Hi all, Sorry it's long. Thought I'd cover in detail while at it !
Most of you will already know what I about to say but for those that don’t it may be useful advice to keep in mind for any outback breakdown, not just our area.
cheers, Anne
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In the event of a breakdown requiring mechanical help.
Cattle stations & Aboriginal communities NOT offering tourism
services will be either unable or unwilling to assist you. Unless a medical emergency do not waste their time and yours bothering them unless it is a very very last resort.
The North Kimberely is
well traveled by others during most of the dry season so if you do happen to breakdown it probably won't be long till another vehicle comes past. You may have a satellite phone or you may need to send a message with another person.
We quite often get a message brought in by a traveler about another person who is broken down. The person arriving here might say
"There is a vehicle broken down up near the
Mitchell Plateau road and they need help, we told them we would tell you."
Well wonderful ............ frankly that message is almost useless to us !
What we need is DETAIL, in legible writing from the actual person with the problem, in fact the more detail the better.
We need to be told,
If you are desperate for anything REALLY essential : ie
water
Exactly in detail where the vehicle is situated, including full description, make, color etc.
Exactly what the problem appears to be or if you are not mechanical a description of what occurred.
If a tyre problem, exact details & numbers from the sidewall of tyre presently on vehicle.
Exact details of the vehicle from the compliance plate. Age, month, make, model - the more the better.
The registration state and rego plate number.
The vehicle owners FULL details, name, home address, home phone etc .
If a rental vehicle the rego plate number, rental company name, their help line contact number and ( important ) your hire contract number.
At minimum a written request from vehicle owner for a mechanic to be sent and the owners agreement to pay costs.
Now let me explain why all of above is required.
The more details we know of the problem and the vehicle the more likely the mechanic is to turn up with the right gear to fix ie do we need to send the portable welder or not, or what size wheel studs should we bring.
A breakdown place description of ' somewhere back along the
Gibb River Road ' may see us go to the wrong place or turn the wrong direction at
the junction.
Just telling us it's a tyre for a toyota or a battery for a whatever is insufficient info as there are so many options.
Parts required vary for vehicles, even when just a matter of months different in age. Especially important if we need to bring or order you in a part, knowing this details makes all the difference.
If it's a rental vehicle we are unable to touch it without the PERMISSION of the hire company & their agreement to cover costs.
If it's your own vehicle, sorry but we won't come unless you agree to pay the costs. A signed request note is binding and covers this.
This may sound mean but the fact is many times in the past we have sent off the mechanic who has driven for 4 hours to find the vehicle gone when he got there, or another passing tourist with mechanical ability already there fixing the problem. The mechanic has then been told, no we don't need you now and no we are not going to pay for your travel time. This I might add has also happened to many other service providers. Pick up recovery trucks have even arrived all the way from town to find the vehicle vanished.
While this may be a nice outcome for the owner of the vehicle it is not for the requested service provider!
It is also the reason most
places are no longer willing to rush off on a mechanical rescue mission on nothing but a verbal, “come and help “ message.
The mechanic will have left other work to drive off to save you, the very least you are going to have to pay for is his travel time.
So if you ask for help please be prepared and willing to pay for it, just the same as you would have to do for any garage repairs in any town !