I'm a recent retiree and planning to buy a tow vehicle and off-road caravan to travel a few places that my wife and I haven't been to already and re-visit a few places. We are aware that many off-roaders choose a camper trailer because of less weight, easier towing, lower cost, etc., but we like our comfort and don't mind the idea of towing a full size caravan - until persuaded otherwise... One thought is to do what I first thought about 50 years ago and that is to look at that northernmost spot. How practical is that nowadays with a 2.5 tonne 4WD (possibly a Discovery 4) and a 2.5 tonne off-road caravan (possibly an 18' JB single axle or similar)?
We are new to caravanning, but have spent the past year or two researching options and have done some off-road driving and heavy vehicle and large truck driving in the past. If you have visited Cape Yorke in the recent past in a similar rig to the above, I'd like to hear from you.
Dougwe said
07:44 PM Dec 28, 2016
Welcome to the gang StewG, enjoy here and out in the playground.
Yep, research is the best way to start.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
StewG said
08:17 PM Dec 28, 2016
Thanks for the welcome Dougwe. I've been lurking on the GN site for a little while picking up useful info here and there from the GN contributors. It is amazing how much good information is on the internet. We live in wonderful times. Needless to say, I'm a baby-boomer, grey, (would-be) nomad seeking to roam with my better half for while before the effort becomes too much to handle.
Woody n Sue said
10:18 PM Dec 28, 2016
And it's welcome from us two 2 stewg another lurker that has come out of the closet hey great, stuff you certainly will find lots of good info on here some times the discussion goes a little off topic but don't be sucked into that just sift the wheat for the chaff and move on did I mention I have been doing just that for 6 weeks but that's enough about me lets talk about the twins instead
Woody
brickies said
10:26 PM Dec 28, 2016
I would buy a caravan for your travels and hire a camper trailer to travel to the tip , Maybe leave your caravan in Cairns and hire a suitable camper trailer in Cairns , You will need some comfort when not on the rough roads .
Cadpete said
11:34 PM Dec 28, 2016
G'day StewG, and let me also welcome you to the forum. I have not managed to leave WA yet as still working so can't help with your query but I am sure you will get some well informed information.
Maybe worth also asking in 'general' section as not everyone visits this part.
Pete & Marion
itilldous said
06:44 PM Jan 2, 2017
Hey StewG,
We are returning to this site after 8 years, back on the road soon. We live in Weipa, on the Cape you want to visit. We've been here for 7 years and manage the Servicentre, so have a fair bit of knowledge on what works. There is a camping ground that has a very busy period from Easter to September, our tourist season. In recent years we have seen more and more vans make their way to the Tip, which is where you want to go.
We have a Kokoda Challenger X-treme, 3,2 tonne, off road dual axle. We love comfort and tow with a Toyota 200 series petrol wagon. But, have to say the variety of vans coming through has been changing every year. We still have an old gentleman from Cairns bring his Jayco pop top every year. There is only 300 km of dirt left between Laura and Weipa, and parts of bitumen to the tip. Its not the goat track we used to know. During the tourist season, the road is maintained, but can still be corrugated. Drive to conditions and lower tyre pressure to 25 psi on dirt, no problems.
Camping in Bamaga or any of the surrounding camps site is fantastic and if this is where you want to head, I say go.
happy to answer any questions.
Cheers
Tracey and Kelvin
StewG said
10:04 AM Jan 3, 2017
Thanks, itilldous, for the good info. 300km of dirt sounds like just enough rough stuff to keep me happy and not too much for my other half to suffer.
Tony Bev said
08:20 PM Jan 4, 2017
Also a warm welcome from me StewG
Unfortunately I am not into off roading, so can not offer any advice
StewG said
01:21 PM Jan 7, 2017
Thanks for the warm welcomes, one and all. We've bought a tug (Disco 4) and all we need now is an off-road van. Based on the advice above, we will tackle the pointy end of Oz and see how it all goes. The fall back position is to store the van in FNQ and proceed in the 4WD, sleeping in the back or in a tent as dictated by the environment.
StewG said
08:56 AM Aug 15, 2017
Well we bought a JB Gator off-road van and have just completed our tour of Cape York. The development road unsealed section is generally ok with a few bad patches of corrugations and/or soft sand. The rig handled it fairly well with only a few failures. One house battery came loose and destroyed itself and its mate. JB covered the replacement cost under warranty. The microwave oven also developed a fault and some screws rattled loose from various internal fittings in the van. Overall we had few issues, the worst being the batteries and dust ingress - very hard to avoid. Like all things in life there is a learning curve and some precautions that we will take in the future when traveling on corrugated roads, e.g. lock wire or cable-tie critical nuts/screws, gaffer tape and padding for loose items - particularly hinged bench tops, stove grids, etc. We've added a few more items to our 90 point checklist before departing a campsite.
Gaylehere said
09:14 PM Aug 15, 2017
Thanks StewG. It's nice to hear, after the event, how things turn out. Cheers.
Hello,
I'm a recent retiree and planning to buy a tow vehicle and off-road caravan to travel a few places that my wife and I haven't been to already and re-visit a few places. We are aware that many off-roaders choose a camper trailer because of less weight, easier towing, lower cost, etc., but we like our comfort and don't mind the idea of towing a full size caravan - until persuaded otherwise... One thought is to do what I first thought about 50 years ago and that is to look at that northernmost spot. How practical is that nowadays with a 2.5 tonne 4WD (possibly a Discovery 4) and a 2.5 tonne off-road caravan (possibly an 18' JB single axle or similar)?
We are new to caravanning, but have spent the past year or two researching options and have done some off-road driving and heavy vehicle and large truck driving in the past. If you have visited Cape Yorke in the recent past in a similar rig to the above, I'd like to hear from you.
Yep, research is the best way to start.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
Woody
G'day StewG, and let me also welcome you to the forum. I have not managed to leave WA yet as still working so can't help with your query but I am sure you will get some well informed information.
Maybe worth also asking in 'general' section as not everyone visits this part.
Pete & Marion
Hey StewG,
We are returning to this site after 8 years, back on the road soon. We live in Weipa, on the Cape you want to visit. We've been here for 7 years and manage the Servicentre, so have a fair bit of knowledge on what works. There is a camping ground that has a very busy period from Easter to September, our tourist season. In recent years we have seen more and more vans make their way to the Tip, which is where you want to go.
We have a Kokoda Challenger X-treme, 3,2 tonne, off road dual axle. We love comfort and tow with a Toyota 200 series petrol wagon. But, have to say the variety of vans coming through has been changing every year. We still have an old gentleman from Cairns bring his Jayco pop top every year. There is only 300 km of dirt left between Laura and Weipa, and parts of bitumen to the tip. Its not the goat track we used to know. During the tourist season, the road is maintained, but can still be corrugated. Drive to conditions and lower tyre pressure to 25 psi on dirt, no problems.
Camping in Bamaga or any of the surrounding camps site is fantastic and if this is where you want to head, I say go.
happy to answer any questions.
Cheers
Tracey and Kelvin
Also a warm welcome from me StewG
Unfortunately I am not into off roading, so can not offer any advice