Quick summary of our trip away which might be of use to others in the future:
Trip was
Adelaide,
Perth, Coral Coast, Karajini,
Broome,
Gibb River Rd,
Emma Gorge, Tanami Road, Bungle Bungles, Ayers
Rock, Eyre Peninsula,
Adelaide.
Car is a GQ 2.8td LWB Patrol.
1. Glad we had a diesel. Would hate to think what our fuel bill was with petrol.
2. camping rules are very strict in W.A. You need to
camp at designated 24hr roadside stops whereas in other states you can pull up on crown land. Keep this in mind.
3. We forgot about fire bans in W.A. (dry season) so couldn't have as many fires are orignally planned.
4. Coral coast is great. Beautiful beaches. Wish we spent more time at
Kalbarri and
Coral Bay. Nice designated camping along the way also but you need to book them
well in advance.
5. Don't go away on half used tyres. Our travel buddies did and went through 3 tyres and had to buy a whole new set half way through the trip. We went with brand new Kelly MSR's and did not get one
puncture.
6. Bother to pull over and put up/down your tyre pressures. Changing tyres in 40 degree heat is not fun.
7. Regular checks of your car is critical. A quick 30sec compulsory look I did each lunch stop found new (clean) oil coming out of the rear diff. Corrugations had loosened the bolt.
Morning is the best time to
check (IMHO) so any leaks etc have 12hrs to fall on the ground to be easily seen. Also found a very loose bolt on the panhard rod. Another few km's and it would have fallen off. Closer inspection saw no spring washer was used so fixed that when I was in the next town. Both could have been major problems is not for a quick 30 second walk around/under the car.
8. Reverse racism is alive and
well in Northern Australia. Radical decisions on alcohol access and opening hours have been done to inconvience the innocent from a small percentage causing the problem. I can't change the world so we shrugged our shoulders and moved on BUT we need to see less decisions made so people think they've helped and more personal responsibility taken. Less political correctness and more reality needs to happen.
9. Karajini is spectacular. A bit of an unknown I would suggest to the majority of us but
well worth the diversion.
10.
Gibb River is great. We did 6 days and still felt rushed. Great gorges and walks.
11.
Gibb River Rd is tough on cars. It's not the daunting road that some people make it out to be but the never ending corrugations all adds up on the heavily laden cars. We went through when a
grader had not been there for a while so it was rough. GQ has some problematic
suspension noise/rattle which I can't find. The Prado suffered a leaking CV from a flying
rock. Also the Prado hit a massive
rock which blew the tyre.
12. Bungles are fantastic. Ignore all the talk about the 'tough' road going in (unless it's wet I guess as there was a few creek crossings). Alot of talk about the road being very rough but it's not that bad. Photography is fantastic. Easy walking with awesome
views.
13. Ayres
Rock is great. Once is enough but worth a visit. "Dinner under the stars" is worth the money IMHO also if it fits into your budget.
14. Eyre Peninsula has some great
places which 4 days doesn't give it justice. Didn't even get to
Coffin Bay but spent the days up
North beach camping around
Streaky Bay and South.
15. We spent the money up front on our car and it paid off. No issues at all that enabled us to just enjoy the trip.
16. Car stuggled on the real hot days with the standard radiator sitting around the 100 degree mark. Air-cond had to be used rarely to control the heat. We'll look at upgrading to an aftermarket now.
17. Quick assembling tents are great considering the amount of times we moved. For us it was a blackwolf 240 plus. Friends had a RV which was just as quick. They did like the extra size ours had :)
18. After market cruise control kept our sanity