Having left the gold Coast we headed up North, the wrong direction for the time of the year. We landed in Arlie Beach in the midst of some of the worst weather in 17 years. Our outer reef cruise was cancelled due to the extreme conditions and the day we planned to leave the roads were closed off in three places due to flooding. Ten days of torrential rain will do that! The tent held up well to the wind and rain with some minor leakage in one corner where the ground sheet is stitched to the canvas.

After a few months based in Cairns and at the earliest opportunity we tackled the Cape via Lakefield national Park. At Bramwell Junction left the development road and followed the Old Telegraph Track (OTT). This was an amazing adventure and for me the highlight of my trip around Oz.

The Customline performed admirably along the OTT despite some extreme terrain, at one river crossing the water was over the bonnet of our Patrol. Despite the water depth the trailer sustained only minor water ingress. The only casualties on this section of our journey included the first of many punctures, one mudflap, a chip out of the jockey wheel and a bent stone guard. This damage was only superficial and considering the terrain an impressive accomplishment. Most travellers seemed to give the OTT a miss even without trailers in tow!

After “conquering” the Tip of Australia we travelled back to Cairns to pick up our push bikes (mounted on the back of the trailer) before heading west along the Gulf Savannah to Lawn Hill NP then onto Darwin, Litchfield and Kakadu. From here it was back to Katherine before leaving the Northern Territory for Kununurra in WA.

From our base in Kununurra we experienced Purnululu NP (Bungle Bungles), Lake Argyle and the Ord River, Ivanhoe Crossing and Wyndham. Leaving Kununurra we took a week to cross the Gibb River Road and the breathtaking Kimberley’s, a highlight for Hayley (my wife). Some of our favourite spots along the Gibb included Emma Gorge, Zebedee Springs, Tunnel Creek (a hit with the kids) and Winjana Gorge.

We did not have so much as a puncture crossing the Gibb. We encountered a number of others less fortunate than ourselves with one trailer breaking a leaf spring and another costing more than three times as much as our Customline breaking off a stub axle and spending the last section of the Gibb on the back of a tow truck.

After the Gibb River road we experienced Broome and famous Cable Beach with a few days’ piece and quiet further up North at Quondong. From Broome we decided to head back inland and down the Centre. We spent 6 weeks in the Red Centre enjoying such sights as the West McDonnell Ranges, Palm Valley, Kings Canyon and of course Uluru and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas).
Leaving the Centre we travelled South through Coober Pedy to Port Augusta then through the Southern Flinders Ranges to Broken Hill, Dubbo to visit the Zoo and Bathurst for the races in early October. We then stayed in Sydney with relatives before heading back to the Gold Coast shortly after Christmas.

This amazing opportunity to explore some of Australia with a young family was a once in a lifetime experience.

Although our Customline trailer did not cover a s many km’s as the tow vehicle we estimate it followed our trusty Patrol in excess of 20,000 km’s without a hiccup or major damage.

We managed to bend the right-hand-side leaf spring due to a momentary lapse in concentration heading up the Cape. I hit a nasty dip at almost 90 kph which was enough to get the trailer airborne. This was entirely due to driver error and we were amazed that the only damage was a slightly bent spring. I should add that this happened fairly early into our adventure and we still have not replaced the spring.

Damaged sustained by the trailer is as follows:

• Tent flyscreen torn – with 3 kids it was inevitable
• 1  bent leaf spring – due to driver error
• 1 mudflap torn off on the OTL – subsequently bolted back on
• Minor jockey wheel damage – I left it hang down through some extreme terrain on the OTL
• 4 flat tyres –due to my choice of tyres (indecently we did not sustain a single puncture on the two vehicle in 38,500 km’s
• 1 bent stone-guard – extreme terrain on the OTL
• I lost water cap – left unlocked, again human error  

After 5 of us living in the trailer for the best part of a year my wife still loves the trailer. We intended to sell it on our return but can’t bring ourselves to part with it. So what did we love about the Customline:

• Extremely robust and a genuine off-road camper trailer
• Exceptional value for money, less than a third of the price of some more expensive trailers
• 13 foot tent that was big enough to comfortably sleep our family of 5
• Great awning that was essential in the heat up North
• Durable canvas
• Neat looking package
• Drifta Kitchen which was just brilliant
• Tows well and isn’t too heavy

Things we would change if we did an extended trip again:

• Garden stop hose connector on the water tank didn’t take too well to the bull dust and was prone to leaking – this was easily fixed with a connector and piece of hose clamped off
• Awning spreader bars are fiddly to insert into the tent frame, especially for someone vertically challenged like myself
• Sustained minor water ingress through seams in one corner during torrential rain at Airlie Beach
• Choice of trailer tyres – although I used tyres that were interchangeable with the tow vehicle in excellent condition and non too cheap there really is no alternative but to use Light Truck tyres for remote Outback travel
• I would have preferred the leaf springs to be greaseable although this did not cause us any difficulties
• I would install additional water storage – 68l doesn’t go too far with a family of 5

We could not have successfully completed our trip without our Customeline trailer. We are over the moon with our purchase, importantly my wife loves it and I think its one tuff trailer that represents unbelievable value for money.

Best Regards
Ray Beveridge

It was in WA. that I found work as a mechanic and lived in my camper trailer for up to 4 months at a time, experiencing pelting rain and temperatures ranging from 0 to 48.7 degrees in Exmouth last summer. I then got work in Gove, NT. so off we went through the Pilbara up to Broome, into the Bungle Bungles, parts of the Gibb River Road to Lake Argyle into NT. and down to the start of one of the worst roads in Australia - the Central Arnhem Land road to Nhulunbuy [Gove]. This road is 722km of corrugated dirt if not graded (as in my case), and has 4 river crossings. We towed the Customline through every crossing without hassle even though we often had water to the top of the guards on my 4WD. We were amazed to find hardly a drop of water had entered the trailer! It took 12hrs to traverse, with 1 tonne of mechanics tools in the back of my 4wd, the camper at 1.2tonnes plus 2 tonnes of vehicle. Care needed to be taken! The only drama I had was an exploding shock absorber on the rear of my vehicle. The Customline has performed better than I ever expected, and may I add better than some more expensive but not better built trailers. I have attached some photos to put on your web site, which I hope may be useful.  
 
My trailer is hot-dip galvanised, water tank fitted, electric brakes, poly block hitch, it has a Drifta kitchen and I also fitted a shower which runs off the battery system on the camper trailer.   

Regards,

Matt Cotterel

I though I would include a picture of another happy customer Michael Blackwood and our cars and campers on Moreton Island (Australia Day Week 2009).

Thanks for making such a reliable trailer and canvas for such a simple price!

Cheers Ian
Jamie and Rachel Girling

Every camp ground we go to people always stop and say what a great set up we have and want to have a look inside, which makes us feel very proud.

Plus every time we have seen you at a show or at the factory you have made a change or a tweak here or there and it's no problem for you to do that mod to our camper.

We are so happy we chose a CustomerLine camper trailer and have gladly recommended them to friends.

Once again thanks Ian and your team, we can't want till our next camping holiday!!

Keep up the great work

Cheers Andrea and Andre'

The Customline has been an excellent investment and provides superb accommodation and comfort. Just this weekend we camped at Caloundra and had a regular stream of people stopping in to comment and look through our camper.

I hope you see some eager buyers from this. Once again thanks for the great product and I look forward to catching up when we are ready for our first round of add on and modifications.

Regards

Khali Lake

In June this year we headed west from Birdsville to Poepples Corner and then north up the Hay River to the Plenty Highway.

From there it was down to Alice Springs and Yalara to see Ularu. Back to Alice Springs for a night, down through Old Andado, Mt Dare and Dalhousie Springs. We then followed the French Line back to Birdsville. All this was done with 3 other families, all with camper trailers.

From the outset we were told that we were mad to take camper trailers on a trip like this crossing the Simpson Desert.

Our Customline Trailer performed admirably. We had no trouble at all, apart from smashing most of our melamine plates and numerous take away containers that held some frozen food.


My praise for the Customline Camper is high as it certainly performed well and more than held its own with campers 5 times the price. As a matter of interest, one of the group is committed to selling his existing camper and a Customline Camper has all the features that he is looking for.

I am an advocate of your camper. It has everything that we are looking for, at an affordable price.

I wish you success with the business.

Regards

Wayne Spearritt