Goldstream Storm v's Track Shack

[AtkinsonCoonamble]

We are looking to travel for 4 months through the top end (NT and WA) later this year, and we cannot decide between  Goldstream Storm and a Trak Shak. We have two children, 4 and 20 months. We like the containment and comforts of the Goldstream (air con, full stove, microwave, TV etc.), however the off-road ability and versatility of the track shak is also appealing. Any thoughts?

[Gunna Do]

You would have to take a serious look at the places you are hopeing to visit, as well as the condition of the access roads for these spots.  If they are good gravel roads then the Goldstream would probably be the winner with all its creature comforts.  If any of these spots or tracks are a little off the beaten track, then you would have to look seriously at the Track Shack.

It's a bit of a hard one for others to answer for you, without knowing the exact details of your trip.

[D4D]

It would depend on how off-road you want to go and the time you will stay there. After camping next to a few Trak Shak's they are great if you have a large older family but they do take longer to setup. The Goldstream offers some reasonable off-road abilty but it is wider and heavier. There is a video somewhere of a Goldstream up the Cape which is interesting to watch.

Found it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inVZKomkMu4

[Gunna Do]

You see all sorts of camper and even caravans up the Cape, or on U-Tube doing all sorts of rough tracks.  Would I take my Goldstream type camper up the Cape (particularly the OTL) if I owned one?  I seriously doubt it.  But that doesn't make doing it wrong, just some people are prepared to treat their expensive toys a bit rougher than others.  What the long term effect on the camper/caravan is, time will tell.  This is no reflection on the build quality of the Goldstream, but has more to do with how you are prepared to treat your possessions.

D4D, would you tow your Goldstream where old Bud (on U-tube) towed his up the Cape?

[D4D]

D4D, would you tow your Goldstream where old Bud (on U-tube) towed his up the Cape?

No chance and I agree with you about just because you can doesn't mean you should. My point was you can take anything anywhere, as you and Darren proved, I would look at other requirements when considering the type/brand/style of camper.

[Knight44]

We owned a Trak Shak (for five years) before buying our current Goldstream Crown. No kids though.

As others have said, think carefully about what you want to do and where you want to go. We took the Trak Shak up to the Cape (but not along the OTL), it did the Gibb River Road, the Tanami etc etc without any problems. I would take the Goldstream (it's an off-road version) along most of these roads/tracks, but I would be very aware of the Goldstream's greater weight and size.

It used to take us about half an hour to set up the TS - it only takes 5-10 minutes for the Crown, probably slightly more for a Storm. The TS has a lot, and I do mean a lot, of canvas which was a real pain if it was wet. Unless you're slightly larger, ie stronger, than average you may have troubles setting up and pulling down the TS by yourself - both of us had to do it. The TS has much more room inside (if you put the moveable kitchen outside), but you need a large level campsite for it, much, much less for a Goldstream, and sometimes this was a real problem for us.

And if you're buying a second-hand TS, check to see if it was built in Australia or China. The quality of the earlier Chinese-built ones was somewhat suspect.

[JCOJ]

We had a Trak Shak and has no issues with it whatsoever and travelled extensively thru the Flinders and also the Red Centre and HIgh Country.

There is alot of canvas - I could set it up by myself and take it down in around 30mins but I am 6'2 - when my wife helped it was quicker but she strugged being a foot shorter as the canvas is all up fairly high.

Great for inside space, but lugging the kitchen outside every day got on our (my) nerves after doing it every day for a couple of weeks - and the fridges were at the other end of the camper (although having 2x40lt fridges was Awesome!!)

Tough choice but the Trak Shak was awesome off road!

[Heiny]

Tough choice but the Trak Shak was awesome off road!

I agree JKohn, it would be difficult to find a tougher off road CT than a Trak Shak. We found setting up the TS quick and easy, took about 10 mins max to set up, we are both under 6 foot.

[AtkinsonCoonamble]

Thanks for all of your advice. We are starting to lean towards the Goldstream for a few reason ( set up and pack up) . I was interested to read that you think that it would handle pretty rough roads such as the Gib river road, that has given me a little bit more confidence in the Goldstream. We are planing to head north in a couple of months with no real plan other than getting away from it all. We just want a CT that if we wanted to go see something we could and the family would be happy when the weather wasn't the best.