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Recent Posts
Jim Jim Falls in Kakadu National Park
Way up the top of the Northern Territory lies Kakadu National Park, a dual world heritage site that attracts visitors from all over the planet. It’s full of amazing history, nature and some of the most impressive waterfalls in Australia.
One of these is Jim Jim Falls. The drive in is fairly picturesque towards the end, and the walk nice too. Get near the end and you can hear the water running, and finally you’ll pull up almost entirely surrounded by giant rock walls, and water cascading down one side.
Continue reading here – Jim Jim Falls in Kakadu National Park
14 ways to keep warm when camping
There’s no doubt about it; many places in Australia have some pretty cool nights to be out camping. There are a variety of ways that you can stay warm when camping, and in this post, we are going to cover everything.
There are a few ways to ruin a camping trip, and being cold is high up on that list. No matter what the weather throws at you, it is possible to stay warm. Continue reading here – 14 ways to keep warm when camping.
Why I’m removing my HPD Catch Can
Fitting a catch can to a modern turbo diesel is extremely important. I wrote a post some time ago, covering this, and mentioning that I installed a catch can from HPD, or High Performance Diesel. You can read more about this here – Is a Catch Can important on a modern turbo diesel?
Many of you know that I am extremely thorough in my research, and like any products I fit to my Dmax, I spend a lot of time researching and weighing up the pro’s and con’s of each option before I lay my hard earned down. I detest buying things twice, and will pay for a quality product the first time over several cheaper units that don’t work as well. Continue reading here.
Our cheap and simple hot shower when camping
There are lots of ways that you can have a shower when camping, and we’ve tried a heap of them. These days, a lot of people run hot water on demand units, which essentially take a supply of water, and a supply of gas, and spits out water at what ever temperature you want. We have one, sitting at home that came with the camper trailer, and I’ve never bothered to use it.
They use a fair bit of gas, are heavy, and take up a lot of room. That said, if you have the room, and the storage ability for gas and weight, they are an awesome, convenient bit of kit. Continue reading here.
Swapping from an 80 Series Land Cruiser to an Isuzu Dmax
Going back over a year ago now, I decided to sell my 80 Series Land Cruiser. This was a decision that was not done lightly after spending more time and money than I care to think about repairing, modifying and improving the vehicle. The 80 series was highly modified and was a very capable tourer. If you want to know more about it, here’s the photo’s of the build – 80 Series Land Cruiser built for touring Australia. Continue reading here
Is your 4WD really suitable or do you need a truck?
In my opinion, too many people today are using 4WD’s to do a job they were never really designed to do. When I say 4WD’s, I’m referring to anything from a Suzuki Sierra through to a full size wagon like a Y62 Nissan Patrol or 200 Series Land Cruiser.
If you are towing a heavy trailer, this especially applies to you, but it also applies to those who have vehicles which are heavily loaded even without a trailer. Lets start with the basics; do you know what your 4WD weighs when its loaded? What about the total weight of your trailer and 4WD? If you don’t, you are living in a very dangerous position. Continue reading here.
Our secret to a big travel day in the 4WD
No matter what vehicle you drive, there’s no getting around the fact that Australia is a big place. When I say big, I’m not referring to just a bit big. Its massive, and to travel from one town to another can take a very long time.
Before having our son Oliver, we would do 1200 – 1400km in a day, without an issue in the world. They were long, tiring and boring days, but done carefully and in a manner that was safe. These days, we try and limit our travel days to a maximum of 800km, with at least a few hours of break in between and stopping for more than one night at each spot. Continue reading here.
Stedi ST4K 42 inch LED Light Bar Review
LED technology has come a long way over the last 5 years. This, in turn, has made LED light bars substantially more affordable, even for the better quality units.
I ran a 600mm Narva LED Light bar on the 80 Series Land Cruiser, and it did a pretty good job, but was limited in distance and overall coverage. Every year that goes by lights for 4WD’s get better and better, and cheaper too.
When it came to planning the Dmax build, I looked at the chances of hitting something at night in the early days of our 3 month trip away, and couldn’t justify not installing something to give me a bit of extra distance.Continue reading here
Solar panels for camping are’t really worth it, are they?
While camped at the Kununurra Lakeside Caravan Park, a bloke arrived on the campsite next door, and we got chatting. He wandered over to our mammoth solar setup on the camper trailer boat loader, and asked me what I thought of solar panels, saying ‘Solar panels for camping aren’t really worth it, are they’.
I felt a bit unsure of what to say really; solar technology has come in leaps and bounds, and I know for us, we’d never be without it. As our conversation developed, I realised he didn’t know a whole lot about 12V gear, and perhaps there are others out there who think solar isn’t worth it. Continue reading here.
Caravans vs camper trailers; what’s better?
The age old question; is it better to travel Australia in a camper trailer, or a caravan? You’ll get people on either side of the argument who will swear black and blue that they are right. In the end, it comes down to your requirements, and trying to match those as best as possible to what you tow.
Before we start though, I’ll be completely honest with you; whether you buy a caravan or a camper trailer, it will not be the perfect arrangement. I guarantee it will let you down in one way or another. There is no perfect camping arrangement. The only thing you can do is get it as close as possible, and be able to accept the downsides of what ever way you go. Continue reading here.
Isuzu Dmax touring 4WD build; a look into what it weighs
A few months ago, I was backed into a corner with the weight of my Isuzu Dmax. It was going to be over weight at the end of the build and no matter what I thought of the only real solution was to get a GVM Upgrade. This was done by ARB using an Old Man Emu suspension package.
This particular kit lifts the GVM from 2950kg to 3220kg, and effectively gives you 270kg of additional payload to play with. If you want to know more about it, you can read the post here – Isuzu Dmax GVM Upgrade. Continue reading here.
There is no perfect 4WD and camping setup
Every time we head away, I’m on the lookout for ways to set our 4WD and camping arrangement up better. Its an elusive search, and I can pretty much conclude that there is no perfect 4WD and camping setup. No matter what you buy, or how you modify it, it will never be perfect.
Guaranteed that you will have to compromise in one way (or more than likely many). The only thing you can do is make your setup as close to what you need as possible. The tricky bit though, is working out what you need. Each person is different, and wants different things, but you have to pick what is most important to you and run with that. Continue reading here.
Is your dual cab’s chassis likely to bend?
Dual cab utes are super popular, and for good reason. They are extremely versatile, and can do the job of two different cars fairly easily. However, as part of the package, you get a lot of tray or tub that sits behind the rear axle, and this can be very, very bad.
By now, you would have seen at least a couple of bent dual cab utes. If you haven’t, jump on Google and look around. Almost every week someone bends a dual cab ute chassis, and although there are many different factors that contribute to it happening, you start way behind the eight ball by design on a dual cab. Continue reading here.
The good, bad and ugly of owning a soft floor camper trailer
Camper trailers have been around for a long time now. To start off with, they were basically tents on trailers, and over the years many have evolved into luxury accommodation on wheels.
You can buy soft floor, hard floor, forward fold, rear fold or side fold, and sometimes a combination of. One things for sure though, soft floor camper trailers have been around for a long time, and are used by many, many people in Australia and around the world. Continue reading here.
Lorella Springs; a one million acre playground in the NT
Many years ago, there were two places in the Northern Territory that I read about, and made mental notes of. One was the hot springs at Mataranka, and the other was Lorella Springs. We’ll call them both bucket list places, and they’ve been on our to do list for some time now.
When we planned our 3 month trip up north, we booked Lorella for a full week; by far the most time spent at single location. To make it even harder, it was a 1000km round trip detour from our nearest stop, so why go to all of the effort to get there? Continue reading here.
A simple towing guide for keeping your 4WD and trailer weight compliant
Every day there are arguments, questions and lengthy discussions about what is legal when it comes to towing with a 4WD, and every guide I’ve ever read has not made things overly simple or clear.
There was an educational exercise done in the Eastern States some time ago, where a heap of vehicles towing caravans and other trailers were weighed in various ways by the transport authority and police. Majority of them were not legal. Only one fine was handed out with the intention of it being an educational exercise, but it proves the fact that people don’t understand what needs to be done to be compliant. Continue reading here.
What’s better; Fixed or Portable Solar panels for your 4WD or Caravan?
When it comes to solar power for your 4WD, Caravan or Camper trailer, the age old question is this; should you go with fixed panels, or portable ones? People will argue all day over which is better, and I’m here to settle it once and for all.
Fixed panels are attached to your vehicle or trailer in a way that makes them difficult to remove. Usually this means bolts, but sometimes they are riveted or siliconed in place too. You’ll find them mounted to roof racks, on top of caravans, on boat loaders and sometimes even angled as wind deflectors on the top of 4WD’s. These are wired up permanently, and feed power into your batteries whenever the sun is out. Continue reading here.
Larrawa Station; a great camping option between Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing
The drive between Broome and Kununurra is roughly 1050km by bitumen along the Great Northern Highway or 920km by the gravel on the Gibb River Road.
Given we were coming back down the Gibb, we decided to take the bitumen from Broome to Kununurra. The aim of our trip was to spend as much time in the Northern Territory as possible, and that meant decent size travel days. There are a number of free sites along the way between Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek, but finding one that we really looked forward to was proving hard.
Originally we had planned to stay at Sawpit Gorge, but at the last minute I came across a nice review of Larrawa Station, and we changed our minds.Continue reading here.
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