brandy234
X-TRAIL NEWBIE
Date Registered: 12-2016
TOTAL POSTS: 6
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Lap around oz with the Nipper
I bought my T30 back in January as a cheap ferry to work and the occasional camping trip. How things change!
By mid year my partner had convinced me to leave my job and go on a trip around Australia. We began looking at camper trailers after quickly realising our tent was not going to work out well.
My parents came to the rescue, kindly offering the loan of a small caravan they had acquired last year, a 1988 Viscount Nipper.
After some serious work adding things to the car (roof box, driving lights, shelf, Anderson plug) and the van (deep cycle batteries, led lighting, USB sockets, bigger water tank, water pump, jerry can holder) we finally set off in early August with a loose plan of travelling anti-clockwise.
Our first stop was Bathurst to test out the rig on a lap of Mount Panorama.
During our first week on th road, I quickly realised the rear springs weren't up to the job.
So these were replaced with a heavy duty set in Tweed Heads.
This meant the adventure could continue and we headed up the QLD coast to what is still our favourite spot, Noosa North Shore
Unfortunately the inland tracks near Rainbow Beach had a few bumps and we managed to tear some engine mounts. These were fixed after an ordeal with mechanics.
We spent some time driving up the coast, as far as Cape Tribulation. We took "Xena" the X-Trail up the Bloomfield Track and back, it was rough but Xena didn't seem bothered.
We then headed west to Normanton, which had a different feel to the rainforests of the Daintree.
Entering the NT had us staying at a nice free camp
Xena has got filthy several times
We then headed south via Alice Springs to Uluru, where we found our own private sand dune (kindly accessed by Xena and 18psi tyre pressures) for a sunset viewing of the rock
Back north and visits of Litchfield National Park and Darwin had us feeling the heat - by October the wet season build-up was on.
We quickly turned west through the Kimberley, being pleasantly surprised by Kununurra.
In search of a real beach, we continued on to Broome where driving on to Cable Beach at sunset became our new hobby
Just north of Broome were some pristine empty beaches and awesome tracks, which Xena was most happy to explore
By Karratha we had an inner cv failing. Thankfully we had a friend in town with a driveway and more thankfully the local Repco had a full driveshaft in stock.
We are now in Perth after a quick trip to the Margaret River region
We're working here for the Christmas break before we continue our journey - across the Nullarbor back east.
This is a tiny selection of the photos and stories. If you're interested we have a facebook page at A Brave Adventure.
I'll do my best to update this as I can.
Last edited by brandy234, 24/Dec/2016, 6:19 pm
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5/Dec/2016, 10:14 am
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jalalski
Date Registered: 02-2004
Location: SUTHERLAND, SYDNEY
TOTAL POSTS: 29100
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Re:
Photos fixed
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5/Dec/2016, 9:45 pm
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jalalski
Date Registered: 02-2004
Location: SUTHERLAND, SYDNEY
TOTAL POSTS: 29100
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Re:
Sorry mate, just keep using the previous one, as you're only allowed to use one username. This one will now be disabled (brandy57)
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24/Dec/2016, 9:48 pm
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