First Shakedown Trip

[fridayman]

We have been in Australia for about 2 weeks now, and the longer we are here the more we are sure that it was the right move to make. Tomorrow we are taking the camper out for our first shakedown trip before our big lap around Australia - we are going to GORDON COUNTRY for 4 days with my brother's family.

Our truck is still stuck on the docks, so a friend has very kindly offered the use of his Delica for the trip.

This is my camper behind my brother's Patrol, and his virgin camper in the foreground.

 

[Ben]

Thats great news.

Hope you have a good trip.

I'm interested to hear how you get on with customs/quarantine and then registering your cruiser over there.

I've been trying to find out if its possible to clear your own container through customs. I know most people use an agent. Are you using an agent?

 

[fridayman]

I think you need to be registered as an agent to clear goods through customs. I am seeing a mate later today who has done this and will ask him about it.

 

[Ben]

 

[Ben]

Done some digging and found it is possible to clear your own property through customs, so no agent needed!

http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/travel/entering-australia/moving-emigrating

 

[grantw]

Ben - just remember on the wharfs in oz they are pretty much criminals and strongly union ruled so clearing it yourself may take a bit of time and loads of effort!

 

[IRLGW]

you might be able to clear your own customs but I agree with the comments about the unions. I once imported a vr4 privatekly from japan into dublin and tried to do it my own way. They gave me such a run around and then tried to slap a €1100 bill for handling and storage fees (for a week). Luckily I was friendly with then CEO of the port and he sorted it out for me and I got 5star from then on, but could have been messy. Never wanted to import another one after that. Pay the agent as its a relatively small fee for the less hassle unless you are experienced in the area.

 

[Ben]

Thanks Grant.

Still going to give it a go.

All my paper work will be in order, and I dont mind putting in some effort especially if it saves me some money.

Its my property and I would much rather there while its being unloaded and inspected.

 

[fridayman]

I finally managed to update our blog with a write-up on our shakedown trip. It certainly turned out to be exciting! The link is in my sig.

 

[Gary Stockton]

Well, that was fun!! Pity you didn't have your Cruiser - things could have been slightly different - amazing how nature gets interesting Glad all was survivable though, and what an adventure for the kids (of all ages...)

As an aside, beware blue gums - they 'self prune' and frequently drop branches and stuff when you least expect it - some of them pretty big - big enough to do serious damage to your truck, or kill / seriously injure - so, despite there being baie of them, try not to camp right under them

 

[grantw]

Gary I think that is pretty much all gums. Especially after rain when they are trying to store as much water as possible.

Some of the limbs will be large enough to crush cars enough to kill as well - so to repeat they can be very dangerous.

Whilst on general camping tips in oz, always make sure the fire you light is at least 4/5 meters from the base of the large trees. Otherwise the fire can light the tree root under ground which slowly smoulder away and then engulfs the tree in flames (this happened to a group of friends when they were camping.) It can also take anywhere from a few days to a week for this to happen!

If a goanna is scared it will try and climb the highest/nearest thing to it - make sure it's not you. If one is running at you hit the deck!

Always, but always close your tent, snakes (and spiders) love finding there way in!

 

[IRLGW]

Funny it looked like you were still in the uk for the first half of that report! I fancied the second half of that better - the pictures with the sunshine. Good Idea going to oz. pity it doesnt have any elephants, tigers and meer kats

 

[Scott]

Wow! What an adventure!! Glad you all pulled together and came out the other side in one piece. Shame the other camper felt the need to risk it all in the flood waters, as you say, an expensive mistake. Although I think he was lucky to escape at all.

Hope your reunited with your Land Cruiser soon and have some great travels with it and your camper in tow.

Look forward to reading your future reports.

Safe travels.

 

[AndyCook]

An epic few days. Dont think you wanted the kit shaking down that much. Very lucky you moved away from the river

 

[Ben]

Great trip report.

Back in June 2009 when I was doing my big trip round OZ, I was staying with friends in Brisbane. They had suggested I go up to that look out and explore the walking tracks round there.

Some really good views and huge trees.

 

[fridayman]

We finally got underway a few weeks ago. There have been a couple of small hiccups, but it is great to be on the road! I'm trying to get the blog caught up over the next few days. I must say that if you enjoy offroading, then THIS is the country to be in. We've been trying to make time to get to a commitment in Sydney, but the blacktop is a bit boring. So everytime we need a break from the motorway, we look for the next scenic detour and soon find ourselves a forest track to go explore for a little while. It never takes more than 20 minutes to find a track, and so far they have been very interesting and very scenic.

Ben - we have already come across some truely huge trees. We went looking for one particular one near Taree called Big Fella, but our data connection was cut and we lost online navigation, so had to focus on not getting lost.