any advice will help

[cookie]

Hey guys, got a dual cab nissan, old man emu shocks and lift, snorkel, plus other little gems, pulling a 4 wheel camper trailer with wife and 3 yr old, want to do cape at the end of july, any info would be great on any subject. Thanks cookie.

[Coza]

Hey guys, got a dual cab nissan, old man emu shocks and lift, snorkel, plus other little gems, pulling a 4 wheel camper trailer with wife and 3 yr old, want to do cape at the end of july, any info would be great on any subject. Thanks cookie.

G'day Cookie welcome to the forum Mate, i'm just down the road at Traralgon.
The best thing I've come across for preparation apart from this forum and the storys in the Cape Yorker mag (should keep Batesy happy) is Ron and Viv Moon's book Cape York an adventurer's Guide.

Cheers Coza

[campdog]

Hey guys, got a dual cab nissan, old man emu shocks and lift, snorkel, plus other little gems, pulling a 4 wheel camper trailer with wife and 3 yr old, want to do cape at the end of july, any info would be great on any subject. Thanks cookie.
Hi cookie, just ask away on anything and sure you will get an answer.
What type of camper is it being 4 wheel.

[cookie]

Thanks Coza might buy that book, alright campdog you asked for it, any question answered and how many of them lol.My bad its a offroad trailer, a bulloak brand , not 4 wheel , will i get to cape towing it or can i get to bramwell junction , leave it there and camp the rest. The road between cape trib and ayton again trailer friendly or not.really pumped for this trip, so need to get it right, thanks to all for the info.

[Nedly]

Hey guys, got a dual cab nissan, old man emu shocks and lift, snorkel, plus other little gems, pulling a 4 wheel camper trailer with wife and 3 yr old, want to do cape at the end of july, any info would be great on any subject. Thanks cookie.

G'day Cookie, welcome to the forum.
Glad to see you have the right truck for the trip.
There is heaps of info in these pages, looks like you will have a bit of reading to do over the next few days.

Coza is right, the Ron & Viv Moon book is a must have.
Also grab a Hema map of the Cape, lots of useful info there.
Check out www.cypda.com.au (http://www.cypda.com.au), some of the info is out of date but it gives a good idea.
Another good source of information is the CapeYorker magazine (Batesy/Ant, do I get paid for shameless promotion?), seriously.

I'm also heading up there at the end of July, if you see a Nissan 'Telstra' truck it will probably be me, stop and say hello.

[cookie]

thanks nedly, have done a fair bit of reading i dont want to mention tyres, oops i did, the forum has been great a lot of questions answered. see ya on the road. cookie

[campdog]

Thanks Coza might buy that book, alright campdog you asked for it, any question answered and how many of them lol.My bad its a offroad trailer, a bulloak brand , not 4 wheel , will i get to cape towing it or can i get to bramwell junction , leave it there and camp the rest. The road between cape trib and ayton again trailer friendly or not.really pumped for this trip, so need to get it right, thanks to all for the info.
The Bloomfield Track between Cape Trip and Ayton and Lions Den Hotel is a great drive and fun,there are a few steep hills / mountains where you may find yourself in 4wd low on a concrete road. Ive done it a couple of times both directions.Great scenery as well.Sure bats the tar road.
AS for the trip north, You should not have any trouble with a well prepared trailer. I have towed mine up and down the tele track a few times and made it home in one piece.There will be a lot of people around to give a hand if needed. Just take your time and should be fine.
Keep asking questions.

[cookie]

thanks campdog, is there any river crossings, between cape trib and ayton.
cheers cookie

[campdog]

thanks campdog, is there any river crossings, between cape trib and ayton.
cheers cookie
There is a few small ones and then there is the Bloomfield river with a concrete crossing, nothing to worry about,I think the bloomfield is tidal and can get water over the crossing at times,
I left Cape Trib last year after 100mm rain and got pretty hairy in the mud around ayton. I think I took about 2 tonne of mud to Lions Den with me.
You wont regret going the coast way.
Ill find a photos of that area tonight.

[batesy]

There is a few small ones and then there is the Bloomfield river with a concrete crossing, nothing to worry about,I think the bloomfield is tidal and can get water over the crossing at times,
I left Cape Trib last year after 100mm rain and got pretty hairy in the mud around ayton. I think I took about 2 tonne of mud to Lions Den with me.
You wont regret going the coast way.
Ill find a photos of that area tonight.


A whole swag of road works has been done on the road between Bloomfield and Lions Den. I think they must be opening up some of that area for land sales etc.

In saying that, we have had a bit of rain on the east coast near cooktown over the last week, so you may get a few potholes.

Anyone out there got newer info on this? ... or is that supposed to be my job?!!

[Nedly]

A whole swag of road works has been done on the road between Bloomfield and Lions Den. I think they must be opening up some of that area for land sales etc.

In saying that, we have had a bit of rain on the east coast near cooktown over the last week, so you may get a few potholes.

Anyone out there got newer info on this? ... or is that supposed to be my job?!!

You're the local, plus you are in the area at the moment.
Change the thongs for boots, jump in the truck, head out and have a look see.
Can always stop at the Lions Den for a rest stop, makes the trip a little more worthwhile.

[cookie]

i have maps, but cant find all the river crossings on them, is there a map that gives me these or a ?, is gunshot and pascoe river between brampton junction and jardine river, trying to plot my track, and places to visit, also quick ? i have dual deep cycle in car, and 12 @ 240v in camper trailer,do you think i need a small gennie to, staying for approx 2 months. thanks cookie.

[campdog]

i have maps, but cant find all the river crossings on them, is there a map that gives me these or a ?, is gunshot and pascoe river between brampton junction and jardine river, trying to plot my track, and places to visit, also quick ? i have dual deep cycle in car, and 12 @ 240v in camper trailer,do you think i need a small gennie to, staying for approx 2 months. thanks cookie.

Cookie, Hemma Cape york map gives you all the details you want. If you want to go one better , buy a copy of ron moons cape york adventure as it gives trek notes on the cape and good description, my cape york bible.

My opinion on generators depends on how long you plan to stay in the bush between electricity.
I take my honda eu10i with me as I spend a bit of time in each place. If you plan to spend more than 2 days without driving is be looking at a small genny. If I drive one day and stay 2 nights I can go without charging batteries.
Just depends on your circumstances, 12 volt power needs and how much time you spend without going to caravan parks etc.

[cookie]

thanks campdog, bought the book but hasnt arrived yet, must check up on it today, i was looking at the little honda, they go ok do they. Not long now 16th next month, my missus was very impressed with the photos you posted and you took the kids and wife, little happier she is so thanks for that, got me a few brownie points ,lol. did u do gunshot with your trailer on ?. thanks cookie.

[cookie]

i also have ron moons discover australia 4wd, off ebay for 8 bucks, pretty good but dosent go into a great load of detail.still worth a great read, so is the cape yorker mag, cant put it down, my missus keeps telling me that cape is not the ONLY place we are going to on our 12 month trip, ( i dont know about that ).but i will research all areas in detail b4 i go to them so thanks to you all for info given. cookie.

[campdog]

thanks campdog, bought the book but hasnt arrived yet, must check up on it today, i was looking at the little honda, they go ok do they. Not long now 16th next month, my missus was very impressed with the photos you posted and you took the kids and wife, little happier she is so thanks for that, got me a few brownie points ,lol. did u do gunshot with your trailer on ?. thanks cookie.
Sorry taken so long to answer cooky, bloody work got in the way.
I have had my eu10i for 4 years and hasnt missed a beat, ran it for 15 hrs a day for 2 weeks this year.
Running my camping gear and charger I use 2.5l per 10 -11 hrs.but uses more running a couple of freezers, about 7 -8hrs / tanl -2.5L
I treat it like gold and it gets its own spot in the back of the vehicle. Never taken the trailer down gunshot, I seem to find enough trouble without pushing my luck. Ive always gone the bypass and come back and watch, its a long way from nowhere to get repairs iif something does break,A lot of people do it but if your not sure you can bypass, Ive heard a telecom dover has been through and made a better track but not certain about it.Its a personal decision.

[kingchevy]

You can drive a commodore through gunshot believe me there should be some photos on this forum of the forum trip me the missus guy and batesy went on had some photos of gunshot.

Actually I found it
http://www.capeyorker.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77

[campdog]

I saw the photos where the dozer went through and you could ge a 2wd toyota there as well.The times I have been there vehicles have been stuck and major damage done.Last year one easy track was blown out to make people use the steeper entrances. So have a look and make your own mind up.

[mason]

Hey guy's I went through Gunshot 8 days ago and it was too easy.
A few little bumps are developing on the dozed entrance on the south bank but nothing serious. The north side is still easy. Saw trailers being towed through. Sorry no photos.
If there is a crossing to worry about it would have to be the first one heading up from Bramwell which is Palm Creek. It has a steep eroded entry. Going north is ok with a trailer but coming back you will need a winch or a snatch out.
And of course Nolans Brook should be taken seriously. 1 day before I got there someone sank their Nissan after going through 4 times, tempting fate really.

[campdog]

Sounds like gunshot is now a firecracker.Palm creek was fun last year as well. Once was enough for me in nolans brook.
Did they leave the steep ones for the thrill seekers.

[mason]

Yeah their still there but a little over grown, seems like everyone's taking the soft option.

[burdekinbarra]

Sorry taken so long to answer cooky, bloody work got in the way.
I have had my eu10i for 4 years and hasnt missed a beat, ran it for 15 hrs a day for 2 weeks this year.
Running my camping gear and charger I use 2.5l per 10 -11 hrs.but uses more running a couple of freezers, about 7 -8hrs / tanl -2.5L
I treat it like gold and it gets its own spot in the back of the vehicle. Never taken the trailer down gunshot, I seem to find enough trouble without pushing my luck. Ive always gone the bypass and come back and watch, its a long way from nowhere to get repairs iif something does break,A lot of people do it but if your not sure you can bypass, Ive heard a telecom dover has been through and made a better track but not certain about it.Its a personal decision.

Hey Campdog, how big is your Battery Charger that you run off the genny. I just bought a 30amp charger but it has a 15AMP male plug. I use a Honda 2KV Eio and a mate said it might not have enough guts to power the charger. Ideally I would like to run the genny for a few hours to get the batteries back up.

[campdog]

Hey Campdog, how big is your Battery Charger that you run off the genny. I just bought a 30amp charger but it has a 15AMP male plug. I use a Honda 2KV Eio and a mate said it might not have enough guts to power the charger. Ideally I would like to run the genny for a few hours to get the batteries back up.

My eu10i has a 8 amp built in but I only use a 5amp charger and run it on trickle charge most the time as its all I need to top up my battery. On our last Cape trip we used 1 25amp,1 5amp and 1 10amp chargers to charger the batteries because my trailblazer was run as freezer only.
I dont like hitting deep cycle batteries with to many amps and would rather run my genny for 10hrs at 5 amps and bring up the charge slowly.

[batesy]

And of course Nolans Brook should be taken seriously. 1 day before I got there someone sank their Nissan after going through 4 times, tempting fate really.

Nissans love Nolans... hey Campdog?!

[campdog]

Nissans love Nolans... hey Campdog?!
Ill see if i can coverta little bit of video of nolans brook do I csn get in on video,especially when I say,make sure there are no cameras on the floor.