GREAT inventions don’t have to be complex. In fact, some of the greatest inventions are fairly ‘why didn’t I think of that’ simple.

Here are a few bush tricks our readers have learnt over many years of travel to make campsite life a little bit easier. So, quit crying over broken glass or uncooked potatoes and have a read.

Feel free to join in and send through some tips and tricks that could help fellow 4x4ers.

KEY FLOAT Whenever I go out on a boat, I worry I’m going to drop something into the depths of the ocean, to be met with quizzical looks from bottom-dwelling fish. A friend, however, shared an insider tip with me and now I’m going to share it with you. Attach smaller items, like keys and rings, to a cork. So, if you do happen to drop it, it’ll float! Harold Piper

HOT POTATO Using a square section skewer when cooking a potato in the coals of a fire transmits heat to the potato’s interior so it cooks more evenly and quickly. The potato is done when the skewer can be easily turned in the potato. You can buy the skewers in kitchen supply stores. If they’re too long, just cut them down to size, but avoid zinc-coated skewers – make sure they’re safe to use on food. Terry Agland

STUBBY HOLDERS Stubby holders are an essential for any camping trip, but they come in handy for more than just avoiding frostbite on your hands. Use them to keep more delicate items safe while driving, such as wine glasses, sunglasses or even mobiles. If you find somewhere nifty to stick them (Blu Tac usually does the trick) then it doubles up as an extra cup holder or a holder for all those other bits and pieces. Brian and Mary

CUP HOLDER There’s nothing worse than finding broken crockery and glasses when you start setting up camp. So, here’s a solution: use blocks of foam and cut out shapes to match the items you need to transport – mugs, glasses, coffee pots etc. They’ll not only hold them in place, but they provide enough padding to ensure there are no annoying breakages, so you’ll still be able to have your coffee in the morning. Phew! Jan Corbett

KEEP IT CLEAN Whether it is mud or grass, camping brings plenty of rubbish into the camper. Here’s a handy makeshift tool to rid your rig of dirty carpet. Three stiff bristle brushes have been screwed to a bent aluminium bracket to scrub off detritus and a flat extension to the bracket allows you to stand on the end to hold it all in place. Greg Conlon

KEEPING COOL Coming from the dry heat of SA, Phil built this 12V air conditioner from an old garbage bin. An old windscreen washer pump takes water from the base of the bin to the top where it trickles down over insulation matting from an old evaporative cooler. A 12V fan sucks in air through holes on the outside of the wet matting and blows it out the front. The whole thing was made from scrap (other than the fan) and draws 1.39 amps flat out, so it doesn’t drain the battery. Phil Pullem

LIGHTS OUT Sometimes a sleep-in is necessary, and if you can’t do it when you’re camping, when can you? But depending on how you travel, a skylight can really dampen the sleep-in idea. A simple Velcro cover over the skylight can help solve that problem and let you get some extra zees in the morning. Sharon Small

BEDSIDE LAMP These days, there’s rarely a shortage of light when out camping – you’re either close enough to a caravan park to use their lights, or in the middle of nowhere where the moon sheds more than the average household downlight. But sometimes, we need an impromptu light – so why not tie your headlamp around a bottle of water for an instant bedside lamp. Emmanuel Rise

RETYREMENT PLAN Ever needed to mount a heavy duty LT tyre case and the compressor struggled to seat the tyre onto the rim? There’s a solution: use two compressors. You’ll need a Tee piece with two barbs to suit the ID of your compressor hose and internal thread to take the valve stem, a complete threaded valve stem and hose clamps. An alternative is to use a Tee piece with three barbs and single barb to be soldered to the valve stem, a short length of hose and hose clamps. The tyre popped onto the rim seat without hesitation. You will need to use a soap solution on the lip of the tyre, though. John Schache

SAVE THE SCRATCH We hate carrying nasty chemicals around to keep the bugs away, especially mosquitos – my daughter seems to attract them as if she’s made of light. So, given sage is a mosquito repellent, we always carry dried sage with us when we go camping and throw it on the fire every now and then. It’s not fail-safe, but it usually does the trick. Stella Beuney

SHAKE IT OFF Offer the kids some pancakes for breakfast and they’ll rarely say no! So why not pre-prepare the mixture with powdered eggs and milk and save the fridge space? Simply throw in some flour, baking powder, salt, powdered egg, powdered milk, shortening, sugar and water, then shake it like a Polaroid picture. Bingo, pancake batter. Ellie Wood

1

WHEN we saw the TJM Torq’s low motor horsepower rating of 4.9, we doubted its ability, but we were left eating humble pie after watching it haul the sled all the way home without much fuss.

The TJM winch proves that bigger isn’t necessarily better, and you must take into account all facets of a winch to get a rough idea of how good it may be. The speed of the Torq Winch is made possible via the second fastest gearing ratio of 150:1, which saw it pull second in overall speeds as well as requiring the second lowest number of pulls (five).

Now for the trade-offs: the TJM winch drew quite high currents – the second and third highest on test, with very high motor temperatures of more than 100 degrees on the fourth and fifth pull. The gearbox temps stayed impressively low, though. Notably, the motor end-cover features aluminium fluting to help dissipate that heat, whereas the gearbox end doesn’t.

The Torq Winch is impressively optioned with all the standard inclusions: a wireless hand-held remote control and separate wireless receiver; a rubber stopper to prevent the hook being wound into and damaging the aluminium fair lead; a manual isolation switch; excellent sheath protection for both ends of rope, which doubles as the warning limit at the drum end; and a red stripe part way along the sheath to ensure you don’t unfurl too much rope.

All electrical cables feature unique FRP sheath protection to help prevent scuffing or abrasion on sharp edges. While the colour of the rope neither helps nor hinders the workings of the winch, its bright yellow colour can be easily seen and drastically improves safety.

The thimble, as per most others on test, deformed under load around the clevis pin in the hook. The hand remote is easy to use, as is the wireless version. There is a screw-in connection for the wired remote, instead of the usual push-in, giving it a positive engagement. The end of the cable of the remote even has a screw-on cover for when not in use, to prevent dirt ingress.

The Torq Winch was one of the easiest on test to free spool – not that we tested resistance, but it made pulling out the rope with no load fast and effortless.

Despite doing nothing for the actual workings of the winch, the mounting feet feature captive nuts to help during installation; all other winches rely on balancing the separate nuts in slots within the feet.

Often, while positioning the winch in a cradle or a bullbar, the nuts fall out unless you’ve taped them in somehow. I’m sure fitters all over Australia are happy with this minor inclusion.

INCLUDED Wired hand remote; alloy hawse fairlead; open hook with spring-loaded safety catch and removable clevis pin; safety strap; wireless hand remote control and wireless receiver; rubber stopper; manual isolation switch; sheath protection for both ends of rope; FRP sheath protection on electrical cables.

THE Top End is adventure country, a land of vast monsoon forests, floodplains, far horizons, escarpments and muddy, crocodile-invested tidal streams.

Pine Creek is the gateway to this challenging landscape. From this historic rail and mining village there is a choice of continuing north to Darwin on the Stuart Highway, or east via the Kakadu Highway to Cahills Crossing on the East Alligator River.

It intersects with the Arnhem Highway at Jabiru. The combination of the Stuart, Kakadu and Arnhem Highways is a 700km circuit adventure drive from Pine Creek. Okay, die-hard 4WDers will cry out that these roads are sealed, but these highways offer some of the best adventure escapes you can experience, and you don’t need corrugated bulldust tracks to have fun.

Back in the early 1960s, the only way into the Alligator River country in a vehicle was from Pine Creek. A mate and I did it in an old Series 1 Land Rover – a dusty, bone-jarring journey that took three days; though, it would have taken less time if we didn’t share a few bottles of rum with fellow travellers we met en route, including barramundi fishers, buffalo hunters, poachers, rangers and two Pine Creek coppers on patrol.

In 1979, the Ranger Uranium Mine Agreement saw the development of the first stage of the Kakadu National Park. Two other stages were added to it in the 1980s, making it Australia’s largest national park at 20,000km². Kakadu is a World Heritage Area-listed park, recognised for its cultural and natural heritage.

It attracts visitors from all over the world, which, along with the Ranger Mine operation, was enough of a reason to seal the old Pine Creek to the East Alligator River in the 1990s. The Arnhem Highway was planned in the late 1960s when uranium was discovered in the Alligator Rivers Province, and it was sealed in the 1970s.

While the dusty road no longer exists, the circuit provided by the three highways has opened up country that was impassable with even the best-equipped 4WD of the day prior to the 1960s. In case you’re wondering, there are still plenty of dirt side-tracks that end at stream pools, billabongs and swamps.

Just to the east of Pine Creek is the Northern Goldfields Loop, an 81km drive that takes you past the ruins of historic towns and abandoned mines. It’s wild, hilly country ruled by buffalo, wallaroos and brumbies. About 70km from Pine Creek is the Mary River Roadhouse, where the entrance to the park is about two kilometres up the road. Take El Sherana Road to Gumlom and Koolpin Gorge, which runs past the Ranger Station.

The road is rarely maintained and often badly corrugated, but the rewards at its end make it well worth the drive, especially when under the high walls of the Arnhem Land Escarpment that looms high above the trees. At Gumlom, there’s a management camping area that has an ablution block with showers and toilets, and all Kakadu-managed camps have an on-site manager who collects camping fees.

The escarpment plateau features sandstone shelters at its base, where the many outliers that rise above the woodlands house an incredible number of rock-art galleries. Some are open to the public, while others are strictly out of bounds.

A big plunge pool at the base of Waterfall Creek at Gumlom was made popular by the first Crocodile Dundee movie, when Mick Dundee speared the barramundi while impressing his lady friend. People swim here; though, in my experience, having lived in Kakadu for 10 years, the only safe waterhole is on top of the escarpment at Jabiru. Remember that the Top End is crocodile country.

BARRAMUNDI COUNTRY

IF YOU love fishing, it’s time to unwind the gear and catch a barra – as you’ve arrived in barramundi country. The Yellow Water Billabong has some of the best freshwater fishing in Kakadu, with the opportunity to lure barramundi, saratoga and tarpon. It’s recommended to release your fish, because billabong barra have a weedy taste and aren’t great to eat.

If you must, soak the skinned fillets in a strong brine solution for 30 minutes, then dry and store. Beware that crocodiles in this part of the world have no fear of you and may attempt to steal your fish (or you).

Punters without a tinnie can sign up to a Yellow Water Cruise, which flows right into the heart of the swamp, past basking crocodiles, whistling ducks, radjah shelducks, water-walking lotus birds, jabirus and diving sea eagles. The wildlife is truly amazing, and if you ever wanted to swim in a Kakadu waterhole, this cruise will inspire you not to.

More attractions, campgrounds, lookouts and bird-rich, lily-clad billabongs are located further up the highway. However, we’d advise against picking the lilies or you will end up on the front page of an NT newspaper (again, remember this is crocodile country).

Muirella Park hosts one of the nicest campgrounds in Kakadu, and a little farther is Nourlangie Rock, an outlier that features the most amazing rock art in Australia. The many galleries house the spirit beings of the dreamtime who created the land and still rule the weather. For the fit, there are several long walks in the Nourlangie Rock area, but let someone know what you are doing and carry plenty of drinking water. This wilderness is not kind to the unwary or stupid.

A 58km section of the Kakadu Highway, from the Arnhem Highway to Cahills Crossing, completes the drive. It’s a truly invigorating journey that provides the best views of both wetlands and escarpment stone country in Kakadu. Check with the Northern Land Council Office at Jabiru for a permit to Gumbalanya into Arnhem Land proper.

The community has an amazing local art gallery and is well worth an excuse to see the escarpment and billabong country. Before you get there, though, you must run the gauntlet of local crocodiles that laze near Cahills Crossing on the East Alligator River. When the muddy tide flows in, it pushes diamond-scale mullet up against the crossing. They are hammered by barramundi, which in turn are hammered by anglers, who are hammered by crocodiles.

There is a managed campground nearby, as well as the world-famous Ubirr rock-art galleries. Beautiful panoramic vistas from the top of the rock, where the floodplains of the river extend far to the north, are on offer. With good fishing and bushwalks, the East Alligator River is well worth a few days of relaxation.

There are many vehicle tracks in the undeveloped northern parts of the park, so check with the staff at the Bowali Visitors Centre for access and permits. It’s very remote, wild country bisected by billabongs, woodlands, floodplains and rushing springs.

THE ARNHEM HIGHWAY

THERE is 250km of adventure en route to Darwin from Jabiru. After resupplying at Jabiru, stop and visit the Mamukala Wetlands and the boat ramp at the South Alligator River. If you have a boat, the river has a lot of good fishing.

The Aurora Kakadu resort, just down the highway, is a top spot to relax, bush walk, or from which to take day trips to the Red Lily and Alligator Billabong complexes to the south. The West Alligator Head Track is a short distance from the resort and is one of the most underrated destinations in the park.

En route, travellers have the choice of camping and fishing on several billabongs and pools in the Wildman River, or they can camp near a huge coastal swamp that overlooks Van Diemen Gulf. There are no facilities and, apart from fishers and birdwatchers, few people ever go there. Note: these tracks rarely open before July, as they traverse several wetlands.

Heading west, the partly-sealed Shady Camp road has several turn-offs including those to Rockhole and Carmor Plains Wildlife Reserve. This is true floodplain country clad with bird-rich wetlands, billabongs and the best land-based fishing spot in the Top End, the Shady Camp Barrage.

The wetland is all part of the Mary River system, and it’s rated as the most beautiful in tropical Australia. The river – we crossed it upstream on the Kakadu Highway – loses its identity below Corroboree Billabong, where it overflows into two creeks, Tommycut and Sampan.

The latter was dammed in the 1980s in an effort to stop the tides from flooding the freshwater wetlands. The dam is similar to Cahills Crossing, as fish on incoming tides are trapped between the wall and the predators. The fishing from the wall and the creek bank is amazing in the wet season, as the barra, tailed by hordes of hungry crocodiles, simply jump onto your hook.

Back on Kakadu Highway, the Mary River Park and Bark Hut Tourism Centre are situated on the east bank of the river, and both offer comfortable accommodation. There is a picnic day area and a boat ramp on the Mary River Lagoon, while a bush track closely follows the river downstream and takes in billabongs and river pools, before it joins the Rockhole track from Shady Camp Road.

It’s an amazing wildlife route, but it’s only open late in the dry season. A little farther west is the turn-off to Hardies Lagoon, which takes you across woody hills where antilopine wallaroos frolic. The lagoon has bush camping and a boat ramp, and it’s a nice spot to unwind and relax.

The next turn-off is to the famed Corroboree Billabong – there’s no other billabong like it in the Top End. It has 18km of navigable waters, housing a visible display of birdlife and crocodile numbers unmatched anywhere else. It’s the only place (I know of) where both freshwater and saltwater crocodiles bask side by side, and there are enough fish in the billabong to keep both species happy.

For something different, hire one of the houseboats that ply the waters and spend a night surrounded by fish, crocodiles, waterfowl and dingoes. Corroboree Park has accommodation, camping, fuel and meals, and the entrance to Djukbinj National Park is just down the road.

This park is under-utilised by visitors in their rush to get to Kakadu, but it has nice bush campsites scattered along verdant creeks, floodplains, patches of true monsoon rainforest and tall woodlands. Down the road, the Adelaide Crocodile Cruise Centre provides crocodile cruises along the river.

It’s a big operation, with another company sited downstream, which is reached past the Windows on the Wetlands – an information complex sited on the highly visible Beatrice Hill, which provides 360-degree views of the wetlands. The centre has amazing interpretive displays of the region that covers flora, fauna and local history.

From Beatrice Hill, take the Fogg Dam turn-off. The dam, built just after World War II, was one of several designed to provide water to grow rice on the floodplains, but the project failed when millions of magpie geese ate the crop. The army was called in to help and machine-gunned the birds, but to no avail, as the geese outnumbered the bullets.

Huge pumps on the Adelaide River pumped water at low tide into the holding dams. However, every time they were switched on, Darwin suffered a power outage – so most of the dams were later destroyed to restore the land.

Continue on the dirt road from Fogg Dam across the floodplains to the original Adelaide River Cruises operation. The personalised operation uses small boats that carry only 20 people, who are seated at water level. Once on the river, they’ll come face to face with some of the biggest crocodiles in the Top End. But never fear, as protection is afforded via screens.

The Adelaide River is the only place in tropical Australia where cruise operators are allowed to feed crocodiles in the wild. It is banned elsewhere, apart from wildlife parks. As this is no park, you will never experience anything like it elsewhere.

A few kilometres later you’ll drive into busy Humpty Doo. If you’re a pub crawler, pop in to the local pub for the chance to meet local barflies and hear their tall tales. That is pub life for you!

After a quick ale, you’ll be back on the Stuart Highway where the volume of traffic will make you wish you were back in the bush. It’s followed by an urge to turn back and do it again. Hell, why not?

POWER, torque, weight, gearing, ground clearance, wheel travel, tyres and electronic traction control are just some of the things that make or break a 4×4.

But what attributes are more important than others? Can power always overcome weight? Can traction control always make good on poor wheel travel? And can you make up with a lack of torque through low gearing?

Rating what counts when it comes to a 4×4’s ability is difficult, but the list, in roughly descending order, would look something like this:

GROUND CLEARANCE This is the biggie. Without decent ground clearance, you really have nothing going for a 4×4 in any sort of off-road environment. Regardless of whether you’re on sand, in mud, or on rocky and rough terrain, you aren’t going anywhere without decent ground clearance. And the softer the sand, the deeper the mud, or the more rocky and broken the ground, the more that clearance becomes invaluable.

With more clearance you can also carry more momentum without risking damage to the vehicle’s vitals or body and body panels, and there’s less need for extra-low gearing. Too much ground clearance is only a problem when the vehicle sits up that high that side-slope angle and roll-over stability is unduly compromised.

WEIGHT Less weight means you less readily sink into any soft surface – sand, mud, or whatever. What’s more, it requires less of just about everything else – power, gear reduction, traction, etc. – to move a lighter vehicle up a hill than it does a heavier vehicle.

WHEEL TRAVEL Along with ground clearance and less weight, wheel travel makes up the ‘holy trinity’ of 4×4 attributes. Long wheel travel allows you to traverse broken ground more easily, with less reliance on diff locks or traction control. As with extra ground clearance, it also allows you to carry more momentum across any surface, so there’s less chance of bogging in soft sand or mud.

TYRES You don’t get far off-road without suitable tyres; although, it’s much more than just tread pattern at play here. In broad terms, the important things are tyre construction (Light Truck is more robust than Passenger), sidewall height (the higher the better, for superior damage resistance and air-down advantage) and speed rating (the lower the better as high-speed tyres are lightly built, even if this sounds contradictory). Tread pattern is vital when it gets muddy, but not as important when you’re not in mud.

TORQUE Decent torque output is the only way to get the usable off-idle and low-rpm driveability and stall resistance you need off-road. Extra low gearing can overcome a low torque output, but only to a certain degree.

DIFF LOCKS When a 4×4 runs out of wheel travel and loses solid contact with the ground, you can’t go past a locking differential. Those that lock automatically (generally called electronic or ‘e’ lockers) are much more useful and convenient than driver-engaged lockers.

Lockers are generally found on the rear axle; although, full-time 4x4s need locking centre diffs (either auto or manual), while a handful of 4x4s (70 Series, Wrangler Rubicon and Mercedes G-Wagen) have front lockers as well. One note of caution here, some driver-switched rear lockers on current 4x4s cancel the traction control on both axles, so they don’t necessarily deliver on their promise.

TRACTION CONTROL Traction control was once a poor man’s diff lock, but recent examples – second and third generation traction control systems – are becoming very effective. Traction control is part of the answer, but not the full answer, to lack of wheel travel in modern car-like 4x4s.

POWER You don’t need heaps of power when off-road – at least away from soft sand, and only then when you have a heavy 4×4. As above, torque is what’s needed off-road, while power is a more critical on-road attribute.

DUAL-RANGE GEARING This is a simple, cheap and effective way to get low gearing and still use an otherwise standard gearbox. However, dual-range gearing isn’t essential as long as you have a sufficiently low first gear, which is something made possible when you have a gearbox with a stack of ratios such as with modern eight- and nine-speed automatics.

On the other hand, with automatics, a torque convertor with a high-stall ratio can be a solution and help overcome the need for dual-range gearing.

SHOWROOM STOCK SO, what’s the best 100-per-cent-stock, straight-from-the-showroom 4×4? Well, that depends on what sort of 4×4 driving you have in mind. As an all-rounder, it’s hard to go past a Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series, especially if it’s fitted with the factory lockers front and back. Even without the lockers, it’s still more than handy given that electronic traction control is now standard.

Challenging the LC70 for top-billing is the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, thanks to an impressive off-road arsenal including front and rear lockers, an exceptionally low crawl ratio (53.5:1 with the auto ’box) and front swaybar disconnect. If only it had more ground clearance (a strong point with the 70), then the Rubicon would be a winner.

If you’re after something for sand driving – tracks or dunes – it’s pretty hard to go past the diminutive Suzuki Jimny Sierra. Thanks to weighing around half of what most 4x4s do, you hardly even need to drop the tyre pressures for the sand! Its light weight makes it a pretty handy all-rounder, too; although, it’s least happy on the rocky, steep stuff.

SAUSAGES don’t always have to be cooked on the barbecue.

Check out more bush cooking recipes

The humble snag can be transformed into some very tasty meals, such as this casserole dish. It’s hearty, full of flavour and goodness, is a one-dish meal, and the kids should enjoy it. The sausage casserole can be cooked in a camp oven, over the fire, or on a stove top. Plus, it’s great on a cold night for an evening meal and is pretty quick to put together.

INGREDIENTS

Serves: 4

Oil

8 good-quality beef sausages – or Italian-style pork sausages

4 rashers bacon, diced – rind removed

1 large onion – peeled and diced

2 cloves garlic – crushed (fresh or tube variety)

2 medium potatoes – peeled and diced into 1cm cubes

3 cups (200g) mushrooms – thickly sliced

440g tin of diced or crushed tomatoes

1 cup (250ml) beef stock

½ cup (125ml) dry white wine

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried basil

Salt and pepper

400g tin of cannellini beans – drained and rinsed

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley – or dried parsley (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Cooking time: 30 mins (approx.)

• Over a medium heat, heat a little oil in a heavy pan or camp oven.

• Sauté the sausages until well-browned.

• Remove and drain on some absorbent paper and set aside.

• Add bacon, onion and garlic to the pan and cook for a few minutes.

• Add potatoes and sauté until lightly brown.

• Add in mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, beef stock, white wine, thyme and basil.

• Stir until all combined.

• Season to taste.

• Bring to the boil and reduce heat to a simmer.

• Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

• While that’s cooking, cut the cooled sausages into bite-sized pieces.

• Once the potatoes are tender, add the sausage and beans to the pot and cook until everything is hot and heated through (about five mins).

• Spoon the meal into bowls and sprinkle with parsley.

• Serve with toasted slices of crusty bread, or with crusty fresh rolls.

VIV’S HINTS

• Add any other vegetables you like.

• Substitute risoni for the beans, if you don’t have any beans on hand.

• Use a more robust-flavoured sausage for more flavour.

• More recipe ideas for the humble sausage: casseroles/stews, curried sausage, sausage bake, sausage rolls, meatballs, devilled sausages, pasta dishes and rice dishes.

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH

Want some tasty recipes direct from the butcher? Then check out ‘Butcherman’ for ideas on cooking all sorts of meat, including sausages: www.butcherman.com.au/blog/category/recipes/

WHILE you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, the Sherpa Mustang looks to be the cheapest of the bunch, especially the squarish, non-ergonomic hand remote. It works fine, but it looks like a leftover from an industrial crane winch.

On that point, it’s worth noting that the few people we had looking over the winches often pushed the wrong button to winch in, inadvertently winching out instead. It’s not totally clear, so perhaps a ‘re-sticker’ is in order.

However, it does positively lock into the plug point with no chance of it being pulled out. However, the rubber plug cover isn’t a great fit and we envision it falling out at times.

As with many of the winches, the Sherpa drum has a smooth finish, and we experienced the synthetic rope slipping under load. Even with more than the generally required wraps on, our retaining bolt snapped under load, forcing us to do a trackside repair to the rope and retaining method.

Unfortunately, given the rope is secured to the drum on the vertical walls (as opposed to the drum itself) and the aluminium crimp had been damaged, it did more damage to the drum when we continued to use it.

But this shouldn’t be seen as a strike against Sherpa. Many winches are of similar design, so we take responsibility for this, but it does show how much slip can be encountered with synthetic rope and the hassles you’ll have in real life to fix it.

One disconcerting point noted was when we buttoned off the winching, with high load on the rope, the drum often rolled back part of a turn. It didn’t roll back much, but it was evident and captured on film.

The Sherpa was the slowest of all winches, depicted (partially) by the final gear ratio of 246:1 – the second slowest after the Warn Magnum at 261:1.

However, the Sherpa shines when you consider it has some of the lowest current draws (at least half that of some others), as well as good low motor and gearbox temperatures; though, it did crack 100 degrees on its seventh pull.

The Sherpa was the only winch needing seven pulls to reach our 20-metre pull limit, but at least it did it without fuss.

All good things take time and, given it’s the second cheapest winch on test, that’s a pretty damn good outcome.

INCLUDED Wired hand remote control; alloy hawse fairlead; open hook with spring-loaded safety catch and removable clevis pin; safety strap.

RAM recently previewed its REDBACK 2500 at the 2017 National 4×4 Outdoors Show, Fishing & Boating Expo, prior to its October launch.

The limited edition RAM pick-up receives the ‘standard’ aesthetic updates, with no changes to drivetrain or performance.

The REDBACK is distinguishable from its RAM stablemates thanks to a new black PowerWagon grille that replaces the traditional RAM chrome grille, while the RAM nomenclature is both centralised across the front grille and plastered across the tailgate in bold font (for the first time in Australia).

Additional features include bright red tow hooks, bonnet and side decals, black side steps and REDBACK badging.

The REDBACK is available in flame red (of course), as well as black.

The unchanged 6.7-litre Cummins turbo-diesel engine, familiar to RAM Trucks, gives the REDBACK plenty of bite. It produces 276kW and a massive 1084Nm, which equates to a theoretical towing capacity of 6942kg.

“Whether its towing a boat, taking a caravan out into the outback loaded with camping gear, packed with all the gear for just about any type of fishing activity, or simply looking great on the road, the RAM 2500 and 3500, along with the new RAM REDBACK 2500 limited edition truck, are ready to get you there,” Alex Stewart, General Manager of RAM in Australia, said.

Pricing and further details will be announced when the REDBACK 2500 goes on sale in October.

THE famous outback town of Birdsville is gearing up for the region’s biggest annual event, with the 2017 Birdsville Races kicking off on September 1.

This year marks the 135th anniversary of the race, which is billed as the ‘Melbourne Cup of the Outback’. The 13-race program offers up a combined prize-purse of $200,000, and it brings plenty of tourists to the small outback town that’s widely known as the gateway to the Simpson Desert.

The normally subdued town has a population of just 115 people, but that number explodes during race week, with an expected 6000-7000 visitors saddling up their fourbies and making the trek.

The two-day race event will take place on the Friday and Saturday, with plenty of entertainment taking place in the lead up to (and during) the races including live music, comedy, film nights and cocktail parties.

In particular, the Royal Flying Doctor Service will host a 6.1km fun run on Wednesday, August 30, to raise funds that’ll go towards ensuring the vital service remains strong in the outback.

4X4 Australia loaded up a Land Rover Discovery Sport and kitted up in our finest apparel when we attended the races a few years back. Read all about it here.

A number of accommodation options are available: Birdsville Caravan Park, Tent City, Birdsville Hotel/Motel, and at the free riverside camps alongside Diamantina River (between the racecourse and town). Ensure you check with each option before you depart!

Single-day race tickets will be available at the gates, while Souvenir Medallion two-day racing passes will go on sale at the Birdsville Race Club Merchandise and Ticketing Office (located at Wirrarri Visitor Information Centre) from August 28.

Tick off a bucket-list item and experience the Birdsville Races in 2017. Get your tickets here: www.birdsvilleraces.com

IN OCTOBER this year, there will be celebrations held at Ooldea, SA, for the joining of the Trans-Australian Railway Line (see Travel Bulletin).

This got me thinking about the nearby Maralinga Atomic test range. For the past few years, punters have been able to tour the atomic bombsites located here, but these A-Bomb sites aren’t the only ones you can visit in Australia.

West of Ooldea, you can now visit the atomic bombsites scattered across the Montebello Islands, located off Dampier in the north-west of Western Australia. Those bomb blasts were part of the Cold War that existed after the end of WWII, and Australia allowed the British to let off a few big crackers while at the same time establishing Woomera for the testing of their intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

The first test – which was also the first British atomic bomb explosion in history – was christened Operation Hurricane. On October 3, 1952, a 25 kiloton bomb (the equivalent of 25,000 tonnes of TNT) was detonated on board the HMS Plym, which was anchored off Trimouille Island.

The ship was basically vaporised, but a large piece of the ship’s boiler can be seen in the six-metre-deep, 300-metre-long crater that still exists today on the ocean floor. Plus, high-flying scraps of the ship’s metal can still be found on the nearby island.

The second A-bomb test in Australia –Totem 1 – took place at Emu in northern South Australia on October 14, 1953, when a 10 kiloton device was exploded on top of a 31-metre tower. Twelve days later Totem 2 took place, when an eight kiloton bomb was again detonated on top of a 31-metre tower. Today, both sites can be easily visited by those travelling the Anne Beadell Highway.

Operation Mosaic G1 was detonated on May 16, 1956, and was a 15 kiloton blast set on a tower at the northern end of Trimouille Island, again in the Montebello Islands. The third and final test – Operation Mosaic G2 – took place on June 19, 1956, and was detonated on Alpha Island. It rated as a 98 kiloton blast and remains the biggest explosion ever to happen in Australia.

All of the islands were closed off to the public for many years, but you can now visit them and enjoy the fabulous fishing and diving of the area. Explorers can also check out the bombsites and observation dugouts, along with the rusty relics that lie scattered through the low scrub. For information on the easiest way to visit the islands, go to: www.montebello.com.au.

In late 1956, the focus of the British A-bomb tests shifted to Maralinga, which could be accessed and supplied much easier and cheaper by the Trans-Australian Railway Line. The first test – One Tree – was detonated on September 27, 1956, and was a 12.9 kiloton explosion on a tower.

Within the next month, three more followed: Marcoo (1.4 kiloton at ground level), Kite (2.9 kiloton airdropped) and Breakaway (10.8 kiloton on a tower).

The following year, three more explosions occurred: Tadje (0.93 kiloton on a tower), Biak (5.67 kiloton on a tower) and Taranaki (26.6 kiloton from a balloon). For the following 10 years or so Britain carried out a range of nuclear tests, but no more A-bomb tests were conducted – arguably, the nuclear tests left behind more contamination than the bomb tests ever did.

After much public scrutiny, debate, outrage and effort, the sites at Maralinga have been cleaned up and the area is now open for travellers to visit. In fact, the local Maralinga Tjarutja Aboriginal people want visitors to come and visit, but you might baulk at the price. See: www.maralingatours.com.au.

There’s another blast associated with A-bombs in Australia that few people know about. In July, 1963, a bomb – Operation Blowdown – was exploded at Iron Range on Cape York Peninsula. However, a decision had been made to ‘simulate an A-bomb blast’, using 50 tonnes of TNT sitting on top of a 140-foot tower in the middle of the virgin rainforest.

The lush, grassy clearing, a few hundred metres in circumference, can still be seen just south of the junction on the Portland Roads to Lockhart River Road.

Check them out, and hope we never see the likes of them again!

THE all-new LDV T60 ute will be available locally from October 1, 2017.

The Chinese-made ute, which made its first appearance at the 2016 Guangzhou International Motor Show in China, will be powered by a 110kW 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine. It will measure in at 5300mm long and 1900mm wide.

“The ute and SUV markets are… booming. There is little doubt that from day one, the T60 will be LDV’s best-selling model in Australia,” Dinesh Chinnappa, General Manager of LDV Australia said.

Following the October 1 launch, the T60 range will expand to include turbo-diesel-powered 4×4 dual cabs with both manual and automatic transmissions, as well as 2WD and 4WD cab chassis variants with manual transmissions. Two trim and equipment levels will also be offered to cater for various lifestyles.

“This model line-up covers the most significant part of the market, and these versions will be joined by additional variants as required to meet changing market demands,” Chinnappa said.

Pricing is yet to be announced, but expect the T60 to be competitive in the budget-ute segment.

“It is too early to provide specific price points,” Dinesh Chinnappa explained. “But we are determined that they will build upon the value-for-money proposition established by the LDV van range.

“The T60 will provide Australian ute buyers with a highly competitive new choice, whether they are looking for a working ute or a recreational family vehicle.”

A seven-seat LDV D90 SUV will join the T60 in showrooms on November 15.