Builds 79 Aussie BJ55 build (1 Viewer)

[brisveganbj42]

So as I might of alluded to I went on a bit of a trip during October..

It started off wet and windy with an overnight stay at a caravan part down the road from the big boat so we could be up and early at 6.30am for boarding.

It's typically a 3hr drive from home to Devonport where the boat leaves from and I didnt want to get up early to drive that, then stay on the boat awake with my co-pilot all day and not be able to nap...

Drove onto the boat ... spent the day sail following miss 11 around the cabins, getting her face painted and watching Despicible Me 4 on one of the two cinema's on the boat.

It was an interesting drive to a mates place about an hour or so from where the boat docked in Geelong for some dumplings

(as promised by dad)..

 

[brisveganbj42]

Next day I started my trek north and popped into Shepparton where a friend lived... we caught up and I checked out his new troopy!

I left late and ended up driving into the night, and arriving at a fellow 40 series owners place in Young about 8pm where I promptly had to get busy making dinner for miss 11.

We were graciously put up in a new hard floored camper trailer for the night (comfy AS!) and woke up to this beautiful outlook for breakfast:

tried out my bbq mount setup for the first time

and soaked up the serenity

We headed north with another lunch stop:

Before reaching a town called Coonabarrabran where it was way hotter than we'd expected (like ~30c) and so we hit up the local public pool:

Again we settled into a caravan park for the night (showers, toilets and rubbish disposal among other things made this attractive to me).

 

[brisveganbj42]

The next day we made our way north out of NSW into QLD!

The pie warmer in the back got its first run with a thumbs up from Miss 11 and me! I loved the convenience of stopping and pulling hot food out of the car, rather than having to prep and cook.

We made it to TheSprings4x4 Park in QLD

And promptly celebrated with red lemonade and crisps!

I had discovered on the town before I got to TheSprings, Stanthorpe, that my rear passenger tyre has a slow leak, which turned out to be a fast leak! I aired up to 40psi at Stanthorpe and it was down to 10psi by the time I made it to the springs about 15mins later... I tried to find the slow leak in the tyre but it wasnt there so I swapped on the spare and went into Stanthorpe to get a tyre place to look at it.

The tyre place determined the welds on the rim had cracked and thats where the air was escaping.. I found a fabrication place down the road, got it welded up for $40 and the tyre re-seated and balanced for another $20... I tried to sort a replacement rim out in Brisbane a few days later but ended up discovering I had 4 0 offset rims and 1 +20. offset rim... which complicated matters.

While in at Stanthorpe I got to catch up with a work colleague for lunch in his home town while we waited for all the things to happen with the tyre.. then getting back to TheSprings4x4 Park that afternoon we got pounded by our first QLD storm... we had camped in a water course and our tent was in 2-3" of running water... we did have a mostly dry bed for the night so that was ok at least.

 

[Ol Yeller]

A real adventure!

 

[brisveganbj42]

Next day I left there and went to my friends place to the night before dropping off my co-pilot and heading to MR Landcruisers classic cruiser and car expo...

I didnt get many photos of the day but I did get interviewed for this clip:

This bloke and his dad rolled in just after everyone left at the end of the day. they had travelled even further than me all the way from Western Australia. They ran into issues with their tailshaft which put them behind but the 2H powered FJ55 rolled in under its own steam.

Oh and I was privileged enough to win a category (not why I went but appreciated all the same)

 

[brisveganbj42]

After the show I managed to hit Double Island point with a few of the organizers and other folks up from Melbourne.. it was good to camp without all the people and keep it casual.

This bloke had a Jerry can with Port in it.. .was great!

The ute also has a 15B-FT under the bonnet!

After this I caught back up with the family who had been staying on the Sunshine coast for a few days before we left for Fraser Island.

 

[brisveganbj42]

Fraser Island/ K'gari!

In typical fashion the wife's priorities put us behind the 8ball with some "emergency finger nail repair" required before we left the mainland..

This resulted in a mad dash for supplies (things are REALLY expensive on the island.. food, booze and fuel!) but we made the ferry 3mins before departure!

We got on the island on the western side and had to drive about 20kms all the way across to the eastern beach where we had a house for the week, walking distance from the beach. When we popped out on the beach we saw this Dingo pup...

We ended up doing a few day trips, some big, some small..

Typically Diesel was about $1.80/L .. here its $3.20/L

Miss 11 likes waking up before everyone else.. here is a sneaky breakfast donut at the Eurong Bakery (we were walking distance away in the 2nd Eurong village)

Lake Mckenzie

Big tree at Central Station

Dunno if this will work but let me know if it doesnt.. a few reels from my insta's

 

[brisveganbj42]

 

[brisveganbj42]

 

[brisveganbj42]

If those clips dont work I'll try uploading them to yubtub..

More photos from Fraser Island

Sandy Cape lighthouse

view from the lighthouse

Ran into some fellow Tasmanian's here too!

On our last night on the island we decided to eat out at the resturant in the resort... on our way back we almost stepped on this bugger

 

[brisveganbj42]

The next week was spent catching up with friends and work colleagues, while staying at the mother in law's at Brisbane before heading back south again

Grandma's back yard with her magpie friends

First night at Taree

Eating like royalty!

Another caravan park at Yass

Spotted this on one of our snack breaks/toilet stops

And then last night before reaching Melbourne we camped by the Howqua River in the Victorian High Country, a place called Sheepyard flats... where you can get 2wd cars in..

Then it was onto the boat and home... we started our last day before 5am, and I rolled into the driveway at 11pm that night... The drive home was a slog to say the least!

This is now the start of the 3rd week and things are starting to get back to our normal routine..

 

[RUSH55]

Great trip!

 

[scrapdaddy]

Yeah man, that was a great trip. Thanks for posting pictures.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Looks like a great vacation and, at least from the photos, it looks like your 11 yo is a great traveler. So what type of snake is that?

 

[brisveganbj42]

Looks like a great vacation and, at least from the photos, it looks like your 11 yo is a great traveler. So what type of snake is that?

I suspect its one of these but I'm not 100% sure.. Common Death Adder | QLD Snakes | Snake Rescue Sunny Coast - https://snakerescuesunnycoast.com.au/snake-identification/common-death-adder/

Maddie did really well with the driving.. she was great on the day sails and we had no wee accidents on the drive (for her OR me!).. we kept it to mostly 6hr days with a few hrs in the morning, a lunch break and a few hours in the afternoon... with plenty of snack stops/treats and stuff along the way.. we'd restock toys/barbies, coloring in books before we started our big stint too so that helped a bit.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Oh, just the Common Death Adder. Good thing it wasn't Whoop Ass Death Adder.

 

[Combat Wombat]

Excellent trip report, Andrew.
When I was that youtube vid on CLECS I saw the Tassie numberplate and the IH8mud sticker and thought "mmm this fella be from my island!"
I had a surge of motivation to attend next year but only just realised that the 70 series isn't invited... (maybe that will change!)

 

[brisveganbj42]

Excellent trip report, Andrew.
When I was that youtube vid on CLECS I saw the Tassie numberplate and the IH8mud sticker and thought "mmm this fella be from my island!"
I had a surge of motivation to attend next year but only just realised that the 70 series isn't invited... (maybe that will change!)

Thank you!

Yeh Mr Landcruiser gets hassled from all sorts regarding what is regarded as "Classic" for this event... tough call to be honest..

Nice lookin Middy you've got too, I'll have to keep an eye out for it around the traps down here..

 

[brisveganbj42]

I've updated some of the vids above to yubtub shorts so they aren't behind a login..

 

[brisveganbj42]