Do I really need an offroad van to do the Big Lap?

Thanks to all of you for your comments. Most helpful.

I'm thrilled to hear many of your seem to be going around Oz in "normal" road caravan or have done so in the past.

Yes, not too much of a problem leaving the van and heading off in the Pajero (as we did for a few days on Kangaroo Island) but I would not want to be doing it too often (as probably more efficient to get a van that can go everywhere).

I have considered carrying tent and camping gear in the Pajero (although the standard OzTent won't fit behind my cargo barrier) but I'm not convinced my wife will cope with camping!!! (Have to work out a way to test this.)

I was told I could use my caravan to go to Birdsville and back but only providing I didn't ever want to use it again.

Certainly sounds like I can tackle my first lap in the current van.

Thanks to all.

Things may have changed but no one used to be able to take a van into the Bungle Bungles anyway, off road or not. So unless you had a camper trailer or a tent the only other option was to use one of the on-site tents. Considering that there are plenty of women, and mature age ladies at that, who are happily travelling using tents or a camper trailer, may this mature aged lady suggest that your wife would probably have few difficulties camping for a few days.
As for El Questro, cant comment as fate has intervened each time we might have gone there. It is now sealed all the way out to the turn-off, so if all else fails you could do day trips from Kununurra.
Cheers,
Val.

Many thanks Val. Yes, you are probably right that my wife would cope in a tent okay for a few days at a time. Her brother and his wife go everywhere camping out of the back of their Prado. They just did Birdsville to Adelaide via the Birdsville Track. Maybe I can get them to come with us to teach us the ropes!!!

El Questro is apparently okay for only some road caravans. Mine has a huge overhang so can't cross rivers unless very flat. I'm pretty sure I won't not get in even if road had been graded. So my van would need to stay at Kununurra which would be fine.

You may well be correct re the Bungle Bungles but one of the other posts mentioned that there is a caravan park on the highway where people are now leaving their vans. Again this sounds fine.

Tx again Val.

Rodney

My take on El questro. Over priced tourist trap catering for overseas tourists. The road in, unless you are lucky enough to encounter it just after a grade is worse than the GRR.

Cheers
Pop

We took our small "Single" axle Jayco Outback Dove into the Bungle Bungles in 2011, and they were the only ones allowed, single axles that is. There are/were a number of reasonably tight river/creek crossings to negotiate.Took it easy, as you should. Just really have to watch out for the idiots flying around windy corners that are on a time budget. Stay out of there during school holidays, and you should be right. They are correct, there is a new caravan park just as you turn of the highway onto the road in, where you could leave your van, or back at Warmun/Turkey Creek where I believe there is a storage area.


Tony

There are a couple of freecamp areas just outside the Bungles turnoff, and a caravan park with dump point just inside the gate (1km).
cheers
Laurie

Yes Disco - you're correct that the overhang is the big problem. I'll check out the wheel idea. At present it only has 14" (Ford Falcon) wheels. But this will only help a tiny bit I suspect. Will check out.

My caravan repair man has suggested he add some extra strengthening to the chassis. He's already done some of this to add extra water tanks a couple of years ago but has suggested more.

As you say, the word "offroad" seems to make for incredible prices (and weights, often for no increase in payload).

From your comment and that of others it certainly sounds like a tent and camping gear in the Pajero is the way to go.

Astro

We have a 17' Elite Goulburn off road van that has done quite a few outback roads with no problems, fully loaded about 2300 kgs. ( GRR, Merinie loop, OOnadatta track, old Ghan railway, Darling river and many more.)
The good thing about this size, can still be towed by vehicals with 2500 kgs towing capacity and still can get into smaller tight spaces.
It's for sale on this site as we are updating. Very strong and well built.
I would hate to tow the "BIG OFF ROAD" vans they are limited in some areas .
I must admit that some of these big off road owners never take them off the blacktop anyway, but they look good, to heavy for me.
Hope this helps

hey all and crackles, just love all the thoughts on 'off road' vans, I imagine most recommendation is based on sum of experiences, formal advice of authorities and local knowledge. have to be prepared if van falls apart , gets full of dust, grinds the ground , cant turn around or not enough space/facility for several of them at a spot etc... no one likes any of that any rate and hip pocket suffers. add to that liability and insurance issues.

PS: wheres the "here" you speak of assume it's the photo? looks like a really nice spot.
MG.

Mike 'Here' is part way up the Cape & a bit to the left.
It must be remembered all vans will fall apart at some point. It's a matter of matching build quality with intended use. The better the build & smaller the size the more options you have when travelling. Go with a road van & you pretty much tie yourself to the crowd.(& there's nothing wrong with that either)

Thanks indeed Crackles.

Yes, this is the issue for me. I accept I could drive around Oz in a Euro van but I know that I can't go to such places as Birdsville and Arkaroola. I know I can leave the van and go into Bungles Bungles and El Questro and even drive 4x4 to Cape Leveque (and Cape York for that matter).

But you have identified my main concern - what am I actually going to miss out on if I can't take my van to other spots? From what you say I will possibly be rather frustrated if I miss out on great spots simply because my van won't get in. Also, I don't want to be leaving my van too often and camping if I could avoid this by using an offroad van.

Possibly for my first trip I may use the existing van and do a list of the spots I could do on a second trip with an offroad van. (I've just done the Queensland coast from Tin Can Bay to Cooktown and have a list of spots I want to spend more time at on the next trip e.g. Hinchinbrook Island and some of the coastal national parks.)

Many thanks for your comments.

Astro

It's all a compromise Astro. You obviously have a beautifully set up van with heaps of space & every feature right down to the satellite dish. This comfort comes at the expense of being tied to the main roads. If you down size & tow a compact full off-road van then comfort makes way for the ability to stay where ever you want. Possibly you may end up choosing somewhere in between.
Taking your existing van is a great idea as you'll soon work out if it's restricting where you want to go.
Cheers Craig...........

Thanks Tony.

Yes, that's my concern. I was at Mt Surprise recently and wanted to go to the Cobbold Gorge. My van would have needed to be left at Georgetown (from where I could have taken a bus tour to Cobbold Gorge) but if I'd had an offroad van I could have driven to the Cobbold Gorge caravan park. It was then that I realized that I may be better off with an offroad van.

Also, my wife wants to go to Birdsville at some stage. And I'd like to go to Arkaroola village. Both of these would require an offroad van (or camping).

Tx.

Astro

there's cabins to rent at the Birdsville caravan park and the hotel has something like 25 rooms to stay in aswell. You could always leave your van at Windorah in the council run van park and drive out to Birdsville and back again staying a night or 2 in comfort at either of the above places if the wife isn't into camping. I saw a fella with a 5th wheeler van do just that when we were out there last year.

Thanks for that - sounds good. I'll avoid race week. R

Astro
One thing that should be kept in mind when trying to see as much as possible is a car and a big van is not a good combination no matter what type of van it is. My wife and I are both getting too close to seventy yet we spent three months last winter roaming around the central deserts on our own in a home made camper on a single cab 4x4 ute. Some of the "roads?" we drove on are not shown on many maps. We are off again in two weeks for at least a month in parts of the Great Dividing Range.

Our ute will take us anywhere it is possible to take a car and our home will always be with us. We never have to leave it anywhere then go back and get it. Even something as small as a camper trailer or a 12 ft off road van would not allow us to get into some of the places we have been.

If you can get by with something similar to our car then try it. Maybe renting a Troop Carrier camper for a week would be a good way to get the feel of it first. It does mean you have to travel light and you can't have all the wizz bang electronic comforts of home but we don't have any trouble doing and it and it certainly pays off.

As it happens I have been considering an Explorer motorhome (the one that Mal and Laraine Leyland advertise). I even got the brochures and price list. But they are expensive. With a few extras we're talking about $150k all up. This is not out of the question down the track and your ide of renting one is a good idea. I discovered that they rent them in NZ and I've long wanted to do the North Island having previously done the South Island (in B&Bs). So maybe we will give one a try. My hunch is that this will be a bit small for us.

A couple down the road from me upgraded from one campervan to a Sunliner on a Hilux. I remember when it arrived I Googled and was horrified to discover that it would have cost at least $115k and this was a good few years ago. Given the price of a Hilux the van bit was very expensive.

Worth thinking about.

Thanks

Astro

Get yourself a Cameron Concept off road camper and go wherever you like.

Dear Peter

Fascinating reading. I've been on many corrugated tracks in my van but never thought of tackling the trip to Birdsville or Arkaroola. I'm very comfortable doing short visits without the van (as we did to Kangaroo Island for a few days). But the idea of using my current van till it falls to bits is something I've thought of. I'm not going to recover the $$ I've invested getting it to the standard I wanted for free camping. So highly likely I'll keep it at least for the first lap of Oz.

BTW your comment about the Bungle Bungles reminds me of a conversation I had with the owner of a very offroad Otron in Byron Bay when I was there for the Bluesfest last year. I asked where he'd been and he said he was just back from the Kimberleys. I quickly asked if he took his van in to the Bungle Bungles. "Nah mate" he said "we just took a flight over from Kununurra".

I'm glad you mentioned the tow ball problem with Pajero. I did not know of this until last Sunday when the Jayco man told me. I had no idea and have never read of this in any of the reviews. But you are quite correct. This rules out a good number of vans.

I agree with you that if I'm going to bother to change over I need to go to a real offroad van. (I love the look of the Kedron XC3 Compact in the Oct Caravan World that has just arrived. But not sure whether this is big enough for us although it would suit the Pajero.)

As it happens, I stopped at a few caravan shops on my way to and from my holiday house last weekend and saw lots of "semi-offroad" or "dirt road" vans in the Newcastle area. I think my list was Billabong, Crusader X-Country, Dreamseeker, Jayco, JB, Lotus, New Age, Regent, Retreat. They all look the same.

You are correct re pricing. I got the Trakmaster price list and I'd be up for $60-70k to upgrade to a suitable offroad van. To go to a semi-offroad van (e.g. Jayco StarCraft Outback) I'm looking at about $30-40k. And nothing really grabbed me as justifying this expense.

I can pay for an awful lot of El Questro accommodation (or Kimberley cruises and airflights) for this sort of money.

Your comment about doing more than one lap is interesting. I had not really considered this. But I suppose I should have. I've been back to some favourite places a second time already (NSW South Coast, the Murray, Carnarvon Gorge).

Sounds like that the first lap will be in the current van. For no other reason than I'm not going to recover what I've put into it for the trip.

Thanks indeed for your informative comments.

Astro

Quote "Your comment about doing more than one lap is interesting. I had not really considered this. But I suppose I should have. I've been back to some favourite places a second time already (NSW South Coast, the Murray, Carnarvon Gorge)."

Most of our two laps was not repeat visits. The first lap was down the coast to Perth and then across to Kalgoorlie before heading home. The second one was down the inland road, included the Pilbara to Perth and then around the south coast before heading home. Each trip commenced in early June, a stop over in Warwick with family and a quick trip to Katherine before slowing down. The trip home was fairly fast from Ceduna arriving home mid October.

On both of those trips we had scant coverage of the south and the eastern gold fields. These areas were so rushed that we considered a third trip necessary. In a full three months we spent 13 days travelling to Norseman and three weeks returning in February to May. The rest of the time was spent in the south and a lap through the gold fields (bypassing Perth.)

A fourth trip to the west is on the cards.

Thanks Peter.

Interesting. Especially as my wife asked me last night where the Big Lap I'm planning goes and when showing her (from Sydney to Mt Isa via the inland then right around Highway One but with a diversion from Tennant Creek to Alice Springs and back) I realized that there are so many other areas that require separate trips. She has never been to Kalgoorlie for example - I've been there for work. We'd do the Qld coast (which I've just done on my own) on a separate trip.

So thinking about it, as you suggest, I'm sure we'll have a number of trips. We've spent time in Tassie before (B&Bs) but plan to take the van for a few weeks this January. Once my wife retires from work we can do this. Meanwhile I've done 25 trips getting the hang of it.

Best wishes

Rodney

Many thanks John and Lynne

Great information. Yes, the comfort is what I'm worried about. My van has a combined shower and toilet which I think is fine. In my recent 37 night trip on my own I only used an amenities block once. But my wife (who has spent only about 11 weeks in the van) has never used the shower - says she needs more room!!! When we've free camped there has always been an amenities block for her!! She would love a new van with a big separate shower.

My wife does like to retire to bed early to watch TV (I got a second VAST box) or a movie if I'm staying up late to watch rugby. Having a door to the bedroom has some advantages. And I particularly like the front club lounge from where I can watch everything that's going on outside.

I love the idea of doing a tour for the tough places. I spotted a lovely group of folks in Cooktown recently heading up the Cape and they were having a ball (even though it was only about 4c for their breakfast before 7am). I've got mates who have done such tours of the GRR this way renting a 4x4 and staying in the organized accommodation.

I think I will do my first trip in the current van with side trips as you suggest. See how we go. If my wife's brother can convince her to camp out for a few nights at a time (as he and his wife do) then we won't have too much trouble using the current van for a trip.

Thanks for your help.

Astro