AutoRoute: Volkswagen R50 from Perth to Esperance
March 10, 2009 by Karl Peskett
AutoRoute: Volkswagen R50 from Perth to Esperance
“A trip away with the family is a whole lot nicer with 850Nm under your right foot.”
Photography by Karl Peskett, Randell Thalhammer and Dave Preston
With costs going through the roof, it was time for the Peskett family holiday to be scaled down from the five-star accommodation that we’d all love, but realistically couldn’t afford.
So the next step down? Camping of course, but to keep a level of decorum, it was decided that digging our own toilet was out of the question. The best option, it seemed, was to pitch our tent in a caravan park, where we’d be greeted by toilet facilities, showers, and washing machines.
The next thing to organise was a vehicle. We wanted a four-wheel-drive as we were heading to some awesome dunes, and we also needed power to keep us safe on the country roads. With a phone call to the excellent folks at Volkswagen, we ended up with one of the best – the Touareg R50.
The trip started at an insanely early 4:30am. Bleary eyed and desperate for a coffee, I had the envious job of making sure that the roof rack “cage” would hold all our camping gear without showering following traffic in a cavalcade of pots, pans and sleeping bags.
After working out how to use the strapping, coffee was duly supplied. Two sugars? No, give me 14 please. We’re going to need it, and a can of Mother for good luck. It was too dark for photos, so we decided to just head off, and with Esperance listed in the RNS510 satellite-navigation, we were on our way.
Good old Esperance,been there several times.For most Goldfield people its their usual weekend away when your on break,nice easy drive……….
Ive done that trip also at Christmas from Perth Karl,not in a 4×4x but the V70,very cruisy drive.Missed towing the family behind the 4×4 up and down the dunes though and drives along those beaches are superb!
Great story bet you had a ball!
Shame on you Karl….14 sugars!? Way to ruin a coffee!! :)
As soon as i read “showering following traffic in a cavalcade of pots, pans and sleeping bags.” The song “holiday road” from Chevy Chase popped into my head. Sounds like you had fun. 850nM is allot of grunt, i guess the bloke in the VP has some sort of death wish.
The dunes out here in Esperance are a magnificent drive, always a recommendation to any one staying a few days.
Have to watch for Sammy when you catch them on a “grumpy” day… Nothing like an annoyed Sea Lion!
Awesome. Ideal car for all occasions :)
Esperance is a very beautiful spot. Been there a few times over the years. Hard to find better beaches than that anywhere else. The white sand is just amazing. The water has this perfect acqua colour, just magical.
Looks like you’ve had heaps of fun Karl. Have you climbed up Fisherman’s Peak? Great views from up there.
“With costs going through the roof, it was time for the Peskett family holiday to be scaled down from the five-star accommodation that we’d all love, but realistically couldn’t afford.”
So instead you poor souls had to go camping in a $135,000 car?
Just looking at the stuff stacked next to the car seat and under his/her feet,all done that before.Not sure the gas bottle in the cabin is a good idea though.
Portable DVD player strapped to the back head rest ,a must when taking kids on any long trip. :)
Good read Karl. Drove that beach myself last year, as part of our journey from Melb up thru Alice, the Kimberley, Broome, Perth, Albany, Esperance, Adelaide, home. Driving my Touareg V6 TDI……a very worthy traveller – handles the rough stuff, endured considerable badly corrugated road on the Tanami track, was superb on the black-top, and practically bullet-proof.
Your holiday yarn had me fondly remeniscing.
Great article. Esperance is now on my shortlist of places to visit. I had to laugh at the VP commodore comment. I took my Corolla up Noosa North Shore Camping once with a few mates who had a Landcruiser. Lots of surprised looks. Soft sand was dealt with using plenty of speed! We only got bogged once, hopelessly, right at the end of the trip, where no amount of speed was going to save me. It was only then that I realised that I had done the whole trip with 32psi in the tyres, oops! The things you do when youre 18!
MORE “PR”/Flag-Waving for VW Group…:-)
I would LOVE to do that trip, but my wife wont do the camping/tent thing [unless she can pitch it inside a room of the Hilton/Hyatt!]
Rather a bog stock Toyota Prado Grande VX, every bit as good if not better, MUCH more dealer back up [not that your going to need it with BigT] AND supplied std. with 180L twin tanks, 2000km anybody?
Seems that VW still need to learn to make a hard-core 4×4, but this is at least a start.
The BEST 4×4 on the planet, in the past, now and in the future is the RangeRover, End-Of-Story
Cheers
F-0
Crikey!
A gas bottle stored beneath a baby seat (could be interesting in a crash) and a boot load of unsecured luggage?! I thought Caradvice wrote a series of articles on holiday road safety?
Maybe its a case of “do as I say and not as I do”? ;-)
Gas bottle under the baby! How much weight was that on the roof? You checked the roof weight limit in the manual didn’t you and weighed everything you put up there?
I have a NXR number plate too!
Is that roof load just resting on the steel? Yep picked up on the Gas bottle.
Great Read – One thing I miss bout Australia is the open spaces. You cannot travel far here (UK) without bunping into someone.
Good Read too. As for the R50 – expensive to run but the V6 is a worthy alternative apparently.
A good read and some good photos. I would like to go travel over there, its quite different to the east coast. A beautiful landscape in its own right.
Yeah the gas bottle thing, a story about that from me. On the way back from a camp on Cooloola Beach with a couple of mates we smelt a slight gas smell inside the car, mean while one of my friends had been smoking in the front passenger seat. We had all the windows down but still I think we were a bit lucky to not to have an ignition. Lesson learnt, alway travel with your gas bottle outside the car, if you have to keep it inside the car then tightly secure or protect the valve!
My thoughts about the car: attractive, desirable, could have a slightly larger luggage compartment, could do the same trip in a Touareg worth almost half as much (V6 TDI), probably expensive to service (being a V10 and a 4WD).
Guys, so you’re aware, there was no gas in the bottle. We were prepared to fill it down there if necessary, however we didn’t have to, as our friends in the Jayco cooked for us. It was there as a backup – always be prepared, I say.