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tiru1993 · 5 years

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Un viaggio che lascia ricordi indelebili e che merita i tanti chilometri percorsi.

Alice Springs

L’arrivo in aereo ad Alice Springs, nel cuore del deserto e nel mezzo della Stuart Highway che collega Darwin ad Adelaide reciprocamente 1500 km di distanza da ciascuna.

Alice Springs si presenta come base molto organizzata con benzinai, rental cars e supermercati.

Ormiston Gorge

La prima tappa è a circa a 2 ore di macchina dal centro. Una volta presi i bagagli e affittato il vostro van nel cocente sole di un settembre primaverile (e anche caldo) australiano dirigetevi verso la Lasseter Highway per raggiungere le Ormiston Gorge e le Glen Helen Gorge.

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Uno spettacolo di colori rossi e sfumature ocra con laghi e campeggi attrezzati in mezzo al deserto di Simpson sono ciò che serve per ricaricare le batterie.

Fermatevi a dormire nel nulla e osservate il tramonto e godetevi le stelle, non c’è niente che potrà distogliere la vostra attenzione.

Kata Tuja

Da Glen Helen se avete intenzione di far qualcosa di più “challenging” potete percorrere il Larapinta Trail e godervi una natura inaspettata e arida.

Per chi avesse un 4×4 potrete divertirvi nelle strade sterrate del Malarinda Loop che vi fa guadagnare tempo nel raggiungere il Kings Canyon, se invece come me avete un van e potete solo guidare su strade asfaltate dovete ritornare ad Alice Springs e poi guidare per arrivare a Yulara ed entrare nel National Park di Uluru (Ayers Rock) e Kata Tuja.

Passeggiate per le gorge di 200 metri nelle valli di Kata Tuja armandovi di mosquito net se odiate le mosche, tanta acqua, cappellino e crema solare che vi condurranno in un oasi nel deserto bellissima.

Ayers Rock

Poi ritornate con 40 minuti di auto verso Uluru in tempo per ammirare da vicino con una bella birra fresca che riterrete molto utile il tramonto infuocato e unico sulla roccia che cambia colore.

Dopo aver campeggiato e osservato le stelle puntate la sveglia presto e dirigetevi al parcheggio dedicato all’alba su Uluru (ricordate che l’escursione termica nel deserto c’è e vestitevi bene con pantaloni lunghi e piumino per non morire di freddo) e godetevi un alba sacra e un po’ troppo affollata.

Kings Canyon

Proseguite il vostro viaggio verso il Kings Canyon notando che anche qui il cellulare non prenderà più ormai da chilometri. Se riuscite partite al mattino presto armandovi di tanta acqua, scarpe comode e qualche snack o il pranzo per compiere il giro del canyon più suggestivo di sempre. Il caldo e il periodo dell’anno vanno controllati se volete svolgere questo trail di 6 km sapendo che quando la temperatura supera il 36° non è possibile inoltrarsi nel canyon.

Camminare su questa roccia antichissima che cambia forma e colori è impressionante tanto quanto salire e sporgersi nei punti di lookout per far le foto a tanta grandezza.

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Non perdetevi i giardini di Eden allungando un po’ il tour poiché sarà uno dei punti in cui poter ammirare un luogo naturale e intatto che offre riparo dal caldo e dal sole. Luogo ideale per scattare fotografie e riposarsi verso metà percorso.

Red Centre Way

Ammirate il Kings Canyon al tramonto e poi il giorno dopo rigenerati e carichi andate verso sud, la strada si mostrerà a voi per esser la più dritta che avete mai visto per chilometri e chilometri.

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Questa è la red centre way, e persino l’asfalto diventa rosso fuoco, quasi mascherando la strada e unificando il paesaggio naturale e selvaggio con l’opera umana.

Coober Pedy

Proseguite nelle ore di guida facendo diversi stop lungo il percorso e poi raggiungete Cooper Pedy mecca degli opali e di un villaggio sotto terra unico al mondo in quanto ricco di miniere tramutato in case o hotel di lusso.

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Prendetevi il tempo di visitare il museo delle miniere, andando fino a 20 metri sottoterra con tour guidati per ricercare gli opali e entrate in chiese sotterranee dove la temperatura rimane dai 20 ai 28 gradi tutto l’anno, si capisce anche perché gli abitanti vogliono vivere nei Doghout poiché in estate la temperatura può arrivare fino a 58 gradi. Se siete appassionati di golf non potete perdervi la golf course senza erba più grossa al mondo e se invece siete degli amanti degli opali e di pietre preziose potrete trovarne per tutti i gusti.

Lasciata Coober Pedy proseguite verso Adelaide, sapendo che vicino a port augusta si facevano test nucleari negli anni 40-50 e capirete il perch visto che il deserto qua è impressionante e l’occhio può vagare all’orizzonte senza scrutare nient’altro che la strada, sembra di essere su Marte tanto la terra è rossa attorno e la vegetazione poca.

Mucche, cavalli, avvoltoi o canguri sono gli unici esseri che incontrerete rotolando verso sud.

Adelaide

Arrivati ad Adelaide vi sembrerà di essere ritornati nella civiltà con supermercati, benzina ad un prezzo di nuovo normale e servizi di ogni tipo.

Visitare la spiaggia di Port Noarlunga South per immergervi nei bellissimi pontili e scale che portano ad un oceano pieno di surfisti e grandissime onde.

Appena fuori Adelaide non potete dimenticare la Barossa Valley famosa per i vini pregiati come lo Shiraz o lo Chardonnay.

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Prenotate un tour o degustate semplicemente i vini locali nei punti tipici come Chateau Barossa o Chateau Yaldara immergendovi nella storia dei luoghi e scoprendo botti di vino invecchiato anche di 40 anni, il cui prezzo per i più non è possibile acquistare poiché 200 litri possono valere fino a 2000 AUD cioè circa 1200€.

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Dopo aver ammirato i vigneti e aver degustato i migliori vini tornate ad Adelaide per immergervi nel suo Central Market ed assaporate l’atmosfera e godetevi un caffè o passeggiate per il centro nella Adelaide Arcade.

Se ti è piaciuto condividilo o tagga un’amico con cui vuoi condividere questo viaggio!

#soon articolo su Perth e il Western Australia 🙂

Red Centre: il cuore dell’Australia Un viaggio che lascia ricordi indelebili e che merita i tanti chilometri percorsi. Alice Springs L’arrivo in aereo ad Alice Springs, nel cuore del deserto e nel mezzo della Stuart Highway che collega Darwin ad Adelaide reciprocamente 1500 km di distanza da ciascuna.

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shannrussell-blog1 · 5 years

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Part three of this series on the Oodnadatta Track covers William Creek to the final destination. You can read part one, and part two of the series first if you need to catch up.

William Creek – Oodnadatta (202km) and Beyond

What will you see

This section continues our shadowing of the route taken by John McDouall Stuart, the Overland Telegraph Line and the Old Ghan railway, at least until Oodnadatta. The track continues to be well maintained, with occasional corrugated sections and bulldust holes.

I’d recommend keeping those headlights on, reduce tyre pressures and take it easy on the speed. The Cooper Tires website has a very useful guide to appropriate tyre pressures in a range of terrains

The Towns

Oodnadatta

The namesake of this track is a reasonably well-sized town with a significant aboriginal community, government workers and business people making up the population. Among Oodnadatta’s claims to fame is as one of the hottest places in Australia – not somewhere suitable for tourists in the height of summer, but generally a delight in the cooler months. An excellent museum is housed in the old railway station and the famous Pink Roadhouse beckons for re-fuelling and an Oodnaburger and chips.

Accommodation

Algebuckina, 53km south of Oodnadatta, is the site of the most significant bridge on the Old Ghan Railway. There is good camping around the bridge area and to the east of the track along the Neales River.

Side Trips

km north of William Creek is the 6km track to the east leading to the old Peake Telegraph Station on the original Overland Telegraph Line. There are significant remains well worth a look.

Along The Way

Old Ghan Rail Sidings

There are many sidings along this section but the ones particularly worth a stop are (distances are from William Creek):

Edwards Creek (82km)

Look out for these ruins to the east of the track. Edwards Creek was once a major staging area on the old Ghan railway, it housed a large number of rail and maintenance staff.

Algebuckina (42km)

The old buildings are a little off to the west of the track, not long before crossing the Neales River and the Algebuckina bridge.

Old Peake Telegraph Station

km north of William Creek is the turnoff west to the significant settlement that was the Peake Telegraph Station. This is a Public Access Route, meaning it passes through a pastoral property, so respect the track and surroundings and keep a good lookout for stock. It is important not to go near any stock watering points. The track can be rough, so a 4WD is recommended.

Algebuckina Bridge

Still the longest bridge in South Australia, this large structure took the Ghan rail line over the Neales River. At the southern end, you will see an old car wreck, said to be the result of a fool-hardy attempt to drive across the bridge when the river was in flood, only to be confronted by an oncoming train that duly bull-dozed it off the end of the bridge. On the northern end are several graves.

Ways Home From Here

A number of options are available for the traveller, depending on the time available, direction heading and type of vehicle.

If heading NORTH

The Oodnadatta Track continues on for 2km from Oodnadatta, meeting the Stuart Highway at Marla. From there the road is sealed all the way to Darwin This is also a good way to go if seeing Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon are on your wish list.

It is possible to continue your love affair with the Old Ghan, fairly closely following the original rail alignment through to Alice Springs. In fact, in sections, you actually drive on top of it. This option requires a well-equipped 4WD taking you through quite isolated areas.

There is over 500km of dirt track of variable condition, taking you through Hamilton Station, Finke and Maryvale, with fuel available at Finke and Maryvale. For the really adventurous experience, take the 45km track west from Maryvale to the historic Chambers Pillar. There is a good campground at the pillar.

Again for the adventurous, take the track north through Hamilton Station and turn off west to Mount Dare 9km north of the Eringa ruins. From Mount Dare, head north on the Old Andado Track, passing the historic Old Andado Homestead and the Aboriginal community of Santa Teresa, eventually arriving in Alice Springs.

If heading WEST

Oodnadatta also a major starting point for a trip across the Simpson Desert. Attempting this requires excellent preparation, a highly equipped 4WD and the ability to be completely self-sufficient (see the 3-part blog “Crossing The Simpson Desert“).

If heading SOUTH

Southwest of Oodnadatta is the 97km track to Coober Pedy on the Stuart Highway. This is a well-made dirt road and a good way to go if travelling back to Adelaide.

Distances and Services

From William Creek to Oodnadatta is only 202km, with no towns or services on this section of the track. There are numerous camping opportunities near old rail ruins and at creek crossings.

The Last Bit – What Else You Might Need To Know

Permits

No permits are required to travel or camp along any sections of the Oodnadatta Track.

Key Contacts

Outback Road Conditions – phone 300 36 033 or log on to www.dtei.sa.gov.au and follow the links.

Marree Police Station – phone (08) 8675 8346

Oodnadatta Police Station – (08) 8670 7805

Coward Springs Campground – 08 8675 8336

William Creek Hotel – 08 8670 7880

Pink Roadhouse Oodnadatta – (08) 86 707 822

Check out our blog for tons of outback touring information, or go to our website and set yourself up to tackle the Oodnadatta Track.

The post Oodnadatta Track Part 3 – William Creek to Oodnadatta appeared first on Snowys Blog.

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sparloewe-blog · 5 years

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Vom Red Centre nach Melbourne Australien ab 911 Euro pP

Auf dieser zehntägigen Erlebnisreise erkunden wir die große Wildnis zwischen dem sogenannten Roten Zentrum und Adelaide, mit guter Gesellschaft und fantastischen Erlebnissen garantiert. Auf den Ausflügen durch die Nationalparks, den Weinproben im Clare Valley und der ikonischen Great Ocean Road erlebst du das Outback so, wie man es nur mit einer kleinen Gruppe Gleichgesinnter kann. Deine erfahrenen Chief Experience Officers (CEOs) sorgen für einen perfekten Ablauf des Trips, damit du mehr Zeit zum Genießen hast.

Reiseverlauf 01 TAG 1: ALICE SPRINGS Ankunft zu jeder Zeit möglich. 02 TAG 2: ALICE SPRINGS/ULURU Wir brechen früh auf, um ins Rote Zentrum zu fahren. Wanderung im fantastischen Kings Canyon bevor es weitergeht nach Uluru. Wir brechen früh in Richtung Rotes Zentrum auf. Fahrt zum Kings Canyon, wo du je nach Wetterverhältnissen einen optionalen Spaziergang durch die Schluchten und Täler des Watarrka-Nationalparks unternehmen kannst. Weiterfahrt zum Campingplatz Yulara, wo wir die Nacht verbringen. 03 TAG 3: ULURU Besuch im Aborigine-Cultural-Centre und informative Mala-Wanderung um einen Teil Ulurus. Bestaune den Sonnenuntergang über Uluru mit einem Glas Sekt, bevor wir zum Campingplatz aufbrechen, um dort die Nacht zu verbringen. Unter dem Sternenhimmel zu zelten, ist ein einzigartiges Outback-Erlebnis. Visit the Aboriginal Cultural Centre to get a better understanding of the area before embarking on the Mala Walk around part of the base of Uluru (Ayers Rock). Learn the significance behind this iconic destination for the local people. Experience the colourful sunset at Uluru while enjoying a glass of bubbly. Marvel at the night sky while bunking down in a swag (canvas bedroll) for the night. 04 TAG 4: ULURU/COOBER PEDY Durchquere das Outback auf ruppigen Wegen bis Coober Pedy, die Welthauptstadt des Opalabbaus. Nach einer Tour durch eine Mine entkommst du der Hitze des Tages wie die Einheimischen - es geht in den Untergrund. Travel across the Outback to the unique opal mining town of Coober Pedy, where people live underground to avoid the heat. A guided mine tour gives insight to the mining process and then importance of opal to the area. 05 TAG 5: COOBER PEDY/FLINDERS RANGES Bewundere das Outback auf der Reise zur Flinders Range, wo wir übernachten. Prepare for an early morning start for the travel day to Flinders Ranges. 06 TAG 6: FLINDERS RANGES/ADELAIDE Erkundung der Flinders Ranges und Weiterfahrt nach Adelaide. Genieße unterwegs eine kulinarisches Erlebnis im Clare Valley. Travel through the Clare Valley, stopping to enjoy a local food experience featuring South Australia's best regional produce. Arrive in Adelaide, known as the "city of churches'.

07 TAG 7: ADELAIDE Tag zur freien Verfügung, um Adelaide zu entdecken. Optional kannst du auf einer Bootsfahrt Ausschau nach Delfinen halten oder noch weitere Weingüter besuchen. With an emerging art scene, natural beauty and attractions, and incredible restaurants, Adelaide has tons to see and do. Get out and discover the hub of South Australia! 08 TAG 8: ADELAIDE/HALLS GAP Die Reise beginnt früh morgens und führt landeinwärts zum Grampians Nationalpark, bekannt für sein Sandsteingebirge und beeindruckende Felsmalereien. Auf einer Wanderung durch den Wald bestaunst du die üppige Vegetation und artenreiche Tierwelt. Wir brechen früh auf und fahren landeinwärts zum Grampians-Nationalpark, der für sein Sandsteingebirge und beeindruckende Felsmalereien bekannt ist. Spaziere zu atemberaubenden Felsüberhängen („Balconies“) und statte den Wasserfällen MacKenzie Falls einen Besuch ab. 09 TAG 9: HALLS GAP/PORT CAMPBELL Früher Morgenspaziergang im Grampians Nationalpark und Besuch eines Aborigines-Kulturzentrums. Danach Fahrt auf der Great Ocean Road und Besichtigung von The Arch. Unternimm einen frühmorgendlichen Spaziergang im Grampians-Nationalpark mit üppiger Vegetation und unzähligen Wildtieren. Optional kannst du ein Aborigine-Kulturzentrum besuchen, um zu erfahren, was die Gegend für die Einheimischen bedeutet. Fahrt entlang der Great Ocean Road mit Sehenswürdigkeiten wie dem eingestürzten London Arch. 10 TAG 10: PORT CAMPBELL/MELBOURNE Fahrt auf der Great Ocean Road. Besuch der Loch Ard Schlucht und der Twelve Apostles. Die Fahrt führt vorbei an weltberühmten Surfstränden. Wandere durch den Regenwald im Great-Otway-Nationalpark. Der Trip endet abends bei der Ankunft in Melbourne. Erkunde die malerischen Attraktionen der Great Ocean Road wie die schöne Schlucht Loch Ard Gorge und die Kalksteinfelsen Twelve Apostles. Auf dem Weg nach Melbourne halten wir im Great-Otway-Nationalpark, um einen Spaziergang durch den Regenwald zu machen (inklusive). Read the full article

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felix-mohr · 6 years

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Der Morgen macht den Tag

Und wieder klingelt der Wecker um 5.

Verschlafen stehe ich auf und gehe direkt ohne Dusche oder Frühstück aus dem Haus. Draußen höre ich meine Voicemail ab und erfahre dass mein Bus 4-5 Stunden Verspätung hat und ich auf einen Anruf warten soll wann neue Abfahrt sein wird.

Da der Anruf nicht in den nächsten 2 Stunden erfolgen wird lege ich mich promt nochmal hin und stehe erneut um halb 8 auf, diesmal mit Dusche und Frühstück.

Um halb 10 erreicht mich dann die Nachricht und um kurz nach 10 geht's zur Bushaltestelle. Dort warte ich doch nochmal länger als angekündigt aber um halb 12 geht's dann endlich los Richtung Alice Springs.

Die Straße ist holprig und führt unendlich geradeaus. Aus dem Fenster hat man den Blick auf das rote Outback mit viele Büschen und Bäumen. Tatsächlich döse ich nochmal eine Weile vor mich hin habe aber auch sonst nichts zu tun auf der 7 Stündigen fahrt ohne jeglichen Empfang.

Adelaide - Coober Pedy: 850km

Coober Pedy - Alice Springs: 690km

Kilometerzähler ohne Touren: 2250 + 1550 = 3800km

Um 6 erreichen wir dann Alice Springs und endlich gibt's wieder Internet und Telefonempfang. Im schönen Hostel checke ich ein und gehe direkt weiter zum Reiseveranstalter um mir letzte Infos zur morgigen Tour geben zu lassen. Danach kaufe ich noch einen Sonnenhut und Lebensmittel ein und gehe zurück zum Hostel zum Essen.

Nach dem Abendesse update ich noch meinen Blog im Wlan und verabschiede mich bis morgen um halb 5 Uhr morgens.

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my-greatseo-love · 5 years

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House designers Adelaide

It doesn't have an Opera House, yet it has the incredible Ghan railroad. It doesn't have a world well known steed race, yet it has a globally prestigious expressions celebration. It doesn't have a Grand Prix, yet it has the fabulous Barossa valley wine area.

The city is Adelaide, capital of South Australia, with a populace of more than 1 million individuals. While not being as large and reckless as Sydney or Melbourne, Adelaide has its very own distinct appeal and style, a set to be relished and delighted in at your pace. House designers Adelaide

In the course of recent years, Adelaide has been discreetly shaking off its somewhat staid, religious picture of "city of places of worship" as a vacation goal to equal the more mainstream capitals of the east shoreline of Australia. It's experiencing a travel industry renaissance, with new cutting edge offices at the global air terminal, astounding shopping and a lot of exceptional home developed attractions like Kangaroo Island and pleasant town of Hahndorf in the Adelaide slopes.

No convicts here.

In contrast to some other Australian urban communities, Adelaide was established by free pioneers. The site was really picked in 1836 by Surveyor-General, Colonel William Light, who made its exemplary network like structure. Following convention, the city was named after British eminence, to be specific Queen Adelaide, spouse of the King William IV.

At the point when early settlers set up the city, pale sandstone was utilized, developing a strong, noble cityscape. The robustness goes more distant than engineering for Adelaide was once viewed as a city of strict spoilsports, with an extraordinarily enormous number of places of worship. There is no denying that the city has a sublime setting. It's encompassed by lavish green parkland, and the metropolitan territory is bound by the slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges and the waters of the Gulf St Vincent.

Where to remain.

In case you're arranging convenience, Adelaide can offer you each type to coordinate your spending limit, from spectacular 5 star names to littler boutique lodgings, with bounty in the mid-value run. Look at online lodging destinations for thoughts, worth and moment booking. You can make reserve funds by booking on the web - giving you more to spend on touring.

Retail buzz.

Today, the holy places are dwarfed by bars, bistros and clubs. The city murmurs with vitality from day to night. Being a serious level city, put on your strolling shoes. Start with a pinch of retail treatment in Rundle Mall with its potent blend of boutiques and significant retail establishments. Appreciate a walk around the Art Gallery and Botanical Gardens pursued by a comfortable lunch by the River Torrens.

Very Adelaide.

The city itself flaunts many intriguing and particular shops. Take O'Connell's Book Store in Hindley Street, Adelaide's most seasoned curator and pre-cherished book shop. You can peruse for a considerable length of time among first releases and surprising collectibles, with costs from only a couple of dollars. Who realizes what uncommon fortune lost in time you'll keep an eye on a rack!

Haigh's Chocolates is another great frequent, built up in 1915. Simply search for Beehive Corner expanding at the intersection of Rundle Mall and King William Street - and pursue that sweet smell!

R.M.Williams, the man behind the unbelievable retail domain, began creating calfskin saddles around an open air fire in The Gammon Ranges, South Australia. These days, his trendy work gear, pants, boots and great Drizabones, are kept an eye on the hip avenues of London and streets of Paris. You can repurchase the most recent styles to wear home. Additionally, you can even visit the novel Outback Heritage Museum on the site of the organization's unique processing plant/workshop at 5 Percy Street, Prospect, it's only a short taxi ride from town.

Opal. A blazing trinket.

In case you're searching for in excess of a cuddly toy koala or boomerang trinkets, think about this. Adelaide is the focal point of the world's opal industry, offering wonderfully hued opals frequently called "fire in the stone". The mines can be found in a few South Australian outback desert towns including Coober Pedy, Andamooka and Mintabie. In the event that you have time, you can make a short outing outback to investigate the mines, the historical backdrop of the zones and underground houses. Andamooka is 592 km (or 367 miles) by street from Adelaide. Corporate designers adelaide

A window into paradise. Focal Market.

The foodies heaven. Like most cosmopolitan urban areas, there's a significant market. The one in Adelaide is gotten back to Central Market and dates to 1869. It's a genuine establishment and the biggest new produce advertise in the Southern Hemisphere. With more than 80 master slows down, it's no big surprise it draws in a great many guests every week. Bursting at the seams with shading, commotion, fragrant scents and heavenly allurement. From Camembert to cray fish, nuts to nachos, it's an unquestionable requirement see understanding. On Friday night, all of Adelaide is by all accounts here, getting a charge out of supper in the family-run bistros. The market area couldn't be better - it's additionally directly by Chinatown, so you can test two gourmet goals in one.

Wine buffs...head for the Hills.

The Barossa, Australia's celebrated wine area, is an insignificant hour from the CBD and a different universe away. (You can't visit Adelaide without at any rate a day or end of the week up here, examining various vintages and taking in the landscape.) More than 20 percent of Australia's wine is delivered in the Barossa.

In case you're a wine enthusiast, you'll presumably realize that the Barossa flaunts the world's most seasoned Shiraz vineyards, some going back to the 1840s. They produce unpredictable, rich and full bodied wines. Think about the notorious Penfolds Grange, anxiously looked for by authorities and basements around the globe. Notwithstanding examining premium wines, there's something else entirely to see than you envision. You can visit bunches of towns with fine eateries, grand old houses of worship, nation cabins and see conventional specialties you thought since quite a while ago gone. With in excess of 100 makers and 70 basement entryways spread over the Barossa area, there's bounty to find, enjoyment and condensation.

The Adelaide Festival of Arts, one of the world's extraordinary expressions Festivals.

Like clockwork, the social drapery goes up on Adelaide. The Adelaide Festival grandstands an extravagant, various program, covering music, theater and performing expressions, including the best of Australian and universal ability. Set up in 1960, it's known for being imaginative and some of the time, questionable. Held each "even" year in pre-winter (that is fall - around March - this is the southern half of the globe recollect) it's one huge scale expressions occasion that pulls in crowds directly crosswise over Australia and the locale. In case you're arranging an outing, the following Adelaide Festival runs from 29 February to 16 March 2008.

The characteristic excellence of Kangaroo Island.

A bounce, skip and a ship trip from Adelaide. Just110 kilometers south of Adelaide (68 miles or thereabouts) and 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the coast, you'll see one of Australia's best kept nature insider facts, Kangaroo Island. A large portion of the local bushland is still as it return in 1802, when British guide Matthew Flinders named the wild. Today, more than 33% of Kangaroo Island stays National or Conservation Park.

It's untainted, unhurried, and amazingly excellent. Encompassed by perfect sea shores, white sand and sapphire blue waters, you'll discover fauna and greenery only sometimes found somewhere else - all doing what falls into place without any issues.

The koalas aren't being nestled for some thought up photograph opportunity - they're unwinding in local trees. The seals aren't performing through circles - they're lazing on the sea shore. Get the image? You'll see echidnas, platypi, goannas, wallabies and kangaroos. All hypnotizing. Just for you.

Adelaide. Offering you a splendid mix of encounters and energy. It might not have a Harbor Bridge, yet it has bounty making it work.

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shannrussell-blog1 · 5 years

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If you’re looking for a remote off-road adventure, consider the Anne Beadell Highway, which stretches almost 1,400 kilometres from Coober Pedy in South Australia to Laverton in Western Australia.

The first thing to know is that the highway is really a track – named after road builder Len Beadell‘s wife, the grand label is a reflection of his cheeky sense of humour.

The history of the Anne Beadell Highway

The track was constructed between 1953 – 1962 to service Woomera and atomic test sites in the area. It crosses the Great Victoria Desert with virtually no reliable water sources along the track and only one refuelling opportunity at Ilkurka Roadhouse, 170 kilometres west of the SA/WA border and 700 kilometres west of Coober Pedy.

Preparing for the track

The Anne Beadell offers some of the most isolated travelling and camping you could wish for. We were six days getting to Laverton and didn’t see another soul until day five. You need to be well prepared – stories of breakdowns, broken suspension and bogged vehicles abound. Travellers we met had worn out shock absorber mounting rubbers and broken brackets on a newly installed long-range fuel tank. This required some nifty strap work to hold it until they reached Kalgoorlie.

Vehicle and Fuel

A high clearance 4WD vehicle is essential, and while some people advise against towing a trailer, our Track Trailer Tvan had no problems with the terrain. We travelled with friends so we each had backup in case of trouble.

You will need to carry sufficient fuel for at least 700 km. It will be more if you take in some of the diversions off the track and consumption will vary for each vehicle and according to track conditions. Food and water provisions should last 10 – 11 days if you start at Coober Pedy, allow for longer in case of breakdowns.

Check your vehicle beforehand

Vehicle preparation is critical, so follow a comprehensive checklist for remote travelling. Make sure you carry a UHF, HF radio or satellite phone and detailed maps in addition to any GPS equipment. We bought the Outback Travellers Guide to the Anne Beadell Highway from Snowys. This was a great supplement to our in-car GPS and Hema Maps on my iPad.

The section from Coober Pedy to Mable Creek is renowned for severe corrugations. So we chose to go west from Adelaide on the Eyre Highway and join the track at Emu Junction via Maralinga to avoid the worst of them.

We camped two nights at Maralinga, topped up with diesel and took in a full day tour. This provided a fascinating insight into the bomb testings, the 4,000 people who worked there, and the impact on the Maralinga Tjarutja community – then and now.

South Australian section of the track

The South Australian section of the Anne Beadell Highway is a narrow, winding and sandy track. It undulates through small dunes and swales, between stretches of corrugations and long deep ruts, which thankfully were dry. We took it slowly, rarely driving above 30 km/hour through this section, a loose Anderson plug being the only repair.

It was a beautiful drive with sunny days, cold nights and early mornings. We saw wildflowers, red sand salt lakes and ever-changing vegetation. There was plenty of black oak woodland, spinifex, hakea and cypress woodland – often so close to the track it was like driving through hedgerows.

West of the border the road is smooth and wide and shows signs of regular grading. This might have something to do with the surrounding mining areas.

The track passes through Conservation Parks, Aboriginal Lands and Australian Defence areas. Permits are required for these various sections as well as for access to Maralinga, information can be found on the Shire of Laverton website.

Do you have an Anne Beadell Highway story to tell? Tell us in the comments section below.

The post The Anne Beadell Highway – a Remote Desert Adventure appeared first on Snowys Blog.

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rachelisnotatwork · 6 years

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Week 6: in which there’s a big rock, papier-mache apples, a giant fork and I probably get arsenic poisoning

Google is normally pretty good at guessing how long drives will take...apart from in rural Australia. I think it must base it’s data on the seemingly endless caravans and camper vans, because it assumes an average speed of 80kmph in the Northern Territories when the speed limit is 130 kmph on the highway and there isn’t much (apart from the occasional overtaking of a caravan or road train) to stop you driving that speed.

The result was that whilst we’d planned the entire day to drive down from Alice Springs to Kings Canyon, we were done by around about late lunchtime. We decided to go for a short easy walk down by Katherine Springs. It was into a valley so we were hopeful for shade as it was a “cool” 36c. Alas there was no shade apart from by the almost dried-up waterhole at the end of the walk, and there were enough of Australia’s fucking persistent flies to discourage that (seriously, I don’t know how they survive as you go somewhere with no signs of life, water or really anything you’d think a fly could live on but the second you get out of the car 500 turn up and try and fly up your nose). Thanks to the flies and the heat, we’d done the walk at a pretty decent clip so we still had plenty of time before sunset.

The main reason people go to Kings Canyon is to do the rim walk, which you have to start by 9am on most days because it is too hot in the afternoon for anyone to want to do CPR on your sunburnt corpse if you collapse from heatstroke. There is however a walk in the canyon, which we did although the end of it was shut due to a landslide. This landslide cemented the reasons I’d not be doing the walk the next morning- 1) I hate dawn 2) my knees hate steps and there are 1000 involved 3) I hate heights, especially when I think the cliff top I’m walking on has a chance of sliding in a landfall into a valley.

It was growing close to sunset at this point so we headed to our hotel at Kings Canyon Resort. This is the only hotel for about a hundred kilometres and they are very well aware of that fact, so they were both the most expensive hotel we’ve stayed in on this trip and the providers of the worst service. Think comically bad, including a buffet crawling with flies and most of the lights in our room being broken. Thankfully since Marcel had to get up at 5am to start the walk at the recommended sunrise, we could go to bed early.

The plan before we’d visited the resort was that Marcel would return at about 10am and then we’d have a nice brunch/early lunch. However the walk time (4 hours) was presumably for overweight elderly tourists because he was back home by 7.30am. Which I was thrilled about as I had pretty much no desire to stay any longer at the resort. We went for the free breakfast (fly-ridden again) and then tried to plan what to do with our day. Because we’d thought we wouldn’t have left until later in the day, we had just planned on driving to our next lodging (a road house in the middle of nowhere) before visiting Uluru the day after. However we didn’t really want to arrive at our road house in the middle of nowhere at 11am, so we decided we’d move our timetable forward a day and visit Uluru that day.

We arrived in time to have some (thankfully fly-free, palatable) lunch before heading to the national park. There are two attractions in the National Park, Uluru and the Kata Tjuta, which is a collection of rocks similar to Uluru but very close to each other. We decided to go there first.

When you drive into the park, you are given a leaflet warning you about the heat and also about hyponatraemia from over-drinking water. I’m not surprised that they had to warn people about hyponatraemia as everywhere inside the park it says to drink at least 1 litre of water an hour. Assuming you are out there for the daylight hours, that would be 13 litres of water a day. Not a sensible amount to drink.

There is one bigger long walk at Kata Tjuta, which was closed because it was too hot, and one shorter one that was open and described itself as going into a lush valley. I assumed this would mean shaded. I assumed wrong. It was in full 37C sun all the way.

Afterwards we headed over to Uluru. I have always thought “but isn’t it just a really big rock?” The answer is, yes, yes it is. It is really very big, but...I guess I’m a bit spoilt from travelling because Utah is very full of big red rocks, which might not be quite as big but they form lots of nice things to see that are much more accessible and most of the time it isn’t hotter than the surface of the Sun there. It’s quite a nice rock, but it costs a small fortune to get there and we’d pretty much driven for days to get there.

We did a few short walks around it’s base and went to the sunset viewing area to see the sun go down. It looked just like it does in the photos. Which means you can go now to google images and avoid the whole hassle.

We had dinner in the town by Uluru as we were about a three hour drive from our roadhouse and that would have stopped serving food long before we got there (we tried to book accommodation 6 weeks in advance in the town with Uluru in but by the time we tried everything was booked out). We then headed out onto the completely empty roads (it is really in the middle of nowhere so there is no through traffic). The drive back was mildly hair-raising as we shared the road with a LOT of wildlife. A dingo, a herd of horses that emerged from the darkness, several herds of cows that we had to slam on our brakes for and a pair of kangaroos. Arrived at our road house at near midnight feeling very lucky that we hadn’t crashed into any large animals as amongst everything else, there is no reception on roads like that and it would have been about 150km to the nearest emergency phone.

Our roadhouse accommodation had just left an envelope with our room keys in stuck to the door. There was a little bit of information about the property including the line “Our water is from a bore hole”. Okay I thought, lots of people’s are, doesn’t seem to taste any worse than any of the other water around here (water tastes terrible in most of Australia, I assume because they are so short of it that it is either desalinated or from some underground reservoir). It was only the next morning when we went into their cafe that we saw the notices above the taps about how you couldn’t drink the water or even boil it for tea. So when I die of arsenic poisoning, we will know why.

There wasn’t much to do at the roadhouse beyond pose at the sign marking the centre of Australia and see their “famous” chicken, Chuck Norris, who apparently thinks he is a kangaroo. He just looked and acted like a regular chicken but I guess there isn’t much in the way of entertainment or fame in those parts.

We had been supposed to have two nights at this road house, but instead we drove onto our next destination, Coober Pedy, a day early.

Coober Pedy is a very strange town. Opals were found in that area and the town sprang up around the mining community. The surrounding area could best be described as a boiling wasteland, so everyone lived in mine tunnels and so about half the town is underground. Driving up to our hotel, it just looked like a hillock. A hillock with a door in the side. We headed in and were shown to a rather cosy, albeit dark room, carved out of the rock with a slight whistling from air coming down the ventilation pipe.

The next day we decided to explore the sights of the town. The first stop was the Serbian Orthodox Church. This was carved by very devoted miner on his day’s off. The place was empty except for one elderly man, very determined to insert the vacuum cleaner he was wielding in front of my camera every time I tried to take a picture.

After that we headed to The Big Miner (a large miner) and a dumped spaceship prop from a movie.

Then we headed to go on a self-guided tour of an old mine. They made you wear helmets. I snorted slightly at this as I thought it was health and safety gone overboard. However the tunnels were about 5ft tall and I hit my head about 500 times in 20 minutes. Part of that was due to being repeatedly startled by creepy mannequins.

Attached to the mine was a museum, which was mostly full of random rocks but it did have some clippings from some great 1920s and 1930s newspapers that they’d found left down the mine.

It also featured a poster on the snakes of Australia, including this one that really doesn’t cope well with rejection.

After relaxing in our room for a bit, we headed out to an area called The Breakaways for sunset. These are some hills in the middle of an area called the Moon Plain, which is miles and miles of nothingness which is apparently of a very similar composition to Mars.

The Breakaways were still boiling despite it nearly being sunset and despite there being no tourists, or really any signs of life, as soon as we got out the car we found….lots of flies willing to try and fly into our eyeballs. Thankfully once you climbed any of the hills it got really windy, which confounded them for a few brief minutes.

We couldn’t stay there until actual sunset as there are pretty much only two restaurants in town and one of them seemed by its menu to be committed to casual racism so we had to make it back before the other place, a pizza joint, shut.

The next day we left Coober Pedy and drove down to Adelaide. This was our longest drive of the trip- 9 hours, because there was pretty much nothing worth stopping at. It was also the biggest contrast. We went from 37c desert to huge fields of hay being harvested and by the time we arrived in Adelaide it was only 10c! I had to dust out my thermals from where they’d been hanging out in the bottom of my suitcase. We’d had quite enough of the car by that stage so walked to a surprisingly good neighbourhood Japanese restaurant (Yakitori Takumi, if you ever find yourself in North Adelaide) and then on our way back home, not only did we find a giant fork to pose with, we also found a late night chocolate dessert bar!

Adelaide is a very green city, so we decided to make it an outdoorsy sort of day. We had brunch (oh the joys of being back in a big city) and then walked to the Botanical Garden. There was a huge queue there to see a corpse flower that was flowering, which we decided to skip (despite the inbuilt British love of queueing) but we did head into the Museum of Economic Botany, mostly because we were curious what that meant. It turned out to be “plants that you can in someway exploit”. Anyway, it was pretty interesting and contained a huge collection of incredibly realistic papier-mache apples. I don’t quite remember how that fit in with the theme, but they were impressive.

Afterwards we decided we’d see if we could circumnavigate the centre by walking through all of the cities network of parks. It was a lovely sunny day and the parks there are beautiful...and also riddled with weddings and wedding parties getting photographed on a hot spring day. At one point we wandered into a Japanese garden to find a queue of bridal parties waiting to pose for photos.

We got pretty tired and stopped for ice cream at a place called 48 flavours (does just what is says on the tin) and I was intrigued enough to get a pear, walnut, fig and roquefort ice cream. Marcel was horrified. I rather enjoyed it though and it gave me enough energy to stagger home. Probably would not have worn my flip flops that morning if I’d known we were going to walk 16kms…

Sunday it was time to say goodbye to Adelaide (after brunch of course) and drive down to our next stop, Warrnambool. We’d thought we’d get there a while before dark because google had always predicted our journeys to take much longer than we actually took. We had however forgotten about the existence of other cars. We were now in the part of Australia with other cars, settlements to pass through with low speed limits etc. It was…annoying. I did find a giant rhino to pose with though.

We had wanted to walk at a small park where an extinct volcano had left a lake, because it was apparently one of the spots where you could see emus, kangaroos and koalas in one place. I’d seen a koala earlier in the day, ambling along the side of the road, whilst driving, however Marcel had been busy pouring over the map at the time and missed it. He was thus desperate to see one. We arrived shortly before sundown. It was cold. 12c. There was no one else in the park (win) and right in front of the (unmanned) visitors centre there were emus and kangaroos grazing. However walking around the lake we saw approximately 0 koalas.

Plus on the way back to the car park our route was blocked by a very large male kangaroo. The problem with male kangaroos is that when they challenge each other to a fight, they stand up straight, so our bipedalism is taken as an invitation to a boxing match. We had to take a huge detour to our car as we had little interest in being disembowelled by an angry kangaroo.

By the time we arrived in Warrnambool it was 8c and I was suffering from temperature shock from having gone from nearly 40c to misty breath and cold toes in a week. Luckily our airbnb had a huge bath so after grabbing some Thai take out, I spend the evening wallowing in that, topping up the hot water and wondering how we could be in the same country we’ve been sweating in for the last 6 weeks.

Ways I’ve thought I might die in Australia this week: the standard heatstroke, hyponatraemia, some sort of epic GI disease secondary to a buffet of flies, death by crashing into a cow in the dark, poisoned by borehole water, from the collapse of an ancient opal mine, beaten by angry brides for ruining the background of their photoshoot, disembowelled by an angry kangaroo, hypothermia.

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bringhand · 6 years

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Britz Camper HiTop in Australien: Unsere Campingerfahrung von Melbourne bis Darwin

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Roadtrip durch Australien mit all seinen Extremen

Britz, Mighty, Maui sind eine Marke von THL

Camper buchen, abholen und abgeben

Campermobil online buchen

Keine Abholung ohne richtige Versicherung oder hinterlegtem Pfand

Britz HiTop Campingmobil für 2 Personen

Ausbau und Ausstattung des Campingmobils

Strom: Bekommt man aus der Batterie oder angeschlossenen Steckdosen

Gasflasche: 2 kg überraschenderweise genug für 25 Tage

Kühlschrank: Ein Engel im Campingmobil kühlt so gut er kann

Gas: Gekocht wird mit Gas unter großer Sicherheit im Camper

Wasser: Den Verbrauch muss man erraten

Campingtisch: Gegessen wird im Camper oder draußen

Bett: Zum Auf- und Abbauen im Camper

Ausstattung: Von Besteck, Wasserkocher und Mikrowelle

Stauraum: Genug Platz zum Verstauen im Camper

Isolierung oder Dämmung nicht vorhanden: Camper ist ein Backofen

Mückennetz im Camper: Unzureichend gegen jegliche Art von Insekten

Gute Lösung: Vorhänge mit Magneten im Camper

Fazit zum HiTop Camper von Britz

Bis jetzt berichteten wir immer mal wieder über Ausbauten von privaten Campingmobilen. Diesmal wollen wir mal über einen Camperausbau von einem kommerziellen Vermieter berichten. Dazu haben wir einen Britz Camper Hitop in Australien gemietet und sind mit diesem 25 Tage durch das australische Outback – das Herz Australiens – gefahren.

Bevor wir über den Camper loslegen, wollen wir euch kurz die Details zur Strecke, den Kilometern und den Kosten aufzeigen.

Strecke: Melbourne bis Darwin

Kilometer (inkl. Umwegen): 5800 km

Treibstoff: Benzin Super 91

Verbrauch: 13 Liter/100 km

Benzinkosten insgesamt: $ 1010 AUD (606 Euro)

Getriebe: Automatik

Fahrzeug: Toyota Hiace Automatik

Reisedauer in Tagen: 25

Mietkosten für die gesamte Reisedauer: $ 1290 AUD (810 Euro)

Drittversicherung: $210 AUD (130 Euro)

Hinterlegte Kaution: $ 5100 AUD (3200 Euro)

Anbieter: Britz Camper (THL)

Die Hinterlegung einer Sicherheit von 5100 $ wird gebraucht, wenn man nicht die Versicherung des Anbieters mit bucht, sondern selbst eine Drittversicherung abschließt.

Roadtrip durch Australien mit all seinen Extremen

Ein Roadtrip durch Australien hat die eine oder andere Extreme in sich. Da das Land mehrere Klimazonen hat, ändert sich bei einer Reise über den Kontinent nicht nur die Umgebung, sondern auch die Temperaturen verändern sich massiv. Diese Extreme muss ein Campingmobil in Australien so gut kompensieren können, dass ein Reisen weiterhin angenehm bleibt. Mal schauen, ob unser gemieteter HiTop Camper von Britz den australischen Bedingungen entsprechend angepasst wurde.

Wir starteten unseren Roadtrip bei Melbourne, fuhren entlang der Great Ocean Road, besuchten die Grampians, fuhren bei Adelaide über Port Augustra nach Coober Pedy, fanden uns dann irgendwann beim Uluru wieder und machten uns von dort auf den Weg nach Alice Springs. Von Alice Springs ging es nach Katherine, dann über einen Abstecher zum Litchfield Nationalpark und schließlich erreichten wir unseren Endpunkt Darwin nach 25 Tagen und 5800 gefahrenen Kilometern.

Unsere gemachten Erfahrungen zu unserem gemieteten Britz Campingwagen während dieser Tour und zum Umgang des Unternehmens mit dem Kunden, möchten wir hier mit euch teilen. Wir hoffen, dass ihr dadurch eine bessere Entscheidung treffen könnt, welches Campingmobil ihr das nächste Mal in Australien bucht. Unser 25-tägiger Reisebericht inklusive all unseren Erlebnissen kommt natürlich auch bald in ausführlicher Form :-).

Britz, Mighty, Maui sind eine Marke von THL

Hinter den Marken Britz, Mighty und Maui steht ein gewaltiger Konzern, nämlich die Tourism Holdings Ltd oder kurz THL, die mit der weltweiten Vermietung von Urlaubsfahrzeugen im Jahr 2017 circa 340 Millionen Dollar an Umsatz und 30 Millionen Dollar an Gewinn hatte. Das Unternehmen ist der größte Anbieter von Urlaubsfahrzeugen weltweit und bereits auch die Nummer zwei in den USA. Besonders bekannt sind die Campingfahrzeuge der THL in Australien, Neuseeland und anderen angelsächsischen Ländern. Die Campingfahrzeuge gibt es in verschiedenen Ausführungen. Vom kleinem Camper, über den 4 WD bis hin zum Wohnmobil ist alles zu haben. Diese Campingfahrzeuge aller Art werden vor allem von Reisenden gebucht, die Australien mit einem Campingwagen entdecken möchten.

Trotz der Größe des Unternehmens sollte man nicht davon ausgehen, dass es die perfekten Campingmobile anbietet. Denn auf unseren Trip fanden wir viele Mängel am Camper, die das Campen doch sehr erschwerten.

Camper buchen, abholen und abgeben

Beim Buchen und Abholen des Campers sollte man das eine oder andere beachten, denn man kann viel Geld bezüglich der Versicherung und anderen Dingen sparen.

Campermobil online buchen

Wir hatten uns entschieden, den Britz HiTop für zwei Personen zu buchen und mit diesem von Melbourne bis Darwin zu fahren. Gebucht hatten wir unseren HiTop über die Webseite discovery-campervans.com.au . Die Buchung ist recht einfach. Zuerst sucht man sich seinen „Wunschcamper aus, gibt dann die gewünschte Reisedauer ein und fordert eine Preisanfrage sowie die Verfügbarkeit des Campers an. Nach einigen Minuten erhält man dann eine E-Mail mit dem zugesicherten Preis und kann seinen Camper direkt per Kreditkarte buchen. Hier sollte man gut aufpassen bezüglich der zusätzlich angebotenen und vom Anbieter empfohlenen Versicherung. Diese ist, wie wir feststellen mussten, nämlich meistens genau so teuer, wenn nicht sogar teuerer als der Buchungspreis für das Campingmobil. Da wir in erster Linie einen Camper buchen und nicht eine Versicherung kaufen wollten, entschieden wir uns während des Buchungsprozesses für die Variante ohne Versicherung.

Diese Buchungsvariante war zu dem Zeitpunkt auch noch problemlos möglich. Wir erhielten eine Bestätigungsemail, inklusive der Angaben wann und wo wir den Camper abholen könnten und waren glücklich, dass die Buchung so problemlos ablief. Doch wir hatten uns zu früh gefreut. Denn so problemlos die Buchung ablief, so problematisch sollte die Abholung werden.

Keine Abholung ohne richtige Versicherung oder hinterlegtem Pfand

Die Abholung des Campers glich ehrlich gesagt eher einer Katastrophe als einem entspannten Tour-Start. Vielmehr noch konnten wir die Tour überhaupt nicht an dem Tag starten, an dem wir ursprünglich starten wollten. Das Problem war, dass wir bei der Buchung nicht direkt die überteuert angebotene Versicherung des Unternehmens mitgebucht hatten, sondern uns für eine eigene unabhängige Versicherung, auf tripcover.com.au, entschieden hatten. Versichert war der Camper dadurch natürlich auch, nur eben über einen externen Anbieter.

Die Crux liegt darin, dass ihr, wenn ihr über Britz, Mighty oder Maui direkt eine Versicherung abschließt, keine Kaution hinterlegen müsst. Wenn ihr allerdings eine anderweitige Versicherung abschließt, eben diese Kaution hinterlegen müsst. Die Art der externen Versicherung spielt dabei keine Rolle. Auf das Fälligwerden einer Kaution im Falle der Wahl einer externen Versicherung wurden wir nur leider auf der Seite, auf der wir buchten, nicht aufmerksam gemacht. So erfuhren wir davon erst bei der Abholung des Campers. Wir fielen beinahe aus allen Wolken, als wir hörten, dass wir trotz der Versicherung, die wir extern abgeschlossen hatten, eine Kaution von 5000 AU$ hinterlegen sollten. Doch unser Missmut ob dieser Tatsache schien die Mitarbeiter der THL in keinster Weise zu interessieren. Sie blieben bei ihrer Aussage: Wenn wir die Kaution hinterlegen, können wir den Camper mitnehmen. Ansonsten nicht. Dabei spielte es ihrer Ansicht nach keine Rolle, ob wir den Camper im Schadensfall anderweitig versichert hätten oder nicht. Wir befanden uns also in der Sackgasse.

Dadurch dass wir in Australien zeitlich acht Stunden vor waren und unsere Bank in Deutschland erst angewiesen werden musste die 5000 AU$ auf die Kreditkarte zu überweisen, dauerte der Überweisungsprozess 24 Stunden. Deshalb konnten wir den Camper nicht an dem Tag mitnehmen, an dem wir ihn eigentlich hätten mitnehmen wollen. Das heißt, wir haben einen Tag umsonst bezahlt.

Den Camper konnten wir am nächsten Tag abholen, als wir die 5000 AU$ hinterlegt hatten. Der Betrag wird übrigens nicht nur auf der Kreditkarte blockiert, sondern von der Kreditkarte abgebucht. Unser Roadtrip verlief ohne irgendwelche Schäden und wir konnten den Camper nach 25 Tagen in Darwin in einem Stück wieder abgeben. Die 5000 AU$ wurden noch direkt vor Ort bei der Abgabe des Campers zurücküberwiesen und wir haben auch umgehend eine diesbezügliche Bestätigung per E-Mail erhalten.

Zusammenfassung: Man kann den Camper bei den genannten Marken nicht bekommen, wenn man die Kaution nicht hinterlegt beziehungsweise nicht eine Versicherung über das Unternehmen direkt abschließt. Hier versucht das Unternehmen THL dem Kunden eine total überteuerte Versicherung anzudrehen. Obwohl wir bereits eine Versicherung hatten (nur eben bei einem anderen Versicherungsunternehmen), schlugen uns die Mitarbeiter in der Filiale in Melbourne vor, eine weitere Versicherung bei denen abzuschließen. Doppelt hält ihrer Meinung wohl besser. Den Umgang mit uns und die Argumentation erachteten wir als total unverschämt und arrogant und möchten deshalb an der Stelle den Marken Britz, Mighty und Maui ganz klar einen Minuspunkt geben.

Minuspunkt: Britz, Mighty und Maui fordern eine so hohe Kaution, dass man als Reisender fast keine andere Wahl hat, als die teuere Versicherung beim Unternehmen abzuschließen.

Pluspunkt: Entscheidet man sich dafür, die Kaution zu hinterlegen, wird diese, wenn bei Abgabe keine Schäden vorhanden sind, ohne weiteren Ärger direkt zurück überweisen. Wir hatten drei Tage nach Abgabe des Fahrzeugs die hinterlegten 5000 AU$ wieder auf unserem Konto.

Empfehlung: Wenn man das Geld hat, um die Kaution zu hinterlegen, sollte man dies tun und parallel eine Drittversicherung abschließen, die meistens 70% günstiger ist.

Bei der Hinterlegung der Kaution sollte man unbedingt auch die Kursschwankungen von EUR zu AUD beachten, denn nach 25 Tagen kann sich diese positiv oder negativ auf den hinterlegten Betrag auswirken. So hatten wir nach dem automatischen Währungsumtausch auf unserer Visa-Karte 100 Euro weniger verbucht bekommen, weil der Wechselkurs in der Zwischenzeit schlechter geworden war. Wenn man Glück hat, wird der Wechselkurs in der Zwischenzeit besser.

Britz HiTop Campingmobil für 2 Personen

Das Campingfahrzeug war ein umgebauter Toyota Hiace 6.0 LWB mit einem draufgesetzten Hochdach. Wir hatten einen mit einem Automatikgetriebe bekommen. Die Automatik stellte sich bei den weiten Strecken als doch ziemlich bequem heraus. Das Campingfahrzeug wurde nur für zwei Personen konzipiert, also für den Fahrer und einen Beifahrer. Auf einen dritten Sitz in der Fahrerkabine wurde verzichtet.

Der Benzintank fasste 70 Liter und der Verbrauch lag bei uns bei durchschnittlich 13 Litern pro 100 Kilometern. Je nach Ladegewicht kann der Benzinverbrauch natürlich auch höher liegen. Getankt haben wir Benzin (Unleaded 91). Geschätzt war der Tank alle 550 Kilometer leer und musste nachgetankt werden. Insgesamt hatten wir für die 5800 Kilometer 1010 AU$ an Benzinkosten ausgegeben. Dies entsprach umgerechnet etwa 600 Euro.

Der Innenraum des Campers ist für Menschen, die nicht größer als 1,75 Meter sind perfekt. Für alle Menschen, die diese Körpergröße überschreiten, wird es schwieriger. Ich selbst bin 1,90 m und meine Freundin ist 1,82 m groß, wir sind also beide ziemlich groß. Mit meinen 1,90 Meter konnte ich in dem Camper nicht gerade stehen und haute mir ständig den Kopf am Rauchmelder an. Meine Freundin mit ihren 1,82 Meter konnte noch ohne Probleme gerade stehen.

Ausbau und Ausstattung des Campingmobils

Der Camper kommt mit einer teilweise sinnvollen und teilweise eher weniger sinnvollen Ausstattung daher. Was wir an der Ausstattung besonders gut fanden und was weniger, zeigen wir euch im Folgenden auf.

Was wir allerdings vorweg nehmen wollen, ist, dass man in Australien oft frei stehen kann, also irgendwo kostenlos frei campen kann ohne einen bezahlbaren Campingplatz anzufahren. Allein diese Tatsache sollte dem Camper bezüglich des Ausbaus die Richtung weisen. Also je autarker desto besser.

Strom: Bekommt man aus der Batterie oder angeschlossenen Steckdosen

Wir hatten zwei Steckdosen im Camper, jedoch wurden diese von uns nicht benutzt, da sie nur mit angestecktem Strom funktionsfähig gewesen wären. Das war die größte Überraschung für uns, als wir im Outback standen und unsere Laptops und Kameras an die Steckdosen anschlossen und nichts funktionierte. Da begriffen wir, wie unbedacht die Konstruktion bezüglich des Stromkreislaufs im Camper war.

Im Camper wurde zwar eine zweite Batterie eingebaut, diese konnte jedoch nur zwei USB-Steckdosen mit 12V versorgen, darüber hinaus das Innen -und Außenlicht, den Wasserhahn und den Kühlschrank. Was definitiv fehlte war ein Spannungswandler, den das Unternehmen nicht eingebaut hatte, so das man die Standardgeräte, die man beim Reisen hat, nicht nutzen konnte. Dabei meine ich nicht den Fön für Frauen, der 2000 Watt braucht, sondern Kameras oder Laptops, die heutzutage meistens jeder Reisende mit sich führt und die man nicht zwangsläufig über einen USB aufladen kann. Denn die meisten Kameras muss man extra über ein Ladegerät aufladen und dieses braucht eine Steckdose. Jedenfalls wurde es nach einigen Tagen nichts mehr mit dem Fotografieren, sodass wir in einer Bibliothek unsere Batterien für Kameras und Laptop aufladen mussten.

Es gibt also zwar Steckdosen im Bus, die jedoch nur nutzbar sind, wenn man sich auf einem bezahlten Campingplatz an eine Steckdose anschließt. Das machen in Australien allerdings nicht sehr viele, da die meisten Campingplätze sehr teuer sind und man hier darüberhinaus super frei im Outback campen kann.

Minuspunkt:

Stromkreislauf nicht wirklich durchdacht: ein einfacher Spannungswandler würde das Campen für die Reisenden massiv erleichtern. Dadurch könnte man Kameras, Laptops usw. schneller und einfacher aufladen.

Die zweite Batterie wird nur beim Fahren aufgeladen. Ein zusätzliches Solarpanel auf dem Dach würde ein längeres Stehen in der Natur für die Reisenden ermöglichen, ohne dass man das Fahrzeug bewegen muss, um die Batterie aufzuladen. In Australien gibt es genug Sonne, deshalb auch für uns unverständlich, warum kein Solarpanel eingebaut wurde.

Aufladen per USB ist zwar ebenfalls im hinteren Raum möglich, was jedoch sinnlos ist, da man in der Fahrerkabine den Zigarettenanzünder und den USB-Hub vom Radio zum Aufladen nutzen kann.

Pluspunkte:

Die zweite Batterie sorgt dafür, das der Kühlschrank, der Wasserhahn und das Licht funktioniert.

Zusätzlich kann man an bezahlten Campingplätzen von außen Strom anschließen, um zum Beispiel eine Mikrowelle oder sonstiges im Innenraum zu benutzen.

Es gab fast für alles einen extra Schalter.

Fazit: Insgesamt kann man sagen, dass dieser Camper bezüglich Stromanforderungen für das autarke Reisen ungeeignet ist und man gezwungen ist entweder das Fahrzeug zu bewegen oder Campingplätze anzufahren, damit genügend Strom vorhanden ist. Also gut für Campingplätze mit Stromanschluss und schlecht für das autarke Reisen.

Gasflasche: 2 kg überraschenderweise genug für 25 Tage

Wir haben eine 2 kg Gasflasche bekommen, die außen in einem extra Fach platziert wurde. Das fanden wir ganz gut, da eine Gasflasche im Innenraum doch gefährlich werden kann. Überhaupt war die Sicherheit bezüglich der Anschlüsse vom und zum Gasherd sehr hoch und es wird auch oft auf die Gefahr bezüglich dessen unsachgerechter Verwendung hingewiesen.

Ein Rauchmelder sollte zusätzlichen Schutz bieten. Der Rauchmelder an sich war zwar gut gemeint, jedoch bringt dieser bei ausströmendem Gas nichts. Dazu braucht man einen Warnmelder der extra bei Gas reagiert. Der im Britz Camper verbaute taugt eigentlich nichts, außer dass er einem beim Kochen erschreckt oder man sich den Kopf an diesem anhaut. Da hätte Britz definitiv mehr investieren und einen ordentlichen Kohlenmonoxied Warnmelder installieren sollen.

Insgesamt waren wir 25 Tage unterwegs und die Gasflasche war immer noch nicht leer. Wir haben jeden Morgen Kaffee, jeden Mittag Mittagessen und jeden Abend Tee gekocht.

Pluspunkt: Hohe Sicherheit bezüglich Gasanschlüssen im Camper. Zudem reicht eine Gasflasche mit einer Füllung von 2 kg gut für 25 Tage. Sollte die Gasflasche vorher leer werden, kann man diese übrigens für circa 6-10 Dollar recht günstig nachfüllen lassen.

Minuspunkt: Statt eines Rauchmelders sollte besser ein Kohlenmonoxidmelder verbaut werden. Hier gibt es unbedingt Nachholbedarf!

Kühlschrank: Ein Engel im Campingmobil kühlt so gut er kann

Hier hat Britz einen Einbaukühlschrank von Engel eingebaut, was eigentlich ganz ordentlich war. Wir hatten genügend Platz und er lief und kühlte ohne Probleme auch bei extremer Hitze im australischem Outback. Nur ab und zu ließ er viel Wasser, sodass wir alles leer räumen und den Kühlschrank auswaschen mussten.

Pluspunkt: Der Kühlschrank hatte eine angemessene Größe, war gut verbaut und kühlte ohne Probleme auch bei heißem Wetter.

Minuspunkt: Der Kühlschrank verlor viel Wasser, sodass Produkte oft nass wurden. Das kleine Gefrierfach funktionierte kaum.

Gas: Gekocht wird mit Gas unter großer Sicherheit im Camper

Das Kochen ist aufgrund des Gasherdes innen bequem und problemlos möglich, wenn die Temperaturen draußen nicht zu heiß sind. Man kann ohne Problem im Camper stehen und kochen, wenn man nicht größer als 1,85 Meter ist. Die zwei Gasplatten ermöglichen auch schnelleres Kochen, wenn man zum Beispiel Nudeln abkochen muss und parallel die Spaghetti Sauce zubereiten muss. Das Einschalten des Gasherds geht ebenfalls leicht von der Hand und wir brauchten nie extra Streichhölzer oder sonstiges.

Jedoch ist das Kochen im Britz Camper eine Katastrophe, wenn es es draußen heiß wird, was im australischem Outback fast immer der Fall ist. Der Bus heizt sich nicht nur von außen auf, sondern auch durch das Kochen von innen, sodass man beim Kochen nahe dem Kreislaufkollaps steht und das Kochen zum Teil nur im Sitzen möglich ist, da sich die Hitze oben im Camper staut. Der Camper wurde nach dem Kochen jedesmal zu einer Sauna und wir schwitzten wie verrückt danach, sodass ein Essen im Camper nicht mehr möglich war.

Es gibt auch keine Möglichkeit den Gaskocher draußen zu verwenden, um dem entgegenzuwirken oder eine Dachluke, damit die entstandene Hitze durch das Kochen entweichen kann. Da hat Britzcamper es zwar mit den zwei Pilzlüftern gut gemeint, was jedoch vorne und hinten nicht ausreicht.�� Hier wäre eine Dachluke die deutlich bessere Lösung gewesen, sodass man auch nach dem Kochen das Essen im Camper genießen kann.

Minuspunkt: Der Camper heizt sich stark auf nach dem Kochen, sodass man drinnen kaum noch essen kann und wie in der Sauna schwitzt. Die zwei Pilzlüfter reichen nicht aus.

Pluspunkt: Der Gasherd funktionierte die ganze Zeit einwandfrei.

Wasser: Den Verbrauch muss man erraten

Der Camper hat einen Wasserkanister and der Seite eingebaut, das Wasser wird durch eine Pumpe zum Wasserhahn gepumpt, wenn man diesen betätigt. Die Befüllung mit frischem Wasser erfolgt von außen, indem man einfach einen Schlauch in das dafür vorgesehene Loch steckt. Wenn man sparsam genug mit dem Wasser umgeht, reicht es für circa drei Tage.

Unser Verbrauchsverhalten bezüglich des Wassers:

Morgens Zähne putzen, Kaffeekochen und anschließend Geschirr spülen.

Mittags Essen kochen und anschließend Geschirr spülen.

Abends Tee kochen und wieder Geschirr spülen.

Der Wasserkanister ist nach unserer Erfahrung definitiv zu klein. Das größere Problem war, das man nirgendwo ablesen konnte, wie viel Wasser sich noch im Kanister befand. Man konnte den Kanister nicht sehen, da dieser hinter einer Wand irgendwo verbaut wurde. Man bemerkte erst, dass sich das Wasser dem Ende neigte, wenn die Pumpe laute Geräusche machte, weil sie kein Wasser mehr zum Pumpen hatte. Beim Befüllen konnte man ebenfalls nur feststellen, dass der Kanister voll war, wenn das Wasser auf den Boden tropfte.

Wir sagen, das ist eine unglaublich dumme Konstruktion, die im australischen Outback lebensgefährlich sein kann. Wenn man ins Outback fährt und sagen wir mal drei Tage oder länger dort verbringen möchte und nicht weiß, wie viel Wasser man dabei hat, dann kann das bei der Hitze lebensgefährlich werden, wenn man sich nicht mit weiterem Wasser eindeckt. Man muss jederzeit wissen, wie hoch der Wasservorrat ist, deshalb für uns umso unverständlicher dass man diesen Camper in Australien anbietet und so etwas Wichtiges nicht beachtet hat!

Wir hatten uns deshalb noch einen zusätzlichen Kanister gekauft, da wir uns nicht auf den eingebauten Kanister vom Britz Camper verlassen konnten und wollten.

Pluspunkt: Wasser wird von einer Pumpe zum Wasserhahn gepumpt, was beim Nutzen sehr kompfertabel sein kann.

Minuspunkt: Ein Ablesen des Wasservorrats ist nicht möglich, was in einer Wüstenregion lebensgefährlich sein kann.

Als wir bei der Abgabe des Campers nachfragten, wo wir den Wasserstand ablesen könnten, bekamen wir von der Mitarbeiterin eine kurze Antwort „Du kannst es nirgendwo ablesen“. Im Nachhinein fanden wir allerdings irgendwo online in einem Formular, dass die Camper einen 25 Liter Kanister eingebaut haben. Das ist viel zu wenig.

Campingtisch: Gegessen wird im Camper oder draußen

Im Camper hat man einen großen Tisch, der locker für vier Personen ausreicht. Wie der Tisch zum Bett umfunktioniert werden kann, fanden wir persönlich gut gelöst. Neben dem Essen kann man am Tisch auch super arbeiten, wenn man unterwegs was zu erledigen hat.

Der Tisch besteht aus einem Tischbein, welches unter der linken Sitzbank verstaut ist und einer Tischplatte, die in einem der beiden Deckenfächer verstaut ist. Die Tischplatte wird abends dazu gebraucht, um das Bett aufzubauen. Wir packten unser Bett jeden morgen weg und bauten uns für den ganzen Tag den Tisch auf.

Es gab auch noch eine zweite Tischplatte, die hinter dem Beifahrersitz versteckt war. Diese konnte man in eine Schiene, die außen am Spülschrank befestigt war, einfügen.

So hatten wir auch draußen einen Tisch, den wir gerne und oft nutzten.

Die Tischlösungen waren sehr gut. Hier gab es nicht viel zu bemängeln. Das größere Problem war, dass man im Camper einerseits wegen der Hitze nicht essen konnte und draußen andererseits nicht wegen der Insekten. Insekten wie Moskitos, Fliegen und Ameisen machen ein entspanntes Essen unmöglich. Das Essen war immer sehr anstrengend.

Pluspunkt: Tolle Konstruktion, so kann man je nach Bedarf innen oder außen essen, wenn es die äußeren Rahmenbedingungen es zulassen.

Minuspunkt: Hier gibt es nichts zu bemängeln.

Bett: Zum Auf- und Abbauen im Camper

Die Liegefläche des Bettes wurde aus zwei Sitzbänken und dem Tisch sowie noch drei zusätzlichen Brettern zusammengebaut. Auf diese wurden dann die Seitenteile von der Couch gelegt, so dass man eine Art Matratze hatte. Die Matratze bot zwei Personen genügend Platz zum Schlafen und war ziemlich bequem.

Die Konstruktion war hier nicht das Problem, denn schlafen konnte man ganz gut, wenn das Klima mitspielte. Hier war viel mehr die Isolierung das Problem, denn wie schon erwähnt gab es keine. Dadurch dass sich der Camper tagsüber so stark aufheizte, dauerte es ewig, meist bis circa 3 Uhr nachts, bis sich der Camper endlich abkühlte und man ohne zu schwitzen einschlafen konnte.

Pluspunkt: Das Bett bot für beide Personen viel Platz, auch für größere Menschen war es sehr bequem. Zudem hatte man das Bett in 5 Minuten locker aufgebaut.

Minuspunkt: Die Matratzen oder Kissen wurden über nacht sehr nass, sodass man diese am nächsten Morgen draußen trocknen musste um Schimmel vorzubeugen.

Ausstattung: Von Besteck, Wasserkocher und Mikrowelle

Bei der Ausstattung kommt es auf den Camper und seine bevorzugte Art zu Reisen an. Jeder Camper legt auf manche Sachen mehr auf andere Sachen weniger Wert. Für uns ist es, wie anfangs schon erwähnt, wichtig, dass der Camper autark ist. Deshalb machten einige Dinge im Britz Camper für uns einfach keinen Sinn.

Als Beispiel könnte man hier unter anderem die Mikrowelle, den elektrischen Wasserkocher und den Toaster aufführen. Diese drei Geräte waren für uns richtige Platzverschwendung. Denn wenn man nicht gerade auf einem Campingplatz mit seinem Camper an ein Stromkabel angeschlossen ist, sind diese Geräte absolut nutzlos, da nicht verwendbar. Da wir mit einer einzigen Ausnahme nie auf einem Campingplatz übernachteten, hatten wir die Geräte in den 25 Tagen nicht einmal benutzt. Jedoch muss man hier dazu sagen, dass die Geräte für andere Camper, die nicht autark reisen und einen Stromanschluss an bezahlten Campingplätzen haben, natürlich Sinn machen und das Leben im Camper enorm erleichtern. Es kommt eben auf die Art des Reisens an.

Neben den drei genannten Elektrogeräten erachteten wir das Porzellangeschirr als ungeeignet. Es war nicht nur schwer, sondern auch zerbrechlich. Campinggeschirr hätte sich stattdessen sicher deutlich besser geeignet. An den Töpfen gibt es nichts zu bemängeln, dafür an der Pfanne. Eine gute Pfanne ist beim Campen oft das A und O. Denn wer möchte schon in der Natur und wenn das Wasser knapp ist, angebranntes Essen aus der Pfanne 30 Minuten lang kratzen. Das kostet nicht nur Zeit, sondern auch wichtiges Wasser!

Pluspunkt: Es gibt viel Ausstattung, man hat alles und noch mehr, als man tatsächlich beim Campen braucht.

Minuspunkt: Je nach Campertyp sind einige Sachen unnötig und verschwenden nur wichtigen Platz.

Stauraum: Genug Platz zum Verstauen im Camper

Wir waren zu zweit unterwegs, hatten zwei große Backpacker mit uns und nochmal zwei normale Rucksäcke. Diese konnten wir problemlos verstauen. Dazu kauften wir natürlich noch einige weitere Dinge, wie Wasserflaschen und sonstige Produkte, die wir ebenfalls gut verstauen konnten.

Die großen Taschen legten wir alle in eines der beiden Deckenfächer. Unsere Nahrungsmittel kamen unten in die aufschiebbaren Schubladen.

Pluspunkt: Stauraum gab es für zwei Personen genug.

Minuspunkt: Gibt es keinen.

Isolierung oder Dämmung nicht vorhanden: Camper ist ein Backofen

Ihr habt es bereits in den oberen Abschnitten lesen können, als wir darauf hingedeutet haben. Im Camper war so etwas wie eine Isolierung oder Dämmung nicht vorhanden – zumindest konnte man nichts davon spüren. Dies war auch der größte Mängel überhaupt im Camper. In Australien herrschen zum Teil extreme Hitzeperioden und einen Camper nicht ordentlich zu dämmen ist für uns komplett unverständlich. Der Camper wird bereits morgens ab neuen Uhr zum Backofen, in dem man es kaum aushalten kann. Und das geht dann den ganzen Tag so weiter. Man kann den Camper zwar im Schatten verstecken, dennoch heizt er sich auf. Es ist auch nicht so, dass dieser sich abends wieder abkühlt, sodass man normal essen oder schlafen kann. Vielmehr steht die Hitze im Camper bis in die tiefe Nacht hinein. Sie kann aus dem Camper einfach nicht entweichen, dafür sorgt auch das viele verbaute Holz, welches zwischen den Fächern keine Luftzirkulation zulässt.

Zusätzliche Hitze brachte dann nicht nur das Kochen, sondern abends auch die Beleuchtung im Camper. Hier wurden Lampen verbaut, die so heiß wurden, dass wir uns gezwungen sahen, jeweils nur eine anzumachen, obwohl wir drei an der Decke hatten.

Pluspunkt: Gibt es keinen!

Minuspunkt: Ein Camper ohne Isolierung und ausreichende Luftzirkulation kann das Campen vermiesen.

Mückennetz im Camper: Unzureichend gegen jegliche Art von Insekten

Wie bereits bei vielem anderen, wurde hier ebenfalls nicht mitgedacht. Es wurde nur ein Fenster mit einem Mückennetz verbaut, welches jedoch kaum hilfreich war. Erstens konnte so kein Durchzug entstehen, zweitens kamen einige Insekten locker durch das Mückennetz hindurch. Das Mückennetz war nicht nur nicht engmaschig genug, sondern hatte an der linken Seite auch einen breiten Schlitz. Diesen nutzten die Moskitos und Insekten um sich hindurchzuquetschen. Wir haben dann Papiertücher in den Schlitz gesteckt, um die Nervtöter fernzuhalten. Und mit dieser Idee waren wir nicht alleine, denn wir sahen tatsächlich viele andere Camper von Apollo, die anscheinend das gleiche Problem hatten und ähnlich reagierten.

Ein weiterer großer Minuspunkt war, dass es an der Schiebetür kein Mückennetz gab. So musste man ständig die Tür schließen, wenn man keine Fliegen oder andere Insekten im Camper haben wollte. Das Schließen der Tür führte dann allerdings dazu, dass man im Backofen hockte. Man befand sich permanent in einer Zwickmühle zwischen zerbissen werden und verglühen.

Fast jeder Privatcamper weiß, dass man ein Mückennetzt an der Schiebetür anbringen muss. Bei Britz scheint dieses Wissen leider noch nicht angekommen zu sein.

Pluspunkt: Ein Fenster hatte ein Mückennetz.

Minuspunkt: Das Mückennetz war von schlechter Qualität. Die Schiebetür hatte kein Mückennetz, wodurch das Campen in vielen Gebieten Australiens nahezu unmöglich war.

Gute Lösung: Vorhänge mit Magneten im Camper

Die Vorhänge hatten uns sehr gut gefallen. Damit meinen wir nicht gerade die Farbe, sondern eher die Stoffart und die Möglichkeit, den Vorhang mit Magneten an der Fahrzeugkarosserie befestigen zu können. Das war eine gute Lösung!

Pluspunkt: Sehr handlich und von guter Qualität. Verdeckt den Innenraum vor neugierigen Augen und vor zu viel Sonne.

Minuspunkt: Gibt es keinen.

Fazit zum HiTop Camper von Britz

Während unserer Reise, wenn wir mal wieder wegen des Campers mit unseren Nerven unfreiwillig am Ende waren, hatten wir uns häufig gefragt, ob die von Britz Camper selbst mit dem HiTop das australische Outback mal bereist hatten oder überhaupt diesen jemals getestet haben. Der Camper, den wir hatten, ist nämlich für das Outback einfach ungeeignet.

Autarkes Campen ist mit diesen Camper kaum möglich. Zwar hat der Camper den ein oder anderen Schnickschnack, der jedoch total unnötig ist, da nicht hilfreich. Dadurch dass der Camper keine ausreichende Belüftung, keine ausreichenden Mückennetze und keine ausreichende Dämmung hat, darüberhinaus über schweres, zerbrechliches Geschirr verfügt und es keine ausreichenden Möglichkeiten gibt, um seine Elektrogeräte richtig aufzuladen, würden wir persönlich den Britz Camper HiTop für das australische Outback nicht empfehlen.

Wofür dann? Der Camper ist unserer Meinung nach gut für Regionen geeignet, in denen die Temperaturen zwischen 20 und 30 Grad liegen. Allerdings ist zu bedenken, dass auch hier die Luft aus dem Innenraum nicht richtig entweichen kann, da die Pilzlüfter zu schwach sind, was zu Kondenswasser im Innenraum führt.

Zudem dürfen in den bereisten Regionen nicht zu viel Insekten unterwegs sein, da ansonsten das Campen im Britz Camper schnell zur Qual der Wahl werden kann.

Fazit ist ganz klar: Der Britz HiTop ist ein Camper, der nicht von leidenschaftlichen Campern ausgebaut wurde. Er wurde ohne Liebe und ohne Nachdenken ausgebaut und wahrscheinlich nie richtig getestet, sonst hätte man das ein oder andere sicher anders gelöst.

Britz Camper HiTop in Australien: Unsere Campingerfahrung von Melbourne bis Darwin was originally published on

#Australien #Backpacker #Britzcamper #Camper #Camperausbau #Campingerfahrung #Darwin #HITop #Melbourne #Outback #Reisen #Roadtrip #Tour

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gippslandlakescamping-blog · 6 years

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lakes entrance resorts victoria

Having loved most of the touristy points we could find to do in Melbourne we set down operating west through Geelong onto the popular Good Sea Road, which has some of the very most amazing shores and surf I have actually seen. The A dozen Apostles, which are spectacular limestone stacks along the shoreline, were a welcome reason to prevent and enjoy; even though the simplest way to see these is probably by helicopter but our budget wasn't that rich. We also stopped at Dock Fairy, with its ancient buildings dating back to the 1840s, and took a very pleasant ship visit round the bay.

Having found out about The Grampians National Park and its awesome landscape including Mackenzie Falls, The Balconies, and several other lookouts we decided to keep the coast and mind due north. At Halls Gap, the kangaroos were practically eating from my hand. There have been dozens of these just consuming out at the roadside grass. I also saw my first reptile and snake, the lizard being as heavy as my supply and thus scaring the heck out of me. Insects are every where but that is estimated and not so much a challenge when you find out what avoidance actions best suit you; for me personally it's plenty vitamin T and copious levels of Aeroguard spray.

Causing Victoria behind and heading back again to the shore, the next end of notice was the capital of South Australia more help, Adelaide. It'd an arts festival (similar to the Edinburgh Festival & Fringe) on while we have there been, which designed for a great environment and, with temperatures in the middle thirties with no cloud in sight, I was sensation that living could not get far better!

Following a several crucial camping equipment purchases we went north through the Clare Area ending at four or five vineyards on the way. Our hilltop camp in Install Amazing National Park afforded us among the finest sunsets I'd actually observed, with the moon up before the sun was fully set.

We then loaded up with water and fuel at Port Augusta before after the Stuart Highway north to Coober Pedy, well-known for their opal mining and eccentric people which were digging openings in the leave for as long as they are able to remember. We slept the night time in an underground camp website, completely equipped, also right down to the redback index in the TV room/cave. We needed a visit of a classic opal quarry and learned quite a bit, any feelings of impressive it rich immediately being relatively deflated in the process.

Then north again to Uluru (Ayres Rock) getting there in time for you to see the red sunset therefore popular in post cards. We also loved the next day's sunrise at Uluru, then climbed it, then went 8km round the Olgas - really an exhausting day underneath the Red Heart sun! Focusing as I am on the prevents doesn't actually communicate the knowledge of a campervan road journey such as for example this. We went virtually tens of thousands of kilometers, skilled breeze that reminded me of an oven door being opened, paid almost double the typical petrol rates, preventing at the highway's occasional roadhouses ... It's hard to convey the feeling of freedom and exhilaration that is on the start road in'The Outback '.

Retracing our steps back the Stuart Highway, we set down again from Port Augusta going west now throughout the Nullarbor (No Tree) Simple, definitely one of many bleakest straight streets in the continent. We cut over the the surface of the Eyre Peninsula and camped in dunes by Streaky Bay. I went wading and collected shellfish trap for the inventors with fishing supports, one of whom quickly found a two foot fish which we then baked on the start fire. We also ended down for meal at Stage Sinclair where in actuality the leave matches the sea. I liked some good snorkeling off the pier, although I must admit I did so find myself examining around my neck often, having been told by a local of how many good bright shark episodes that happened the last summer.

Once we achieved the other part of the Nullarbor we followed the coast to Esperance, Albany, Margaret River...all just how round to Perth. Some features of European Australia (so far) contain; a Pine Prime Walk through the forest, a 61m vertical rise into a fireplace lookout system, snorkeling with a stingray, a cave go and many wine sampling tours.

My impact of Perth is all good; it is rather cold out, roomy, unpolluted, warm, and is shut for some amazing beaches. The program is to continue'over the top'of Australia once the coffers have now been replenished and before'the damp'(tropical summer) arrives.

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superkrispypeanutstudentstu-blog · 7 years

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Effects Of GST On Revenue Safety Insurance coverage

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shannrussell-blog1 · 5 years

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When you say ‘Coober Pedy’, three things usually come to mind. Firstly, opals. It’s the opal capital of the world. Secondly, hot and remote. And finally, it makes a convenient stop on your way to Uluru or somewhere else you actually want to go. And all of those things are true.

What’s also true is Coober Pedy actually makes a pretty good base to do some serious exploring in the region. A one trick pony it ain’t – it’s a genuine destination in itself if you’re prepared to look a little further afield and don’t mind getting dusty.

I recently drove up for the Kanku-Breakaways Marathon and that’s where my adventure started.

The view of the Kanku-Breakaways.

Do you need a 4WD for this trip?

The Kanku-Breakaways is about 30km north of Coober Pedy. The road in is unsealed, but fine with a 2WD. It’s worth mentioning, any unsealed road can have issues in wet weather though, so an SUV would be preferable, but a 4WD is the best and safest option. In good conditions though, a 2WD will get you where you need to go. Eventually.

You can take a 2WD, but a 4WD would be preferable.

Gear to take

When I’m on the go like this and lightweight gear isn’t required, I go for extreme comfort and sleep in the back of my SUV with an Exped Megamat and the Coleman Pilbara C-5 sleeping bag. It may be warm during the day, but at night it can get down to around zero, so you’ll want something that keeps you warm.

Are there opportunities for hikes or walks?

There aren’t really any hikes or opportunities to explore on foot at the Kanku-Breakaways, it’s very much a case of driving in and stopping at a few lookouts to take in the views. Which are awesome. There are two main lookouts and a few places to stop throughout the park, including the dingo fence and the Moon Plains – an unbelievably barren landscape that, as the name suggests, looks not unlike the moon. This spot has been used in a number of films including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and The Red Planet.

You can do a round trip, entering off the highway and coming back to town via the unsealed Kempe Road. It’ll take half-a-day tops and only a few hours if you’re on a mission.

If you want to head off on foot, you can explore the Moon Plains.

Exploring the town

My next stop was to do some exploring around town. I’m not big on tourist attractions as such but I figured I’d take in some of the sights. In half a day I visited Tom’s Opal Mine and did a self-guided tour.

You’d probably get more information on a hosted group tour, but a quick self-tour is also fun and more my speed. They even lend you a blue light to spot opal in the mine walls which is very cool.

The grass-less golf course is one of the things to see in Coober Pedy.

Crocodile Harry’s

I’m not one for golf, but driving past the local golf course with not a blade of grass in sight is a good reminder of the Aussie sense of humour.

And, a visit to Crocodile Harry’s Underground Nest is a good reminder that heat can fry your brain. Crocodile Harry was an actual crocodile hunter in the Northern Territory before moving to Coober Pedy where there’s a distant lack of crocodiles, so he started hunting gemstones instead. He ended up building one of the whackiest houses you’re every likely to see. And trust me, I’ve seen a few.

Like a lot of miner’s homes in the area, his is underground. What’s not like other miner’s homes, is his home decoration skills which are off the charts. Well worth a look and a laugh. Both are only a few minutes out of town.

Crocodile Harry’s is a unique tourist destination in the town of Coober Pedy.

Sightseeing in Coober Pedy

If you’re up for more sightseeing around town, there’s Faye’s Underground Home, the underground Catacomb Church, the underground Serbian Orthodox Church, the underground bookshop and if you’re hungry, John’s Pizza which weirdly enough, isn’t underground.

Equally weird, they claim to have once been included in a list of the top ten pizza places in Australia, but I’m yet to work out if that’s for real, or another quirk of the Aussie sense of humour. Much like their ‘Coat of Arms’ pizza which has emu and kangaroo from the Australian coat of arms. I kid you not.

Galleries to visit when in the town

Back in town, you could visit any number of galleries offering various indigenous art, but Josephine’s is the one to go to because it’s also a kangaroo orphanage and…baby kangaroos are awesome! They close the gallery and feed the roos twice a day, so get there on time, or get locked out.

Josephine’s – the gallery and kangaroo orphanage is the best one to visit in town.

Accommodation in the area

There’s plenty of accommodation options in town including numerous underground hotels. I was on a budget, so I opted for a cabin at the caravan park, opposite the drive-in. Yes, there’s a drive-in that usually operates on weekends.

Day trip to the Painted Desert

If you’re up for some more serious exploring, The Painted Desert is a full day trip. You could do it on your way to somewhere else, but I did it as a loop ending up back in Coober Pedy. I went there via Kempe Road, an unsealed road directly out of town then turned off to Arckaringa station, and came back via Painted Desert Road.

You’ll need a full day to check out the Painted Desert.

It’s definitely do-able in an SUV but I’m not gonna lie, a few pieces broke off my car as it was so rocky and rough in places. If you go slow or have a real 4WD maybe it won’t be an issue, but this area is remote and the roads can be pretty rough in places.

You could do this trip on the way to Oodnadatta, or pop out on the highway about 150km north of town and be on your way up to the NT.

Due to the rough roads, it would pay to be in a 4WD.

The Painted Hills

Breaking your trip up and staying the night at Arckaringa probably isn’t such a bad idea either. I’m usually travelling with time restrictions and so I squeezed this trip into half a day, driving back down the highway after dark – which is not something I’d really recommend with sheep, cattle, wild brumby and roos on the road.

The Painted Desert itself is quite spread out. There’s a lookout area, and a few kilometres away, a short walk you can do which is pretty cool.

It’s worth checking out Wright’s Air for a tour of the Painted Hills.

As good as the Painted Desert is, I can’t help but feel it’s the poor cousin to the similarly named Painted Hills, south-east of Coober Pedy. I’m almost certain you can’t actually drive there regardless of the vehicle you have unless that vehicle happens to be a light aircraft. If you don’t have one of those, hit Wrights Air up for a tour.

They’ve just worked out a few of their light aircraft can land nearby, and have started doing tours in the area. Although all I did was fly over, this looks like total bucket list stuff to land, and go in for a wander. I’m sure it’s only matter of time before you can access it by road, but for now, it’s by air only.

Visiting Lake Eyre

And, if you’re going to jump in a light aircraft, you may as well check out some of the other local sights including Lake Eyre which, right now is one of the rare times it’s filling up with water courtesy of the Queensland floods a few months back.

As great as it was to see Lake Eyre filling up with water, the true highlight for me was simply the landscapes from above. They were absolutely mesmerising. The shapes. The colours. The textures. The patterns. I literally could not take my eyes off of any of it. It was incredible.

I know a tour in a light aircraft won’t be in everyone’s budget, but I cannot recommend highly enough that you find a way to do it at least once.

The view flying over Lake Eyre was incredible.

Stopping over in Woomera

Finally, there’s the trip between Adelaide and Coober Pedy. I went up via the highway, stopping in Woomera for the night. It’s where the rocket base was back in the 60s. Unfortunately, there’s really not many accommodation choices there or anything else for that matter, although, there’s an outdoor space museum which is well worth a half-hour look.

I stayed at Mt Ive Sheep Station on the way home.

Mt Ive Station

On the way back, I headed inland into Kingoonya and down the west side of Lake Gairdner, staying the night at Mt Ive (sheep) Station. Even a few weeks later, my teeth are still rattling from the drive as some of the unsealed roads are super corrugated, but the landscape was amazing, and there was plenty of wildlife along the way including emus, kangaroos and wombats.

I went there because Mt Ive has direct access to nearby Lake Gairdner, the salt lake where the Dry Lake Racers have Speedweek in March every year. Mt Ive Station has camping, basic ‘Shearer’s Quarters’ accommodation, and if you’re lucky and it’s available, ’the princess suite’ – a restored, stand-alone cottage with air conditioning – which is where Miranda Kerr stayed when doing a photoshoot in the area.

All in all, my trip to Coober Pedy and the Kanku-Breakaways Park was a good one.

Coober Pedy is a dry and remote location, but it’s still a seriously cool place to explore if you don’t mind the dust and you’re ready for an open road adventure.

Are you thinking of heading off on a spontaneous road trip to the arid and scenic Coober Pedy?

The post Coober Pedy’s Travel Secrets – More than just Opals & Mines appeared first on Snowys Blog.

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trendingnewsb · 7 years

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The Ghan expedition exploring Australia’s great ‘in-between’

From Darwin, through Katherine, Alice Springs, Coober Pedy and finally to Adelaide, the train journey offers travellers something different each day

In the boundless island continent of Australia, too often visitors and citizens fly right over the top and out of the country rather than seeing whats in the middle. Because of the vast distances of unpopulated areas, Australians and the eight million tourists who visit each year mainly travel the country by aeroplane. We hop from capital city to tourist destination only looking out plane windows to view the barren land beneath. But theres something to be said for seeing the in-between.

Thats what makes the Ghan Expedition so special. The 2,979km train journey allows its guests to see Australia unadorned. The Ghan Expedition is a three-night, four-day journey, starting in Darwin and stopping in Katherine, Alice Springs and Coober Pedy, before arriving in Adelaide. At every stop, a number of off-board excursions are offered to passengers. Most are included in the cost of the ticket, while some such as scenic flights and helicopter rides are optional extras.

There are two classes on The Ghan, gold and platinum. Gold class includes two single bunks and an ensuite bathroom with a picture window out one side of the train. Platinum class features a double bed and window views out of both sides of the carriage. I travelled in gold class and was impressed by the high level of comfort of the cabin. Space is tight but neatly used. The bed linen is hotel quality. It is folded back and chocolates are left on your pillow each night.

The Ghan is a slick operation. Operator Great Southern Rail, the same company that runs the Indian Pacific Railway, has learned how to make its passengers feel special. Nice little touches such as the Appelles Apothecary toiletry range, made from Australian native ingredients and sourced sustainably round out an excellent menu, great logistics and a clever offering of excursions to make this trip value for money.

Its not cheap (the gold class twin cabin costs $3,299 per person) but if you dont have a lot of time, its a good way to see the centre of Australia and get a taste of Indigenous culture. Its an amuse-bouche, but a splendid one.

People of all ages, classes, backgrounds and nationalities hop aboard this train. Most passengers are retirees, but younger couples are attracted by the increasing number of active off-train excursions, and the impressive food and wine menu. I met couples from Austria, UK and US, and many Australians. I met one couple celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and another celebrating a 40th birthday.

The imposing sandstone cliff faces of Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park remind you of your small place in the world. Photograph: Jonny Weeks for the Guardian

Brits Reg and Val Snell were on their 14th trip to Australia when I met them onboard. Each trip we try to do something different, Val told me. While Reg and Val had already been to Uluru and Alice Springs, the numerous excursions available meant they were able to see new sights at every stop.

Onboard the train, guests immediately gravitate to their closest lounge car. No sooner had we had a coffee, followed by a sparkling wine, than we were beckoned off to the Queen Adelaide Restaurant one of nine restaurant carriages on the Ghan for lunch. The restaurant is the stuff of romance novels: smart four-seater booths are set with starched white linen and separated with cut-glass frames. Each booth has a full picture window: this is dining with a view unlike any other.

I chose the buffalo curry for my lunch, which had a lovely depth of flavour with a punch of spice but not too hot. In retrospect, the tomato, sweet potato and beetroot tart would have been a lighter, smarter option given we were about to get off into the searing afternoon heat for a trip to the Nitmiluk Gorge. And again, the ice-cream selection would probably have been a better option for dessert, but how could I resist the mango and lemon myrtle cheesecake?

In Katherine, our first stop, I chose the gorge cruise as my excursion. There was also an option for a cruise to see ancient Indigenous rock art, a visit to a cattle station for those who had seen the gorge before, or a helicopter or fixed-wing plane flight over the gorge.

Nitmiluk Gorge (also known as Katherine Gorge) is a natural wonder. Nitmiluk means cicada country in the local Jawoyn Indigenous language and my memory of the trip will forever be set to the soundtrack of cicadas. The gorge was formed by an earthquake, but the Jawoyn story of Bulan, the rainbow serpent, carving a path through the rock is much more interesting.

The imposing sandstone cliff faces of the gorge are extraordinary, and their orange, yellow and brown reflections on the crisp, still water remind you of your small place in the world as you cruise down the canyon between them. While flying around Uluru on day two was obviously both huge (the largest monolith in the world) and hugely impressive, the gorge cruise was my favourite off-board excursion of the trip. Maybe it has something to do with expectations, but I found the calm cruise between the imposing cliffs, along with the stories of the Jawoyn people, most enjoyable and eye-opening.

The food, wine and top-class service make the Ghan an unforgettable travel experience. Photograph: Ian Routledge/The Ghan

Then an evening surprise turned out to be the highlight of day two. We were promised an outback barbecue under the stars at Telegraph Station in Alice Springs, where you spend most of day two. Feeling tired after the flight to Uluru, and a rather abbreviated tour and lunch at the base, I was not exactly excited about a late night spent outdoors.

But after I had a hot shower (the ensuite showers have great pressure and a plentiful supply of hot water) had washed away all the red dirt that had stuck to me at Uluru, we caught a bus to Telegraph Station and I was greeted with sparkling wine and some delightful canapes, including pork belly, cured kangaroo with bush-spiced apple chutney and a lemon myrtle-infused house-smoked salmon fillet served under a majestic blue gum tree. Tired? Not me.

After a camel ride, a look around the station and more sparkling wine, the sumptuous barbecued thousand guineas tenderloin was served with jacket potato, garden salad and roast vegetables. The St Hallett Garden of Eden shiraz was the ideal match for this quintessential Aussie barbie. And just as it became dark enough to appreciate the blanket of stars we were bathed in, came the surprise an astronomy show.

Later, a band appeared and young and old joined on the dance floor. The band played so many encores that eventually train staff had to intervene to force the dancers back on to the bus so the train could depart on time. So much for an early night. Back on the train, we danced in the lounge car as the drinks continued to be poured.

Kathy Lawrence, who was on the Ghan with her husband to celebrate his 40th birthday, told me that the evening was one of the highlights of the three-week trip that had taken them to Darwin, Uluru, the Tiwi Islands and the Cobourg Peninsula. The astronomer and the live music made it a really good night, she said.

Day three took us to Coober Pedy, an outback town as famous for its underground homes as its opal mines. Coober Pedy is something you should see once, but once will probably do. Its a harsh town, hot and dry, and bleeding stories of fortunes won and lost. People come here to hide, a staff member told me, and it was not hard to believe. No one would come looking here even the wind turbine looked sad.

All the passengers I spoke to were fascinated by the place, though. The temperate underground homes and churches are unique, and the opals exquisite there was plenty of shopping going on. A Greek lunch of marinated octopus, souvlaki and salad in an underground mine was lovely, but the highlight of the day was a drive out to the Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park to watch the sun set over the glorious, multicoloured hills and surrounding desert, washed down with a sparkling wine, of course. (No more alcohol, I heard one passenger groan but with all food and alcohol included in the ticket price, there was not much complaining.)

The high level of comfort of the cabin is impressive, and although the space is tight, its neatly used. Photograph: Heather Dinas Photography/The Ghan

Back at the train, we had some time before we had to board once more, which granted me the luxury of checking out the engines. With 295 guests onboard and 50 staff, the Ghan has two locomotives with diesel electric engines that weigh 132 tonnes each and have 4,400 horsepower. On the flat track of the Ghan, the second locomotive is only for backup, while on the Indian Pacific, it is used to help get up hills. At 1,800m long, it is as long as a train gets, Kingsley Schupelius, one of the drivers, tells me. With the beautiful scenery, he loves the job, which is fortunate because hes been doing it for 36 years. But even that level of experience cant stop you from hitting the odd animal.

You see a lot of wildlife, he tells me. Its mainly kangaroos and camels that get hit, which seems a shame since the trip is named after the cameleers who came to Australia with their camels from 1839 to help carry goods for explorers venturing inland. (The cameleers were believed to be from Afghanistan and nicknamed Ghans by the locals, although they hailed from all over central and middle-eastern Asia.) You know, night-time, you flash your lights, blow your horn, but you cant [miss], Kingsley says. Its dark and there are bushes around.

At almost 2km in length, the Ghan heads north across Northern Territory. Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters

Theres a sombre mood in the lounge car that night, and not only because Ive re-told the drivers story of kangaroos and camels getting stuck underneath the train. Weve become a little pack, those of us who share dinner time and end up back in the lounge afterwards. Some people Ive been on several excursions with. Weve seen so much, weve explored the red centre and gazed at the stars, weve danced and sung and watched awe-struck this beautiful country, which no longer feels so barren. It will be hard to say goodbye the next day, but the memories of the in-between will last a lifetime.

Gabrielle Jackson travelled as a guest of Great Southern Rail.

2017/18 Ghan Expedition prices are:

Platinum Service: $5,239pp Gold Twin Service: $3,499 pp Gold Single Service: $3,139pp

All food, drink and most excursions are included. Advance purchase discounts available for bookings made six months in advance.

The 2017 Ghan Expedition season runs from 3 May to 25 October 2017. All southbound journeys are four-day/three-night Ghan Expedition journeys. All northbound services year-round are standard Ghan journeys, which are three days/two nights. Outside of Expedition season, the southbound services also operate on the standard three-day/two-night itinerary. The Ghan departs Adelaide every Sunday and Darwin every Wednesday.