October 12, 2024 • 32 mins
Ever dreamed of unearthing treasures beneath your feet? Join us as we embark on a thrilling 2,000-kilometer 'Road To Riches' road trip to the Australian Central Gemfields, where the promise of precious gemstones beckons. From the welcoming embrace of Gemtree campground to the exhilarating adventure of fossicking with seasoned guides Richie, Connor and Laura, this journey captures the heart of exploration and discovery. Surrounded by breathtaking landscapes, we delve into the rich history of the area, sharing the joy and laughter that comes with the hunt for garnets and zircons, especially through the eyes of young Jasper.
In the heart of the red dirt, we savor the simple pleasures, like freshly baked scones and tea, underscoring the hospitality that Gemtree is known for. We also delve into the nuances of fossicking, highlighting what keeps enthusiasts returning year after year. It's not just about the gems; it's about the camaraderie, the stories shared, and the memories forged in the outback's embrace. Whether you're a seasoned fossicker or a curious first-timer, there's something magical about the allure of hidden treasures waiting to be discovered.
Before you rev up your engines for your own adventure, heed the wisdom of experts like Bodie McCormack, Tony Davys, and Adam Meredith. From essential vehicle maintenance to the indispensable benefits of a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), we discuss everything you need to ensure a safe and memorable journey along one of Australia's most remote highways. Embrace the challenge, indulge your sense of adventure, and remember to take care of yourself and your loved ones as you journey into the unknown. Let us inspire you to dream big and explore with confidence.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 1 (00:47):
Welcome to Season 9, Episode 1 of the Family Travel
Australia podcast.
We are Paul, Katie and Jasperfrom the Feel Good Family.
Join us as we explore thisgreat country, Australia, its
people, places and culturescultures.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yes, welcome to the Family Travel Podcast, where we
share the latest in RV industrynews road trip travel,
caravanning and camping, productreviews, where to go, what to
do, and so much more.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Thanks for joining us this week we start Season 9,
baby and our 2,000-kilometreroad to riches road trip.
We kick off in the AustralianCentral Gemfields fossicking for
precious gemstones.
Woo-hoo, will Katie get newjewellery, or will she not?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
You can fossick until we do.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
That's pretty well the case, actually.
I tell you what, though?
We get a haul out here.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
So good, and this is just an area of Australia that
we have never really discoveredbefore.
So to be here, to be somewherenew, the thrill of that is
almost as good as the thrill offinding precious gemstones.
It's like a lost treasurehunter.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
I love it.
I'm like a little kid out hereand we are staying at Gem Tree
Perfectly named, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
It is perfectly named and this is a fabulous spot and
really you feel completelyremote and I think you're only
about 140 kilometres northeastof Alice Springs, so you know,
if you do need supplies, you doneed to go into town.
In fact, alex, the owner thereat Gemtree, said to us oh Richie
(02:36):
, he's going to take you out forsome king.
He's just got to duck into townthis morning, though for a few
things, and off he went intoAlice.
You're really not that remote,but the landscape out here begs
to differ.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Absolutely.
It is the start of the plentyhighway, where there is plenty
of nothing.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
There's plenty of absolutely incredible landscapes
and plenty of moments wherethat overwhelming feeling of
freedom that you get when youare traveling through these
remote parts of Australia hitsyou like a sledgehammer, and for
me it's addictive.
I love this feeling that I getwhen we're out in these places
(03:17):
and there's nothing but nothing.
You're traveling companions,you pop your windows down,
you've got the dirt and the dustflying behind you because
you're on 400 odd kilometers ofdirt road.
It is incredible.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Yeah, absolutely love it.
Now we do actually have anotherfamily who is in effect in
convoy, tagging along with usduring this first leg of our
epic road to riches road tripyeah, fantastic, dn ben and
their three beautiful childrenare coming along with us, which
(03:52):
is so awesome.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Look, to be honest.
We put the call out throughmany of the traveling australia
groups on facebook and saidwe're hitting the plenty.
We're looking for some travelcompanions, anybody heading to
the East Coast and want to gothe less traditional route and
these guys put their hands up.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah, it's actually a great point, katie not in our
show notes here is that we, youknow, following on from my
health scare, we decided that itwould be a good idea just to
have a bit of a backup plan forsome reason.
If you know, something were toto go wrong or south, or there
was another health issue and Iwasn't able to continue on with
(04:34):
the family, then at least I knewthat there was some other way
of katie communicating andgetting another group or another
person to be able to assist herand Jasper.
So it was really born out ofthis idea of making sure that we
had a backup plan.
But it ended up so much betterto be able to share this first
(04:55):
for us as a family with anotherfamily who are also in the same
boat.
So, yeah, great idea If you'vegot this sort of remote travel
plans on your horizon, then putthe call out.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I tell you what we had plenty of people who said
pick me, I want to come alongAbsolutely and, as you'll find
out over the next series ofpodcasts, we have an absolute
hoot of a time, with plenty ofinteresting moments that
happened along the way.
But look, if you're atravelling family with children,
then having other children andother children's toys for your
(05:34):
kids to play with is an absolutegodsend.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Oh, look, that's it.
Toy envy Everyone.
Even when you're older andyou're an adult, you still want
the other person's toys, funnystuff, all right.
Now let's talk about Gemtree,fantastic remote campground.
If you want that authenticoutback Aussie bush camp, this
is the place.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, it's a real blend and what I loved about it
is that that's right, paul, youfeel like you're a million miles
from anybody.
A million miles from anybody,even out in the campground.
You know it's dirt and thoseincredible Aussie trees that can
survive out here in this harshenvironment.
But you still have the luxuries.
You've got power and water ifyou want to hook up to that,
(06:16):
you've got your amenities blocks, you've got your laundry.
There's even a swimming pool,which I've found incredible.
And when you first arrive, yousort of come through the main
entry area.
There is a little fuel stationthere, which is great.
You can fuel up if you need to,and the main reception slash
(06:38):
cafe also has an adjoininglittle gem shop, and this is a
great little teaser.
It whets your taste buds as to,okay, what are we out here for?
And there's a beautifulselection of gemstones and, you
know, incredible rocks from thisregion and, I dare say, all
around the world, on displayhere at Gemtree as well.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
What I think is good about the Gemtree gem shop is
that you're going to leave withsomething you know.
If you don't have any luckwhich you'd have to be blind not
to be able to find somethingthe selection of raw and then
polished and then finishedjewelry products that are on
(07:23):
display and available is awesome, and so you're going to leave
with some sort of treasure.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah, absolutely, that's so right.
Look, we would highly recommend, if you have the time up your
sleeve and you don't want torush through here, book onto one
of their Fossicking tours.
Now, out here in thisparticular region, not far from
where you'll be camping, thereare the Zircon Flats and then
(07:50):
there are also the GarnetFossicking areas and, look, you
can go out and hope for the bestand well one even try and find
where to fossick in the firstplace.
Or you can book onto one of thetours with the team.
It's brilliant, because thenyou're going out not only with
the guide, but they provide allthe gear that you need, they've
(08:10):
got all of the expert knowledgeand they take you to the secret
spots.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I love that you just rock up.
It's early in the morning soyou can beat the heat.
Because it's central Australia,you know it's the hottest,
driest country on earth.
Very fortunately, thetemperatures dropped
dramatically in the last 1,500kilometres from Darwin.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
It's got cold though.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
We had the heater on Unbelievable.
But you're going to be lookingat hot, hot midday temperatures,
even mid-morning.
So, heading out early in themorning again, they load you up
with all the gear and, in effect, you're tagging along.
So you're driving in yourfour-wheel drive following a
convoy and your tour guideleader out to these secret spots
(08:55):
where I think you could sayyou're guaranteed to find
something.
It certainly felt like that andlook to find something.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
It certainly felt like that and, look, we booked
onto both.
So, first up, we headed out tothe Zircon Flats with Richie,
and this was excellent.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
They call this guy Mr Zircon.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Now he wasn't really impressed when I said that to
him.
He goes oh no, it's a lie, mate.
And then he pulled out some ofhis previous hauls.
These were like nuggets.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, amazing, absolutely incredible.
He ran us through exactly whatwe needed to do.
Now, look, zircon, is a littlebit more effort for reward.
You have to grab your trustypick, feel like you're one of
the seven dwarfs and getsmashing the earth.
Basically, what you're doing isdigging into the side of an
(09:53):
area that's already sort of been, I guess, excavated a little
bit into where the ancient creekbeds are, because that brings
the flow of these gemstones down, and so there is a little bit
of you know hard yakka requiredto get your dirt.
And then, obviously, you'repiling that into buckets, you're
taking it up, you're sieving it, you're sieving it again, then
(10:16):
you wash it.
Then you wash it again, thenyou flip it out like a pizza
coming out of a pan and you sortthrough it.
Now, hot tip, you need the sunto find these gemstones, because
even after you've washed themand you've washed them again to
make sure that all of the dirtand the muck is off them they
(10:39):
just look like bloody rocks on atable.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
You need the sunshine they look like a pile of dirty
old rocks.
Yeah, yep.
I'm like this doesn't look thatenticing.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
That's right Hard work for this.
So it is hard work, it is hotwork, and I love how Richie said
.
Straight away he said oh, lookat Jasper, he's got the eye for
it, he's got his eye in.
And once you start to find themand recognize what they look
like on the table, then you'relike oh, there's one, oh there's
(11:09):
one.
And what the sun does is, whenyou hold that stone up to the
sun, it reveals it in all of itsbeauty.
It basically shines the lightthrough it.
And then you know for sure yep,that's a zircon.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
I love that.
Richie said where's your phone?
Pull out your iPhone, Turn thelight on and then he gets this
little dark stone that he foundand sticks it straight onto the
light and straight through it,this beautiful red ruby color.
Now there's 17 variants, Ibelieve, of color that you can
(11:42):
find in Zircon.
So it's pretty amazing thespectrum of colours, and we
found quite a few of those.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Well, we did.
And why did we find so many?
Because certain somebody in ourfamily is addicted.
So even when the rest of us hadall had enough, there was still
someone saying I'll just getone more bucket, We'll just
check one more bucket.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I know I could have stayed out there.
It's like time just disappearsor your value of caring about
time disappears or anything.
Who needs water and food.
Yeah, I loved it.
And then when I found that onethat was bigger than Mr Zircon,
I was like check this out, MrZircon.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Does size matter?
Does it when it comes togemstones?
It does, I dare say it does.
Yes.
Yeah, that was an excellentafternoon and a really great
introduction to gemstones.
What this is all about out here.
Now, what is amazing is that,as we mentioned, you can come
out to these fostering areas onyour own.
You do need to get yourself afostering permit, which you can
(12:44):
do online, depending on whichstate or territory you are
around the country.
You can do that on thegovernment websites and
generally they're veryinexpensive, for a long period
of time to get yourself thatfoster king permit.
You don't want to be caughtwithout one.
But coming out with these guyswas excellent because, even
(13:05):
though they brought us to themain Zircon Flats area, they
sort of took us a little bitfurther away from where most
people come out and found usthis secret little spot where we
got a decent haul.
But I was really surprised,paul, that you are able to come
out and free camp out in many ofthese areas, on the gem fields
as well.
And on the way home the guyseven took us to an old mica mine
(13:30):
that was in operation out herefor many, many years until
unfortunately fortunately,depending on your view on mining
of the earth in a morecommercial way they hit the
water source.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Amazing and it flooded the mine.
But we're talking back at theturn of the 19th century, like
it just.
Yeah.
Amazing how long ago they wereactually out here in the middle
of nowhere.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yeah, it is amazing and I really liked this area
because it was so.
I mean it's beautiful.
It's like this big dam in themiddle of you know, this arid
country.
But the mica is beautiful aswell how it grows, I suppose, or
forms beautiful as well how itgrows, I suppose, or forms in
(14:24):
miniature slate-like clustersand just climbing up over it and
seeing it all still there inthe ground, yeah, really cool.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Really fantastic.
It's like a large open-cut mine.
But you've got to think theydid this by hand.
You know?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, Amazing Wouldn't that have been a sad
day.
When they hit that spring andthe mine just filled up with
water, I would have been like,righto well, we're all retired,
what's next?
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Oh no, tragic.
Yeah, let's find garnets, whichis what we did.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Yes, exactly.
So the next day up early andoff to go and hunt some garnets
and to be honest I have to say,I had no concept of what a
zircon or a garnet looked likebefore we came out here.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
No, and they're incredibly hard.
I believe zircons might berated as the second hardest
gemstone, but the oldestgemstone on earth.
Yeah, there you go.
Amazing hardest gemstone, butthe oldest gemstone on earth.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Yeah, there you go, amazing.
And so off we went a totallydifferent spot, to Fossick for
Garnets.
We went with Connor and Laura,two of the lovely caretakers, a
young couple who are alsotraveling Australia working
their way around.
And how on earth they landedhere in the middle of, you know,
(15:36):
the central gem fields, isbeyond me.
But boy, they were fantastic.
Their knowledge was great andtheir passion was awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Oh, they are full fossickers.
They travel with gear.
They're fossicking their wayaround the country.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Bloody awesome.
I love it.
Well, connor was a wealth ofknowledge.
He took us out to a spot that Ihonestly don't think you would
find on your own, and there wasourselves and another family on
this tour this particularmorning.
And you know, look, you have tobe prepared to get down and
dirty.
You're going to be anyway.
(16:10):
I mean, you're out here in themiddle of red dirt country.
So Jasper was covered red dirtfrom head to toe.
In fact.
I put a few images up on oursocials a couple of days ago and
there's one close-up ofJasper's face, and, bless him,
he looks like you know thosepictures.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
He's a pig in mud, you know, like he's the happiest
kid on earth.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
He is.
He absolutely loves it, but helooks like, you know, one of the
coal miners that you see.
You know that's been down underthe ground for a million years
and he's got dirt all over hisface.
It makes the whites of his eyesand his teeth look really good,
though I have to say A miner,miner.
A miner, miner, so he look.
He happily played in the dirtfor most of the time that we
(16:52):
were out here.
He fossicked a little bit andthen decided playing with the
kids from the other family wasfar more fun.
But Paul and I loved thisgarnet experience because it's
not as backbreaking as having topick into the side of the creek
beds to find those zircons.
You literally are justshoveling loose dirt off the
ground from certain areasobviously these guys know the
(17:15):
sports into your bucket and thenyou're doing the sieving and
the sieving and the washing andthe washing again to try and
find these garnets that look,when you hold them up to the sun
they could be mistaken forrubies.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, the deep, deep red colours, some of them more
like a sort of burnt orange, butwe did find a handful of both
zircons and garnets that werekeepers.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Absolutely Very, very exciting.
And you know that is whatyou're out here for that
experience, that thrill offinding something, and then that
you can see how you know theold timers come out here and
then you know, 100 years laterthey're still out here
fossicking because it isaddictive?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, absolutely, and the owner operator of Gemtree,
alex, his family, have been outhere for decades.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, that's right.
He grew up not far from Gemtree.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
That's right.
So they are invested in theland.
They're really in the countryand sharing it and their story
is just what they do and we lovethat.
It was just such an awesomeexperience and Gemtree
definitely a place whetheryou're a fossicker or not to go
and get that authentic outbackcamping experience.
(18:37):
Put it at top of your list.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, absolutely, to go and get that authentic
outback camping experience.
Put it at top of your list.
Yeah, absolutely.
And look, if you don't want totrek out to the gem fields,
what's awesome is that they dohave a little fossicking area
there at Gemtree where you know,if you've got little, little
little ones or you just don'twant to get out there into the
gem fields yourself, you canfossick through.
I called it buckets of rubblystuff, but I've since learned
(19:00):
I'm pretty sure it's called wash, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yeah, I think that's right.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Because that's what you do with it you wash it.
Coming back from mining ourgarnets to have freshly baked
scones and a cup of tea aDevonshire tea at the cafe was
one of those moments whereyou're like hang on a second.
I just was out there gettingdown and dirty in the middle of
nowhere, and now here I amsipping a cup of English
(19:25):
breakfast tea and eating one ofthe most delicious scones I've
ever had.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
It is.
It's a strange realization whenyou're sitting there.
I mean, there's nothing fancyabout this cafe.
It's kind of like whateverleftover chairs they could find
over time.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Rusty, yes definitely very rustic.
But look, those scones wereamazing and they do full meals
as well that you can order, andthey have, I guess, a little
selection of convenience groceryitems that you can purchase as
well.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
In peak season they do full-on cook-up barbecue
dinner nights that you can bookonto and they book out.
It's hard to believe, butthey'll easily get 100 people
out here a night.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Campfire oven meals and they have entertainment and
they have a bar that they openup in peak season as well, and
obviously peak season out hereis across the winter months in
Australia.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
All right, now we are about to hit the Plenty Highway
and this really is the start ofour road to riches.
All told, I think it's 76060kilometers.
480 odd kilometers of it iscomplete dirt road and it varies
from very sandy sections toreally sharp hard rock sections,
(20:50):
but relatively flat the entireway as you pass through
different mountain ranges.
And and in fact, the beauty ofthe scenery was the most
surprising element of this roadtrip and we'll share that as
we're traveling.
We kick the plenty off nextweek, but it made me really
(21:13):
think it'd be good to share whatour top five off-road outback
vehicle preparation things thatare essentials with you if
you're planning to do any kindof remote travel.
So here they are.
Number one is to have a plan Bbox.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yep, absolutely, with just the spares and essentials
that you may need when you'reout in the middle of nowhere and
can't access it.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yes, and all the detail around any of these items
you'll be able to find throughprevious YouTube episodes that
we've done.
So Katie will make sure thatthe links to all of these things
are in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Plan B box Thank you to Bodie McCormack in Sandgate,
just sort of northeast ofBrisbane there to share for me,
specific to our Land Cruiser 79,a few other things like a top
and bottom radiator hose, butcertainly all the fluids and the
different belts or uni belts ordrive belts and all of the bits
that may have gone wrong overtime with other people's
(22:17):
vehicles.
So talk to your mechanic tohelp you really get your plan B
box.
But there are a series ofessential items that should be
for every vehicle so you cancheck out that YouTube clip on
our pre-travel servicing,maintenance and plan B box.
Number two is what is referredto as under bonnet, under body,
(22:38):
and this was from tony davies,who is the australian four by
four treks four-wheel driveinstructor.
He's a savannah tour guide andwe tagged along on one of tony's
amazing tours up to cape yorkand this time last year we were
the only ones towing a caravanand wow, what a memory, what a
(23:02):
trip that was.
But to get all of thisinformation from an expert who
actually trains people in safedriving of four-wheel drives was
just priceless and hisunderbody and underbonnet talk
and walk was excellent.
Again, there'll be a link therefor that.
But really you don't need to bea mechanic, you just need to
(23:23):
know if something looks out ofplace.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, that's what I love, because this is one that
anybody can do, no matter yourskill set, no matter your
occupation, no matter yourgender.
This is something thateverybody can do and, as you
said, paul, you don't have to bean expert.
You've just got to know whatthings look like when they're
working properly so that you canknow what things look like when
(23:47):
they're not.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
And I guess if you're checking every day before you
kick off and hit the road, thenyou've got to pick up something.
He also checks his when theyfinish a day.
That's right.
He's doing it first thing inthe morning and first thing.
Once you pull into camp when youarrive.
So it could be a bit overkill,but we definitely check before
we travel each morning.
(24:08):
You're really just looking atall of the fluids.
You're checking your batteryterminals that they haven't
rattled loose on the corrugation.
You're looking under at theentire drive chain.
You're looking at yoursuspension, seeing if there's
anything hanging down.
Is there anything out of place?
All right, so that's underbody,under bonnet.
Number two, number three, thisone from our chief firey down
(24:30):
there in Hobart, adam Meredith.
We were out there in Uluru,katajuta, curtin Springs, and he
talked me through what thefireys do every morning with
their trucks, particularlyaround tyre management and tyre
maintenance, and it's called thefour Cs and that is check when
cold, check the caps, check thecondition and check the contents
(24:53):
.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Simple stuff.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Basic and if you're doing that every day, then
you're going to very quickly seeif there's a problem.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah, that's right.
And look, Adam opened our eyesall those years ago, didn't he,
paul, when he explained to usthat, you know, a huge
percentage of road accidentsoccur because of something to do
with your tyres, and I thinkit's something that a lot of us
can sort of take for granted or,you know not, not really think
about the yep.
(25:21):
They're there on the car,that's all you need to do, you
know?
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
And this is whether you're on the blacktop, the
bitumen, or you're on the remoteoff-road areas as well.
Uh, we're traveling today andit's actually the first thing
I'm going to do is go and justcheck everything.
But I'm also going to talk ourtires and that is just check
with the torque wrench.
So having a torque wrench, Ithink, is essential, especially
if you're changing tirepressures and you're in these
(25:47):
cold conditions, hot conditionsand these new, you know, fancy
wheels and these alloys doexpand and contract.
Okay, so probably good to bechecking all of these things
regularly and check with withyour manufacturer what torque
Newton meters you should behaving your tyre nuts at All
right.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yeah, perfect, tightening your nuts, not going
and having a little conversationwith your tyres.
Ie talking to you.
Hey, how are you going thismorning?
Speaker 1 (26:15):
tyres.
Got it, got it.
I see what you're saying.
Tighten those nuts, katie.
Number four clean your mirrorsand your windows.
Being visible, havingvisibility, very important,
that's your job, katie.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah, it really is, and again, it's a super easy one
to do and one that you know,not only so that we've got great
visibility, but also, too, sothat you guys have got great
visibility when you're watchingour YouTube episodes and you see
(26:48):
those camera shots out thefront.
But probably more importantlytoo is making sure that your
mirrors are clean, becauseyou're going to be relying on
these a lot.
You know, obviously you don'thave your rear view mirror in
play when you are towing, so youreally are relying on those
side mirrors and we just givethem a quick clean over.
(27:10):
Gosh, when you're out here inthese parts, I mean, you need to
be doing this basically everyday, because it is so dusty and
so dirty and it's unbelievablehow filthy things can get
quickly.
So a quick clean over beforeyou hit the road really
important.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, number four, visibility.
On that as well, make sure youdrive with your headlights on.
If you are in any way on aremote road, do put your
headlights on.
You want to be seen.
It is so dusty, it's phenomenal, and when somebody passes you,
that dust continues on, you know, inhibiting your vision for 20,
(27:48):
30 seconds sometimes, which isa long time to be not seen.
So having your lights onessential.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yep great advice.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Okay, the last one, number five secure the load,
Whether it's internal in yourcabins or external on the roof
gas bottles, max tracks, solarpanels, extra tubs of stuff, you
know, fuel canisters, jerrycans.
Even if you're traveling with,like a Weber or a Ziggy and it's
(28:17):
on a tray or a slide out,making sure that's even tied
down If you're going to be onthese corrugations or these
these really hectic roads, justgo and check everything.
People have stuff fly off allthe time and you know, we were
on the Cape tour last year andsome people lost their entire
contents on their roof rackbecause it hadn't been tied down
(28:41):
securely, they hadn't checkedit, you know, and it just slowly
rattled a little bit loose andthen, boom, it's gone.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
These corrugations are incredible and you've got to
think if you're traveling even100 kilometers over corrugations
over that time, that constantmovement.
We had lids on jars in ourfridge when we were up the Cape.
That worked their way off inthe fridge just from the
(29:08):
vibration.
We even had jars that hadflipped upside down and were
back in their same spot butturned up the wrong way from
that constant vibration.
So you've got to think if youcan take the lid of a jar in
your fridge then it cancertainly undo things that are
securing down anything thatyou've got externally on your
(29:31):
van or your vehicle.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Even with ratchets, they just they wiggle that
vibration and the harmonics thatit creates it's phenomenal.
Yeah, all right.
Now, guys, that's thatvibration and the harmonics that
it creates.
It's phenomenal.
Yeah, All right Now, guys.
That wraps that up, and again,check out the links in the show
description if you want to goand find a little more detail on
this information.
Another thing I want to saythat we just absolutely loved
(29:55):
and, Katie, if you could put thelink in for this one as well is
our Outback Cinema.
Oh, yes To kick off our time andour first meeting with Ben and
Deanne and their kids was tohave an Outback Cinema.
So we cleaned the back of thevan with our trusty adventure
pump and then we projected acinema onto the back, a kid's
movie, a Disney flick, and wehad a fire, a couple of drinks,
(30:18):
you know.
Nothing too hectic but justgetting to know you, a little
bonding session for the kids andthe big kids, and it was
fantastic.
But we get so many questionshow are you setting up this
projector?
How do you operate it?
What gear do you use?
All the details.
We have one dedicated video onthat that you can check out.
Awesome, it'll be in the shownotes.
(30:39):
All right, the takeaway forthis week.
It's one I've made up, Katie.
Oh well, this could beinteresting, and it was just
about finding ourselves learningthese new skill sets and being
in these environments and nothaving a clue, and then walking
away, you know, richer for theexperience but, also for the
knowledge, and it is that travelmakes you realize how much you
(31:00):
don't know.
How good is that?
Speaker 2 (31:04):
And isn't that the truth?
In any form of travel, whetheryou're towing your home on
wheels down the road, like weare, or whether you're hopping
on a plane and heading to anunknown overseas destination, it
certainly makes you realizethat you are a tiny blip in this
incredible universe that is somuch bigger than we are, than
(31:26):
the stresses that we put onourselves every single day and
talk about enriching your lifeby putting yourself again at
your comfort zone and into theseincredible situations.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Ah, it's where the juice of life is.
Sure is, Squeeze it, baby.
We love it.
Now, in the tyre management.
I forgot this and I can see iton my notes.
I just skimmed past it, butit's having a tyre pressure
monitoring system, a TPMS.
We have a feel-good discountcode on the products that we
love, use, trust and we'llabsolutely back.
(32:02):
If you want to check those out,TPMS from iCheck, you can get a
10% feel-good code if you arein need of any kind of tyre
pressure system or tyremanagement products.
They have an amazing range.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Excellent.
Jump on our website onto ourgear page.
You'll find all of the productsthat we love and use every
single day on our travels andall the discounts there for you
guys as well, which is a win-winfor everybody.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Love it, katie Kate, all right next week.
Australia's most remote highwayover 480 kilometres of dirt.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Here we go.
Who knows what this is going tobe like.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
It's an adventure, that's what it is.
Keep driving.
For now we'll say dream big,look after yourself, look after
your family.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
And happy trails.
We're a good family.
This podcast is brought to you by our great
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Speaker 2 (00:10):
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Speaker 1 (00:47):
Welcome to Season 9, Episode 1 of the Family Travel
Australia podcast.
We are Paul, Katie and Jasperfrom the Feel Good Family.
Join us as we explore thisgreat country, Australia, its
people, places and culturescultures.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yes, welcome to the Family Travel Podcast, where we
share the latest in RV industrynews road trip travel,
caravanning and camping, productreviews, where to go, what to
do, and so much more.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Thanks for joining us this week we start Season 9,
baby and our 2,000-kilometreroad to riches road trip.
We kick off in the AustralianCentral Gemfields fossicking for
precious gemstones.
Woo-hoo, will Katie get newjewellery, or will she not?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
You can fossick until we do.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
That's pretty well the case, actually.
I tell you what, though?
We get a haul out here.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
So good, and this is just an area of Australia that
we have never really discoveredbefore.
So to be here, to be somewherenew, the thrill of that is
almost as good as the thrill offinding precious gemstones.
It's like a lost treasurehunter.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
I love it.
I'm like a little kid out hereand we are staying at Gem Tree
Perfectly named, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
It is perfectly named and this is a fabulous spot and
really you feel completelyremote and I think you're only
about 140 kilometres northeastof Alice Springs, so you know,
if you do need supplies, you doneed to go into town.
In fact, alex, the owner thereat Gemtree, said to us oh Richie
(02:36):
, he's going to take you out forsome king.
He's just got to duck into townthis morning, though for a few
things, and off he went intoAlice.
You're really not that remote,but the landscape out here begs
to differ.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Absolutely.
It is the start of the plentyhighway, where there is plenty
of nothing.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
There's plenty of absolutely incredible landscapes
and plenty of moments wherethat overwhelming feeling of
freedom that you get when youare traveling through these
remote parts of Australia hitsyou like a sledgehammer, and for
me it's addictive.
I love this feeling that I getwhen we're out in these places
(03:17):
and there's nothing but nothing.
You're traveling companions,you pop your windows down,
you've got the dirt and the dustflying behind you because
you're on 400 odd kilometers ofdirt road.
It is incredible.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Yeah, absolutely love it.
Now we do actually have anotherfamily who is in effect in
convoy, tagging along with usduring this first leg of our
epic road to riches road tripyeah, fantastic, dn ben and
their three beautiful childrenare coming along with us, which
(03:52):
is so awesome.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Look, to be honest.
We put the call out throughmany of the traveling australia
groups on facebook and saidwe're hitting the plenty.
We're looking for some travelcompanions, anybody heading to
the East Coast and want to gothe less traditional route and
these guys put their hands up.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah, it's actually a great point, katie not in our
show notes here is that we, youknow, following on from my
health scare, we decided that itwould be a good idea just to
have a bit of a backup plan forsome reason.
If you know, something were toto go wrong or south, or there
was another health issue and Iwasn't able to continue on with
(04:34):
the family, then at least I knewthat there was some other way
of katie communicating andgetting another group or another
person to be able to assist herand Jasper.
So it was really born out ofthis idea of making sure that we
had a backup plan.
But it ended up so much betterto be able to share this first
(04:55):
for us as a family with anotherfamily who are also in the same
boat.
So, yeah, great idea If you'vegot this sort of remote travel
plans on your horizon, then putthe call out.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I tell you what we had plenty of people who said
pick me, I want to come alongAbsolutely and, as you'll find
out over the next series ofpodcasts, we have an absolute
hoot of a time, with plenty ofinteresting moments that
happened along the way.
But look, if you're atravelling family with children,
then having other children andother children's toys for your
(05:34):
kids to play with is an absolutegodsend.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Oh, look, that's it.
Toy envy Everyone.
Even when you're older andyou're an adult, you still want
the other person's toys, funnystuff, all right.
Now let's talk about Gemtree,fantastic remote campground.
If you want that authenticoutback Aussie bush camp, this
is the place.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, it's a real blend and what I loved about it
is that that's right, paul, youfeel like you're a million miles
from anybody.
A million miles from anybody,even out in the campground.
You know it's dirt and thoseincredible Aussie trees that can
survive out here in this harshenvironment.
But you still have the luxuries.
You've got power and water ifyou want to hook up to that,
(06:16):
you've got your amenities blocks, you've got your laundry.
There's even a swimming pool,which I've found incredible.
And when you first arrive, yousort of come through the main
entry area.
There is a little fuel stationthere, which is great.
You can fuel up if you need to,and the main reception slash
(06:38):
cafe also has an adjoininglittle gem shop, and this is a
great little teaser.
It whets your taste buds as to,okay, what are we out here for?
And there's a beautifulselection of gemstones and, you
know, incredible rocks from thisregion and, I dare say, all
around the world, on displayhere at Gemtree as well.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
What I think is good about the Gemtree gem shop is
that you're going to leave withsomething you know.
If you don't have any luckwhich you'd have to be blind not
to be able to find somethingthe selection of raw and then
polished and then finishedjewelry products that are on
(07:23):
display and available is awesome, and so you're going to leave
with some sort of treasure.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah, absolutely, that's so right.
Look, we would highly recommend, if you have the time up your
sleeve and you don't want torush through here, book onto one
of their Fossicking tours.
Now, out here in thisparticular region, not far from
where you'll be camping, thereare the Zircon Flats and then
(07:50):
there are also the GarnetFossicking areas and, look, you
can go out and hope for the bestand well one even try and find
where to fossick in the firstplace.
Or you can book onto one of thetours with the team.
It's brilliant, because thenyou're going out not only with
the guide, but they provide allthe gear that you need, they've
(08:10):
got all of the expert knowledgeand they take you to the secret
spots.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I love that you just rock up.
It's early in the morning soyou can beat the heat.
Because it's central Australia,you know it's the hottest,
driest country on earth.
Very fortunately, thetemperatures dropped
dramatically in the last 1,500kilometres from Darwin.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
It's got cold though.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
We had the heater on Unbelievable.
But you're going to be lookingat hot, hot midday temperatures,
even mid-morning.
So, heading out early in themorning again, they load you up
with all the gear and, in effect, you're tagging along.
So you're driving in yourfour-wheel drive following a
convoy and your tour guideleader out to these secret spots
(08:55):
where I think you could sayyou're guaranteed to find
something.
It certainly felt like that andlook to find something.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
It certainly felt like that and, look, we booked
onto both.
So, first up, we headed out tothe Zircon Flats with Richie,
and this was excellent.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
They call this guy Mr Zircon.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Now he wasn't really impressed when I said that to
him.
He goes oh no, it's a lie, mate.
And then he pulled out some ofhis previous hauls.
These were like nuggets.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, amazing, absolutely incredible.
He ran us through exactly whatwe needed to do.
Now, look, zircon, is a littlebit more effort for reward.
You have to grab your trustypick, feel like you're one of
the seven dwarfs and getsmashing the earth.
Basically, what you're doing isdigging into the side of an
(09:53):
area that's already sort of been, I guess, excavated a little
bit into where the ancient creekbeds are, because that brings
the flow of these gemstones down, and so there is a little bit
of you know hard yakka requiredto get your dirt.
And then, obviously, you'repiling that into buckets, you're
taking it up, you're sieving it, you're sieving it again, then
(10:16):
you wash it.
Then you wash it again, thenyou flip it out like a pizza
coming out of a pan and you sortthrough it.
Now, hot tip, you need the sunto find these gemstones, because
even after you've washed themand you've washed them again to
make sure that all of the dirtand the muck is off them they
(10:39):
just look like bloody rocks on atable.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
You need the sunshine they look like a pile of dirty
old rocks.
Yeah, yep.
I'm like this doesn't look thatenticing.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
That's right Hard work for this.
So it is hard work, it is hotwork, and I love how Richie said
.
Straight away he said oh, lookat Jasper, he's got the eye for
it, he's got his eye in.
And once you start to find themand recognize what they look
like on the table, then you'relike oh, there's one, oh there's
(11:09):
one.
And what the sun does is, whenyou hold that stone up to the
sun, it reveals it in all of itsbeauty.
It basically shines the lightthrough it.
And then you know for sure yep,that's a zircon.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
I love that.
Richie said where's your phone?
Pull out your iPhone, Turn thelight on and then he gets this
little dark stone that he foundand sticks it straight onto the
light and straight through it,this beautiful red ruby color.
Now there's 17 variants, Ibelieve, of color that you can
(11:42):
find in Zircon.
So it's pretty amazing thespectrum of colours, and we
found quite a few of those.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Well, we did.
And why did we find so many?
Because certain somebody in ourfamily is addicted.
So even when the rest of us hadall had enough, there was still
someone saying I'll just getone more bucket, We'll just
check one more bucket.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I know I could have stayed out there.
It's like time just disappearsor your value of caring about
time disappears or anything.
Who needs water and food.
Yeah, I loved it.
And then when I found that onethat was bigger than Mr Zircon,
I was like check this out, MrZircon.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Does size matter?
Does it when it comes togemstones?
It does, I dare say it does.
Yes.
Yeah, that was an excellentafternoon and a really great
introduction to gemstones.
What this is all about out here.
Now, what is amazing is that,as we mentioned, you can come
out to these fostering areas onyour own.
You do need to get yourself afostering permit, which you can
(12:44):
do online, depending on whichstate or territory you are
around the country.
You can do that on thegovernment websites and
generally they're veryinexpensive, for a long period
of time to get yourself thatfoster king permit.
You don't want to be caughtwithout one.
But coming out with these guyswas excellent because, even
(13:05):
though they brought us to themain Zircon Flats area, they
sort of took us a little bitfurther away from where most
people come out and found usthis secret little spot where we
got a decent haul.
But I was really surprised,paul, that you are able to come
out and free camp out in many ofthese areas, on the gem fields
as well.
And on the way home the guyseven took us to an old mica mine
(13:30):
that was in operation out herefor many, many years until
unfortunately fortunately,depending on your view on mining
of the earth in a morecommercial way they hit the
water source.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Amazing and it flooded the mine.
But we're talking back at theturn of the 19th century, like
it just.
Yeah.
Amazing how long ago they wereactually out here in the middle
of nowhere.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yeah, it is amazing and I really liked this area
because it was so.
I mean it's beautiful.
It's like this big dam in themiddle of you know, this arid
country.
But the mica is beautiful aswell how it grows, I suppose, or
forms beautiful as well how itgrows, I suppose, or forms in
(14:24):
miniature slate-like clustersand just climbing up over it and
seeing it all still there inthe ground, yeah, really cool.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Really fantastic.
It's like a large open-cut mine.
But you've got to think theydid this by hand.
You know?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, Amazing Wouldn't that have been a sad
day.
When they hit that spring andthe mine just filled up with
water, I would have been like,righto well, we're all retired,
what's next?
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Oh no, tragic.
Yeah, let's find garnets, whichis what we did.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Yes, exactly.
So the next day up early andoff to go and hunt some garnets
and to be honest I have to say,I had no concept of what a
zircon or a garnet looked likebefore we came out here.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
No, and they're incredibly hard.
I believe zircons might berated as the second hardest
gemstone, but the oldestgemstone on earth.
Yeah, there you go.
Amazing hardest gemstone, butthe oldest gemstone on earth.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Yeah, there you go, amazing.
And so off we went a totallydifferent spot, to Fossick for
Garnets.
We went with Connor and Laura,two of the lovely caretakers, a
young couple who are alsotraveling Australia working
their way around.
And how on earth they landedhere in the middle of, you know,
(15:36):
the central gem fields, isbeyond me.
But boy, they were fantastic.
Their knowledge was great andtheir passion was awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Oh, they are full fossickers.
They travel with gear.
They're fossicking their wayaround the country.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Bloody awesome.
I love it.
Well, connor was a wealth ofknowledge.
He took us out to a spot that Ihonestly don't think you would
find on your own, and there wasourselves and another family on
this tour this particularmorning.
And you know, look, you have tobe prepared to get down and
dirty.
You're going to be anyway.
(16:10):
I mean, you're out here in themiddle of red dirt country.
So Jasper was covered red dirtfrom head to toe.
In fact.
I put a few images up on oursocials a couple of days ago and
there's one close-up ofJasper's face, and, bless him,
he looks like you know thosepictures.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
He's a pig in mud, you know, like he's the happiest
kid on earth.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
He is.
He absolutely loves it, but helooks like, you know, one of the
coal miners that you see.
You know that's been down underthe ground for a million years
and he's got dirt all over hisface.
It makes the whites of his eyesand his teeth look really good,
though I have to say A miner,miner.
A miner, miner, so he look.
He happily played in the dirtfor most of the time that we
(16:52):
were out here.
He fossicked a little bit andthen decided playing with the
kids from the other family wasfar more fun.
But Paul and I loved thisgarnet experience because it's
not as backbreaking as having topick into the side of the creek
beds to find those zircons.
You literally are justshoveling loose dirt off the
ground from certain areasobviously these guys know the
(17:15):
sports into your bucket and thenyou're doing the sieving and
the sieving and the washing andthe washing again to try and
find these garnets that look,when you hold them up to the sun
they could be mistaken forrubies.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, the deep, deep red colours, some of them more
like a sort of burnt orange, butwe did find a handful of both
zircons and garnets that werekeepers.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Absolutely Very, very exciting.
And you know that is whatyou're out here for that
experience, that thrill offinding something, and then that
you can see how you know theold timers come out here and
then you know, 100 years laterthey're still out here
fossicking because it isaddictive?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, absolutely, and the owner operator of Gemtree,
alex, his family, have been outhere for decades.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, that's right.
He grew up not far from Gemtree.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
That's right.
So they are invested in theland.
They're really in the countryand sharing it and their story
is just what they do and we lovethat.
It was just such an awesomeexperience and Gemtree
definitely a place whetheryou're a fossicker or not to go
and get that authentic outbackcamping experience.
(18:37):
Put it at top of your list.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, absolutely, to go and get that authentic
outback camping experience.
Put it at top of your list.
Yeah, absolutely.
And look, if you don't want totrek out to the gem fields,
what's awesome is that they dohave a little fossicking area
there at Gemtree where you know,if you've got little, little
little ones or you just don'twant to get out there into the
gem fields yourself, you canfossick through.
I called it buckets of rubblystuff, but I've since learned
(19:00):
I'm pretty sure it's called wash, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yeah, I think that's right.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Because that's what you do with it you wash it.
Coming back from mining ourgarnets to have freshly baked
scones and a cup of tea aDevonshire tea at the cafe was
one of those moments whereyou're like hang on a second.
I just was out there gettingdown and dirty in the middle of
nowhere, and now here I amsipping a cup of English
(19:25):
breakfast tea and eating one ofthe most delicious scones I've
ever had.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
It is.
It's a strange realization whenyou're sitting there.
I mean, there's nothing fancyabout this cafe.
It's kind of like whateverleftover chairs they could find
over time.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Rusty, yes definitely very rustic.
But look, those scones wereamazing and they do full meals
as well that you can order, andthey have, I guess, a little
selection of convenience groceryitems that you can purchase as
well.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
In peak season they do full-on cook-up barbecue
dinner nights that you can bookonto and they book out.
It's hard to believe, butthey'll easily get 100 people
out here a night.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Campfire oven meals and they have entertainment and
they have a bar that they openup in peak season as well, and
obviously peak season out hereis across the winter months in
Australia.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
All right, now we are about to hit the Plenty Highway
and this really is the start ofour road to riches.
All told, I think it's 76060kilometers.
480 odd kilometers of it iscomplete dirt road and it varies
from very sandy sections toreally sharp hard rock sections,
(20:50):
but relatively flat the entireway as you pass through
different mountain ranges.
And and in fact, the beauty ofthe scenery was the most
surprising element of this roadtrip and we'll share that as
we're traveling.
We kick the plenty off nextweek, but it made me really
(21:13):
think it'd be good to share whatour top five off-road outback
vehicle preparation things thatare essentials with you if
you're planning to do any kindof remote travel.
So here they are.
Number one is to have a plan Bbox.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yep, absolutely, with just the spares and essentials
that you may need when you'reout in the middle of nowhere and
can't access it.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yes, and all the detail around any of these items
you'll be able to find throughprevious YouTube episodes that
we've done.
So Katie will make sure thatthe links to all of these things
are in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Plan B box Thank you to Bodie McCormack in Sandgate,
just sort of northeast ofBrisbane there to share for me,
specific to our Land Cruiser 79,a few other things like a top
and bottom radiator hose, butcertainly all the fluids and the
different belts or uni belts ordrive belts and all of the bits
that may have gone wrong overtime with other people's
(22:17):
vehicles.
So talk to your mechanic tohelp you really get your plan B
box.
But there are a series ofessential items that should be
for every vehicle so you cancheck out that YouTube clip on
our pre-travel servicing,maintenance and plan B box.
Number two is what is referredto as under bonnet, under body,
(22:38):
and this was from tony davies,who is the australian four by
four treks four-wheel driveinstructor.
He's a savannah tour guide andwe tagged along on one of tony's
amazing tours up to cape yorkand this time last year we were
the only ones towing a caravanand wow, what a memory, what a
(23:02):
trip that was.
But to get all of thisinformation from an expert who
actually trains people in safedriving of four-wheel drives was
just priceless and hisunderbody and underbonnet talk
and walk was excellent.
Again, there'll be a link therefor that.
But really you don't need to bea mechanic, you just need to
(23:23):
know if something looks out ofplace.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, that's what I love, because this is one that
anybody can do, no matter yourskill set, no matter your
occupation, no matter yourgender.
This is something thateverybody can do and, as you
said, paul, you don't have to bean expert.
You've just got to know whatthings look like when they're
working properly so that you canknow what things look like when
(23:47):
they're not.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
And I guess if you're checking every day before you
kick off and hit the road, thenyou've got to pick up something.
He also checks his when theyfinish a day.
That's right.
He's doing it first thing inthe morning and first thing.
Once you pull into camp when youarrive.
So it could be a bit overkill,but we definitely check before
we travel each morning.
(24:08):
You're really just looking atall of the fluids.
You're checking your batteryterminals that they haven't
rattled loose on the corrugation.
You're looking under at theentire drive chain.
You're looking at yoursuspension, seeing if there's
anything hanging down.
Is there anything out of place?
All right, so that's underbody,under bonnet.
Number two, number three, thisone from our chief firey down
(24:30):
there in Hobart, adam Meredith.
We were out there in Uluru,katajuta, curtin Springs, and he
talked me through what thefireys do every morning with
their trucks, particularlyaround tyre management and tyre
maintenance, and it's called thefour Cs and that is check when
cold, check the caps, check thecondition and check the contents
(24:53):
.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Simple stuff.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Basic and if you're doing that every day, then
you're going to very quickly seeif there's a problem.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah, that's right.
And look, Adam opened our eyesall those years ago, didn't he,
paul, when he explained to usthat, you know, a huge
percentage of road accidentsoccur because of something to do
with your tyres, and I thinkit's something that a lot of us
can sort of take for granted or,you know not, not really think
about the yep.
(25:21):
They're there on the car,that's all you need to do, you
know?
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
And this is whether you're on the blacktop, the
bitumen, or you're on the remoteoff-road areas as well.
Uh, we're traveling today andit's actually the first thing
I'm going to do is go and justcheck everything.
But I'm also going to talk ourtires and that is just check
with the torque wrench.
So having a torque wrench, Ithink, is essential, especially
if you're changing tirepressures and you're in these
(25:47):
cold conditions, hot conditionsand these new, you know, fancy
wheels and these alloys doexpand and contract.
Okay, so probably good to bechecking all of these things
regularly and check with withyour manufacturer what torque
Newton meters you should behaving your tyre nuts at All
right.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yeah, perfect, tightening your nuts, not going
and having a little conversationwith your tyres.
Ie talking to you.
Hey, how are you going thismorning?
Speaker 1 (26:15):
tyres.
Got it, got it.
I see what you're saying.
Tighten those nuts, katie.
Number four clean your mirrorsand your windows.
Being visible, havingvisibility, very important,
that's your job, katie.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah, it really is, and again, it's a super easy one
to do and one that you know,not only so that we've got great
visibility, but also, too, sothat you guys have got great
visibility when you're watchingour YouTube episodes and you see
(26:48):
those camera shots out thefront.
But probably more importantlytoo is making sure that your
mirrors are clean, becauseyou're going to be relying on
these a lot.
You know, obviously you don'thave your rear view mirror in
play when you are towing, so youreally are relying on those
side mirrors and we just givethem a quick clean over.
(27:10):
Gosh, when you're out here inthese parts, I mean, you need to
be doing this basically everyday, because it is so dusty and
so dirty and it's unbelievablehow filthy things can get
quickly.
So a quick clean over beforeyou hit the road really
important.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, number four, visibility.
On that as well, make sure youdrive with your headlights on.
If you are in any way on aremote road, do put your
headlights on.
You want to be seen.
It is so dusty, it's phenomenal, and when somebody passes you,
that dust continues on, you know, inhibiting your vision for 20,
(27:48):
30 seconds sometimes, which isa long time to be not seen.
So having your lights onessential.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yep great advice.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Okay, the last one, number five secure the load,
Whether it's internal in yourcabins or external on the roof
gas bottles, max tracks, solarpanels, extra tubs of stuff, you
know, fuel canisters, jerrycans.
Even if you're traveling with,like a Weber or a Ziggy and it's
(28:17):
on a tray or a slide out,making sure that's even tied
down If you're going to be onthese corrugations or these
these really hectic roads, justgo and check everything.
People have stuff fly off allthe time and you know, we were
on the Cape tour last year andsome people lost their entire
contents on their roof rackbecause it hadn't been tied down
(28:41):
securely, they hadn't checkedit, you know, and it just slowly
rattled a little bit loose andthen, boom, it's gone.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
These corrugations are incredible and you've got to
think if you're traveling even100 kilometers over corrugations
over that time, that constantmovement.
We had lids on jars in ourfridge when we were up the Cape.
That worked their way off inthe fridge just from the
(29:08):
vibration.
We even had jars that hadflipped upside down and were
back in their same spot butturned up the wrong way from
that constant vibration.
So you've got to think if youcan take the lid of a jar in
your fridge then it cancertainly undo things that are
securing down anything thatyou've got externally on your
(29:31):
van or your vehicle.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Even with ratchets, they just they wiggle that
vibration and the harmonics thatit creates it's phenomenal.
Yeah, all right.
Now, guys, that's thatvibration and the harmonics that
it creates.
It's phenomenal.
Yeah, All right Now, guys.
That wraps that up, and again,check out the links in the show
description if you want to goand find a little more detail on
this information.
Another thing I want to saythat we just absolutely loved
(29:55):
and, Katie, if you could put thelink in for this one as well is
our Outback Cinema.
Oh, yes To kick off our time andour first meeting with Ben and
Deanne and their kids was tohave an Outback Cinema.
So we cleaned the back of thevan with our trusty adventure
pump and then we projected acinema onto the back, a kid's
movie, a Disney flick, and wehad a fire, a couple of drinks,
(30:18):
you know.
Nothing too hectic but justgetting to know you, a little
bonding session for the kids andthe big kids, and it was
fantastic.
But we get so many questionshow are you setting up this
projector?
How do you operate it?
What gear do you use?
All the details.
We have one dedicated video onthat that you can check out.
Awesome, it'll be in the shownotes.
(30:39):
All right, the takeaway forthis week.
It's one I've made up, Katie.
Oh well, this could beinteresting, and it was just
about finding ourselves learningthese new skill sets and being
in these environments and nothaving a clue, and then walking
away, you know, richer for theexperience but, also for the
knowledge, and it is that travelmakes you realize how much you
(31:00):
don't know.
How good is that?
Speaker 2 (31:04):
And isn't that the truth?
In any form of travel, whetheryou're towing your home on
wheels down the road, like weare, or whether you're hopping
on a plane and heading to anunknown overseas destination, it
certainly makes you realizethat you are a tiny blip in this
incredible universe that is somuch bigger than we are, than
(31:26):
the stresses that we put onourselves every single day and
talk about enriching your lifeby putting yourself again at
your comfort zone and into theseincredible situations.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Ah, it's where the juice of life is.
Sure is, Squeeze it, baby.
We love it.
Now, in the tyre management.
I forgot this and I can see iton my notes.
I just skimmed past it, butit's having a tyre pressure
monitoring system, a TPMS.
We have a feel-good discountcode on the products that we
love, use, trust and we'llabsolutely back.
(32:02):
If you want to check those out,TPMS from iCheck, you can get a
10% feel-good code if you arein need of any kind of tyre
pressure system or tyremanagement products.
They have an amazing range.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Excellent.
Jump on our website onto ourgear page.
You'll find all of the productsthat we love and use every
single day on our travels andall the discounts there for you
guys as well, which is a win-winfor everybody.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Love it, katie Kate, all right next week.
Australia's most remote highwayover 480 kilometres of dirt.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Here we go.
Who knows what this is going tobe like.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
It's an adventure, that's what it is.
Keep driving.
For now we'll say dream big,look after yourself, look after
your family.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
And happy trails.
We're a good family.
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