Planning for a road trip
In May of
this year, we are going to go on a trip from our home in Adelaide to Alice
Springs in Central Australia. There will be two vehicles with 6 adults all of
which are family members. We will be towing our trusty little caravan and the
other car will be towing a camper trailer.
We intend to take three weeks and will travel about 4000k going over a lot of
country Linda and I have already been through, but the rest of the family has
not seen before. So we are eager to show them some of Australia’s outback. Of
course, the covid pandemic may cause us to alter our plans so we are prepared
to be flexible with our itinerary.
In this blog I want to talk about preparation. It is important for this type of
trip as we will be going through some very remote country with no phone
reception. So, if something fails it could be a costly repair or recovery.
The vehicles will undergo a comprehensive service as well as the trailers, and
we will be taking a full set of tools as well as various spare parts and tyre
repairs as well as two spare wheels for car and caravan.
Water will also be important as most of the water available will be bore water.
This isn’t harmful it just doesn’t taste very good. Loaded with minerals, it
can be brackish and a bit salty. So fresh water in containers will be needed.
Our caravan can carry 120ltr of water but we may carry a bit extra in the car
as well.
Extra fuel will also be carried as it can get very expensive in remote outback
towns so if we can avoid the more costly places, we may save some money.
There is also the weather to consider, which some may not think important but
the roads we are mostly travelling on are dirt roads that can turn to mush with
a decent downfall of rain. It can also be very cold in the desert at that time
of year as well as an occasional warm day thrown in. So, we could go from long
pants and jackets to shorts and T shirts all in one day.
There is also the rest of the camping gear Chairs, table, cooking, plus two
extra tents, and it would be easy to overload your vehicle with stuff you may
not need.
Having a route planned is essential, so as to maximise your time away.
Distances between stops can be hundreds of kilometres in Australia, so if you
miss something that you would have liked to see, it can be a long way to go
back to see it.
Other essentials are a good first aid kit, and having someone that has first
aid training would be a good idea as well. These days modern communication is
very easy, but remember mobile phones are mostly useless in remote areas so
having some sort of satellite emergency beacon is very important.
These are all common-sense precautions that you would follow if you were
planning on travelling in any remote area anywhere in the world.
I have always found going through the planning and preparation for a road trip
just as much fun as going on the actual road trip, and it can make you trip a
lot more enjoyable with a lot less hassles as well.
Post Views : 230