....heading out

Submitted: Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 12:09

ThreadID: 10588 Views:3399 Replies:5 FollowUps:11

This Thread has been Archived

Member - MightyQ

G'day everyone, after much deliberation, procrastination we are finally heading on our trip, a three month jaunt. We(my wife and dog 'Whisky') are heading west from Warburton(Vic) to Perth,via the Bight, stopping along the way, wherever and whenever we like, then North to Wiluna and then across to Uluru via the Gunbarrel Hwy. We then head to Alice Springs,Darwin, Burketown, Birdsville, Broken Hill. There are/will be a lot of stops in between.
We will be travelling in a GQ LWB Patrol towing a Jayco Dove off road camper,safety will be of concern to us both and we will also have a Sattelite Phone with CDMA capability,(my wife Sally is taking a plastic sheet to collect water!!!) GPS and an Epirb, all this takes place between August and October. If anyone would like to join us for any part of the trip they would be welcome, we are in our 40's, easy going, contact through this site for now and then go from there. We have maps and a basic itinerary of times and places we will be at any given time---within reason??

Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator Share

Reply By: Willem - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 12:42

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 12:42

Sounds like a great trip and you have all the gear that should give you peace of mind when travelling through the remote locations. Just this morning there was a good news story here in SA where a couple activated their Epirb in the Gawler Ranges yesterday after a vehicle accident. The rsponse was co--rdibated out of Canberra and they were rerwsued from their plight.

I would be interested to know where you acquired your Satphone with CDMA capability as I am interested in one as well.

Cheers,
Willem
Out on the Gibber

AnswerID: 47033

Follow Up By: Member - Bob - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 12:58

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 12:58

Willem,
I was at Watts Communications yesterday buying a SIM card for my new Ericsson R290 ($500 from Ebay). The lady was telling me that there is a Satellit model with CDMA as well as Globalstar. No doubt Telstra have a similar product.
The Ericsson is supposed to run GSM as well as Globalstar but I've been told that running both simultaneously is not available. The SIM card from my other GSM works fine, as does the Globalstar SIM. Guess I'll just have to have both phones with me.Bob

FollowupID: 309006

Follow Up By: GOB & denny vic member - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 18:06

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 18:06

goodday willem just interested to know if the keyboard needs a clean or the red was tasting better lol
steveimagine a 03 gu 4.2tdin the picture
as i am having trouble sizing the picture

FollowupID: 309049

Follow Up By: Willem - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 22:58

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 22:58

Steve, I don't need a red (bad or good) to make me do typos. Sometimes I wonder what's going on. I seem to make far too many typos on the laptop. And then of course I am supposed to read before I post...Oh well, I try but I'm not perfect....hahahahaha

Cheers,
Willem
Out on the Gibber

FollowupID: 309105

Follow Up By: Member - MightyQ - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 23:49

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 23:49

G'day Willem, in answer to your question about sattalite phones with cdma capability, I've ordered one and they are availble in April 04, contact Magelan on 0894440233, Sat Com 1300555944, One Planet Communications 0398867634, one of them should be able to help you, do the talk and work out some sort of deal. If they ask more than 1600.00 shop around.I'm going to include this web site address it's a sattalite tracking device, I know it's beyound most of us,me included, but it's an interesting idea, http://www.Sat--Trac24.com/Menu/About/Main.htm . I found the guy at Satcomhire.com.au to be very knowledgeble, he can also hire you GPS, Epirb and has maps for specific areas

FollowupID: 309114

Follow Up By: Willem - Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004 at 08:02

Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004 at 08:02

Thanks for that info MightyQ....much appreciated. I already have a GPS, HF Radio and CDMA phone but I am interested in the Satphone/CDMA combination. Am also going to buy an Epirb soon. Funny, in the old days we used to go bush with just the compass and the HF as back up. Anyway, toys are there to be enjoyed.

Cheers,
Willem
Out on the Gibber

FollowupID: 309132

Reply By: Member - Andrew & Jen (Melb) - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 12:50

Reply By: Catherine - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 14:39

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 14:39

sounds like a great trip.

I did a similar trip when I was younger, and it was fantastic. Im sure the GQ will go well (why wouldnt they - of course, I could be bias, as i have one myself! :-) ). Good luck with the camper, make sure it has excellent suspension... of course it could be quite different now, but I remember when I was there, the corrogations were terrible to say the least. Take it easy between Warburton (WA) and Uluru.

I would be interested to hear what you think of Burketown area...we are heading that way in August (after being to Cape York)

Best of luck with the planning, etc. Have a great time.

Cheers.

catherine.

AnswerID: 47059

Follow Up By: Member -Bob & Lex (Sydney) - Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 16:24

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 at 16:24

Catherine, there's not much at Bourktown, pub & servo. Escott Lodge is just out of town, it's supposed to be nice place to stay & they do joy flights over the Gulf. Stop at Burke & Wills last camp on the way from Normanton to Burketown nice spot for smoko & you must goto Lawn Hill NP & hire a canoe to paddle up the gorge FANTASTICRegards Bob
Where to next

FollowupID: 309029

Follow Up By: Willem - Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004 at 07:56

Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004 at 07:56

Bob&Lex

The missus and I worked at Escott Lodge in the mid '80's. We were employed to set up a bush camp out on the Nicholson River. Our camp was a nice spot and very isolated. Plenty of wild pigs and crocs out there. The homestead and lodge itself is quite nice then and has probably omproved over the years. The people who employed us have moved on I believe...they were a weird mob and we had some major hassles out there..but that is another story. Some very colourful characters in Burketown. Haven't been back since.

Cheers
Willem
Out on the Gibber

FollowupID: 309129

Follow Up By: Member -Bob & Lex (Sydney) - Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004 at 14:59

Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004 at 14:59

You shore get around Willem & good luck with the opRegards Bob
Where to next

FollowupID: 309171

Follow Up By: Member - Howard- Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004 at 20:18

Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004 at 20:18

a comment on Escott Station
great place , my son and I both caught our first Barras while camping at a bush camp on the Nicholson in Sept 2000.I think it was called Darby's camp (sorry Willem)
just a word of warning .while meals were available from the bistro/bar at the homestead we were unable to get bread or fuel or other basic supplies despite them being advertised.Amenities at the homestead campground were pretty good from reports of others we met up with later who had camped there and fished the fresh water. they didnt get as many fish but saw heaps more crocs.
At that time there was some issue with the lease of the property or something and things were in a hiatis. Hopefully all has been resolved but you better check. we had to detour back to burketown to restock prior to pushing on to NT. can recommend the counter lunch at the bourketowm pub.
go and enjoy
regards
Howard

FollowupID: 309236