Well after perusing adverts for ages and looking at a lot of potential vans we finally decided on a 18.6 Safari X-Trak.
My truck (GU patrol cab/chassis) goes into a container on Monday (as we are time constrained to do the trip each way) and we meet up with it next week in Melbourne, hitch up the van and bring it back.
A couple of short local runs back in Perth (to set it up) and then in the new year a much bigger run to catch up with family and friends (who are scattered all over the place)
A happy snap will follow and I'll get those bumper stickers on it asap and look forward to seeing fellow GN"s on the road and in the camps.
Techno, Good choice of van. I don't live far from their Ballarat dealer and have dropped in to check out their vans a few times. We will be upgrading in about 12 to 18 months and at this stage it will be more than likely very similar to what you have chosen. I will be very interested in how yours is going . Have a nice trip back across the Nullabor. regards Rod.
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Rod.
Ah! The serenity
Tug - Mitsubishi Challenger, Van - Starcraft Outback Poptop..
hey TechnoGypsy - nice to see you on this forum - look forward to catching up next week near Warrnambool - there's a good overnight free camp just down the road from us at Nullawarre. Can't wait to see the new van (and of course you and Christine)
-- Edited by villatranquilla on Saturday 6th of December 2014 06:28:45 PM
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Jenny and Barry
2009 Roma Elegance / 2013 Colorado. Permanent travellers 2011-2015 now just travel for 4-6 mths
well caught up with TechnoGypsy today. He had picked up the new van and now heading home to Perth. New van is verrrry niiiice. Reckon you'll have trouble getting Christine back into the camper trailer Bob. Need some pics here Bob.
-- Edited by villatranquilla on Tuesday 9th of December 2014 08:12:35 PM
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Jenny and Barry
2009 Roma Elegance / 2013 Colorado. Permanent travellers 2011-2015 now just travel for 4-6 mths
I placed another post "Meet Wanda" with a couple of pics attached. So far the van is everything that we were looking for. It was a process of elimination with over 357 ads perused and some local offerings inspected. (we had a 22.6 Scenic years ago)
It tows just forward of dead level and we just plod along in fourth gear at 85 - 90 k/h. My tug is a fairly low geared manual and I'm not about to tow in fifth.
I sure do worry about those people I see whizzing past me with 'smallish" sized sedans (but with powerful V8's) towing larger and heavier vans. I do believe so many are unaware of the potential in adverse conditions = wet roads / wind gusts / tyre blowouts at speed etc.
As mentioned in the other post we did the more direct gravel road fron Norseman through to Wave Rock on the way back into Perth. It never phased the driver or the van - but I think Wanda and I have a "mutual admiration" thing going already.
So a couple of local short runs in the new year before a fairly comprehensive circumnavigation approx March to Sept. I'll keep you posted if I find anything untoward. cheers from Techno.
-- Edited by TechnoGypsy on Sunday 21st of December 2014 05:09:02 PM
