Hints and advice from members who have done the Cape!!

[McGirr]

As we will have some members who have not done the Cape before feel free to offer advice or hints regarding food, what to take, what to expect etc to assist in preparations for their trip. Do it in the same as below.

For me...

Camper.. I use large plastic containers to pack food being non refrigerated in one, another for cooking gear on a open fire, another for carrying power leads, lights , led lights etc.  other items are shower tent with foam Matt's , generator, and other  bits and pieces such as fishing gear etc. The containers are handy when setting up camp as I just drag them out and set up around the camp site.

Car.... Fridges, clothing in fold down bags, deck chairs , gear that is handy when traveling to places without the camper.

Food... I carry enough dry food for the trip but for cold food I top up at Seisa at either the supermarket or abattoir that is close by. I freeze meals for what I will use each night as sometimes I have liquid teas !! I will buy take away at places for convenience if required.

Cooking Gear... I will have a small gas 2 burner BBQ in the camper and use a camp oven if staying longer at a spot for a roast. I carry an electric frypan as its ideal at the huts at Seisa with power.

Mark

[GeoffA]

Mark,

A good post, and we'll get some useful tips, but I have a question that I've not seen covered anywhere else.

What is the accepted ablution method?
Shovel?.......with the volume of traffic, wondering about the availability of "sites".
Long drop?......are there any, or is it dyo?
Other?........byo chemical etc?....

Don't particularly care, just wondering if I will have to make any special arrangements........

Geoff

[McGirr]

Regarding toilet facilities. We will be bush camping at Dulhunty creek and Jardine river. As you would expect these places especially Dulhunty gets visited quiet a bit so a shovel and a deep hole.

Where we camp at twin falls we are about a 5 minute drive to the drop toilets that are clean other wise it's the bush.

You may wish to take portable toilet but it depends on the woman traveling what they prefer.

All other places we will be camping at will have showers and toilets that flush

Mark

[dooguss]

Mark,
         1 thing i had on my mind  was where we camp during our trip were open fires allowed and if so do we just pick wood up when we set up each night or have past members carried there own.
              greg

[McGirr]

Greg

As you can imagine firewood close to camps get very hard to find.  We have open fires at Dulhunty creek, twin falls and Jardine river. We also have an open fire at the huts at Seisa in drums that are provided.

Regarding gathering fire wood it is best to set up camp and then drive off looking for firewood as traveling and collecting will slow us down. When we stop it is ok to have a quick look around.

Some members will have chainsaws and stack up the wood hence the money collected will go towards assisting on fuel etc.

Mark

[GeoffA]

Regarding toilet facilities. We will be bush camping at Dulhunty creek and Jardine river. As you would expect these places especially Dulhunty gets visited quiet a bit so a shovel and a deep hole.

Where we camp at twin falls we are about a 5 minute drive to the drop toilets that are clean other wise it's the bush.

You may wish to take portable toilet but it depends on the woman traveling what they prefer.

All other places we will be camping at will have showers and toilets that flush

Mark

Thanks

[Symon]

Also some good tips in this thread - http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=15278.0

[Frostd]

The one thing we did was make sure our vehicle is up to the trip.  Make sure it has had a recent service, all squeaks, rattles and oil leaks are investigated, to make sure they are not terminal. 
I carried two new air cleaners.  I replaced one at the top and one back at Cairns. This included blowing them out with compressed air every afternoon. I also carried, radiator and engine stop leak (never used) and extra serpentine belt, which I used on SteveandViv Paj, to rescue them back to Coen. Worked a treat (Patrol belt used on a Paj). Sorry Paj owners
CT - We used plastic boxes to carry similar items, including clothing, cooking gear, so you didnt have to go looking for them. 
Food - we chryovacked our meat from Tweed, for most of our trip, but then bought reserves from Cairns and Bamaga supermarket.
Fridges - We took two - a 50L and a 60L fridge. One in the patrol and one on the CT.  I designed a shelf for both fridges, that allowed me to put food on the bottom and drinks on top. Worked a treat.
Fresh fruit & Veg - We brought with us a styrofoam box with us and placed all the fruit & veg in the box, linned with news paper. It worked well, but we lost some veg. You have to watch the heat.
Loo - We purchased a thunder box loo and it worked a treat. The biodegradable bags that came with it also worked well and didnt soil the inside of the toilet.  I had my two daughters paint the top, so they got used to being around it. When it came to using it the first time, there were fights, but the two girls.

[dooguss]

thanks mark

[duggie]

Our longest stop over is at Seisa , the huts are powered so electrical items like a jug or toaster are great. That first cup of coffee come a little quicker with the electric jug. 

[jaycamrie]

We always take a small esky even though we have fridges you can buy ice everywhere prefer to put beer in esky then fridge,also for the fishos taking a opera house pot helps catch shrimp in all the freshwater creeks good bait

[Kris]

Weipa and Seisia supermarkets had meat already vac sealed.  Seisia supermarket sold fresh bread from the bakery cheaper than the bakery itself.  Weipa bread is in the freezer, and there is a bakery in the complex also.  I was surprised at the good array of fresh fruit and veg at what I considered a reasonable price.  We carried too much food, as we didn't realise how well stocked the cape is.  I did cook some cakes in the camp oven on the gas stove, but we did just end up buying jam/lamington/choc rolls at most supermarkets. 

For the camps with no loos, if there's a few going I recommend a pop toilet tent, even if it's just over a big hole, as some people walk further than others- we only had 8 people, and had a few close encounters!

Take lots of pictures, write down where you have taken them.  Process them as soon as you get home (people want to see them).  Go to Big W/Harvey Norman (or do it online) and make your photos into a photobook, as they are great value, look great on the coffee table and people really ooh and ahh at them. 

One of the most valuable things we had was the gps- lots of the tracks which look rather important on a map are not signed, rather labelled with a plastic bag or something!  With OziExplorer, have it plot your track and set it to save daily.  I ended up with a map of the country and a blue line showing the whole trip which is great to look back on (it's in the photobook too!).

Last of all, have fun!  Such a nice place, and you'll be planning your return!

  Kris.

[DAZnBEC]

With regards to food, we are a family of six, so we took as much as we could carry, as the food up the top is dearer. For kids we packed a heap of snack foods, chips, muesli bars, le snack etc. For the chips we pack the Pringle type chip as the take up less room and are packaged better. We mostly ate crackers or wraps for lunch.

Carry $30 worth of one dollar coins for washing machines and dryers. As for the toilet we used a plastic toilet seat and just dug a hole. It seemed to work well.

Regarding spares I did the same as Frostd, blowing the air cleaner out most days and replacing it when we got to the tip. We blew a set of wheel bearings heading into Weipa so spare bearing are a must. Take plenty of zip ties as they are mans best friend.

I'm sure there is alot more tips to come.

Daz

[SteveandViv]

Yea, as Frostd and Dazza say. A few spares go a long way. We had to use the Patrol belt after moving a few pulleys around to get us back to Coen so the point being you may want to work it out with a mate that has a similar track as you as to what spare s to take. Obviously they have to be interchangeable. We also did a few wheel bearing but as they were the first bearing to go in over 40K of traveling I'm OK with that and as we were with mates it wasn't really an issue to change them.

As for the loos we just made sure we walked well away for camp and dug a bloody big hole. If you see signs of Pooh Paper then move on so your not shoveling some one elses Pooh. We did have that issue. Actually in some places it was better to dig your own that to use the public loos

We took a few good sized logs for fire wood with us if we found a good supply then used them for some quick over night stops just for cooking. When camped for a few days we would goo off and load up the car and have a few beaut fires (Remember Kalpower frosty ) . As I took my saw (This is where you share, you don't need 100 chains saws. As we were coming from Broome Frostd left his at home, no need for two)

As for food the big issue is bread. We tried to take 3 loafs and freeze them in the Waeco when we could. Frostd had all their steak for the trip in his neat mod to the fridge where all supplies were at the bottom of the fridge. We only bought meat at the tip but we would stock up on dry food where ever we could.

[Beachman]

Lots and lots of baby wipes to wash the dust off, putting rubber bands around the beer/soft drink cans to stop rubbing through. All food/drinks to be kept in waterproof containers just is case they do spring a leak. (A car in our group had a tin of beetroot rub a hole. The juice soaked into a lot of there clothes which gave a semi tie die effect - Wasn't pretty)

Also a mini screwdriver set for putting screws back in your sunglass when they shake apart from the corrugations.

[bert56]

Take less food than you think you will need.

Bert

[cewilson]

My suggestions are more for the driving side rather than the camping:

1. Please air down.  I've seen so many people stuck in creeks up there because their tyre pressures are too high.
2. You don't have to take the hardest line.  You arrive at Gunshot, however you are how many thousands of km's from home?
3. Spread out.  Don't travel in each others dust otherwise it's plain uncomfortable, and can be dangerous.
4. Because there is so many of you, for your rest stops time them.  Say your stop is 20 minutes, then the first vehicle leaves 20minutes after they arrive, second vehicle does the same and so on.  You don't need everyone in their vehicle ready to go before you leave.  It sets that gap up straight away and doesn't result in the time delays that happen in convoys at a stop.
5. Mechanic sympathy.  Hard to describe but best way is be gently.  There's no rush so get into that 'holiday' mode as quick as you can.
6. Take a tarp or water bra.  It is worth it if a couple of the rivers are running high.  On top of that get out and look at the rivers first, don't presume anything as it's just as likely to come back and bite you.
7. Don't forget the camera!!!
8. And have fun.  It's a great part of the country.  Wind down the windows, turn the air-con off and enjoy it.


Cheers
Chris

[toddy]

I'm looking at going May/June or September... haven't decided yet...

But any advice on whether those that had soft floor campers, kept their awning attached or left it off for the trip.

Thanks,

Toddy

[McGirr]

Depending on where your camping if you have the room to have the awning attached. As some places camping in the bush, there is not much room.

I use a big tarp as it keeps the camper cooler and the crap off the roof.

Mark

[Diksta]

a quick question, i like most of us CT regular travellers have added a extra set of mud flaps to protect the investment which is our camprite. will these be hazard i am guessing they will be any thoughts would you leave them off?

cheers

Diksta

[McGirr]

a quick question, i like most of us CT regular travellers have added a extra set of mud flaps to protect the investment which is our camprite. will these be hazard i am guessing they will be any thoughts would you leave them off?

cheers

Diksta

Diksta

It all depends on the crossing and how much angle the camper is on and the ground clearance. I cannot remember any one loosing any extra mud flaps attached.

Mark

[duggie]

Take less food than you think you will need.

Bert

And don't forget you gas bottle.

[idlegossip]

Don't get complacent with your valuables. Just because you are in remote areas doesn't mean that there aren't criminals around. Last year I had my lapton stolen at Seisia Caravan park by local kids at 4.30 in the morning. I stupidly left it in the hut covered with some towels thinking that it was safe.

Apparently the locals go shopping through the CP on a regular basis.

[McGirr]

Don't get complacent with your valuables. Just because you are in remote areas doesn't mean that there aren't criminals around. Last year I had my lapton stolen at Seisia Caravan park by local kids at 4.30 in the morning. I stupidly left it in the hut covered with some towels thinking that it was safe.

Apparently the locals go shopping through the CP on a regular basis.

Yes a sad fact and this will be mentioned in the meet up at Lions Den. On another note Theo I think you chasing them in your g string leopard under wear would scare any one 

Mark

[bert56]

Thanks for the reminder Duggie. I forgot lots of other things too in the rush to get up there.

I hope not to forget anything this year.

I intend to visit Dan Murphy's and Woolworths the day before we depart Cairns, to restock.


Bert