3300 Miles Into The Outback on the Ultimate Down Under Adventure
How cool would it be to take your vehicle on a long travel adventure? I�m not talking about loading it on a trailer ****or**** hooking it up to the back of an RV, ****or**** even traveling on paved roads for that matter. By long-travel, I mean taking your vehicle and hitting the dirt trail for days until you reach your destination?
When we typically think of this type of long range travel, a slew of thoughts come to mind. Problems of breaking down ****or**** the vehicle not being set up properly come to mind. Furthermore, items like not having the right gear for the varying types of terrain is a constant reminder, as well as not having enough knowledge about how to properly prepare for such an adventure. The fact is, there just aren�t a whole lot of places in the United States for an off road, long range travel trip like this. Therefore, we have gotten quite used to towing our vehicles to various locations that we are confident our vehicles and our knowledge can handle.
I recently had the opportunity to experience the ultimate long travel adventure throughout the Australian Outback with ARB on their bi-annual ARB Outback Experience trip. We covered 5,300 kms (3,300 miles) and faced varying types of terrain from dirt roads, sand dunes, and some small rock terrain, to deep water crossings and lots of mud.
With this trip being put on by ARB, the company is all-to familiar with how to properly handle a trip like this. Therefore, all of the vehicles were fully outfitted to handle any situation that came up along the route. Every product installed on the four U.S. vehicles on the trip, was necessary to handle the terrain. This included the company�s aftermarket suspension kits, differential lockers, bull bars, tire carriers, winches, recovery kits, tire deflators, air compressors, driving lights and much more.
Being this was the first time I visited Australia, I quickly realized that the Outback is huge, and that is an understatement. Seeing that our group covered 5,300 kms we had the opportunity to visit some awesome areas and meet quite a few folks that call the Outback their home. Our accommodations along our journey changed every couple of days. That ranged between camping under the stars and hotels with a comfortable bed and running water. Keep in mind, some of these hotels are not what we in the U.S. are accustomed to, but nonetheless provided warm showers and a cold drink, which is really all one needs at the end of a long day spent traversing large distances in the desert.
Some of the areas along our journey were reached by traveling long distances along the Birdsville Track which led us into the Simpson Desert and through the Northern Flinders Ranges. Each area provided very different terrain from one to the next and provided excellent examples of the Outback�s challenges and its changing landscape.
The Simpson Desert is home to Big Red � Australia�s version of a huge sand dune. While not the largest sand dune I�ve seen, sand is sand and it�s fun to play in it, especially when you�ve got the right vehicle that can easily maneuver in and around the sand without any worries of getting trapped in it. It was here that we got to launch a couple of vehicles off the top of the various dunes, and test out the ARB suspension and show off its capabilities where it can also make a soft landing.
The Flinders Ranges provided for some opportunity to put the ARB Air Lockers to use on some small to medium rocky areas. The region is home to many huge cattle and sheep ranches and its here where I finally got to see a Dingo, (albeit, a dead one) and the shearing of sheep. The only way to explain the visual impact of this area is to imagine placing a mini-version of the Colorado Rockies dead smack in the middle between a sand box and the wide open desert. The Flinders are not as big but they are equally impressive in their own way. We also found out that the property in the Flinders is privately owned so it is not accessible to most tourists and makes for a rather large playground to test out the ARB products.
Our trip into the Outback would not be memorable without seeing some of the wildlife. Considering that Australia has seven of the world�s deadliest snakes, and I was witness to two of these friendly fellows, it makes sense to tread lightly when you�re out of the vehicle. Furthermore, we found out why a push bar is so important here, as we found out that the kangaroos tend to come out during sunset, and many travelers have found themselves with a new hood ornament from time to time.
The timing of the ARB Outback Experience could not have been better planned. During our time there, we experienced some very unexpected rain, which created some exciting water crossings and added mud to various portions of our trip. Due to the conditions, we had ample opportunity to get dirty and get stuck. We only came across one significant water crossing and of course, we had to try it. I seized the moment to jump in ARB�s Ford Super Duty pickup, because if we were going to go through above waist high water, I wasn�t going to watch. And yes__we did get stuck.
In the forthcoming series of articles you�ll read more about the vehicles, terrain and the equipment that made this trip possible. You will see how the ARB Old Man Emu Suspensions are designed to tackle all types of terrain and learn more about the systems� shocks, springs and how they are designed.
For those who love to camp, you will see what I think is one of the greatest ideas that every adventure seeker could use, the new ARB Rooftop Tents. These portable shelters are easy to load, easy to put up, durable, roomy and convenient. You�ll want to check out the Touring Simpson 2 Rooftop Tent and all of the features it has to offer.
In addition, we�ll look at some of the other equipment applicable to the U.S. vehicles used on this trip and I�ll provide a full list of those vehicles and components used to show you how we made the journey across the Outback safely.
Many more photos of this amazing adventure can be found in the Photo Gallery section of the home page.
