THE 4WD CAMPERVAN GUIDE TO Outback Touring information and techniques for getting the most from any outback adventure EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TOURING OUTBACK AUSTRALIA • • offroad campervans • highways & tracks • remote travel • free camping • 4WD for novices • outback routes • & much more From the Publishers of Outback Crossing COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER Copyright Notice Copyright © 2013 Outback Crossing ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Except as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this book (The 4WD Campervan Guide to Outback Touring) may in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or any other means, be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be broadcast or transmitted without the prior permission in writing of the owners of outbackcrossing.com.au. Printing this guide for your own personal use is permitted under the Copyright Act. Disclaimer The content contained in this guide is for general information purposes only. 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CONTENTS Introduction.............................................................. 1 Who can tour the outback................................................... 2 What is a campervan . 3 Where and what is the Outback .............................................. 5 What do you need to bring .................................................. 7 What does it cost ........................................................ 10 Is it Safe . 14 What about the animals ................................................... 15 Licenses, Road Rules & the States .......................................... 18 Driving on Australian Roads ............................................... 20 What Makes a Good 4WD Camper .......................................... 25 Things To Do and See .................................................... 27 Where to Sleep ......................................................... 30 Food on the Road ....................................................... 33 Remote Travel . 36 Aboriginal People, Travel Permits and Indigenous Lands ......................... 42 Driving and Target Fixation ................................................ 51 How to Operate a Four Wheel Drive ......................................... 54 How to Drive on Sand . 60 How to Drive on Rocks ................................................... 62 How to Drive in Mud ...................................................... 64 How to Make a River Crossing ............................................. 66 Five Outback Tracks . 68 The Tanami Track ....................................................... 69 The Birdsville Track ..................................................... 73 Great Central and Tjukaruru Roads .......................................... 77 Gibb River Road and Kalumburu Road........................................ 82 Canning Stock Route . 89 Enjoy The Outback ...................................................... 95 INTRODUCTION Hello and Welcome to the The 4WD Campervan Guide to Outback Touring. Thank you for your interest, thanks for buying the guide and we hope we can answer some of your questions and offer some insights on getting around the Australian Outback. The first few pages of this guide cover the basics, just a primer to explain the concept of travelling in a campervan and more importantly, a campervan that can take you off-road. The next pages are to ease any fears that you may have about getting out on the open road and getting close to the bush. We then run through a few basics on how people actually live out of a campervan and then go on to tell explain about travelling in remote areas and how we deal with indigenous communities, permits or breakdowns. There are also pages on 4WD driving techniques with the article on Target Fixation applying to both on and off road driving. Finally we’ve outlined five different outback tracks, routes that have become famous journeys through different regions of the Australian interior. Thanks again, we hope you enjoy the guide and we know you’ll enjoy touring the outback. © www.outbackcrossing.com.au go to contents 1 WHO CAN TOUR THE OUTbACk Anybody. It’s true. The Outback isn’t a scary, difficult place to place to visit. All you have to do is walk out of your door or jump on an aeroplane and get here. It’s not exclusive, it’s not dangerous, it’s not intimidating and it’s not formidable. It’s a unique part of the world, relaxed, interesting and accessible. If you can drive then you are in the fortunate position to be able to take control of your own travel plans and create your own individual experience. In our opinion the outback is best experienced as a self drive holiday. You don’t need special driving skills and you don’t need to be a bush survival expert. We meet single women in their 70’s out here. And young couples from Taiwan who can’t speak a word of English. Backpackers, retirees, tradesmen and hawkers who are touring around, making a living while they travel, and we see whole families from snowbound countries like Norway or Iceland. The outback is not exclusive. It’s for everyone and it’s easy. People come to the outback by aeroplane and they arrive by bicycle, train, motorbike, camel, hire car, wheelbarrow, tractor and horse. Really. If you can think of a unique transport method then someone has probably had a go at it. There is no right way to travel. We like camper vans because they save money on accommodation and they help you get close to the bush where you can sit outside your vehicle and watch the sun set over a big red horizon. We like 4WD camper vans because they can take you to even more big red horizons. Even if you have never driven a 4x4 before. If you can drive a regular car then you can drive a four wheel drive. If you can sleep in a bed then you can sleep in a camper van and if you can feed yourself at home then you can cook a BBQ or knock up a meal in the bush. © www.outbackcrossing.com.au go to contents 2 WHAT IS A CAMPERvAN In its simplest form a campervan is a transit van or commercial delivery vehicle that’s been fitted with enough facilities to get a night’s rest - inside the vehicle. Basically it’s a bed built into a van. The public passion for campervans began with the famous Volkswagen ‘Kombi’ van. We assume the word ‘Kombi’ originated from the German word for Combination. These days a basic camper usually has a sink thrown in for good measure. Common luxuries also include a gas grill and compact refrigerator. True camper vans don’t have an inbuilt toilet or shower, that privilege is reserved for larger recreational vehicles such as Motorhomes. In the interest of sales and marketing, the RV industry (Recreational Vehicle) sometimes blurs the line between campers and motorhomes, but a real campervan requires that you attend to your ablutions somewhere other than the car. Portable gas or solar showers and chemical toilets (porta-pottys) are sometimes thrown in for those seeking their own personal amenities. Personally, we’d rather swim in a creek and dig a hole in the bush. The key to understanding the nature of these RV’s lies in their name: campervan. If we accept that camping by definition is to establish temporary lodgings or shelter, then we can accept that a campervan will have some lifestyle limitations. For the devotees of the camper van lifestyle these limitations are easily offset by, size, fuel economy, manoeuvrability around town, price, convenience and the attraction of combining a touring holiday with a camping style experience.