A tale of bad luck

Submitted: Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:10
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I reckon the only blokes with a worse run of bad luck were Burke & Wills.

Can anyone beat this?

You will recall we were all set for our run along the dog fence and Hay River etc. Well ...........................

5 vehicles planned to leave ........

1st was a week late due to a special fold out tent setup he had made for his Landy tub trailer being 50mm too wide.

Next down is a TDi Disco with a cracked head, so this bloke is stranded in Tenterfield for a week.

Next comes Doug whose spare wheel carrier on the back of his old Rangie snaps off when he steps down onto it from his roof rack. We are in the middle of Bulloo Downs and 145 Km from Thargomindah. He badly breaks his arm in 4 places so I make 2 round trips to Thargo, 1st with him and 2nd with his vehicle.

We finally all join back up at Innamincka (except Doug with the broken arm). We get to Walkers Crossing where the Tenterfield Disco driver's 33 yo drug addled, alcoholic spoilt brat son tosses a major hissy fit and his poor bloody old man (who should know better, but doesn't) takes him home.

Down to 3 vehicles ....

Now mine starts to play up, horribly over revving and knocking something terrible. Limp into Birdsville, having left our CT at Poeppels Cnr.
Check the oil to find about 7 litres of diesel in the sump ....
Check the injector O rings and they all look fine so maybe a cracked head. Don't want to think about the state of the bottom end at this stage.

We were stuck in Birdsville until we flew out yesterday via the Isa and the Landy goes out on a truck next Sunday.

So .... can anyone beat that for a run of bad luck.

Cheers

Rosco
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Reply By: Flywest - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:15

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:15
Toyota - Ohh what a feeling! ;o)

Cheers
AnswerID: 329208

Follow Up By: Rosco - Qld - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:18

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:18
I must admit, I was waiting for something along these lines.

Unfortunately the host of recovery photos we viewed whilst cooling our heels tells a somewhat different story to that of the one-eyed Nissota fans.

Cheers
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Follow Up By: Redback - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:33

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:33
Mate, did you really expect anything else?
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Follow Up By: Notso - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:36

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:36
There's always someone who reckons Yotas never give problems. We could all tell stories about em, but the Toyota Thought Police might get us!
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Reply By: Best Off Road - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:31

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:31
Nil Bastardo Carborundum Old Cob.

Jim.

AnswerID: 329209

Follow Up By: Rosco - Qld - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:57

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:57
Thanks mate .... I've been saying the same thing to myself .... for the last week or so ... LOL

Cheers
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Follow Up By: Best Off Road - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 13:05

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 13:05
And chit, I thought we were doing bad last week on the Murray. Had two 12 volts lights fail in the one night and when we went for the rechargo lantern the battery was wellington booted.

Then the gas jets in the stove kept blocking because I'd left the hose lying around the factory and it had got fine wood dust in it. Blew the bloody jets out six times.

Pretty inconsequential when you put it in perspective.

Keep your ugly chin up.

Jim.



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Reply By: Member - John (Vic) - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:39

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:39
No good Rosco something you could do without.

I reckon your right, B & W did it harder at least you got home them poor buggers were buried in the desert.
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:40

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:40
Sorry forgot to ask, how did you get the CT back from the corner??
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Follow Up By: Rosco - Qld - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:56

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:56
Luckily John, one of the blokes was not towing a trailer, so he was able to bring it out for us. Only found this out yesterday, when I spoke to broken wing Doug from the Isa. He also told me he needed surgery to pin all the bits together + a bone graft, so it must have been a pretty bad break.

Thank God, we also had the Ultra add-on package to RACQ, as they pick up the tab for our air fares, accommodation and vehicle transportation costs.

Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - Joe F (WA) - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 14:10

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 14:10
Yes you can call the episode bad luck, but what about the bloke presumed taken by a crocodile, just la week or two ago in Queensland, or the bloke just this week in the Kimberly dying of thirst, he stayed with his bogged 4wd, scratched the word HELP in the sand both sides of the vehicle. He stayed with the stranded vehicle, and died.
Now thats bad luck !
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Follow Up By: Member - Peter H (WA) - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 15:15

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 15:15
Joe

Your info is incorrect ol mate. The idiot in the Kimberly did NOT stay with his vehicle. He left it, ran out of water and paid the ultimate price.

Peter
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 15:47

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 15:47
Whats the details of Kimberly incident??
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Follow Up By: Member - Peter H (WA) - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 18:01

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 18:01
Here you go John

Here

Peter
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Follow Up By: Member - Joe F (WA) - Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 00:18

Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 00:18
Thanks Peter H

I guess the next time someone does a Perish in the outback, and it gets air time on the idiot box, I will follow the GWN news a lot closer. Bad luck all the same.
Thanks for the up date

Joe
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Reply By: Member - Footloose - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 14:09

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 14:09
Sorry to hear of your trials and tribulations.
There are consolations such as the Ultra Care.
Also you were in a position where your gear could be recovered. Imagine it happening west of Alice, or on the CSR etc.
Bought a Lotto ticket ?
AnswerID: 329215

Reply By: Gramps (NSW) - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 16:48

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 16:48
So to the EO mantra of "don't buy cheap Chinese crap" we add "don't buy expensive Pommy crap either" LOL

Could'nt resist Rosco :)))

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Follow Up By: Best Off Road - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 22:12

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 22:12
No need to rub salt into the wound.

Jim.

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Reply By: Miss(an)Jo - Toad Keeper (Bris - Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 21:55

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 at 21:55
Hell Ross!!!!!!!! Mate the next trip you take on had better be bloody good to make up for this!
AnswerID: 329289

Reply By: Hairy (NT) - Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 10:21

Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 10:21
Bugger!!!

But Yeah...I can beat that.
I once had 5 cans of beer rub through on the way to Finke!
Only left me with 55 cans, 3 bottles of Bourbon and a bottle of Stones for whole the weekend!!! ( a long weekend it was too.)

Cheers
AnswerID: 329324

Reply By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 11:56

Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 11:56
Strewth mate, youz blokes really know how to have a good time, eh!!!???

I wish you'd done all that chit back in July when I was in Birdsville with my cracked chassis.....it would've taken a lot of the heat off me and made me look like a choir boy (by comparison)...;-)

Still, it's best to get all this bad luck stuff over and done with in the one trip I reckon..... that way you can be guaranteed of your next trip being totally hassle free.......hahahaha

All the best mate

Roachie
AnswerID: 329334

Reply By: Rosco - Qld - Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 12:51

Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 12:51
Thanks blokes, for all the positive comments.
I treat the negatives with the disdain they deserve ... ;-)

Spoke to Doug last night, over one or twelve beers, and he informed me they found he had actually broken his arm in 8 places .. OUCH!!!!

But it's all back together again, and he's on the mend, which is great news. We're also planning to go back next year to finish what we started. Can't let that bastard "Bad Luck" get the upper hand can we.

Cheers
AnswerID: 329336

Reply By: Flywest - Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 14:07

Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 at 14:07
pfft - bad Luck?

You can't call that a run of bad luck- any trip you come home from alive is a good trip!

Take the guy in Qld taken by the croc, or the guy in the Kimberleys, who got stuck and died of exposure!

Thats bad luck!

A broken arm - well - thats a tough trot admittedly - but far from bad luck...more a severe speed bump in the track of life really..

All the same - I'm glad it was you n not me! ;o)

Cheers
AnswerID: 329344

Reply By: Rosco - Qld - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 09:34

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 09:34
I just heard from broken wing Doug ..... The bloke with the 130 with the landy tub trailer and tent which wouldn't fit continued on the trek and rang Doug last night. He was on the Barkly Hwy heading east and his front prop shaft let go behind the diff . Apparently the shaft is like a piece of spaghetti with yet to be determined damage to the transfer case and auto transmission ( yep .. auto .. after market job) He limped into Camooweal and is now trying to make it to the Isa to see what can be done.

+

The only non landy was an old Tojo cab chassis which had been extended and converted to a 6x6 with a 6.2 Chevvy and auto. With a gypsy caravan type outfit mounted on the back. Apparently he was looking at it and decided it was on a rather strange lean so decided to investigate. Broken main leaf and helper on one side front spring. Then found the other side was also broken .

So 5 vehicles set out and 5 were broken. It wasn't all the rough either ... much harder going up the OTL on the Cape.

Don't know where mine is at the moment .. somewhere between here and there .

AnswerID: 330114

Reply By: Richard W (NSW) - Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 18:12

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 at 18:12
Rosco,

Sorry to hear mate. Our group of 6 had a few mechanical issues on a recent 2 monthy Kimberley Trip. Nothing that couldn't be resolved on the track or in a town though.
AnswerID: 330182

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