Tweet
Tuesday
Had an email from son Peter suggesting we should have sorted the chip out before we took on the road trains. Well, I didn’t have any accurate figures is my excuse but it does show if you are going to use a chip you should get it done, or take it to, someone who has a dynometer so you can get the before and after figures. The consumption home was 11.33 litresper 100 km. So I guess it worked.
I think there may be more semis on the Pacific than the Hume. They just go all of the time.
Have arranged for a new windscreen to be fitted on Thursday by our local Novus person. It will set me back $320. Now Friday for the new screen.
The road from Bulahdelah is good with a few road works. Hexham was the normal mess and the Newcastle Expressway pretty busy. The 19 sets of lights on Pennant Hills Road reminded us we were back in what they call civilisation. We took the lazy way on the M7 and dropped down to Wollongong. The ships offshore are always a pleasant sight. We fuelled up at the new Shell at Hayward Bay which also had the cleanest washroom we have come across.
Lunch was at Mount Pleasant, which we officially regard as “we are home” where took the last photos.
Down through Berry, past the camera car, past the speed camera and into Coles Nowra for a bit of food where an old man was pulling the stalks off the organic tomatoes so he could take them through the checkout at the reduced price (He would probably be gravely insulted if you called him a thief!) I think values are somewhat different out in the red sand.
[attachment=0
rqigp48]Engine test 2.jpg[/attachmentrqigp48]
Summary
Accommodation
Hay $75
Port Augusta $95
Laverton $100
Wiluna $85 X 2 nights cash
Marble Bar $150
Halls Creek $180
Top Springs $120 king size bed
Katherine $100 very co-operative. Knotts Crossing a big park
Limmen River $20 cash
Hells Gate $120 cash
Gregory Downs $15 2x $7.50
Mount Isa $100
Middleton $60
Jundah $65 good value
Mitchell $90 fantastic
Moree $69 no linen or towels
Yamba $80 and on the water. Calypso Caravan Park
Bulahdelah $85 way from the trucks. Bulahdelah Myall Motel
Total fuel
1705.1 litres
Total cost of fuel
$2431.90
Price range $1.22.5 To $3.20 Paid cash at Hells Gate and Ilkurka (Eftpos had broken down)
Total Km 12366 km
Overall consumption. Worked out from Sallys Corner 12.5 litres/100km
Food was much the same as home. In the small towns there were usually IGA stores. We always had fruit but you have to make sure you get rid of it at the MIA, South Australian and Western Australian borders. We were amazed at the amount of fruit they were cutting up at the inspection stations.
The things you need.
The UHF is very important particularly in the sand dunes and overtaking the road trains. This one is serious.
You will need an UHF aerial which will not break
If you are doing the Canning in the wet it would be more re-assuring to have someone nearby
Good quality, up to date maps
If you want to call home have phone cards as very few of the phones take coins.
Things that worked
Those bread wraps instead of bread worked well and stayed fresh.
The 120 watt inverter (non sine curve) was very handy for charging the computer and using the shaver.
The LED lights were great and were only charged up when we were in cabins between camps.
The sand flag in the tow hitch worked well
The Mickey Thompson tyres were excellent. No punctures and a few stone chips of rubber missing.
Tyre pressures were about 22psi in the soft stuff and 26psi on unsealed roads. 40 on the highway.
I moved the recovery straps and shackles so they could be easily accessible if needed
We took dark clothing to hide the dust
The guard behind the seats worked OK but I will lower it a few inches for next time
Taking the seats out made a huge difference in the available room.
We travelled as lightly as possible but will be even lighter next time.
The number of Cryovac meals lasted for over three weeks and the quality was excellent
The maps with latitude and longitude on them were good.
The GPS was set up to give us Lat and Long and also had a tracking path on it so if needed we could back track
The GeoScience CD was good as you could enter your location and it would show you where you were on a very detailed map.
Stay on the track as much as you can in the muddy stuff. The road is usually down there somewhere!
Things that did not work
Having the tool kit under the fridge was stupid as you would have to unload the car to get to it.
Thread lock and no Ionox (WD40) was dumb!
Things we didn’t need.
We didn’t need the extra 23 litres of fuel we carried for the top section
We carried an extra 20 litres of water. But we were mainly in floods.
I would only carry the extra spare, spare tyre for the Canning
Wet times
Rain from Fitzroy Falls to Narrandera. A few light showers on the Anne Beadell. Wiluna all Thursday night and part of Friday. Showers across to Yamba. Showers to heavy rain to Bulahdelah.
“Hang On Times!” Times
“Look at the size of that bull camel in the middle of the track!”
“I’m not swimming through all that mud to Halls Creek!”
“I have three bras on to counterbalance the corrugations!”
“Where did the other side of the dune go?!” as we were falling through the air.
“Wow. Look at all the sand”
“Don’t bog now Sweetheart. We have 10 metres to go!” Lake Tobin
“The Breaden Hills are magic but this mud is rubbish!”
“You bring me out here again and I’m going to kill you!”
“More mud and we are only 120 metres from Billiluna!”
“Put the windows up. We are going to sink!” Calvert River
“**!!!. The bow wave is halfway up the bonnet. Come on tyres grip those rocks and head for shore!”
Finally
When above the Tropic of Capricorn and you see someone with a fishing rod do not mention “f,” “i,” “s,” “h.” As they will start to dribble, shake and their eyes will roll backwards. They can only be resuscitated with copious amounts of beer.
To stop the heat shield from rattling put the windows up!
Tomorrow we go to the funeral of a friend killed in an industrial accident while we were away. He was a terrific fellow who would do anything for you. He spent the last five years talking about retiring. So if you are thinking about a trip do it now!
See you in the soft stuff – Carol and Trev
Had an email from son Peter suggesting we should have sorted the chip out before we took on the road trains. Well, I didn’t have any accurate figures is my excuse but it does show if you are going to use a chip you should get it done, or take it to, someone who has a dynometer so you can get the before and after figures. The consumption home was 11.33 litresper 100 km. So I guess it worked.
I think there may be more semis on the Pacific than the Hume. They just go all of the time.
Have arranged for a new windscreen to be fitted on Thursday by our local Novus person. It will set me back $320. Now Friday for the new screen.
The road from Bulahdelah is good with a few road works. Hexham was the normal mess and the Newcastle Expressway pretty busy. The 19 sets of lights on Pennant Hills Road reminded us we were back in what they call civilisation. We took the lazy way on the M7 and dropped down to Wollongong. The ships offshore are always a pleasant sight. We fuelled up at the new Shell at Hayward Bay which also had the cleanest washroom we have come across.
Lunch was at Mount Pleasant, which we officially regard as “we are home” where took the last photos.
Down through Berry, past the camera car, past the speed camera and into Coles Nowra for a bit of food where an old man was pulling the stalks off the organic tomatoes so he could take them through the checkout at the reduced price (He would probably be gravely insulted if you called him a thief!) I think values are somewhat different out in the red sand.
[attachment=0
rqigp48]Engine test 2.jpg[/attachmentrqigp48]Summary
Accommodation
Hay $75
Port Augusta $95
Laverton $100
Wiluna $85 X 2 nights cash
Marble Bar $150
Halls Creek $180
Top Springs $120 king size bed
Katherine $100 very co-operative. Knotts Crossing a big park
Limmen River $20 cash
Hells Gate $120 cash
Gregory Downs $15 2x $7.50
Mount Isa $100
Middleton $60
Jundah $65 good value
Mitchell $90 fantastic
Moree $69 no linen or towels
Yamba $80 and on the water. Calypso Caravan Park
Bulahdelah $85 way from the trucks. Bulahdelah Myall Motel
Total fuel
1705.1 litres
Total cost of fuel
$2431.90
Price range $1.22.5 To $3.20 Paid cash at Hells Gate and Ilkurka (Eftpos had broken down)
Total Km 12366 km
Overall consumption. Worked out from Sallys Corner 12.5 litres/100km
Food was much the same as home. In the small towns there were usually IGA stores. We always had fruit but you have to make sure you get rid of it at the MIA, South Australian and Western Australian borders. We were amazed at the amount of fruit they were cutting up at the inspection stations.
The things you need.
The UHF is very important particularly in the sand dunes and overtaking the road trains. This one is serious.
You will need an UHF aerial which will not break
If you are doing the Canning in the wet it would be more re-assuring to have someone nearby
Good quality, up to date maps
If you want to call home have phone cards as very few of the phones take coins.
Things that worked
Those bread wraps instead of bread worked well and stayed fresh.
The 120 watt inverter (non sine curve) was very handy for charging the computer and using the shaver.
The LED lights were great and were only charged up when we were in cabins between camps.
The sand flag in the tow hitch worked well
The Mickey Thompson tyres were excellent. No punctures and a few stone chips of rubber missing.
Tyre pressures were about 22psi in the soft stuff and 26psi on unsealed roads. 40 on the highway.
I moved the recovery straps and shackles so they could be easily accessible if needed
We took dark clothing to hide the dust
The guard behind the seats worked OK but I will lower it a few inches for next time
Taking the seats out made a huge difference in the available room.
We travelled as lightly as possible but will be even lighter next time.
The number of Cryovac meals lasted for over three weeks and the quality was excellent
The maps with latitude and longitude on them were good.
The GPS was set up to give us Lat and Long and also had a tracking path on it so if needed we could back track
The GeoScience CD was good as you could enter your location and it would show you where you were on a very detailed map.
Stay on the track as much as you can in the muddy stuff. The road is usually down there somewhere!
Things that did not work
Having the tool kit under the fridge was stupid as you would have to unload the car to get to it.
Thread lock and no Ionox (WD40) was dumb!
Things we didn’t need.
We didn’t need the extra 23 litres of fuel we carried for the top section
We carried an extra 20 litres of water. But we were mainly in floods.
I would only carry the extra spare, spare tyre for the Canning
Wet times
Rain from Fitzroy Falls to Narrandera. A few light showers on the Anne Beadell. Wiluna all Thursday night and part of Friday. Showers across to Yamba. Showers to heavy rain to Bulahdelah.
“Hang On Times!” Times
“Look at the size of that bull camel in the middle of the track!”
“I’m not swimming through all that mud to Halls Creek!”
“I have three bras on to counterbalance the corrugations!”
“Where did the other side of the dune go?!” as we were falling through the air.
“Wow. Look at all the sand”
“Don’t bog now Sweetheart. We have 10 metres to go!” Lake Tobin
“The Breaden Hills are magic but this mud is rubbish!”
“You bring me out here again and I’m going to kill you!”
“More mud and we are only 120 metres from Billiluna!”
“Put the windows up. We are going to sink!” Calvert River
“**!!!. The bow wave is halfway up the bonnet. Come on tyres grip those rocks and head for shore!”
Finally
When above the Tropic of Capricorn and you see someone with a fishing rod do not mention “f,” “i,” “s,” “h.” As they will start to dribble, shake and their eyes will roll backwards. They can only be resuscitated with copious amounts of beer.
To stop the heat shield from rattling put the windows up!
Tomorrow we go to the funeral of a friend killed in an industrial accident while we were away. He was a terrific fellow who would do anything for you. He spent the last five years talking about retiring. So if you are thinking about a trip do it now!
See you in the soft stuff – Carol and Trev
Attached Files
Comment