Articles by Marcus Craft

Marcus Craft tests the Cub Campers Brumby camper-trailer off-road in rural NSW.

People with camper-trailers are increasingly looking to push their travel boundaries and so they head off the bitumen, onto dirt roads and go bush.But on-road camper-trailers are not suited to cope with the extra stresses that dirt-road or gravel-track driving bring, which is why campers better equipped for light-duty bush driving, such as Jayco’s Outback versions of its models, are finding favor with buyers.We took an Eagle Outback into the bush to check it out.

Marcus Craft road-tests the Jayco Swan Touring camper-trailer

A campfire is a glorious thing: it never fails to give your campsite a homely feel, it’s great for cooking and, at night, it’ll keep the chill of the evening at bay. The “bush television” (so named because people are inclined to sit and stare at it for hours) is an integral part of any camping experience – but just how do you start one? Here are a few easy steps to help you create your very own campfire.Don’t light any sort of fire if there’s a total fire ban or ‘no burn notice’ days in effect in the area in which you’re camping, or if there’s a ‘no open fires’ policy at your campground – it may be a seasonal rule (i.e. bushfire season) or a conditions-reliant one. This is one of the most important rules of camping, so it’ll likely be well signposted in order to ensure campers are aware of it.Not sure? Ask someone official such as a National Parks ranger or the owner of the campsite if you’re staying on a private property – don’t just take another camper’s word for it.Besides, if the bush you’re in is tinder dry and the wind is strong, then seriously re-consider your urge to start a campfire because those are far-from-ideal conditions in which to start a fire.Make sure your fire is in a designated fire pit, fireplace, fire ring or the like as this will make it easier for you to monitor and control the campfire, and you won’t get into any strife with officials.The correct spots for fires are usually easy to locate and should be kept clear and ready for the next set of campers.If you don’t have access to a designated fire pit then create your own: use your shovel to dig out a shallow pit and use the extracted dirt as a wind-break around the top edge of the hole.(Note: many national parks and some campsites require visitors to bring in their own wood, as gathering wood from the area is prohibited.)Okay, so let’s assume you’re camping in area where collecting wood is allowed. This is an activity where you can rope in everyone – kids, parents, friends – for a bit of fun to help get armfuls of wood from off the ground around the campsite.You’ll want to collect tinder (dry leaves, grass, twigs; anything that will easily catch fire), kindling (small skinny sticks that will quickly catch alight and help fuel the fire), thicker sticks (to help sustain the fire until the bigger wood is well alight) and logs.A fire needs oxygen so you need to set up your fire structure in such a way that the fire will always be feed air, but not too much; you don’t want it to be blasted by gusts of wind as you try to get it – and keep it – alight.Now, there are many ways to set up a fire structure – and people have their favourites – but we prefer the old-school ‘pointy tent’-style build.Put your tinder – and some scrunched-up paper if you have it – in a little bundle in the fire pit, allowing for plenty of air flow through it. Add a few firelighters if you want to give your fire an extra boost.Stand some kindling up in a tent over the top of that, so it should look roughly like an upside-down cone. Don’t smother the tinder as you want the flame to always be fed oxygen.Add thicker sticks over the top, continuing in that tent-style of structure.Okay, now its time to start your fire.Light the tinder and firelighters using matches or a lighter. Make sure the fire is getting plenty of oxygen and give it time to establish a sustained flame.Add three short logs, again in a tent style, over the top of the fire. The flame from the tinder-and-kindling combination should be continuously hot enough now to set the logs alight.The fire should soon be strong enough to sustain itself but closely monitor it for safety and add more logs when needed to keep it burning.If you built your own fire pit, scrape your dirt wind-break back over the fire-pit so that dirt covers it. Then pour water over that area.If you used a designated fire pit, let the camp fire burn down until it has no fuel left, then pour water over the embers left in the fire pit. Stir them around to scatter them and help them cool down faster. Keep doing that – pouring water and stirring – until the ash is cool to the touch, then it is safe to leave the fire pit.It’s best to go camping fully prepared with matches or lighters but if you, for some reason, don’t have access to those, then you could use:A magnifying glass: We all did this as a kid, right? No? Just me, then. Well, it’s easy enough. Make a nice little neat pile of dry tinder, hold the magnifying glass just above the tinder pile and focus the sun’s rays through the lens of your Sherlock Holmes tool to focus as small a point of light as you can on the tinder. If it’s a clear sunny day, then you should see smoke from the tinder within 30 seconds or so.A 9V battery and fine steel wool: Pull the steel wool apart and ball them up into the pieces. Rub the battery’s connector points against the steel wool and it will ignite. You can use the same method with two AA batteries duct-taped together, positive end to negative end, and rub the exposed positive point of the top battery against steel wool.A fire-starter tool: Part of any self-respecting camper’s go-to gear, a fire-starter is simply a magnesium rod, which you hold steady in one hand, and a striker, which you rub firmly against the rod to make sparks. Use those sparks to ignite the tinder and kindling structure you will have set up.

The Ford Everest is one of the better examples of a ute-based 4WD wagon. It has consistently done a good job of satisfying driver desires for a family-friendly SUV with car-like ride and handling, while also being a very effective off-roader.

For a hint at what a high country trip is like, Brindabella National Park offers fantastic scenery, plentiful wildlife and some real challenges for 4WDers.

The South Island of New Zealand, especially its tourism capital, Queenstown, is renowned for its myriad action and outdoor sports: bungy jumping, jet-boating, skiing, snowboarding, kite-skiing, tramping (hiking) and much more. There are also a stack of 4WD tracks – ranging in difficulty from suitable for a light-duty AWD through to hard-core trips that require a 4WD with an experienced driver, recovery gear, spares and preferably travelling with one or more other vehicles.Any getaway here can be as adrenalin-fuelled an experience as you want it to be.We opted for two day-trip loops out of Queenstown, a nice balance of light off-roading, local-area history and plenty of culture.

Prevention is better than a cure, everyone knows that, but sometimes things simply happen. In the world of off-roading, tyre punctures are a definite possibility. You might be the most vigilant driver around – checking your tyres' condition, inspecting them for wear and tear, cracks, splits, cuts but your tyres may still cop an errant nail, screw or stick in the tread or sidewall; and that's puncture time.Your tyres are your points of contact with the ground, so never drive for any great distance when you know one or more of your vehicle's tyres are punctured. The simple solution is to fix the puncture, so you can drive the, hopefully, short distance to reach a tyre professional who will then properly fix the tyre or replace it. Be prepared with a good tyre-puncture repair kit, know how to use it and then you'll be ready for action when the time comes.Note: Only use a tyre-puncture repair kit on tubeless-type tyres. Also, and this is a great tip from aftermarket supplier ARB: "Never attempt a repair on a tyre that shows signs of internal or external structural damage such as exposed belts, sidewall bulging, ply separation, cracks etc."A tyre-puncture repair kit should include a carry case and all of the gear you need to achieve a temporary fix of a puncture, which will give you enough leeway on that repaired tyre to safely reach a tyre-repair professional in order to have it properly fixed.As with any gear, you get what you pay for so when it comes time to buy a tyre-puncture repair kit, spend as much as you can afford because that way you'll ensure you have the best quality equipment onboard. In this yarn, we're using an ARB Speedy Seal Mk2 kit ($49).The tools and materials in a tyre-puncture repair kit include:A pair of pliers: Use these to remove the cause of the puncture (i.e. the nail, stick etc).Lubricant: Use this on the reamer to ease its way into the hole.The reamer: It looks like a cross between a short ice pick and a drill bit with a handle. The reamer is used to probe the puncture, clear away any remaining debris and temporarily separate the tyre's steel belts without damage, helping to smooth the way for the repair cords/plugs.The cord-insertion tool: Looks like a cross between a sewing needle and an ice pick. You use this to, you guessed it, insert the repair cord into the puncture.Repair cords: Thick strings of spongy cord that you insert into the puncture to fill the hole and make the tyre temporarily safe to drive on.Some kits, like this one, include valve accessories, a blade (to trim the repair cords) and more.Make sure your vehicle is on as flat ground as possible, is switched off, in gear and the handbrake is engaged. If possible, do all of your repair work while the tyre is still on the vehicle, that way its weight will help you maintain a stable working area while you fix the puncture.Find the punctured spot, and pull the offending object (stick, nail etc) out of the hole with a pair of pliers, as provided in the ARB Speedy Seal Mk2 kit.Then you need to clean the hole as best you can so no left-over material can cause any further problems and your repair cord has a clear hole in which to adhere.Smear the kit's lubricant on the reamer – this is the tool with the spiral, drill-bit-like shaft – then insert the reamer into the puncture to clear the hole. Move the reamer around in the hole, in circles, in order to make the hole a bit bigger, separate the steel belts, then pull the reamer out. Now's the time to reinflate the damaged tyre to help wth insertion of the cord.Next, thread a length of repair cord through the eye of the insertion tool so there are equal lengths of cord protruding from either side of the tool. Then smear a bit of lubricant on the insertion tool if necessary and push it into the hole until only a little bit of the repair cord is visible. Hold the tool's metal hilt against the tyre, and pull the insertion tool out. Do not twist the insertion tool's handle. Trim the ends of the repair cord so they aren't protruding too much, inflate your tyre back to the suitable pressure and away you go. I've been on desert trips where some fellow travellers have been forced to drive for hundreds of kilometres over sand dunes and corrugated dirt tracks on tyres repaired with a kit such as this, but it's better if you avoid doing that if you can.Our recommendation is to have the fixed tyre repaired by a professional as soon as you possibly can.

Your tyres are your vehicle's only point of contact with the ground, and in an off-road situation, your choice of rubber matters.

Mazda's SUVs are more commonly found in an urban habitat. But a snow and ice drive session in The Land of the Long White Cloud shows the latest all-wheel drive versions of the top-selling CX-5, full-size CX-9, and seven-seat CX-8 are up to it off-road.