X-Trail - east to west through the centre
Submitted: Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 at 20:33
ThreadID:
27471
Views:
3360
Replies:
5
FollowUps:
2
This Thread has been Archived
bevnles
We have just completed a 15,000klm 10 week trip Brisbane/WA/
Brisbane towing a Cub camper trailer. The vehicle performed brilliantly. It never missed a beat. We travelled via Donoghue and Plenty Highways to the East MacDonnell's. Although rough in parts, we had no problems. We visited Trephina, N'Dhalia and Ruby Gaps before reaching Alice. Ruby Gap was the most difficult, but with care, we reached
the gap. After a week in Alice we heading out towards the West Macs Redbank, Ormiston,
Palm Valley etc before tackling the Meereenie Loop to
Kings Canyon and
Yulara.
Palm Valley was challenging but conquered. No problem getting to the
campground but unable to manage the last k to the palms. The real challenge was the
Great Central Road. We crossed from
Yulara to
Laverton in 3 days. The road was good in parts and corrugations on corrugations in other
places. However, with a motto of 'driving to conditions', we had no problems. The only loss was the pole carrier lid - a whole $4.95 to replace. Fuel was Opal unleaded at 1.70 and we had no tyre problem - not even a slow leak. The camels were a constant threat as they appear out of nowhere and claim their little bit of paradise. Our touchdown point for the crossing was
Jurien Bay. After some weeks in WA we returned to
Brisbane via Nullabor and
Broken Hill. Highlights were East Macs, Cape Howe NP and Cape le Grande NP as
well as the scenery around Docker River and, generally, the GCR. No dust got into the vehicle and very little into the camper. We had the vehicle serviced and wheels aligned in
Albany but no breakdowns. Most of the unsealed driving was done by me as Les prefers the smooth option of driving on the black top. Not bad for a member of the weaker sex, if I do say so myself. Thanks also to a couple of
forum members who gave me encouragement some months ago.
Bev
Reply By: Member - Duncan W (WA) - Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 at 22:03
Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 at 22:03
Well done Bev, encouraging for the soft roaders. Glad you enjoyed your trip. Esperence is afavorite of
mine also.
Dunc.
AnswerID:
135771
Reply By: Eric from Cape York Connections - Sunday, Oct 23, 2005 at 07:48
Sunday, Oct 23, 2005 at 07:48
Sounds like a good trip.
Has the ex trail got low range.
All the best
Eric
AnswerID:
135790
Follow Up By: Willem - Sunday, Oct 23, 2005 at 10:11
Sunday, Oct 23, 2005 at 10:11
No Low Range
It is a softroader with High Range 4wd lock or variable slippage
Axles are size opf ones finger lol
FollowupID:
389687
Reply By: Willem - Sunday, Oct 23, 2005 at 08:24
Sunday, Oct 23, 2005 at 08:24
Thanks for your report Bev. Good to hear that you had a successful and enjoyable trip in the X-trail and that it came through with flying colours.
I might have seen you drive past through
Peterborough on your way to
Broken Hill.
When I tell my better half of this she will want to take her X-trail everywhere now and leave the Patrol at
home :o)
AnswerID:
135793
Reply By: cuffs - Monday, Oct 24, 2005 at 09:36
Monday, Oct 24, 2005 at 09:36
Great to read a positive outback report on the X-trail, I have one and they can go any where, using driver experience and driving to road conditions. I tow an off road box trailer and people are amazed where I take my X-Trail and go camping.
Well done Bev, I intend to keep a copy of your report in the glove box for other critics of compact 4WD's to read.
AnswerID:
135957
Reply By: MrMagoo - Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 23:24
Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 23:24
Excellent,
What a brave trip for the little X ey
Hey I think I saw you at a crossroad - I was going north and you west (joking)
We just completed our 11500 journey in our XTrail from
Gold Coast - PErisher - Flinders (SA) -
Oodnadatta - Uluru - Alice - - West Macs -
Katherine -
Kakadu -
Litchfield - 1770 in 5 weeks. puff puff. Sound like your trip was as much fun as ours. Tha car went famously. One or 2 new rattles from under neath.
We made it through to
Palm Valley but it was slow- having to pick our way over the river
rock shelf. Bashed the muffler a bit but it hung on. We had a bit of weight on - as one does - when out there with all the gear- and the car was about 30mm down in the rear. Thats 30 mm of precious clearance. we bottomed a few times but - as you say - steady as she goes.
Oodnadatta was very good - 30 - 100 km p hour and we learned deeper respect for the double whamies coming out of the dips. Flinders dirt roads are really good too - XTrail can go most
places there. But of course the conditions were pretty good - not much wet.
One disapointment was that some of the
Treks noted in this site are on private property and the managers/owners stipulate Low Range as a must - understandably - I suppose they got tired of pulling us urban cowboys outa the bog.
I heard that the
Mereenie Loop was a killer with the corrugations so we didnt do it - we went up the Earnest Gioles way though - and even there at 30kph I wasnt sure my dashboard was going to stay in one piece - you know how even your eyeballs jiggle in their sockets and the whole world is slightly blurred ! hahaha.
We were getting 500 km to the tank. One time when the wind was 60 knot northerly from Flinders to Alice we couldnt get into top gear on the flat - we got 400 km the tank that day. (62ltre tank).
Our favotites - Olgas walk -
Palm Valley - Ormiston
gorge - thank God for the swimming holes in
kakadu and
litchfield -
Kakadu lost city - oh lots of stuff.
Isn't it just great to get out and see 360 degrees of flat - the Red rocks/bluesky and Green leafed perfect white trunked River gums . mmm mmm.
Would you do it again in the XTrail or upgrade Bev?
Magoo
AnswerID:
139239
Follow Up By: bevnles - Tuesday, Nov 15, 2005 at 10:17
Tuesday, Nov 15, 2005 at 10:17
Yes, we would be happy to do it again in the XTrail, but probably won't as there are still so many
places that we have never been and want to see before we reach the wheelchair stage. We will not upgrade to a 'real' 4WD as we downsized to the XTrail in 2002 after travelling around Oz in a turbo diesel Pajero. We decided then that the need for low range capability did not warrant owning the larger vehicle in the travel we wanted to do. We can travel to 99% of the
places we want to go in the XTrail. Clearance is quite sufficient. If we really want to see somewhere totally off the beaten track, there is always a tour available to take us there. Our trip to Central Australia and WA was probably stretching the XTrail but we did a lot of research before we left and had no problems. We are a one car family so the XTrail is the best option for the time when we are in suburbia. Our next trip after
Easter 2006 will be to do a slow trip around the outback Qld from
Birdsville to
Normanton and
places in between. The Diamantina region is magnificient. The yellowbelly jump onto the bank! Have already had the vehicle out there with no problems. Just need to be aware of the weather pattern. The
Mereenie Loop was not a problem and a very pretty area to visit. If it was the attendant at
Hermannsburg garage who told you it was horrific, he told everybody that.It is safer for him to advise that than to have somebody in a 2wd come back at him when they have problems. When friends came back from the palms to the
campground at
Palm Valley they said there was an XTrail there. Might have been yours. It's a beautiful country and life is too short. Enjoy.
bevnles
FollowupID:
393170