This will stir some people up

Yeah mate well I suppose you live in a bark hut with whale oil lamps and cow dung fires. And sleep on a straw palliasse.

Hay Cobber : back then there was no bitumen from south of woomera to NT border no marla bore- road rough as guts-. we would do it in average cars , bondwood caravans smashed a long the sides of road old burnt out car etc .they were the days , hay .

cheers nick

Cobber,

Brilliant!. Bait on, line down, burley out. Now have a coldie and wait.

:)

Skull

Hi cobber you are not a bad fisherman,hooked one first go

My family headed off along that track in 1973 all the way to Ayers Rock and then out what is now the Mereenie Loop (We did the half lap to starboard heading up to Darwin then across the gulf to Cairns and down the east coast). Kings Canyon was realtiovely unkown and the Cottrell borthers were running Wallara Ranch (Cattle Station). We stopped there overnight, well it was five days in the end, and Jim Cottrell provided us with a hand drawn mudmap of Kings Canyon and it's features. A far cry from Voyagers resort and dinner under the stars these days.

I have memories of a tall, proud traditional man emerging from the bush with his women at the shop at Ayers rock and after trading spears and other things he'd made for cash, wandering back off, women trailing behind him carrying the spears etc. Gobsmacking stuff for we kids.

We did the entire trip in a Holden Belmont Panel van towing a 15 foot Viscount van. Mum, dad and we three kids. I just thanks the stars I was old enought to remember it. A different time from today. Having said that, I do love my fridges, shower, gps, satphone, computer navigation system, Epirb, beadbreaker and V8 diesel. When we get cheap Satellite internet, I'll have that too lol.

(Yes Michael J, I "blogged" it. Started the journals young lol)

Cheers Mick

yes thoese were the days
tony

Hi Cobber,
I can remember seeing the film the Leyland Bros. made called "Wheels Across A wilderness" It was ground breaking stuff at the time in the early 70s.

You are right though, we are spoilt with the equipment we have these days.

Cheers, Bruce

yes it brings to mind a recent post about the road "conditions" up to Cape Leveque, wanted to know what type of 4WD was best suited for the "big 4WD trip" ............. when we lived up there near One Arm Point all of the "residents" up around there dreaded the day it would be sealed all the way up as it would bring in heaps more tourists, best times were when the road was at it's worst as it slowed up all the tourists ........... but the locals STILL could manage to drive all the way from Broome up with only 2WD cars ......

Cob,r
you reckon they had no problems, then they transferred them to me.

Yep we used to drive anything and everything and we could go everywhere we wanted, sometimes we got there and yes sometimes we didn't. Many times you would wreck something and just keep going and pray, other times you would try to repair it with anything you could lay your hands on.

Remember a few died because of this.

Now things have changed and we have electronic vehicles that just stop, so they need help to give them life again, fuel efficient yes (until they get a load on them), owner friendly NO when they stop, unless you have a service agent following you following you.

Have a good one,
RA.

Hi Cobber

Our first two trips to "The Rock" and "The Alice" were also in the early 1970's. The bitumen ended just out of Port Augusta and then started for a short distance before Pimba, which ended the moment that you turned off from Spud's Roadhouse and headed west. From there on it was dirt all the way except for a small strip up the Main Street in Coober Pedy. Back in those days the only places to get fuel were at Port Augusta, Pimba, Kingoonya, Coober Pedy, Welbourn Hill, Kulgera and Alice Springs, or if you were coming in from the now Mulga Park Road, Victory Downs also sold fuel.

Today's fuel stop of Glendambo, Cadney Park, Marla, Erldunda and Jim's Place along the Stuart Highway never existed and would come about 15 years later.

It was the same as to Ayers Rock, dirt track all the way and the only place that sold fuel and still does was Curtin Springs.The camp ground and small motel units were right there at the Rock, where the local Mutitjulu now exists. Another great experience was to try and get out to Kings Canyon. It was a two wheel track goat track and the only place to get fuel was at Wallara Ranch.

Things have change for sure, but back then it was a real challenge to get to the Red Centre and the Rock. I have seen it from both sides of the fence and from one time when the heavens opened up, we thought that were would never get out of the place. Today's traveller do not realise how lucky they are, even when it is wet.

As for people today asking those questions, it may still be a new challenge for them away from the comfort of their city homes and they are just being cautious.


Cheers

Stephen

Well cobber ya got some bites. Trouble is now we are a nanny nation and behave like spoilt brats ourselves. Expect everything to work for us at the drop of a hat. You have to make the most of what you have now! Because it is not going to get any better. Technology can only take you so far...commonsense and determination gets you further.Why anyone would spend hundreds of thousands on flash cars and caravans to go camping is beyond me. The smallest hint of trouble and many are stuffed as what to do.

Hope ya get more bites...Should be some biggies out there

Oh the memories!
Just back from trip to the Centre ourselves with all the mod cons but still remember a trip I did back in 1963 (a school excursion) derailed by the Ghan in floods near William Creek. A wonderful night with the aboriginals at the outdoor movies at Oodnadatta. Those young stockman really caught the eye of we city girls!
Dirt and dust roads visiting all the sites around Alice - even got out to Palm Valley in a normal bus. Safely wandering the streets of Alice at night.
I believe what we have today is progress - but wow doesn't the country look amazing at present!

Hi Cobber,

I agree that sometimes by making things safe and taking the risk out of it we also take the fun out of it.

Cheers Wilko

Cobber, if you were stirring you got a good response;)))

Just like a lot of us here on ExplorOz, we are not all 'armchair explorers"

I first saw Ayers Rock in 1974 when we landed alongside this great monolith in a Dove. Truly magic and no sign of political correctness. I believe it is sad the way that this place has become so commercial.

I have lived, and travelled throughout Darwin/Nhulunbuy/Tennant Creek/Alice Springs/Broken Hill.

The past is past and as technology continues to make inroads into our daily lives so we must accept or deny it.

I love my computer mapping,, fridge/freezer, and what ever makes touring easier.

But cannot deny my enjoyment from taking the family to magic spots no longer available to the average tourist.

We enjoyed what was there for us and made do with what we had.

Fossicking for zircons at Mud tank or camping for the weekend at Boggy Hole or Red Bank Gorge.......no GPS, no electronic maps, no showers.....etc etc.....was it good?
Bloody oath it was.......

However I still love all the 'goodies' that this modern age gives us.

Times change and we must move forward...given a choice
I would move back 20years.......but it aint gonna happen.


(Yes Michael J, I "blogged" it. Started the journals young lol) -Mick O-

That's one bloke that can really call it as it was..

Cheers
MJ

I used to really enjoy watching the Leylands. They seemed like down to earth people and the adventures they showed the nation were great.

They got me and my mates out there in the HQ, hitting the roads through West Qld and NT. How posh was I when I upgraded to a Fairmont wagon with my wife and baby, travelling across the top to Kunnanurra, but..... I wouldn't swap my Waeco and Landcruiser for all the Fairmonts in Queensland.

Pulling up beside Coopers Creek on a hot afternoon, reaching into the fridge and pulling out a cold VB, setting up the Shippshape and cooking up a cryovaced steak sure beats anything from the old days.

We still have as much fun and adventure as we ever did, and I thank the Leyland's, Greg the Kombi, Harry Butler, Ben Cropp, Malcolm Douglas for setting us on the road.

How good is this country and all the people in it?? For all the whinging that goes on, we've got it pretty good.

eighty matey.

Hi Cobber
I can recall those days travelling with my Dad in a 1200cc. brown Kombi with Dunlop 'winter tread' tyres. Mixing up the powdered milk in a screwtop glass to have breakfast. Our fridge was great ... It had three compartments, the top compartment we would keep filled with water the middle compartment was where we stored our butter and the lower compartment collected the water as it tracked through the canvas covering made from old fire hose. Cold enough to stop the butter turning to oil.
Fresh meat was an odd kangaroo or two, plain turkey or wild pig.
The Stuart highway was 200 metres wide gravel track to Alice and from Alice to Darwin was single lane bitumen with a crown so high the kombi felt like it was going side ways.
The highway through to Broome went through old Halls Creek with untold steep creek crossings. We once met a man with his wife and young child with a caravan with a single hardwood drawbar being towed by a small preewar singer car. When he could not get out of the steep creek crossings he took out the spark plugs and wound it out with the crank handle.
I kid you not but the engine was a splash feed to the big ends and was never designed to put up with this sort of punishment. When we came across him he had the sump off and was feeling about in the oil for the pounded out white metal. He melted the white metal in a kiwi boot polish tin in a small fire coals and applied the white metal to the big end caps with a soldering iron the reamed them out cracked the caps and refiitted them to the engine and then went on his way.
The police in every settlement along the way would await his arrival.

We enjoyed the Leyland Brothers, never missed their shows. I never did the trip from Port Augusta to Alice back then, only up the Stuart in recent years, however I did many trips across the Nullabor with my parents after they moved to WA, the first trip was in a 1937 model chev and that was in 1952, I have vivid memories of those trips across there in those times, the detours around detours, the bull dust holes, the wombats, the people who lived out there then, wonderful memories. The old Eucla was always a cup of tea and a chat place, Dad and Mum had got very friendly with the people there and I remember some of the stories that were told, fantastic stuff.
Having said that, as much as I enjoyed all those trips over the Nullabor back then I wouldn't part with the comforts that we take along with us now. Haven't towed the van across yet but that is on my bucket list.

Cheers

D

We drove a Mini 850 to Darwin and back to Aldelaide for our honeymoon in 1967.


Bull dust, just north of Coober Pedy.


Then in 1974 we drive a Kombi from Alice to Adelaide. You may know that 1974 was a record wet. It took a full 7 days.
This was the road between Curtin Springs and Bulga Park (which was traditionally better than the 'highway' because it carried less traffic).

We love our OKA too :-) but you do what you can with what you have and what you can afford.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

cobber

I have a copy of the Leyland Brothers book (Where The Dead Men Lie ) 1967
Which is a diary of their west to east crossing of the continent including towing a 4wheel trailer across the Simpson.
A great read and an inspiration to any traveller

TTD1

I noticed yesterday that Big W (Wagga Wagga at least) have a big bin with lots of dvds going for $5.00 each. In amongst these are the Leyland Bros series if anybody wants to relive the series.