Sydney-Derby trip

Thanks for the suggestions chaps.

We may do the Bungle Bungles by plane.

We have changed our bookings. Elisabeth is meeting me in Adelaide instead of Darwin and will travel by train. Instead of alighting at Darwin on the Friday evening, we'll unload at Katherine on Friday morning. I think CEWilson has left Katherine so we won't see him.

Getting off at Katherine saves about 300km of driving.

I may get to see BigJon at Alice as we won't do the Alice Springs Desert Park Tour again (we did that last August when we were on th train - it's included in the fare). Unfortunately, that means we'll miss the supplied lunch at the Park :(


Oh, I was told that if I needed a room mate on the train, I only have to trawl the platform in Adelaide looking for a Swedish/Danish/or other female backpacker and offer them a cabin on the train with its own bed, toilet, and shower.... Hmmm. :twisted:

Ron

You dont need anything extra for the trip. The stops for fuel/accomodation from Katherine to Derby are as follows -

Victoria River 200kms
Timber Creek 360kms
Kununurra 480 kms
Halls Creek 300 kms
Fitzroy Crossing 340 kms
Derby 300kms

These are approx. I drive Broome to Darwin in 2 days easily.

Enjoy your trip. The Gibb River isnt what it used to be so dont expect too much of the low range stuff unless you go to the Mitchell Falls area.
The rest is good gravel with plenty of fuel and food stops.

Jerry

Thanks Jerry, that's good info.

I'll do some simple stuff with my daughter who has no 4WD experience. She wants to go to Cape Levique with me. She may be able to get some more time off to do some of the GRR.

Ron

Ron,
Are you leaving the Disco in Derby for your daughter? If so are you coming back through Perth and will you be staying a couple of days?

Yes, the Disco will stay in Derby. I'm flying back on a direct Broome-Sydney flight about 1 week after Elisabeth (who could only get a Broome-Perth then the Perth-Sydney Redeye).

Had I gone via Perth, I'd have dropped in to see BradTot and an ex-OTC colleague (who is a friend of Brad's) once again.

Ron (who still owes you some DVDs. I've bought a replacement DVD recorder so I had better pull my finger out!)

Ronm

Won't she need some tougher tyres than HTs up there? Would it be cheaper to get them down south and fit them before you leave?

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Won't she need some tougher tyres than HTs up there? Would it be cheaper to get them down south and fit them before you leave?

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Yes, I've thinkjing about that. I've got 3 near new 245/75R16 Cooper STs in the garage (spares from my P38A) and there are some Wrangler MTRs in the markets but I suspect they are the wrong tyre for there. The Coopers are better suited to a 7" rim (the P38A has 8").

If anyone has a view on the suitability of the MTRs, I'd be happy to hear them. I was gunna buy them for the Disco for my own use had I kept it.

I really can't see Lyndal doing a lot of (any?) off-roading that's why I wonder if the HT tyres would be OK.

Ron

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Originally Posted by p38arover

There's no problem with stuff in the car. They told me that (apart from the restriction on their website) all contents must be visible from outside the vehicle.

I'm not planning to carry much. Whatever we carry will stay with our daughter, Lyndal. Some will be her camping stuff.

I bought a cargo barrier off eVilBay last night just in case. There's a set of drawers in Brissie that I'm interested in.

I'm looking at staying on in Derby for a week after Elisabeth returns to Sydney. I'll drive her to Broome to spend a few days with her down there and to catch her flight. Then I'll go back to Derby.

Lyndal would like to do some of the GRR so maybe we can do that together. It would give me a chance to give her some experience in driving a 4WD and the use of low range, diff lock etc.

I'm looking for some suggestions for things to look at up there.

Ron

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May is about as early as you 'd want to do the Gibb River Rd. Particularly after the recent cyclone activity up there, and the BOM forecast for raised likelihood of late season cyclones.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by p38arover

She wants to go to Cape Levique with me.
Ron

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i hired a hilux dualcab and went up to cape levique, no fuel at cape levique, the only fuel available is from the communities which is a pain to purchase cause you have to purchase fuel cards from the local shop. i did the sums and the hilux didn't have enough fuel to get back to broome three hours later i finally got some fuel, it was a weekend and the eagles were playing so nothing was open.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weeds

i hired a hilux dualcab and went up to cape levique, no fuel at cape levique, the only fuel available is from the communities which is a pain to purchase cause you have to purchase fuel cards from the local shop. i did the sums and the hilux didn't have enough fuel to get back to broome three hours later i finally got some fuel, it was a weekend and the eagles were playing so nothing was open.

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Hmm, that was a lot of fun.

I thought about buying a jerry can in Katherine. Maybe I can borrow one in Derby.

Ron