Welcome to the blog of Coromal Sunshine Coast. This will be the platform for news, views and your adventures in caravanning!
Send us your stories and pictures and we will publish them here for you. Plus you can make comments about our stories and news.
We know you will enjoy your Caravan, tell the world about your adventures and read others.
Hey! Don't forget to add your favourite places to the map on our site while you are here.
Cheers
The Coromal SC Team
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5 comments:
Hey this look like a great idea!
Excellent website
Cheers
Steve
This is an excellent reference source for like minded people to get toegether to share what they enjoy doing, whether it be camping, touring, exploring or whatever.
Cant wait to start sharing some experiences.
Cheers,
Andrew
ATTENTION COROMAL CARAVANS
To whom it may concern,my wife and i decided to purchase a new caravan recently,so we then started doing all our homework.After many hours on the internet and lots of hours in dealer yards,we went into sunshine coast coromal and were very happy with the way we were approached and showed around the yard by owen brown,he is a true professional.Once we decided on the van we wanted and the deal was agreed we were back in two days time to pick up our new van.During the purchase of the van we were told of the two hour hand over,once again we could not believe the amount of time and effort put in to the handover,(we have owned a caravan before but never experienced a handover such as this).Linda and Warren,along with johno did the handover as well as owen kept in touch the whole time.We are more than happy with our coromal and know we will have many years of caravaning.The other point i will make is,although we live 300kms away in hervey bay,we will take the van back to sunshine coast coromal for servicing.So once again thanks to the dealership and big thank you to Owen,Linda,Warren,Johno.Regards from Barry & Cheryl Mccully(Hervey Bay).
ATTENTION SUNSHINE COAST COROMAL
Sorry we have not been back to you sooner but we have been so wrapped with our new van.When we picked it up on Friday 17th August,we used it for two nights in brisbane and then towed it home to Hervey Bay.It felt really good to be in a van again,especially a coromal,,it towed like a dream and we have not stopped drooling over it.Also to all the people at coromal Owen,Lynda,Warren and everone else we will highly recommend your proffessionalmanner in how everything was conducted from start to finish.So a great big thanks to you all,regards Barry & Cheryl McCULLY (Harvey Bay)
Kimberley calling!
The problem was - our van wouldn’t allow us to do treks such as travelling the Gibb river road. We had been looking at a replacement van but could not find a comfortable alternative. We ended up in the Coromal Sunshine Coast yard where, as luck would have it, there was a well-travelled off-roader that was being detailed. So it was that we ordered our new Coromal 511 Pioneer, which was delivered in early October 2007. We took it on several shakedown trips and were impressed with its towing behaviour. The Treg hitch was new to us and took some time to get our connecting manoeuvres up to speed, but it well and truly proved its worth in the weeks to come.
Planning went ahead in leaps and bounds. Maps plus GPS, supplies - all were taken care of and we were ready for the big experience. We came to appreciate our comfortable van during the uneventful trip to Kununurra. So began the big adventure down the Gibb River Road.
El Questro was our first overnight. The road from the Wyndham turn-off to El Questro was deeply corrugated with a wide distance between corrugations. We found that the only speed for this type of corrugation was very slow. We labelled this day’s road condition as B A* (see footnote or use your imagination.) What a magic stopover! We didn’t really want to leave.
A big challenge for the next day was the Pentecost River crossing. We followed our normal protocol when faced with a long rocky crossing and made ourselves a coffee while we waited for a local to show us the way. We followed, and were pleased to negotiate the deep water and the boulders without problems. (Being rather afraid of the reptilian inhabitants – salties, we didn’t walk through first, as the 4x4 magazines suggest,).
The second stop was to be Home Valley, but their facilities were being upgraded and the station was closed to visitors. We continued on to Ellenbrae Station. The main road was again very corrugated, but we were able to travel at a reasonable speed. The side track to the station was narrow with rocky washouts - real off-road stuff. The bush camp and campfire will be remembered for a long time (convivial company contributed to the atmosphere). The gullies on today’s run were much steeper and sharper than yesterday’s.
The road to the Mitchell River turnoff was much the same – B A. A gas bottle, a bullbar, and other various bits of vehicles and trailers lying by the road, bore witness to the trials and tribulations suffered by many Gibb River road travellers. The van’s design (sharp upsweep at the back), allowed us to cross the deepest of gullies without scraping. We discovered that the jump-ups marked on out map were all bitumen, which gave us respite from the corrugations. The countryside had also changed to red dirt, which meant plenty of red dust. The Hann River and Snake Creek were both deep and fast flowing. Most of the road was classed BA, with some stony patches.
Mt Barnet Station was the next overnight. The seven km of bush track to Manning Gorge camping ground was a reasonable challenge. The Manning River was very cold, but we enjoyed a refreshing swim. The swim across the river was also the beginning of the walk to the Manning Gorge.
The drive to Imintji Store was uneventful. It was a steep climb over the King Leopold Range, but the range road was bitumen. We soon came back to reality again. There were some nasty patches which we negotiated successfully, but near Inglis Gap disaster struck in the form of a flat tyre on the Prado. One sharp rock, on a smooth stretch of road, caused the problem. It wasn’t fun changing a tyre in midday heat of 350.
The rest of the road to Derby was fast, smooth and dusty. 60 km of bitumen, and roadworks in progress. The pressure vent in the roof of the van proved its worth, with very little dust inside.
We are very proud of our outfit. Both Prado and Coromal 511, a really well-matched team, came through without fault. (The only damage – the table top needed screwing back onto its stand.) We look forward to many more off-the-beaten-track adventures.
The travellers, B and M
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