In the footsteps of Strzelecki

Today we followed Polish explorer Strzelecki's steps northwards from Arkaroola into the desert that bears his name.

This is one of the little waterways that meander across the plain. Most had water in them after all the rain in March.

And they didn't look too bad in the sunset, with more rain threatening in the background.

A bit of desert washing.

Red gums must be the ultimate survivors. They bordered every desert stream - providing a biological beacon to the possibility of getting a drink.

Drinks on Strzelecki Creek at sunset.

Not a bad view huh?

Michael tentatively examines the camp oven.

The results?.......

marvellous!

With all the rain, every hollow tree held a breeding pair of zebra finches or budgies.

Menindi lakes - Yunta

Still raining - camped by a lake between Wilcannia and Menindee then by the Darling - made a foray into the park but as we slid towards the table drain, decided it wasn't such a good idea.

Next day on to Yunta via a last supply shop in Broken Hill. Turned right at Yunta past the signs with dire warnings about the isolated country we were venturing into.

Sturt's desert pea astonishing, rain has stopped and we found a place off the road to camp - only heard one car pass all night

Saw this old, dark wedgetail surveying his realm.

And then this amazing critter - a hobby or little falcon - one of the few birds that can rival a peregrine for flat out speed.

When we got a closer look we could see he was eating his dinner - maybe a honeyeater. Next to a nest of hairy caterpillars in the tree.

Sooo off to the Strezlecki Desert at last. It's amazing right now. All that water from Queensland is coming down Strezlecki Creek and bringing a host of wildlife with it.

Our first really interesting camp was at Round Hill Nature Reserve near Lake Cargellico. It's the sort of mallee scrub where you can get lost 100 m from the car, but it's home to some nifty creatures such as the Crested Bell-Bird who serenaded us with his 'did you get drunk?' call in the morning.

It rained all night and one thing we learned was not to put the awning out on the uphill side - all the rain it funnels off, just runs back in under your feet. This is Barb making a track for the water to miss the picnic table.

Next stop was Wilcannia - a scary derelict sort of town, but with the Darling surging through with all that water from Queensland. There were lots of Pacific Herons fishing next to the centuries old red gums, that were probably there when Sturt came past.

Tomorrow.. we catch up on an Australian hobby - the second fastest thing on the planet. And reach South Australia.

Assaulting the batteries

Armed with an (insert sponsor's name here)* battery tray, a (insert sponsor's name here)* 4WD battery, a (insert, blah blah blah)*150 amp isolator and a couple of miles of loom tube, I set out to make our troopy (almost) proof against getting a flat battery in the Simpson Desert - and to get high wattage power into the back.



The tray just fitted between the existing battery and the scary octopus of high-tech electrics that comes out of the passenger's fire-wall.



Interestingly the tray uses one of the captive nuts on the mudguard - unfortunately the same one I'll need for the relay on the bull bar indicator harness when I put that in. But I guess it's OK to use the same bolt for the tray and the relay.



Finding a spot for the isolator wasn't quite as easy. Every place I tried was either too near the exhaust, too narrow or too far away. I finally settled on wedging it between the second battery and the mudguard - using the little mounting bracket that comes with it. The bracket isn't exactly sturdy (OK so maybe don't insert sponsor's name here) so I've gunked it up with liquid nails before assembling it onto the bracket to minimise it flapping around. Hopefully the solid state electrics won't mind a bit of movement.



Then it was a just a matter of getting some heavy cable from the boys at Battery World (oops, I mean insert sponsor's name etc etc) and putting it through one of the complex grommets that Toyota had helpfully put in the firewall. Or at least it would have been simple if I hadn't installed a huge battery right where you need to put your hand to get things in and out of the firewall grommet. Lubricating the cable and tapering it down to only one of two wires made it a lot easier to get it started - then you could get a grip and pull it through - being careful not to rip the whole assembly out of the firewall!



The cable then runs along the passernger's door sill and then inside the left hand wall to the rear of the truck. It's all wrapped in loom-tube and cable-tied so it doesn't rub too hard on any fire-inducing metal bits.



Wired up our 40 year old Engel and it worked - amazing!



So we're just about organised enough to tackle the Flinder's ranges and Cameron's Corner. Should leave tomorrow - assumingwe get organised.





*Attention sponsors. This is an unparalleled opportunity to promote your excellent product to the people who follow this blog assiduously - both of them!

Slicing off the roof and cutting up the countryside

Well after 3 weeks without our Troopy we now have a roof bed and awning. Off down to the Toyota 4wheel drive car club property near Bungonia to try it out. We were very snug at 0.1'. Sat morning up early to start training - one to do the driver training and the other recovery and vice versa on Sunday. Oh my god driver training was terrifying for me (in John's new pride and joy) but with 10 instructors shouting and waving arms through the windows and over the CB it was hard to cop out - I was first in a line of 12 cars so impossible to turn around and go back! Sometimes my legs were shaking so much I could hardly press the peddles. We weren't allowed to use the diff locks because that would be cheating! Most tracks appeared to be vertical and some had cavernous pot holes which meant there were often two wheels off the ground.

Recovery was fun but made us realise how much equipment we should carry and how dangerous it could be. I think it made us realise we need to go with experienced people for a while to learn some more tricks.

assault of the batteries - TLCC

Well today I spoke to the folks at Christie Engineering who pointed out that although their beaut little 12V generator was the fastest thing around, it wouldn't charge a deep cycle battery very quickly because once the big lead plates in the battery built up a surface charge, they would not take much more charge quickly - and the charge rate would fall to a trickle. Better to use a cranking battery with lots of little plates, or a hybrid one that is the best (or maybe worst) of both worlds. So still thinking about what sort to get.

Meanwhile, we went to the Toyota Landcruiser Car Club - TLCC - for the first evening of their introduction to 4WDriving course. Instructors Simon and Bill did a good job of setting ut the basics of driving techniques, 4WD toys and most importantly safety aroud the two day practical course being held this weekend at one of their two properties near Tarago.

And oh so exciting, we pick up our chopped troopy from the boys at Trakka tomorrow, with its new hinged pop-up roof and bed-in-the-ceiling; a landcruiser with an upstairs.