Chris

We have just had the misfortune to have problems with our 12 volt fridge (a Vitrifrigo) while travelling to Alice Springs. The capillary tube split and let all the gas out.... We found a great company who responded quickly by coming out to our caravan park with all the tools needed for the job, including regassing. As it happened we needed was to take the van I to their workshop for further work on the fridge. They had big bays to back the van in so that was a great help. Their charges were reasonable too. We were very happy they were here, I can tell you. The firm also does air conditioning and mechanical repairs too. We have absolutely no commercial or other relationship with the firm.... ROE-AIRE PHONE 08 8562 2365 roeaire.alice@ internode.on.net

Peter, I am feeling happier now, as on the last day of the trip, just out of Alice Springs, the fridge stopped working. It took two days to get it fixed, but it is working well now. A broken capillary tube, whatever that is. And it then needed regassing which is a finicky business apparently. we will be here until 18 July as I have work commitments here.

We have just arrived in Alice Springs after completing a crossing on the Gary Junction Road (GJR), from West to East. We enjoyed superb weather and pretty good road conditions. The road just after the turnoff from the Marble Bar-Nullagine Woody Woody road was rocky and we had a badly damaged tyre from a sharp rock; this was only 10 minutes after a tyre check so it must have happened very quickly. No other hassles mechanically or any other punctures. (That was our first puncture in years of travel). Up until Kunawarritji the road was wide and in great condition, but narrowed after that community. This was before the road narrowed - nice and wide and smooth Afterwards: After the NT border the road was much smoother and again wider, due to increased traffic between the communities at that end no doubt, and due to being recently graded. We think the NT spends more on road maintenance than WA.... The stores had a good selection of foodstuffs, if somewhat expensive but you expect that. I bought frozen croissants at Kunawarritji! Made a delicious breakfast. Fuel was readily available. Punmu was the cheapest at $3 a litre. Expect to pay about $3.40 at some communities. The pick of the camps is of course Jupiter Well. This is a lovely spot and we spent several days there in the company of a Caravaners Forum member, who actually had a printed copy of my last trip report for the GJR with her!

Think gold detecting, Lea....

Cargo, no upgrade to the LC other than rear suspension airbags. The duo is well matched and the vehicle has plenty of power. A Kedron van will always be a stable unit and not once, over both vans we have owned, has there ever been any sense of instability. The van tows beautifully.

Cargo05, I agree both are great vans. I think Kedron has the edge with its customer service, though. They are just wonderful people to deal with, in our experience.

Peter, we passed by the intrepid gold-seekers without actually seeing them. They were apparently nose- deep in prospecting and too engrossed to come back to town ? I have eave been instructed to look for "sunbakers" which apparently are not remotely related to the budgie smuggler type of sun bakers..... Val is keeping his eyes peeled.

We are slowly heading North through WA to Carawine Gorge, ready to tackle the GJR over to Alice Springs. First we will visit Karijini and then up to Marble Bar. Our departure date (stipulated in the permits) onto the GJR is 28 June and we should be in Alice mid July, all going well. will we see any of you out there? Say hello if you see us. Heck, say hello if you see ANY Kedron.

I have already provided advice to Danno elsewhere on our experience with Kedron and our two vans. (We are onto our second van). But in light of previous comments and allusions here in posts above I will say clearly that we are delighted with our van/s and with the service offered by Kedron through the Gall family and factory staff. The van is strong and structurally solid. It has been well thought out and is an end product of a lot of testing in a real life situation by the brand. Now I add that I am not one eyed about Kedron. Can they be improved? Undoubtedly; no van is perfect. But from our direct experience when problems have occurred (in our case little to no issues have occurred) they are rectified by the factory. There are other vans out there which are arguably as good but what differentiates Kedron is the factory response to concerns. (In my view you can't really compare any van, they all have differing strengths and weaknesses). Now moving into a Moderator role, I will add that if anyone has negative comments or experiences (I guess they must be out there...) there is a private messaging feature on this forum. As the Webmaster has so clearly stated above, there is no attempt here to stifle good honest and factual discussion, but emotive and inflammatory comments are always viewed with the deepest suspicion by the behind the scenes committee and team.

We bought a HN7 unit prior to the current trip, in anticipation of remote area travelling. My fear was that the unit would be too complex to use. Well, overall, it is a superb piece of equipment. It is powerful in terms of its ability to navigate to places or co-ordinates, comes pre-loaded with maps (in our case anyway) and Camps Australia 8 sites. There are two separate sets of functions. One is an "on road" navigator which can be used in towns and cities including rural settings. The other is the 4WD functions. For isolated tracks this second navigator is potentially a life saver. For many Kedron owners this could be a tremendous asset. Co-ordinates can be input either directly on the screen or downloaded from appropriate files and navigated to efficiently. There is a "breadcrumb trail" feature so you can re-trace your steps if needed. The HN7, the latest model, has a large screen to the unit and you can tap on the screen with a finger or the provided stylus, which ever you prefer. The downside is the complexity in getting to terms with it. I have made it my mission to learn as much as I can, and have found the online tutorials are a great help. Not that I have advanced very far.... The manual is written in simple and clear English. I downloaded the manual to my iPad so I have a larger version of it handy in the car if I need it. I can't tell you the number of people we have met while travelling who have the unit but only use it in the most basic form. Clearly it is too complex for many people. And Hema support staff are truly wonderful. They talk you through any issues very patiently. (The usual statement of not having any business connection with Hema applies)

Welcome to the Kedron family Steve. It is a great journey, the first trip with a Kedron..... what at direction are you taking to get back to WA from the NT? Gibb River Road? Great Central Road? chris ( who is currently in WA's Wheatbelt right now and headed to Marble Bar).

We are now at the lovely freecamp at Kwolyin, WA, 37 kms west of Bruce Rock. It is a great bush camp with immaculate flushing toilets and a camp kitchen and a tap with town water. All quite free. We have a lovely view of....trees and bushes. You can taste the tranquillity. We have certainly put some miles under the wheels, travelling today from the Breakaways camp site on the Norseman to Hyden road today. the road was in great condition and we were able to comfortably sit on about 80 kms/hr. Since leaving SA, the only other off-roaders we have seen are one Bushtracker and a JB Scorpion. Lots of camper trailers. Today we saw one caravan in several hundred kms of dirt road..... heading up up to the Wheatbelt from here.

We have just spent the night on some cliffs overlooking the ocean near Eucla, and enjoyed some blowy winds. But a beautiful clear sky this morning, and ready to roll on into WA. i know the necessity for it but hate handing over the fruit and vegies we have not managed to eat or cook. Only a couple of small onions and two little apples to give over. There is only so much fruit one can stuff down the gullet..... We we know the is a Kedron behind us by a day and may see them yet. if we see anyone from here give us a hello on the radio - UHF 18 or 40. chris

We are currently camped at a beach site in Lincoln National Park SA. A beautiful spot and all by ourselves with a view to die for. Our van faces the bay and our view is of a great sweep of sky and water. So last night when a storm rolled in over that beautiful bay, we got the full brunt of the 90km + winds. It was so gusty the door was being tugged open! But because we had the van pointed into the wind, the buffeting was minimised, and the stabiliser legs were down which stopped any rocking. The van sat stable as could be. the last time we were here and experienced similar winds (we must be slow learners!) the stabilisers were up, and there was much more rocking motion as a result. And despite driving rain there were no leaks. What a great van.

No problems Mal and Sandra. All dealt with. Enjoy Inverell! Chris

Have a great trip Peter, weather dependent. The weather always has the potential,to stuff us up....

Goodness John and Tina, how interesting that you will be around the same area as us about the same time. We plan to be at Carawine Gorge for a few days before setting off. We will most likely be at Carawine between 26 to 29 June. Carawine is South East of Marble Bar, and worth the visit. See my trip report from,last year's traversing of the GJR from East to West. It is in the trip section of the forum.

So Peter, are you heading off on a big trip this year?

As many of you may know, we like to head North from the cold of the Barossa Valley in Winter. It is fast approaching the time we plan to leave on the trip North. At the end of the month we intend heading across to the Eyre Peninsular, across the Nullarbor and up through the wheatfields of WA to Marble Bar. Then across the Gary Junction Road to Alice Springs. Our permits for the GJR are organised, and have us leaving Marble Bar/Carawine Gorge on 29 June. We will probably be in Alice Springs mid July, after camping out in the West MacDonnell Ranges. After Alice we may cross the Plenty Donohue Hwys to QLD but at this stage our plans are vague. If we see any of you we will stop and say hello. Anyone else going to be on the move around the same time in the same areas?

Thanks Tony. It is for the 200 series so 17". He decided to go with the AT3Gs. After the next trip we will give a report back.

Does anyone have experience on these tyres? We need new tyres for the LC200 series and exploring options. So it would be great to hear if anyone here has either good or bad experiences with them

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I am told that in the 4WD section it is more reliable for bush tracks. And yes, our small Barossa town has problems with mot navigators, including Tom Tom. Instead of coming he it takes people out on a variety of back roads in the middle of nowhere.

Yes Tony, we are watching the videos...and now my head is in a whirl!

We bought a HN7 unit yesterday at the Adelaide Caravan and Camping Show, from the ARB stall. We got a show special price but it is not cheap.... However, we have been trying to source the best price available and this was a good deal. Friends who were with us on the GJR last year had the unit and it was very helpful indeed a couple of times when we were unsure how far it was to certain waypoints or which track to take. Our handheld GPSr had frozen up and we were not aware of the restore function at the time. But it seems the learning curve is steep and from an initial look that seems to be the case. I will have a play around with it and report back on how we find it after an initial play around with it on some nearby back roads. I gather it is good for the street view application too? As in using it in the city or towns. At present we use a Tom Tom which is pretty easy to use. How have others found the unit and are there any special tips on its use?