My beautiful, smart, wonderful, sensitive, caring better half, has this morning, dropped a bombshell on me. She told me to start looking into and drawing up a list for what we will/might need for a 3 month trip, incorporating the National gathering at Innaminka, and ending with us going to the
Bathurst 1000 in Oct.
Our daughter will miss one full school term(12yo,grade 7), but we will have the laptop so she can still do school work (that we are hoping to get through the school) and send back for marking etc.
We will hopefully leave
Maryborough QLD around the 28th/29th/30th June 08 (this depends on other commitments) and be back around the 15th Oct 08.
We have around 8 days to get to the National Gathering, and would like to be in
Oberon around the 4th/5th Oct. All the rest of the time in between is open to discussion.
We have a
Cape York Deluxe Explorer hard floor camper, that is being towed by a 3L, 07 Nissan Patrol Auto (this vehicle had absolutely no dramas on Fraser Island, towing the camper, through the really soft sand, and weighing in at around 1600kg (we were supposed to be there for 3 weeks, and had all our food for this time, but cut short by 4 days due to the bad weather).
We do not want to rush our trip and would rather see alot of one or two areas, and drive every 2-3 days (maybe even more days in between driving), than only see a little bit and drive like a bat out of hell and do lots of Km's. I understand this will happen anyway, but when we went to NSW 2 xmas' ago we only had 3 weeks, and got as far as
Oberon. Some days we only drove around 200-300km's then parked up again.
We will probably stay more in c/parks etc, than
bush camp, it just depends on how the girls feel.
Here is a list of what we have on/in the Patrol, and we will probably buy a second smaller fridge (40L)to have in the vehicle for day trips etc, and as a backup for the 50L.
I am interested in other peoples/persons views/ opinions on what gear we will need or is a good idea to have, for this trip.
The original tyres are still on. Bridgestone Desert Duellers. (17 x 8, not LT)
Tough Dog 2" lift and 45mm Adjustable shocks all round.
Airbag Man Airbags in the rear.
Nissan winch Bullbar.
IPF spot/spread lights.
Homemade Rear drawers(see
pic).
Nissan/Rhino basket (2200mm x 1240mm) and crossbars, shovel holder.
Kmart roof pod (cheap and nasty but does the job).
Dual position Cargo Barrier.
Dual battery system... (2x Red Arc isolators, 90ah fullriver agm[protected with a heat shield], projecta fused distribution terminal, 50amp anderson plug for camper and compressor, 12v power board [replaced LHS rear panel], 2x 12v sockets in the back of centre console for our daughter and her gadgets.
Big W (AWA) $388 GPS (Great little unit for the price).
Uniden Uh015sx UHF with external speaker.
Nissan
Snorkel.
Nissan Towbar.
T-Max 12500lb winch.
Tinted windows.
1x 8000kg snatch strap, 8000kg equalizer strap, Ass't rated bow shackles. ARB competition 9T snatch block, Just Straps 8T snatch block,
1x 11000kg snatch strap, 12T T/Trunk protector, 20m x 6T winch ext strap,
ERPS, beach pack.
Compressor (mounted on side of rear drawers, with a cooling fan bolted behind), with extra hose and fittings to use spare tyre as an air tank.
Tekonsha Prodigy electric brake control unit.
Canvas front
seat covers.
Bushranger front and rear deep dish mats.
Fire blanket and .9kg fire extinguisher.(plus one of each in the camper)
Cape York camper.......
3.3T under carriage, 60mm stub axles, Peddars coil springs and foam cell shocks (with the ability to add another set of shocks to each swing arm).
AT35 hitch, with hand brake.
Stone guard with mud flaps.
50L Waeco Fridge or freezer (this is in the gullwing box on the front of the camper).
2 x 4kg gas bottles.
2 x jerrycan holder.
2 x 120ah Agm batteries.
2kva genny.
31" x 10.5" x 15LT Goodyear wrangler AT's x 3.
Extra box made and installed onto spare tyre carrier (to carry extra water etc, and to take some weight off the drawbar).
Porta Potti, shower/
toilet tent.
Some things I would like to do is change the tyres/rims on the camper from 31"x10.5"x15LT to 17x8 to match the patrol. I will be replacing the brakes as they will not be up to this trip. Bearings , seals and swing arm bushes will also be replaced.
Sorry this is long winded, but as this will be our first real foray into the bush, I don't want to have it turn to crap and then have my beautiful wife and daughter not wanting to go away ever again.
Any advice, info, ideas,
places to see, things to do, books to read, maps to get, anything!! will be greatly appreciated.
P.s For those who do not know me, I have two artificial legs (left leg-below knee amputation, right leg-above knee amputation). This has not stopped me doing what I want to do, yet (I have completed 2
Jenolan Caves walks,
beach fishing on Fraser Island, renovated 4 homes). We will also have my wheelchair with us.
And I do drive our Patrol as it has been fitted with Hand controls.
Cheers Greg