So figured since i'm now home with the van i'd put up a bit of a write up of the trip. Chucked a couple of pics in for proof lol
Total Driving Distance was 6400km (rounded)
7 Days on the Road
Total Diesel costs $1400 (rounded up)
The Plan was Darwin - Barkly Homestead - Longreach - Ipswich (Van) - Tambo - Mt Isa - Tennant Creek - Darwin. This changed on the way back.
Day 1: Darwin to Barkly Homestead - 1100km
Loaded and ready to go. Yes the paint is stuffed on the van
Not much to write home about. Left Darwin at 0530, Set the cruise control onto 130km/h and just burnt the km's away with podcasts and uni lectures playing on the stereo.
Fuel stop at Elliot
Had never turned left at threeways, so it was nice to see a different stretch of highway for awhile. Rolled into Barkly homestead around 6pm. Dinner, beer, study and bed. Cried as I put fuel into the D40. Has been years since i've seen diesel above 180c/lt.
Day 2: Barkly Homestead to Longreach - 1100km
Looking East down the Barkly Highway
Got up at the crack of dawn. Made a very, very large coffee and continued to cannonball run east.
Hit the NT/QLD border. It was like passing into the twilight zone....In the NT it's all Landcruisers and Hilux's. Past the border and it was all Patrols, Navaras (to my complete surprise) and Dmax's. Very odd.
I apologise for any broken screens....
Also got to see the progression that is camping I believe. Between the Border and Camooweal I passed, In order.
- Ute full of camping gear
- Ute with Roof top tent
- Patrol pulling a Camp trailer
- Someone pulling an Expanda
- A full blown New Age full van
- And an RV...
The Road from MT Isa to Winton was destroyed and i was at times down at 100km dodging pot holes and wildlife. Got into Longreach about 8pm.
Day 3 - Longreach to Ipswich - 1150km
Bit of water just after Augathella
The end is in sight. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind long drives, but I was looking forward to not staring down the barrels of another 12 hour day on the road.
Also, the rain didn't stop. From Longreach to parking up for the night at some friends place in Ipswich, it was constant and never ending rain. Rain = Potholes. Outside Miles I spent a fair chunk of time on the wrong side of the road due to washouts. Also a fair few creek and river crossings were quite close to coming over the roads.
Days 4 and 5 I spent in Ipswich getting the last of the caravan stuff sorted, letting feeling return to my numb arse and getting ready for the return trip. At least this time I wouldn't be by myself and my mate offered to ride shotgun/co-drive the trip back.
I also discovered that the D40 doesn't like reversing with anything on the towbar up any slight incline. My clutch got particularly angry with me.....
The return trip I allowed 4 days and an average of about 750km a day to allow for slower drives, getting used to the caravan on the back of the D40 and any teething problems we may have had.
Turns out the Expanda loves sitting on 105km/h.
Day 6 - Ipswich to (Planned) Tambo but pushed through to Longreach - 1150km
On the road again....
We hit the road early. The drive out of Ipswich we discovered quite quickly that, even loaded, the D40 was pulling the van without any issues and the km's just started to blow by. We stopped every 250ish km's to change drivers and refuel. Old habit of mine on the long drives is at half tank I start to look for a servo, this timed in well with the caravan, I worked out that I was losing about 100km a tank based on the refuel stops. Not too bad. 650km without the van, 500 - 550km with (to empty).
Chilling just passed Miles
By about 3pm we hit tambo feel fresh and not like we had just driven for 9 hours. Made the call to push the drive into Longreach. Closer to home and we felt fine so off we shot. Called Longreach tourist park and they set us aside an ensuite site, $55 for the night, and gave us the site number as we'd be in and out before reception was open.
Not much to say about the park. It was dark when we got there and dark when we left. But the ensuite was clean, the facilites did the job.
IT was here we worked out we may have had an issue with the gas on the van. Couldn't get the Outside BBQ or inside burners to ignite. We couldn't hear or smell any gas in the lines, and I'd out a new, full, bottle on before we left... Oh well, frozen dinner in the microwave it was.
Day 7 - (Planned) Tambo to Mt Isa (achieved) Longreach to Barkly Homestead - 1100km
...Yeah....Ummmm....Somewhere between Camooweal and Barkly Homestead....I Think....
So, we found ourselves 300 odd km further in the drive than we thought, so we figured we'd see how we felt at Camooweal and again, if we felt good, we'd push to Barkly Homestead. This would bring us some 700km closer to home and would eliminate an extra night on the road. Not going to be upset about getting home to the girls a night sooner.
Again, hit the road early and just drove. Heaps of places I would have like to explore a bit. The QANTAS museum, The RFDS exhibit in Winton...but we had a target to achieve. So we settled in for another 12 hours at the wheel.
Cloncurry smoko break with photo bomb from the co-driver
Getting into Barkly Homestead around 8pm that night. The last 200km was in hellacious rain, trucks that struggled to stay on their sides of the road, big winds.....I was relieved to park up for the night without totaling Us, the D40 and/or the van....
Parked up at Barkly Homestead (day of leaving)
It was here I caved after trying again to get the gas to work (I wanted my steak dammit) and called the old owner who politely reminded me that I need to PUSH the gas taps in when lighting the burners..............Yeah I felt like and idiot.......I blame 24 hours at the wheel for this oversight.
Day 8 - (Planned) Mt Isa to Tennant Creek (achieved) Barkly Homestead to Home! - 1100km
Adelaide River, final driver change before home.
We played leap frog with a bunch of RAAF guys in convoy coming back from exercise in NSW. But it was nice to turn North on the Stuart highway and avoid a night in Tennant Creek (I lived there for 6 months when I was born, and that 6 months too long).
The drive home was nothing to really write about. Long, Hot (right into the sun), straight as an arrow roads and boring.... But we got back to Darwin around 8:30pm.
Dunmarra. Nothing else to say.
I would like to do the drive again and we will over the coming years to go and see family and friends, but take our time and actually enjoy the stops, see the sights etc. But this trip was with 1 goal, get the van and get home ASAP.
The van is everything and more I could have asked for. The beds are super comfy, the A/C works incredibly well, the previous owners kept amazing care of it, it barely looks used. It towed well and had 0 issues. We have got (not shown) a full annex kit, 160w folding solar panel, 100AH battery, all the leads, hoses, chocks, ramps, adapters, fans, porta potti, ensuite tent and odds and ends that we would have brought, the last owners just tossed in for us.
Off to get NT rego sorted today, then next weekend we head off for 3 days with the family for Easter, our first official holiday with the caravan.
And some quick pics of the Van (I mean, you all know what a 16.49 looks like.)
The Wife, Kiddo and I cannot wait to start our adventures with this, now we finally have it home.
