Trying to get feet back on ground after much awaited outback rerun, not easy..
Where to start? 4WD & C/t mabe. A total capital expenditure of under $20k
proved to be all that was required for this trip. Around 13000k including Ood track,
Mereenie Loop Rd, Tanami &
Fitzroy Crossing to Gibb RR via Windjana & Tunnel
Creek. Wyndham/Kunnunurra,
Kakadu, The Isa,
Boulia,
Winton etc.
Rig...stock standard 2000 Jack 3.5 V6 auto with 90k on clock. Dear Oh Dear I hear
some say,
well it ran like a clock , nothing broke & still not a rattle to be heard. I
must admit to having a few reservations about this thing, but it cost me $14k, & I
now would take it anywhere with confidence. It handled 90cm
creek crossings,
the Bungles track, corrugations etc. The only mod was a 135L LR
tank which was
a real smart move. Done 6.6 K to a litre towing a DIY C/t that cost me $5500.
No problems with C/t either, leaf sprung ,no shocks no brakes..no need.
Trip was a joy, didnt miss not having a Bullbar, UHF, Sat Phone, Elec.Winch, GPS,
a set of Coopers, Waeco or Engle, Epirbs, generators, dual batteries, solar panels, snorkels etc etc, you know all that stuff you must not leave home without.
Set out with 8 half worn highway pattern tyres, did one on Ood Track, so put
2 BFG A/t on in Alice & never had another puncture.
So the gear was fine for 4 adults & we lacked nothing. Ok, so we did buy a fan &
power lead to run in the bedroom in
Broome, but it was 41 deg !!
Enough I hear you say, OK, I'm gone, but will return with a highlights package
when the dust settles....oldbaz.