Family Trip - Brisbane, Simpson, Ularu, Coober Pedy, etc.. leaving 28th August
Submitted: Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 20:13
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Viking66
I am planning a trip across the Simpson leaving on the 28th of August, 2 weeks before the September School Holidays. At this stage on our own, we have 2 boys, 9 and 11, a family trip, lots of site seeing, 20 nights away.
We have a Jackaroo 2002 Turbo Diesel, with Cooper Discoverer ST tyres, it has been lifted 1.5", full length roof rack, no bull bar.
We have all the gear, such as four batteries, lots of recovery gear, 2 spares, 160 litres of fuel, 100 litres of water, Sat and CDMA phones, UHF, GPS gear and maps, tent, no trailer.
Anyone done the trip at that time of year? Anyone with kids looking at this kind of trip? Our route is listed below, over 6500kms.
Eric
Home Toowoomba 128
Toowoomba Dalby 83
Dalby Miles 128
Miles Roma 140
Roma Charleville 264
Charleville Quilpie 208
Quilpie Windorah 243
Windorah TurnOff Birds 108
TurnOff Birds
Birdsville 272
Birdsville Big Red 34
Big Red Poeppel Cnr 122
Poeppel Cnr
Rig Road Turnoff 85
Rig Road Turnoff Lone Gum 142
Lone Gum Lynnie
Junction 100
Lynnie
Junction French Int. 22
French Int. Purni 1 Oil
Well 66
Purni 1 Oil
Well Dalhouse Springs 69
Dalhouse Springs Mount Dare 68
Mount Dare Finke 176
Finke
Chambers Pillar 163
Chambers Pillar Henbury 169
Henbury
Kings Canyon 179
Kings Canyon Curtin Springs 223
Curtin Springs Ularu 85
Ularu The Olgas 43
The Olgas
Erldunda 291
Erldunda Kulgera 74
Kulgera Coober Pedy 419
Coober Pedy Lake Eyre 304
Lake Eyre
Marree 69
Marree Mungeranie 205
Mungeranie
Birdsville 315
Birdsville Charleville 831
Charleville Home 743
6571km's
Reply By: Member - Davoe (Widgiemooltha) - Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 20:20
Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 20:20
Budget for 2wice that many ks I did a trip which I had already done on that travelmate thingo and it came up at 6k add in extra trips such as
kakadu ayres
rock east and west mc donalds etc and I came up with maybe 10k the end distance................ 14k
AnswerID:
115582
Reply By: Member - Troopytrek - Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 21:11
Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 21:11
G'Day Eric,
We are leaving
Toowoomba with an 11 and 6 year olds. We are leaving on the 30/06 for three months travelling via
Longreach to Kurumba along The Gulf Track,
Roper Bar Mataranka,
Darwin,
Katherine, Kunnunarra,
Gibb River rd to
Broome ,
Halls Creek,
Daly Waters, Alice Ularu,
Kings Canyon Loop then
home via
Boulia Windora
Charleville etc.We Should be around Alice and Uluru September some time, never know might bump into each other. Other than that all the best and enjoy the trip.
Troopytrek!!!!!!
AnswerID:
115596
Reply By: canpin - Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 21:12
Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 21:12
Eric,
Looks like a great trip. We are doing the Simpson later in sept but kidless this time.
It looks like you may be in
Birdsville during the race week. Not a good idea unless you really want to be there. Also it is best to cross the Simpson West to East, so why dont you reverse your trip?
Cheers
Craig
AnswerID:
115597
Follow Up By: David Cox from Mount Dare Hotel - Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 15:58
Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 15:58
Craig,
The theory of traveling West to East is correct, the sand dunes aren't as steep, but they are much rougher. In reallity the French Line is easier to cross From East to West, it is easier to go down a rough
sand dune slowly than to go up it slowly. There are a few reasons for the scolloping of the French line but mainly towing a trailer does the damage, I know those of you with trailers will object to this but it's true.
Dave
FollowupID:
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Reply By: blebatray - Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 22:07
Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 22:07
Eric, we crossed the Simpson via French Line East to West in 2002. Wonderful trip done with 6 vehicles. Suggest you couple up if possible, however Rig Rd won't be to bad. 100 lts of water seems pretty slim!! We're leaving Coffs Hbr mid July for another crossing, this time via Camerons Cnr, Strzelecki to Fliders,
oodnadatta, over Mulga Park Rd past Mt Conner to Ularu onto Alice via Kings Cnyn before heading thru Fink back across the Simpson arriving the weekend before the races just so we beat the crowds to the showers. Same 6 vehicles,(3 with off-road trailers) 7500Kls..50 days. With the recent rain we may catch the
wildflowers.
Mostly Viet Vets & wives. Only 4 weeks to go. Can't wait.
AnswerID:
115616
Reply By: Trevor W(Brisbane) - Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 07:46
Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 07:46
We did a similar trip leaving
Brisbane 3 years ago
We had 2.8 l diesel Pajero
used 95 litres of disel on
Rig Road (
Birdsville to Mt Dare)
Water ,we probably only used 30 litres as there was Showers at
Purni Bore and Swam at Dalh Springs.
Time it in 2 weeks this might help you
2 days to
Birdsville
1 day to Knolls
1 day to Purnie
Bore
1 day to Mt Dare with a swim at Dal Springs
1 day to
Chambers Pillar (Goog
Camp Site)
1 day to
Rainbow Valley (good
camp)
1 day
Alice Springs and
Simpsons Gap Stanley Chasm(
camp Caravan Park in Alice
1 day West Mc Donalds out as far as
Redbank Gorge
1 day Drive to
Kings Canyon
1 day Walk the Canyon Rim ( a must do early rise) then drive to Ulara
1 day Ulara (up early to see Sunrise and get to climb bequickly before all the tourist buses arrive )and afternoon look around Olgas
2 day plus a bit to get you
home via
Plenty Highway through Boilia.
you will probably need 3 days to get
home ???
Hope this helps - I havent mentioned
Palm Valley besause you are short on time
A friend just returned from Simpson last week
Desert was good and he drove mostly the WAA line using 100 litere of petrol.
AnswerID:
115643
Reply By: brian - Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 08:14
Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 08:14
Eric wish you a great trip,just curious with almost constant travelling why carry 4 batteries,wouldnt two be sufficient ???
AnswerID:
115646
Follow Up By: Viking66 - Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 08:33
Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 08:33
Brian, We are running a Waeco 110 Fridge and a Waeco Microwave, and all of our lights are electric. If we stop for 2 nights somewhere for a break, I didn't want to have to run the car. The Jackaroo has 2 batteries under the bonnet, just to start it, the 2 in the back are for the appliances, 2 x Remco 100a/h AGM's.
Eric
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Bob of KAOS - Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 08:43
Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 08:43
Eric
you sound extraordinarily
well organised. As usual I am chiming in about excess weight. A full length steel roof rack is very heavy in itself (60 kg at a guess), how much recovery gear? (snatch strap, OEM jack and shovel is all you need), too much fuel by 40 L, too much water by 60 L. Excess weight over four wheels leads to tyre,
suspension and chassis damage. If its up on the roof it increases risk of rollover.
I'd load the vehicle as intended and put it on a weigh
bridge. Not much change out of 4 tonne I'd reckon.
AnswerID:
115652
Follow Up By: Viking66 - Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 09:26
Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 09:26
Bob,
I really appreciate your
feedback, I was leaning towards bringing to much gear but your right, the weight. I've dropped the water back to 70 and fuel back to an extra 60, the onboard tank is 85. The worst economy I've had on 4x4 trips is 7.3kms to the litre, with 50% sand work and not to much weight. Not sure what to budget for.. Maybe 6?
Here's what I have so far. The extra weight is 120Kgs on the roof, and 270Kgs in the car not including 2 adults and 2 kids, approx 250 kgs.
Roof Weight
Tent 19
Beds 16.5
Fuel 20
Chairs 12
Tyre 12
Rack 20 (Alluminium)
Misc 20
TOTAL 119.5
Car Weight
Family 250
Water 70
Recovery Gear 40
Extra Fuel 60
Fridge 60
Misc 40
TOTAL 520Kgs
Kind Regards,
Eric
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Viking66 - Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 09:27
Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 09:27
Woops, forgot the Batteries, an extra 60Kg's in the back. Eric
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Ruth from Birdsville Caravan Park - Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 15:02
Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 15:02
Bob/Eric - think the weight on the roof rack is way too much, yes? Do you really have a microwave for camping? You've done a good job working it all out - but if you leave the m/v and one battery at
home that's 30 kgs saved. If it was me I'd definitely be taking weight off the roof, especially for the SD.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Viking66 - Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 18:10
Tuesday, Jun 14, 2005 at 18:10
Well, if I take the 20l fuel off the roof and thin down some extra stuff, I'm down to 99Kg's on the roof, thats to safe spec, and keep in mind I'm running 265/70 tyres, standard is 235/75, so the extra width should help keep me stable.. in my mind anyway. The official (safe) spec is 100kgs maximum on the roof, it's a bolted in 3 bar rino. I am told 160kgs is still ok.
In the car, I'm up to 570kgs, including the family, so an extra 320Kgs of stuff in the back. The Jackaroo has a GCM of 5 tons, with a rear axle load of 1.5t and 1.2t not including the vehicle. I am up in total including family about 570kgs.
Eric
FollowupID:
371348
Follow Up By: Ruth from Birdsville Caravan Park - Wednesday, Jun 15, 2005 at 07:51
Wednesday, Jun 15, 2005 at 07:51
Eric, you certainly have done your preparation now is the best time, have a great holiday with the family. Beautiful time to travelling. Have fun.
FollowupID:
371402
Reply By: Viking66 - Monday, Jun 20, 2005 at 21:26
Monday, Jun 20, 2005 at 21:26
Thanks for all the wonderfull advise, I have dropped some weight but the Microwave stays for now. We have all of our gear and are counting down the days to the 28th of August when we leave.
Kind Regards,
Eric
AnswerID:
116618