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Thread: Lap of the Map

  1. #11
    Patrol Freak Mc4by's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mudski View Post
    Get The Big Lap dvd if you ave not seen it. Done by amateurs but very inspirational none the less.
    Will seek this out Mudski, thanks.
    As I lay there looking up, taking in the spectacular view that was the night sky and the multitude of stars I asked myself, where did my tent go?

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  3. #12
    Patrol Freak Mc4by's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cuppa View Post
    I'll second that, & add that whilst something like a Tvan is ridiculously expensive for what it is, you would be able to re-sell it after your trip for much the same as you paid for it. I have seen a couple of decent looking older ones for sale in the low $20k recently. We love the reassurance that their solid construction gives us & that they'll follow us hassle free pretty much anywhere we can take the Patrol.

    To expand a little on what ET has said - every little extra task, every extra minute it takes - when setting up or packing away - becomes a real chore when doing it every day over long periods. Very different to a weekend away or the annual 3 week holiday. Minimise the number of poles, ropes & pegs as much as possible. We love the Tvan because it is so quick & easy to set up/pack away. Whenever possible (quite often) we don't even use the tent section. Just open the hatch, 30 secs to put the elasticated bug mesh around the opening & we're done. Many use a variety of awnings with them. We carry the quick one with us to put up over the kitchen when needed, but have probably only used it half a dozen times since we left home last June. The main awning with 8 poles, ropes & pegs & heavy canvas stays at home, as does the zip on 'en-suite'.

    A lap of the map in 6 months? Can be done but it'll be a marathon effort, very tiring & you'll miss heaps. If you can take longer - do so. I 100% guarantee you wont regret it. I'd say you need a minimum of 12 months, but longer is better. 6 months may sound like a long time but it'll whiz by in the blink of an eye. Imagine rocking up at that special place you have dreamed of seeing one day & all you can think is "What's the point, it's just another thing to look at" ...... that is an almost inevitable experience you will have sooner or later if you are rushed .... & you will be if you stick to 6 months. The idea is to relax, enjoy & savour the experiences along the way & for that you need time. If 6 months is the max you can manage then I strongly suggest that you consider a 'half lap' instead.

    Our first lap (actually a 45,000km figure 8) took us 18 months & was wonderful, we 'picked the eyes out of it' but we still missed a lot. Before leaving it seemed like such a long time ahead of us, but it passed so quickly. It took 3 months before we felt we had started to 'find our rhthym'. If like most folk, used to daily work/life schedules, getting out on the road is about far more than just sightseeing. As a couple it's about leaving the 'norms' behind for a while & discovering/adventuring together. The hardest part of making that happen is 'slowing down', not being driven by what is around the next corner, but instead learning to really enjoy the present. No exaggeration about that being hard, it takes practice - for us it was that first 3 months before we began to 'find our pace'. 24/7 together, different roles to those we were used to - a few ups & downs in the process as we worked it out.

    Don't over plan & don't set a schedule for yourselves. Have a list of 'must see/do's' & make the rest up as you go. The best bits will be the unplanned/unexpected if you allow yourselves the ability/time to 'go off course/stay longer'. Booking ahead is for folk who like stress.

    There is much I could continue to add - travelling around Oz is my passion. But ...... if I were to give just a single piece of advice based upon our experience it would be 'Make a primary goal of the trip to find wonderful places to camp, recognise when you've found them & stay a day or two longer'. Not every camp is great, & we had many times , especially in the early days when we were camped up in some crappy rest area/gravel pit, wishing we had spent longer in the place we left that morning, but had let that 'need to push on' (I think it's a male thing) take precedence.
    @Cuppa thanks for your input.
    The T-Van is on the upper side of $ but I take your point about re-sale.
    The wife retires later this year (I did last year) and so the 6 months is just a number in reality. I take your point about rushing. We did 3 weeks in the U.K. and it was a sprint. We really have all the time we want and are considering caretaking at various bird sanctuaries. The wife is a keen photographer.
    I agree with the 'male thing' about moving on, so I will be working on taking my time.
    You make a good point about taking 3 months just to get in the flow.
    I will start with a 12 month plan now.
    Last edited by Mc4by; 1st February 2019 at 04:38 PM.
    As I lay there looking up, taking in the spectacular view that was the night sky and the multitude of stars I asked myself, where did my tent go?

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    Legendary GQtdauto's Avatar
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    Biggest Dollars spent on any of our trips was fuel , wether on road or at home the cost of eating stays about the same if not cheaper on the road .
    We had no itinerary and no real time frame on our big lap , we basically went down the road and turned left then kept going but we did use wiki camps a fair bit .

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    I am he, fear me the evil twin's Avatar
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    ... if you are into birds of the feathered variety then the early dry is THE time to be in the North (as it happens I was the Secretary of the NT Avicultural Society for a time many moons ago now).

    The birdlife on the flood plains and Billabongs is incredible before the migratory species bugger off... but watching the resident species like Jabiru hunting for tucker is amazing anytime.
    Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.

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    Travelling Podologist Cuppa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by the evil twin View Post
    ... if you are into birds of the feathered variety then the early dry is THE time to be in the North (as it happens I was the Secretary of the NT Avicultural Society for a time many moons ago now).

    The birdlife on the flood plains and Billabongs is incredible before the migratory species bugger off... but watching the resident species like Jabiru hunting for tucker is amazing anytime.
    We got lucky when we were last in Kakadu. Water in the billabongs had dropped to the level where wading birds could wade & do their thing. Result was wall to wall birds as far as we could see. Huge variety & in the hundreds of thousands if not more. Totally awesome. Watching pelicans hunt in packs was something we watched there that we had seen nowhere else.

    Mc4by .... now that you've told us that you don't have time constraints ...... I bet you wont be ready to go home after 12 months, or if you are it wont be long after getting home that your feet start getting itchy again.
    I'll also make a guess that if you are starting off with the intention of 'lots of back roads' that it wont be long before what may seem remote now no longer does. Setting yourselves up with something suitable for 'more remote' now will at least keep that open as an option. First time we did the Birdsville Track we felt *very* adventurous - it pushed our comfort levels ( mind you it was in a 2wd bus towing a trailer in November - when no-one else was silly enough to be out there) but now it's just another major dirt road to us.
    Last edited by Cuppa; 1st February 2019 at 08:43 PM.

    2006 4.2TDi ex-Telstra Remote area Camper. 425w roof mounted solar, 360Ah Aux batts, BCDC1240, Onboard hot & cold pressurised & filtered water, (25 litre hot water calorifier), ARB fridge, ARB freezer, Built in kitchen, heaps of easy access storage, 240v, 3” Genie exhaust + dynotune, 2” lift, 3900kg GVM upgrade, second glovebox, ROH Blaktrak steel wheels, Bridgestone D697's (now Toyo RT's), Redarc gauges/pillarpod, Hema HX-1, Icom 450 CB, dual rear view cameras, Onboard 30amp Victron mains charger, second glovebox, dual seat conversion, TPMS, Boss PX7 onboard air with 9 litre tank, 350w inverter, Steel bullbar, Harrop Eaton diff lock (front), Warn winch, Snorkel, Dual spares , 160 litre water tank, 180 litre fuel in two tanks (approx 1200km range) 2010 Tvan Tanami. (incl another 70 litre water tank) with matching wheels/tyres (& 3rd spare)
    A Nomadic Life (Blog)

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    Mc4by (1st February 2019)

  9. #16
    Patrol Freak Mc4by's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by the evil twin View Post
    ... if you are into birds of the feathered variety then the early dry is THE time to be in the North (as it happens I was the Secretary of the NT Avicultural Society for a time many moons ago now).

    The birdlife on the flood plains and Billabongs is incredible before the migratory species bugger off... but watching the resident species like Jabiru hunting for tucker is amazing anytime.
    Mrs Mc4By saw this post and now it is on our MUST do list
    As I lay there looking up, taking in the spectacular view that was the night sky and the multitude of stars I asked myself, where did my tent go?

  10. #17
    Patrol Freak Mc4by's Avatar
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    @Cuppa I have just found your blog.
    The reading has begun.
    As I lay there looking up, taking in the spectacular view that was the night sky and the multitude of stars I asked myself, where did my tent go?

  11. #18
    Travelling Podologist Cuppa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mc4by View Post
    @Cuppa I have just found your blog.
    The reading has begun.
    Enjoy! Which one? .......... old or current - both will have something of interest.

    2006 4.2TDi ex-Telstra Remote area Camper. 425w roof mounted solar, 360Ah Aux batts, BCDC1240, Onboard hot & cold pressurised & filtered water, (25 litre hot water calorifier), ARB fridge, ARB freezer, Built in kitchen, heaps of easy access storage, 240v, 3” Genie exhaust + dynotune, 2” lift, 3900kg GVM upgrade, second glovebox, ROH Blaktrak steel wheels, Bridgestone D697's (now Toyo RT's), Redarc gauges/pillarpod, Hema HX-1, Icom 450 CB, dual rear view cameras, Onboard 30amp Victron mains charger, second glovebox, dual seat conversion, TPMS, Boss PX7 onboard air with 9 litre tank, 350w inverter, Steel bullbar, Harrop Eaton diff lock (front), Warn winch, Snorkel, Dual spares , 160 litre water tank, 180 litre fuel in two tanks (approx 1200km range) 2010 Tvan Tanami. (incl another 70 litre water tank) with matching wheels/tyres (& 3rd spare)
    A Nomadic Life (Blog)

  12. #19
    Patrol Freak Mc4by's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cuppa View Post
    Enjoy! Which one? .......... old or current - both will have something of interest.
    http://cuppa500.com/Blog/

    This is the one I found. If there is another, please post it.
    As I lay there looking up, taking in the spectacular view that was the night sky and the multitude of stars I asked myself, where did my tent go?

  13. #20
    Travelling Podologist Cuppa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mc4by View Post
    http://cuppa500.com/Blog/

    This is the one I found. If there is another, please post it.
    That's the current one - 'A Nomadic Life'

    The other one 'The Big Trip' was our 18 month figure 8 in 08/09 in a small bus + trailer with a pair of dirt bikes - the link to it is below - at the bottom of my signature.

    And this is a direct link to the Google Map I kept of the 'Big Trip'. Each marker is somewhere we stayed. Blue 2008 & Red 2009.

    2006 4.2TDi ex-Telstra Remote area Camper. 425w roof mounted solar, 360Ah Aux batts, BCDC1240, Onboard hot & cold pressurised & filtered water, (25 litre hot water calorifier), ARB fridge, ARB freezer, Built in kitchen, heaps of easy access storage, 240v, 3” Genie exhaust + dynotune, 2” lift, 3900kg GVM upgrade, second glovebox, ROH Blaktrak steel wheels, Bridgestone D697's (now Toyo RT's), Redarc gauges/pillarpod, Hema HX-1, Icom 450 CB, dual rear view cameras, Onboard 30amp Victron mains charger, second glovebox, dual seat conversion, TPMS, Boss PX7 onboard air with 9 litre tank, 350w inverter, Steel bullbar, Harrop Eaton diff lock (front), Warn winch, Snorkel, Dual spares , 160 litre water tank, 180 litre fuel in two tanks (approx 1200km range) 2010 Tvan Tanami. (incl another 70 litre water tank) with matching wheels/tyres (& 3rd spare)
    A Nomadic Life (Blog)

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    Mc4by (2nd February 2019)

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