There was excitement in the air the day we were to pull out of the driveway and leave on our first big trip with our new Ultimate camper, “Tex”. We decided to take a couple of photos knowing this wasn’t going to be any easy trip. The plan started with getting to Alice Springs within a couple days to rendezvous with fellow camping mates close to the Binns’ Track turnoff.
Our quickest route to get there was going to be via the black top straight up the Stuart Highway, and having some favourite places along this stretch for camping, we set off. As this was the first time we had a loaded camper behind us, we were interested to see how it would ride on the black top at high speed.
Our Ultimate has the DO35 hitch from Vehicle Components, so we didn’t experience any transfer bump from the hitch taking up, and coupled with the REDARC Tow Pro Elite brake controller and 35 inch mud terrain tyres, the towing and braking efficiency on the bitumen was superb. We’d go as far to say it’s one of the best campers we’ve had the pleasure of towing at high speed as it sat straight behind us almost like it was on rails. We’re also pleased that we installed a reversing camera which we can switch on for all time driving, as it gives us a perfect view of what’s coming up behinds us – it’s very reassuring and works perfectly.
Before hitting the dirt, we had one final night’s stop in Alice Springs. When setting up in a caravan park, have you ever noticed it seems to be a bit of an event to watch people set up? Knowing we had an audience, we decided we would do this setup super-fast, and we did! Minutes later we were sitting down with a drink in hand and a chair out front. This was naturally seen by all onlookers, and the audience came over to check out our Ultimate camper as expected. The next morning we took the opportunity to refuel, do our final shop and made our way to the turn off for the East Macdonnell Ranges. We were finally going on some dirt roads – this is exactly why we bought an Ultimate Camper.
It was time to air down the tyres which we knew was going to be the first of many times we would be playing with air pressures on this trip. But it was all finally coming together. Next stop was going to be some gorges, and we travelled on a very good gravel road while kicking up some dust in the rear-view camera. At this point, we both had big grins on our faces! When pulling up at the gorge carparks, we would try and get the car into some shade whilst leaving the Ultimate Camper in some sun, so the solar panel could do its job and keep our batteries at maximum whilst we went off and explored.
So after a few more gorges and a quick stop for lunch, we arrived at our rendezvous site, the Arltunga Visitor Centre. Here we met up with other Ultimate owners who were also keen to head off onto the Binns Track. We were now exactly where we wanted to be…a dirt track lay ahead, and with Ultimates in tow, our convoy got moving. Let the fun times begin!
Keep those Ultimate Campers exploring!
Catch you next time.
Grant & Linda