Dave & Rosie's Big Australian Adventure

Covid 19 Update

So, as many of you will already know, we've been stopped in our tracks because of another Covid 19 lockdown. The new leaving date is Tuesday 15th June because, in their infinite wisdom, the Victorian Government have stopped anyone travelling into the Vic country until after the Queen's Birthday long weekend.

1. So it is 17th June and we are finally setting off in the morning, changes to plans, not going through SA, so any business along that route is now going to lose out on revenue. We'll be heading up to Mildura, across into NSW, up into QLD and then across into the NT.

Our trip so far is at the bottom of the blog

Trip of a Lifetime

Hi, I'm Dave and this is my wife Rosie and we are planning a 6+ week trip around Australia. It has always been my dream to do this although Rosie has been reluctant because much of the trip involves camping. I can understand Rosie's reluctance because when we first came to Oz we went to Wilson's Prom camping with a group of friends in a borrowed tent and using some average camping gear and Rosie hated it and I can't blame her. We were used to camping in the UK where people sleep on thin bits of foam and the weather is wet and miserable so we'd done the same here and it wasn't pleasant. However, we were hit by a storm and most of the people got washed out. I had to get up in the night to peg down the tent several times to stop it from blowing down. In the morning someone's car had a tree branch on it, several tents had collapsed in the night and there were several miserable people walking around. It turned out we had got off quite lightly.

Things have moved on now with an awning tent, double dome swag with a thick comfortable mattress and fantastic warm sleeping bags and everything you could need from a fridge freezer to mains power to camp oven cooking which I have to say, if you've never tried it, you can make anything whilst camping and I've even seen a birthday cake made in one. Gone are the days of dried food, sausages and burgers every meal, we had Chicken Korma with Naan bread and the next night beef stew with veggies and potatoes, last time we went out.

It is a Rainy April day and Rosie and I are preparing for our trip of a lifetime. When I say Rosie and I are preparing, that means she's watching TV and I'm getting our vehicle ready. We will be getting together nearer the time to put together some menus and a loose itinerary. I can't blame Rosie for watching TV, she works hard whilst I don't work so she deserves to sit and rest.

So, what preparations am I doing and what vehicle are we going in, here is a compacted history of the vehicle.

The Car

Not wanting to wear Nissan/Toyota blinkers I chose a vehicle that I can get to know thoroughly,  repair at the side of the road and find parts for Australia wide. I also needed support from like-minded owners and I am now part of several groups that offer advice, spares and help if required. 

I chose a 2000 3.0 ltr Diesel Holden Jackaroo (Isuzu Trooper) which I chose partly because it only cost $500 and mainly because of its condition. I bought it in May 2018 and the car was in great shape overall but wasn't running hence the $500. 

John, I bought it from owned it from new and had only really driven it from Melbourne to Merimbula and back on fishing trips with his tinny. The car had 251,000km on the clock and I can only assume that the mechanic as we often see, had mistakenly told the owner that the head gasket had failed and it was time for a new car. This is a thing with modern mechanics and Isuzu's 4JX1 engine, most of them just cannot diagnose the issue because they don't understand HEUI injection. They just see either oil/fuel in the coolant or coolant in the oil/fuel and immediately diagnose a cylinder head fault when in reality, it is 99% of the time, the injector sleeve seals.

We did get the car running after changing injector seals etc. but, whilst the car drove well, the engine had a loud ticking. We tried to diagnose the issue but couldn't find the problem from the usual things like the thrust plate or a leaky exhaust etc.

At this point we were moving house to Berwick so not much work was done at this point, the car was trailered to the new house.

Car History a Difficult Birth

Once we had settled in to the new place and after a lot of further investigation and I mean a lot, we discovered that number 4 cylinder was down on compression and although only the injector seals had failed, coolant had leaked out and the engine had overheated and John must have driven it too far like this because the number 4 cylinder had sustained damage due to excessive heat. The piston had melted and scored the bore and the noise was coming from the cylinder when it fired it lost some of its pressure into the sump hence the ticking.

Jackaroo number 2 arrives on the scene, yes we paid another $500 for a second Jackaroo which we bought from a guy in Cockatoo. The car had stood for several months/years in his garden so it wasn't in the best condition however, we were only interested in the engine and he even lent us his trailer and helped us get it back to our house. The seller had spent a fair bit of money on the car but hadn't managed to get the car running that well and had given up on it.

We removed the engine and Rob sold some bits such as two of the doors etc. and then a guy wanted the rear wide track axle so Rob said if you take the rest of the car it is yours. Rob got back just about what we had paid for the car. So the engine was stripped, we ordered a gasket set and new parts but this engine has similar damage but nowhere near as bad due to a broken piston ring. Luckily the ring had damaged the piston and only scratched the bore so, a honing tool and a couple of hours work and we had the scratches removed, new rings and replacement piston fitted. Engine rebuilt and lots of new gaskets and we were ready to put this new engine into the car. I have to give Rob credit as he did most of the work and I am very grateful.

Cutting to the chase, the car ran, got a roadworthy certificate in Dec 2019 and I have been running it around since then. The car hasn't run entirely fault-free, it has had two replacement injectors and the usual 4JX1 issues such as a dirty RPCV and injector harness oil issues but that is very little given its history. 

However, not the cars fault but the alternator seized right as turned into the roadworthy testing centre. Turns out Rob had submerged that alternator some years earlier when he put his old black Jackaroo on its side in a muddy puddle in Toolangi. He had switched the alternators and the bearings were shot, a new set of bearings and we were away again and it's run well ever since. At the time, it passed the roadworthy anyway because the alternator is not part of the inspection and the engine doesn't actually need to run. The guy said to me, "I don't know how you'll get it home" and he was inspecting it for a roadworthy, you'd think being a mechanic he'd know, I just cut the two alternator belts one of which was shredded anyway and drove it home on battery power and as long as I ket moving the engine didn't overheat, simple.

Upgrading the Car

So, I have modified the car quite extensively over the years and I am very happy with its current state, it is very reliable and runs well. I removed all of the 5 rear seats so now the car is registered as a 2 seater. 

So, what have I done or in reality, still doing to prepare the car?

The first thing was a set of drawers for the back and a fridge slider. Then a fridge/freezer fitted onto the slider plus a cool box between the two front seats. Then I purchased a second-hand ARB bulbar which I struggled to find but got for $400 from a Holden breakers yard. The bar wasn't a winch bar but luckily for me, my son works for ARB and we made a winch cradle, modified the bar and fitted a 12,000lb winch which I have also wired internal controls for. Rob gave me four wheels fitted with almost new 32" Falken A/T tyres one of which was holed in the sidewall so I bought a replacement tyre and I'm still running them now. We also fitted heavier duty rear springs and raised the car 2". I fitted a roof rack which Rob made mounts for and is bolted directly to the roof and fitted a 2.5-meter Awning. I fitted two LED light bars, an Oricom 80 channel UHF radio and a new JVC radio and speakers with Bluetooth telephone connection. Then a snorkel was added and I fitted a Renogy DC to DC charger with solar, a 300W solar blanket and a 100ah Lithium battery with a battery monitor and Bluetooth system fitted into a battery box. The front axle has manual locking hubs with a Goannawhere Auto Lokka, differential locker. There are two brand new Century batteries and an uprated battery cable system and I fitted bonnet struts to make life under the bonnet easier to access.

The car has new brake rotors and pads on all 4 wheels, new wheel bearings and seals all around, new front diff bearings and seals, new fan belts and new A/C belt. I fitted a new ORPS and a new injector harness plug. The gearbox has a new filter and the engine has had the oil pickup spring mod fitted.

Internally I have also added a 2000W inverter and I have just purchased a multiband mobile signal enhancer which I am yet to fit. The car has a VMS navigation system with a Hudway cast to allow the use of Google maps and there are LED internal lights front and rear to improve lighting within the car.

So that is the history of the car except we discovered that the original plastic header tank on the radiator was seeping under pressure testing so I am staring at a brand new aluminium radiator as I write this blog. We will fit the radiator this weekend and once the signal enhancer arrives and is fitted, that will be the car ready for the trip. I have also got to fit the extended fuel tank, giving us an extra 60 litres of diesel for the longer runs.

Where are We Going?

The plan at this time is to travel west along the Victoria Coast into South Australia and around the south of Mount Gambier and on up into Adelaide. From there we plan to head north on the A1 through Port Agusta and on up the A87 to Coober Pedy.

From Coober Pedy, we will continue north to Yulara where we intend to stay at the Ayers Rock Resort and then onto Alice Springs sometime after that.

Where to Next

Once we reach Alice Springs several different scenarios come into play, we can go east, north or west and depending upon how we feel and possibly COVID restrictions permitting, we will decide then which way we go.

Rosie thinks east is best but I think west mainly because we can head east anytime and we've been east quite a bit but we've never been west and I would like to visit Broome. We could go north to Darwin and visit Kakadu National Park and then east to Cairns, who knows.

We don't want to decide, so much depends on us getting to Alice Springs in the first place that we will wait until then to decide over a few beers in Alice.

Updates on Progress

As I said above, the new radiator has arrived so that will be fitted this weekend, I'll update you on the progress as it happens.

The new radiator is in and working although it didn't go without issues mainly caused by me but also some not so clever manufacturing. The radiator itself was fine but the mounting clamp was a different shape and completely out of line with the old clamp so we had to make a new one. Luckily, Rob had told me that he would need to do this so he made a new bracket on Sunday and I was so impressed I clear varnished it instead of painting it.

I fitted the radiator on Saturday, removing the old one was relatively easy and the only difficult bit was removing the viscous fan and cowling which had to be removed together. I also had to block off the pipes from the Automatic gearbox as the radiator incorporates an oil cooler as well. The new radiator went straight in and although tolerances on the replacement were a little off it eventually seated correctly.

Unfortunately, due to limited space, I didn't get the lower hose clamp on correctly at one side and after about an hour of bleeding air from the system, I went for a test drive and when I got back the hose came off and I dumped a couple litres of coolant out. Hose fixed and bled again, the car is now working with the new radiator and as I write this, the doorbell just rang and it was my new mobile phone signal enhancer so now I have that to fit.

The new phone signal enhancer has been fitted and seems to work fine but I'll get to test it over the weekend when we go to Walhalla.

What's Next Before the Trip?

The long trip will be a lot safer and easier if we fit an auxiliary fuel tank, another 60 litres of fuel will increase our range to around 1200 km between fill-ups but more importantly, we won't need to stress about finding fuel stops and worry about running out. Rob has given me his old tank so I've just got to get it fitted and that is priority number 1 after the trip this weekend.

Well, we had a great trip this weekend with the Jackaroo FB Group, went down the Deep Creek Track No1 and hit the Burgoyne Track over to Licola. The car went well and the new radiator ran beautifully.

More Preparations

So, today I started getting the auxiliary fuel tank ready for fitting. This tank will give us an extra 60 litres of diesel bringing our full total to, 85 + 60 =145 litres which should give us a range of around 1200kms.

When Rob gave me the tank, he told me that when he last looked at it a white object rolled out of it and down the drain into the street. He was certain that it was the float from the sender unit. I went to a local Car Yard at Ringwood today and removed another sender from a scrap car and when I got home I removed the sender from the tank to replace it and guess what, the sender had the float still on it.

So it looks like it was something else that went down the drain but it wasn't the sender float. So, I inspected the tank to see if anything else was missing and found quite a nasty impact mark and was certain the fuel would leak from here.

So tomorrows job is to weld up this section and repaint the tank, I'll also be renewing the hoses for the breather, fuel transfer and fuel return as they are all quite old. Then on Sunday, if the paint is dry, I will be fitting the tank and the ancillaries so watch this space for updates.

The tank had quite a bit of rust on it and I wire brushed it and painted the tank with rust killing paint which was supposed to be grey but looks light blue to me.

I have purchased the cable and switches for the power to the pump and the sender to the gauge via a two-way switch. I will start fitting these at the weekend because the process requires disassembly of the dashboard and I may need Rob's help

A Rear Brakes Issue Rears its Head

I have been having this issue for a while now and I should have looked at this earlier, we have quite a steep drive and when it's wet and I reverse down the drive and I apply the brakes, the car slides back to the bottom of the drive. I knew that the brakes needed checking so I purchased new rotors and pads and proceeded to strip the brakes.

The driver's side disk rotor was fine but when I looked at the pads, one side was almost down to the metal and the other pad was around half worn. This told me that the two piston rods that the other half of the calliper slides along were seized. In reality, only one was stiff but not seized but it was stuck enough to stop the calliper from working correctly. It appears that the grease had dried up in the seal and the shaft had seized enough to stop the calliper from working correctly.

I cleaned up the shaft, got it freed and relubricated it and the seal. Then I fitted the new pads, rotor and then assembled it all.

The passenger side was identical but the corresponding shaft and seal was a struggle to get apart. Also, the seal for the shaft was split so I had to order another seal.

Today, Tuesday, I fitted the new seal and that concluded the repair and refit of the new rear brakes. We now have new rotors front and rear and new pads all around.

Fitting the Fuel Tank

So, today is Friday and around 30 days before we leave, I need to get the tank fitted this weekend and this is the last prep job before we leave on the trip. I need to get this done and whilst I have the dashboard binnacle out I will replace the blown dash and instrument lamps too.

It's Saturday and I started fitting the auxiliary tank today and boy what a pain in the butt it is. First I had to cut off one of the handbrake cable mounts, grind the welds back and spray the area with black paint. Then I had to mount the tank loosely and drill the mounting hole into the cross member, I cheated a little and used a nutsert. Then it was tank off again and sort out the pipework and electrical connectors before removing the inner wing and replacing the filler with the dual filler assy. 

That lot took me most of the day and the tank isn't fitted yet but I am making progress, I'll keep you informed of tomorrows efforts.

Okay so it is Sunday and I'm tired before I even started but I have to make some progress. I started fitting the new dual filler and associated pipework after removing the original filler and pipes. I managed to get the new filler in place but I had to rework every hose and cut them to size but I couldn't do that because the tank wasn't fitted and I needed the hoses cut before I could fit it, catch  22.

Eventually, I got the tank in place, drilled and fitted the nutsert and it was a squeeze but it did go in but by the time I'd got the tank in and hoses fitted it was 5pm and I'd had enough.

Monday was cold and rainy so I had a day off which was followed by Tuesday as it usually is and that was raining and cold too, so another day off.

Wednesday was a much better day, I drove to Dandenong Supercheap Auto and picked up my new fuel gauge then it was home and I struggled to motivate myself but it was a nice day with rain forecast for Thursday so I wanted to get all of the outside work done.

I cut and fitted the fuel hoses, fit the pump and wired the electrics for the sender and the pump. I also fitted the gauge and stripped out the panels in the front ready for the wiring. It was getting dark but I managed to modify the inner wing, fit it and put the wheel back on so the car just needs the electrics sorting out now which I will hopefully get done tomorrow.

It's Thursday and I have finished the job at last. I went to Repco and bought a couple of hose clamps (Jubilee Clips) and finished the hose at the back. Then I looked at the wiring, I got everything working with a cable from the battery, the gauge is set correctly, the switch is in the dash and wired up. Tested the pump and it works so now to test the gauge and I filled the auxiliary tank with 20 litres of Diesel from my jerrycan and set the gauge to the correct setup for my sender and all is working correctly until I turned off the ignition and the switch and gauge stayed illuminated. It started raining and I got pretty wet.

So, I needed to find a power source that only came on when the ignition is activated and I used the seat heater plug which is redundant and close to the gauge etc. With this powering everything, it now only switches on when I activate the ignition. In the video, the car is parked facing uphill so the fuel in the tank sits at the back and the gauge drops to 3/4 but, it is full when I'm on the flat.

PLB Personal Locator Beacon

I cannot stress enough how everyone who goes anywhere even a tiny bit remote should carry a PLB, it is a device that will literally save your life. I have a GME MT410G and for around $300 it is an accessory you should not leave home without, it is the last resort method of getting rescued when all else has failed. But, there is a slight issue you should know about here, it makes no difference whether you are stuck in the wilderness or you have a medical emergency, someone will come and rescue you however if they come and rescue you because you are stuck, they will do exactly that, rescue you, NOT your vehicle so be warned.

The device has a 7-year battery shelf life and is waterproof and made in Australia. You register it via the Australian maritime website and advise them of trips and contact numbers so they can ascertain that it is a real emergency before they send out people to help you.

So What's Next

The sand flag has arrived so I am going to fit it tomorrow, it is just drilling a hole and fit it to the bullbar and it's done.

My camping cookbook arrived today so I have ordered two more, camp oven cooking and brilliant dampers and once they arrive I am going to attempt to create a weekly menu list.

I have added our trip plan to the maritime website in case we have to activate the PLB so they know we are actually away from home.

My new oil filters have arrived so I'll need to plan the approximate location where I will need to do an oil change as I will need to buy new oil and dispose of my old oil as I don't want to carry this with me.

I need to make a shopping list

Today I bought some vacuum containers for the fridge, they were expensive but they claim that we can keep food for much longer, let's hope they work.

I filled both fuel tanks today and everything seems to work well.

I bought a small table for the cooker to stand on in camp.

Another Small Issue that Needs Addressing

The UHF radio works very well and I'm very pleased with it however, it does have an issue. When the radio is on and I switch off the car, all works well but, when I go to restart the car from cold and because it is diesel, I need to wait for the glow plug's light to extinguish. In that time the UHF switches on and is in its powering up mode but when I start the engine, like with all cars, the power is temporarily shut off to the electrical devices to give maximum power to the starter battery. Now the radio and other electrical devices can cope with this no problem but the UHF radio sometimes locks up and won't work again until I switch it off and leave it for 2 or 3 minutes to reset. Then it works okay. It also works okay if I turn it on after the engine is started.

Why is this an issue when I can just stop the car and restart it again? Well, it isn't until you are in a convoy and you are reliant on comms with other people. The radio locks up and you can't communicate, if you stop and reset the radio, you have to wait 2 or 3 minutes, you can be left behind and lose the rest of the convoy in that time.

So, I've purchased a delay timer that switches off power to the radio for a predetermined amount of time and then allows it to switch on after that time which will stop the radio from locking up. Just got to fit this into the wiring and I'm away.

BIG UPDATE

So, we're now into 7 days of lockdown due to the incompetence of South Australian hotel quarantine sending positive case into Victoria and it may extend to 10 days. You may have noticed that we have around 10 days before we set off, fingers crossed that we get out of trouble by then.

Were On Our Way (sort of)

So on Friday 18th June we were finally set free and we set off north. We planned to head towards Mildura hoping to cross into NSW and then on to QLD and we would stop the first night somewhere around Wycheproof however we pushed on in the dark and stayed overnight at a motel in Mildura. This was mainly to get a good nights sleep and be ready for the border in the morning.

Crossing into NSW

We had filled out NSW entry forms at home but now we'd stayed at Mildura we decided that we'd better resubmit so we did. I studied the criteria for entry and studied it again, I didn't want to get into trouble. So much so that I called the NSW hotline in the morning and they confirmed that we could enter.

We headed for the NSW border, the Silver City Highway to Broken Hill, we crossed the border, not to a road blockade and permit showing session or any border restriction at all. We crossed the border and the first we knew was a sign stating that there are speed cameras throughout NSW. There was no welcome to NSW or goodbye Victoria signs, nothing.

The Road to Broken Hill was quite long and boring, exactly as it had been many years ago when I had a trip up here although there was a bit more traffic now.

Our First Technical Issue

On the road to Broken Hill, when the fuel tank was around 1/2 full, I decided to pump some fuel from the auxiliary tank, a task that normally takes about 15 minutes. After 20 minutes, it was clear that no fuel was being transferred. I stopped and listened to the pump, it was making a noise but it sounded poorly. The decision was made to stop in Broken Hill and buy a new pump. We arrived around 2.30pm and everywhere including Repco was closed. As we were not passing through anywhere major for a while, we would need to buy a pump here in Broken Hill so we decided that the second night of our camping holiday would also be in a motel. Then we discovered that Repco didn't open until 8am on Monday so it is now 2 nights in a motel.

Sunday

I looked at Google maps and found that right next door to the motel was a 4WD specialist who was open at 10am on Sunday and I went there and bought a new pump.

So we had a spare day in Broken Hill which we used to visit Silverton.

We visited the Mad Max Museum as the vast majority of Mad Max 2 was filmed here. As we entered the door and the lady on the desk welcomed us in a Yorkshire accent, I said to her "was that a Yorkshire accent" and it was and her and her husband ran the museum and I have to say we had a whale of a time with them, they were very friendly and pleased to hear us. The museum was great I bought a T-Shirt and the guy gave us a sticker for the car. I thoroughly recommend this museum if you're a Mad Max fan.

We left Silverton and visited Mundi Mundi Lookout where the Mad Max2 opening scenes were filmed, a place I'd been to previously. The whole area has been ruined by wind generators, damned awful things and most of the area around them in now fenced off. 

On the way back to Broken Hill we stopped off at The Day Dream Mines, well at least we turned off at the point where they indicated they were. 10km along a dirt track to be confronted by a locked gate and a sign that said the mines shut at 1pm.

It would have been a lot more helpful if the sign 10km previous had mentioned this.

Heading East

So, we have no choice but to head east tomorrow as we cannot cross into SA or QLD because they do not correctly identify the Covid hotspots in Melbourne like NSW does. They just blanket all of greater Melbourne and that is that whereas NSW listed the actual hotspots, you can see now who is concerned about their economy and who isn't.

So, tomorrow we'll be heading towards Wilcannia and on further east until we get to Byron Bay. The first campsite we find will be our next stopover and I'll get that pump repaired there. 

21st June - Broken Hill Eastward to Bourke via Wilcannia and Cobar

The morning saw us up at the crack of 8.30am and we made the most of the facilities at hand before packing up and heading East towards Wilcannia. Of course we had to stop at Rosie's Chickens or Silver City Café as it is known during the daytime for breakfast. 

The road was fairly quiet, I tuned the UHF into channel 40 and we listened to the chatter for a while before even that fell silent for a while. The odd truck and quite few grey nomads were travelling in the opposite direction, giving us the odd wave. After refuelling at Wilcannia (I still haven't fixed the auxiliary pump yet) which turned out to be a caravanners haven, they were everywhere, we headed for Cobar which was altogether more civilised a town. After refuelling again, we took the Kidman Hwy towards Bourke eventually turning onto a dirt track trying to get to the campground we had booked before dark.

FAIL

We were still two dirt tracks and about 45km away from the camp when it got dark so, we played dodge the Kangaroo and Goats and Emu as it turned out, all the way to the camp. The campground was quiet, only two other campers here so it is lovely and quiet and peaceful. We lit a fire, had a beer and some wine, and tucked into some cheese and biscuits, neither of us that hungry.

Tomorrow we may stay another night or we may move on, haven't decided yet.

So, the camp was great, lovely and peaceful and the people who were there all came and talked to us. We decide that as I'd punctured a tyre, we would stop a second night so I could repair the puncture the next day.

Next morning the tyre was indeed flat so I repaired it and it has been fine ever since. We had a nice walk along the Darling River and two new neighbours arrived after we got back and one couple were from Balwyn and the others were NSW people. That night had a rain and wind warning so I didn't sleep well worrying about the awning but it was hardly windy and the rain didn't come until we had almost packed away.

The day saw us proceed to Bourke, refuel, get provisions from the IGA and then off to Moree. Our plans have taken another turn since NSW have had a big Covid break out. Queensland have opened the border or at least will have on Friday so we have applied for border permits and they have been sent to us already. So, it is off to sunny Queensland on Friday and on to the NT and Alice Springs.

Covid & Job Offers Throw a Spanner in the Works

We were staying a second night in Moree and I didn't sleep well. I had been offered a job starting on the 8th July and they couldn't change the dates. I was very concerned with the latest Covid outbreaks and thought the further north we go, the further we were getting away from Victoria. So, after a chat with Rosie, we decided that we would head south and back into Victoria.

So, in the morning we headed for Dubbo and beyond that to a campsite called Wanda Wandong, about 30km south of Dubbo. We had a lovely evening at the site, it was sunny and no wind and we cooked beef casserole for dinner. The sky was clear, the Moon was shining on the campsite and we had just finished dinner when I said, "is that rain" and it was pouring down in seconds, it really rained heavily. There were two other couples in the site and I'm sure they must have been waterlogged however, I tilted the awning, got undressed and we got into the swag which was toasty warm and dry.

In the morning it looked dry, we got up and made tea but it started to rain again so we had to pack up in the rain. We got going around 9.30am, heading to Parkes and then on to Tumut where we had booked a motel. It rained on and off all the way down s, I'm glad we're in a motel tonight.

Tomorrow we are heading to Jindabyne then we'll camp along the snowy river and cross into Victoria the day after where we are heading for Lakes Entrance.

Back Into Victoria

So, we left Tumut around 9.30am and we headed straight to Jindabyne we got some provisions in the local town and headed down the Barry Way along the Snowy River and across the border into Victoria. That night we camped at Willis Campsite and had a great night at the side of the Snowy River.

Up early and on the road we headed for Bairnsdale and that was where our problems started. Once we got into phone range, we received a text to say that because we had been in NSW, we needed to get tested within 72 hours. So, we headed to one of only two places in Bairnsdale to get tested. After a call to the Covid Hotline to get the location, we found that neither of them would test us because we didn't have symptoms. I rang the Covid hotline again and said "now what?". They had no idea and said we weren't the only people that had called and would make a note on our account. We drove to Seaspray and camped there to try and isolate.

Next morning, I looked up the local testing centre in Sale, online and they also stated that they would only test people who had symptoms. So I called the number and said both of us had sore throats, I had to lie to be able to get tested. We were booked in at 3.45pm the next day so we stayed at Seaspray for a second night.

The next day we had a lie in, we packed up, headed to Sale and had lunch, went to the supermarket and refuelled all without interacting with anyone else. We went to the testing centre, got tested and then headed to Briagolong to camp in isolation whilst we got our results. We stayed in a rain forest campground with nobody else so we could isolate and next morning received our negative results.

Next day we headed to Black Snake Campground and had a great night but it was very cold.

 

  

Next morning, the weather forecast forced us to move and we decided to head to Bright however, after arriving at Dargo we saw a sign say that the Dargo High Plains Road was closed 45km ahead. We had no choice but to return to Sale so we booked into a motel for two nights. Tomorrow is a day shopping in Sale and a relaxing pub meal tonight.

We plan to camp inland on Sunday Night.

Road Trip to Broken Hill and.......

It's Saturday night, I'm off all next week and I'm leaving tomorrow for Echuca after I've completed my Photoshop course with Stuart and Landon at SMLXL. I should make Echuca by around 4.30pm then I'll spend the night with the rellies and on Monday morning I'm off to Mildura hopefully for lunch. Craig has given me a location just outside of Mildura to visit and I'm told I should go see the sand dunes. Hopefully there is somewhere to pitch the swag at the sand dunes, find a good spot for a sunset shot and then it will be back to the swamp to shoot wildlife. I'm taking my kayak so watch out birdies.

I'm really hoping that this trip will rekindle my photography spirit which is waning a little at the moment, fingers crossed. I'm looking for support so if you want to help me get some of my vim back then please leave me some comments. I had hoped to visit Lake Mungo but there's rain forecast for Monday and I think that the road will be closed.

Sunday
Well, I slept in. I was supposed to leave at 8am and I had just dragged myself out of bed at 8.15am and still had my camera gear and kayak to load into my car. Luckily my son Phil got up and helped me load up the kayak and I finally got underway around 08.40am. I arrived at SMLXL at 9.15am and they hadn't started so all was well.

1.30pm, we finished the course and I was away on my run to Echuca. I had the Hume and the Northern Highway almost to myself and arrived at 4.30pm and parked up ready for the long trip the next day.

Monday
Jumping into the car at 8.30am I waved goodbye to my mother-in-law and headed out of Echuca towards Mildura along the Murray Valley Highway. I knew there was rain forecast for today and I'd barely reached Gunbower before it started to rain. Although I didn't know it, it was going to rain almost constantly all the way to Broken Hill.

I spotted a couple of good wildlife photography hotspots on the way and recorded them on my sat nav for later exploration. One of these sites contained some of my favourite wildlife subjects, birds of prey. Hopefully a reader of the blog will be able to identify this bird for me.

Having had a wet yet uneventful trip to Mildura, I refuelled, ate and then pushed on to Broken Hill. I'm not stopping here because of the wet weather so I'll visit on the way back to Melbourne. I saw very few cars and just a few trucks mainly going the opposite direction, I was conscious of the skies being dark and rainy and wondered whether I would have problems with kangaroos. Having only seen several dead ones I need not have worried because they were nothing compared to the amount of herds of goats that were wandering along the Silver City Highway. There were also quite a few emus and birds of prey along this route, it was way too rainy for me to be bothered to take any shots. besides, I had dressed for the long drive and this meant I was in shorts, T-shirt and thongs which don't work well in the rain.

I arrived at Broken Hill around 4.30pm, checked into the motel and went and bought some supplies. I have another night in the Motel tomorrow then it is out in the swag but I'm going to go kayaking and camp by a river/lake.

I'm thinking of having a trip to Silverton tomorrow, site of the filming of Mad Max 2 as well as around another 20 films. I'm also going to look for Wedge Tailed Eagles.

Tuesday
I awoke at 6.30am but I didn't get up for sunrise chiefly because I had no idea where to go to get some good shots. So I had breakfast and set off for Silverton at 8.30 instead. On the road there I saw plenty of Emu's and some kangaroos as I approached this very small town.

 

There were also a few horses that were allowed to roam free however they were obviously used to human contact because unlike the Emus, they didn't move even when I jumped out of the car to get some shots.

Silverton itself was a big disappointment reminding me a lot of the small settlements in the Falkland Islands. There were a couple of cars made up to look like Mad Max vehicles, one outside the town's pub. There is also a church built in the 1880's but little else to hold my attention so I moved on to the Mundi Mundi Lookout.

Mundi Mundi Lookout looks out over the Mundi Mundi Plains, a vast area of flat plains that stretches to South Australia and beyond. Sadly the only two man made things visible are a road and a 'Private Keep Out' sign. Why some idiot thinks they need a keep out sign is beyond me, keep out of what?

After the visit to the lookout, I headed for Menindee Lakes and looked for a place to camp when I leave the motel tomorrow. The road to the lakes is the place to find Emus as there were hundreds of them. However, I was disappointed because there was hardly any wildlife at the lakes themselves that I could see so I think I'll give the lakes a miss. So back at the motel, the dilemma is now, where to go tomorrow?






Keep a watch out here because I'll be updating with text and pictures hopefully most days.