Dave
Yes, it's a good drive Dave, though I think SA has better and nicer more scenic routes.
And yes, we did end up staying in Echuca for two nights, got a great deal in a brand new unit in town.
Did the Paddler steamer trip though it was the coldest day in 3 weeks plus I got a filthy cold that made it a little harder to enjoy. The wife loved it. The paddler steamer was nice and there were only 6 people on board.
Tomorrow we leave for home via Wagga or there abouts, and we may spend one more night somewhere depending on how I feel (cold wise). Trust me to get a cold towards the end.
I will post some things on my observations on the trip , so to help others who may think of doing something similar.
I am happy that I upgraded my suspension to accommodate the rough roads, I have bilsteins with flexy coils, which worked a treat (though one shock seeps a little but still worked well. and that I have the unlimited rather than a 2 door. Not sure how others do it in a shorty. Also very impressed with the BFgoodrich km2 tyres. They are an exceptional tyre on and off road with minimal noise, plenty of grip with no loss of traction on dirt plus they have worn little over the time since being on the JK and the WJ. The economy improved as the days went on and I put that down to the quality of fuel in the bush. They seem to use a thing called metrogas, which I've never heard of. Now getting a respectable fuel usage (once I started using caltex or shell) of about low to mid 12/100, rather than mid 14 earlier in the piece. The trick for me was to set the cruise at 100. It did not like doing 110 or more for some reason both in economy and smoothness on the road. It is after all a brick on wheels and designed for tough tracks rather than touring. but it can be made to be close to it.
I was also surprised on the seating as I thought my back (which is not the best anyway) would ache over the time. It was fairly comfortable and the wife thought so too.
Some things I recommend to do and which I would do before next trip, is get bonnet locks as the bonnet moved a lot when heading into head winds or a truck. Install a set of drawers to help with organisation and to prevent dust ingress. Though I was surprised that the dust inside was minimal but much much better than I expected. Use several smaller bags rather a big suite case.
While my 5" garmin gps did a good job and most tracks are catered for, it just does not cut it for touring the outback. It does however give you routable topo which I think no other GPS does. I think a ipad with hema maps along with a paper map will make a worthwhile complement with my Garmin and make it a lot easier to navigate. It also would help when researching things like accommodation and points of interest rather than my little screen iphone. Talking about Iphone. Optus is crap outside major cities, Also most times, Angela's little android samsung got 3g when I got nothing at all. Very strange....
The longest stint between reliable fuel was about 540k so I was happy I had the AUX tank, though I may have made it on one normal tank.
Dave, I kept thinking of your recent, "interaction with an Emu" when travelling, as there were heaps of Emu, Goats, Roos, Cattle all over the place BUT no camels!
we have about 700 piccies...
Most memorable moment was standing on top of Big Red. See attachement
Bigred.jpg
That will do for the moment.
Steve
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