Route: From
Gold Coast up the coast (that is a story in itself; the planned route was via Cameron's Corner,
Innamincka,
Birdsville etc, but changed 'as I drove out the
gate'. West via Mt Isa and across to
Broome via the bitumen. Up to
Cape Leveque and Middle
Lagoon, then across the GRR,
Mitchell Plateau, over to
Kakadu,
Darwin,
Litchfield, across the Western Gulf to Kingfisher and
Lawn Hill, then down through Western Qld (
Winton,
Longreach,
Barcaldine,
Roma,
Toowoomba back to
Gold Coast.
Vehicle was '05 Hilux TD dual cab, towing Odyssey ZR CT. Trailer weighed right on 1500KG when fully loaded with
water (200 l) and extra fuel (80 l)
Just over 16,000 KM with a bit over 6,000 on the dirt.
Fuel consumption on bitumen was 13.8 l per 100 km and about 14.6 on the dirt.
Tyres were Cooper ST 31/10.5/15s. Number of punctures - nil.
Cheapest fuel on outward leg was $1.31.9 (after 4c discount) at Mt Isa. On return leg $128.9 at
Dalby (after 4c discount). Both cheaper than the
Gold Coast!!!
Most expensive fuel was $2.05 at
Drysdale River.
I carried 200 l in total, so rarely had to pay the ultra high prices.
Mechanical problems:
Top half of UHF antenna flew off on
Kalumburu road; a victim of corrugations.
Clamp on CV boot would not stay in place (refitted 4 times). Ended up replacing it with tie wire which held. In
Broome, arranged for complete replacement of front drive shaft, CV etc under warranty. As parts had to come from overseas, Toyota agreed to send them to
Darwin. I had the work done there on way back. I'd rather not have these problems, but
Broome Toyota, Bridge Toyota (
Darwin) and Toyota Australia were great. No disruption to trip at all.
Two screws in stove vibrated loose on corrugations.
With just 40 km of dirt to go on the trip (between
Lawn Hill and
Gregory Downs) a road train threw up a stone and cracked the windscreen. Bugger.
Free camped as much as we could. About half the 95 days of the trip. Mostly terrific sites.
The whole trip was sensational. Didn't want it to end. The
camp oven got a real work out with roasts, stews, bread, etc etc. Surprised I didn't pack on a heap of weight. All the walks, wood gathering and cutting etc must have helped.
We were very fortunate to have travelled just after such a great and late wet season. A small number of closed roads and walks, but nothing to really effect the trip. All the gorges, rivers and waterfalls were beautiful.
Didn't have a boat on this trip, but did a bit of fishing. Also carried crab pots (got some great muddies) and opera house pots (a good feed of red claw at Kingfisher
Camp).
This is all sensational country. If you haven't been there, do yourself a favour and get there. But not until you have the time to do it properly. We came across people 'doing' the GRR in 4 days. We took 18 days, and could have spent much more.
I said it was a short report, so that will do for now. Happy to provide further info to anyone planning a trip to this area. Kathryn (SWMBO) took about 4,000 pictures. I'll try to work out a way to host and make available some of the best.