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Published: March 13th 2007
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The Road
The view we had pretty much unchanged for 4 days When we decided that public transport was rubbish, we didn't expect to be driving for 3000km across the outback to save a bit of cash. However the experience was well worth it.
We set off from the youth hostel on Wed 28th with a guy called Simon who we met a few nights before after replying to his offer of a lift to Ayres Rock if we split petrol money. It was going to work out a bit cheaper than flying and we got to see a lot of the country as well.
First of all we stocked up on some essentials for the journey like food, beer and goon and then went to have a look at a national park outside Brisbane called Mt Cootha. Simon though that they had a Platypus on display but it turned out we went to the wrong park and we actually got to go to a 'look and sniff' plant garden. Obviously that didn't last very long and so we set off in the jeep heading inland.
We had worked out that if we took it easy then the trip would take about 6 days; mainly because the car wouldn't go faster than 55
Tim, Simon & Bessie
The jeep (Bessie) and the first cabin that we stopped at in Miles MpH. Anyway we were off and it didn't take long for the landscape to turn pretty desolate. Its like the sea but with shrubs and grass instead of water. It wasn't what we'd expected because there was a lot of vegetation all of the way and not really any sandy desert like I'd expected. We saw loads of kangaroos, all except one of them had been destroyed by some vehicle or other and there were massive bits of shredded tyre on the road all of the way there. Also, out in the outback, they have 'road trains' that are just articulated lorries but with about 4 trailers attached to them.... they are massive and they have huge bull bars so they can just mash up any animals that get in the way.
On the first day, we only drove for about 10 hours before stopping at a caravan site in a place called 'Miles'. I had been dreading sleeping in a tent because without anything to lie on, it is the most uncomfortable place to attempt to sleep, especially with the heat. Anyway, the caravan park had units that you could rent and it turned out cheaper than the hostels
Rainbow
A rainbow at sunset in the desert we'd been in. It was luxurious with a TV, fridge and a double bed each. We took full advantage and watched TV all night because we haven't seen one for a while, and had a few cheeky lagers at the same time.
The second day we got up fairly early because driving is amazingly hot all day and considering the car didn't have air-con, we just had to have all of the windows down all the time; but even that didn't really help. We went through a mini tornado on the second day which gave Tim a bit of a hiding because he had his legs out of the window when we went through. Again this night we stopped at a van park and got another unit with the same stuff in it... this place was called 'Blackall' and apparently had the best water in Australia- not true. Its meant to be good because it doesn't have any chemicals in it and so its pure. Unfortunately it stinks of sulphur (eggs) until it is completely chilled and so having a shower was pretty horrendous.
Again another early start in the morning, but it wasn't going to be as smooth
Road Train
These road trains were the main vehicle we came across on the drive... they nearly blew the car off the road everytime they went past as the last two days... we got about 100 miles, to a town called Longreach when we noticed at the petrol station that the car was leaking coolant fluid from the engine... excellent sign... and so the journey stopped round the corner in a garage. We had a look round while they were fixing it and after the half hour job was done in 4 hours we were off again after Simon had to splash out 110 squid for a new part. We were well far behind now and Simon wasn't too up for driving at night... unfortunately for him, there was two of us and only one of him so we pushed on through the night (I say we... Tim drove while we had goon in the back). We drove until 1 in the morning and luckily only killed one bird (about the size of a crow) and a ridiculous amount of moths and butterflys... the radiator looked like a museum exhibit at the end!
We managed to get a free night by sneaking onto a camp site and whacking the tent up in an unused spot.
3 hours sleep later and we set off again; in need of
Rain Ahead
A rain storm just before we drove through it an orthopedist after sleeping on the ground we went to the local swimming pool and got breakfast at a cafe. The place was called Mt Isa and was the biggest town we had seen since we set off.
The temperature now was 42 degrees during the day and dropping to 25 at night.
Alice Springs was still 20 hours away but we thought we might as well nail it. All three of us could drive and so we could drive constantly all day and night. We entertained ourselves with music all the was there as well as a genious game of launching pebbles at the road signs as we went past... difficult but fun. That night we killed another 3 birds of prey and I accidentally got an owl. We felt bad but from the state of them, I don't think they suffered. Luckily we didn't hit anything bigger.
We arrived in Alice Springs at 2am on Sunday morning and slept the whole of the next day.
It is quite a nice place except the flys are really bad, they just land on your face like in Africa and you can't do anything about it. Anyway it looks cool so
Mt Isa
About 8 in the morning after we legged it from the camp site that we had camped at for free. It was a big coal mining town and made amazing breakfasts! I will write about it next time.
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