Hi y'all!
I've just bought a good book on travelling Oz with great maps and advice that shows many options on tow.
The thing I'm mainly unsure of is the type of 4x4 we will need to get us on the road and keep us there.
At the minute, I'm thinking of travelling with a caravan or camper trailer, but not sure how large, We don't like spending big prices for cars and will be purchasing s/h. What is a good reliable model for long distance Australia and also off road camping? My biggest fear is breaking down in the middle of nowhere.
Thanks guys.
Stop scaring me!!!!
How long have you lived in the territory? If you have lived there for any length of time, you will know that the "middle of nowhere starts not very far out of Darwin and keeps going for a very long distance in all directions. The middle of nowhere is also very unforgiving and will have no mercy on those that does not respect it.
So, where am I going with this?? What I am trying to do is put the ****s up you enough to make sure that you set off on what could be the best experience of your life or the worst nightmare.
If you take the time to educate yourself, practice on some short runs to try things out to make sure all your arrangements work, you learn to become a proficient 4wdr in all sorts of situations, including towing on the bituman as well as the boondocks, you will always remember your jouney with pleasure. If you do not, you will not get very far into it before you give up and go home and that, sir, would be a crying shame!!!!
Don't get me wrong, you can travel around this great big country of ours and visit a lot of tourist spots and josstle with the tourist busses for a camping spot but it would be a bit like taking a round the world cruise in 6 weeks and fooling yourself into the belief that you have seen the world.
So, do you want to be a tourist or a traveller in this land. You mention 'off road camping' so I will assume that you want to spend some real time in the non tourist spots. They are so only because the tour busses cannot get to them and the only people you will come accross are those of a similar mind to your own. The majority of them will have been there before and need to revisit because it is not possible to take it all in the first time and it acts like a magnet to bring them back. These people will be fully self sufficient as far as food, water, fuel, power, tools, recovery equipment, spare fan belts, radiater and heater hoses, shock absorbers etc. etc. because the middle of nowhere is a hell of long way from anywhere and you need these things to stay out of the manure.
How then do you get prepared. Well, I would suggest that you take the next year and get ready for the best time of your life.
1. Pick your vehicle. It needs to be reliable (what is your life worth) Do not try and get away with a bunky it could cost you dearly. Toyota and Nissan parts are very easy to find in the outback. Even from abandoned vehicles along the road. So buy the best you can afford.
2. Join an offroad and/or 4wd club that is into camping and traveling. Not much use joining one that concentrates on rock climbing and bush bashing. Who knows, you may meet some others with the same intetions as yours and I have regularly come across groups of 4wds traveling together. (Safety in numbers etc.)
3. As for you accommodation, I suggest you go with a camper trailer. These things will follow you anywhere you can take your vehicle. You do not need a $40K Kimberley camper. Go for something you are able to afford, is solid and built for off roading. (Coil springs). Do some weekend trips and sort it to your liking.
TV............what the hell for. You will not need it. You will have awe overload every night. By the time you have set up camp, prepared the meal and ate it, done the dishes and poured the night cap, you will only have time to sit back and admire the myriad of stars, talk about the day and wonder about what tommorrow will bring before hitting the sack. Forget and get away from bad news, "The Days Of other People's Lives" and suck up some real life.
What gives me the right to try and advise you??
During the past 30 years I have circumnavigated and criss crossed this country numerous times. I have "done" the Birdsville track, the Strezlecki Track, The Gunbarrell, the Tanami,the Gibb River road, Cape Levique, One Arm Point, The Mitchell Plateau/Falls, Kalumburu, etc. I have guided 4wd tag along safaries from Kalgoorlie to the Great Australian Bight via Balladonia, Point Culver, Irealite Bay and ont Perth. I drive a 10 year old Toyota decked out for this work.
Please do it for you will never regret it if you do it right.
Happy camping.
Chrisv