OUR BIG TRIP AROUND OZ
It all started about two years ago when we decided to put our dream into reality. It has been a long time dream for both of us to travel our country and to see all the great places it has to offer. We can't wait to meet new friend's along the way and to share our experiences with everyone. Looking forward to our new adventure. We Leave on Wed 23rd Of October 2007 after many delays......
Our names are Casey and Andrew, we are both 24. Casey is from the Adelaide Hills and Andrew is from the South of Adelaide. Both love camping, 4wd's, Fishing and the outback. Casey is a Pharmacy Assistant and Andrew is a Electrician by trade and we both found it really handy when it came to wire the car and the camper...
We hope to achieve great knowledge of the land and country, hopefully create new friendships and make sure we keep in touch, learn more about each other as a couple, learn more about 4wd'ing and all the nitty gritty bits about the car.
Our 4WD
NISSAN GU PATROL 2003 (we named him Percy)
When we brought it, it was pretty well just stock standard except for the Smart bar which was fitted on it.
We started with putting the Cargo barrier, snorkel and dual batteries onto it. Then came the winch, light force spot lights, UHF, roof rack and a set of draws. With the help of a mate and my father i built the draws and installed alot of things my self e.g. spot lights, UHF and dual batteries which saved alot of money. The last lot of equipment to go on was a 3inch lift in the rear with helper poly airs, a 2inch lift in the front and 5 BF Goodrich A/T's. I have to thank Southern Vale's 4x4, Cross Country 4x4 and Bob Jane T-mart Salisbury.
Our OLD Camper
Our camper is a 2004 Cameron Off-Road camper (his name obviously is Cameron). We brought it in 2005 second hand, we searched everywhere for something this perfect and we found the exact one we were looking for (lucky i guess). It was stock standard as well, Andrew worked really hard on the wiring the camper. Putting 240v and 12 v inside the camper near the bed and also in the tool box he spent alot of time and effort to get it just right. We really had to put brakes on it to because it ended up weighting alot. We decided on electric brakes and a new axle, it took time to put this all together and to wire the brakes and connect it to Percy the car and to connect the brake controller.We also got the external annex extended by Cameron Canvas, so it would be fully enclosed so when it rained we would have somewhere to sit. We brought a small electric oven for our trip but then we didn't have anywhere to put it, so Andrew came up with a great idea of making a side draw that fit's snug next to the camper kitchen that slides out both sitting on neoprene so the slide out smoothly. We also found the draw bar on the camper to be to short so i had Kelly engineering extend the draw bar.
Our NEW Camper
After leaving Adelaide we have come across alot of rain, SO much for this drought!!!!! when we finally reached Sydney at the start of December, we had enough of setting the tent up in the rain and fighting about how long it took. We put it in the trading Post and it sold within 3 days, so we went searching for a new home.
We brought exactly what we were looking for a Jayco Eagle Outback 2005. Very nice condition hardly been used, we were very excited when we picked it up and it was heaven to sleep in and there is so much room to store things.
The Jayco Eagle is very spacious, has a kitchen, lounge, sitting table, two beds, wardrobe, fridge and alot more. It's fantastic and i don't think we will regret it.
Our Trip Preparation
It started in 2005 we brought the camper and started to save our pennies. We told all our friends that we were planning on going in March 2007 so it gave us enough time to get set up and to save money. We went to every caravan and camping show and 4WD show possible and of course by the end Andrew made sure that we had everything possible and trust me I really think we do. 2006 we brought our Nissan Patrol and got rid of my Holden Astra and Andrews mitushbizi pajero, (we finally found one!!!) we had been looking every weekend for nearly 1 and a half years it was a long process but it was worth it, it had to be in the right condition. 2007 started and were meant to leave in March it didn't look promising. March Came closer and it looked like we would have to put it off for a couple of months, we had quite alot to do and plus we wanted to do our Tax and get that money. At that time Andrew was offered a good paying job up in the mines at Prominent Hill, we decided that we would take the opportunity to get abit more money saved. While Andrew was away 3 weeks out of 4 we didn't get much done except for the weeks he was home. I mapped out the places that people said to go and some places we really would like to visit on a big map and i wrote a Little note about each place in a folder so i had a reference. A really great help was the Camps 4 book, it has all the camping area's and rest spots in it and it shows you all details like fire, toilets, power, shade, pets or no pets, dry weather only, if there is a FEE or not and how much, BBQ, Showers and alot more. I found it really good because a few group's of our friends have traveled alot and I gave it to all of them to mark in pencil the places they liked and didn't like and some detail's. It was a great help. Our budget needs to be fine tuned, we made one but i think it will change once we are on the road and living a different life style, we don't know what it's going to be like until we are on the road.