Wednesday, Feb 18, 2015 at 14:37
G'day Laurie K
Thanks for posting this story, I for one simply can't stress highly enough the importance of letting someone know where you might be going if you venture out and about.
This story has many parallels to a situation that unfolded here in the
Pilbara a few years ago, luck was on the side of the blokes that had assumed they would be okay.
I'll try and set the scene : Plane lands at
Newman airport, after all the procedures with luggage collection, two men in their early forties hire a four wheel drive then head into town and do some shopping at Woolies, seeing it's already late in the day and quite hot they decide to stay the night in town, in air conditioned comfort.
With all of their gear and supplies stowed away in the back of the ute, they strike out for the newly discovered Meteorite Crater in the south east folds of the Ophthalmia Ranges, their navigation was all point to point reckoning and a Shell road map.
The first 45 or so Kilometres of their journey was basic stuff on made roads and
well defined tracks, then the rot set in when their GPS showed their target was due west and 90 degrees to where they were actually positioned on a major railway access road.
They made the decision to take the GPS heading for
the Crater, just 14 Kilometres dead ahead. I am sure you and most of the
forum members have seen and experienced old growth Mulga scrub, its tough stuff to negotiate on foot let alone in a vehicle.
Anyway, they battle through the Mulga country and eventually T bone a single blade width track at 90 degrees to their target, just 3480 metres ahead, with no genuine tracks or roads heading in the right direction (to
the Crater) the blokes forge ahead through the Spinifex and crab hole country at the base of the
Ophthalmia Range, you could only guess they could smell
the Crater, they managed to pick up a set of wheel tracks through the grass and Spinifex in the higher hills of the range and unknown to them they had holed the engine sump of the vehicle.
The vehicle came to a halt in a deep gully in among the
granite boulders that formed a creek/waterflow area and all this is going on October when day time temperatures in the region rapidly climb to the mid thirties and upwards into the forties, hot in the sun stuff, red bloody hot if things are going pear shaped.
The holed engine sump had spewed enough oil for the idiot light to come on and for the engine to start making loud sounds of protest, but by their admission they only knew of the oil loss when they saw oil on the rocks as the passenger was guiding the driver through a tight spot in the rocky area.
They came to a stop on a severe angle in the middle of a
granite boulder dome area, a disabled vehicle, no real communications apart from two mobile phones neither of which could receive a signal, on a red hot October day at around 13:30 hrs.
Then along comes the local tour operator, on what was to be my last trip out to
the Crater for the season, as the northern wet season if it hits, makes access to the area near impossible, the stranded blokes were already there for three hours, baking in the sun on a typically cloudless day ~ not very pleasant, for them.
I saw the oil on the offending
rock that had punched the hole in the sump, I commented to my wife and passengers at the time, saying something like "someone's in deep sh1t out here",
well sure enough right at the end of the oily trail were the very sun burned Crater hunters a mere 345 metres from ground zero.
Anyway the story ended
well for not only my guests but also the two blokes, my guests got to see
the Crater in the last light of day and experienced a real life situation, the two blokes, experienced a real life situation but never got to see
the Crater in the last light of that day.
I left enough repair gear and instructions with them to effectively fix the holed sump, they had to
camp the night "on the rocks" enjoy the
Pilbara mozzies and bake another six long hours on the following day until I returned with engine oil and cold water, they got to see
the Crater that day and luckily for them it was a nice 43 degree day with a bit of cloud cover.
Oh, and no one knew they were heading out to
the Crater, had they have made the trek without incident they would have been the 11th and 12th human beings to set eyes on the
Hickman Crater at the time.
On a sad note, the Western Australian out back has already claimed three lives this year, all three men perished (died of thirst) simply because they made a "rookie error"
Safe travels : Joe Fury
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