Bout time for a catch up I think Cuppa! Am home for a bit again at the moment. Have you done the Creb Track yet? Good weather for some lunch and a swim on the track maybe?
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Bout time for a catch up I think Cuppa! Am home for a bit again at the moment. Have you done the Creb Track yet? Good weather for some lunch and a swim on the track maybe?
There you go @Cuppa, how you you refuse an offer like that?Quote:
Originally Posted by FNQGU
That or I might be drinking green tea in the jungle...
G'day Ben ......... have sent you a PM. Will be good to finally meet (& to pick your brains about the Cape).
Got it. Will give you a call shortly.
I have a bit of a list of places for you somewhere. Did it up a while ago but will find it and bring it up along with a map and give you some ideas.
Another blog update. We are still in the rainforest.
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2019/12/08/rainforest-life/
Our time in the Daintree is coming to an end sadly, but we are looking forward to February up on Cape York.
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2020/01/23/...he-rainforest/
We left the Tvan & Patrol in storage & went up to Portland Roads, Cape York for 5 weeks. A taster of what is to come later in the year when we return to the Cape with the Tvan. Now back near Cairns & keen to get back up the Cape once roads re-open. Lots of pics.
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2020/03/09/...ads-cape-york/
Our Patrol & Tvan were packed & stocked ready to drive back up Cape York as soon as the roads dried out - but it wasn't to be.
Our Covid -19 Story.
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2020/05/03/our-covid-19-story/
Glad you found such a beautiful sanctuary, Cuppa.
After a Covid induced hiatus we have just added a new post to our blog. We recently managed to get away for 3 weeks to drive around the back blocks of south west Cape York, well off the 'usual' routes.
It's a 'bumper edition' with lots of pics & even a few videos of river crossings & stuff. I hope you enjoy it.
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2020/08/07/breaking-isolation/
Good read, we were up that way this time last year. Did you check my Mitchell River crossing Youtube vid?
https://youtu.be/o1N6dWqWc8c
Good video, wish I had seen it before we went! The water over the rock shelf on the far side must have been fairly shallow, but would have made it far harder to avoid all the holes than for us crossing it dry! The only vid I found was quite old I think & the crossing in it unrecognisable to what it's like now.Quote:
Originally Posted by TimE
Great pics, thanks Cuppa.
Cuppa,Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuppa
Just spent the past hour reading through your Blog . . . great reading and some great photos. Great to see you could get up North and follow the adventurous life style during these times . . . your the lucky one's.
I liked your comments about the rednecks as you describe them, it's these self centred 'Me' individualises/groups who scare the shit out of Me, as they pass through small communities and expose residents without a care, who may not be as well prepared health wise to fend-off COVID more then others . . . communities like my Father's.
I hope you get the chance to go exploring again soon, I enjoyed the read . . . thanks.
Grant
Not a blog post this time.
I mentioned several weeks ago we were looking at buying an OKA. Things have firmed up on this now so I thought I'd copy & paste the 'announcement' I made on my facebook page this morning.
Some you will already know if you read the previous post, but all the pieces of the puzzle are now in place. The Patrol will remain with us for sometime yet though.
Excitement is building fast!
Some of you already know our news which I've tried to keep a lid on until it becomes reality, but I have to admit to not being good at keeping secrets & have 'let the cat out the bag' here & there already.
As you know we are now into our 4th year of travelling in our Nissan Patrol & Tvan , a great combination, & very capable off road.
However during that time we have often considered alternatives which would enable us to cook & eat 'indoors' in inclement weather or when the mozzies & flies become overbearing. Many possibilities have been considered but eventually discarded either on the basis of lack of mechanical simplicity (computerisation of modern vehicles in my view makes them a liability in remote areas), poor reliability (which ruled out some suitable vehicles which were becoming to 'long in the tooth & needing ongoing repairs to keep them going) , cost - there are some very nice 'expedition vehicles' around but with costs in the multi hundreds of thousands - beyond our means even if they suited our criteria, which most did not.
The most important (to us) of the criteria was that not only should the vehicle be extremely capable off road, it should also be narrow enough to fit along the commonly found tracks made or used by the common 4wd vehicle sizes like the Landcruisers & Patrols, This ruled out most off road motorhomes, as did the height of many.
We always came back to our Patrol & Tvan as the best option.
That is, until we found the vehicle which I will be collecting next Monday! It is one of those older 'long in the tooth' vehicles, except it has essentially been 're-born' having gone through a ground up rebuild using all new or fully reconditioned major components thoughout. Being an older design it will need a higher level of regular maintenance than our Patrol, but it's 're-birth' has been enough to convince us of what we hope will be it's reliability to continue to safely take us well off the beaten track.
It ticks all our boxes with one exception. Despite having a brand new, more powerful than the original, motor & a brand new gearbox as part of the overall refurbishment it was horrible to drive! The clutch was heavy, & the gearchange not only in a reverse pattern to the norm, but also very 'vague' resulting in what felt like a gearbox full of neutrals, controlling a motor with lots of 'grunt'.
Not being an out & out masochist, but recognising that this was probably the closest we had ever come to ticking all our boxes, we decided to take a punt & hope we did not end up with what potentially could become a very expensive white elephant!
This decision was made on the basis of spending more money on the vehicle post purchase. The entire driveline from gearstick back to the axles would go, to be replaced by an automatic transmission!
The best option, & one already trialled in a number of similar vehicles which have had the same motor (a Cummins 5.9 litre 6BT) is an Allison 1000 transmission - combination referred to by some as the 'holy grail' of engine & auto transmission combos! A motor with heaps of torque at very low revs combined with a transmission which provides full power 'seamless' gearchanges using an electronic push button controller. No loss of momentum on upward changes, 'instant' manual changes possible at the push of a button & no cumbersome linkages to the gearbox (the primary cause of the vagueness of the existing gearbox).
Finding someone with specific knowledge of the vehicle, the motor, the Allison auto, the electronics, the computer skills, (yes the Allison is computer controlled, but does have a good useable default 'limp mode' if something goes wrong - remains in 3rd gear) the machining skills to fit things together, & the equipment needed to manouvre heavy machinery parts around, and who has good communication skills meant looking for someone fairly unique. That combination of skillsets in one person makes for quite a rare breed.
We are in Far North Queensland. (FNQ). The vehicle is 1800kms south in Brisbane. The rare breed man, found through friends in the very active owners club of the vehicles in question is yet further south, some 2400kms from here. In the past few weeks I have been a bit of a 'jetsetter' utilising the relatively cheap flights available thanks to Covid. I have driven two vehicles each fitted with the Cummins/Allison combo & found them to be all I hoped for & more. Easy & relaxing to drive, but fun too. As I drove it really wasn't hard to imagine us swanning around this huge island in one. One belonged to a friend, the other to Rob, the rare breed man, who as well as his own has fitted out several other vehicles similarly.
So next Monday I fly to Brisbane, pay for & collect the vehicle, & then drive it south to Taree where I will leave it in Rob's hands, & return north.
And so the vehicle...... drum roll...... it is an Australian made 1995 OKA, a rare beast - only around 450 ever built, but with a legendary reputation in off road circles & an active band of loyal owners.
This one, like many began life working at a mine, & was pretty tired & in need of lots of TLC when bought by the current owner - his second OKA. As well as the total rebuild (over several years) he also built the fibreglass composite panel camper/motorhome body & fitted it out. This and most of the major components are now several years old, but with less than 60,000kms on them. The motor, imported brand new from the USA is about half that, replacing the original Perkins motor after it had been fully rebuilt. Another friend with an OKA in Adelaide now has that motor as a 'spare' for the 600,000kms one currently in his vehicle.
As you can see from the photos the camper body retains the width of the cab. Many motorhomes built onto OKAs are wider, but the size was the first thing to grab our attention. It is just 100mm wider than the canopy on our Patrol. Of course it makes things fairly 'squeezy' inside, but we take the view that most of our living with our current set up is 'outside' & we don't expect that to change much, except when required.
It's set up for remote travel with a fuel range similar to the Patrol, & water capacity similar the Patrol & Tvan combined. Ground clearance is better & not needing to tow means we will be more inclined to check out 'interesting looking' tracks, which we have often bypassed with the Tvan in tow for fear of finding insufficient room to turn around. The OKA at 6 metres long (Patrol & Tvan together are close to 10 metres long) will get us to the many hidden away little camp spots accessible only by single vehicles.
We will make a few alterations to the interior to suit us, the main things being converting the bedding arrangement to one which doesnt require setting up each time for use (I have a cunning plan) & increasing solar capacity & will fit an additional 'panoramic' window at the rear to allow us to sit at the table with a view of the ocean when it's blowing a gale! Inside as well as the bed is a 'dinette', a small kitchen with stovetop, oven & griller plus sink with hot & cold water. An 80 litre upright fridge & a 40 litre chest freezer, a shower cubicle, also containing a vacuum toilet. A diesel heater to keep things toasty in cold weather, & 240v air conditioning (which we may or may not retain - depending on whether we have to relocate the under chassis hot water unit to make space for a transmission cooler for the Allison) addition to the cab air con. There is a 'pass through from cab to 'house'. The pop top roof is electrically operated.
We expect the vehicle to be with Rob until the second half of 2021 - he has to fit it in with many other aspects of his life.
In the meantime we remain hopeful of getting up Cape York next year in the Patrol & Tvan as we had hoped to do this year before Covid put paid to that.
OKA's are generally referred to by their build number. As the number plate suggests ours is number 356 (of 450).
Regards to all,
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Exciting times mate.
Going to be interesting watching Mrs Tea drive that. Those YouTube videos are impressive, can’t wait for a firsthand experience around the local tracks.
She might surprise you Jack, the auto makes it easier to drive than the Patrol & she's can drive that ok. I've yet to try it off road, but I believe the auto (& exhaust brake) will make this a lot easier too. Driving one is not what you'd expect from looking at it. More comfortable than the Patrol (& far less harsh & bouncy in the cab than Canters & similar) more like a tall car & being a cab-over a far better view of the terrain you are approaching, and strangely it doesn't feel big because it will do everything within the same space the Patrol uses. It is only about half a metre longer than our Patrol!Quote:
Originally Posted by jack
We were joking today about a friend who has a Canter based motorhome which he calls the Tardis - bigger on the inside than on the outside. The two OKA's I drove felt the opposite, bigger on the outside than on the inside ... perhaps we should call it the 'Sidrat'. :) I will look forward to giving you a drive in it.
New blog post - we are back up the Cape.
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2021/03/01/...-plan-renewed/
Living the dream, Cuppa!!
@Cuppa - As always, a great read! Keep an eye out for pieces of Amber on the beach and in amongst the rocks. I have several pieces that I found years ago on that headland, some with excellent bug specimens in them that I really should get polished up one day.
Apparently pieces of Ambergris can turn up too - way more valuable!Quote:
Originally Posted by FNQGU
Two for the price of one today!
Two new posts to bring us up to date
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2021/05/24/...g-tale-of-woe/
and
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2021/05/24/...s-in-paradise/
Firstly, so sorry for your loss, Cuppa.
I wonder if that bloke burns through house sitters as quick as a hot curry does your insides?
Thanks Muddy, I suspect you are quite perceptive. He did mention he'd had a bad run with house sitters in the past. I expect he'll repeat that to the next ones.Quote:
Originally Posted by mudnut
@Cuppa
Love the write-up as always.
My condolences about your father.
And such a shame that owner acted like a dick... Some people have nothing better to do than to simply act ungrateful.
But you still lived in what most of us deem as "paradise" ...
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
Bloody hell mate. Great write up. Condolences to you firstly, second. What a f*#kwit the owner is. You have more resilience than me to rude people thats for sure, kudos to you. Someone barks at me, I will bark back twice a hard.
We have survived dragging our Tvan across the Cape's Old Coach Road. Once is enough!
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2021/06/15/...oad-cape-york/
What an adventure! Glad you made it in one piece, Cuppa.
After the Old Coach Road, we've spent the past couple of weeks chilling in a couple of rather special spots.
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2021/06/26/...ect-camp-spot/
Keep on Living and Loving the Dream you Two [emoji3590][emoji3590][emoji106][emoji106]
Best write up yet, pictures & videos Awesome, Thanks Cuppa Mates [emoji106][emoji106]
A very appreciative special thanks too for the instant and highly detailed medical touring advice kindly received prior to your last departure. My copy cat DeVilbis Blue is enroute from QLD hopefully just in time for our NT work departure soon.
I must say though, initially you forgot to privately mention the Flatulence downhill CPAP situation, I have taken a deliberate write up screenshot now for my own future camp setup needs, Super Appreciated [emoji120][emoji120][emoji23]
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forum...021/06/129.jpg
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Here you go, a pic (& video) heavy blog from the Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival we attended last week. We loved it & reckon it's a worthy item to add to anyone's Cape York bucket list. If you fancy it you have plenty of time to plan - next one is in two years time.
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2021/07/11/...ance-festival/
After going back to Mareeba to get new batteries & the split water tank repaired we returned to Laura where we have been chilling out for the past 10 days.
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2021/07/24/a-few-returns/
Happy Birthday Cuppa Mate [emoji512][emoji106][emoji106]
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He we go folks. We reached Coen this morning after a week in Lakefield NP & another at a friend's station half way between the PDR & Pormpuraaw.
http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2021/08/07/...eld-np-beyond/
Thanks Cuppa,another good read....Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuppa
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@Cuppa - You could possibly also think about going out to Port Stewart and South down the coast through Lama Lama land. You would come out at that 5-mile camp basically. There was a 4m+ saltie living right up the 5-mile for many years. Scared the shit out of me one year when I nearly stumbled onto it high up a bank and well away from the water. The track down is remote but I heard that it was graded a few years ago. NPWS gated it, but it is actually a gazetted stock route and they have no right to block passage. Would pay to check though. If you do go this way, there is a little secret spot called the 1-mile, just South of the Stewart River on the beach. Bit tricky with the camper trailer, but it was a favorite of mine when I was based in Coen for a while. Big barra can be caught off the beach there when the tide is right.
South of that there is another creek (I think it was called the 5-mile) and then further down is an old outstation at Running Creek which had a good donkey hot water setup for a fresh water shower and great fishing as the tide changed over the shallow sandy entrance to the creek.
You will need the OK from the Lama Lama mob still I believe. Ask in Coen for the contact out there at the Port Stewart outstation or drop in and ask the boys/girls in Blue. They'll know who is out there now.
The drive around to Cape Melville and down to Cooktown on the Wakooka Road is also worth doing. I had heard that Bathurst Bay was closed off now, but not sure. Cape Flattery has been closed off at the tunnel beneath the silica mine conveyor, but still a nice drive, albeit with a pretty big sand dune to come back up if you do go down there.
Did you ever manage to get into the Olive River off the Frenchman's Track? The Wattle Hills area?
The other area you might want to check out is the Mungkan Kandju NP, just North of Coen and out to the West. It takes a few hours but is worth the drive to the end to Archer Bends. There are several very picturesque billabongs along the way to camp on and the Lotus flower type lillies that only grow there can be found if the wild cattle haven't trampled everything. Big crocs at Archer Bends too.
Keep those Blogs coming Cuppa, we are all living it through you at the moment!
Currently at Chilli Beach…. Wet & windy! Intend to go dow the Running creek track on the way south, plus the Cape Melville/ Starke Wakooka track. Missed the Archer river bends on the way up, as we had arranged to arrive where we are camped currently on a specific date. Hopefully will manage some backtracking to get there.Had our first Pfizer jabs at Coen. Probably get our second at Weipa, but here until end of August with another week house sitting on Cape Weymouth last week of the month. (Or sooner if this crap weather persists). Never received the promised directions from the folk at Wattle hills unfortunately. Posted from Chilli Beach via 1 bar 3G. (& lots of patience!)