“4 Corners in 4 Weeks - 2002”
Brisbane 80sCOOL Trip Report.
Participants:
James, Tracey, Kirk and Luke Yatras. Silver
1991HDJ80 GXL
Stuart and Heather McMurtrie. Gunmetal 1993
HZJ80
GXL
Craig and Marianna Huxley. Blue 1997
HZJ80
GXL
Mark and Ken Gordon. White 1996
HZJ80
DX
Peter, Deanne and Regan Blackmore. White 1996
HZJ80
STD (shit to drive)
Day 1
The 22nd of June 2002 rolled around quick enough
with everyone making a few last minute preparations, Mark and Craig both
leaving it to a couple of weeks prior to departure to fit long range sub tanks
(a point of subterfuge. SEE Note 1)and do fluid changes. 7.00am
saw everyone meet at McDonalds at Goodna, which seems to be a regular departure
point for the group. The five fully
loaded 80’s were quite a sight and left no doubt to anyone that saw them that
the group was off for a major trip.
A few equally heavily loaded Subaru’s were also seen in the carpark and the owners made themselves known and asked if
we were the Brisbane 80 series owners going across the Simpson. Obviously one of their number
is thinking of trading up to an 80 and has been reading the list!! A quick top up with junk food for the kids
and it was off.
The going was easy as everyone got a handle on driving
underpowered diesels at highway speeds on the roller coaster SE Qld
hills. The Toowoomba range saw the
Huxley mobile take up rear position as it struggled to clear the buildup of 12 months of city driving, passers by probably
wondered why the word “turbo” was being chanted like
a mantra out of the drivers’ mouth.
Quite embarrassing for the Huxley’s as Gordo’s
white whale had previously held the slowest tag. Toowoomba saw the Gordon’s stop for food (yep
they waited till Toowoomba to buy lunch food which left everyone stunned), and
the Blackmore’s stop to correct a small error in
Peter’s normally perfect checklisting (he
forgot the pillows).
At this point the trip “Goose” award was given to Peter for
his effort the day before for putting his roof rack on back the front and drilling
his sandflag mount into the rear of his new TJM alloy
rack instead of the front.
The drive was uneventful and the crew made Morven and setup
camp in secret location A, the local Recreation Club (with full clearance from
local authorities). Unfortunately no-one
on the group could understand why the tent pegs went into the ground so easily
until Ken spotted underground sprinklers popping up in the dark. Fortunately the controls were easily
accessible and a drenching was averted.
Morven certainly lived up to its chilly
reputation with -2C recorded for the morning.
Day 2 saw the intrepid group on the bitumen for Windorah pulling
into the local town camp grounds at 4pm. Of note was the cost of fuel in Charleville
at $0.849/litre is the cheapest fuel outside
Toowoomba. Windorah has done what many
small rural towns should take a leaf out of the old book and do
themselves. Instead of having nowhere to
camp they have built a smallish camp ground
with water and power (for caravans) and a clean amenities block. At $5 per tent per night it represents
excellent value for country travellers.
The Western Star Hotel was the night’s entertainment and dinner venue.
Day 3 and the group topped off tanks at $0.98/litre
and departed for Birdsville. Just prior to leaving the bitumen is the JC Hotel Ruins at the old
township of
Canterbury.
Nothing remains of the town other than the cemetery with
grave stones going well back to the early settlement of the area. The reality
of the harshness of this area was demonstrated by the youth of so many of the
deceased. JC Ruins isn’t much in reality
but remains of machinery and a well picked over bottle dump. The story of the closing of the pub is
interesting - the local property owner bought it and tore the roof off to stop
all the property workers drinking there.
Birdsville was reached before lunch with the UHF filled with discussion
about the chances of survival of one Falcon driving group who overtook the
group three times in 12 hours on either single lane bitumen or dirt at speeds
in excess of 140kph. Where they kept
stopping was a source of wonder as no-one ever saw them stopped.
Day 4 was a
chance to wash clothes ready for a long run without water. Also visited by some of the group was
Birdsville’s Working
Museum. This museum is an outback wonder, at least
the equal of any other museum outside a city.
The collection of artefacts from Australia’s
past was fantastic with the owner giving an engaging tour for the party which
was particularly well received by the kids (and big kids).
The afternoon saw all bar Peter out playing on the old Big
Red crossing. All the 80’s made it over
and back without difficulty (except for Gordo’s 3
attempts at the west-east crossing).
The
short meeting of a couple in a Mitsubishi Canter camper was to take on great
meaning later in the trip.
Day 5 saw five
fully loaded, watered and fuelled 80 series Cruisers heading west, with tyres
deflated just before Big Red. The new crossing presented no obstacle for
any vehicle with most going over in high range.
Dune 2 was just as easy for all bar one. Three attempts saw the Huxley’s call for
assistance and were unceremoniously dragged
over the last lump by the Gordon’s.
As
usual much laughing was done at the unfortunate drivers
expense. Fortunately by the next dune
Craig (who had come down with a bad wog on Day 1) shook enough of the cobwebs
from his brain to figure that pressing the button on the top row of his dash marked
“Centre Diff Lock” would make a marvellous difference to 4wheel drive
performance solving the riddle from the last hill.
There was certainly nothing on the QAA line
that would stop a properly driven 80 that was for sure although enough of a
challenge that you can be sure at having one or two goes at the odd sand
hill. Peter and Craig both commented on
the lugging ability of the mighty 1HZ, when at
times it looked like it would run out of puff
the engine just kept pulling right down to
600rpm and they’d flop over the crest.
The beauty of the Simpson Desert was
fully showcased by spectacular weather, clear blue skies and just a touch of
wind making it ideal travelling
conditions.
The crew proceeded onwards arriving at Secret
Camp B (S25 52 26.9 E138 08 56.5) where we sprawled over a great level and
circular claypan. As remarked by James,
it had it all, claypan, sunset and sand dunes.
As the Gordon’s and Huxley’s caught up to the rest of the group a call
was heard over the UHF directed to the 80’s group on the claypan, intercepted
by Gordo, they people were requesting permission to
join in on the claypan, Gordo told them to check with
the rest of the group and by the time he and the Huxley’s arrived found it was
the same Canter from the previous day at Big Red.
This supposed chance meeting was to take on
greater significance later when Craig and James asked what route they were
taking they replied “Ohh
the same as you guys”, odd as we hadn’t told them.
As it transpires at
Birdsville they had pumped the kids for information, and it looked for all
intents they intended to tag along, “Over our dead bodies”.
The group as a whole found these people
rather strange and quite intrusive on what was a close group.
Day 6
saw us heading to Poepell’s Corner for the first of the 4 Corners, then
heading across the French Line to the Knolls Track. After a look at the Approdina
Attora Knolls we continued heading south to the Rig
Road before continuing west to a nice spot amongst the dunes, not far from the
Lone Gum Tree, for a two day stop in the desert (Secret Location C S26 26'
03.8" E137 28' 06.8. The
Knoll’s Track is good, quite fast with some corrugated sections. The Rig Road,
a two wheel drive affair in reality, some
washed out sections of the clay top but otherwise a fairly uninspiring
drive. The Simpson is a great playground
for the kids. Every break saw the three
boys running wild, building forts and at one time all three looked
like
some strange burrowing creatures as they mined into a small sandhill
heads down, bums up and a rooster tail of sand flying between their legs. Not only that all three liked
the idea of not having to bath, Regan was hoping to go for 3 weeks without a
wash, although Deanne and Peter had some other firm ideas on that.
Day 7 was a
chance to relax, take a leisurely drive to the Lone Gum Tree, actually a coolibah tree, and have a look for one of the old oil wells and
the airstrip. The airstrip was easy enough although it took
some looking before the well was found about 1.5 km from where shown on the GDT
map. Back at camp the ladies were in
full swing preparing for a gala desert dinner.
Marianna was showing the finer points of Guinness Pie making to Deanne
and Tracey, whilst Craig was eying off the left over Guinness. The
Gala dinner was a real spectacle with all the women dressing up in their
finery, the blokes not scrubbing up to the same level.
Day 8
saw us heading north on the Erabena track to the WAA
line. The Erabena Track
is a fast and easy track running primarily within the interdunal
valley and took next to no time to reach our next turn, west onto the WAA
Line. Interesting enough was that some
guide books say the WAA is rough and should not be traversed, all our group found it an easy run with no difficulty other
than some soft sand at the top of dunes meaning you had to keep revs and speed
up. Not exactly
challenging, but an interesting track.
Watch out for traffic hazards (they knew the overloaded silver turbo was
coming by the looks of it). Amazing enough Stuart in
the lead saw a large white vehicle in the distance which sure enough transpired
to be the Canter people again. Once
again they uninvited attached themselves to the group and it was only because
of being lighter vehicles that the 80’s could
make a break after lunch and hope to get some privacy that night.
Lunch time saw us stopping and talking with members of the
Brisbane Landrover club who were heading west to
east. Craig and Stuart actually knew
one of their party from work and had a good yarn
before heading onwards to Mokari Airstrip. The Mokari Airstrip
site was another nice one amongst the dunes with a huge flock of native budgies
roosting nearby. Sure enough after
pitching tent the rattle of a diesel was heard and the Canter people idled into
our rather small area and setup camp much to everyone’s bemusement. Although many may have trouble understanding
why the group was offended by these people, a few of the odd things were:
- Trying
to take over our camp fire with prime locations (sorted by Craig who moved
their chairs and put the groups upwind J
)
- Using
our bush dunny without even asking, even though they had a porta potti
- The
comment at Mokari by the driver “Gee almost
couldn’t find you we just saw the tops of the sand flags” (Damn those
flags to hell)
Day 9 started with our lowest temperature recorded of -6.6 C
which really got the heart going.
Quickly packing the 80’s and it was on to Purnie
Bore and ultimately Dalhousie Springs. Purnie is a shadow of its former self, with only a small amount of water being released into
the area, but still enough to sustain the huge flocks of finches. Running on to Dalhousie we soon found why you
need to get in relatively early. Camp
areas for 5 (soon to be 6) vehicles were limited,
however we managed to secure a good spot and after shoving up the tents James
and Stuart went and secured a good load of wood for a camp fire and have a good
soak in the hot springs. One benefit of
the small areas was we were able to separate ourselves from the Canter
crowd. Not to long after dark a white 80
Series was seen idling through the camping
areas, sure enough it was Terry (TJL) Leeder, when
questioned about why it was so late, he told us about his three hour chat to a
mechanic at Oodnadatta (it is believed he was
heard to remark as TJL drove away “You’re breaking up Terry”). A rather pleasant night was had around the
camp fire renewing old acquaintances, with the main queries being why Terry had
a 20kg bag of potatoes in the rear of the cruiser.
Day 10 was a chance to have another swim in those beautiful
hot
springs, check out the ruins of Dalhousie station and
collect some more firewood. One lump of
wood must have been titanium wood (harder than ironbark) because Stuart managed
to actually bend the blade on his axe on it, fortunately Craig had his space
age Fiskars mini axe to deal with the problem. It was at this point Peter was named “Dances with
Wolves” as his hair was standing up like a
Mohawk from the salts in the spring water.
Day 11 Terry having been the previous day’s
“goose” for his roo hitting efforts handed the baton on to James who once more
had excelled in goose behaviour (a pattern was emerging).
It was then onwards again firstly to Mt Dare for a refuel
for some (James still none the wiser about long range tanks) and then onwards
to Lamberts Centre (the geographical centre of Australia) for lunch then through Finke and up the Ghan
Track. The Ghan has been graded since
some of the group had last visited in 1999 and was no longer a matter of
dodging sleepers and washouts but suffering corrugations at 100kph.
Only Craig and Marianna found Rumbalara siding, having taken a slight
detour off the track and running parallel to the rest of the group for about
15km before coming out onto the main track just behind them. The rest of the group were of the firm
opinion that they were geographically embarrassed, however Craig reckoned he
knew where he was because of the GPS (just not where to go).
Just after pulling into Bundooma siding a sleek silver 80
Series Super DX pulled in, driven by none other than Paul Le Fevre. Risking the
wrath of Bonney his ever suffering wife (who was due to have their third baby
in a matter of weeks – congrats it’s a girl) he had driven down for a nights
chatting (drinking) with the group even managing to bring fresh bread and some
fireworks. Even more importantly he had brought a new
battery for James, whose main battery had chosen the Simpson as a good place to
boil off 3 cells, and two new OME rear shocks for Gordo
who had worried himself sick about his bouncing rear end (just when did those
shocks go in Gordo?).
That night saw a slightly late night
commencing with a fireworks show and followed with some light
refreshments, with some of the group finding out just who did the snoring in
the Blackmore’s tent, before the Brisbane lads had to
call it quits leaving Terry (you’re breaking up TJL) to yarp
on with Paul to the very wee hours.
Day 12 saw some slightly
tired troopers on the road for Chambers Pillar which was an easy drive in being
wide and relatively good for a busy dirt track.
Along the way Paul departed to pay penance for playing up with the boys
after collecting some artefacts from the Mary Vale car dump. Arriving at Chambers Pillar early is a real wise move,
after we had taken over the majority of one camp area a heap of vehicles turned
up prior to dark with the last lot missing out completely and having to camp
away from the main area. Chambers was
certainly a recognizable landmark and one can imagine why it was used by the
early explorers for that reason.
Day 13 saw Peter
and Deanne depart for Alice Springs,
Peter having to get back for uni much to his regret, but having just enough time to check out some of the East
McDonnell ranges. As we left
Chambers Pillar, Mark got a beauty of a stake effectively consigning a $300
brand new BFG MT
to the spare tyre category. The rest of group head west across the Hugh
River Stock Route to the Stuart
Highway ad turned south on to the bitumen 1300km
after leaving the bitumen at Windorah. A
quick lunch and look at Hensbury Meteorite Reserve
and it was time to refuel at Erldunda. (Note: Fuel
was 7c per litre cheaper at Yulara). What was most amazing was TJL’s
cruiser bouncing along the road, his rear shocks having totally failed on the
run over from Mt Dare. A lesser man
would have been puking from car sickness but TJL just kept pogo-ing along.
Heading further west we past
Mount
Connor to the south which was being
illuminated by the setting sun and looking quite a spectacle. Pulling into
Yulara we were met by Stuart’s daughter who was to be our host for the 3 nights
at Yulara. With the costs associated at
Yulara, staff discount and local knowledge is a welcome addition to any time
spent at Yulara. The usual sights were
seen and plenty of dining out experiences.
Our final night was a treat, Tracey finding Bough’s Restaurant at the
Pioneer Hotel which offered a great buffet for $40 per adult with kids under 15
free. It was also indoors and heated
which was really appreciated by everyone as much of Yulara’s eateries are open
types.
Day 16 saw TJL head for Alice
Springs and some warranty work on the shocks, whilst the 4
Brisbane
vehicles headed west to Giles. There had
been plenty of mutterings from various sources prior to departure about an
aboriginal men's law week being held at Giles and the
roads being closed. Lunch at Lasseter’s
Cave was the only break and an indication of just how good the road was. Travelling
at 80-100kph the whole morning we averaged 83 kph over the course of the
day. Although the road holds no
challenge except for remoteness if the Aboriginal Land Council relaxed permit
conditions and allowed bush camping one could easily imagine stopping a few
days and soaking up the beauty of the surroundings especially in the vicinity
of the Scherwin Mural
Crescent so named by Ernest Giles due to the
beauty of the surrounding range.
After checking out the Giles Met Station and having a look
though the visitors centre and at Len Beadell’s famous
Gunbarrel Construction Party Grader we idled down to
the Warakurna Roadhouse and setup camp in their camp
grounds. An indication of the petrol
sniffing problem in this area is the heavy gauge steel enclosures around all of
the bowsers and that they only sell diesel and avgas. The facilities
at Warakurna are better than expected,
there are a number of motel rooms, a back packers area and camping grounds with
a spotlessly clean shower block with oodles of hot water.
Day 17 saw an
early start on the packup so we could get up to the
Met Station for the morning balloon release followed by a very interesting tour
of the facilities by one the met
officers. A chart on the wall showing
various weather conditions showed the highest ground windspeed
ever recorded at Giles as 140kph in 1979, not a good day to be outside!
At this point we backtracked 30km to an unmarked track
(thankful for the GPS giving us the directions) and turned onto the Giles-Mulga
Park Road, formerly known as Len Beadell’s “Gunbarrel
Highway”.
The section between Giles and Wingellina was great
in places and horrible in others and one grader was working close to Wingellina. Lunch saw as at
Surveyor-General’s Corner, both of them, the track takes you to the first
marker peg complete with a new stand and box for a visitors book, however the
plate is marked only with two states Western Australia
and South Australia, about 70 metres away
stands the proper marker, showing the three state boundaries and also has a
stand and box. This one contains the visitors book.
A major highlight
on this section was seeing the first of the Len Beadell
aluminium plate survey markers, which although replica’s
let you know you’re on the right track.
A quick check with the GPS also tells you that Len Beadell
was one heck of an astro-surveyor as his co-ordinates
were spot on with that given by a 4 metre reading on a 12 channel GPS.
Once again the vagaries of travelling
on aboriginal land meant we could not camp on the Anangu
Pitjantjatjara lands but had to continue along the Gunbarrel Highway until we
exited aboriginal land at Mulga
Park
station. Len Beadell
had a stated intention of building his roads to go near places of interest and
other features, and the Gunbarrel, his first road
certainly fulfilled that criteria, the scenery, of ranges and changing
landscapes something to marvel at, a shame it is locked away from most Australians
by a very restrictive permit system, the lure of the Mount Davies Road and
Kintore Avenue was there but at this time unavailable. One comment on the road is that it is in all
aspects are dirt highway, high speeds maintained effortlessly and a two wheel drive affair for most, in the dry.
A great camp spot was found just over the boundary and after
pitching tent the group decided it looked like
a great two night stay location, level, sheltered amongst the mulga’s and a great place to bush camp. A great scorpion wandered into camp that
afternoon in time for drinks, Mark ever the greenie wanted to burn it in the
fire whilst the 9 and 7 year old boys wanted it let go (go figure…what’s
happening to kids these days next thing they won’t like
bullbars).
Day 18 saw the
group exploring the area on foot, wrecked cars abound anywhere near aboriginal
communities and this spot was no different, Craig pulling
off bits and pieces of various early Fords (that’s a Pord
Palcon eh Stu) and
lamenting not being able to go over a partially burnt out 40 Series shorty seen on the Gunbarrel the
previous day.
That night saw James and Tracey singing their new trip song (a
James tradition is a commemorative song), this one about our meeting of the
family travelling in a Mitsubishi Canter. The song to “Rawhide” went along the
lines
of “Canter canter canter,
canter canter canter,
canter canter canter, keep
that Canter rolling, let’s hide……….”
Day 19 and we continued on long the last of the Gunbarrel to the Stuart Highway. Mount
Conner was easily visible to the
north at one stage and a really indicator of what a shallow loop the group had
driven. Returning to the bitumen, Stuart
ducked up to Kulgera for fuel while the LR tank
equipped vehicles went in to Mount Cavenagh Station
and climbed up to the Johnston Geodetic
Station. The Johnston
trig station is the master reference point for all Australian
survey’s and affords a great panorama of the surrounding area.
Heading south the group pulled into Coober
Pedy our first stay undercover where we decided to
treat ourselves to an underground motel room.
Day 20 was a chance to get some clothes washed (the local
laundry washed, dried and folded all of the Yatras’
clothes for only $20) and if you aren’t keen on wasting time with domestic
duties well worth the small charge. With
that sorted it was time to check out the mining scene. As the morning progressed the wind started to
get progressively stronger to the point that by 11am
visibility was down to 75 metres and the town
was covered in choking clouds of dust. Amazing was that the Yatras
boys still could be found digging in the dirt, this time in the free noddling
area. James true to form found a local
miner who would sell polished opals direct at
excellent prices and Stuart, Mark and Ken all bought some nice pieces for their
loving wives. Late that afternoon Stuart
and Craig had to rescue a couple of foreign tourists being threatened by a
heavily intoxicated female aboriginal armed with a rock…………..civilisation??
Day 21 and it was
time to say goodbye to Mark and Ken.
Mark’s wife Trina was flying down to meet him in Adelaide
and hid dad Ken would be jumping back on for the return to sunny Queensland. At this time we could tell Ken had had enough
of camping for a while, when he refused to pitch a tent in Adelaide
telling Mark he could sleep anywhere he
liked
but he was staying inside – so much for fatherly love!
For the remaining three vehicles it was off to
William
Creek, a rather uninteresting
journey as the area is flat and rather featureless compared to the magnificent
red sand hill country of the northern deserts.
Arriving at William
Creek and the Huxley’s and McMurtrie’s decided to drive the 70km into Lake
Eyre, whilst the Yatras’ took the more
expensive option of a light plane flight
over the area. Continuing onwards the
group passed more remnants of the old Ghan Railway line
and stopped at one fairly well preserved example at Beresford.
These side trips delayed proceedings somewhat, and this
turned out to be the first day the intended destination wasn’t achieved, pulling
up short at Coward Springs where the prospect of shelter from the roaring wind
was more attractive than a bush camp on the flat surrounding country. Coward Springs is a pleasant place to pull up
on any trip, a donkey fired hot water system means a great shower can be
enjoyed and the owner keeps the place tidy and clean. For those people that
have been to Dalhousie Springs…..well these are similar only the size of the
bonnet of a Land Cruiser J.
Day 22 and to
everyone’s amazement rain could be seen on the horizon. Wet tents were not appealing
and camp was broken in record time, all hands pitching in to get things
done. Proceeding onwards to Maree for fuel for Stuart ($1.00/litre)
and a look at the E G Cruze truck and other items and
then Marianna rescued a lamb being torments by a group of local aboriginal kids
armed with whips. After sorting this out
(the local police of course being busy with
missing detainee’s) the lamb was left at the clinic
and we could depart onwards. At this
point the weather front was catching up and by the time we arrived at Lyndhurst
rain was splattering on the windscreens and the idea of lunch outside was less
than appealing. The Elsewhere Hotel beckoned and great steak
sandwiches and burgers were enjoyed for lunch. After lunch and it was time for
a visit to that local legend and talc carver “Talc Alf”, he is certainly a
character for want of a better description.
Heading north and the weather was getting progressively
worse and the prospects of pitching tent in the rain and driving wind on the
open Stezlecki
Desert area was less than appealing. We pushed on past our intended camp area of Yaniguri Waterhole and made the turn onto the Merty Metry track leading to
Cameron’s Corner. A passing driver on
the Strezlecki Track who had just come from Cameron’s
Corner had been quizzed about campsite areas on this section of track and replied
rather negatively, much to our surprise we were back into the familiar
red sand dune area where great bush camp spots abound and we were soon pitching
tent on a good pan with shelter from the remains of the front as it moved away
to the east. Once again the difference
in perceptions meant only the individual can truly judge what is or isn’t a
good site.
Day
23. The Merty
Merty track was a great drive to Cameron’s Corner, up
and over sandhills and covered in a clay surface,
probably more fun for the driver than the passengers with a couple of young
stomach’s getting a little upset. Arriving at Cameron’s Corner and time for pics and a look around before
we headed back to Bollard’s Lagoon intending to drive the Bore Track. We were well received at the station and
after $10 per vehicle changed hands a photocopied mud map was handed over and
we drove one of the most interesting tracks of the whole trip. The bore track passes through Bollards Lagoon
before passing through various areas and finally ending up at Innamincka. The track had it all, high speed section
across huge claypans (8 km across), slow sand sections across red sand hills,
clay topped gas exploration tracks and stony gibber plains. The funniest thing to happen all day was when
Stuart, James and Craig were exploring an abandoned gas well, and Stuart turned
a large handle. A huge stream of fluid
shot across the ground just missing Stuarts open car door by 2 feet, no-one
could tell what this stuff was but it smelt enough like
a petrochemical that everyone was glad there were no smokers in the group.
Pulling into Innamincka a
good campsite was made on the Cooper
Creek. As the sun set nibbles and drinks were
enjoyed to the sound of hundreds of squawking Corella’s, our alarm clocks for
the next mornings. Dinner at the
Innamincka Hotel was less than a treat and we knew we’d need a
firewood for the next night as we weren’t going back. On returning to camp the night was
interrupted by the rumble of a generator going well past midnight and raising the hackles on a few campers “the
words gun and bastards being mentioned more than once”.
Day 24 was a
chance to go to the Dig Treealong a very rocky and slow road. The $11 fee to see the Dig Tree is hard to
justify considering no-one could see what they money was providing other than
money into the coffers of Australia’s
largest pastoral company. With the
numbers of visitors to the Dig Tree each year one would expect something
like
the Stockman’s Hall of Fame for the entrance fee. After lunch was a visit to Burke’s Grave and Cullymara Waterhole, both areas offering probably better
camping on the Cooper than that offered at Innamincka itself with less crowds
and closer firewood.
Stuart solved the riddle of the generator from the previous
evening, having located a shed suitably fenced off and locked containing either
a pump or generator and sure enough it started just on sunset
and ran through to till running out of fuel at midnight. No-one could understand why a town needing
tourism would run a pump on a timer set for the time the money spinners
slept…maybe they just don’t like
tourists. This pump certainly makes
alternative camping areas more appealing.
Day 25 saw the Yatras’ having a quick shower at the town ablutions block
(5min hot shower for $2) and everyone buying some lovely freshly baked bread
bought from the Trading Post. Proving
just how small a world it is, another 80s Cool member Rhette
Dufty was met in the Trading Post car park. Rhette was travelling
south having been in the Simpson for 2 weeks with his 4x4 club. He kept muttering about a new turbo so he was
obviously keen to get home and swap his 3F for the new 100 the dealer had
promised would be waiting for him.
The group then set course up the Cordillo Downs Road for a look
around the Cordillo Downs shearing shed, once the
largest shearing shed in the world with 120 stands and made completely of
stone. The display inside was
informative and gave some real insights into just how remote the area was prior
to the turn of the century. Returning to
the main road the group continued north crossing back into Queensland
where to everyone’s
amazement the road actually improved (well a first time for
everything).
That afternoon saw the group at the last of the 4 Corners,
Haddon’s Corner, where beers were cracked, hands shook
with a realisation that a great adventure was
coming to an end except for the transit back home. After the obligatory
photo’s it was time to set up a last bush camp
amongst the familiar red dunes and build a
roaring fire to enjoy the last night of peace away from civilisation. The fire was a strong magnet that night and
took some effort to tear away for the tent.
Day 26 Craig was wondering if he would have to take
Stuart up on the offer of a 20litre jerry can
of diesel, having decided to only fill his main at Innamincka and using more
fuel than expected, not only that he had punctured BFG the previous day and had
to quickly change tyres before getting on the road again. A judicious use of the throttle regardless of
natures torment of a headwind saw the Huxley’s pull
into Windorah with plenty of fuel to spare, 7 litres
in the main tank, nil in the sub, enough for another 20km probably. Craig played it cool but the embarrassment of
running out of fuel when you have 265 litres
of fuel capacity or having to accept Stuart’s offer would have been too much.
Pressing onto Quilpie saw the group pitching tent for the
last time and camping at the local caravan park, which is actually quite
good. The roads around Quilpie are
littered
with both native, domestic and feral animal carcasses,
a sure sign of an area suffering a drought and a lack of feed.
Day 27 was another day on the bitumen making Charleville for
lunch and being surprised at coincidences, as whilst taking a break at the
local park a white camper truck was seen driving back and forwards on the road
to which Stuart commented “hah looks like a
Canter”, then to everyone’s surprise Craig spotted another white camper coming
along which was indeed a Mitsubishi Canter.
Gasps of disbelief were everywhere,
Heather running back from the playground yelling
“it’s the Canter, it’s the Canter”. Sure
enough our Canter “friends” had almost found us again. The McMurtrie’s
and Huxley’s did a quick exit stage right, whilst James had to rescue Tracey
who had gone a little too close to look and
been sprung by the Canter crowd, much to James’ chargrin.
Quickly bolting from Charleville and with Tracey assuring us
that they said they were staying at Charleville the night we made our way for
Roma where we intended to stay the night in a motel.
After sorting out digs, drinks and nibblies at the
gazebo in the motel grounds and it was time to walk to the nearby irish pub for dinner. Once again coincidence reared its ugly head
and the same Canter was spied parked outside a pizza shop opposite where the
gang were walking….heads down and eyes averted and we were past undetected, skulking
like thieves in the night. James and Tracey had taken the kids to Macca’s first and were amazed at our tale, but of course we
knew it was no coincidence, Tracey was the mole and had been feeding them our
route the whole time!!!!!
Day 28 and it was time for the last stage home, 4 weeks
since leaving covering over 8000 kilometres, over 4500 of them on dirt, and
using 1300 litres of diesel. No mechanical problems were experience other
than two punctures (Mark and Craig); supposedly failing
rear shocks (Mark) and a battery (James), a testimony to well self-maintained
diesel Landcruisers.
Probably the telling remark
about the tracks was made by James: “We
need someone to bring a trailer next time it was too easy we need some
excitement” about the Simpson crossing being too easy in an 80 Series. The Bore Track was voted most interesting
track for the diversity of country in past through and the change in track
conditions. Ken Gordon was voted worst
dressed and “The Dag of the Desert” for his stylish
appearance whilst travelling – love them slippers
Ken.
Parting was rather flattening, a realisation
that the desert adventure was over. The memories remain.
Thanks to all those that came along and
were met along the way.
Brisbane
80sCool.