X-Trail - east to west through the centre

Submitted: Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 at 20:33

ThreadID: 27471 Views:3803 Replies:5 FollowUps:2

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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