Talk about
Rock and Roll. All approach and departure tracks to the dunes are heavily cut up with holes up to 500mm deep, placed nicely alternately on them. You can't get any momentum up, so you drop it back to a low 4WD gear and just gently and carefully move up the dune. Even with the larger ones this worked in all but three dunes. When the going gets hard we just gently stopped, rolled back down and had another go. Each time you just "rolled" back down you would tend to smooth out the lumps and fill the holes. PS Tyres all the way at 16 (front) - 19 (rear) PSI. Remember we weigh 3.5T so not a good idea to go lower.
Saw one car on the whole Madigan - a farmer back past
camp 1. Weather was great in the daytime but bloody freezing at night - sub zero.
Plenty of traffic on the QAA.
Had to have a chuckle. As we approached Big Red there was heaps of radio chatter between a group of cars "trying Big Red" as they called it. We didn't see them until we looked south towards
Little Red. Yep - they got the wrong place. Many were saying how surprisingly easy it was to get to the top "even when towing"!!! I stopped next to them, after the obligatory "must do" visit to the top of the real Big Red, and suggested they are at the wrong place and someone should go and have a look. A change of tune when they moved to the REAL Big Red. "Bloody hell that is BIG!" was heard over the radio. Chuckle!!!
Also met a group of "novices" on the QAA line. Couldn't get up a dune. Idiots had 25 lbs in their tyres. After asking me my pressures they were elated to be able to just "drive over" the dune. I wish I could say the same as they had already left gaping chasms in the dune approach. But "shut up Phil" moved onwards to wards the best shower in two weeks at an ensuited cabin booked for us at the
Birdsville van park.
Well it was the first since a most enjoyable stop at
Hamilton Station. You have to try them.
Damaged a shockie and got a cut in a tyre that is still good but sent to the spares folder at the back of the car.
Happy to be
home even though it has been SNOWING here for the last few hours. What a welcome
home.
Phil
Rough approach to a dune.
A bit of cross country when a forumites track "disappeared".
Anyone know the name of this flower from the Simpson apart from "Yellow Grevillia"?