Chris

Well, we have arrived in Alice Springs after completing a crossing of the Donohue and Plenty Highways. It was not too bad overall, given how late in the season it was, but very dusty as you would expect. I have written two trip reports and am putting them up now as we have been offline camping in the West Macdonnell Ranges near Alice Springs. If you enjoy the reports, I would love to hear your feedback Stage 6 August 2017 Carnarvon Gorge to Boulia.pdf Stage 7 August 2017 Boulia to Alice Springs.pdf

We are crossing these Highways in a few days time and wonder if anyone has recent know.edge of the track conditions. We are aware that the Birdsville races will be on soon and there is increased traffic on the road between us and Bedourie as a result. if you see us in the road stop and say hello. We have a gold LC200 series and Top Ender.

As some forumites know, we are travelling through QLD and shortly heading over the Donohue and Plenty Highways to Alice. But camped at a fairly remote spot just now, at Swanvale Jumpup (35kms South of Stonehenge) we have caught up with fellow Kedron owners Rod and Sue. We have had contact with them for years through the forum but never met before this. Here we are at Happy Hour tonight.

And now we are at the Jundah Jumpup camp site, called Swan Vale Rest Stop. http://wikicamps.com.au/site/20260/24585715

I managed to get a better shot at Lara Wetlands before we left this morning. This was the view from our awning. And last night there were five other Kedrons there!

And we are now at an equally lovely place, courtesy of information from fellow forumite Sue Lee. Lara Wetlands is 30 kms South of Barcaldine, and is a great camp site with an artesian pool and camp sites on green grass overlooking the Wetlands. There are toilets, showers and a camp kitchen as well. I will take better photos later.

Hi everyone. i am putting up this latest trip report so you can see where we are now. We left Carnarvon Gorge this morning and are now headed toward Barcaldine, and then down to Lara Wetlands, to camp on the lake there. I hope you enjoy the trip report... Stage 5 August 2017 Bundaberg to Carnarvon Gorge.pdf

We used to live in the NT (I come from Pine Creek) and know Litchfield and Jabiru very well. I know you will enjoy these magnificent parks. And we travelled on the Savannah Way a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I did a trip report on it somewhere on this forum.... The trip report is here, posted at the end of the thread.http://www.kedronownersgroup.com/forum/index.php?/topic/1456-departing-tomorrow-on-savannah-way/&tab=comments#comment-6269

We have been camped at the Heritage Park at Biloela, West of Gladstone QLD, for the last two days, and heading West tomorrow to Carnarvon Gorge. Our plans are to stay at the new Sandstone Park, just outside the national park. The views are reported to be amazing.... I will post some photos when I can. http://wikicamps.com.au/site/174342/25074056 Then we head over to Winton and Boulia to cross the Plenty Highway to Alice Springs. I think we should leave Boulia on about 30 or 31 August. If there are any other Kedron's in our trajectory make sure you say hello. Anyone who wants to travel with us on the Plenty is welcome too!

Paul, we roughly paid about $10,000 for both van and car. That was in total. we find the 200 series to be a wonderful towing vehicle and have towed the same weight for more than 8 years with no issues or capability limitations noticeable. But yes, we try to keep the rig at or below 3500 kgs; it is just that when carrying water and extra food on longer remote area roads we are highly likely to be over by a bit. We are conscious of the need to be legal, and I am confident there will be more and more checking in future. Our new lithium system has saved a lot of weight, including there being no need now to carry a generator for most of our trips.

I got six too, but think I knew to look closely at the "of'" content. I wish I really was a genius.....

Welcome to the forum Makka and Myret. You have many happy trips ahead of you in your van, I am sure. Make sure you tell us all about those trips, as we love trip reports. Oh and we love pictures too! chris

Welcome, Joiners! The Kedron family is a great place to join. There is a wealth of good information here in the forum, so feel free to share your experiences with the new van when it arrives. Feel fre to ask lots of questions too. chris

Well done! You will not be able to wait for the arrival date. And you are now able to join the forum as a caravan owner, and financial member.

I think you would simply need to ask a contributor if you wanted to use their photos. But the easiest thing is to simply put out a post generally saying "We have a photo competition running for new photos to place on the forum banner. If you have a great shot which you are happy to have placed on the forum in a prominent place in our banner email me your images via the Webmaster email (insert email address) in a size between (insert size of images you require, eg between 1024x768)". run the post again when you want to change the photos. You then simply pick the ones you like. Trust me, I have heaps I can send you!

OK, the unit has been tested and it is the controller ( apparently). A new unit has been ordered and will arrive at Goondiwindi in a few days time, so we will stick around here or hereabouts until it arrives. Not cheap, but not as dear as a compressor.I gather it takes very little time to install.

How do you want photos to be provided? Emailed to you?

Grahame, this is absolutely useful information. We don't think it's the gas levels because (a) we had that done last year after a broken capillary tube and (b) the compressor is not starting up. In low gas situations the compressor just keeps running continuously, from a previous experience years ago. i think the Caboolture option might be the go. Chris

JETnomads, was it the fan or the actual compressor which was running all the time? Val says the thermostat has nothing to do with the fan....

Our fridge's fan has started running almost continuously. It runs for a minute or two, cuts out then cuts straight back in again. This has been happening for a few hours now.The fridge is still cold and the freezer compartment is still frozen.I am unsure if the fan will wear out, and what it all means.Anyone have any ideas?

Most folk familiar with us will know how I love the diesel heater. I reckon the bloke who invented should be knighted for services to the industry. Anyways, last night we were sitting in comfortable warmth wth heater ticking nicely, when a thump in the unit was followed by cold air blowing. This was not a good development. We both quickly googled solutions and reams of advice came up. Pages of advice, all of it useful. It was too late at night to do anything other than check the fuses (who could have known where the fuses were without Mr Google?) and they were fine. Today Val got himself organised and got under the van (apparently it's dusty under there) and cleaned the fuel line and the filter at the start of the pump, as well as the connections to the pump. He couldn't see anything but used cotton buds to clean it out with Windex. All good now, and working perfectly. It is still dusty under the caravan but we can't do anything about that.

Ah ha! Neville and Kay! I remember you guys very well. You were camped back at Port MacDonnell.... And you kindly turned back from a shopping trip to show us your lovely Top Ender. And yes, we have been on the Strzelecki about a half dozen times, and have camped at Montecolina Bore. Last time we're there the water was freezing cold except for about 30 cm from the pipe. It was not a good experience let me tell you! I love Cullyamurra too but as of 1 June the Department is introducing a pay online system and we need to find out what number sites we can fit. We know WHERE the site is that we like but not it's new number.... Sigh.

Our next Winter trip has been somewhat delayed ( usually we are long gone by now) by stuff here at home. But we are almost ready to go and are planning for a departure on Sunday, or Monday at the latest. We will head up to the Flinders Ranges as a first port of call, targetting Aroona campsite where we will stay for a few days. Then we will go up the track from Blinman, past Arkaroola and onto the Strzelecki to Innamincka. The general plan is to travel East to Thargomindah, and across to Brisbane. The rest of the plan is a bit vague at this stage, but will involve going over to Alice Springs on the Plenty. if we see any Kedronners out there, say hello! We are the goldly coloured LC and tan Top Ender.

I hope it all goes smoothly! Free data is good. I love free data.

I wonder if anyone has in recent times visited or stayed at Tower Rock, NT. It's full name is the Mac and Rose Chalmers Conservation Reserve, and is located about 70 kms North of the Plenty Highway.The Reserve can be seen on this link:https://nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/268869/mac-and-rose-chalmers-conservation-reserve-fact-sheet-and-map.pdfWe are planning to travel on the Plenty later this year and due to a past association with the region and the Chalmers we would like to drive in and stay. Obviously weather would be a major factor in accessibility of the spot.It would be good to have direct knowledge of the road in. (In the past we always visited from Utopia in the North).