Mercedes 1222A.. The beginning!

[Sitec]

As our season drew to a close early with KST, we went looking for alternatives, and ended up working for a larger company called APT. This came with positives as we were in a Mercedes for a start (which our bodies were thankful for). The trips are a lot less hands on as they don't involve camping and catering! Here's what we drive!



We are driving basically the same route, but a much higher spec trip. On our travels we see many of these... often moving as fast as us (100kph on bitumen).



Here's the famous Mitchell Falls. The power of nature is incredible, especially being able to get so close. The drive up here is an interesting and rough one! Being flown in from the parking area by chopper is pretty awesome though!

 

[Sitec]

With a laps of the Kimberley complete, it was time to head home. We were one of the last trucks around for the season, and the daily temps had got too the mid to high 40's. We spent another week in Broome, before heading south. Cable Beach was a favourite spot to wind down and watch the world go by.



Our trip south involved catching up with friends and enjoying many beaches accessible only by 4x4. We we're glad at this point to have opted for a 4x4 truck.



We also managed to catch up with some other trucks on a Truck Dune Day at Lancelin. This was a great way for us to see where we could actually go in Sand. With the steer tyres at 40psi, and the deer tyres at 35psi I was amazed that we were going pretty well everywhere the smaller trucks were going. The only thing lacking was power!! It didn't stop us getting bogged though!!



More to follow!

 

[Sitec]

Once through Perth, we were east bound for home. We called into a farm on the Wheatbelt I'd worked on 25 years ago. t was great to see everyone looking so well, and wander over somewhere I'd been 25 years earlier!



We managed to find some old coastal 'ports' on our travels, which made for great exploring!!



And lighthouses! Lots!!

 

[Sitec]

If anyone finds themselves in WA, the Pinnacles is also worth a visit. We spent an afternoon there, but could have lost several days wandering between the rocks.



Once back in SA we took the ferry between Lucky Bay and Wallaroo. Something we'd talked about doing before the truck was finished. It was a draw card, and generated lots of questions!



So, in 7 months, we covered 11000kms in our truck, over 21000kms in tour trucks and loved every moment of it. Our truck averaged between 25 and 30 litres per 100 km dependant on head winds! We had no major issues, and the two minor issues we did have were to do with me! The first was a water pipe blowing off when filling (someone had managed to forget fitting the hose clamps to one joint all together!!), and the second was the diesel tank moved on it's mounts causing a leak in the return line where it touched the underside of the hab box off road. Once the tank was re aligned and the clamp straps tightened tighter, it hasn't moved since! There's very little we'd change in the build, but I am going to try and gear the truck up a bit at some point, and increase the power from 220hp to 340hp.

 

[palebluewanders]

What a cool job and trip! Thank you for sharing, really great photos. We spent over a year driving around WA in a campervan but it was 2WD so sadly we didn't manage to see the Kimberleys at all. It's partly what convinced us to upgrade to a 4x4 overland truck. Looking forward to being back someday with our truck!

 

[180out]

the truck looks great, nice job on the build.

 

[Fred Skywalker]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing the journey with us.

 

[Moorie]

G'day Simon,

Thanks for sharing the link on Facebook yesterday. A very relaxing handful of hours reading through 45 pages and viewing your handy work.

Out of curiosity, are the internals all finished, or still a works in progress?

Thanks again and safe travels, Stephen.

 

[Toby3]

That looks fantastic, well done