AnswerID: 279523 Submitted: Thursday, Jan 03, 2008 at 12:45
Member - Pixie
replied:
I am going through this myself at the moment. My wife, two children (7 & 9) and I are travelling from Brissie across to
Derby (also visiting Kimberlies) via Tenant Creek,
Katherine and back through Darwin/
Kakadu and along Savanaah Way then to
Cairns mid this year. A 3 month trek but it feels like I have been preparing for past 2 years (in some way or another).
But it can be done in 6 months or even less if you focus on the important things and keep things moving along. Finding a suitable vehicle may take the longest to sort out. I was lucky with mine. Getting a camper trailer sorted to suit your personal requirements may also take some time.
Vehicle - reliable and robust enough for what you WANT to do and not what you might do. I have a '94 GQ Patrol diesel auto which I picked up earlier this year. It will get me further than I intend to go to for this trip but will also accomodate short
4WD weekends that I sometimes go on. Your Subaru may be fine, depending on how large a trailer you want to haul around on your trip. Maybe a
suspension upgrade is enough. You will need to check it's towing capacity as some camper trailers get quite heavy. Creek crossings (and clearance) shouldn't be an issue at the time of year you are going. I chose a large older 4WD for the extra carrying capacity and for the ability to get repairs done anywhere. Also, it should stand up to a roo or
emu strike if I am unfortunate enough.
Also, if you are running a 12v
fridge (engel ,
waeco) you will need to consider alternate power. I will have a basic dual battery system but no
solar power or generator. Get a cargo barrier installed for safety reasons. If you can get a vehicle that has had all this set up then you will save yourself some $$
I have tried to keep alot of the weight in the braked trailer so that I don't need to upgrade my vehicle
suspension. If I have to then I will look at polyair bags first. For my day-to-day use the upgraded
suspension is not necessary.
Camper trailer - I have had an off-road fully galvanised 7x4 box trailer custom built and then had a camper top made for it. It is not as fancy as the purpose built camper trailers (built in kitchens) but I wanted something that would double as a box trailer later in life. I have made some storage arrangements in the Patrol and trailer which i will post pics here one day. The weight of your trailer will likely influence the towing vehicle. Any subsequent modifications to the trailer or vehicle may take some time depending on how busy the companies are - allow 6 weeks.
Equipment - 4 months is a long time
on the road (to me it is anyway). Clothes for all seasons if you are heading south. I am staying north so we won't need alot of warm clothes (I hope) but the clothes we will take will take up a bit of room. Take some basic
recovery gear if you intend to go off road at all. A decent BBQ/burners and some good quality
cooking gear will make your camps alot more pleasant.
I am taking a UHF for local
communications and listening out for road trains that may want to overtake me. I may have access to a
satellite phone also. Plus will have mobile phones (basic digital) and I will be reporting in departure/arrival times regularly. A
HF radio may be worthwhile if you can't access a sattelite phone but I am not sure how long it takes to get a licence.
I am currently looking for a basic
GPS (eg. Garmin 60) to run with a laptop and oziexplorer and some maps. You could spend all you want on
communications and
navigation equipment but you really need to consider where you will be and waht you want it for.
My wife has done a
first aid course and I would like to do this also if I have time before I leave.
Then after all that - you will likely want a couple of practice runs on weekends to make final adjustments.
Have fun!!
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