This is part of a series of articles about how to have TWO EPIC WEEKS IN THE CAPE FOR $1500! If you haven’t read the first part we recommend heading back to Part 1 and reading through for an absolute cracker of a time up in wild and wonderful Far North Queensland!

CAMP SETUP TIMES

In putting this article together, we’re assuming that you’re one of the 99% of 4WDs who have their campsite setup and packup down to somewhere less than 30 minutes for overnight stops. Realistically, anything longer than that and you’re more than likely setting up for a couple of nights at a time. From our experiences travelling the Cape over the years, you’ll be up and awake most mornings well before 7am so we’ve planned this trip to kick off from camp at 8am every morning, pulling into camp no later than 4pm at the most. In our opinion that’s the perfect balance between covering kays and enjoy yourself.

GETTING TO CAIRNS ON THE CHEAP

Of course how much it costs you to get to and from Cairns is going to vary depending on where home is for you. There’s one big way that you can save serious cash on the trip up to and back from Cairns, and that’s in just cruising on the highway. We’ve tested it, and found that there’s an average of 3L/100km to be gained by dropping your highway cruising speed from 110km/h to 85km/h. To put it into perspective, here’s what you’ll save if fuel is an average of $1.50/L.

In nearly all cases that’s enough to start you out with a full Adventure Kings campsite, with a single sized Swag and an Awning and in some cases could afford you a full campsite including an Awning wall a mesh floor, Camp lighting and a Kings Ice Box with change to spare

Assuming you drive an average of 700km a day on the blacktop to and from Cairns, knocking 15km/h off your speed will add just over an extra hour to your time behind the wheel. Set the alarm an hour early and save serious coin!

NOTE: For this article, we’ve worked ‘rough fuel costs’ out using an average of 18L/100km – which is more or less what most diesel six-cylinder 4WDs will use up the Cape.

To be continued…

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