Member - Willem replied:

Hi Vicki, Some thoughts...........The minimum time to do the Canning is about 15 days and that is pushing it. I doubt of ice will last that long. Just run your Engel on freeze. Rav 4 on the Canning? Not a good idea. In the first place you will need to carry enough fuel for 1200km in the vehicle and your fuel consumption will be double that of normal. Secondly the Rav 4 is only a single range 4x4 and I doubt if it will make it over the dunes.Best to leave it at home. A north/south crossing is more difficult that the opposite as all approaches to dunes have to be made on a left hand turn and you do not get enough run-up speed for the dune. If you are a seasoned camper then you will know what food to take. Check out this site for more ideas. Cheers,W

Topcat replied:

Hi Vicki,
I did the CSR in 1995 from Halls Creek to Wiluna & I run a 60 litre trailblaizer. On this trip I prepared most of my tucker (there were two vehicles & we shared-2 people) was prepared prior to the trip & frozen. The variety included stews, casseroles, curries ect. To this was included BBQ packs & frozen packs of vegies. We also added some packs of those pop-top cordial drinks which freeze ok without splitting the sides. As you can guess I used the fridge in full freeze mode & this worked quite well. The time we did this CSR was around the time you will be doing it so you will find the evenings may be a bit chilly. So to capitalise on this we left a few tinnies out to chill in the cool air & put them in an esky the next morning along with our frozen food for that day. When we were about to make camp we put the tinnies back in the fridge to chill. Doing it this way avoids putting extra running load on your fridge in freeze mode. The containers used for the tucker were those Glad Tuckaway containers (17x9x6cm) which stack very neatly in a fridge leaving a suitable air gap to help keep frozen. They provide a good meal for 2 people. You then reheat in a small camp oven or saucepan.
We found that travelling from north to south is relatively easier as the slopes on the north faces of the sand dunes were not as steep as the south due to the prevailing winds. As for knowing any successful RAV 4's I can't help you there.
Hope you have a good trip. I most certainly did.

CJ replied:

I trust you will enjoy the CSR, and you are obviously going about it the right way by preparing, and 'training' with the RAV. By asking the question it is clear that you have some doubts oon the RAV.
Seriously though:
1) the RAV is petrol,
2) with no low range
3) clearance is not great
4) you will load this car twice as heavy as you have ever before with at least 5 jerries of fuel, and however many jerries of water, recovery gear, extra tyres, spares, etc.
5) bigger trucks with suspension upgrades struggles with the load
6) no lrf tank available to my knowledge

Will follow the reponses to your question with interest, but I for one would not increase the risks involved in such a major trek by taking along a petrol softroader.

kevin replied:

Haven't yet done the CSR (want to), but spent 6 1/2 weeks last year going from Adelaide up the Tanami, across to Broome, then up the Gibb River Rd. to Kakadu, then down. We use the same Engel as a freezer, and a good quality f/glass esky and ice. Its the only way to go.
Every night we exchange chemical freezer blocks from the engel to the esky. They usually last about 2 days, but we dont let them get that soft. This works well, but after lots of corrugated roads, check to see that the plastic outside of the freezer blocks doesn't wear through. We've got quite a few with ducktape patches on now.

Member - Melissa replied:

Hi Vicki,

I've been writing up some of my favourite camping recipes to publish on my web-site (when I eventually get it finished). Many of these I have developed over years of camping with the emphasis on minimal fresh ingrediants required - specifically for long range trips. I'd be happy to send you a copy if you like. Just email me at gmmkuipers@bigpond.com

:o) Melissa

ExplorOz replied:

Vicki, We travelled the CSR last August,North to South, and if you would like to email us we too can have a chat, volodka@bigpond.com regards maralyn