Australia 2008
Back in Kununurra now. Was suppossed to be heading east towards Darwin, but in true Brendan style I landed up going northwest! Reason being landed up chatting to local council surveyor who owns Land Rovers and gave me some advice on local tracks.
Had a river crossing to do. Landed up doing it 3 times! Gave my camera to a guy so could get some action shots, which meant landed up having to come back to get my camera and then do the crossing again. Water crossing is the Ivanhoe Crossing and used to be the only way into Wyndham. At a guess crossing is 200 metres. Anyone know of longer ones on a normal road?
Depth was only about 350mm, but flow rate was high so had to steer upstream. Would not like to do this if water level was higher. Road is closed if water level rises much.
Just passed the crossing come across some cave art. Am not sure if this site was used for habitation
Some of the cave art. This one was horizontal
This one was vertical.
It took me a few minutes to work out what these were fossils of. Actually a fossilised beach (I think)
Wyndham appears to be a dying town. Come across this mini LR graveyard
Heading back towards the Gibb River road had to drive across these flats. They had recently flooded. Care has to be taken out here. Was told someone died recently, got bogged in bottom of creek, no water, no radio, started walking and died!
Scenery at top of Gibb River Road
Some people drive without taking basic precautions. Flat tyre, no spare and 100+ miles from nearest town!
Following day come across Irish man in hired camper. Run out of fuel 30km from town on bitumen. He was annoyed that the fuel gauge said 100km and it run out of fuel 50km later! He was surprised that I carried 40 litres in jerry cans. That would give me a range of 250 miles if need be. If fuel station has no fuel or problems with its pumps (which happens) I stand a good chance of making next fuel station
Some of the local wild life observed at breakfast time
The wildlife/birdlife seems less timid then in UK. But it can be difficult getting photos of the birds.
Hope you are enjoying photos
Regards
Brendan
Had a river crossing to do. Landed up doing it 3 times! Gave my camera to a guy so could get some action shots, which meant landed up having to come back to get my camera and then do the crossing again. Water crossing is the Ivanhoe Crossing and used to be the only way into Wyndham. At a guess crossing is 200 metres. Anyone know of longer ones on a normal road?
Depth was only about 350mm, but flow rate was high so had to steer upstream. Would not like to do this if water level was higher. Road is closed if water level rises much.
Just passed the crossing come across some cave art. Am not sure if this site was used for habitation
Some of the cave art. This one was horizontal
This one was vertical.
It took me a few minutes to work out what these were fossils of. Actually a fossilised beach (I think)
Wyndham appears to be a dying town. Come across this mini LR graveyard
Heading back towards the Gibb River road had to drive across these flats. They had recently flooded. Care has to be taken out here. Was told someone died recently, got bogged in bottom of creek, no water, no radio, started walking and died!
Scenery at top of Gibb River Road
Some people drive without taking basic precautions. Flat tyre, no spare and 100+ miles from nearest town!
Following day come across Irish man in hired camper. Run out of fuel 30km from town on bitumen. He was annoyed that the fuel gauge said 100km and it run out of fuel 50km later! He was surprised that I carried 40 litres in jerry cans. That would give me a range of 250 miles if need be. If fuel station has no fuel or problems with its pumps (which happens) I stand a good chance of making next fuel station
Some of the local wild life observed at breakfast time
The wildlife/birdlife seems less timid then in UK. But it can be difficult getting photos of the birds.
Hope you are enjoying photos
Regards
Brendan
Thanks for your comments.
Sorry no photos today as I am in a net cafe in Katherine with no wifi
Had to spend extra day in Katherine as am on a proper camp site here with decent facilities. Woke up this morning with the trots (probably too much info) so decided to stay close to a decent loo! Down plenty of liquids and crashed out outside. Got woken up by a bird having a peck at my toes!
In the six months here, flew in with a sore throat, lost a filling 2 weeks back and just one case of the trots. Not bad really.
Must admit I am looking forward to a break in Singapore. Sleeping in a bed for first time in 2 months. Aiur con. Bliss! Decent food which I do not have to prepare/cook/wash up etc.
Problem with travelling solo is portion size in supermarkets. Bag of salad is enough for 3/4 days. OK kept in fridge but bounced around so is not in brillant condition after been opened. Fresh meat is same. Land up eating same thing 2/3 nights running.
Am amazed how unprepared people are for travelling in Australia. Am not talking about bush travel but on yhe bitumen between towns. Remember it can be several hundreds of miles between service stations.
Travelling without spare wheels is crazy. Come across 3 vehicles run out of fuel recently Two blamed fuel gauge, said things like gauge said we had enough for a 100km but it run out after 80km! No spare fuel cans with them! Come across a fuel station with a bowser full of petrol, but with a broken pump so not able to deliver it out of the ground.
Come across Land Crusier on road side outside Katherine. Needed a jump start as had flat battery. Had been there over 18 hours and this is on a main highway! Jumped started vehicle at second attempt. Connected live cable to the terminal with red wire to it. Sparks flew! Cables to their battery were pretty bad, frayed etc. Reversed leads and started it. Off they went withj a thank you and God bless. Then I noticed the pile of empty VB cans. They had obviously been on pop overnight.
Few miles down road, overtook them and got flagged down. Had a problem with fuel delivery. No not out of fuel as red light not on, would I escort them into Katherine. Yep, no problems. Few miles later they conk out again so another jump start.
Another few miles, would I tow them in. Yes if you got a tow rope I said. Got a shackle out found all three of them sat in Cruiser. Where is your tow rope I asked? Got told to use my rear synthetic winch line to tow thenm 20 miles. NO thank you. Decided they were taking the michael so left them to their own devices. Normally quite happy to help pepole as long as they are not taking the michael
Am horrified at how unprepared some people are for travelling in Australia
Regards
Brendan
Sorry no photos today as I am in a net cafe in Katherine with no wifi
Had to spend extra day in Katherine as am on a proper camp site here with decent facilities. Woke up this morning with the trots (probably too much info) so decided to stay close to a decent loo! Down plenty of liquids and crashed out outside. Got woken up by a bird having a peck at my toes!
In the six months here, flew in with a sore throat, lost a filling 2 weeks back and just one case of the trots. Not bad really.
Must admit I am looking forward to a break in Singapore. Sleeping in a bed for first time in 2 months. Aiur con. Bliss! Decent food which I do not have to prepare/cook/wash up etc.
Problem with travelling solo is portion size in supermarkets. Bag of salad is enough for 3/4 days. OK kept in fridge but bounced around so is not in brillant condition after been opened. Fresh meat is same. Land up eating same thing 2/3 nights running.
Am amazed how unprepared people are for travelling in Australia. Am not talking about bush travel but on yhe bitumen between towns. Remember it can be several hundreds of miles between service stations.
Travelling without spare wheels is crazy. Come across 3 vehicles run out of fuel recently Two blamed fuel gauge, said things like gauge said we had enough for a 100km but it run out after 80km! No spare fuel cans with them! Come across a fuel station with a bowser full of petrol, but with a broken pump so not able to deliver it out of the ground.
Come across Land Crusier on road side outside Katherine. Needed a jump start as had flat battery. Had been there over 18 hours and this is on a main highway! Jumped started vehicle at second attempt. Connected live cable to the terminal with red wire to it. Sparks flew! Cables to their battery were pretty bad, frayed etc. Reversed leads and started it. Off they went withj a thank you and God bless. Then I noticed the pile of empty VB cans. They had obviously been on pop overnight.
Few miles down road, overtook them and got flagged down. Had a problem with fuel delivery. No not out of fuel as red light not on, would I escort them into Katherine. Yep, no problems. Few miles later they conk out again so another jump start.
Another few miles, would I tow them in. Yes if you got a tow rope I said. Got a shackle out found all three of them sat in Cruiser. Where is your tow rope I asked? Got told to use my rear synthetic winch line to tow thenm 20 miles. NO thank you. Decided they were taking the michael so left them to their own devices. Normally quite happy to help pepole as long as they are not taking the michael
Am horrified at how unprepared some people are for travelling in Australia
Regards
Brendan
-
Bittersweet
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 6:35 pm
- Location: Bradford
- Full Name: Barbara Jones
-
Bittersweet
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 6:35 pm
- Location: Bradford
- Full Name: Barbara Jones
TwoSheds wrote:leeds wrote: Got woken up by a bird having a peck at my toes!
Did you get her name?
Next time Roger I make sure I get her name and mobile number for you Roger!
Currently in Darwin, fly out to Singapore tomorrow. When I fly back later will have Jon ato ride shotgun for me for a month.
Some more photos for you
This is off a creek in Gregory National Park. Looks like a white water creek
Actually creek is dry, that is calcite flow in the creek in Limestone Gorge
This shot reminds me of the Dales
The national parks in Australia have a different attitude to UK. Gregory NP has put a new 4WD track in. Not technically difficult but a very pleasant track
This is looking down Surprise Crek. Lovely plunge pools
The main road through park had some interesting creeks, remember this is the dry season
The National Parks here give sensible 4WD advice
I met a German couple by this sign who was wondering if their non snorkel Pajero would make the crossing. I suggested caution as this was the crossing
There were a couple of deep holes in it!
130 are quite common out here DCPU not so common
This guy also owned a 110 trayback.. Traybacks are very common out here
Plunge pools are everywhere. Must admit I would like to see them in full flow
When pulled up at a bush campsite in Litchfield National Park, I had another experience of 110 refusing to start! Normally I leave it 5 minutes and it starts ok. Most people have said solenoid contacts. With temperatures out here I just thought they cooled off a bit and then were ok again. This time waited 5 minutes, tried again and nothing. Oooops. Wait another 5 minutes then tried again. No ignition lights, side lights, nothing. Thought fuses, but then realised no single main fuse. Had main battery died terminally suddenly? Had a strange beep from engine bay.
Started shifting office off passenger seat and lights come on. Odd. On opening battery box which was very hot (remember day time temp 40C) and a slightly loose main negative terminal cable! The corrugations out here can shake everything and anything loose. Tighten bolt up and 110 was back on form.
Tomorrow fly to Singapore for some R & R
Regards
Brendan
PS I hate photo bucket at times. Davew any chance of reorientating a couple of pictures please
Currently enjoying a weeks relaxation in Singapore. If anyone wants a good hotel to stay in try the Royal Plaza on Scotts Road and pay the extra 80 sing $ for upgrade to Club lounge. Well worth the money.
In the Litchfield National Park come across these cocoons. Have no idea what emerged from them but I rather liked the pastel colours of the cocoons
It is good to be able to sit down and eat food without ants nibbling my toes and flies committing hari kari up my nostrils etc. By the weekend though I think will be raring to get back into the driving seat of the 110. Will have a new navvy with me in the form of Jon who runs Venture Overland (http://www.ventureoverland.com/). Question is will he will be able to cope with my ways of doing things as am used to travelling solo now?
Singapore has some good attractions the Bird Gardens, Zoo and Night Safari are well worth doing if you are visiting Singapore. The Singaporeans certainly know how to put in decent infrastructure and run how to maintain things.
Some photos from the bird garden
The Shoebill bird looks either like something from the dinosaur era or how a kid might portray a bird
The aviarys at the Singapore Bird Gardens are large walk in ones. The largest one is over 2 hectares in size and contains the largest manmade waterfall of some 30 minutes with 8,000 gallons a minute flowing over it.
The lories were very colourful
whereas some of the vultures were ugly looking things
Must admit I would like to be better at taking photos of birds in the wild as I have seen some amazing ones in my travels. Suppose to take wild bird photos successfully you need lots of patientence and much larger lenses.
Regards
Brendan
In the Litchfield National Park come across these cocoons. Have no idea what emerged from them but I rather liked the pastel colours of the cocoons
It is good to be able to sit down and eat food without ants nibbling my toes and flies committing hari kari up my nostrils etc. By the weekend though I think will be raring to get back into the driving seat of the 110. Will have a new navvy with me in the form of Jon who runs Venture Overland (http://www.ventureoverland.com/). Question is will he will be able to cope with my ways of doing things as am used to travelling solo now?
Singapore has some good attractions the Bird Gardens, Zoo and Night Safari are well worth doing if you are visiting Singapore. The Singaporeans certainly know how to put in decent infrastructure and run how to maintain things.
Some photos from the bird garden
The Shoebill bird looks either like something from the dinosaur era or how a kid might portray a bird
The aviarys at the Singapore Bird Gardens are large walk in ones. The largest one is over 2 hectares in size and contains the largest manmade waterfall of some 30 minutes with 8,000 gallons a minute flowing over it.
The lories were very colourful
whereas some of the vultures were ugly looking things
Must admit I would like to be better at taking photos of birds in the wild as I have seen some amazing ones in my travels. Suppose to take wild bird photos successfully you need lots of patientence and much larger lenses.
Regards
Brendan
The cocoons are apparently those of mud wasps. They will make their cocoons anywhere which can create problems if they make them in locks, exhaust pipes etc.
Whilst in Singapore I have received some TLC and maintainence as well. Lost a rather large filling in Kununurra. Trouble with being continually on the move means getting dental treatment awkward. Ask hotel if they could arrange a dental appointment for me. Got it same afternoon. Can not imagine getting such speedy appointment in the UK. Anyway theloss of a large filling and non treatment basically gave me three choices. Leave it until got back to UK and risk an abcess! Root filling plus a crown but insufficient time whilst in Singapore. Third alternative was surgical extraction. So have had my first adult tooth removed (excluding two wisdom teeth)
So after 6 months of travelling I am standing up reasonably well!
Today we went to Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. Dropped a clanger, took camera with flat battery! Got a few photos on phone though.
Must admit was wondering whether Germans or Indian tourist are the worst. What is wrong with simple instructions like No Smoking, No Flash photograrhy, keep noise down etc!
Both the Zoo and Night Safari are well organised. Whereas the Oran Utangs had freedom to roam felt sorry for the lack of room for the poor polar bears! There again the Singapore zoos are a lot better then some I have seen in Europe
The global financial crisis has made an impact on my trip costs. The UK £ has fallen from 2.8 Sing $ to 2.4 Singapore $. So everything in Singapore costs about 15% more. This is offset by a rise in the £ from 2.1 to 2.4 AAustralian 4> So costs in Australia are down about 15%.
Regards
Brendan
Whilst in Singapore I have received some TLC and maintainence as well. Lost a rather large filling in Kununurra. Trouble with being continually on the move means getting dental treatment awkward. Ask hotel if they could arrange a dental appointment for me. Got it same afternoon. Can not imagine getting such speedy appointment in the UK. Anyway theloss of a large filling and non treatment basically gave me three choices. Leave it until got back to UK and risk an abcess! Root filling plus a crown but insufficient time whilst in Singapore. Third alternative was surgical extraction. So have had my first adult tooth removed (excluding two wisdom teeth)
So after 6 months of travelling I am standing up reasonably well!
Today we went to Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. Dropped a clanger, took camera with flat battery! Got a few photos on phone though.
Must admit was wondering whether Germans or Indian tourist are the worst. What is wrong with simple instructions like No Smoking, No Flash photograrhy, keep noise down etc!
Both the Zoo and Night Safari are well organised. Whereas the Oran Utangs had freedom to roam felt sorry for the lack of room for the poor polar bears! There again the Singapore zoos are a lot better then some I have seen in Europe
The global financial crisis has made an impact on my trip costs. The UK £ has fallen from 2.8 Sing $ to 2.4 Singapore $. So everything in Singapore costs about 15% more. This is offset by a rise in the £ from 2.1 to 2.4 AAustralian 4> So costs in Australia are down about 15%.
Regards
Brendan
-
Bittersweet
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 6:35 pm
- Location: Bradford
- Full Name: Barbara Jones
We parted company yesterday evening in Changi Airport, Bren flew east with Jon and I flew west back to work tomorrow. The pair of them are in Darwin, getting Jon kitted out with a Mossy tent and catching up on the lack of sleep, they had a flight that landed at 4.30 in the morning!
The cunning plan is to head south before the rains arrive in the north, they are going to head towards Alice Springs and Ayers Rock but knowing Brendan and his diversions they could end up anywhere.
Barbara
The cunning plan is to head south before the rains arrive in the north, they are going to head towards Alice Springs and Ayers Rock but knowing Brendan and his diversions they could end up anywhere.
Barbara
Currently sat in air con cafe in Katherine. Jon quickly found out that he was going to be hot and dirty. Jumped into 110 and got a lovely stain from left shoulder across chest. That seat belt has not been used for a couple of months. LOL
Travelled down from Darwin through Litchfield National Park. Jon had trouble sleeping in the National Park because of the rooting feral pigs. Will hopefully put some photos up later.
The trees in Oz have the same tendency as the trees at Tong/Hawnscliff. They do not stay where they were put! Result will later today be cutting a bit of poly carb to fit in the rear door.
As entered Katherine the temperarture begun to rise and the engine watchdog started barking! At camp site removed the 5 bladed electric fan, which had been fitted in Sydney as a 12 bladed one. Wondered why it was a bit noisy! Discovered a leak at the top of the oil cooler section of the radiator. One of the bolts holding the top retaining frame on just touched the rad. A few million corrugations later and brass is softer then steel a small pin hole appeared.
The rad was brazed up and pressure tested for a rip off 10$!!! (about £4, what a bargain) The viscous fan has replaced the electric fan so hopefully that is sorted. The engine watchdog has certainly earned its keep.
Jon has brought out a tracking device and you can find out where we are by regerstering on his website at www.ventureoverland.com
Regards
Brendan
Travelled down from Darwin through Litchfield National Park. Jon had trouble sleeping in the National Park because of the rooting feral pigs. Will hopefully put some photos up later.
The trees in Oz have the same tendency as the trees at Tong/Hawnscliff. They do not stay where they were put! Result will later today be cutting a bit of poly carb to fit in the rear door.
As entered Katherine the temperarture begun to rise and the engine watchdog started barking! At camp site removed the 5 bladed electric fan, which had been fitted in Sydney as a 12 bladed one. Wondered why it was a bit noisy! Discovered a leak at the top of the oil cooler section of the radiator. One of the bolts holding the top retaining frame on just touched the rad. A few million corrugations later and brass is softer then steel a small pin hole appeared.
The rad was brazed up and pressure tested for a rip off 10$!!! (about £4, what a bargain) The viscous fan has replaced the electric fan so hopefully that is sorted. The engine watchdog has certainly earned its keep.
Jon has brought out a tracking device and you can find out where we are by regerstering on his website at www.ventureoverland.com
Regards
Brendan
We are now safely back in Alice after experiencing sand storms, torrential rain, fantastic lighting shows, flooded roads, beached 110 etc. Both of us are feeling back endish as the trip is rapidly coming to a close. Many roads are now officially closed which will limit possible routes back to Sydney. Since we have decent internet access will upload some photos. Jon has also created a gallery on his website as well here http://www.ventureoverland.com/index.php so you can see this trip through a different lens.
Anyway will back track to Singapore and start posting photos from there onwards. Have used Singapore as a transit hub over last few years and think it is a fantastic city. Want a good hotel in Singapore then try the Royal Plaza on Scotts and consider upgrading to the lounge floors, well worth the extra 80S$
Some of the afternoon goodies on offer in the lounge at the Royal Plaza
The Singapore Lion must have look fantastic in the Victorian era with low rise buildings behind it. Singapore has managed to keep some of its historic features despite the rise of the CBD
Singapore is an incredibly clean city and has rubbish boats to keep waterways clean etc
Flew back to Darwin with Jon and started the next phase of the trip. After a night in Darwin we headed south down the Stuart Highway and into the Litchfield National Park. Jon soon realised that creek crossings would be a frequent occurence
It can be difficult to find alternative routes in Australia, but we managed to find some sections of the old Stuart Highway. These were more fun then the bitumen
Although at times we had to go bush to get around obstacles
At Katherine we had a slight overheating problem as reported earlier. Was extremely glad that had an engine watchdog fitted. Problem caused by two bolts rubbing against top of rad on the corrugations. Cost of having two holes brazed, rad flushed and pressure tested a bargain at £4
The electric fan which had been replaced in Sydney was a bit noisy. Good job was carrying the viscous fan as a spare
Regards
Brendan
Anyway will back track to Singapore and start posting photos from there onwards. Have used Singapore as a transit hub over last few years and think it is a fantastic city. Want a good hotel in Singapore then try the Royal Plaza on Scotts and consider upgrading to the lounge floors, well worth the extra 80S$
Some of the afternoon goodies on offer in the lounge at the Royal Plaza
The Singapore Lion must have look fantastic in the Victorian era with low rise buildings behind it. Singapore has managed to keep some of its historic features despite the rise of the CBD
Singapore is an incredibly clean city and has rubbish boats to keep waterways clean etc
Flew back to Darwin with Jon and started the next phase of the trip. After a night in Darwin we headed south down the Stuart Highway and into the Litchfield National Park. Jon soon realised that creek crossings would be a frequent occurence
It can be difficult to find alternative routes in Australia, but we managed to find some sections of the old Stuart Highway. These were more fun then the bitumen
Although at times we had to go bush to get around obstacles
At Katherine we had a slight overheating problem as reported earlier. Was extremely glad that had an engine watchdog fitted. Problem caused by two bolts rubbing against top of rad on the corrugations. Cost of having two holes brazed, rad flushed and pressure tested a bargain at £4
The electric fan which had been replaced in Sydney was a bit noisy. Good job was carrying the viscous fan as a spare
Regards
Brendan
From Katherine we headed west towards Halls Creek on the bitumen. From Halls Creek we headed south down the Tanami track which is 600+ miles of dirt road. It took us 3 days to do this track and saw a total of 5 other vehicles in the trip down the Tanami. On the way down experienced a momentary loss of power, which I attributed to foot coming off pedal slightly as went over the corrugations. Turned off the main track on a side trail to Wolfe Creek Meteorite Park and a couple of miles on the engine just died completely.
Some head scratching later, Jon had eliminated other possibilities and decided to remove ball and plunger from the stop solenoid. Engine was now going again, stopping was by the stalling method.
My contribution here was replacing all the items back in the socket set after I spilt them
The Wolf Creek Crater is supposed to be the second biggest meteorite crater in the world. The bang when it landed must have been impressive when it landed
We started to notice a rather large number of wrecked cars on the Tanami. You get used to seeing abandoned wrecked cars as you travel around Australia. On the bottom 2/3 rds of the Tanami Track (some 400 miles) we counted 97 cars like this
It was nice to get off the track at times from this
to this
A favourite occupation was to watch the sun go down, have a few beers whilst looking at the star filled night watching the shooting stars and putting the world to rights
Regards
Brendan
Some head scratching later, Jon had eliminated other possibilities and decided to remove ball and plunger from the stop solenoid. Engine was now going again, stopping was by the stalling method.
My contribution here was replacing all the items back in the socket set after I spilt them
The Wolf Creek Crater is supposed to be the second biggest meteorite crater in the world. The bang when it landed must have been impressive when it landed
We started to notice a rather large number of wrecked cars on the Tanami. You get used to seeing abandoned wrecked cars as you travel around Australia. On the bottom 2/3 rds of the Tanami Track (some 400 miles) we counted 97 cars like this
It was nice to get off the track at times from this
to this
A favourite occupation was to watch the sun go down, have a few beers whilst looking at the star filled night watching the shooting stars and putting the world to rights
Regards
Brendan
After the Tanami track we had a quick rest in Alice and caught up with household chores like washing clothes etc before heading east along the Plenety and Donohue Highways to Birdsville and the Simpson desert. We might as well not have bothered doing the washing because somehow enroutre we lost the bag with the clean shreddies in!
Roads are well signed for their condition
Rain has been affecting these roads
I personally do not have a high regard for the average Aussie mechanic. They do not have a clue about grease guns, split pins etc. Have a look and make up your own minds.A quick running repair with R pins sorted that problem out.
From Birdsville headed into the Simpson Desert apparently the hard way as would be going up the steep dune faces.
Not long after heading into the desert we run into a sand storm
A view through the windscreen!
Trying to find Poppel Corner was fun. Turned right towards it and had multiple choice track. The Xplore tough book and moving map proved extremely useful in finding the right track in the middle of a sand storm.
Sand was been blown everywhere
That night it rained bucket loads so we should have been in luck with a hard crust on top of the soft blown sand
The soft sand could avalache away from the vehicle
Managed to beach the 110 on one soft crest. No major drama really, or shouldn't be.
Only problem was the fickle land rover fairy turned up. Stalled the engine and then would not let it start again
No problem just dig away and winch forward and do a bump start. Simple in theory isn't it? Ground anchor would not bite in the soft sand especially as there was an upwards pull on it!
Solution was to bury spare wheel. Winched it over and bumped started the 110
The fickle land rover fairy then departed as we always parked on a slope so the 110 started on the key first time!
Life can be harsh in the desert
Although nice patterns could be found in newly blown sand.
Seeing the stars and the electrical storms in the desert was magical
More later
Regards
Brendan
Roads are well signed for their condition
Rain has been affecting these roads
I personally do not have a high regard for the average Aussie mechanic. They do not have a clue about grease guns, split pins etc. Have a look and make up your own minds.A quick running repair with R pins sorted that problem out.
From Birdsville headed into the Simpson Desert apparently the hard way as would be going up the steep dune faces.
Not long after heading into the desert we run into a sand storm
A view through the windscreen!
Trying to find Poppel Corner was fun. Turned right towards it and had multiple choice track. The Xplore tough book and moving map proved extremely useful in finding the right track in the middle of a sand storm.
Sand was been blown everywhere
That night it rained bucket loads so we should have been in luck with a hard crust on top of the soft blown sand
The soft sand could avalache away from the vehicle
Managed to beach the 110 on one soft crest. No major drama really, or shouldn't be.
Only problem was the fickle land rover fairy turned up. Stalled the engine and then would not let it start again
No problem just dig away and winch forward and do a bump start. Simple in theory isn't it? Ground anchor would not bite in the soft sand especially as there was an upwards pull on it!
Solution was to bury spare wheel. Winched it over and bumped started the 110
The fickle land rover fairy then departed as we always parked on a slope so the 110 started on the key first time!
Life can be harsh in the desert
Although nice patterns could be found in newly blown sand.
Seeing the stars and the electrical storms in the desert was magical
More later
Regards
Brendan
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