West2East Challenge: Day 3
Laverton to Tjukayirla - 311km
Saturday 22nd August
We've really hit the Outback roads now! Not long after leaving Laverton the dirt road starts and another great photo and video opportunity presents itself. Our trip is going to be written up in Caravan World (Michael Browning) and Caravan and Camping Sales (online now, written by Chris Fincham) over a couple of forthcoming editions, so keep your eyes peeled!
For the first time on our trip we've lost mobile reception, so we're actually going to have to talk to each other now! Luckily we've got a wonderful group of people on this trip - so much knowledge, experience and creativity!
I hope we don't need it but we do have a satellite phone in case of emergencies which is good because the further we travel, the more prevalent it's becoming that we're heading into some of the most remote roads in the world! Not only are we cut off from pretty much everywhere, the roads are pretty hostile - the sand is very fine so the vans are slipping around a little.
We'll stop in a short while and check everything over. Adrian Van Geelen is the Managing Director of Bailey Australia and is confident the Rangefinders are going to cope superbly. The chassis have been specifically designed for Australian terrain with the underside shielded in fibreglass to protect it against damage from flying stones. There's a cover on the front of the van for the same reason, because the front of the caravan is most likely to receive damage caused by the tyres churning up stones within the sand. The wheels on the caravan are wider than ones we'd find in the UK and stabiliser bars offer added protection for the versatility of the road conditions. Reducing our driving speed helps of course along with reducing the PSI to help the suspension although our days are much longer on these roads - not that I'm complaining!
The view changes every few minutes going from quite lush grass to more baron and sparse within a short space of time; no two scenes in The Outback are the same, just completely captivating.
Success! So far so good inside the vans - just a little red dust here and there! I've got a feeling we'll be seeing more of this red stuff over the coming weeks!
We're posting lots of photos and short videos of our trip on social media - come and take a look!
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