Far Out Brussel Sprout!

So, it’s nearly the end of the financial year, EOFY, 2022/23. Once upon a time, that held some significance but now it just means half way to Christmas. Have we missed a year or two? Did I nod off? I thought 2020 would be a great year … Then again, COVID, Fires, Floods, COVID, War, Stockmarket roller coasters, Floods, COVID, Flu! Bits wearing out, frozen shoulder, crook backs, ankles, hips, dicky knees… FFS!

Still, it’s better than the alternative. And just remember, what doesn’t kill you makes dying slower and more painful.🙄

Our life times have rolled on regardless. Our initial 10 year travel countdown clock has now dropped to only 15 months left to go of the original 10 year travel plan. WTF? Life just keeps getting in the way. Generally in a good way, but, we have a truck to wear out & it’s nearly 5 years old, so we needed to get our act together.

Would I sound like an old fuddy-duddy if I mentioned at this point that life is short. Diesel is cheap (relatively). Experiences are priceless. I can’t imagine being on my deathbed thinking I should have stayed at home, mowed that lawn & painted that deck again. No, the feet are itchy & we need to travel, in our truck, near & far & wide.

Would we benefit from a decision to postpone any travels until diesel drops below 90 cents a litre… Yeah,Nah. Given fuel prices have been over $3/lt (Outback Aus) at times we think now’s a great time to be back in the truck.

Driving conservatively (Jayne driving at 90km/hr & not towing the Landcruiser) we can get our fuel consumption down to 25.4lt/100km. Not sparing the horses (Simon driving, towing the Landcruiser & mostly keeping under 95km/hour) it’s more like 31lt/100km. A stiff headwind or a hilly bit can add a few more lt/100km. So, we don’t look at the pump clicking over at fuel stops anymore, just sing a happy tune, fill up the tank(s) & move on. Nothing to see here.

What’s the plan? Well today (5/6/2023) we moved back into the truck! But I’m getting ahead of myself. More on that later. Over the last 3 years we spent most of 2020 renovating our place at Crescent Head. 2021 had us hiding in QLD during Covid-19 border closures & lockdowns & a lot of short runs up & down the coast and in 2022 we did a bit of central Australia, so let me rave on about that for a bit.

Mid 2022 we left Crescent Head & travelled North, via Treachery Camp (which is South) & eventually passed Brisbane, turned left & headed West in the general direction of Birdsville for the 2022 Big Red Bash.

After Big Red we thought we’d follow the route above to Menindee but no we ended up travelling back via Newcastle before heading back to Menindee for The Drovers Run fundraising trip. More than double the kilometres. This just illustrates how our travel plans are pretty fluid & vague at the best of times.

Somewhere along the way we dropped into SLRV on the Gold Coast to pick up new tyres and have our luggage winch/crane fixed. Evidently if you leave an electric motor out in the elements for a few years without a cover it can affect the performance. The motor had fossilised/seized. Lesson learnt. The new one has a noice cover on it.

So, onward to Birdsville! Driving in a generally westerly direction we looked forward to seeing this big red land. However, by the time we hit Betoota, we were a bit confused. Didn’t see much red desert. The desert looked more like my memories of Ireland (or Éire if you’re my brother Paul). It even rained on the trip from Windorah to Betoota. It brought back memories of crossing the Nullabor Desert years ago. It rained then as well.

Here’s a selection of Red Centre photos from along the way, June/July 2022.

Pretty amazing hey? Last time I was out in this region (as a teenager) it was all just red dirt & bull dust. It’s an unbelievable transformation.

Road conditions were surprisingly good as we ventured west. The further we went the narrower the roads got until eventually you have a single lane of bitumen to share with all traffic. Road trains have right of way, so as they approach we pull off into the gravel & stop to let them pass. Then a mix of tar/gravel & finally it’s just gravel roads. Fortunately the gravel roads are about 6 lanes wide & were in good condition so no problems there. Some sections had corrugations. Our approach to corrugated roads is to drop our tyre pressure to about 65% of our highway pressure. This can vary a bit, but it makes a huge difference to comfort levels.

Amander Commander had no issues with corrugations & gave us a smooth ride. It wasn’t until we spoke with some other travellers who were complaining about them that we realised how well the truck travels in the rough!

On we traveled until we eventually stumble across the rather unique institution. Betoota. Where’s Betoota you may ask. No, you can’t ask that question. The correct question to ask is where’s Birdsville? Answer: Near Betoota. I’ve got the T-shirt!

It’s good to get away from it all, travel thousands of kilometres into the desert, leaving it all behind. It’s about then that a couple of people you know from Newcastle pull-up beside you & set up camp.

Spag Bol was the only option for Dinner at the Betoota Pub so we had to make do with Jayne’s Fettuccine Sicilian Scampi. An excellent alternative.

Moving on… 2022 Big Red Bash at Birdsville next!

05 Jun This entry was published on 05/06/2023 at 8:09 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.