Adelaide to Coober Pedy Sprint

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Day 1 started a little slowly but we finally got on the road about 10am. We had forgotten one thing but remembered it in time to turn around and quickly duck home and grab it….with minimal whingeage from the navigator.
We watched the storm clouds gather around us the whole way and got hit with a huge storm just out of Pimba. Had to slow right down to about 40km/hour as we could not see in front of us. Got some great shots of sunset as the storms came in and the sun got lower.

We hit a seriously strong head wind nearly all the way, which made the going a bit slower and killed our fuel economy. With the Kamper on the back, our fuel economy is down about 25%, further reduced by the headwind and the Prado’s need to run in a lower gear than optimal.

Topped up fuel in Pimba and at $1.549/l for diesel, not immensely happy. Also thought the pump was a bit lite on litres too compared to normal. Something to watch out for. The BP at Glendambo had diesel for a more respectable $1.43/l and is only 170kms further than Pimba.

Arrived in Coober Pedy about 8pm (little later than we had hoped). But with our great setup we were settled down in 10 minutes ready for a beer and an early night. Some of us needed the early night more than others, despite the 4 hours of sleep they got on the way up!!!


Day 2 started off shakily. Got up to make a coffee for Bruce to fill his addiction and the gas was not working. After trying everything I knew finally had to get Bruce (still minus coffee) out of bed, never done lightly on holiday. After an hour of so of pulling everything apart and back together we thought we had a broken regulator or blocked hose, so off into town it was, to find spare parts and get Bruce his coffee (not necessarily in that order of priority). We found a really clean place for coffee at Johns Pizza Place, who do a decent coffee and breakfast as well as some fairly appetising offers on the menu for dinner. Of note was the Kilpatrick Oyster Pizza.

We finally found what turned out to be a fairly comprehensive parts place called OME (Opal Mining Enterprises) Co-Op and secured a range of parts to resolve our regulator/gas line problem, they even had decent priced Diesel. Unbeknown to us the Kamper has US based regulators, therefore, non-standard gas fittings. We made up what we thought was something that would work but found out it would not fit the outlet end of the regulator which has the normal thread, instead of the Australian standard of reverse thread. Even though we half of Adelaide in spare parts with us, this was the bit we did not have.

As the Kamper is only 8 months old, we rang the manufacturer who was going to organise replacement parts for us in Alice Springs. We gave up waiting for his call and went back into town and got yet more parts, specifically an industrial regulator at a whooping $120.00, about 4 times normal price. This time they worked, and we can now cook. Not the same mounting brackets as the original, and it didn't fit the space, so the regulator is cable tied to the front of the Kamper, photo attached. Lets see if we make Alice Springs.

The rest of the day was spent lazing around the campsite. Bruce got annoyed by all the flies and put some of his birthday presents to use, photos not included.

Day 3 better be a piece of piss or I’m coming home.

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Photos

Storms Near Pimba
Taken through the front window, the storms where spectacular as where the cloud formations and colours.

Cable Ties to the Rescue
It may looking shocking, but it works. The Neighbours would be proud.

Comments

[SG]

Great Start Guys :-))
Looking forward to the outcomes of Day 3

[Daniel]

Good Luck
Wow sounds like you are having an interesting trip. have your road map on my desk and are waiting to hear all about your travels! drive better on the 25% lower economy

[Rob]

It's a hard road to...
more pics of Bruce before coffee please.