The bike is fine and will do the job.
Dawes trekking bikes all use the old fashioned threaded headset that requires 2 large wrenches to adjust. The modern replacement system (threadless headset) can be easly adjusted with a small allen key that you would be carrying anyway. Get a bike with the new system and you can reduce your touring repair kit by a few lbs of excess metal.
I have the old system and chose to do a big tour with no headset wrenches. It was a calculated risk that paid off but it could have gone wrong.