The Fat Lap

[Lucky_Phill]

Hi all,

I am pretty committed to doing a Fat Lap of Oz next year. Clockwise...


Not including Cape York.... but this may change depending on time and inclination and weather / road conditions in late April




Best to do this while I can and also having the opportunity.


Just putting it out there to all that if anyone wants to join the adventure, let me know.



Roughly......... depart Brisvegas late March... bypass Sydney and head straight to Melbourne / ( I may pop over to Tassie for a few days ), Geelong , Great Ocean Rd , several stops between Adelaide and Esperance, like Streaky Bay, Fowlers Bay, Ceduna, Eucla, Norseman. Lots of stops in south west WA like Albany, Margaret River, Bunbury, ( Perth, also have friends there etc ) then north through Geraldton, Denham, Carnarvon, Exmouth, Karratha, Port Hedland ( got some friends there ), Broome, Derby, Halls Creek, Kununurra and Lake Argyle, Katherine, Daly Waters, Three Ways, Mt Isa, Cloncurry, Winton, Longreach, Barcaldine, Emerald, Carnarvon Gorge, Injune, Roma, Toowoomba and home.

Mostly staying in camp grounds, the odd hotel / motel and certainly I’ll be in some remote locations.

Tossing up towing , between a camper trailer or a tinnie. If I get a tag along, then maybe both


Minimum 2 months.................and about 20,000 kilometers.

cheers Phill

If anyone has any experience, tips, suggestions, please pass them on.

I have the vehicle sorted, communications sorted, mapping sorted......

[ozynorts]

Nice plan Phill. As for towing, a camper trailer with a car topper and your sorted.

[Lucky_Phill]

Haydn, I have been advised that a car topper is not good enough for most fishing, ( WA )
and also, I am way toooooo old to be packing and unpacking roof top boats and motors etc...

[ozynorts]

Hey Phill, your not that old mate...... What are you worried about the snapping handbags jumping in with you??
What about something like this that you can tow easily and roll out a swag in to sleep at night.
http://www.seajayboats.com.au/boats/allrounder/

[Lucky_Phill]

Maybe a custom build..... similar to this, but capable of taking a 4.2 - 4.8mtr tinnie

[TheRealAndy]

I will be doing something similar but I will be doing it on 2 wheels though. Just did the Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne trip on the trumpy.

Have a chat to Linda and Brad, they are planning on doing a substantial trip next year also, I was hoping to join them, but I may tied up with work at the time (chasing a big contract at the moment, and still waiting on an answer).

[bluefin59]

Maybe a custom build..... similar to this, but capable of taking a 4.2 - 4.8mtr tinnie

Belco make one like this a great option for the someone who wants it all but doesn't have to have the comforts most women want for touring ,that's the way I'd go if I where single that's for sure ...matt

[Lucky_Phill]

I will be doing something similar but I will be doing it on 2 wheels though. Just did the Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne trip on the trumpy.

Have a chat to Linda and Brad, they are planning on doing a substantial trip next year also, I was hoping to join them, but I may tied up with work at the time (chasing a big contract at the moment, and still waiting on an answer).

Yep, Brad and Linda are going the Opposite way... anti-clockwise

cheers

[Lucky_Phill]

Seems I got busy. Couldn't get what I wanted off the shelf so undertook a DIY. Store bought item hits the $1,800 plus mark which is out of my budget. So far I have spent $480.00... plus 1hr collecting items and 8 hours labour construction. Only have to spend another $80 or so dollars and 2 hours to finish it. That will happen by the end of this week. All joins are PVA glued, screwed with pre-drilled holes and counter sunk, self taper metal threads in floor, Sika glue for lining, 800mm X-duty slides, form ply on top and Marine carpet to be added with ally angle around the edges. Some lids / access doors to be cut. Next job is to permanently install the invertor, shower, compressor and recovery kit, then the mattress shelf that sits hard up against the ceiling of the canopy. Tomorrow I get free wheeling hubs installed. Over all I am pretty darn happy with the outcome seeing as I had no freaking idea what I was doing.... seat of the pants stuff .

[Lucky_Phill]

Re-considering the towing vessel.

I have a 6.2mtr platey which is way too big to tow around Oz, but I also have a 4 stroke Jet Ski ( fishing Ski ) already set up for fishing.

I am toying with the idea of making a new trailer for it, but wider to incorporate a motorbike ( Honda 250cc MX ) ????

It'll have to be a custom build but should work out a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a 4.2 - 4.5mtr tinnie... setting it up and re-selling upon return ??

Thinking................. thinking.............. thinking

[ozynorts]

Hmmm, creeks, crocs and a jet ski. Sounds like fun.
Oh and you might want to think about some sort of midgee protection for sleeping.

[myusernam]

I have a similar canopy bit the rain drips down inbitween the roof and the wing doors. does yours? If it was mine I would just add some vynil so that I could sleep with the wing doors open. suspend an army sandfly net from the roof. jetski for fishing would be good. quite seaworth in the southern areas. coastal northern areas and beaches ok.

[Noelm]

Depending on how much you bypass Sydney, there is always a bed, hot meal and a shower at my place if you want to rest up for a day or so, plenty of room for camper trailer and the like!

[Noelm]

OH, make the effort and see Tassie, definitely worth it, try to do the coast road south of Sydney instead of down the highway, there is hundreds of great places to see and stay right down to the Vic border

[myusernam]

yeah what about NQ! cooktown to mackay