    Here comes the Wet Season!! We hope!    Â
In our inaugural newsletter we thought we’d try to keep everyone up to date on a number of issues dear to our hearts. You see, we live and feel the droughts, the heat and the sweat of the Far North of Australia, and as we are starting to enter the build up to the wet season there are many doing things really tough out there. Cairns is rapidly joining the rest of Qld with a dull brown look, despite a short dump of rain a few weeks back. The Cape is dust brown, and so is the West.
Also, and no surprises here, but there are fires around Queensland, Northern NSW and High Risk warnings in much of Australia. There are also total fire bans in many places and the dry gusty winds are making these worse. What this means for travellers is there is a super high risk of bush fire at this time of year so please be super conscious about it and don’t take risks. Causing a serious bushfire is not something you want on your conscience, trust me. (yes, there is a story, but it is way too early and I don’t know you yet…)
Barra Season up North
For anyone doing a late season trip or coming up for the wet season, a friendly reminder from Queensland Fisheries that the Barra season has closed for the year and will re-open as usual when the fish have gone off the bite. Yes, the big girls are spawning, the pan sized beauties are smashing lures all over the place, but you can’t keep the buggers, so let ‘em go and find something else to keep you occupied.
Qld Fisheries promise they have enough budget to be working at least one shift outside of business hours between now and Christmas.
                Camera Crews are great fun!                Â
Cape York Camping with a camera crew
In a first for OST, we decided to spend a lot of money on trying to up our marketing game, and, surprised ourselves with just how much fun this could be. Our faith in Scotty Mason from Southern Sky Images, and
Phil Warring from Phlipvids, was 100% rewarded and we managed to not only drink rum and BBQ fish, on one of North Queensland’s best beaches, but also grab some great images doing it.
By the end of the four day trip we all badly needed our wives to tuck us into bed and tell us that it was normal to feel so dehydrated, be ok about busting our pluggers, nearly losing our boots, getting bogged on the first sand dune, and having to cook coral trout in a healthy dusting of flavoured kettle chips. No need to mention that we nearly ran out of fluids.
Sleep, good husbands, sleep…you deserve the break from all the hard work.
Snakes
Yep, snakes live on the Cape. And, not only that, but some of the baddest, bad ass buggers that Australia has the pleasure of owning, live right out the back door. And yes, if we still had back yard dunnies, we’d be acquainting ourselves with them a whole lot more than we used to.
So, this being the case, OST has, in our very well thought out and plugger friendly way, decided that we should partner up with Survival First Aid kits and start stocking something that might actually save our asses instead of just selling boxes. Great boxes, by the way, and yes, they hold snakes securely if need be…
Survival First Aid kits are Aussie designed and are top notch in their build quality, layout and instructions. Highly recommended for any remote adventuring.
What’s next?
Besides more grey hairs and worry about what our kids are up to after we’ve gone to bed at 9’oclock (which, by the way, is the new midnight), Open Sky Touring is diversifying in a way that probably only makes sense to us, but hopefully works all the same.
You will soon be seeing a few more products and bundle deals available from our new slick arse website. In short, we are now offering up some bundles of kit with our Expedition134 boxes! Gear that we personally use and rate highly for what we do and love. Aussie made gear that ticks all the boxes that we hold dear. At the moment, we have some great bundles with EzyAnchor, Survival First Aid kits (yes, snake stuff and more) and now, RacksBrax! That ingenious new product that allows quick release of awnings and tradie stuff from our roof racks! Super cool gear that we love and should bring you pleasant murmurings of contentedness once you’ve used it.
We also are getting a little bit more into this whole YouTube thing and are producing some no doubt lame excuses for video content, but potentially entertaining all the same.
Featured Products
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| Expedition134 Heavy Duty Plastic Storage Box | Starter Expedition134 Kit | Survival Snake Bite Kit |
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OPEN SKY TOURING REVIEWS
from 96 reviewsOrdered this box after seeing so many positive reviews of the Expedition 134 box. And it doesn't disappoint! What an outstanding, Australian made product. Not only is it tough and durable it looks the bomb as well. Will be getting another one for sure! Can't recommend enough.
Recently bought a pink storage box after buying 3 last year. It’s just as tough and perfect as my previous ones. I’ll continue buying these awesome boxes to go into my new trailer project.
Great product! Love using them and would highly recommend to anyone
Easy to use, and great value
Great product and well made
Does just what it says on the box! (bad dad joke there...) Great to now have 3 of these in my collection.
Survival Snake Bite Kit™
Purchased the Expedition 134 to use for the wife's scent hound business. The dogs are used to find truffles, so not only does the box store all the harnesses and other dog gear, any booty located also goes into the box, safe and secure. Great product indeed..
Great kit. Saw on Pat Calligan’s show and immediately bought. This will definitely save a life from snake bite. The pressure bandage has markers to show how tight to wrap. So clever.
One of the best products I have used in my forty plus years of camping very well made and waterproof. It’s a pleasure to do business with a great Aussie company.
Survival Snake Bite Kit™
Very happy with the boxes. Def can hold adult standing on lid and solid latches. Easy to hose out and dust and water proof for 4WD trips!
I am impressed with the rigidity and quality of the box. it's worth every cent!
These boxes are exactly what I wanted! Delivered on time, great quality and great price! Thanks Open Sky team!
This is my 5th box and they’re fantastic. Will be the replacement for my drawer system in my Landcruiser to keep weight down. They are the ideal combination of size and manageable to handle when full.