Cruza Drivers OUTBACK EXPANDA 16.49-3 Trips and Mods

[cruza driver]

After a quick pack up in the morning it was a quick trip up the road to Kings Canyon and time to tackle the rim walk which I had done a previous visit. It didn't dissapoint with beautiful weather with the sun reflecting off the walls of the canyon and changing colour as the sun crossed the sky. The 6km walk took us 3hrs to complete including lunch at the halfway mark.





If you dont have time to do the rim walk you can walk up the centre of the canyon

 

[cruza driver]

Day 18 saw us driving towards Yulara for 2 nights but before getting there we stayed at a road side stop just before the Mt Conner lookout. We had a few mice running around again like at Kings Creek but not as bad as earlier in the trip. It was a 145k trip in the morning from there to Yulara where we got to at around 10 am before heading out to the rock.

When we were at the rock the climb was closed due to high wind but a few people decided to climb it anyway with the rangers waiting at the bottom for the return. It was very windy down the bottom so I could only imagine how windy it would've been at the top and by the way they were holding the climbing chain I think they were regretting there decision to climb!!

The weather was spot on till day 2 there when the sky opened up which enriched our visit there for the chance to see water running down the face of the rock. On our last trip there we didn't have a cloud in the sky so to see it like that was very impressive.

We also did a trip out to the Olgas in the rainwhich was also spectactular!
Day 1.

Day 2 we awoke to this which rained nearlly all day but I'm glad it did

 

[cruza driver]

I'll let the pictures do the talking

 

[cruza driver]

Here is a few pics of the Olgas also we didn't spend to much time out there on this trip as we were in awe of the water running down the rock



Note the small bit of sunshine peaking through the clouds onto the wall of the Olgas

 

[cruza driver]

After leaving the NT behind it was onto another road side camp north of Coober Pedy which we had a frost at overnight yet a beautiful starry night was overhead. At Coober Pedy we stayed for 2 nights doing an underground mine tour which involved a demonstation of some mining equipment which was very interesting. We also went out to the Breakaways and Dingo fence.



One small area of the photogenic Breakaways

The famous Dingo Fence




Well thats my last installment done and dusted!!! It took longer than the holiday, well almost LOL.
A big big Thankyou for looking and posting up your comments and if anyone has any questions about our trip I will try and help answer them for you. I hope I didnt bore everyone.....

In short I was very impressed with how well the Expanda handled the trip and would not hesitate towing it throughout that area again. The advantages over the Outback Hawk we had previously was the absolute ease of setting up and packing up which is a real bonus in my view of trips like this. We tend not to stay in the one place to long although we did 7 nights at Alice but that because we didn't want to leave HAHA.

 

[Bushman]

Awesome stuff CD. :love: your work, mother nature at her best at THE ROCK

 

[mfexpanda]

Thankyou Cruza

cant wait for our next trip now

 

[cruza driver]

Awesome stuff CD. :love: your work, mother nature at her best at THE ROCK

Thanks mate it sure was a sight I didn't expect to see on this trip

Thankyou Cruza

cant wait for our next trip now

Dont worry either can we :high5: as the planning has already begun for our next ''big trip'' amongst our weekend trips

 

[mfexpanda]

We seem to forget how beautiful it is in the outback till you see those photos and remember your past trips and you just want to get back out there !

thanks again cruza

 

[chartrock]

Well done, Cruza. We have seen the rock but not in the wet. You have wet the appetite for another trip out that way. Thanks for a great trip report.

 

[Four of us]

Thanks Cruza...i've put the area onto my to do list sooner now since reading/viewing your posts. terrific pictures

 

[Moto Moto]

Great pics mate, you are very lucky to see waterfalls on THE ROCK:whoo:

 

[cruza driver]

Well done, Cruza. We have seen the rock but not in the wet. You have wet the appetite for another trip out that way. Thanks for a great trip report.

Your welcome mate I eventually got it done :typing:

 

[cruza driver]

Great pics mate, you are very lucky to see waterfalls on THE ROCK:whoo:

I took plenty of shots the day before the rain when the weather was perfect but we've all seen those so I thought I'd post up the other extremes the outback can offer.

 

[straydingo]

Ahhhh...kings canyon. One of my favourites when me and the missus went up there years ago - especially lunching in the Garden of Eden and a little swim in the water hole there....

 

[Matty4]

Hey CD,
just finished your thread and update. It brought back plenty of memories for me as we did most of the same places last year on our way home from up north.
It truly is a spectacular country.
BTW. The dust patch on the rear hatch is from the plastic they use to cover the Expanda decal prior to delivery. Mine did that too!!!

 

[cruza driver]

Ahhhh...kings canyon. One of my favourites when me and the missus went up there years ago - especially lunching in the Garden of Eden and a little swim in the water hole there....

Thanks sd it sure is a little oasis so we saved our lunch till then also like on our previous visit and it was just as awesome.

Hey CD,
just finished your thread and update. It brought back plenty of memories for me as we did most of the same places last year on our way home from up north.
It truly is a spectacular country.
BTW. The dust patch on the rear hatch is from the plastic they use to cover the Expanda decal prior to delivery. Mine did that too!!!

Thanks Matty, your right it sure is spectactular up there also because it is so different to what we have down here and the sun changes the colour of the landscape continuously.

The dust patch yeah I didnt think about the decal cover causing that. I have polished the van 3 times since getting it so I'm surprised it did stick so well. We did have a slight frost the night before taking off that morning so I put it down to the lid being thicker there so the fibreglass might have been colder and still wet when we took off but your explanation is probably right. :high5:

 

[Jim and Tab]

great pics and your van is just like ours except we didnt get the o/b
just wondering where you got the outside table looks great
thanks jim

 

[cruza driver]

great pics and your van is just like ours except we didnt get the o/b
just wondering where you got the outside table looks great
thanks jim

G'day Jim I ordered the table with the Expanda as a factory option. There is a few different companies that do manufacture them that could be retro fitted, it sure does come in handy.

 

[Moto Moto]

Come on mate time for another adventure to read about to brighten up my days, I love your posts :first: