RodnSue

Hi Chris your msg from 10th March is just a little further down......so long as we're letting members know doubling up shouldn't matter :-) Unless you want to combine yours & my msg, I won't mind Sue

Hi Everyone Long time member Peter suggested we post this on the forum in case many of you have not seen this important notice somewhere in the media. This important information is for safety concerns, can be seen when you click on the link here http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ftw/About_us/News_and_events/Media_releases/2015_media_releases/20150304_public_warning_on_portable_butane.page cheers Sue & Peter

Hi Ian I'm not sure if you were told this by the factory @ hand over of your new van, but to keep the batteries healthy & living longer, we were advised to connect 240v power to the van every 2 -3 wks whilst in storage in a shed etc.......Some folk leave the power connected 24/7. There hopefully will be more advise & different opinions regarding this. cheers Sue

Rod & I would like to wish all our KOG family a very Merry Christmas & a Merry New Year We hope you all have a safe one where ever you are & look forward in meeting you somewhere out there on the road or at a KOG gathering. This is my Chrissie card that I made for you to add to your collection of e-cards cheers Sue & Rod

Steve, Kez & Tony so pleased you like the new site & changes. All made possible with our wonderful Webmaster Lesley....so raise your glasses to her please...... Sue

Bugger...& Bugger to those little buggers too Thanks for the heads up Tony. I've seen them flying around near where we're camped up for the night / 's. All they need it wet dirt to make a mess of your "Oriffices"as you say. So I guess we're not safe whilst on the road either............ cheers Sue

Thanks Col & Den this kind of info is valuable as we travel to all points of the country, so thank you for posting it. It's really surprising where you'll get mobile reception when in remote areas & hopefully more areas will be serviced. cheers Sue

Hi Reece You could probably leave your van @ Lawnton Showgrounds. I don't know of the costs - esp for unoccupied vans for a few days, but the caretaker Helen Evans should be able to tell you all you need to know. 0459 023 346. Lawnton train station would then be a short walk across Gympie Rd from the showgrounds, but Helen will give you more accurate information. You can travel by suburban train to Eagle Junction & take the Air Train to the airport from there. You have a very short walk into the terminal from the Air train terminus. Hopefully the link below for the Air train will give you all the info you need as well. />https://www.google.com.au/search?q=airtrain+brisbane&oq=airtrain&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l5.5531j0j8&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8. I hope this helps cheers Sue

Hi Graeme we spent the month of June this year doing the Cape York trip & I can say that most of the PDR was better than some of the bitumen we've been on as it was being graded late May. The Southern & Northern bypass roads weren't graded on our north bound run, was a little rough, but was still very doable. If you are wanting to do "some of the rough stuff" meaning the Telegraph Track, you could take your van to as far as Bramwell Stn - just south of Bramwell Junction where the Telegraph Track starts - & leave your van there for a fee like other areas suggested above. Their ph no* is 07 4060 3300 for confirmation of same. Depending on how long the "wet season" goes depends on when the graders start their job. Late May this year the Telegraph Track / Palm Creek required a winch to get through. (many winches burned out getting through it was that tough.) Some great reading in preparation would be Hema Maps Cape York Atlas & Guide, & Ron & Viv Moons Cape York Travel & Adventure Guide. We used both books for this trip & found them a wealth of info. 2 other places to also consider for camping places near the top are Loyalty Beach & Punsand Bay. We stayed at the former with powered sites available, & was very open & spacious. Have fun with your planning...it's part of the excitement of the whole journey. cheers Sue

We’ve had our ATV2 caravan for 4 yrs now & we couldn’t be happier. We chose Kedron because of - * size & weight to suit our chosen 4WD * locality of factory as apposed to interstate * the friendliness & approachable staff when concerns were brought up pre purchase * when all the boxes were ticked & compared to other manufacturers, it was the inside & outside style & finish that swayed us. Since we've had the van, the after sales service & back up support has been exceptional. We've travelled > 7,000 km of dirt roads.... to name a few....Plenty / Donahue,Mereenie Loop, GRR, Pilbara roads, Cape York, Burketown to Lawn Hill & the roughest of them all Lawn Hill to Barkley Hwy & everything has held together. cheers Rod & Sue

Nice 1 Pete & Margaret, in a few wks time we'll be heading that way as well. We came across 3 other koggers in Weipa, parked near us. 2 of them are friends from central NSW coast.....they happen to be here again parked up next to us along the Coen River at a freebie just out of town.....4 bars of ph / internet too thank you very much.... Anyway we have had an un official Kedron gathering....except the others aren't members & don't even read the forum..... Enjoy your travels Cheers Sue

Hi Peter & Margaret I've only now just read your post not thinking you had placed another post here last week. I'm sorry to hear you have postponed your trip. At the time it rained heaps down south around Coen etc, we were safely parked up in Loyalty Beach whinging about the slight drizzle we were getting each night. Then we heard on the grape vine a couple of trucks were bogged & not much else was getting through. Today some campers next to us here in Weipa are covered in mud & say that the road was indeed very slippery & scary, so we're extremely pleased that we weren't amongst it too. We head into Iron Range NP for 4 nights from Tues, so I'm hoping that the road around Coen is more dry by the time we get that far south. We leave Weipa in the morning & will be in internet / ph wilderness again for 2/52, so I'll report in again with a further update once I have some service then. I hope your trip this far north wasn't wasted too much & you were able to find an alternative holiday destination?? cheers for now Sue & Rod

Hi Peter I like your style of travel, hopefully Lakefield northern end will open before anticipated time & plans are changed :-) Might see you up there somewhere. Cheers Sue

Hi Merv & Di many thanks for this info. I already had last years prices, but was curious as to what they were for this year. We might see you around Mossman or Port Douglas if you stick around a little longer :-) Sue

Hi Merv & Di many thanks for your reply. I'm pleased you have enjoyed yourselves with your trip. We still have a reddish/ brown colour to our chassis from The Kimberley 3 yrs ago :-) So have fun with the cleaning. Thanks also for the tips on the road conditions. Out of curiosity could you please report back on the diesel fuel prices up that way, including Mossman. Cairns is at least 12c/L dearer than 50 km south of here - taking advantage of being a bigger town with more diesel engines. It's damn wrong. Happy travels going south cheers Sue

Hi Peter & Margaret, I have just read Merv & Di's reply & it seems we will not be alone up that way with 3 other Keddies already up there. We hopefully will catch up with you both some where along the way. At this point in time we are booked into Lakefield NP beginning of July & will be our last stop before heading out of the cape. (No other bookings made anywhere else) If we get any internet service along the way I will post here again to report where we are in the event you may be close by. Safe travels Sue & Rod

Hi Everyone We arrived in Cairns today & are here for at least another 4 days. (ie we hopefully will leave Cairns by 27th May.) We then plan to start our trek to the Cape via Mossman etc. It looks like Lakefield NP northern section will remain closed until beginning of July so Cooktown will be visited on our way south. So as promised several wks ago, I thought I would post here to see if any other Kedron owners are near or in Cairns for a catch up. cheers Sue & Rod

Hi Merv, we look forward in meeting up with you & any other Kedron owners going that way. Might post here (with new subject heading though) on our where abouts to chance meetings with you & other owners. Have fun getting there. cheers Sue

Thanks for the heads up Russ. I had been wondering where you & Sue were on your way north. Hopefully you might get some fishing in before the tourist season gets into full swing :-) Daryl, that's a shame that you have to cancel part of your trip. You will still enjoy plan B though. We left a week ago for our trip to the Cape, have gotten as far as Bargara . I guess we'd better move a little faster if we want to start PDR (or Battle Camp Rd if it's open) by beginning of June. Let me know when you're around Winton please in the event we are on our way south if you have time for a greeting drink etc. cheers Sue

Thanks for that good advice JK. It's great advice like yours that Daryl & the rest of us who are yet to experience The Cape are looking for helpful hints. Hope to meet you up that way as well. cheers Sue

Hi Daryl I can’t give any of your requested advice.... yet...we leave Bris in 2 wks for our trip to the Cape, & will take 4 – 6 wks to get to Cooktown via the coast & start the Cape run by early June. We’ll be doing Gulf & Lawn Hill after the Cape & hope to take 3 -4 mths for the trip. You didn’t mention whether you had any resource books or not... I bought “Cape York Atlas & Guide” by Hema maps. Also have Rod & Viv Moon’s “Cape York Travel & Adventure Guide”. I have found both have a wealth of information thus far...I can’t wait to get the drive started. I’m sure Colin (Tolley) & others will give you loads of great info. I’ll send you a PM with ph no* etc if you’re interested in catching up some where up that way. Happy planning Sue

Hi Steve & Kez we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to both areas in 2011. We took our time through both areas. From memory there was no "bush camping" in Kakadu NP. I Cost in 2011 was $20/night (no power available) I recommend a night @ Pussy Cat Flats - a camp ground inside the race course @ Pine Creek before heading into Kakadu along the Kakadu Hwy. It has a lovely grassy spot, with power if you want, showers etc. The bar / eating area run by the town folk during the "Dry" season is just 15 metres away with a great menu that changes daily (I think). Call into the info centre @ The Mary River roadhouse to get your maps of the NP....or back at the well stocked info centre in Katherine. We tended to move onto the next camp spot before doing the touring things. We spent 8 nights in Kakadu. It was a late wet season, so some places were late in opening ie Jim Jim falls opened just days earlier than our 15th June visit. Twin falls was still closed. Many lagoons in other areas were also closed. But we still got to see lots of places. The campgrounds I mention below are all run by the NP people & caretakers collected your fees later in the day. They are also in your Camps Aust Wide book, took big rigs & had toilets & showers. We didn't pre book anything. I recommend staying at Gunlom Falls as Chris mentioned. The 10 km road was quite corrugated. I'm not sure why we didn't go into Maguk Gorge. The other campgrounds we stayed at along Kakadu Hwy were Mardugal to then go & do the Yellow Waters cruise & visit Jim Jim / Twin Falls. Next campground along the hwy was Muirella to go visit Nourlangie Rock Art which took us at least 1/2 a day. We stayed in the Caravan park in Jabiru just to top up groceries & generally look around. We went & visited the interesting Bowall visitor Centre for more culture. I also wanted to drive to Mamukala lagoon (On Arnhem Hwy) for some bird watching. Merle campground was next near Ubirr. From memory this campground has more shaded sites. We stayed 2 nights again to do the great sights of more rock art, climb up a lookout with wonderful views to Nardale floodplains & Arnhem land in the distance. I recommend spending some time watching the tide come or go @ Cahills Crossing...watching big crocs float back & forth looking for barramindi. You can get a spot of fishing from a high point if you like fishing. Rangers also did guided morning tours...check at the little Border store which also has take away food etc & you can book a cultural East Aligator R cruise there which we enjoyed. Along the Arnhem Hwy towards Darwin,we stayed @ Corroboree Park Inn, which wasn't too far from Corroboree Billabong to do some more bird watching. We took an afternoon sunset cruise @ Corroboree Billabong. There's also a bush camp out @ Corroboree Billabong that we didn't know about. (wasn't in Camps 5 book) There are more places to visit along these 2 highways that may interest you both. Once you get a NP map, you may see more that may interest you. Whilst in Litchfield NP, we based ourselves for 3 nights @ Litchfield Safari Park which is just outside of the NP. The cost then for non powered was $20/N. We then did the driving to the various spots in the NP. http://www.litchfieldsafaricamp.com.au/ Camps Book 5 shows that Buley Rock Hole isn't recommended caravans. The place had droves of families around anyway. I hope this helps you....it almost repeats some of the stuff in the link Chris suggested, but is a little more condensed. If you've got time & like Barra fishing, try going down to Daly river (South of Litchfield NP) Rod did a 1/2 day fishing trip to yield plenty of Barra with a fellow called Mousey. There are numerous campgrounds along Daly River. Not sure if any are free camp spots though. Have fun. If our times match up, we might cross paths with you @ Lawn Hill. We're heading to the Cape in 2 wks time, & from Cooktown around early June hopefully. Might be over near Lawn Hill by July. Unless of course there's more cyclones up that way. Cheers Sue

Hi Graeme Welcome to the KOG & the forum. I have just changed your access to the members forum as your membership fee arrived today. We followed Rod & Mavis idea on covering the rear range hood vent seen in Hints Tips & Products of the Members Only section of the forum. I hope this helps. Cheers Sue

Hi Elle please accept our condolences on the passing of Blackie. I hope your van & car sell without any fuss. I also hope that in time you may consider travelling on your own in something much easier such as a little motor home so you can continue to enjoy what you both loved. cheers Sue & Rod

The Boss wants towel rail outside . Just a short question, those that have installed external towel rial on the van, did you use "pop rivets" or self tapping metal screws ? The towel rail will be 2 metres long and will be supported in the middle as well. I am trying to decide what would be best to use, specially with a lot of vibration from corrugated dirt roads. Regards Rod