Prado, Celso and his best mate Phil aired
down the tyres and set about taking on some
of Cape York’s most stunning and remote
locations. From the wide-open savannahs of
Battle Camp Road to the endless corrugations
of the Peninsula Development Road, right
through to a series of never ending river
crossings of the Old Tele Track. Two smelly
blokes, a heap of camping gear, and some of
the most iconic destinations you could ever
dream of heading to, sounds like the perfect
test of a camper to me.
BACK O' BAMAGA
Now it’s no secret I’m a big fan of Cape York,
and part of the reason why is the sheer
diversity in terrain. It’s the perfect adventure
with something new to see every hour of
every day, but also serves as the perfect
testing ground for camping gear.
The first shake-down run the Spirit would
face would be the winding tracks through the
Daintree Rainforest. Celso’s Prado is running
the older D4D engine and coil spring rear,
meaning it’s very susceptible to weights,
especially in steep terrain. Despite that, the
Spirit's relatively light-weight, 1350kg, meant
the hill climbs were easily conquered. With
the terrain occasionally slippery and convoy
tight for photography, the low-range stick
was regularly engaged to help keen RPMs up
and take the load off the engine. Of course,
we needed to slip back into black-top mode
on some of the concrete sections to avoid
The spirit proved a popular place
to escape the heat, although
with no privacy screens on the
windows you’d want to be
confident in your own skin