Thursday, Dec 30, 2021 at 21:49
Gday Bob,
After rain on the first night I guess they thought they were still travelling OK, but didn't realise that once they get out of the sanddunes on the western end, the boggy stuff begins. Those of us who are old enough know that the
Spring Creek Delta road between Dalhousie and Purnie was realigned about 15+ years ago because it was always flooding and was a bog.
I also wondered what I'd do in the same situation, and I guess I'd have fresh info at my disposal.
Firstly, at night you can usually pick up a weather forecast on ABC radio 639 or 891 on the car radio.
Secondly, I use VKS737 on the
HF Radio and would ask for conditions and an updated forecast.
With that
information, I would not have proceeded - either turn back if fuel allowed or stay put until conditions dried. I was up north at the same time and stopped by the
Birdsville Track being closed and the weather warnings were pretty severe for at least a week before.
The video talks about the usefulness of a Sat Phone and Epirb, but for me the
information obtained from my radios would have been all that was needed to prevent the situation from occurring. People forget they have an AM radio in the car and that it is worth knowing the ABC radio frequencies for South Australia (639, 729 and 891) as you can pick them up in the afternoon and night from anywhere in the state.
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