August 27th Day1
The ute has been packed for the last week so all we have to do is load the dog and hit the road. Only a short 250k trip today from Pannawonica to Wickham to spend the night with rellies before we hit the road proper.
Day2
Up early and on the road. The day is eventful right from the start. Driving through Roebourne, about 10ks from the start, a small dog runs under the ute. Not sure how but we missed him but he trotted off with his owners none the worse for his misadventure. The rest of the day went well with stops to photograph the wild flowers and add to the bird list. Camped at Roebuck plains rest area.
Day3
Early start early finish seems to be the way to go we are on the road at 6:30. Lots of vans on the road and we finally see our first
Bushtracker ( 05 BTC ) at Fitzroy Crossing. Camped at Sawtooth Gorge just out of Halls Creek on the Duncan Road.
Day 4
Spent the day on the Duncan, Buntine and Buchanan Highways. All dirt or single lane bitumen but a good run and spent the night at Dunmarra Van Park. The showers were a big attraction.
Day 5
We spend a lot of time looking for free camps and would like to check every track we pass. Have found a few on this stretch that we will investigate further at a later date. A good run and camped at a little spot just out of Camoweal. The bird list is growing.
Day 6
Arrived at Mt Isa and, happy days, the truck stop has fuel for $1.14. Filled up everything and headed for Winton. Camped at the long water hole just out of town.
Day 7
Didn’t start well. The starter battery in the ute died. It had been getting sluggish for a while so it was no surprise. The ute has 2 auxiliary batteries but the light weight jumper leads were worse than useless. I had heavy cable that I could bolt between the auxiliary and the starter battery and we were soon on our way into Winton where I purchased and fitted a new starter battery. The country looks great with all the rain they have had. Found a travelling fish truck in Longreach, had a yarn and topped up the fridge with fish. Camped at the Tambo caravan park for the showers but the cattle trucks and the local rosters took the gloss off that.
Day 8
Nice easy day. Travelled through Mitchell, Dalby and up to Bell. Camped at the Bunya View Caravan Park.
Day 9
Sunday in the hills seems to be the place to be for lots of Sunday drivers but the Navigator got us through to Nambour that was to be our base for the next week. Set up camp at the Rainforest Village and had a glass of the grape to celebrate. Tomorrow we go to BTI so like kids at Xmas off to bed early so the big day arrives quicker.
Day 10, 11, 12, 13
We arrived at
Bushtracker early on Monday to see how “The Swag” was progressing. We spent the next 3 days going to the factory in the morning to take photos, shopping at the Big shopping centres and sampling the local restaurants. Living where we do you don’t get to do these things very often.
The people at
Bushtracker were fantastic. Everybody had time to tell you what was happening with the van and there was every opportunity to look at the building process as it happened.
Finally on Thursday afternoon The Swag was ready to roll. We decided to wait until Friday morning for the official pickup.
Day 14
Pick up day. We arrived at
Bushtracker about 10:00 and got straight down to business, awning rollout demo, check the plug connection to the ute, ( had to change a couple of wires, my mistake), predelivery chat and then it was time to hook up the weight distribution hitch and test the brake controller. Get the photos first. Once we roll out the gate we aren’t going back in.
After a nervous first few ks on the highway The Navigator sorted out our route and we headed off the main road to our first lunch stop at Fat Duck Creek. A chance to relax and admire our new home.
We got to travel on our first dirt road, a short cut between Kilkivan and Tansey. Good road but up through some hilly area. This gave a good indication of how the ute was travelling.
The rest of the day flowed nicely and we setup camp at Lawgi Park just south of Biloela.
Day 15
As usual up early to check out the bird life and added Redwing Parrot, Palehead Rosella and Red backed Wren to our ever growing list.
Back on the road, fuel at Biloela, lunch at Rolleston and camp at Theresa Creek Dam just out of Clermont. A nice spot right on the water and a large flock of Plumhead finches came in just before dusk.
Day 16
We had light rain overnight and it was still a bit damp as we left camp. Didn’t get very far before The Navigator, camera in hand was sneaking through the damp bushes on the side of the road to get some shots of a large flock of Brolgas. Not sure how many photos she has taken so far this trip but if the number of times we have stopped while she trots back with camera in hand is any indication there must be hundreds. O well, I guess if the idea of travel was to get from one place to another in the shortest time, we wouldn’t be towing the Swag.
I am very pleased we are able to travel over 1200ks between fuel stops. After looking at some of the prices being charged by some of the roadhouses I am sure we will save a few bob.
Being nice finally paid off. I have been making sure that road trains don’t get stuck behind and always give them the chance to pass asap. Just north of Greenvale while we were checking every little side track as a possible night camp, a couple of cattle trucks got passed and one of the drivers told us about a spot a few ks ahead. Lucky creek turned out to be a good little camp and we had the company of Margaret and Brad in the campervan True Blue.
Day 17
Only a short leg today. Lucky creek to Millaa Millaa with lunch from the Ravenshoe bakery. Very good, check it out if you are ever in the area. Arrived at our rainforest block about 1:00pm. You don’t realise just how big a unit you are until you have to start doing U turns on small dirt tracks and in amongst the trees in the rain forest. Still with The Navigators precise directions (I’ll make sure you have 6 inches to spare before you hit anything) we managed the U turn reversing over a steep bank and the power mover jockey wheel got us turned around in the trees. Time to setup and relax.
Day 18, 19, 20
Time spent relaxing, exploring the block and getting ready for the next leg. The Atherton Tablelands are a wonderful part of the country and we are looking forward to the time we can get back to the block more often. On a more serious note, we got the washing done, filled up the water tanks and topped up the food and wine supplies and were packed and hitched and ready to roll The Swag by bed time on day 20.
I spent some time messing around with the WDH setup, taking measurements, checking weights, and have decided to use the 5th link on the hitch instead of the 4th.
Day 21
A beautiful morning. The sunrise through the mist over Mt Belinden Kerr was brilliant.
Stoped in at Ravenshoe on the off chance the bakery was open early to get some fresh bread for the next leg of the trip. Yes they open early and the bread was lovely and fresh, but pies for breakfast, bloody lovely on a cool misty morning.
Spent the day along the Gulf Development Road through Georgetown, Croydon and turned south just out of Normanton. The Navigator has spent the day, when not taking photos or typing pocketmails, adding waypoints to the gps for all the good bush camps we have passed.
Camped for the night in a borrow pit (some call them quarries) just north of Bang Bang turnoff. Had a nice fire and rinsed out the washing in the barrel so now it will be forever known as Wash camp.
Day 22
Cloudy and overcast with the promise of some rain .
I think the change to the WDH is working well. The roads are all single lane bitumen or dirt and the whole rig feels nice and firm at between 85 and 90 kph.
We finally got the rain just north of Cloncurry. Topped up all the fuel at Mt Isa and spent the rest of the day pushing the wind out onto the Barkly. Camped at Soudan rest area .
Day 23
The Navigator has been busy this morning marking campsites along our route. It will take us a good while to cross this stretch when time is our own.
The wind that we pushed for most of yesterday has eased and we made good time to Tenant creek. Send off the pocketmails and back on the road.
Camped at The Devils Marbles and spent the rest of the day walking and taking photos.
Day 24
Off to Alice. Good run adding to the bird list as we go. Saw my first wild Major Mitchell Cockatoo.
Got to Alice at lunch time so we parked down by the river and went into the markets for home made spring rolls for lunch.
Parked up at the Heritage Van Park. Sites are a bit small but the amenities are first class and they are dog friendly.
Day 25, 26, 27
Lots of friends in Alice Springs so we do the rounds and see everybody and visit some favourite restaurants.
The usual chores like refuel, wash and stock up supplies and water and we are to go again.
Day 28
On the road at 8:30. Today we get back to the dirt. Tyre pressures adjusted down to 35 psi we started out across the Tanami Track. Stopped for late lunch east of Yuendumu. The road is bloody rough so drop the tyre pressure another 5 psi.
About 4:00 we found a nice repeater station for the night camp. The sight that greeted us in the van was a bit of a shock. The fridge catches had come unglued from the fridge door and everything including the freezer door was on the floor. The Navigators wine cask had been pieced by broken glass from the fridges bottom shelf and the whole area was kind of chardy.
Nothing for it but get out the box of goodies (known from now on as the caravan first aid kit) and set about putting things back to rights.
Luckily the cask of red had survived. So with a few glasses of red, some two pot epoxy, some silicone, a couple of stainless screws and the spare bits of hinge that come with the fridge we had it all back together before dark. The fridge door will need a bit more work but it has survived the rest of the trip well and we replaced the glass shelf with Perspex.
Day 29
Back on the road, if you could call it that, again. We have come to the conclusion that the Tanami Track has very little to recommend it. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some great camps and some spectacular views and the solitude is inspiring but the corrugations take the edge off the whole experience.
Anyway we got to see Rabbit Flats roadhouse and found a great camp on a ridge just west of the Granites gold mine. Shame it was only 10 in the morning. The down side was somebody had burnt a pallet there some time in the past and one of the old nails was waiting for me and ended up nailing my thong to my foot.
We pushed on after first aid and stopped for lunch a couple of hours later. I had found some rivet heads on the floor the day before and assumed they had something to do with the fridge. Wrong. The front door glass of the oven was laying on the floor, in one piece thankfully so lunch was spent soaking the wounded foot in a bucket of hot water and orange pine o clean and replacing all the aluminium rivets in the stove with stainless ones from the van first aid kit. It really does pay to think about what you carry with you. Without the van first aid kit we would have been left with no fridge or stove for a few days. Not to mention the shower door that fell victim to the aluminium rivet failure as well.
Now you would think that was enough for one day but one more little surprise awaited us. We passed a track that led to a camp that had been recommended by a friend in Alice, so , as we had done a half dozen times that day we decided to do a U turn and go back. The table drain was all loose sand this time and when the rear wheels dug in so did the drawbar. Gotcha, stuck right across the road. Low range four-wheel drive no go forward but reverse worked once the front of the ute had dug in and lifted the rear just enough to free things up.
Spent a nice quiet night at camp with a lovely roast from the new camp oven The Navigator had been dying to try out.
Day 30
This is the day we get off this track. The section between the Balgo turnoff and Halls Creek is the best we have travelled over so far so we even did a 40k detour to look a Wolfe Creek Crater. Quite a sight, a meteor strike about 300,000 years ago has left a large round basin.
The bitumen feels good under the tyres and the dog seems a lot happier. We fuel up at Halls Creek. Top up the food and wine and pump up the tyres and head for Mary Pool. The camp is deserted so we setup relax and watch the birds.
Day 31
Sunday morning and The Navigator can’t get Macca on the radio. As disasters go this rates even ahead of the chardy all over the floor. Still don’t know who won the AFL grand final and none of the truckies we are passing seem to want to talk to me.
Lunch west of Willaire and refuel at Roebuck Plains Roadhouse. They have the distinction of being the most expensive fuel we purchased both ways.
Camped the night at Goldwire rest area. Good camp well off the road with plenty of room.
Day 32
Second last day on the road. The thought of work is starting to creep in. Not pleasant but reality for the time being. Had lunch at Pardo road house and fuelled at Port Headland. Pushing into the wind all day so we stopped at Yule River for a break and give the dog a swim.
Back onto the road, into the wind all the way to Wickham and set up camp on the brothers front lawn for the night. Even though we have a hot shower every night in the van it is good to be able to hop in and not think about the amount of water you are using.
Day 33
Last day and only 220ks to home. Stopped at Karratha and stocked up with groceries. Arrived home about 2:30. I think Matilda (dog) is the most excited. I don’t suppose I can blame her after the time she has spent in the back of the ute.
Summary
Total Distance Travelled: 13383 Ks. Without the Van 4820 Ks. Towing Van 8563 Ks.
Total fuel used 2654.32 lt. Without Van 872.23 lt. Towing Van 1782.09 lt.
Average fuel consumption for total Trip 19.83 lt. / 100 ks
Average fuel consumption Without Van 18.09 lt. / 100 ks
Average fuel consumption Towing Van 20.81 lt. / 100 ks
Total spent on fuel $3504.76 or 26cents per kilometre
We are very pleased with all aspects of our trip. A long way in a short time but we did get to see the best and some of the worst this country can dish up. The ute performed right up to expectations and apart from the few little hiccups the van is fantastic. After what we have put both vehicles through, it is my opinion that with proper servicing and maintenance our package will see us over many more Ks.
It really does pay to have a good assorted tool box and any little spare bits that might be of use.
I am also sure that being able to travel more than 1100 ks between fuel stops is an advantage.
Trevor, Lyndal & Matilda
Pannatrackers
