Circumnavigation of Oz

The last tent I bought had a full rethink on what it needed to be. Waterproof so that means a fly, at least 2 holes, a door and a window for breeze on hot weather, at least a 3 man so gear fits in and enough space to work, aluminium poles as fibreglass poles brake and your stuffed, and not orange as waking up in an orange tent with a hangover isn't fun plus they're hard to hide if free camping. But I missed the MOST important thing, ease and speed to erect. Mine takes ages and is way to complicated, great for a week, shit for day to day use. And BTW the most important thing to carry if you're doing this a lot is a strong comfortable small to pack camping chair cause sitting on the ground is really shit. 4 wheel drive backup helps with all the shit I require these days. Camping in caravan parks is really shit if you have to do it don't do that, go full bush
 
Timely topic. Planning on the 700 kay trip down to Curdie Vale in a couple of weeks. I've got a three man tent with all the bells and whistles which is fine if staying in one place for a while. It's a pain in the arse to put up, especially after a few frothies. In the market for a cheap, easy to erect, compact one man tent that I can whack up in less than five minutes.
A trip to Anaconda or Kathmandu is on the cards.
 
Mate turned up over new year and camped on the block. He had a break down bed comprising of ally sections and canvass type bed.
For a few bucks more you can buy some extension legs that lifted it up so it was about 500 mm off the ground. Bonus being under bed storage in an already filled tent with 2 beds assemble,. They broke down pretty small for motorcycling. Not cheap, he may of mentioned 400 bucks.
I still sleep on the ground using my sheep skin seat cover when camping so still do it pretty rough but I hate packing more than the essentials leaving room for beer and minimal food. My back is in better condition than most of my mates so I still get away with it.
 
We do a bit of kayak camping and the amount you can carry is very limited. Our good cheap tent was not up to the task on our ten day trip last summer and we are going to get a more serious one. They can cost a bloody fortune (Hilleberg are out of our range), but it does seem that you get what you pay for. Good ones are totally waterproof, really stable in strong winds, have great airing possibilities, under-fly storage for just about all you can carry and usually two entry/exits as well as being really quick and easy to put and pack up into their tiny bags. They have tons of features you wouldn't think you needed until you do. Hiking type websites are full of recommendations relevant to motorbike travel, and you can always sell it after the trip. +1 on the foldaway camping chair, bloody brilliant and pack up tiny. For motorbike travel if I included camping it would be just that and a jetboil type of thing for coffee and some quick brekky stuff, not for meal making, maybe a just add hot water to the bag type hiking meal for just in case.
 
Really impressive, really expensive, approx $250.
Thats the same brand of the beds/cots my mate turned up with over new year. Not cheap but he reckons they're worth every penny
 
On a quick read 5 years' warranty and spares really available, weight ratted to 140kg. They look like the best and cost like that as well. But if you are grey nomading or using them a lot the cheap stuff doesn't last.
 
Ride halfway with a 10 litre jerry can and hide it in the bushes, turn back and fill up then head back and fill from your can, that way you will make the 290 kays.
 
Ride halfway with a 10 litre jerry can and hide it in the bushes, turn back and fill up then head back and fill from your can, that way you will make the 290 kays.

Nah Terry. That makes no sense at all. If you're half way with your jerry can of fuel, why not just put it in the bike's tank and keep going?

Think about it: If you go half way and make a fuel depot by hiding a jerry can in the bushes, let's say you've used 1/2 a tank to get there. So you're half way with half a tank left in the bike plus a full jerry can.

You then use the remaining 1/2 tank in the bike to go back. You fill the bike's tank and head back to your fuel depot. You will have used 1/2 a tank again to get back to your depot, so you have half a tank left in the bike plus the full can. That's exactly the same situation as you were before you turned back, except you've ridden another few hundred km, burnt a full tank of fuel and wasted a few hours for nothing. You also run a pretty good risk of not finding your hidden can. One bush looks much the same as the million other bushes, especially if the light is fading by the time you get back there.
 
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