20 weeks away, seems like it was only last week that the pointy end of the Troopie was heading west towards the start of 35,000km of outback travel.
This happened on the
Canning Stock Route. We had reached
Well 6 and set up
camp along with a few other travelers making good use of the
camp site and good
water from the
well.
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Well 6
We had two vehicles with HF radios and another convey, camped at
Well 6, also had HF and were with VKS 737. We did have a chat with the other campers before moving on the next morning. They were heading north, like us, but were going to stay at
Well 6 for another day and travel a bit slower than us.
Listening to the
HF radio the next night there was a strange message about a
water pump left at
Well 6. At first I thought it was a
water pump from a vehicle and thought who would leave a pump behind. As it turns out it was a 12v
water pump for a shower and you guessed it, I had left the pump behind after packing up the shower the night before at
Well 6.
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We made contact with VKS and the convey that had the pump and managed to work out that they might be able to meet up in a couple of days time.
We had gone into the
Calvert Range and on the way out to the CSR and that is when I heard a faint call UHF. I responded to the call and it was the convey with the pump. We had left Sunday
Well so were not that far from the
intersection and the UHF calls were getting stronger. When I arrived at the CSR another call was made to the pump carrying convey and they were not that far away, in fact I waited less than a minute before the pump was again back in my hands.
After another long chat and many thank yous later we were off and they were heading too the
Calvert Range. We did meet again at Debra Springs and this time I made sure that the pump was packed away before we left. From then on every time the shower was set up I was reminded by the rest of the convey members to pack the pump away.
This meeting of the of the two conveys could not have happened with out the use of
HF radio and VKS 737. In this case it was only a
water pump but who knows what might happen in the future.
Further down the track I got a call from the vehicle behind me that the wheel carrier is swinging open. I was sure that it was closed before I left
camp and we had been on the track for a couple of hours before it had brought a halt to the dune attempt.
The cause of the swing wheel carrier was the locking latch was missing.
This was the last thing that I thought might cause a problem so a spare was not carried. It was time for smoko so I decided to go for a walk back down the track just in case. To my surprise and relive the shackle and pin were in the sand laying next to each other about 500mts from the base of the dune.
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The shackle is now wired so the the pin can not unwind.
The last thing that I had to find on my return home after 20 weeks away and probably the biggest was where I could find my wife and daughter.
Before I went away we had decided to knock down and rebuild our home, and before the knock down could begin we had to move out. This task was left to Belinda and Eliza while I was away and so by the time I was heading east down Lapstone
Hill I entered the new address that Belinda had text me, into the GPS and found the family and rental house soon after.
I have always taken a bit of time to settle down after being away, getting used to sleeping in a bed with walls and indoor plumbing after
camping for so long, now I am in a strange house it has taken a bit longer to get back to normal way of life.
Wayne