Laurie and Helen

Hi Baz, I have the genquip and it did fit in without cutting the handles but you had to be patient. I ended up cutting about 10mm off the top just above the lifting handles but not affecting the strength too much, no problems anymore fits easily. Laurie

I wouldn't put the generator in the rear of your vehicle unless you have a tray back ute, it doesn't matter what brand of generator or petrol driven device, if it has fuel in it 2 stroke or plain unleaded on a hot day the car will stink of petrol fumes. My genquip 3300 has sat in the gen box for 6 months up in the territory only coming out twice on the trip with 47 + days and no fumes on the inside of the van.

Rob, Like John and Maureen, I would be reluctant to remove the 2nd spare, while we were travelling across the Plenty we were travelling with another couple and they had two flats (coopers) between Tobermorey and just after Jervois. For me, I would much rather carry a spare wheel and never need it, than wish I had one when I did need it. cheers Laurie

Richard, My advice if someone suggests not to go somewhere put it on your must see list. Look at our blog and you may pick up some ideas heading out towards Birdsville, can't help much south of this except Sawpit Creek near Jindabyne was always a nice spot to stay when we use to go skiing. cheers

Colin, You will have to drop in and say g'day when you go past the Threeways. cheers

Lea & Rick, , life is a journey through many uncharted waters, keep your life jackets close and your friends closer. Laurie and Helen

bring your winter woolies' it is freezing at the 3 ways in the mornings cheers

Hi Tolley, Just in case the showers that are going through the Top End get down to the Plenty, the information I provided may change significantly. We will think of you all. Helen and I decided to take a quick trip up to Bitter Springs for a few days before we head back down to the Three Ways. cheers Laurie

Hi everyone heading out with Tolley, Helen and I arrived in Alice Springs today after travelling across the Donahue and Plenty Highway. Road Conditions: (my opinion) All sections need to be respected and take care of the bull dust holes and plenty of cattle trucks due to the drought. The couple we were travelling with from Tobermorey had two flats in two sections and they were running at 26 as well. Boulia - Tobermorey 250 km, once you leave the bitumen you come across 3 sections about 20km long that have been sealed. We let our tires down to 26 psi on all 8 wheels and drove to the conditions, on the sealed sections we travelled at 60 so as not to put too much heat in the tires. This section while I considered it good, had large rocks which had been dislodged from the road and they were sharp. Fuel at Tobermorey $2.30 / lt Tobermorey - Jervois 217 km, light to moderate corrugations, bull dust sections, large rocks. Jervois - Harts Range 137 km, Graders had just carried out work to the west of Jervois but this had deteriorated by about 30 km, but the road was still good. The graders were heading east as we left this morning. Harts Range to Gem Tree 68 km, corrugated but OK with respect. In saying that we averaged 50 -60 km / hr, and in the graded sections it was comfortable to travel at 70 in short sections but respecting the fact that the road trains had created large bull dust holes that tend to grab you if you relax, cattle and other wildlife is abundant, cattle grids need care when approaching as some have a nice ledge of concrete if you hit it to fast and usually have a raise and drop, most floodways were good. Hope you all have a safe and enjoyable trip. Laurie and Helen

Apart from turning it off, not yet

Hi Bryan, I have put the generator back in the box after taking a little of the top above the handle to make it easier to get in and out. I also have a fuel smell but it does not permeate the van as I ensured all seals were in tact and applied silastic to all metal joints to be sure. I had toyed with the idea of putting in a couple of the black vents like in the front box with a filter on the inside but haven't done this at the moment, I will see what 6 months in the top end does with the heat to determine if the work is justified. cheers

Grey Water Tanks ??? Well this question will go on for ever. Are they really good for the environment or do they just make some authorities and users feel good about themselves ? Unless treated the same as your black water system grey water tanks in my opinion do more harm if operated irresponsibly. If like we observed the other day a group of motor home owners proceeded to dump the contents of the grey tanks after camping for a couple of days as they drove out of the site and down the road past our site. The question that needs to be asked is why did they bother to store it and let it go off so they could just dump the greasy, smelly slimy waste next time they drove down the road. If you have ever lived with a septic system and had a grease trap this is effectively what you are installing under your vans and they need to be treated with respect as you are starting to get involved with some nasty bugs when they start breading in a lovely humid environment. I would much rather not dispose of anything on the side of the road or at a camp site but most scraps that go down your sink are consumed by the birds and reptiles that have made these places home. I do how ever feel more comfortable dumping fresh grey water than a cocktail of sludge and slime. Laurie

King & Deb, Asked if I would take on the position of Handyman, mainly looking after the water supply systems from the local dam and anything else that comes up over the next six months. Helen will get some work in some area of the road house or van park we guess. Yes not much other than the RH, but this will give us a good chance to find out what else is around the area as it is usually one of those places you just fuel up or spend a night. It will be a change but the three of us are looking forward to it. cheers

Hi everyone, Helen and I will be heading out to the Three Ways for 6 months work, leaving Hervey Bay soon and than Charleville about May 8th after the birth of another granddaughter and getting to the 3 way's by May 20th. We might catch up with some of you on our way through central Qld. Have a great trip

Rod, I had the same experience on one of my air bags, as I was doing the work myself all they (airbag man Brisbane) asked was that I send the old bag back to them (at no cost to me) so they could do some R&D on the failure. Why would you try anything else with that sort of back up. Cheers

G'day, Just asking are you lowering the tyre pressures when on the dirt ?

I am currently fitting waterproof led strip lighting to the awning arms, when the awning is in the retracted position the lights will shine straight out, when the awning is set up the lights will shine down towards the ground. Power wise I just put an andersen plug (AP) in the boot door which plugs into the AP fridge outlet in the boot, I fitted a single red led into the back of the AP so you can see at a glance if it is connected or not if you don't have the lights on. I have put photo's on my blog page.

Alan and Jayne, My suggestion would be to leave them in the shed. Most bikes we saw on our last trip didn't look like they had been taken out for a ride very often. If you intend to stay in one place for an extended period it may be worth taking them. Like a boat most of them stay on the vehicles. cheers

Nothing like a few good joke to bring a smile to our dials, bring them on we need to laugh every know and than. Laurie

Russ, Looks very interesting, will give it some series thought as we clean up after our trip. Laurie

Steve & Kez, Hope you have a great time, about 100 km west of Esperance is a place called Munglinup Beach go past the caravan park on the dirt road and camp at the beach $10/night but well worth it. We spent Christmas and a few days either side. We couldn't stay in Esperance at the time as they had nowhere to stay if you had a pet. A few other spots on the way would be the 38km marker just before the SA/WA border out on the cliffs, Newman Rocks east of Fraser Range. We were going to do the dirt from Esperance to Balladonia but were advised against it by one of the local 4WD guys I talked with in Esperance, not because the road conditions but the track was that narrow and overgrown near the shire boundaries that you would do a reasonable amount of damage to the van and tow vehicle. Dundas Rocks south of Noresman is also a good site. cheers

Hi All, Well after doing our lap including all the outer circulating roads mentioned above and some internal ones in SA, I removed the WDH's on all dirt roads that I let the tires down on. We also have the cruiser set up suspension wise so I don't have to put them on for highway driving either but I generally do (if I remember) just for peace of mind. cheers

Had a good afternoon with Ian and Sue who travelled all the way from Karratha to visit, as discussed we should have organised a gathering at Cleaverville as we have at least three KOG members in the area at present. Maybe next time we are coming around.

Just had a nice cuppa with Russ and Sue at Cossack, we will fill our water up at Point Samson before we leave for Cleaverville tomorrow for a few nights (I guess we have already paid our pound of flesh at $49/night).

Hi Rick and Lea, We lost one but not down that way. Cheers