Gone Camping to the Barrington Tops with DRIFTA

In a previous issue of the TURAS Camping and 4WD magazine we reported on a trip the guys from DRIFTA made to the beautiful McBrides Beach near Forster in New South Wales, Australia. We once again catch up with the DRIFTA team on another one of their regular camping trips where they hit the tracks to the Barrington Tops in NSW and test some new camping gear including one of the DRIFTA camper trailers.

A comfortable night’s sleep

These guys live and breathe Camping and 4WD adventures and it is very evident that they put all of their Camping products to the test in the Ozzy Bush that boasts some of the world’s most remote and extreme 4WD conditions.

The DOT Trailer

The Barrington Tops is a favourite testing ground for the DRIFTA team for a number of reasons, firstly it’s just over an hour’s drive from the DRIFTA HQ in Gloucester in NSW making it accessible for a weekend getaways, secondly the area offers some challenging 4WD tracks which provide a perfect testing ground to put the new DRIFTA off road camper trailers to the test and thirdly it just so happens to be a beautiful place to camp and explore.

Thunderbolts Lookout sign

The rainforests of the Barrington Tops National Park are of international significance; forming part of the Gondwana rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area. Carved out of ancient volcanic flows, the park rises from near sea level to over 1500m and protects one of the largest temperate rainforests in mainland Australia, along with a host of diverse habitats and wide range of birds and animals.

Clearing the road.

As highlighted by Jake Simanek DRIFTA’s Europe’s Manager ‘’you will encounter many kangaroos and wild horses in this area and coming from the Czech Republic this is something you never get tired of seeing’’.The National Park covers an impressive seven hundred and sixty square kilometers. If you are heading to this part of NSW in the winter be sure to take some recovery gear as the tracks can be impassable from rain and the odd fallen tree.

Time to get the pizzas started

This does not stop the DRIFTA crew from visiting in the cooler and wetter months as they are always prepared for the elements, with recovery and tree removal equipment on-board a fallen tree or a muddy track is not going to hinder their camping and weekend plans.

In fact the bigger the fallen tree on the track the bigger the challenge, Luke, DRIFTAS commander in chief seems to take these fallen obstacles that block the tracks as a challenge and with his well honed lumberjack and chainsaw skills he can be often credited with clearing these tracks and fire trails so other like minded people who love the great outdoors can continue to enjoy this area.

The DOT camper trailer all set up

The main focus of the DRIFTA weekend camping trips is about R&D and they use these trips to test new products and camping setups but also to discuss new ideas and of course have a little fun. This is the perfect playground for the lads to test the rugged DRIFTA DOT camper trailers that are made in the Gloucester DOT factory in NSW, Australia.

You can also get a hot plate with the Snowpeak oven

These robust trailers sing adventure and are built using Australian suppliers and components, everything from the steel, rims toolboxes, sidebox, canopy; and canvas are all Australian made. Jake explained that the trailer taken on this trip is the DOT Equip range, this is a camper trailer with a roof rack and awning and suits campers who still like to camp on the ground in tents as opposed to Roof Top Tents.

Luke clears another tree that was blocking the track

With the camper trailer in tow, Luke was driving the Toyota 76 series and Jake was behind the wheel of the DRIFTA 80 series. Jake said that the 76 struggled on some of the deep rutted muddy tracks and that pulling the DOT trailer in these conditions forces you to concentrate on the four wheel driving but it also puts the trailer through its paces and that’s what it’s all about. Its all about testing these products in harsh conditions. The DOT trailer performed flawlessly with its hard core off road suspension this trailer can pretty much go anywhere.