Long driving trip - what to pack?

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wortbag

Tenderfoot
Oct 9, 2004
57
0
52
New Forest/Wiltshire
I've done a similar trip by motorbike, you'll have a great time!

Don't expect radio stations to reach you once you're away from civilisation, so take tapes, cd's or mp3 player along, the roads are long, straight and quite boring after a while. Keep your driving to daylight hours if you can help it once away from the coast as cattle move onto the road at night, possibly less important in a car but hitting a cow is never going to be nice.

Remember road trains have right of way! Some of the roads you'll drive are 1.5 lanes wide and they expect you to pass with one wheel in the gravel, not the main roads but some of the side ones. If you see a road train or any large truck coming be ready to leave the road because if something pulling three trailers puts a set of wheels in the dirt they can start weaving, so they don't do it.

Do not give petrol to the Aboriginals, they are known to drink it. This is not a joke!

It gets hot, like dashboard melting hot, so be aware if you get back into your car around midday and wonder why your vinyl seats have given you blisters, so by a windscreen shade and/or a sheepskin for your chair.

Buy a tyre repair kit with inflater air cylinder, kind of a spray in and inflate thingy as two punctures before reaching a repair place can easily happen.

Anything else I think of I'll pop on here as I remember.

Have fun :)
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
I've done a similar trip by motorbike, you'll have a great time!

Don't expect radio stations to reach you once you're away from civilisation, so take tapes, cd's or mp3 player along....

Or hire a car with satellite radio.
 

bearbait

Full Member
Oh! Yes! Forgot to mention...see if you can find one or more of the following books in the library...
Sahara Overland, Chris Scott
Vehicle Dependent Expedition Guide, Tom Sheppard
Off-roader Driving, Tom Sheppard

Not all is probably relevant for your trip but you may get an idea or two from them.

Have a great trip!
 

Fat Rog

Forager
Sep 30, 2012
105
0
Rotherham, S. Yorks
A Haynes manual for your car as well as the toolkit, a decent GPS so if you do end up in the sh*t at least you can pinpoint your exact location. If you can't get hold of a sat phone then get a CB radio - many people still use them over there and you can tell them your exact position with the aforementioned GPS. Any "Breaker" will pass the info on to the emergency services/ recovery service. It's suprising just how far a CB signal can travel, even in a car.
 

demographic

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 15, 2005
4,695
714
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Take a pair of Crocs for the times you go into truckstop showers, saves you from getting manky infections on yer feet.
Car phone charger if your not spending time in hotels.
Baby wet wipes.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Take a pair of Crocs for the times you go into truckstop showers, saves you from getting manky infections on yer feet.
Car phone charger if your not spending time in hotels.
Baby wet wipes.

All good advise. For that matter the crocs might be of use in those hotel showers also. Over here at least, the truck stop showers get cleaned just as often as the hotel/motel showers BUT!! in the end, they're ALL public showers.
 

bullterrier

Forager
Feb 4, 2011
129
0
NZ
Not sure if anyone's mentioned an EPIRB personal locator - might be good if you are going off the beaten track, or think you might be.
Someone mentioned a towel for swimming - however it is a well known fact that all water in Oz contains massive crocs :) which will eat you. Even the sea. Mind you the land is covered in deadly spiders and snakes, so you're pretty much a dead man walking. Good luck with all that.....
If you have any money left over after your trip, come over to NZ and do the same thing here!!!
 

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