Pilgrim's progress #2

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It's that time of year again as we grey/white/red nomads plan to head bush with the Forrester and camper trailer.

Last trip I'd wanted to get to Broken Hill and the Menindee lakes and that's now on the agenda.

Course Lake Eyre is flooded again.

Last time we could see it from the Ood Tk; the missus said it was just salt shining in the sun and I swore it was water.

This year there's no doubt but it seems the track in from the Ood may be beyond the Fozz so we'll head to William Ck and and take a scenic flight.

Last time on the Ood heading south it was head-down tail-up cos the CT charging system was cactus. This time we hope to be able to take in the historic 'feechurs' ;-}

Somewhere along the way we'll get to Burra again for some saltbush hogget, and Mildura to eat at Stefano's. The Cobb oven now has an insulating hood so roasting may be a bit more reliable.

There's some tweaking to do with the CT. I'll add a clip-on shelf to the swing-out kitchen, and a combo yellow and white strip LED light over it. A reliable power supply to the laptop has to be sorted as well.

The Fozz wheels will be swapped over for the AT set in storage.

So, just hoping the rain doesn't mess up the dirt roads.

[springwater]

Bon voyage Ern, a bit on the envious side, can't wait for the running commentary and pictorial.

[RETIRED]

A reliable power supply to the laptop has to be sorted as well.I use a 300W inverter for mine.

[nine fingers]

Ern, We made the trip up to see the Merindee Lakes mid July, the road through Pooncarie was only opened for traffic on the day we went through,had been closed because of heavy rain. Check with Wentworth council for road conditions if there has been any rain. We had planned to follow the Darling River from Wilcannia to Bourke, but that was fully closed, detoured though Cobar to go north. We heard in Bourke a family in a Landcruiser , disregarded:no::no: the road closed sign, and go bogged:C:C for 4 days before help could reach them. have a good trip. John.

[rsser]

Thanks for the info John. Yeah, we'll be wary of the mud. The missus is open to these experiences but getting bogged wouldn't earn me any brownie points.

, inverters have got me bushed. I got a 60w continuous (can't recall peak output) which is enough for the laptop but kept blowing the outlets in the car (blue spade fuse? so 15w?), despite the fact that those outlets have enough juice to power the Waeco 40l fridge. I'd pulled the battery out as well so they only had to run the 'puter.

The only circuit the setup works on is the HD one in the CT which IIRC can provide up to 20 amps from the battery, to run the fridge.

It's not an attractive choice to unplug the fridge when we want to use the computer so I'm wondering about one of those Jayco 12v laptop power supplies.

[rsser]

Well we're now thinking of this trip as the 'lakes tour' given the recent strong rainfalls. The Barmah is on the agenda and the lakes at the end of the Murray.

The only wrinkle is that many of the SA outback tracks are closed or 4WD only due to flooding and washouts. And we're back to wondering what the authorities mean by '4WD only'. Clearance, traction or both.

We might head first to SW NSW (the Darling, Menindee Lakes etc) to allow more time for the graders to do their stuff around the Oodnadatta Tk and the Flinders Ranges. There's been a lot of damage done so the dirt road/track repairs may take some time.

[rsser]

G'day all from Mildura.

Last night we pigged out at Stefano's: 5 courses with wines to match. Great food. We walked interstate to get there ;-} (We're staying for two days in a campground on the NSW side of the river.)

We hit the dirt tomorrow and plan to camp on the Darling near Menindee.

[rsser]

The Menindee Lakes are near full and just huge.

There's been a lot of local rain too; Broken Hill has had 50% more than the annual av. already and the 'desert' is green. Masses of wildflowers including lots of Sturt's Desert Pea.

There was lots to see in and around Broken Hill; we set up the camper trailer in a semi-bush camp at Silverton, 25km out, which is a semi-ghost town with old stone and bring buildings scattered among the saltbush. It's been used for a swag of movies inc Mad Max and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Hover your cursor over the thumbnail for the title.

All pics Copyright Ern Reeders 2010

[wheelinround]

Great photo's Ern love that Desert Pea shot :2tsup:

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Thanks Wheelin.

(I went a bit crazy over them; have hundreds :- )

In Port Augusta now. Coober Pedy tomorrow.

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Some pics of Lake Eyre North.

Also an open cut mine nearby (1/2 a km deep - that's the centre of the pic; water and tailings above and below in the pic). Gold and copper is dug out; the ore is trucked about 90km west to the Ghan where it's loaded for Darwin.

Pics copyright Ern Reeders 2010

[rsser]

Some more pics.

We went from Coober Pedy to Arckaringa/the Painted Desert, kindof on the way to Oodnadatta. Then down the Odd Tk to Coward Springs.

CS is a bit of a wetland as a result of a bore that's been running free for about a century.

This is Great Artesian Basin country and the site of a number of natural springs. The springs leave mineral deposits which dry and make mounds several metres high. The water would have started in Qld rains about 2 mil years ago and percolated down the Basin. There are several species of plants and one of fish that are unique to the springs area.

Much of the Ood Tk follows the Old Ghan railway, and there are some long bridges (the one pictured is > 200m clearspan) and periodic water tanks fed by bores. Several have water treatment plants where lime was added to counter the high mineral content. The one pictured is at Curdimurka Siding.

Hover your cursor over the pic for the title. All pics Copyright Ern Reeders 2010

[rsser]

Back home now.

Dropped in on NeilS in the Adelaide Hills and he kindly provided a great lunch and gave me a fine tutorial on the sharpening of Japanese knives. Many thanks Neil.

[RETIRED]

Welcome back Ern.

[rsser]

Thanks .

Back to the overgrown lawn, a mountain of washing and a long list of appointments, catch-ups and repairs :weeping2:

Robe was a highlight, except we were camped on a bluff overlooking the bay right in the path of a stiffening northerly. The awning had been flattened once already on the trip so better safe than sorry, we packed up at 3am in the morning. Made a cuppa in a public toilet (out of the wind) and parked in a servo forecourt waiting for opening time for juice.

Helen took it all in good spirit thankfully.

More pics here if interested: click (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30283858@N07/sets/72157624998175493/)