I am back, but not for long.
Submitted: Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 08:20
ThreadID:
37470
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3464
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8
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Wayne (NSW)
First of all a G' day to all the EO members that i met over the last 14 weeks. The amount of EO stickers on vehicles is amazing. I even met the bloke that put me onto ExplorOz while I was trekking about.
23237klm in 14 weeks, the only state that I did not get to was Victoria, but I will be there this summer.
Fuel prices have been between $1.38 when I left to $2.80 on the Canning. Most of the time, diesel is the same price as petrol, once you leave the big smoke.
Temperature range was from a low of -4, on the Canning to a top of 35 at Broom.
The realty check came yesterday when I drove Belinda to work along the M4. So many vehicles going so fast, I was still in outback driving mode. At times on the Canning it would be a couple of days before another vehicle would pass, or when travelling between some towns, 5 vehicles going in the opposite direction was a busy day.
I did get to spend some time not driving. After the trips had finished I was in
Alice Springs for 10 days. The rear diff housing started to crack again so I managed to get another one and fitted it there. Truckster was right, another diff housing was the way to go.
Having spent a few extra weeks in
Alice Springs it meant that I could pop over to
Birdsville on my way home and go to the
Birdsville Races.
Thank you to Ruth for you hospitality in the caravan
park.
From
Birdsville to
Tibooburra in a day and from
Tibooburra to Penrith in a day. The last two days were long but it was good to get home again.
Another 10 days and I am off again, just for 4 weeks this time. It is good to be home but I can't wait to be on the road again.
Wayne
Reply By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 08:26
Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 08:26
G'day Wayne and welcome home......I'm surprised you were able to find the place after being away for so long!!!! hahaha
Hope you mow the lawn before you head off again!
Of course NONE of us are the slightest bit envious of your transient lifestyle; nah, not at all ;-))
Have a good 4 week trip when you finally get around to going.
Cheers mate
Roachie
AnswerID:
193077
Follow Up By: Wayne (NSW) - Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 07:30
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 07:30
Roachie,
I was able to find home again thanks to the new GPS I have now. It is a Magellan Explorist XL.
I was going to sell the old Garmin but now have decided to keep it. Two GPS in the one vehicle, heaven.
The next two trips are the Flinders, starting 18th September and finishing 29th September. Another west/east
Simpson Desert straight after that in the NSW school holidays. I should be back mid October. Back to my other job until mid November than off to the
Vic High Country for a week.
Belinda has kept the lawn cut but it is so dry in Penrith that nothing is growing very fast.
Sorry it took so long to reply, but the laptop was not working yesterday.
Wayne
FollowupID:
451106
Reply By: Member - Willie , Epping .Syd. - Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 08:49
Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 08:49
Wayne ,
Good to see you made it back safely .
Willie .
AnswerID:
193082
Follow Up By: Wayne (NSW) - Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 07:44
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 07:44
Willie,
The people you meet on the Canning.
I meet another convey going the opposite way to the way you were. Crossing the top of the CSR and going east /west, west/east is the next challenge after doing the CSR.
After that all other trips would seem a bit tame. Next year I will be doing trip through Karajini/Rundall River NP. Looking forward to that trip.
Wayne
FollowupID:
451107
Reply By: Willem - Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:01
Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:01
G'day Wayne
Glad you had a good time out there. Next time you drop in for a cuppa stay a while longer...lol.
We have been back just on a month now. I managed to do most of the things I set out to do except for some of the more remote parts north west of
Kunawarritji. We were unable to get extra fuel at Punmu as the whole mob had gone walkabout to a funeral and the only inhabitants of the community were about 30 ravenous dogs. We weren't game to get out of our vehicles
Now I am repairing the GQ bit by bit. New windscreen, new radiator, broken door latch, stuffed stabiliser bar, broken bull bar mounts, stuffed inverter, stuffed battery charger and more. Those corrugations on the AB took their toll.
Enjoy your short rest.
Regards
AnswerID:
193085
Follow Up By: Wayne (NSW) - Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:03
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:03
Willem,
Thanks again for the cuppa. It was good to put a face to the name.
The corrugations do tend to find the weak link in any vehicle. We had 5 shocks go on 4 vehicles on the CSR this trip. I put it down to the fact that there vehicles were too heavy, with too much weight on the roof rack.
I was talking to a bloke in
Alice Springs who had just come off the CSR and fuel had gone up to $3.00lt at
Kunawarritji (
Well 33). The fuel drop at
Well 23 was $2.20lt. This year the drums of fuel came from BP with the seal over the bung. The drums were not refilled or opened until we got there.
I have already got 4 vehicles booked on the CSR trip for next year, so that is where I will be next June.
Might see you again in the
Vic High Country over the summer.
Wayne
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Willem - Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:38
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:38
Ahh Wayne,
Reminds me of my touring days. These days I would not have the patience with customers however...lol
Yes people are carrying just too much stuff, me included. But I have shifted a lot into the trailer and have spread the load quite evenly. My OME shocks got hot on the AB but are still good according to my ARB man in
Port Augusta. The bit we did on the CSR was tame compared to other tracks.
Good to hear that the interference with fuel at
Well 23 has stopped. When we did the CSR in '94 a drum was $1.20 litre for Super.
Yep, hope to catch up with you in the summer.
Cheers
FollowupID:
451121
Reply By: Member - Beatit (QLD) - Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:15
Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:15
G'day Wayne,
I'm sure that the family is glad to see you and that Southlands shopping centre is just a little better then sone roadhouse or community store. I ws thinking it must be tough to come back to reality but then thought that your amount of travel time probably makes home time a little unreal.
Kind regards
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Wayne (NSW) - Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:17
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:17
Beatit,
I tend to like going into some of the community stores. The one
shop sells ever thing. Everything is frozen so a use by date means nothing and some
places everything is $5.00. Bread, can of bake beans, milk all $5.00.
Sleeping more than 50mm of the ground is a bit hard to get used to after spending 4 months in a swag, but I love my own bed. When I am travelling between trips I stay in a cabin or motel room. I find it hard to sleep in there bed so I am tempted to roll the swag out in the motel room.
It is good to be home but I am looking forward to being on the road again.
Wayne
FollowupID:
451111
Reply By: Robin - Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:29
Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:29
Jealous am I
Where abouts in Vic over summer , we will be in
Dargo (
Talbotville) Xmas as usual.
Robin Miller
AnswerID:
193093
Follow Up By: Wayne (NSW) - Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:28
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:28
Robin,
Dargo late November,
Snowy River over New Year.
Dargo is a nice place to spend Xmas. It has been dry down there at the beginning of the year so with a good winter the snow melt should fill the Crocked river a bit.
I love doing trips in that area, so different from travelling the outback. The fact that they are so different means that they never get boring. Over winter I travel the outback and just as I have had enough of that, I go to the
Vic High Country and it is all different.
Wayne
FollowupID:
451118
Follow Up By: DarrynJ - Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 12:26
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 12:26
What snow!! Its been the worst year for snow in 20 yrs. Its very dry in Gippsland and not looking good so the
Dargo area will be a bonfire by Xmas. But then again BOM said we were in for a wet winter so maybe the forecast for a hot, dry summer might be wrong too. Fingers and toes crossed!
Darryn
FollowupID:
451160
Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:58
Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:58
On ya Wayne!! Enjoy the place for me dude..
Glad the diff got sorted.
Ya welcome for coffee if ya in suburbia Melb round Dande area.
AnswerID:
193099
Follow Up By: Wayne (NSW) - Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:43
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:43
Truckster,
I thought I had the cracking diff sorted before I left home. Took the diff housing out from under the vehicle and welded plates over the cracks. This worked, but after doing the Canning small cracks were starting to open up on the other side of the diff housing.
I had a bit of time in
Alice Springs so I was able to get one sent up from Victoria. I did check out the wreckers in Alice but the ones that they had were also cracked and repaired.
I set aside a day, and in the caravan
park I swapped over the diff housings. While it was all pulled down I changed the bearings and replaced all the seals, so no more oil leaks from the rear diff.
Sometimes it is better to replace than repair.
Wayne
FollowupID:
451124
Reply By: Gramps (NSW) - Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 16:37
Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006 at 16:37
Good to hear you're back safe and
well. Now, did you get that delayed birthday celebration + Father's Day LOLOL
AnswerID:
193169
Follow Up By: Wayne (NSW) - Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:50
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006 at 08:50
Gramps,
I was in
Broome on my birthday, Belinda had flown over, and Vic had put us up in a Resort for the night. That is all that I am going to tell you about my birthday.
I was only a day late getting home for Fathers day, so Eliza had not eaten all the chocolates that she had got for me.
That is one of the down sides with so much travelling, but as you get older Fathers Day and Birthdays are just another day.
Wayne
FollowupID:
451127
Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Saturday, Sep 09, 2006 at 00:12
Saturday, Sep 09, 2006 at 00:12
Hi Wayne,
Welcome back!
We ran into your boss Vic on the QAA Line last month. He had about 20+ vehicles following behind - hope he didn't give you that big an assignment!!! Stopped for a nice chat.
The desert had firmed up a lot - easy run. It was a lot softer in June when we were on the
Madigan line.
Cheers
phil
AnswerID:
193630