The first stopover.....

This was a first mishap. The rack had loosened up and was making a 'popping' sound. So the spare tyre had to come off and we re-arranged the packing. The rack just wasn't strong enough to hold the weight of the spare tyre, 2 petrol tins (full) and the toolbox. So Greg took the tyre and Chris readjusted the load until the next day.

We landed in Mitchell the first night and stayed at the showgrounds. It was freezing! Everyone managed to put their tents and swags up and we all headed down to the local pub for dinner. Here's everyone in our group. Starting from left to right, we have Terry, Matt (son), Steve, Michael, Sasha, me, Graeme, Chris, Col, Julie (red scarf), Margaret (behind), Greg, and Amelia. We all retired early that evening, as we were all excited about the trip. The next morning it was still freezing. We were all up and moving at 6am. It was also a lot harder to put things away when your fingers are so cold and the canvas for the beds didn't want to work in the cold either. It was slow going that morning,.. because of the cold and trying to get into a routine at the same time. But...we all made it. Our next stop was Cooper's Creek.

Where to start.......

Well now.  Because I missed so many days in between the trip, I thought I would take a few pictures and go through our trip.  So here's the first part....

This is the very first morning where we had met up at Col and Margaret's house the night before.  Col had packed that night and we were just finishing things out the following morning.  We slept in our sleeping bags in their loungeroom.

 

Col and Margaret's son, Greg, with his partner Amelia, showed up the following morning ready to go.  So here's 3 Scouts all ready to go.  We headed out for Chinchilla to meet up with our Gympie party.

 

                                                      The fellas compared vehicles, double checked their own vehicles, and we waited on one of the party who got called away to do 'mechanic' duties.  In the meantime we got re-acquainted with each other and once we got everyone together again, we took off.

 

This was it!  The start... of our adventure......

One more night and we still haven't been able to climb Ayer's Rock......

Well, it's our last night and we still haven't been able to climb Uluru due to the winds.  Word has it, that since the Aborigines don't really want you to climb the rock anyway, it's just a way of saying "no".  In their culture, it's forbidden to 'climb' anything that's natural.  They firmly believe in Mother Earth and the spirit of the mountain.  In their culture, they believe it's disrespectful to climb this mountain.  I for one, don't want to climb it, but there are others in our group, who do.  Maybe it also has something to do with the full moon coming up.

Chris wanted to stay a few more nights, but that wouldn't guarantee that he'd be able to climb Ayer's Rock.  And he also checked to see if we could stay a few more nights, but at $450 per night,....I DON'T THINK SO! .....  So!  we pack up tonight and head out tomorrow morning.  We'll check the park first to see if the climb is 'do-able", otherwise, we're heading out.

We did a walk today..... 7.4klms long.  For those 'brisk' walkers, it would normally take 3 hours.  For me,...well, I think I did it in 5 and half hours.  We got lots of pictures and a lot of breaks for me.  And the walk was classed as 'hard'.  And I can now vouch for that!  I was exhausted!!  The older people in our group, had aches and pains in hips, feet, and knees.  But then, the lucky devils got to walk another 2.5 klms in Walpa Gorge.  Chris and I headed back to Uluru to see if it had opened up yet for the climb.  Nope....so we headed back to the cabin.

I've rested up now and it's time to pack up.  Chris is fixing a few things here and there on the truck and tonight we pack.  So with some more pictures to download and emails to check, I'll leave you now so I can pack for our next adventure.

We're here at Ayer's Rock, now known as ULURU....

We made it to Ayer's Rock.  This morning we were supposed to walk up, but it's been cancelled due to the high winds.  And is it FREEZING!!!  Chris's knees have seized up and I'm frozen to the bone.  And yet,...by this afternoon, we'll all be thawed out and in T-shirts.  And then late in the day again, back to freezing conditions.  The dramatic weather conditions is something to get used to.  Layers.  that's what I've been told.  You need to dress in layers to account for the weather changes.  Okay.  DONE!

We walked around the "rock'' and looked into the Aboriginal culture.  The Aboriginal culture goes back nearly 40,000 years.  And their stories, like most tribes, are handed down verbally through the generations.  You can almost visualize the tribal women at the base gathering food.  Only the men folk climbed the mountain.

Well, after the walk, we stopped in for a cuppa and a muffin.  Chris and I came back afterwards to do some more "fixing" and some washing too.  We'll head back there this afternoon, once the bones have thawed out and the asprin kicks in.

And as I wait for my clothes to wash, I'll go back into the sunshine and have another cup of coffee.

We're half way through our trip now....

The cars made it.  The only one that didn't break down was the Nissan.  And while we all boasted about our Scouts, Michael, quiet and unassuming, was very confident in his car, a Nissan Patrol which he bought only 10 weeks ago.  Especially since his was the only one of six vehicles that didn't have a problem.

And here's the list for all those guy's out there who understands cars and engines.......Graeme's Toyota Landcruiser busted a tyre and a bracket for the engine mount.  Col's Scout busted a shock absorber and broke his front spring shackle bolts and chewed up his wheel studs which destroyed his wheel and his roof rack came astray.  Greg, his son, broke his rear support member, his forward body mounts cracked which had to be welded, the transfer case broke which stripped his lower range gears, his rear brake cylinder had to be replaced, carburetor had to be rebuilt, and he lost his fishplate for his shock absorbers.  Steve, broke a rear spring which had to be welded,   a rock chip in the windscreen, and he had a hole in the transmission cooler.  And then it was our turn.  While Chris had his 'fun' in the hills of sand, he twisted his front drive shaft, and later both front and back diffs shook loose and we nearly lost those.  And then the top luggage rack which I already explained in the previous blog has to be tightened frequently, and the tie rod came away which also caused us to lose our steering, and two out of three fuel senders stopped working so we don't know how much fuel is in the tanks and my door latch is broken.

I really love the desert and we've been having a great trip.  But the next time we come out here, I think I'd like to go in luxury.

Excitement for the day.......

We left Alice Springs a couple of days ago and stayed overnight at a place called Glen Helen. You can see the pictures of it in my link "Photos".

The following day we headed out for King's Canyon. The roads were sandy, dusty, and very much corrigated. We bounced along this road, Chris full of concentration and me holding onto the 'suicide' bar, also known as the "Jesus" bar. I was very nervous on this road as I've had accidents on dirt roads before.

Well, we were about 100 klms in on the road and travelling about 80klms/hr on this rough road. Chris was trying to take my mind off my nervousness. He pointed to some mountains on his side of the car and then all of the sudden, he said, "Hold On, I've got no steering!" Doing my usual, my eyes shut, my grip tightened on the bar, and my head went down. The Scout slid sideways up the road about 20 to 30 mtrs and landed in the sandbank next to the road. Again, you can see the pictures in my link. The Scout made it without rolling for which I am thankful. Everyone else came back and we got the tie rod fixed enough to get us into Kings Canyon for the night. Personally, I didn't know the danger we had been in, but after it was fixed and we had travelled a ways down the road, Chris explained the gravity of the situation. All I can say is thank goodness he was driving. If it had been me, I would have rolled it for sure.

Chris's moment of glory....

The time finally came for Chris's moment of glory. The envy of all, in his little "Thumper". Yes, Virgil is no longer...it's now "Thumper". Chris got to have his bit of fun. He went up Big Red, and a few other hills, but this,....THIS....was his moment of glory.
Some of the guys in the group now want one, and somebody from another group came over and offered to buy it.
I overheard somebody saying in the Birdsville camp site, "I love the sound of that engine". With four Scouts in the group, the rumble of engines could be heard from far and near.
Below is the video of Chris's moment of glory......

But alas, it wasn't to be for too long. As he made his last climb up the hill, his front tail shaft twisted beyond repair, leaving him back to a normal 2WD.

The moment we've all been waiting for......

This video is Steve having a 'go' at going up the hill.