MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: JCOJ on April 01, 2011, 11:49:11 AM
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The wife has found out that she is entitled to long service leave so we have decided that for 3 months of 2012 we are going to pack up and go!
The dilemma is we are not sure how far we could cover in that time as we want don't want to get up and go every day, but on the other hand we would like to see as much as possible.
We have been to the Red Centre twice (inc Kakadu and Litchfield) so there is no point going there. We are in Adelaide so Tasmania isn't far away so could leave that for another time, and we have also been to the High Country twice. We will have the camper trailer so are thinking the Simpson wouldn't be suitable.
We are thinking do we head up and see Cape York, or go over to the Kimberleys, or would we have enough time to do both? We are also tossing up when would be better to go: either mid April to mid July, or alternatively early July to early October.
Looking forward to your replies.
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Adelaide - Flinders - Birdsville - Simpson (camper will be fine) - Finke - Alice - Tanami (sucks but better than all the way around) - Wolfe Creek - CSR - Wiluna - Kalgoorlie - Anne Beadell - Coober Pedy - Home.
Too much dirt? ;D
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Sounds good to me.
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Adelaide - Flinders - Birdsville - Simpson (camper will be fine) - Finke - Alice - Tanami (sucks but better than all the way around) - Wolfe Creek - CSR - Wiluna - Kalgoorlie - Anne Beadell - Coober Pedy - Home.
Too much dirt? ;D
If you throw in a week at the Bungles ... I'm coming too!
Kit_e
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Can we start from Kalgoorlie?
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Out my front gate, turn right, and where ever i end up each day :cup:
Probably get back to tassie for a month then back and across to S.A via the Coorong to the Yorke Peninsula then loop the Eyre Peninsula then up to Flinders Ranges then loop around through Camerons down through Menindi Lakes to Mungo then follow the Murray to back to Lake Alexandrina and home via the Grampians.
That would probably change as soon as i got out the gate though.
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Hi
we are in the same boat except it is hubby who has three months long service and I am taking it off without pay. We are thinking of doing the Kimberley just starting to look at how we are going to get there. We might catch up on the way we are leaving end of June
barb
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At the risk of being flamed, I'd suggest: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Dubai, Madrid, London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, San Francisco, Auckland and home again with fond memories of fascinating places.
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Adelaide - Flinders - Birdsville - Simpson (camper will be fine) - Finke - Alice - Tanami (sucks but better than all the way around) - Wolfe Creek - CSR - Wiluna - Kalgoorlie - Anne Beadell - Coober Pedy - Home.
Too much dirt? ;D
100%... Joff for Prime minister
Good point Kit-e.. loved the Bungles.. A Must Do.
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At the risk of being flamed, I'd suggest: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Dubai, Madrid, London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, San Francisco, Auckland and home again with fond memories of fascinating places.
LOL
Great suggestion!
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We plan the same idea for our next long service, 2015. We're going to do the west coast clockwise, starting at the bottom then down the centre and back to MEL.
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At the risk of being flamed, I'd suggest: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Dubai, Madrid, London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, San Francisco, Auckland and home again with fond memories of fascinating places.
not enugh dirt.. And besides, cost a bomb to get the Cruiser and camper to those places.. you'd have to stay in hotels and that would just suck >:D
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Pack the rig
Out the front gate , Flip coin left / heads Tails / right Droped / who cares
Go with the wind
Be up for any thing .
An overview could be handy but it will happen eventully
when you get back you will have met many people , had interesting times seen lots & mostly unplanned . Now dosent that sound more exciting :cheers:
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If it was me I would do either the Kimberley or Cape York. Once you have made that decission then work out which way there and back.
Trevor
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If it was me I would do either the Kimberley or Cape York. Once you have made that decission then work out which way there and back.
Trevor
That's just it - we want to do both - just wondering if we will have the time.
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Well I think you should come and see us...The kimberly is looking good this year. Tons of rain so the Gibb will be great as well as all the Gorges along the way.. Wettest wet on record has to be worth a look...IMO
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What is so fascinating about Amsterdam?
Just another city.
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Must be the year of long service leave as we are going to do the same. We are considering going across to WA and doing the coast road through Esperance and working our way past Perth to the coral coast. I would love to go further (and have a fourbie to boot) but time and money dictate on both :-[
Anyone got a spare graft from a money tree laying around anywhere?? ;D
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That's just it - we want to do both - just wondering if we will have the time.
We had three months Long Service Leave in '09 and briefly did the top end around Darwin (a week in Kakadu, a week in Darwin and a few days moving through the Territory) and then hit the Kimberley. That, and the travel there and back, took all of three months.
We had initially planned to do the Savannah Way but we thought three months wasn't enough to see it all in the detail that we wanted to. So we decided to concentrate on the location furthest from us and keep the Cape and Gulf country for a separate trip. Best decision we made!
BTW the Kimberley was fantastic - we did the GRR twice, Broome, Cape Leveque, Derby (Horizontal waterfalls) and Purnululu. I'd go back again in a heartbeat.
Enjoy!
:cheers:
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That's just it - we want to do both - just wondering if we will have the time.
Yes, you will have time to go to both, with a big BUT. Do you want to cross them of the list, or have a good look. I suggest if you want to have a good look and get to know the area, only do one.
Trevor
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Do a lap of the best country in the world
Got a book called Australian Bush Pubs I go & check them out , mite test the old lambs fry out a bit lol
cheers all sheeds
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That's just it - we want to do both - just wondering if we will have the time.
JK,
Don't do both.
We now do a 3 month trip every year and do one major area each trip.
The great thing about 3 months is you get to stay longer at the best places but, we still never have enough time.
Do the Kimberley and do it well, you will have a ball.
Cheers
Parry
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3 month trip a year!! Thommo that is the life!!
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We did 6mths in 08 ,23,000klm [13,000 of that dirt], camper set up / packed up 52 times ,, its hard yakka , pick 1 or 2 places like the cape or the gibb river rd and spend TIME to really see the places , not just moving to tick off the '' must do'' on the list.
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G'day John,
Mrs T & I recently spent a month in Tassie, loosing two weeks due to a bingle. However, you could easily spend three months or more there. So much to see & do. You'll want a heater though. We had ours on most nights (10 Jan-11 Feb).
You could give the Kimberley & Cape York a reasonable go in three months. If the Tanami is open, Adelaide, Alice, Halls Ck, Fitzroy Crossing, Broome, Cape Leveque, GRR including Mitchell Plateau, Bungles, Halls Ck, Top Springs, Dunmarra, Cloncurry, Normanton, Mareeba (take a side trip to Kuranda & camp at Chateau TOPNDR), Cape York, home.
Take 6 days to get to Broome. 30 days in Kimberley (easily possible to spend more), 6 days to Mareeba from Halls Ck, 30 days Cape York (don't miss Cooktown), 6 days to Adelaide. Leaves you at least 12 days for the unexpected. ;D
ps, I towed a Kimberley Kamper across the Simopson in '08 with a 3 litre 'Trol (manual), so don't be put off doing that.
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Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.
We are now tossing up whether we go for 3 or 6 months.
3 months would entail us doing the Kimberley in detail and 6 months would allow us to do Cape York as well. But for 6 months we would have to sell our investment property to fund it, and that was supposed to be for our retirement. Decisions decisions...
For any of you that have done this - have you ever had regrets about having to sell something to fund your trip?
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Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.
We are now tossing up whether we go for 3 or 6 months.
3 months would entail us doing the Kimberley in detail and 6 months would allow us to do Cape York as well. But for 6 months we would have to sell our investment property to fund it, and that was supposed to be for our retirement. Decisions decisions...
For any of you that have done this - have you ever had regrets about having to sell something to fund your trip?
DON'T SELL the investment property.
We can now do our 3 months a year because we saved and invested for this time of our life.
We did not have a holiday of more than 3 days for 20 years but are now reaping the rewards.
Enjoy your 3 months now and keep the property.
You will need every penny you can save when you retire and have the time to enjoy it.
Cheers
Parry
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Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.
We are now tossing up whether we go for 3 or 6 months.
3 months would entail us doing the Kimberley in detail and 6 months would allow us to do Cape York as well. But for 6 months we would have to sell our investment property to fund it, and that was supposed to be for our retirement. Decisions decisions...
For any of you that have done this - have you ever had regrets about having to sell something to fund your trip?
Sell the investment property, to many people save to hard for their retirement and never make it enjoy life now!!! :angel:
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I have to agree with Parry, keep the investment. We to saved hard for years and now we are on 1 long holiday and love it. It is worth waiting for, just don't leave it to late.
Besides if you took 6 months off you would never feel like going back to work.
Trevor
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Keep the investment, i would rent it (if thats viable or maybe its just some land?) if it was mine, or keep it until i was fully retired and use it then.
Our plan is now that i am semi retired is we finish up our affairs over the next 5 yrs then we hit the road full time using the rent from the house we own to supplement the income, i will also do some work in my travels. Wont be in any hurry either which way and in mean time start the setting up process and still get in as much travel as we can. I just had my 1st full month off in 30+yrs.
8)
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We have had more time to think about it and 3 months it is! We will be concentrating on the Kimberley's via parts of the Red Centre and Kakadu Litchfield that we missed last year.
I'm in real estate and work on commission only so 6 months is a long time for me to get zero income and not be seen around. And selling my own property doesn't sit well with me - I see too often how much they grow over time!
Also, after doing a budget, going for 6 months will cost us 4 times as much as going for 3 months (doesn't make sense but the numbers don't lie!!)
Anyway we have set a date for our departure - 12 months today - 6th April, 2012 (the day school holidays start in SA after first term).
Thank you all for your input and now the countdown and planning begins.
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Good call.
You will have a ball.
Cheers
Parry
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yes good call, although you sound like you've made your mind up I was going to suggest to just pick one of the areas (Nth Qld or Kimberleys). It's not that hard to put in a few hard days at the start to break the back of the kms and get close to the destination 'area'. When I had LSL a while back I initially had the same thought to try and tick as many places off but when you look at the total Km's, average them out we found out there wasn't going to be too much time to 'smell the roses'. 3 long days Adelaide to Katherine and then you're cruising after that.
We've done the Kimberley's via the loop of bitumen and then GRR. I think they've both got some great places to stay. Get yourself a book 'Free Campsites in North West WA' It's really hand for the free rest stops. I think another has been written for NT.
cheers
Leigh
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Hopefully we will cross paths in the Kimberly with you - we are working to try and have at least 8 weeks off next year to go up there (haven't told my boss yet ;D). I don't have LSL, so have to try and get it in annual leave plus some unpaid I think. New trailer on the way in a few months with the trip in mind.
Richard