Cape york.

I haven't been to the cape since '97, but the thing that will kill the forester is the corrigations, as others have said. In saying that there was a guy in a series 3 towing a standard caravan to the tip. He said he was just taking it slow ie very slow but was doing fine. He said it was his son-in-laws caravan and I quote "He is f$!#@ing my daughter so I am f@!#&ing his caravan". Another funny story, when I travelled the Cape and then Oz for 3 years it was in a 2A LWB. A friend's father said it would not make it to the cape and back because he read somewhere that two Cruisers had broken their springs. I just said well thank God I am not driving a Cruiser.

My 2 cents worth - it will be a rush job and there is plenty to see and do. As I remember you will not get into Chilli Beach in the forrester but a lot would have changed since I was there.

Cheers
Bren

forgot something.......me & a mate,no Bub,so there were not many stops& some real long days.i have done tripswith the kids years ago& they do slow u down.

anyway,good luck

hope this helps;)

cheers

disco, not the forrester....

you can do things to live with corrigations (slow down, lower tyre pressures etc)

what you will miss is the articulation and the fording ability of the rover if you need it.

Thanks Guys, Well someone had to provide a bit of entertainment on sunday night.:D


I guess the disco will be the choice of weapon. just thought I'd check.

I have done up to cook town as a young lad so keen to head straight to the top.

I do feel alot better now taking the disco with all the gear, as I would have struggled fitting all the stuff in. Now i can probably use the winch properly for the first time and have some real fun.

Positive side... can take more comforts to keep the misses and bub happy.

Cheers.

Will.

Will, I agree with Justin. I have just got back from up that way. Unfortunately I was working. I was camped just south of the turnoff to Weipa near Batavia Downs on the PDR. One afternoon a bloke in a Subaru pulled up to see if he could use the phone. His vehicle was in a bad way. Broken radiator mount, bent shocky and damage underneath. He had done all this on the road from Sudley to Batavia. After some discussion about the prospects of him making it to the top he decided to cut his losses, head to Coen for repairs, then a week in Cooktown fishing. Every year there are vehicles, unsuited to the task that do make it to the top. But they are the exceptions. I would not risk it with a baby on board and your time constraints.

I do Brisbane to Townsville often by road and have done Cairns twice this year in heavy vehicles, the road north of Ingham is in a bad way, with much rebuilding and repairs after the all the bad weather they have had over the past couple of years, road speed is down to about 80 ks nth of Ingham with a lot of stop start road works delays. I dont know what distance you are capable of doing each day, I quite often do Brisane - Townsville 1400 ks in a long day about 16- 18 hours depending on what I am driving ( log book hours slow me down) there is much to see if you take your time
Bundaberg it is a town that has a lot to offer the traveller / tourist,
at Rockhampton you have Yeppon, Mt Morgan & The caves +++ .Then Sarina & Mackay has lots of interesting places to explore and Airle Beach . Townsville over the last 10 years has lots to offer the tourist Cairns which is another 380 Ks I consider this the most scenic part of the whole 1800 ks I never get sick of the scenic beauty that one drives through fro Bne to Cairns.
From my experinces with 17 days and a young one I would take the scoobie doo on this holiday and do an about turn at Cairns .

Happy touring what ever you decide

Hodgo

On a funny note, how about the top gear guys who took a old merc a fiat a rover and a beetle across the Kalahari Desert. Funny stuff, but dont want to be them.

I will now re-think my time frame and destinations to comfortably do it in 17 days.

I have decide to drop Weipa from the trip and spend more time on the East side.

Ta.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hodgo

I do Brisbane to Townsville often by road and have done Cairns twice this year in heavy vehicles, the road north of Ingham is in a bad way, with much rebuilding and repairs after the all the bad weather they have had over the past couple of years, road speed is down to about 80 ks nth of Ingham with a lot of stop start road works delays. I dont know what distance you are capable of doing each day, I quite often do Brisane - Townsville 1400 ks in a long day about 16- 18 hours depending on what I am driving ( log book hours slow me down) there is much to see if you take your time
Bundaberg it is a town that has a lot to offer the traveller / tourist,
at Rockhampton you have Yeppon, Mt Morgan & The caves +++ .Then Sarina & Mackay has lots of interesting places to explore and Airle Beach . Townsville over the last 10 years has lots to offer the tourist Cairns which is another 380 Ks I consider this the most scenic part of the whole 1800 ks I never get sick of the scenic beauty that one drives through fro Bne to Cairns.
From my experinces with 17 days and a young one I would take the scoobie doo on this holiday and do an about turn at Cairns .

Happy touring what ever you decide

Hodgo

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Thanks hodgo.

My wife loves driving too and has done Noosa to Sydney a few times in a day so the distance is not a problem and Tara (Baby) is a born traveler too. so not to concerned about that.

I spent 6 months based at Airle beach so had a chance to explore the area up to Cooktown. (10 years ago) We even used to drive to Makay from Airle just to have Maccas.:o and back and bring the order for the whole town too. so yea i like driving too.

catch ya.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by willvine

.............

I have decide to drop Weipa from the trip and spend more time on the East side.

Ta.

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Not sure if you're aware, but you've more chance of winning Lotto than a calm day on the East side. Generally it'd blow a dog off a chain most of the time. You can be lucky, but it's rare.

Hey Will, saw your post and am also very likely to be heading out of Sydney on about the 14th August for 3 weeks. I guess you're locked in for a August 1st start, but if not let me know. I was on the TT at Mt Walker in the gold D2.