Marree this weekend
Submitted: Friday, Jul 23, 2004 at 20:12
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Member - Jiarna (SA)
Hi all
Off to
Marree soon for the 50th anniversary of the release of "Back of Beyond". Should be a good Outback party!! Maybe there'll be some other EO members there?
Cheers
John
Reply By: terracan tim - Friday, Jul 23, 2004 at 23:06
Friday, Jul 23, 2004 at 23:06
Looking at doing a trip up there when i move to
katherine in the first week in sept is the track good enough to travel by yourself and when is the back of beyond
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Follow Up By: Member - Jiarna (SA) - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 23:55
Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 23:55
Hi terracan tim
The
Oodnadatta Track is is pretty good condition. I travel it all the time by myself. Just lower your tyre pressures 8-10 psi from what you run on the blacktop, to avoid tyre ruptures. And carry 2 spare wheels, or at least 1 spare and a second tyre to fit if you use the spare.
Won't be here first 3 weeks of Sept, but will be in
Alice Springs from 6th to 17th Sept.
Cheers
JohnOodnadatta
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Reply By: Member - Ruth D (QLD) - Saturday, Jul 24, 2004 at 21:16
Saturday, Jul 24, 2004 at 21:16
John you lucky things, - would love to be there. We had the re-enactment from here a couple of years ago and it was such a thrill to meet Tom and Val. Look forward to hearing about it when you return.
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Reply By: Member - John - Monday, Jul 26, 2004 at 22:13
Monday, Jul 26, 2004 at 22:13
Hi
John
We made the trip up from
Adelaide for the Saturday function in the main st outside the Pub.
The
Marree Community & organising Committee did a great job in pulling about 6 or 700 people in (my estimate ; some other reports suggest >1000 people.)
Tom looked a tad frail having had an accident in his garden a day or so before but his good wife Valma seemed hale & hearty.
I saw the film again for the first time since about 1958 ; it still seemed pretty true to the memory of a 10 year old boy at the time !!
The Badger is certainly much smarter now than it was in its working days.
I didn't realise that the bogie drive & gearbox were retro fitted by Tom from a Thorneycroft truck of late 1920's vintage that had been written off in a creek bed excursion. The Badger was purchased new (with single axle drive) by Harry Ding from Jim Crawford of CMV / CMI group in 1938. Tom subsequently purchased the
Birdsville mail run from Harry.
Tom built a complete new chassis for the truck because the original one was stiffened by too many crossmembers & kept cracking & breaking due to the flexing forces from the terrain.
Many tributes were made to Tom's ability as a bush mechanic in improvising his way out of a predicament and of the fact that he was never heard to swear. Heaven knows he had plenty of cause to let fly judging by the conditions he had to endure!
All in all a good excuse to escape the city for a weekend.
Regards
John A
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