Off-road van to the tip of Australia l Fruit Bat & Eliot Falls | ​Cape York 2 | Ep38  

Thanks for watching and the feedback. The waterfalls on the OTT are very photogenic and we also had a pretty good morning at the Tip. Made it easy - the photos almost took themselves.

It was one of the must do, Lap bucket list items for the trip. Many of the things we’d seen from some others but must say the misty morning at Eliot Falls surprised us. Thanks for watching and the feedback.

It certainly was. cheers

Glad you liked it. Thanks again.

Thanks again for watching and the feedback. It is much appreciated. The scenery up there is amazing and surprising in places. Yes , so much has passed since that first episode both on the journey and hopefully the vids. Thanks again and yes - keeping an eye those “snapping handbags” 😂. And hopefully avoiding a few rocks in waterfalls as well. 🙄.

Have fun! You will love it. The road conditions change with the seasons and grading etc, and there is more to do if you have the time, but glad you got something out of it. Thanks for watching and the feedback. We appreciate it. cheers

Our pleasure! Thanks for the feedback. We are trying to find an offset bracket for the mic now to keep the wind muff out of the camera frame - it isn't normally in frame but the way the GoPro electronic stabilisation works means that when you move the camera a bit too much it pops in. so the sound is good and its simpler for on the road than the wireless mics - but ... And no merch, no sponsors just ad revenue to charity. thanks again and same to you. cheers

Hi. Thanks for watching. Overall we’ve been very pleased with our van. We’ve done some review / walk through vids on our equipment series and in another video we discussed how much battery / solar is enough, but TBH we’ve been a little bit reticent to do a full review of a van model that has been superseded / replaced by new variants. Yes there are those niggling cabinet screws and I’ve previously made the point that i hate the plastic cabinet catches. we’ve also done some hacks. We might cover some of that as we head toward the back end of the Lap on lessons learned and cover more updates comments on the van then. There aren’t too many warts BTW but nothing is ever perfect either. Lesson 1 of vanlife, towing and the big lap is everything is a compromise. . Let me think on it further though. cheers

@@nextleveloz Thanks for the reply, be interested if you do do an overview. Keep up the informative vids. Cheers

@@FatPa And thank you for watching and very much appreciate the suggestion. cheers

Absolutely. As you saw - Paula mentioned exactly that! 😂. Thanks for watching

Thanks for watching. Hope the rig is going well. Those seat covers have been pretty good. We got a neoprene mix and worked on the assumption they’d be replaced after the lap. The test will be how the seats underneath have coped. But they are comfortable enough. There is a slight tendency to pinch up/ crease from getting in and out but not terrible. I prefer this feel and the ability to wipe them than cotton or other materials.

Hi. Thanks for watching. 25-26 psi on the van and front of the car. 28-30 on the rear of the car. The only trouble with the Cape is the road conditions vary so much. There are stretches of sealed and in some places good graded gravel and only a few stretches of pretty horrendous corrugations. So we we stayed aired down from Hann River and just kept to a modest speed even on the sealed road and kept aired down. Thanks again. cheers

Thanks for watching as always. I say 3.5 because that’s the rated ATM. We run at between 3.2 and 3.3 tonne. We’ve weighed twice. Once at the beginning and full water tanks etc we were at 3.2 t but while well within GCM and GVM, we had to reorganize some gear out of the car to ensure we were within the rear axle capacity and we also took the rack off and we took the third row seats our temporarily so we could put the lighter roof bars on with an awning on and keep inside all the various weights. In WA we did gross weights and the whole rig was 6400lkg ( well under GCM of 6780). We rarely fill all three tanks. When travelling we will have at least one full and maybe two - depending on water availability along about expected route. If we think we will be well off grid for an extended time we will fill the three tanks. But why tow an extra 100- 200kg of you know you can fill up near your destination?

@@nextleveloz great shots, really enjoying the views and tips. Thanks.

Hi - Thanks for watching and the feedback - and it’s great the new car is almost here’ Congrats. I’m loathe to post some of this info TBH - not because it’s a secret but because every tow rig differs and I wouldn’t want people to think my set up suits their rig. But to assist. Tow pro, Yes, ours is at knee height on the right set up in the blank near the electric handbrake. Not ideal but workable. Just have to test each time you take off and know what setting it’s on so you can adjust by the click left and right by feel. Our van model tow height is between 490mm and 520mm and a DO35 hitch pin. To manage that and balance with the Defender recommended distances ( recommended 175mm length and up 35 max) we took the rig to a Hayman Reece dealer and they did a bit of trial and error until we got the best combo for our rig. So our hitch is a 3.5 t rated hitch inverted for an up 20mm. and 195mm long which is 20mm longer than the recommended but ensures the hand brake on our van doesn’t foul the rear wheel. But my strong advice is know your van manufacturers / model recommended tow height and take that info l, the LR recommended info and the new car to a Hayman Reese dealer and they will take the guess work out for you. I avoided the heavy adjustable type hitches. They are longer and heavier and add disproportionate weight to your rear axle. How that helps and feel free to ask any questions. As I say, it’s not a secret l, but more that I’d prefer people to get the specific info and go to a tow hitch expert and get them to fit the optimum option for your combo. cheers

Sorry - the drone is a DJI mini 3 pro. It does a great job for such a light unit.

I understand and thanks for the heads up, I used a WDH on my Audi that was set up by Hayman Reese and it was heavy and cumbersome but worked well so I'll go back as you suggested... happy travels :) @@nextleveloz

@@Sansui313 Neither LR nor Zone in our case recommend WDH. If you have airbag suspension and get your van weights ok you wouldn’t need one. But in terms of the need to get the ideal hitch tongue - yes take the measurements and the car at least to HR. cheers

Yes one of the main reasons for purchasing the defender was to get rid of the WDH and the 30-40kg baggage including the hitch :) @@nextleveloz

Milenco mirrors and arms fitted into a 3D printed bracket from Defender3D in the Uk. I also have bruunsgard mirrors which were the only ones with native brackets and arms that would stay on the defender mirrors but no longer available in Australia. Check this link out but the brackets are great and my mirrors are still on after Gibb, Savannah, Cape and … more 👍😉. defender3d.co.uk/products/ols/products/tow-mirror-mounting-solution

thanks mate that bracket looks great, appreciate you help Dave @@nextleveloz

@@Sansui313 No worries. Enjoy the new car and the adventures to come. cheers

Thanks for watching as always. And yes thanks for putting up with the ads - that’s how we get to send a few shekels off to charity! cheers