All mainland states and territories in two weeks

Just back from a two week trip. Five vehicles: Disco, Pathy, 100 Series, 80 Series and Prado towing Ultimate Offroad Camper. Route was from Canberra region across to Cocklebiddy, with overnight stops at Burra and on the beach at Eucla. Then up to Rawlinna then up the Connie Sue (CS). Just before dusk one of the Toyota Landcruisers died and we had to tow it back down to Rawlinna and then along the Trans Access track to Kalgoorlie for repairs. Luckily the Landy was up to the task.

With much time lost we replanned our trip and headed up the Great Central Road. We cut across one of the parallel lines to rejoin the last section of the CS. All was well until we hit a large lake across the road. We faced a huge backtrack, or an attempt to go round the lake across very suspect ground. The Landy was sent out cross country to scout a route. Luckily it was up to the task.

From Warburton we headed across to Blackstone and Wingellina. The spring at Singing Rocks was dry - on a previous trip the waterhole high in the Blackstone Range had provided a much needed swim but this time contained dead camels and dogs and no water.

We omitted Surveyor Generals Corner as most of us had been there before, so headed up to the Sandy Blight Junction Track. The Pathy diverted to Yulara as conditions were about to get a lot worse. The 100 Series trashed its brand new underslung tyre and the 80 series died again when its battery mount disassembled. Luckily the Landy was up to it.

We climbed the Sir Frederick Range. We left the Prado at base camp and all piled into the two LCs and Landy. We found an original Beadell marker lying in the bush and retrieved it for the National Museum.

The corrugations on the SBJT were cruel. The nice lady at Kintore kindly opened the store to sell us fuel. Heading East we left the road at Mount Liebig and camped at Berry's Pass before travel to Haasts Bluff.

With more than a week since a swim at Eucla the water at Ormiston Gorge was very welcome.

In Alice we were reunited with the Pathy and stayed at the Best Western and dined at Blue Grass before the run home across the Simpson. I sustained a side wall rip in a rear Cooper ST on the Trans Track (first puncture in 3 yrs on these tyres) and had bought two new ST Cs in Kal. I sustained another side wall stake on the CS leaving me with one spare. Half way along the SBJT I awoke during the night remembering that I had forgotten that I needed special wheel nuts for my non OEM spare. Needless to say I kept an eagle eye out for side stakes after that. In Alice we repaired tyres and I bought wheel nuts from Alice Springs Bolts.

The Colson Track provided some of the best remote dune camping available in this fair land. We turned left at the French Line. The flies in the Simpson were the worst I have ever experienced. We could see a weather system to our south and were concerned to be out of the region before the rain came. A steadily Easterly had placed new steep crests on all the dunes and the experience was like driving at a two meter high vertical wall after climbing to the top of each dune.

We had a go at Big Red but there was a three meter lip at the end of a long climb. Even getting up to 100 kph across the salt pan had none of the vehicles anywhere near the lip. Even the go around track to the south was a significant challenge. The Eyre Creek was full and created an oasis in the desert.

The beer and pies at Birdsville were great. I used 130 L to go the 792 Ks from Alice to Birdsville but would have been better had I not perforated the fuel tank. From here it was a dash home via Windorah. The rain started near Quilpie and was heavy all the way to Bourke.

Enjoying a rest today before starting to pay for it all tomorrow.