Hi Everyone and welcome to “On The Road Again”,

 

We had never planned our adventures to be the full round Australia trip, but rather to do chunks at a time as this suits our lifestyle better.  We love to get back on the road again for a new road trip adventure and our trips evolve as we go along.

 

Our Trip

The original plan was to visit Cairns because we had visited Carnarvon Gorge with friends last year but only made it to Townsville before heading back down the coast to our home on the Sunshine Coast, we were keen to see more.  The idea of another road trip was appealing so we were leaning towards driving up rather than flying even though we would be covering some territory we had seen before.  Then our friends Shelley, Geoff & Erin  http://www.expeditionaustralia.com.au/doinitourway/ headed off for a big trip and suggested we might be able to cross paths along the way.   And then...friends and old neighbours who had moved to Jabiru NT, expressed an interest in meeting up in Cairns.  We booked four weeks holidays and this seemed like plenty of time, but the trip began to evolve a little more.  Shelley and Geoff suggested continuing on up to Cooktown to explore the Bloomfield Track and the Peninsula Developmental Road.  Seemed like a good idea, so now it’s the Cooktown trip, what’s a few more km’s.  We plan to leave on 20th June 2009 and will now take the full 4 weeks and hopefully return around 19th July 2009.

 

About Us

We moved from Adelaide to the Sunshine Coast in 2002 to follow the warmer weather.  We developed an interest (some would say an obsession) in four-wheel driving and camping and after a few variations along the way, here we are.

Terry

By day a mild mannered health professional, by night a 4WD fiend scouring all available maps and articles about interesting places to get a truck stuck in.

Carolyn

I gave up office work for the great outdoors, studied horticulture and have now become a gardener/horticulturist and self confessed plant nerd…..and loving it.

Rachael

She’s our 9 year old daughter and she says “I’m just tagging along”. She loves Littlest Pet Shop and has a mighty collection, most of which is in the back seat.

 

Our Gear

We recently bought a 1997 Toyota Prado to retire our old 60 series diesel Landcruiser that started dissolving from the roof down.  It’s a 3.4L petrol/gas GXL Auto, and we’ve added a Safari snorkel and a cargo barrier.  We didn’t quite finish the electrical additions before we left, but did manage to add a heavy duty point to run the old Engel.  We had planned to add a second battery and an Anderson plug for those times without 240V, but that will have to wait.  Richard and Tim at Sunshine Coast 4WD Centre did a full pre-trip service and replaced the timing belt….2 days before we left (our fault not theirs).  We will be interested to see how the fuel consumption compares between diesel and petrol/gas.
 
Our camper  for the past few years and this trip is a 1976 Millard Starcraft wind-up camper trailer…yep an oldie but pretty solid and functional for us.  The many years of use had however taken its toll and the poor thing needed a full re-canvas to become bug proof again.  Michael from Cutting Edge Canvas at Forest Glen did an exceptional job and we are thrilled with the result. 
We picked it up 3 days before we left (again, our fault not his- do you notice a pattern developing here?). 
 
 

Our Trips

Previously we’ve done trips to:

  • North Coast of NSW to check out Sydney, Crowdy Head/Indian Head, Coffs Harbor and places in between.
  • Yeppoon & Rockhampton to check out Byfield NP and the lovely Six Mile Beach
  • Carnarvon Gorge, Sapphire & gemfields, Airlie Beach & Townsville.
  • Many camps to Inskip Point, Rainbow Beach, Noosa North Shore, and Fraser Island of course.
 
Update 21/01/2010:

When we got home from our Cooktown trip we decided that we'd had enough of the set-up, pack-up routine of the camper trailer and started thinking that a caravan might be an easier way to go.  After many hours on E-bay we have ended up with a 1982 Viscount Grand Tourer Poptop with a double bed in the rear and a foldout bunk in the front which means we don't have to compromise the dinette space for Rachael's bed.  Our "bargain" may not be such a bargain as the fridge and stove don't work, but we did know about the water damage inside.  Fortunately it is structurally OK and tows like a dream.  Rego has been sorted now and a new "proper double bed" now adorns the rear.  A bonus is that the 12V pressurised water system and pop-top mechanism works fine.

 
We have also picked up a new travelling companion courtesy of my daughter in Darwin (http://www.expeditionaustralia.com.au/outbackbandits/index.php).  Lou-Lou is a well trained but very timid Border Collie who loves nothing more to slide into any vacant seat in the Prado or the Viscount, her favourite occupations are sleeping and long walks which is a perfect combination.
 
Now...where were those maps...a trip to Adelaide is on the cards in the near future!