FYI - my statistics on The Big Lap

Ooops....I wrote that the wrong way didn't I. Should be 15 litres per 100kms, which we were pretty pleased with considering what we were towing :-)

R2D
The Mainland is a great place when you go there from Tassie, but its good to see the some people on the Mainland leave the best till last.
Glad you had a great trip and your fuel economy to me is great, try ours, 20 to 22 litres per 100 Ks.
Cheers
Baz

thats sensational fuel economy, the 1HD-FTE is a legendary engine.
Myself, I cant understand why Toyota were not able to produce them anymore (emissions?) when smaller capacity lower power common rail can burn more fuel for less power and still pass?

You did pretty well with the fuel economy as we have spent 55,000k towing a

2.8t van and got an average no better than 17.5 L per 100km or about 5.75 k per L
Mine is a 2005 with a chip and a 3" exhaust.

Worst day was a bit under 4k per L and best was 7.

On its own Cruiser does about 10kpL at 100kph with just the two of us in it.

Fuel cost for our trip was a bit over $12,500 and services another $4,000 approx.

Total cost was a bit over $1 per K.

Thanks Graham - the 15l was an overall average - but still similar stats to what you are getting 16-17l when towing and about 10l when not. We did about 5000kms without towing (tent and cabin camping instead).

Another family we met along the way (same car and exact same caravan) had the chip and 3" exhaust modifications but were not achieving anywhere near the fuel economy we got. We put it down to speed - we mostly did 85-90kms per hour, whereas they liked to sit on 100-105kph.

Is your L/C a turbo diesel too? Our fuel comparisons doing Cape York (2900kms) with 2 other (non turbo) diesel L/Cs in the group was substantial - $380 for us and $620-$650 for the other 2 vehicles.

Mine was 17.5 AS AN AVERAGE FOR THE TRIP As i said worst day was 25 L per 100k

We towed at no more than 90 for nearly all the time.

The chip and exhaust make no difference to the fuel consumption unless you stick the boot in or as they did travel at 100kph.

Would be the same in yours if you did that.

If the other non turbos were 1HZ's I'm not surprised.

Cheers

Hi Brad
Our son is 6 and our daughter was 7 turning 8 half way thru the journey.

From NSW until SA the kids raved most about Lightening Ridge NSW - they loved going underground in search of opals, loved fossicking thru rubble, loved the thermal pool and watched the free tourist DVD they gave us many many times along the journy. There was apparantly an awesome public swimming pool there, which we missed by saw on the DVD.

Then we got to Kangaroo Island and it became the all time favourite for the kids. Particulary the quad biking tour (they had bikes small enough for 6 years and above, and it was brilliant fun). We also did sandboarding/sand tobogganing which was a blast too. We did lots of farm tours, my son loved the honey farm best and was thrilled that Santa put KI honey in his Christmas Sack this year and would like it every year from now on LOL.

In terms of parental thoughts on what was great for the kids....swimming in waterfalls (Elliott Falls - Cape York, Buley waterholes LNP), Cyclone Tracey museum, Cobbold George Qld, camel rides and driving onto the beach at at Broome, ringing their class mates when we got to the tip of Cape York - their teachers put the phone on hands free and all the classmates asked questions, they were able to tell them that a crocodile just swam past and they were now watching a sea turtle), Ningaloo Reef, Longreach (all of it) School of the Air tours and Royal Flying Doctor tours (we did heaps), Fraser Island dingos, learning to tight rope walk with a German family. My son freaked when we told them we were going to The Valley Of The Giants (Walpole WA) only to end up furious that the giants were trees and not the sort in fairytales. My daughter read the Bindi Irwin books along the way and knows more about native wildlife than I ever will. It was sad too to discover the most universal linking tool between kids was Nintendo DSI and not bikes or scooters or building sand castles - but that is a sign of the times we live in.

To fill in the time whilst driving, we gave our kids the tourist brochures to read on the next region/town we were going too, and they would pick out the things that interested them most of all.

Schooling - being from NSW we were not eligible for home schooling, so enrolled for Distance Ed but at the final hours came to an arrangement with their existing school - 6 months approved leave and the teachers gave us 6 months of cirriculum up front to do on the road. Like every family we met along the way, we found it very difficult to keep up with the workload whilst fitting in the travel and sightseeing and unique activities, nor did the kids readily accept being taught by their parents. It's still school holidays, so we have no idea yet how they will assimulate back into the school system - tho they are having great fun catching up with their friends with play dates etc.

The kids can remember 80% of the names of children they met and played with along the way and my son can list every camp spot in order (all 70 of them). They have so much thoughts now on different geography and living styles and their concept of Australia would now outweight most adults (I'm talking those who havent see Oz yet). They now understand budgeting/money issues and helped me put the figures into our Excel spreadsheet on a daily basis. They have increased in self confidence too and learnt to make friends instantly so as not to "waste time". They now use colourful language like "that pimple is almost as big as The Super Pit" or "as useless as potch opal or fools gold".

My suggestion is to 'channel' your inner child and introduce your daughters to all sorts of new stuff - be it animals, trees, fossils, landscapes, caving, mining, aviation, history, wildflowers. Dont just go for stereotypical girls stuff either. My very girly daughter loved going underground, riding quad bikes and searching for turtles most of all - because it was so different from colouring in, craft and littlest pet shops!! Save lots of time for playgrounds and give yourselves "permission" to have a day off from travel/sightseeing each week to let them just potter with new found friends or have alone time, colouring in time etc.

And have a wonderful time Brad.....it's so worth it!!
R2D

Thanks for your kind comments and I wish you an awesome time when it's your turn. I would (and most likely will some day) do it all again in a flash!