Asalamoalakam from Australia!

[bhass]

Asalamoalakam Everybody,

I was inspired to post some photos and introduce myself due to a thread posted by @baigaqeel on - 4wd trip through Hinjol National Park. I know this is many years later, but what an amazing thread.

[image]

I was doing some random google search on the safety of travelling through Balochistan and I stumbled across this thread and all I can say is "Absolutely Amazing" I haven't seen anything like it and inshallah one day I can travel there myself.

My name is Bilal, I am originally from Pakistan and have now been living in Australia for the past 25 years. Alhumdulilah I have been lucky enough to pursue a hobby in off-road touring a couple of times per year, I am not very interested in doing short difficult tracks as I don't like to risk breaking the vehicle but I am very interested in long distance touring and exploring different areas and iconic locations.

In Australia there is a big culture of 4wd enthusiasts and most people are affected by the hobby on a major or minor level so it is very common to head out camping quite regularly with the entire family.

I thought I would post up some pics of my recent travel (please excuse the photo quality as all pics were from my phone) and in the process also inspire somebody else to hopefully one day visit Australia with there off-road vehicle as I now want to visit Pakistan. Inshallah one day I will plan a trip to Pakistan from top to bottom, but at this point it is just another dream to add to the list.

The first location is at Moreton Island - This is an Island off the coast of Brisbane that is entirely sand. I think it is the second or third largest sand island in the world and many people frequent this location yearly for camping, swimming, fishing and sand driving. Very safe and fun location as there are many people here at all times of the year for assistance or support.

The second location is the Victorian High Country. This is a region almost in the middle of Sydney and Melbourne and is very popular in the winter time due to the Snowfall. Not many people go there during summer which is fantastic as it is very isolated and extremely fun and scenic to drive through (my pics do not do this area any justice). The area is Australia's highest elevation however this is nothing in comparison to Northern Pakistan, another location on my to do list.

Kind regards

Bilal

[bhass]

[bhass]

[Aqeel1982]

hey bilal,
this is Aqeel, i m in Melb and i go to Pakistan every year and have long trips. I did a 10 day trip last year October in Gilgit, skardu and Hunza.
This year i am going in December and will be doing Rawalpindi to Gawadar via Karachi, let me know whats your plans and we can discuss.
cheers.

[bhass]

Aoa Aqeel, that sounds like a fantastic trip you have planned. You should document it and photograph as that would be pretty cool for others to see, it's quite a long distance and covers a lot of unique area. Will this be via driving or via public transport? Also, do you own a vehicle in Pakistan or do you just go with friends who live there and own a vehicle? Unfortunately I don't have any travel plans for the next 6 months to 1 year as we are having our first child, but inshallah after that I am hoping at the very least to do a trip through Australia again for maybe 1 week. I don't know what it will be yet, but I will start planning after at least 6 months. You should really considering doing the Victorian High Country, it is quite close to you and a very nice location. I can give you a good itinerary if you have a 4wd?

[rehankillbill]

Waliakum Assalam Bilal sb welcome to Pakwheel first of all ! Pakistan is beautiful Masha'Allah and its safe more than before now Alhumdillila by the grace of Allah last year me and my friends visit few places of Balochistan like, Kund Malir,Hingol National Park,Nani Mandir,Mud Volcano, Princes of Hope,Khuzdaar,Quetta & Ziarat, there are lots of rumor out there through media that Pakistan is not safe place for tourism but days are changed than before and tourism revive again through all over Pakistan you can visit any place with family you can search many threads over here when u have free time try to read them u will like it and take some time to see the beauty of ur mother land and last but not least ur pics are absolutely amazing awaiting for more pics with some narration

[tmalik]

Wasalam Bro. Please do share more pictures of campsites you visited. Just want to see how developed they are and what facilities they provide to campers.

[bhass]

Thank you for the kind words, inshallah I will select a few more pictures and post this up. During my trips I did not own a camera so my photos are not too good and were taken using an old phone, however now I have finally saved up money to buy a camera so Inshallah I can document nicely moving forward.

Visiting Pakistan is a dream, I have been 5 times in my life however I have only gone to visit family for short periods (2 weeks) in Lahore and surrounding areas. The photos I see on this forum are very inspiring and really ignite my feeling to travel through Pakistan. It is definitely something I will do with my Kids inshallah, because it is truly a beautiful place and so much protected history to see. Also regarding security situation that is very good to hear. While I have never felt unsafe in Pakistan I feel if you use common sense precautions you will be safe. I.e. not travelling at night, take a professional guide to new location, learn to communicate with locals (alhumdulilah my spoken urdu is fluent but written is non existent).

[bhass]

There is a very big mixture of camp sites in Australia. On all trips I have done to date there has been no facilities at all where we camped as we travel to locations that are quite isolated. We take everything with us to be self sufficient for 7 to 10 days (food, water, toiletries, fuel, tools, spare parts, radio for communications, GPS, maps etc). However there are some campsites that are fully developed, sealed roads, security guard, showers with hot and cold water, toilets, shops everything. However these are located near city centres you could say and I prefer not to go there as they get very busy and it is almost like living in an apartment as everybody camps next to each other.

I have attached an example below;

http://www.stateparks.nsw.gov.au/killalea

On my first trip to Moreton Island we had no facilities on the eastern side of the island at our campsite but on the western side of the island they had a resort with shopping area (maximum 1 hour to 1.5 hour drive) so this was a luxury trip if you choose to stay at resort.

However my second trip to the Victorian High Country there were no facilities at all. One campsite that we visited is called the Wonnangatta Station took approximately 6 hours driving in gear 1 and 2 to get to, the national park ranger uses helicopter to come and check on this location daily as it is too far too drive. One night we camped on side of the 4wd track in a clearing, because it was getting dark and we did not reach the intended destination.

https://www.hemamaps.com/high-country-vic/tracks/wonnangatta-station

If you are interested in information on how to be self sufficient I can provide some tips that might be helpful. The biggest issue I initially faced was staying clean with Wudu and toileting, however I have worked out a decent solution given the circumstances lol

[bhass]

With the Victorian High Country the facilities are typically limited to these shacks. These shacks are built for people who get stuck in thunder or snow storms so they can take shelter until conditions clear or they can get help. They get visited by National Park rangers regularly in case somebody is in distress. Some of these also have storage of tinned food and water cans but not always. These shacks are more useful for trekkers or cross country skiers during winter time as chances of getting stuck with a vehicle and support vehicle is slim.

The following photos are for a campsite located near Sydney, in the background you can see there is a brown building which is the toilet and shower building and this type of campsite you have to pay per night to stay at. They would have a guard that stays here on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and you can possibly see his guard house in the second image. Typically this campsite is suited for people who are going for their first time or they are taking wife and kids and will stay in one location and not travel to multiple different locations. This campsite is situation next to a very big river for swimming and also has cycling and trekking tracks nearby.

[bhass]

This is a Blue Tongue Lizard - Kind of like a Chipkali but they stick to the ground cannot go on walls. They are relatively harmless and in hot weather very slow and lazy, I believe a native animal to Australia.

Blue-tongued skink

[bhass]

Stopping for a brief photo opportunity on the side of a track called the Mount Murray track.

[bhass]

Our vehicles stopped for a refuel and break at a small township called 'Dargo' in the Victoria High Country. This is the only fuel stop available over the last 3 days and also till the end of the trip and we were running low. The black vehicle is a Nissan Navara we call this a Ute (Australian) / Truck (American) / Dala (Urdu / Punjabi) and the other vehicle is a 200 series land cruiser. As with Pakistan over here the vehicle of choice is always the indestructible Toyota, but it is very expensive to buy and out of reach for most people. Second is always Nissan

[rehankillbill]

Wah bilal bhai good going keep it up

[Aqeel1982]

i will definitely, at the moment i m in process of making my trip plans for khi gwadar.
cheers mate