Get Around like Burke and Wills

Get Around Campers from Gordon in Victoria, has supplied two off-road trailers to an intrepid crew, which are travelling from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the journey.

One of the trailers is the company’s Hawkesbury model, a rugged off-road model which for the expedition has been fitted with 12 volt power system, deluxe kitchen, electric water pump and Australian-made 10ft canvas tent.

With options fitted it retails for around $20,000, and will sleep up to six people along the 3000km route, says Get Around Campers’ Sean Greig.

The company has also supplied one of its range-topping Mitchell off-road trailers, to carry camera gear and other essential items, as well as a dinghy.

The trailers are being towed by two GLX Pajero four-wheel drives supplied by Mitsubishi Australia.

Get Around Campers has been operating for three years and recently relocated to new premises in Gordon, located between Bacchus Marsh and Ballarat outside Melbourne.

“I originally built my own trailer in 1998 to tour with the family around Australia, and built trailers on a casual basis after that, before going full-time,” Sean Greig explained.

With a focus on utilising mostly Australian-built parts for its range of trailers, Get Around Campers is also close to completing a special ‘staging’ trailer that it will donate to the Country Fire Authority (CFA) for use during bush fires.

GOING OVER OLD GROUND

One hundred and fifty years ago, two intrepid explorers, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, set off on foot into the unforgiving Australian Outback searching for an inland sea. They did it the hard way with a huge contingent of men, horses and camels for support.

Departing Melbourne in late August, the 2010 Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition is re-enacting this epic journey, with Jack Thompson, actor and environmentalist, joining  the trek’s creator Jonathan King, historian and author.

In 1861, with little known about the centre of Australia, the race was on to be the first to open up a trade route across this wide brown land.

Burke and Wills set off with 19 men including five Englishmen, four Indian sepoys, three Germans and an American with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3250 kilometres.

Obviously not adhering to the ‘pack light’ travel mantra, altogether they took 20 tonnes of equipment including rum, dried meats, fire wood and even a cedar topped oak table! To lug all of this gear, they had 23 horses, six wagons and 27 camels imported from India especially for the mission.

Although the group was ultimately ‘successful’ in reaching the Gulf of Carpentaria, only one man, John King, actually survived the return journey.

This year, in honour of his ancestor, Jonathan King is trekking the track with a team that includes Jack Thompson, artists John Howland and Ben Beeton, and cinematographer Michael Dillon. 

One of their aims is to compare today’s environment with the one documented in the comprehensive Burke and Wills notes. The team will also undertake a two-stage expedition, with specialist environmentalists using detailed maps, to follow the infamous 1860 route.


• Got some RV news or released a new product? Email chris.fincham@carsales.com.au