My #HIGHWAYPRINCESS haha

[Debztoy]

Hi everyone,

So i have a 2013 GXL 200 series and am loving it.

Have done a bucketload of work to her, and the only thing i am really stuck on at the moment is water storage ideas.

I leave in 21 days to drive from Southwest WA up to Darwin to enter a burnout competition, then i am off exploring on my way back home. I have taken 6 weeks off to explore and get as much as i can out of my holiday.

I did Gibb River Rd last year in my 80series, but my new 80 being built isn't ready yet, so am taking the 200 up, and am lost on water. (My 80 was 100% set up to go solo and off grid for at least 2 weeks minimum).

Not keen on bladders inside the car, i have 2 subs that sit between my rear seats and cargo barrier, not too keen on having to put tablets and conditioners inside bigger tanks to help keep the water clean and fresh etc.

I will have three rola roof rails on the roof with a motorized XTM XL rooftop tent on top, so no real room to put the polypipes up for water (which i was thinking of putting one along the back and trying to figure out a bracket to hold onto the tent base).

Anyone have some different ideas? Am happy to keep refilling it if it's smaller, more keen on using the water for washing up, my coffee machine, and i have a small portable shower which i will use with my fold up bucket (or a shower along the travels when i find one haha).

Thanks heaps, and hope to hear of some more ideas : )

Debs : )

 

[Chris]

Firstly, what a stunner! That truly looks the biz.

Well one point worth mentioning is water quality. Whilst you're not going to get something awful growing in there, stored water especially when it's heated and cooled can become tainted. Rather than use tablets (yuk) why not consider a small canister type filter. Here in the UK we have things like Whale which are usually fitted to RVs and caravans etc. They take all the taste and odour out. Now if you want to replen from a billabong or something then unless you know it's good to drink, these filter will not remove serious contaminants.

I guess this is a question of what space you have available and how much water you think you'd need to carry at any one point between replens. I am going to suggest the simplest, most flexible and space efficient way though.

Just by a few packs of 1L bottles from the supermarket. Guaranteed fresh, put them anywhere, handy to use, no filter required, no tank, no pump, no hoses.

The downside is that it\s not an elegant solution to go with you super machine.

Beyond that, you're into tanks, possibly custom made ones.

 

[StarCruiser]

I was thinking along the same lines but the large water cooler type bottles depending on availability. In some countries these are everywhere but don’t know about Oz.

Nice truck Debs. That wheel carrier looks a bit different.

 

[clivehorridge]

Nice one Debs, happy travels and please don’t forget the photos

 

[Debztoy]

HI everyone, me again!!

So the time has come, and i am 1 day away from leaving for my trip North.

Rear wheel carrier ready and done, RolaRoofracks done, Rooftop Tent up and now done (after a major meltdown moment when i couldn't open my rear tailgate as it was too far back). Brand new tyres, full service, HX1 installed on a Ram Mount inside the car. Stereo system, 4" SS Powdercoated snorkel, replaced the front standard Toyota bullbar with the Ironman 63mm Premium bar and all the good bits.

Hoping like hell all goes to plan and it all work with minimal fuss. Have my BOAB 40L water tank that sits on the footwell of the floor behind the front seats.

Only real problem i think i will find i have being on my own will be taking the RTT cover off and putting it back on myself, other than that i think i'm fairly well set up and ready to be off grid for as long as my food will allow me to be.

Can not wait!!

Australind to Mount Newman
Mount Newman to Broome
Broome to Kununurra
Kununurra to Darwin.

Then after the burnout comp it'll be:

Darwin to Kakadu
Kakadu to Litchfield
Litchfield to El Questro
El Questro to Kalumburu for some Barra fishing
Back to El Questro
El Questro to do Ivanhoe River Crossing after going o Ellenbrae for their famous home made scones (just past the Pentecost River Crossing, not far away at all)
Ivanhoe River Crossing to Bungle Bungles to explore and have a look around.
Then head back down to Australind and home.

REALLY hoping i have minimal problems and i have more of a ball than a shit time, althou a shit time exploring is still better than being at work everyday and being at home wishing it!!

 

[Debztoy]

With the RTT down and packed away and fixed.

Am hoping to get my Bush Barriers on before i head off on Friday, but have to wash the car and put them on and trim them around the flares, as you can see with the trial fitment pic. REALLY hope i can get that sorted.

 

[StarCruiser]

Looking good Debs!
Sounds like a great way to burn diesel!
looking forward to the trip report.

 

[Chris]

Wow. Can't add any more. Just Wow, really.

 

[GeekOKent]

That truck looks the biz. I am sure it will go the well. Are you tracking the trip on Instagram or somewhere? Would be good to try and keep up.

 

[Debztoy]

Hi everyone, well what can i say??? WHAT an experience that has been!!

Well i left to head to Darwin from Australind WA. I ended up making it to Newman on my 1st leg and was excited, but very sick. Was that bad i couldn't swallow, had trouble breathing, couldn't eat or drink and was that pale i was told to head to the hospital ASAP.

Booked into the Newman hotel for the night as i didn't have the energy to do anything let alone try and put up my RTT. It was stinking hot up there, yet i had a hot shower and teeth were still chattering, i wore my tracky pants, singlet, tshirt, flanno and hoodie, and crawled under 4 blankets in bed and was still freezing and teeth chattering.

Ended up going to the hospital the next morning, as i had swollen glands. The nurse who checked me out said i also had swollen lymph nodes, which stressed me out as last time i heard that, Mum had Lymphoma and went down hill fast. When i finally was checked by the Dr, he said i had Tonsilities!! I was like what?? I had them taken out when i was 4!!! He said the Dr a the time was shit as he left a small bit behind and they grew back, althou they weren't as big as standard, they were still there and causing all the problems. SO gave me a prescription (HUGE frigging tables i had to try and swallow!!! UGH) and much to Dads disgust who was yelling at me to turn around and follow the cars nose back home, i told him reception was bad and had to go and i kept going.

Rest of the trip was sensational! Thoroughly loved every minute of it, exploring, travelling, driving and checking out places i've never been to before. I have no words with some of the things i experienced and have no idea where to even start with how to explain it all.

BEST thing about it was meeting up with my burnout family and having a blast at Hidden Valley Rac eway........as i found out on my slow trip back home, one of my good friends i had just spent 3 weeks with, killed himself as soon as they got back home to NSW. So that was really really hard to try and deal with, being sad, missing him, feeling absolutely traumatized and still trying to enjoy my trip on my way home. Wholly shit what a trip.

Worst thing i experienced? Almost falling asleep at the wheel and not being able to make it past Fiztroy Crossing on the way back South, thinking i'd be any kind of safe at the Fitzroy Lodge, camping in my car (Thank God i did!!) and being woken up at 0300 from a girl screaming at the top of her lungs, bawling her eyes out as the cabin she was in (the one i was going to hire and decided against it as my car wasn't safe where it had to be parked) had just been broken into and woke up to a lovely local standing in front of her and ran out with her bag and purse and passport, i sat up and looked outside my RTT window and he went running straight past my car............OMFG.......yeah all hell broke loose and it was action stations........i decided enough was enough and packed up and took off, as did a few others. Scare also going through the towns being escorted by the Police as the little shits were throwing rocks at EVERYONE including the cop cars *facepalm*.

Best thing i experience being on the road? Being on a dirt road for three solid days and only seeing 3 cars. I set up camp everynight, and between my HX1 and papermaps, i planned the next days travel. I knew i had to head South, so found every interesting track and dirt track i could find to stay off the boring blacktop, and loved every minute of it. Sme of the sights i have seen and experienced were just unreal!

Can't wait to do it again!!

Ok, so that is the majorly condensed version, i will try and upload shitloads of pics, so be prepared haha

PS i came 2nd

 

[Debztoy]

 

[Debztoy]

 

[fbnss]

Sorry to hear about your friend.
Theres no point going on a trip of its forgetful, this one will last for years to come around the camp fire

 

[Chris]

Holy Heck! That's more adventure than most pack in during their lifetime.

 

[SpinDrift]

Sounds like it was a great trip and memorable. The bumps along the way make memorable, even though they can be trying at the time.

 

[Chas]

Wow! that's a trip and a half to be sure, memories to last a lifetime, bummer about your friend though. That pub in one of your pictures, I was at one just like that in Hebel NSW on my way to Lightning Ridge to dig for opals, never found any though.
All the best in your future travels.
Chas

 

[Shayne]

Brilliant Debz and thanks for sharing it with us both the rough and the smooth , memory tends to store the challenging episodes more readily but you arrived home safe and time will let you look back on it all with a smile i hope . Gone but not forgotten .

 

[StarCruiser]

Sounds like a cracking trip Debs. Glad it all went well and 2nd Place is not to be sniffed at! As has been said, really sorry about your friend. Terrible. At least you were with him and had a blast in the weeks before he left.
Great Nick (fbnss) style selfie BTW.

 

[frank rabbets]

Good report. I have relies in Australia inviting me over but I think I'm too old now.

Chas what a bummer flying all the way for opals that you never found lol.

 

[Chas]

Good report. I have relies in Australia inviting me over but I think I'm too old now.

Chas what a bummer flying all the way for opals that you never found lol.

Yeah I'm too old for that now Frank as well, but the digging for opals wasn't the only reason I went to Oz, I worked with an Aussie chap and we went out to visit his parents via Bangkok (the less said about that the better). I did do a bit of fossiking on the splill tips from the mine and found a few shards of opal which I still have in a small container as a souvenir