Exploring Grampians National Park - Overland Jeep Gladiator around Australia

After more than a year of planning and prep, my Australian expedition gets underway. Join me as I drive my newly completed Overland Jeep Gladiator around the Grampians National Park, hiking, camping and exploring all the wild corners.
Support my work on Patreon for exclusive behind the scenes content, early access and more:
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The Camera Gear I use:
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Stay in touch:
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Books I've published about my expeditions around the world:
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❱ The Road Chose Me Volume 2: Three years and 54,000 miles around Africa
375 pages of misadventures, stories, characters, politics and more from driving all the way around Africa!
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❱ 999 Days Around Africa: The Road Chose Me
75 page full-color photography book from each of the 35 countries I visited in Africa
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❱ The Road Chose Me Volume 1: Two years and 40,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina
265 pages of adventure, inspiration and antics from driving the length of the Pan-American highway
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❱ Overland Travel Essentials: West Africa: Myths, Misconceptions and Misnomers
Everything you need to know to undertake your own Overland Expedition in West Africa
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❱ Work Less to Live Your Dreams: A practical guide to saving money and living your dreams
The tips, tricks, ideas and perspectives I've learned to save the money I need to live the life I want
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#Overland #JeepGladiator #Grampians
Jeep Gladiator Overland, Overland Travel Jeep Gladiator, Jeep Overland, Australia, Travel Australia, Australian Travel, Overland, Overland Travel, world overlanding, global overlanding, global travel, world travel, Grampians National Park, Grampians hiking, Grampians free camping, Grampians wild camping

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoy seeing me get on the road for my third major expedition! For behind the scenes content, early access and GPS track logs of my trip & wild camps around Australia, checkout www.patreon.com/theroadchoseme

[@Soulkiter84]

Nice to see those images! One of my favourite places in Australia. Cheers from Germany

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

Mine too!

[@livingworkingoutsidebox]

Nice area . Australia has such a diverse terrain. Thanks for sharing your journey and experiences. Love the oddities between Canada, America, and Australia. One that I like is when Australians say "Touch Wood" where Americans say Knock on wood.

[@8626John]

Good video! What you call "wild camping" I refer to as "siwashing," a different word for the same thing. I've been doing it for decades and it's amazing how much solitude you can find if you get away from the resorts and campgrounds.

[@robertvoss9111]

I'm so happy for you Dan! I did my first short overland trip last summer, for about a month I drove up to the Arctic circle in Sweden and I don't think I would've done something like that without seeing all your videos!

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

That is awesome!

[@deasynambayong8331]

Loved that place!!

[@michaelzanotto8469]

Penalty units determine the amount a person is fined when they commit an infringement offence. From 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022, the value of the penalty unit is $181.74. For example, if an offence carries two penalty units, the total fine (which is rounded to the nearest dollar) is $363.1 July 2021

[@kevinferriter4453]

Too funny. I was already looking it up as Dan was mentioning. No doubt as you were when you watched several days ago. A flexible way to assess and increase fines.

[@jcblackmon]

On the road...OUTSTANDING!!! But did I miss something, I didn't see a video about the kitchen install. And will we see more of Katie? As always, thanks for sharing!! So excited about the years to come!! :)

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

Kitchen is STILL not here yet. There will be an episode when it is!

[@Berserkeroffroad]

I like the conversational approach to these videos. It's more engaging than your Africa series and it gives texture to what you're doing. Thanks for sharing!

[@mugumyapaultheafricannomad9488]

The part I enjoy most has arrived... Being on the road👏👏👏😍😍😍

[@deanmcinnes6645]

Making fun of the sign: 100 penalty units!

[@deasynambayong8331]

Awesome place you go 👍🏻👍🏻

[@raulbustamante8337]

Watching your videos fill me with determination

[@erikcele1604]

Nice to see you on the road again Will follow och wathch all your new clips from Sweden! Keep safe! 👍

[@calsurflance5598]

And here we see, with great anticipation, the rare and up beat Dan Grec in his natural preferred environment; the great out doors.👌 Love the hood graphic, Dan!👍

[@Defender110SLO]

Nice one. Happy for you that you can travel. Cheers 🍻

[@blcolon]

Penalty units seem weird at first then you realize you don’t necessarily have to go and change or reprint a sign all the time when a fine changes. That could get costly. Seeing as the signs cost 20 penalty units. :^)

[@erichughes9098]

Thanks 😎👍

[@aaronwon1143]

love the combinations of 4 wheeling, walkaround, explanations. Less on the vehicle, more on the tour itself.

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

More to come!

[@shawnmcmahon6336]

The hiking there looks amazing. Please continue showing those types of experiences- so many overlanding videos are just focused on driving

[@craiggillphotography8030]

So good to see u out and about 👏

[@rblbatb]

Great video. Interested to see how you like the ground camping over the next year+.

[@johnfitzgerald5158]

Really cool Dan, especially seeing some wildlife and aboriginal glyphs. Looks like a great start. Looking forward to your future adventures.

[@GATORADDAM]

I mess with you a lot because our styles are so different. But I'm genuinely happy to see you out doing what you love. And that was a cool video. Do show more about using the rig for cooking, the water system in use, the sleep setup and so on. And.... How many penalty units do you get if you fail to pay the penalty units? Hahaha.

[@Owl566]

You are right - it’s about inflation - but more than that, it’s about not having to amend legislation every year in line with legislation. The reason why they use the term “penalty unit” is because they write in legislation that any particular offence is “worth” a certain amount of penalty units. Then, when considering inflation (or the governments lack of funds after ALP overspending) all they have to amend is what a penalty unit is actually worth. Much easier than having to amend all fines in every legislation every time inflation dictates a fine should go up.

[@seichodan]

Dan! Happy To See You On The Road - Finally! Best from Dan in New England USA!

[@rael6_4wd]

Beautiful! Glad you finally made it out onto the trail.

[@seanhine6929]

For some context about the signs, the rock climbing ban is a fairly new (and contentious) restriction to protect traditional cultural areas.

[@jimmysando99]

The Grampians is such a great destination!

[@ricoman7981]

Dan never mentioned snakes. I was hiking and camping in the Grampians back in 1989 and this retired Aussie guy saw that I was by my self in the campground so in typical Aussie style, he wandered over, introduced himself, offered me a beer and we sat down for a chat. He asked if I was a Yank, I replied that I was Canadian. He asked if I had been hiking and I replied that I had. Then he asked if I had seen any snakes that day. I said I hadn’t and he said that there are poisonous snakes all over the trails and especially on the rock outcrops. He had seen several that day. I guess he knew what to look for and I probably just wandered by oblivious to them. I was a little more careful and observant for the next couple of days hiking around, although I never saw any snakes on that trip.

[@yorkchris10]

Nice hard-coded geo fence.

[@buffalo4127]

Thank you Dan, this what we’ve been waiting for too!

[@wademay6807]

Good to see you back out and exploring. Great video as always.

[@kevinferriter4453]

Many others have said this. While I loved the "build" videos, im so happy you are onto the trip videos. For both you and me. The build videos just make me feel the pain and labor you put into getting on the road. I'd rather just get on the road. As I'm sure you would as well. Either way, glad to see you on the road. With a kitchen. And look forward to more videos showing the journey. Altough as a patreon supporter, I appear to want more videos sooner. And im sure all the algorithms for KZbin or podcasts say to release regular content, ill be curious how this impacts your trip. Compared to the Alaska to Argentina and Africa trips. From your personal perspective. Have fun. And I look forward to learning from your adventure.

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

Cheers Kevin! (I'll address your question over on Patreon)

[@MyGraceFilledJourney]

Great video Dan! Glad you're finally out there. Looking forward to following along

[@joshmontgomery4040]

Glad to see ya one the road Dan !

[@JoshGoesSlow]

Glad to see you finally got out of luck down. I might be able to come home and see family now! Finally

[@espkh1549]

Amazing! Watching it in china right now

[@ImTheDudeMan471]

I'm constantly surprised how similar the geography and flora is between the South West USA, Northern Mexico, and Australia is.

[@briangudger3466]

Rock climbing? That's a penalty. Stealing the sign? That's a penalty. Rock climbing with the stolen sign in your backpack? Oh, you'd better believe that's a penalty. Love your hat BTW!

[@8626John]

Australia, sadly, has become a nanny country.

[@andredupuis5432]

Great to see you’ll soon have marker tracks on your hood. Cheers from 🇨🇦

[@eesko2000]

Congrats on bushwhacking finally and camping Dan ! Jeep setup looks great ! Enjoy the fruits of your massive labour !! 🙏🍁🇨🇦🎃

[@wildcatoutdoors]

I have never been able to reconcile the rough and tumble bushman that settled the great country to the Australia of today of over regulation and compliance.

[@sierramantrvlnus]

Yay!

[@jeetts59]

One of my favourite places. I’ve never seen a solitary roo, they are usually in mobs of hundreds.

[@umcosta]

The scenario reminded me of Firewatch game.

[@bernardmarden2775]

Grampians, a nice spot to start showing your Australia adventures. Not free camped there though, so I should do that next time. Penalty units are not just a Vic thing. They are an efficient way of adjusting penalties, to inflation for example. Only need to change one regulation instead of thousands of regulations. Stereotypically, Australia is good at efficiency, agriculture is a typical example. Looking forward to seeing your adventures and pointing out Australia's interesting character. Best wishes

[@flysoutbackadventures]

Penalty units... I first came across them myself a few yrs back when I was travelling the eastern states. I remember having the same thoughts as you did. I haven't seen them for a few yrs now. So it must be a Victorian thing. Or maybe I'm just getting blarzay to them. Glad u said how much a point it worth though. Didn't have a clue b4 this video.

[@sylverK]

Hey Day … absolutely love your videos. all of them. awesome stuff and your philosophy and approach to things is on-point too! Thanks for the content! Quick Q … did you remove the AEV bumper?

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

Thanks! - and the AEV bumper is still on, this video was filmed a couple of days before it arrived and I installed it!

[@mikehzz9848]

Most Australians think Victorians are silly. I'm Australian and never heard of penalty units.

[@MindUrBiznss]

Being from the states, I definitely hadn't heard of them but was very curious... Apparently, 1 penalty unit = $181.74!

[@spudboy1328]

I'm from the next State (South Australia) and I've never heard of penalty units! Must be a Victorian thing.

[@mr_outlived]

Hey, you have your kitchen :) have i missed an video about it? Also, what do you think about reliability of new jeeps? Since your Gladiator and Wranglers are now way more electronic than JK

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

Kitchen is not here yet, everything you see is temporary until it gets here!

[@Onward4x4]

You made a notation about being outside the park for the drone shots--is it illegal to fly a drone in the park perimeter?

[@blurglide]

DAMN you'll be going to remote places solo. You might consider getting a little come-along winch to pull your jeep out backwards if it gets stuck in the mud and winching forward isn't an option...or a UTV winch. Also consider packing some kind of ultralight backpacking bug-out-bag in case you break down in the middle of nowhere and have to hike out.

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

I never needed anything like that in Africa, so I don't plan anything like that here either!

[@sar4x474]

Lucy, you have some splaining to do. (Ricky Ricardo/Lucille Ball) Did I miss the episode on your kitchen? Did I miss the episode on your partner? I feel like I’ve missed do much.

[@traveller9625]

Now that right there is a great set up, what a way to see and be immersed in nature. But I have a question, is hunting allowed where you are?

[@rhysprosser3198]

great to see you finally getting on the road in Aus. Feeding my inspiration and i'm off to the grampians next weekend. Do you use or did you use on your americas trip a GPS tracking device like a SPOT unit or Garmin in-Reach? And what's your thoughts on the necessity of them for safety?

[@SoulSearchersSociety]

Love the videos.. 1st

[@christophersaul]

Have I missed a video? You’ve acquired a partner *and* a partner? :) Nice to see you out on the road again.

[@Womble1252]

Re the sign well they can't really have a guard there 24/7 & most people only give a shit about anything when their hip pocket is affected. Idiots do mess with signs alot , we have alot of trouble in central vic for our landcare groups etc. But yeah, penalty unit does sound a tad funny 👍

[@wildcatoutdoors]

Are you set in stone with your setup, or are you going to do something like a midpoint assessment for potential major overhaul? Example if you get to realize you miss the interior living/sleeping space.

[@Alan.livingston]

With how common the dual cab Ute / swag combo is in Australia I’d be pretty surprised if he did change up.

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

I'm always looking to learn and improve on my setup for sure!

[@jeetts59]

I’ve traveled in Australia all my life and I’ve never seen penalty units.

[@55thFox]

Good video Dan, BTW how many penalty units for wearing that hat?

[@manojsaxena9840]

Dan, where do you go for #2 while wild-camping?

[@arashitohwa4047]

How do you deal with insects while just hanging around outside?

[@ddesilva61]

Hey wait…did I miss something…is this the final set up? From an Ursa to a Bivvy ground test to do all of Auz??

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

Explanation here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZqVkH2hjsdokNU

[@darrengrieve4234]

Failure to like this video is an offence. The penalty for this offence is equal to or greater than 15 penalty units.

[@troyhuckle8138]

Wait till you hear a koala at night

[@questioner1596]

It seems like Australian national parks differ from Canada's. Do you need to pay an entry fee?

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

Not for this one, but they're all different. Some have a day use fee, some you just pay for camping.

[@Malc664]

Those signs are threatening aren't they. I have never heard of penalty units in WA. Must be a Victorian thing. We do have many signs that threaten prosecution. Mainly around the water catchments.

[@sleddogsam]

$222 now

[@Pauly82]

Penalty units must be some kind of outdated wacky Victorian thing because I’ve never heard of the term in South Australia…

[@gumbystown]

Now that's hear the truth did you get in the truck and turn the heater on

[@Kevin90909]

The nation park bans drones? Why do you call it "wild camp" and not just camping?

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

"Wild" as in "dispersed / free / unorganized / not a real camping place / nobody else around for miles / totally wild"

[@Kevin90909]

@@TheRoadChoseMe Thanks for the clarification. :->

[@jeetts59]

Don’t make lite of protecting our heritage.

[@kennethoden7956]

So do you find yourself eating more vegetarian meals just because it's harder to keep meat?

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

Not at all. With the fridge I can keep meat as long as I can in a house

[@christurner68]

You are in Victoria the communist state, so the sign makes perfect sense

[@jasper287]

Guess you're not as Australian as you claim. What are penalty units 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@TheRoadChoseMe]

Oh, I'm not Australian. I have not lived here in almost 20 years. I'm a foreigner for sure.

[@gumbystown]

What happens if your a aborigine are you allowed to go there and do whatever you want because you're a true native

[@operation4wheelz]

Lol, Stop saying wild camp… it’s just camp

[@therobertsfamily9611]

I've been to the Grampians (and greater Australia) and at no point did I feel the need to mock the local culture. Leave it to a "local" to minimize the history they don't understand. Sorry if you find "Penalty Units" so offensive you need to mock them; can't imagine you coming across as anything other than a mongrel in other cultures. Why would you want your kitchen stove so far from shelter from wind? Enjoy the red tint on your food if you ever come to WA. I hope your travels cover as much ground as those wrinkles on your forehead, seriously impressive!

[@ronparker4015]

It is obvious that this guy is suffering seriously from the Tall poppy syndrome.