The Explorex Explorers Club arranged a quick trip through the Murchison last month, starting with a couple of nights at John and Lea’s favorite camp on the Indian Ocean Drive, at Cliff Head. Thanks John for getting the group together!

A total of 5 vans turned up for the camp, with a few notable “fire bugs” among the group. Once the noise of the chainsaws and the smell of two-stroke faded away, we were able to settle in to a relaxing night.

On the first night, dinner was abandoned in favour of a “liquid dinner”. On the second night, when Sean and I arrived, a more traditional dinner of shared fare was had, with a lamb roast, slow cooked stew, and some fresh caught Dhu wings and shark. Thanks to Dave the local fisherman who helped out!

This is a great little spot, and well recommended for those looking for a overnight stop on the way to Geraldton.

On Sunday Sean and I headed back to the “big smoke” for our sporting commitments, as the group prepared for the second leg onto Twin Peaks Station, North of Mullewa. Check out John and Lea’s postings on the facebook page for more details.

When Alan and Helen Hawley of Albany were looking for a new van in 2012, they were looking for a van that needed to be;

Not too heavy (under 3000kgs) for their D Max
Not too long (no more that 19 foot)
Off road capable
Toilet and Shower
Strong
Good Loading capacity (800kgs) to prevent overloading
Totally self contained without a generator
So in Helen’s words , “After researching all different makes of this type of caravan we found Explorex on the Internet and after talking to Greg the Ningaloo ticked all the boxes. We checked it out on a visit to Perth and the decision was made as soon as we looked at it.

In 2013 we took it to South Australia and were very pleased with the performance across the Nullabor etc, particularly regarding the large trucks.

In 2014 we thought we would put it through its paces. From home we went via the Wheatbelt to Kalbarri. From Kalbarri we travelled:
Coolcalalaya Road
Mullewa Carnarvon Road
Dalgety Downs Landor Road
Landor Mt Augustus Road
Dooley Downs Road
Pingandy Road
Ashburton Downs Meekatharra Road
Ashburton Downs Road
To Paraburdoo and Tom Price
From Tom Price around Hamersley Mt Bruce Road
Nanutarra Munjina Road
To Exmouth

“Included in this was approx. 1200 Kms of loose gravel, corrugations, sand, mud, heavy stones, lots of washouts, deep sharp dips and crests, river crossings and red dust.
 
The caravan handled all these conditions unbelievably well and followed behind the Isuzu D-max with ease.  We are very pleased with the performance of the van and it has created quite a bit of interest amongst fellow travellers.
 
The after sales service that we have received in the past 18 months has been fantastic and any little problems that have arisen have been sorted out promptly and with as little inconvenience as possible.
 
So after 15 months and approximately 15 000 kms, we have had an excellent run out of our van, with an all but trouble free run. Explorex today have replaced the six bolts holding our table leg, and that is our maintenance to date! “

Explorex Customers Steve and Sandy Elliot, of Esperance WA, are just returning from their maiden voyage with their new Explorex Ningaloo 590 DR. They have certainly put their new van to the test, travelling the Gibb River Road, then up the Kalumburu Road onto the Mitchell Plateau. They said it couldn’t be done in a Caravan, but Steve and Sandy have! Please see their comments below.

Hi Greg, the Explorex did as you said ” built for off road”. We have just finished the Gibb River road and the Mitchell Plateau, an amazing part of Western Australia. The corrugations on the Drysdale road were some off the worst we have done throughout Australia and we have done a lot with our camper. The van handled the conditions really well, we only needed to repair a few screws. Not like other caravans and camper trailers with major damage to structure and wheels. Thank you for a great caravan. Steve and Sandy Elliot.

Explorex received some great feedback from a happy customer, prospecting for gold recently at an UNNAMED location!! The trip was apparently a success, well done Graeme. Please see Graeme’s comments below.

Graeme’s Review: We chose Explorex to supply us with our ‘van after much looking around and checking out the other makes and models. Quality of construction and fittings, extensive warranty period (doubt that will ever be needed ..they are so well built)….and the no pressure to purchase attitude of the sales team along with the pride they all show in their product made the decision an easy one for us…it simply ticked all the boxes for us Now 3 years on our Tanami model has proved itself under some seriously hard going off road conditions ( and I mean off road…not just off bitumen)…..It tows like a dream without any load torsion bars required…sits stable and non sway at any speed …we normally travel around 95kph but it has been up well over that briefly on an unplanned occasion and towed straight as….very safe Greg and the team are very approachable, straight up front and a pleasure to deal with