The maiden voyage of the Jeep and Solar-powered TARDIS commences 22-8-2009

This is the log of the JSP TARDIS - on its maiden voyage to the centre of the known world and back . The intended voyage will be via the following places of interest along the way -
Pink Lakes - Lake Mungo - Kinchega NP / Lake Menindee - Broken Hill / Silverton - Yunta -
Hawker - Parachilna Gorge - Leigh Creek - Marree - Cowards Springs - Halligans Bay - Coober Pedy / Breakaways - Arckaringa / Painted Desert - Oodnadatta - Desert Oaks - Yulara - Kings Canyon - Gosses Bluff - Finke / Palm Valley - Alice Springs - East and West McDonnell's - Devils Marbles - Tennant Creek - Camooweal Caves - Mt Isa - Cloncurry - Winton - St George - Dubbo - Wagga Wagga - Home ..

Ok its the 18th and a test pack has revealed a very very bad thing ... There's no room in the Tardis for my grog !! Something has to go ... bloody porta potti .. Looks like the stubbies will have to in the Jeep ... Can't relax without a stubby .. with 4 days to go all is looking good for a successful launch ... Due to Solar Panel sales the launch has been delayed to Sunday 23rd ... Oi Vei business is business !! LOL

Well with 2 days to go we just altered the travel plans to include Boulia , Bedourie , Birdsville and Big Red .. Thats a lot of Bs !!


OK - One day to go and Steve decides to make a stone curtain thing - Going to use some Aluminium angle and plastic builders damp course stuff .. U Bolt it to the tow hitch - Dunno if it will work or stay in place but I'll give it a fly ... Got the cryovac done - foods in - fridge running - batteries all charged - Must be something we've forgotten ... Too late now ...nearly..

23/8 Got to Walpeup Campsite via Horsham - Had to deliver a solar panel.
4 powered sites and good amenities $9.00 for the night .
Sensational cloud formations at sunset ...

24/8 Went to Perry Sand Hills to take photos of Rainbow Bee-eaters - None there !!
Windy and sand flying everywhere - so went on to Mungo - Arumpo road was good 90 kph
all the way .
Setup camp went and did sunset on the Walls - BAck to camp - wind got up - Wind got more
up !! 11.30 Nadia couldn't sleep went for a smoke under the awning ... Wind blew and wrapped her
in canvas , guys and poles - Steve to the rescue !! Awning was brought down and stowed ..
Wind blew in huge gusts felt like the camper was going to flip - but we survived with no damage.

25/8 drove to Menindee - good track 80 kph - didn't like Menindee so drove through to
Broken Hill - Silverton - camped at Penrose Park - sunset at Mundi Mundi Lookout ..

26/8 looked around Broken Hill - went to Living Desert - Sunset at the sculptures with
3000 other photographers and tourists ...

27/8 drove through to Hawker - checked into a Cabin for good shower and clothes washing .
28/8 - Pretty much rained all day - checked out Yourambulla Caves - not impressed with the Aboriginal Artwork - stick figures ? - Wild flowers and rocks were good ..
28/8 - Its raining !

29/8 - Left Hawker - Visited Branchina Gorge - Marree Caravan Park - community dinner and a shower ..


30/8 - Drove 50 Kms to Muloorina Waterhole - Only two toilets as facilities but what a great camping
spot - The waterhole is fed by an open bore initially to supply water for the stations cattle -
Birdlife abounds here at an oasis - Coots , Heron , Egret and even a spoonbill !


31/8 - Hit the track back to Marree filled up with fuel and headed up the Oodnadatta track to William Creek .
Service with a smile at the pub - Nope $28.50 for Fish and chips - Nope - Diesel at 189.9 Sheesh ... Still
campsite was cheap and showers were warm..


1/9 - took the track to Coober Pedy - sand dunes , lots of stones , not much traffic !! track pretty good
with just a couple of bad corrugations 25 kph !! Most of the trip sat on 70 pkh ..


2/9 - Coober Pedy - took a few photos of the rock piles that are extrcted from the mines by vacuum cleaners ..
Had a Pizza and missed our best sunset so far !! Off to Arckaringa Station tomorrow .

3/9 - Crossed the "Moon Plain" to Arckaringa Station - hmmmmm - well got severely tricked by the adverts didn't we - We wanted a cabin for 2 nights - so we don't have to put up the tent and can do some much needed washing - bodies and clothes .. Washing machine doesn't spin dry we're told !! No cooking facilities in Cabin !! So we would still have to cook on the camper stove !! Bed was clean - room wasn't spiders webs in Laundry / bathroom .. Nope not happy - got money back an left !! Travelled to Cadney Park - "BAD" road - Solar carrier is suffering from rocking and corrugation - Anti-sway struts have fallen off or snapped .. It now relies solely on Tie-down straps ..
Cadney Park - great stop - bore runs 24/7 to prevent pressure build up - got the Jeep and TARDIS hosed down - decided to Motel it for good shower ...

4/9 - Topped up at Erldunda and headed for the Rock ... Went to campsite lookout for sunset and rising full moon .
dingo trotted past our camper later ..


5/9 - Did the touristy bit around the rock took a few photos where we were allowed to ..Sunset at the Sunset car park pretty ordinary shots ..Spinifex Hopping Mouse dropped in for Dinner ... No photos unfortunately .

6/9 - All day at the Olgas - did Valley of Winds walk and came close to being blown over the first lookout edge !
Did Walpa Gorge walk and sunset from nice position just off the road near the Sunset Car Park .. naughty naughty !!
Spinifex Hopping Mouse hopped in for dinner again he got Salada crumbs ...



7/9 - Dropped the tent , packed and off to King's Canyon Resort - Setup tent - went to lookout to watch sunset -
back to camp and damn dingoes stole our sweet biscuits ( box and all ) and 375 gm pack of butter !!


8/9 - Went to shop to get new butter and bikkies - Hmmmmm !!! A 2 litre bottle of cordial and 375 gm butter - $13.00 !!! bikkies were $6.00 plus a pack - talk about monopolised rip-offs !!Went to Kathleen Springs for a walk and some photos ..

9/9 - Kings Canyon - did the easy walk as not feeling too fit for the Canyon rim steep climb ..Plenty of birdlife and photos ...Back to Resort for Sunset ...

10/9 - First sighting of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos .. No photos as they flew past ..Pack up and off to Glen Helen via Mereenie ( Merennie ) Loop ( LIFT UM FOOT !! PUT UM DOWN ) great signs on bad corner !! Ginty's lookout was good - Gosse Bluff track is a doozie - Nearly lost the TARDIS completely !! screws and rivets lost but made it in and took a 15 shot 360 degree panorama from the centre ... back to the Loop and Tylers Pass Lookout - WOW !! Gosse Bluff from there is sensational !! Got into Glen Helen and setup camp ..

11/9 - Relax day at Glen Helen Gorge

12/9 - Sunrise at Glen Helen - Ormiston Gorge for walks and lunch ...

13/9 - Sunrise at Glen Helen - Clouds !! - Ochre Pits and Serpentine Gorge and on to Alice Springs ..

14/9 - The Alice - What a strange place this is .. Went out to Emily Gap , Jessie Gap , Corroboree Rock and Ross River Resort - Great cold beer ... Back to Corroboree Rock for Sunset - Dinner in Alice at Sporties...

15/9 - Simpsone Gap , Ellery Creek Big Hole , Old Owen Springs Homestead and then Rainbow Valley ... WOW !!

16/9 - Rest day - Went to Olive Pink Botanic Gardens - History was really good but the garden is in desperate need of some plants and TLC...

17/9 - Desert Park day out - Can't say enough about this place - Other Zoos should take a look at this place and learn - $20 to get in for a start !! Then the Bird Flight ..then 9 seperate aviaries for the birds of the 3 major regions of the desert .. Plus the Nocturnal house to show the smaller mammals in their environment .. Sen - bloody - sational .. took 228 Photos during the day 220 were birds..

18/9 - Left Alice and headed to Devils Marbles for overnight stop refuelled at Brrow Creek then onto the marbles... Sunset photos were good - sunrise photos were better !!

19/9 - Tennant Creek for fuel and Ice creams then onto The Pebbles - Hmmmm - Barkly Homestead for the night ..
Roast Beef and a couple of beers and refuel..

20/9 - Nipped down to Camoweal Caves - Hmmmm - Caves ?? - Back to Camoweal and refuel - straight to Mount Isa ..
Its bloody hot from 8 am to 5.30 pm .. How do they survive here ?

21/9 - Lake Moondara is the only saving grace here - Lovely spot gotta be 10 degrees cooler than Mt Isa ...
Photographed about 15 - 20 Whistling and Black Kites ... Great spot... Back to Isa and a couple of coldies...
It is HOT !!

22/9 - Headed off to Boulia - Didn't like it so went on to Bedourie ( BAD MISTAKE ! ) Tried to put up tent in 90 kmh dust storm !! Went to bar got a cabin for the night - Dust storm stopped sometime early next morning .. This is the one that went to Sydney and up to Cairns !! It was dark at 5 pm ..

23/9 - Off to Birdsville - camped down on the edge of the billabong - fantastic !! Bird photos are good .. Went out to Big Red and conquered it on foot - LOL - my tyres aren't big enough for dune buggying ...

24/9 - Rest day at Birdsville -

25/9 - On to Windorah - got some great Wedgetail eagle shots .. Deon's Lookout was good - great views all round..
Didn't like the look or feel of Windorah so went on to Quilpie .. Saw two families of Emu - mum and 6 chicks..Didnt stay for Quilpie Races

26/9 - Onwards to Cunnamulla !! Had lunch at Toompine Pub - BIG meal .. nice cold beer too !!
Setup at Cunnamulla - Some Drunk ran around the Park for 4 hours swearing his head off - didnt sleep too well .Still wonderin about those gun laws !!

27/9 - Arrived in St George - WOW ... Pelican Rest Tourist Park - got a cabin for the night to have nice shower and catch up on laundry ..off to the Campgrounds tomorrow...
Well that's it for this BLOG - The Jeep and Tardis made it to St George with difficulty and now a lot more knowledge to take back home and fix the problems that occurred in the construction of the Solar Gantry unit ... Hope you enjoyed the photos -
Mandrake .

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Solar Power does work .. I proved it ..