spare parts. Rather than spending another week in Winton becoming regulars at the pub and pretending we’re locals, we’ve decided to keep heading towards Boulia tomorrow. We’ll make some phone calls in Mount Isa, find a mechanic willing to order the pump and then bring the van back after the camel races.

It’s an oddly comforting arrangement. Nothing says “confidence in your vehicle” quite like scheduling repairs for your return journey.

With one crisis temporarily filed under Future Adam’s Problem, the universe immediately presented us with another.

The front tyre looked suspiciously flat.

Not spectacularly flat nor the sort of flat that strands you beside the road while eagles circle overhead. Just the slow, passive-aggressive kind.

Tomorrow we’ll call into a tyre shop and find out whether it’s a five-minute puncture repair or whether we’ve donated another tyre to the vast collection of rubber sacrificed to the Australian outback.

I could, of course, inspect the tread myself. There might be a nail sticking out the size of a tent peg.

Instead, I’ve devoted that time to watching YouTube videos made by people repairing other people’s tyres. This somehow feels just as productive.

To top it all off, tonight is State of Origin. The pub will be absolutely heaving, full of Queenslanders and New South Welshmen who have very strong opinions about things that happened in 1989. We’d originally planned one last pub meal before leaving town, but the thought of fighting for a table seemed exhausting.

So we’re staying in the van with soup and bread instead.

Which, if I’m honest, is probably the most authentic full-time van life experience of the lot.

Such is life on the road.