What Food to take for extended trip.

Hi Cruisin,
I would Cryovac all the food except bread. This will eliminate freezing and the food keeps for weeks.
Ask your butcher to cryovac the meat and if you are on good terms with him perhaps he will cryovac your other food items.

Have a great trip,

Regards,

Dave

Dear Cruisin,
In my opinion it is best to resupply as you go. Supplies are readily available all the way to the top and the supermarkets at Bamaga and Seisha have good supplies including fresh fruit and vegies.
I would take some cryvac meat and canned food mainly as a stand by if you camp out for an extended period of time ie Chilli Beach ( dont miss it , but no supplies or fresh water available ).
As I read somewhere the roadhouses, remote supermarkets etc will not continue to stock them if tourist don't buy them! You may pay a bit more but its their living and less weight in your vehicle.

Enjoy
Wheely

As said above buy as you go coen has fairly good supplys and wepia has a woolies and at the top there are several supermarkets the road houses also have a few supplys.
For your meat as said above get it cryovaced there is a good butcher at mosman at the nth end of town. Also at the top you buy your meat alredy cryovaced.
As for using your fridge as a freezer I wouldnt recomend it .

All the best
Eric

www.capeyorkconnections.com.au

I agree with the cryovac suggestion. I have a machine at home and cryovac meat only before we leave home. (Bought it at Damart). Running our Engel 40 on no 2 setting the food will keep for at least 4 weeks. I would suggest you freeze meat first as the cryovac tends to pull blood out of meat and collapse sausages. (It helps a bit.) A tip with trying to reuse the cryovac bags. Don't. I have not found a way to get them clean enough so they seal on the second use. Look in your supermarket for boil in the packet rice and Cous cous. It helps with portions and it is easier to clean up the saucepan after. Take lots of UHT condensed milk. Its magic with rice. Use Surprise peas, Deb potato and you can even get dried onion now. Take a few real potatoes to bake in the fire. Tinned potatoes are good in a stew. Tinned stuff is heavy but the liquid in the tin can be used to make the stew and therefore save on your fresh water. You have to take baked beans. It's the only way to get your own back on the family during a 4 hour drive after breakfast and you had to pack everything up on your own. Also if you have a son you can have a competition. (We are not talking gormet meals but as other forum people will tell you, you can still eat well out of packets, especially with some herbs and chilli). The new tubes of herbs are good and we keep a variety in the fridge. Veges to tend to go off quickly in the back of the car because of the heat. We do not put them in the fridge if we are short of space because once they froze and had to throw them away. We now put them into a small Decor cooler bag and put a cold block out of the fridge with them. We change the block regularly of course. We take UHT milk and only put it in the fridge when opened. I generally transfer it to a plastic bottle as most cardboard containers leak rattling around in the fridge. Some compromise in what you will and will not eat has to be done if there are a few of you. My wife and I are pretty compatible and I only compromise on cereal, which is good. Kids can be a problem but we got rid of ours years ago. Got some nice young fella to take her of our hands and all we had to do is pay for the party.
We are leaving in May for three months for our first trip to the Cape. It will be our first big trip so if you see a white Frontera with two grey heads dead from starvation then our tips were useless.
Have a good one.
Richard

Cruisin.
There are lots of alternatives to normal food that bush walkers use, some are nice, if you decide to use them I recomend eating them at home for a while to decide if you really like them. I started using uht milk before a trip and now dont buy anything else. enjoy Eric.

Thanks to everyone for some top tips.

Yep - the vacumn packed meat (incld. chicken and fish) is great. Have used meat after 3 weeks, just kept in a 3 way frig.
The other thing we have taken on desert trips is a 'mung' bean grower (plastic lunch box 'look alike!) - great for freash 'veges' in a sandwich - they just need a little water and light. We have also taken fresh fruit and veges - individually wrapped and kept in 'banana' boxes. I think the only tinned stuff I take is sardines.
Oh, and make your own fresh bread in the camp oven - let the dough rise on the warm dash - Yum!

What about the canned tuna?? Can easily make some great dishes with it & a few spices & fresh or dried vegies & rice!