Am I gettin' too old?

Looked like fun to me.

Hi Johnbee

Not sure what your meaning, I could see nothing major in the clip. To me sometimes you need to go a little wide to see the best of Australia. The only thing I picked up is he needed a set of maxtrax :)

...if you got the money and time....I would do it too......
JS.

John,

I think those idiots should be banned from travelling on anything except a sealed road.

They show no respect for the tracks and land that they chew up in the name of getting an over size/price caravan to places where they should not go.


Wayne

It’s interesting that we’ve had quite a few threads recently on the condition of tracks and the deterioration caused by trailers and the more likely culprit, poor driving skills.

Yes it may be considered an heroic effort to tow a Caravan to the Cape but why? What’s been achieved other than a quick advertising opportunity for their caravans. They’ve successfully done more damage to a track in one pass than a full season of motorists might otherwise cause and to what end? Did we learn anything?

My travel companions and I often travel to difficult and remote locations and one of our key concerns is always about the footprint we leave. Thankfully, most of our remote travels are not on recognised tracks as such so we don’t have the concerns of increasing the degree of difficulty for those who come after us. This is obviously not much of a consideration for the Gall boys either despite being on public access tracks.

I’ve been able to revisit a few places in recent trips and am proud to say that a period of less than 12 months had totally obliterated any trace of our ever having visited or camped in many of those areas. We also ensure that an approach to a rugged track increases survivability of the vehicles and produces a minimum impact on the track (Tyre pressures, speed, towing considerations etc etc). I’d have thought that was common sense really.

Hope I haven’t sounded too sanctimonious lol.

Cheers Mick

I also think there isn't anything wrong with what they did. I didn't see any style of driving that was irresponsible or just tore up the place for the sake of dramatic footage. No charging into mud or water. They just did it slowly and responsibly. Even in the sand and mud it was gentle and under control. Look at the snatch. Just enough to get the job done. Maybe a tiny bit more needed. But sensible use of a dangerous yet efficient item. Maybe a missing weighted bag from the would be one thing wrong.

We were at Gunbshot last year and there was an idiot trying to climb out going south. He just sat there and let his tyres dig big holes in the bank. Got nowhere. Just charged the bank and ended up stuck and just letting his wheel tear it up. Now that's stupid. The crowd was quite irritaed and you could hear the shouts to "give it away ya mug" and "fool" etc etc.

These blokes did a good job.

All except the crossing on the Jardine. Lucky no crocs were arround. The other crossings were fresh water.

Phil

Gday...

I was not trying to say they were being irresponsible - driving skills, ruining tracks etc - although they certainly tore a bit up ;-). Obviously very experienced 4x4ers.

I was really only suggesting I would not want to buy that van or that 4x4 after they have done their 10,000km or whatever they do before they sell it.

Only driven once on a nice bush picnic up north ;-)

Anyway, I guess I just getting too old ..... that sort of stuff is mainly bravado by young boys - "geez, I'm good - lookit how we got into HERE! with this big rig"

Cheers
John

i thought it was a better advert for toyota and dual diff locks than for the caravan
cheers
Howard.

Too old John ? No - but just old enough to know when 'someone might be trying to have a lend of you' :-o).

I looked at a one of theirs on you-Tube - dragging a Kedron up to the Cape - and thought I'm glad i don't have to follow them on that track. Show ponies. They much be making too much money out of someone. No good advertising.

This was nothing but a blatant advertising effort. Who in their right mind would want to take a van on this trip?
Sane people dont reply!

Hi John,
When I saw the first video the gall boys made which was the Rugged Cape York Adventure I thought "These guys are bloody crazy, fancy doing that to a new caravan, no wonder the old man is getting angry with them"

And then the penny dropped, these guys build these vans and they can also repair them when they break something. What better way to find the weak spots and build the next one stronger.

I take my hat off to those guys and their abilities, mind you they make sure they are properly setup for their adventures.

Sometimes I shake my head at the chances Dave takes but he is proving the worth of their product every time they get into a tight spot. I think if you buy one of their vans you will have one tough van that will see out the average vanner and then some.

They also prove the old addage that "The family that plays together stays together" and I reckon that Barry Gall would have to be one of the luckiest guys on the planet to have his boys around him like he does. More credit to the guy and the family as a whole.

Mind you I agree that they need a kick in the tail sometimes, but then none of us are perfect. But then they are road testing their product and having a holiday at the same time.

Only spoken to Dave Gall once when ordering the complete set of their videos and he seemed a really nice bloke despite the fact of that the lateness of my call at the working days end when he had to walk from the far end of the factory to the other end to take my call. He was very pleasant and patient but sounded quite tied.

If you really want to see some action get the complete set. You will be on the edge of your seat sometimes and having a good laugh at others.

Nah, I take my hat off to them and only wish I had their energy still.

please note I have no connection with the Gall family or Kedron caravans, but I wish I did.

Cheers, Bruce.

Another interesting aspect of these escapades, are the prospective buyers of their offroaders, with full sets of the DVD's, too much money and no sense, who are trying desperately for a wannabe Croc Dundee badge.

Most of these $100k plus monoliths, will never be used in anger, but more likely to be tucked away in a caravan park somewhere, as shiny as the day it was bought.

One one four week holiday last year, in a caravan park up on the far North Coast of NSW, I noticed that there were six Kedrons, five Bushtrackers, two Supremes and one Kimberley something or other, every one, as clean as a new pin with not a trace of red dust to be seen. Of course, most were towed by shiny new Cruisers, and I will bet, all were claiming boasting rights, of how much they had spent, and the size of their super.

Robert