Essential Holiday Planning: Car and Caravan Set-up.

Blog writing practice No.2 - December 2020:

COVID restrictions have caused some delays to our planned departure date and we are finding we have additional time to spend planning our trip and preparing ourselves for our drive around Australia. Having lots of time to plan & organise is not a bad thing because living comfortably on the road 24/7 for an extended period of time is not as simple as it sounds.

So lets get straight down to the nitty grittty ... what have we (or more accurately I should say Col) put together as our travel set-up for our latest big idea - a casual drive around Australia?

The Car:

We recently purchased a newish base model 2015 Isuzu D-Max Auto 4WD with low kilometers and a few additional extras from a car wholesaler in Queensland & Col then flew to Brisbane to drive it home to NSW (we struggled to find a decent vehicle in NSW, as no new vehicles are currently coming in from overseas & sourcing a good 2nd hand one turned out to be harder than finding hens teeth).

Our Isuzu D-Max came with a long range fuel tank, snorkle, canopy, bullbar, towbar and center roof consol as extras at purchase.

Our research shows the Isuzu D-Max to be brilliant cars - great to drive, roomy & comfortable inside for the long drives, incredibly reliable and have a great mechanical track record + most importantly they are built to take the toughest workload with a standard 3 ton towing capacity.

Col then set about fitting out our new Isuzu with a few essential extras for the big trip, as follows;

• Full new customised suspension from CAL Offroad in Berridale.

• Alloy wheels & larger tread tyres

• Flares to cover the increased tyre size

• A Steel roof rack for extra storage.

• A fully enclosed dog carrier seat cover with harness fixing slots.

• A new exhaust system - to allow the vehicle to breath well.

• Side steps - to stop pebbles & gravel from damaging the car or hitching a ride with us.

• UHF ... an essential on outback roads & highways.

• Electric break controller - for the caravan.

• A double draw unit for additional storage in the rear canopy - 'Outback ARB'

• Moulded, water proof car floor mats for front & back floor spaces.

• A large camping fridge/freezer - for additional frozen food storage.

• A canopy rubber mat - to protect the ute tray.

• Duel battery set-up.

• A heavy duty sway bar.

• Plush new sheepskin seat covers - Mandy's one and only essential planning item for the car!

• LED driving lights.

• Full width mud flap for the rear tyres - stops stones bouncing off the caravan & breaking the rear car window.

• Tyre Monitor 8ch.

• Transmission oil cooler.

• Fuel water watch system - to protect against contaminated fuel supplies.

• A full computer re-map - to improve performance & towing capacity to 3.5 ton.

We love the end result which is a comfortable, roomy, well thought out & mechanicaly safe high performance vehicle.

The Caravan:

We are taking our 2011 Supreme Executive - 1960 (19ft 60) duel axle caravan - with ensuite, full kitchen, seating & queen bedroom along for the drive - it is roomy, comfortable, durable & well set out.

The Electric Bikes:

We have settled on 2 x Valk e-bikes (not offroad) which travel along at a top speed of 25 kilometres per hour, with removable re-chargable batteries & carry baskets for drinks etc. - we bought our e-bikes on-line from My Deal (thanks for the tip Narelle x). Col custon designed and welded together a sturdy bike rack to add to the front of our caravan to carry both bikes - this will ensure the bikes can be safely secured out of the way when not needed.

We have had a few practice rides into town & along roads & bike paths around home ... teaching the dogs to run beside the bikes without drama was a fun exercise, but they got the hang of it brilliantly and love the exercise.

The Drone:

Believe it or not we are also including a very compact drone as an essential item on our Australian road trip - perfect for taking ariel shots & short videos in some of the stunning places we will visit (where allowed). The drone we have chosen is a Mavic Pro Drone.

So now we are all set to go ... once the NSW borders are open again & we are free to travel!