After collecting our Ultimate XPLOR GT off road camper and spending a few nights locally in Moruya, the drive back home also provided some valuable time to get to know our Ulti. To say we were really looking forward to our first real big adventure with the Ultimate (now nicknamed Tex after the letters in our numberplate), was an understatement.
Once we got home, the first thing we did was talk to fellow Ultimate Campers owners, to see how they went about utilising the well-designed storage hatches, drawers and hidey holes. We also looked at owners’ posts on the Ultimate Campers forum, and so combining those ideas with our ideas from owning other campers, we went about setting it up for its travels with us.
As we love to cook using open fires as much as possible, we devoted one of the off side hatches to be what we now call the “black box”, as we have camp ovens, a billy, toaster, and a variety of pots and pans that we use when cooking on open fires. So it’s quick and easy to access and all in one spot, so no mess.
Next, the gas bottle storage. Here we added quick release bayonets to gas bottles for when we use our Weber Q, and this hatch also had room for some set up type storage things such as pegs, ropes and a mallet.
Our battery box houses the two Revolution Lithium batteries, but we have also added a couple of small canvas bags, where we keep 12v connectors and camp lighting. It works well, as we also have an Anderson plug connected directly to batteries for 12v power around our campfires located away from the camper.
That leaves the larger two-way hatch, and in our case, we are still working through what we will store here. But for now, it has water containers and a variety of odds and ends.
It’s amazing how much you can fit inside this off road camper tariler’s drawers, although we do worry about carrying too much weight. But we have clever solutions for all our utensils and kitchen type equipment. The corner pantry holds a stack of food, and the seating hatches have more food packets. Under the middle seats we pack all our lightweight travel adventure clothing — it’s amazing how well it all neatly fits (plus it’s great for stashing some wine and chocolate). Shhhh don’t tell anyone!
That leaves the nose cone, and due to its shape, it allows you to pack large, high, and long equipment such as tables, chairs, poles etc., towards the back. Then using canvas bags and a range of small tubs, we fit all our other camping gear towards the front of the nose cone. We have also worked out we can fit a Weber Baby Q with the quick release gas fittings, and given we have the 1000w inverter, why not make room for a bread machine for those glamping weekends. So now having all our gear stowed, we were getting close, but we wanted to add a solar solution.
Our Ultimate XPLOR GT came with roof rails, so it was off to our local roof rack place along with a 150 watt solar panel, to see how they could go about adding some quick release roof rails and the solar panel. We knew that the style of travelling and exploring we do that the stopping to go exploring could have us 2 — 3 hours away from our setup. The solar panel would be the answer to ensure our batteries remained at 100%, as we also added the external Anderson straight into the BMS. And having the quick release meant we could take the panel off if stopping at a base camp for several days.
We were now packed! The Ultimate XPLOR GT and our 79 series Landcruiser were now ready for its maiden voyage. This trip was going to see us make our way to Alice Springs, and from there, we had planned to find our way from Alice springs to the very tip of Australia up at Cape York. Our challenge was to avoid bitumen roads as much as possible, so stay tuned as we tell you how it all went.
Follow us as we look for those roads and tracks less travelled, and we’ll share some of our adventures along the way as we head out to explore this wonderful country.
Keep those Ultimate Campers exploring!
