The true cost of caravanning some of Australia’s iconic tracks
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- čas přidán 11. 12. 2023
- Adventure is only part of the story. Corrugated roads, remote towns and limited access is merely part of the picture. When you travel to some of Australia’s remote destinations it can be quite challenging for many reasons. In this video we look at what it is really like to spend weeks traveling through some of this country’s last frontiers and the challenges we experienced.
We also give a bit of an update on where what we are up to at the moment 😉
And if you’re in the Northern Rivers region and want your pool serviced, give Shaun a call, you never know you may get Paul out to service your pool!
Pool Professionals: poolprofessionals.com.au/
Ph: 0427 204 020
Welcome back!! We missed you ❤️ great to hear you're all well and your granddaughter has recovered well. Leasa and Evan x
Thank you Leasa and Evan it’s good to be back 😊. We are very relieved for our granddaughter
Cheers Paul and Wenda
Wenda & Paul wonderful to see your back & producing great content. Your info on dust ingress couldn't have been more timely, as we have spent many a night deliberating on dust ingress on our new Evernew. To combat this, we have build gasless, thus no vent on the door, opted for a Thetford 274ltr fridge which doesn't need the external fridge venting hatches Dometic fridges require, but will relook at the Carafan & DIY additional sealing around the tunnel boots. We will definitely be stopping at Woolies on day one for a bath plug for under the washing machine & leave a note on the washer to remove the plug when not in use. Thank you again for all your help.
Haha that’s great to hear the info was helpful 👍. We just met someone up here with a new RTX gasless and it looked pretty good. They had the same with minimal vents
Cheers Paul and Wenda
👍👍merry Christmas and safe travels guys
Thank you 😊 Merry Christmas
Paul and Wenda
Telling the reality of it. You guys didnt mention the flies, i reckon they are the icing on the cake of the emotional cost.
Haha yeah they can be bad. Although it was the midges that got to us in Nullunbuy. Wenda was full of little red dots
Cheers Paul and Wenda
Thanks for sharing your personal experiences. Some really advice received!
May you have a Holy Christmas with your family!
Thank you 😊 we’re looking forward to spending this time with the family
Merry Christmas
Paul and Wenda
Hi guys been missing your videos 📹 have a lovely Xmas and a safe new years 🎅🤶🧑🎄🎄🎄🎄
Thank you so much 😊
Merry Christmas
Paul and Wenda
Good to see you back
Thank you 😊
great to see you back guy's .while your there we get our new Isuzu MUX -LST next week it has been booked in for a GVM up grade then next year is the caravan cannot weight guy's be safe and have a great travel 😊😉😊
Thanks Goeff 👍 that great news about the MUX and so exciting about the caravan. We’ll look forward to seeing you on the road 😉
Cheers Paul and Wenda
From everything I can see it looks to me that in an off road van or in most vans really, the weakest links appear to be appliances like stove, microwave and refrigerator. If they require vents then they also contribute to dust problems. I often wonder why it is that manufacturers cannot stop the loose screws and broken door problems that plague these items when driving on rough dirt roads.
@@rossharvey1496 the appliances are definitely an issue. We think they are just household appliances put in a van and don’t cope with the travel
Cheers Paul and Wenda
A great clip.
You are very sincere decent people and give very practical advice.
The best thing is that your not loudmouth smartalics who talk over each other.
I will subscribe to help you. Regards Grant 😂
Thanks Grant, we appreciate your support 👍and thanks for your kind words
Cheers Paul and Wenda
Hi Paul & Wenda. It's great to see you back, and we were also wondering if you were alright. We're glad that your granddaughter has made a good recovery.
Thanks for sharing your views on your travel experiences. You gave very practical and honest advice.
You're such a lovely couple and we really enjoy your videos.
Merry Christmas, stay safe and see you in the New Year.
Corrie & Lyn ❤
Thank you Corrie and Lyn 😊 it’s been so busy helping out and getting ready for Christmas. Thank you for your kind words
Have a great Christmas and new year
Cheers Paul and Wenda
So good family is ok great to have you back
Thank you 👍
Great information guys thanks😊
Thanks, we appreciate the feedback
Cheers Paul and Wenda
Lovely to see you guys again. I'd have to agree with all you said, particularly the emotional toll remote travel can take. We've done the GRR in a tent and it was HARD.
Thanks 😊 yeah I think we’re going to work up to GRR abut a tent! That takes it to another level
Lovely Ep
Thanks 😊 and thanks for watching 👍
I was really worried about you both and your grandchild but glad to know you are all doing well. It is great to hear about travel as i wish people like you both would be more honest in videos as they only show how perfect everything is. Thank you. It would be great to see how much it costs weekly to travel.
Than you Maree ☺️we are all good here! We have thought about doing a cost video and will probably do one in the new year.
Take care and Merry Christmas
Paul and Wenda
Good video. You have to love that red dust, no matter what you do you will never completely remove it 🤣 Personally we love remote travel and our happy place is middle of nowhere with nobody around. Love your honest feedback on your experiences.
Thanks, yeah that dust is a constant reminder of a great adventure! We love the variety of travel opportunities available to us from remote to inner city!
Cheers Paul & Wenda
Great to see you back again. Quick question if we can - what was the insurance you mentioned. JanR
Thanks Jan 😊 ambulance cover
Cheers Paul and Wenda
Starlink is great but I believe having a Sat phone is a great asset when travelling remote.
If you have rolled your car and caravan out in remote areas well Starlink isn't going to be as good as a Sat phone.
On outback tracks tyre pressure 25psi, and do not exceed 75kph, on good tyres you will rarely experience a puncture.
Got that years ago from a bloke that ran outback tours, and it has always worked for me.
Awesome thanks for the tips 👍
G'day, there are so many variables ,the quality and type of the van towed, weather & how late in the season and the big one how aggressive the rig is towed. Tyre pressures and speed reduced is also another big one. it is better to take a while to get there than destroy your rig. Many vehicles coming in the opposite direction are travelling weight to fast, so windscreen damage and stone chips are nearly guaranteed. Safe travels.
Thanks. Yep totally agree 👍 we were surprised how fast some folks travel in those roads. One young fella came flying round a bend on our side of the road
Cheers Paul and Wenda
great to share your experiences and hear about what really happens when towing on secondary roads - what the sales person never mentions. dust entry would be a real issue on our gravel roads causing much cleaning effort, either on road or when back home. seems good door seals, plugging drain holes & positive inside pressure (how to achieve, eg reversed ceiling fan?) all help. of course storage compartments fare worst, seals are never perfect & don’t last. tyres are tested to extremes & experiencing occasional flats are normal. the dual van wheels + off-road tyres would help. fridge & microwave doors open from all the shaking that they were never designed for. fridge doors need extra clamping. the logistics of getting things repaired must be an issue in small outback towns. does the local garage/service centre typically have handyman skills? do they refuse to do minor repairs? or major repairs like broken springs?
do you ever consider leaving the van behind & taking only the 4wd vehicle when the roads get really bad? & what are the security & parking cost implications? on narrow tracks, how do you manage to pass? logically the non towing vehicle would reverse to where passing is possible. on narrow tracks if you want to turn around do you find there are there regular turning spaces where this is possible? obviously turning such a long rig 180deg requires space & skill.
Thanks for your detailed comment, you make some very good points. We bought our van for the purpose of towing to these places. There are places we just wouldn’t attempt. There’s only a couple of things that happened we didn’t expect (microwave n fridge) but for the most part the van has performed as expected
These are some of the costs of traveling these tracks 🥲
We found warranty repairs are very hard to get done in smaller towns
Cheers Paul and Wenda
Hi,
I’ve just watched this video and appreciated the straight talking.
In regard to the outback water problems, I suggest you investigate the Thirsty Nomad filtration system. Firstly, there is an external filter which neutralises the minerals in bore water and removes any sediment.
Secondly, the 5 in 1 water purifier, which does not require any electricity or chemicals, actually provides pure water filtered to 0.001 microns. This shreds all viruses and bacteria, instantly destroying them - unlike the other well marketed filters (not purifiers) pushed out to the public.
Before I came upon their website by accident I was looking at building a system of filters, UV treatment, etc. Now it’s one small filter connected to the filler hose and the purifier installed under the kitchen sink in the van.
Disclaimer: I am merely a customer and have no affiliation or receive any benefit for my promotion of Thirsty Nomad products. Just don’t want to see them out-marketed and disappear, denying me the future use of their products.
In regard to dust, with our back door van we had real issues before we fitted a large external blower that's normally used on earthmoving machinery. Now there is no closing of side or door vents, plugs in the sink, etc. Check out RESPA from Sy-klone.
Final tip: You’ve been lucky so far with your back window. Either protect it, and/or carry a spare plastic window in case it does shatter. Ours got broken on the Strzelecki Track!
Cheers,
Alan P.
Thanks Alan, some great info there. We will certainly look into it. We have just ordered a couple of shower filters through Clarence Water Filters in Yamba NSW, a water softener and a sprite filter to get rid of the chlorine. Thanks again for taking the time to share this
Cheers Paul and Wenda
@@beyondthegreyoz Thanks Paul and Wenda for the reply. For me, in addition to the no doubt very good water softener and filter you mention, I would still install the 5 in 1 hot dog style filter in the cold water line under your sink to give me peace of mind that no nano plastics or microbes are in my drinking water. Yep, you can tell I'm a belts and braces type of guy.
Haha thanks @@alanpickering1504 we currently have an Argon and sediment filter under the sink at the moment and also use a Best Water Filter straight off the tap.
Cheers
When you say you’d do it again but differently can you elaborate?
Sure, mostly things from the Arnhem trip, things like: we would travel slower and take more breaks, pack the fridge differently (don’t have heavy things in the door shelves), three weeks was too long at Gove boat club for us but would’ve liked an extra week at the walkabout lodge, some of the best sites were camping only but we could’ve booked them and only done a day visit as we couldn’t take the van in to them
Hope that helps 😉
Cheers Paul and Wenda
Maybe you could wedge some cardboard around the microwave door or keep the door opened by stuffing a pillow in there and an ocky strap to keep it tight.
I wouldn't lie a lcd tv flat they are supposed to stay upright.
Yeah we need to do something, can’t keep buying new microwaves 🤦♂️
Thanks 👍
Are you still full time in the van?
We sure are, we are traveling around the Northern Rivers NSW in Byron now then off to Mullumbimby over Christmas
Cheers
Awesome! So I think what you're saying is you'd do one big 'destination trip' a year (e.g Gibb, Cape York)
@@eddieadventures2298 yes exactly 👍 we still love this lifestyle but can only manage one of those big trip each year