3020KM

So there’s not much to say, the job is done.Arrived in Canberra today. I’m pretty tired and hope to put together some video one day soon. The car went well, the only reason I reached for the toolbox was in Dubbo to re-install the washer bottle I removed a week or so before to get to something.

Realistically, that distance represents maybe 10-15% of our next trip. But the difference been, it’ll be spread over a larger period, over different countries, cultures and sceneries. At risk of sounding disrespectful, the scenery didn’t change from Dubbo, to Wagga… seriously. It’s that same desert scrub scene for hour after hour.

Also caught one or two bugs between Mildura and Balranald. Initially, I thought it was just rain, but it was rain that made the window dirty. I cleaned this off here, but by Wagga it was pretty much back to this point. I kept an eye on the temperature gauge and at one point after a long 4th gear hill it was about 60% on the gauge which is up from the normal 50%. I’ll give this a good clean tomorrow, but I don’t have the energy today.

Is there a sunset every day?

I assume the answer is yes but I ask the question rhetorically. It’s a shame how few of them we ever stop and see. The flip side of this is that no doubt it’s why we find them special because it is rare to catch one in our busy lives.
Arriving at the ‘corner’ was uneventful. It’s just a destination and that’s all. It’s a bit depressing to think… err, this is it? but realistically, it is everything it could be. Trips are invariably about the journey, not so much the destination. The destination serves as an achievement, only when you look back on it in retrospect. Even only a few hours after doing this trip, I feel much happier looking back as opposed to actually driving each on of those gruelling kays.

I stopped a bit earlier this evening, about 7 fingers opposed to 5 between the sun and the horizon.
It’s funny because that method sounds so primitive – but it works a treat. If you relied on time, it would only work on flat ground with no mountains whereas if you use the hand method, you get the same amount of time to setup, have dinner and wash up, regardless of the terrain.

So all going to plan my post below should be the GPS coordinates of Cameron Corner. I’m only assuming it’s worked, as by the time this is uploaded, I should be in Broken Hill, leeching McDonalds Wi-Fi hopefully from the car park. Today was another good day, with lots of KM covered. My estimation from looking at the map is 600KM, 550 of which was dirt/rock/sand KM. The dirt is slow going, averaging 70KPH. The road between Tibooburra and Broken Hill is about 75% tar… come onnnnn! spring for the other little bit and the job is done!

I love starting off early in the morning – like even before the sun has risen. The first 100KM of the day is so easy, there’s never anyone on the road, you’re lights cover good distance., I could get 100KM done without blinking. It’s so fresh, everything is coming alive, I have so much energy in the mornings.
Just to clarify, as I’d hate to mislead anyone, that photo of the gate, is coming back into NSW from SA after having visited Cameron Corner.

Looking back, what’s wrong with the car:
The inverter detached way before the trip, I didn’t have time to re-fix it, so It’s been disconnected. I’ve survived without it, the only thing that needs 240v to charge is the still camera battery. Even the video cameras charge via USB.
- We need to research and procure a mosquito tent
- The ‘Chinese Laundry’ clothes line works, but is invariably in the way. Some kind of fixed length with attachment points will be grand.
-I’ve been struggling to control the temperature at night time. It’s too hot when I go to bed, but too cold just before dawn. I think this is due to me sweating in my sleeping bag, virtually unzipping it all, then waking up cold and in that state, failing to reassemble it. I’ve put the insulated window coverings on tonight, and will actually set the bed up with the doona and sheet and see if this makes a difference.

What’s right with it: Everything else. Everything has worked perfectly. Everything from the navigation system, dual batteries, fridge, chopping board, sink, water supply, pillows are just sublime. everything really does just work how it’s meant to. The car hasn’t used a drop of oil or water.

I’ve got to start running the car out of fuel now as it can only be shipped with like less than 10% or some rubbish like that. I heard some kind of algae can grow in the tank, so I hope it doesn’t happen while the tanks are pretty much empty.

Well that’s about enough from me for tonight. After all, there is still more than 1200KM till I’m home.
This is one huge country – don’t you kids forget that!

Wi-Fi at Tibooburra

So I’ve just got some fuel and bought breakfast here because they have Wi-Fi. $5, so you better like it.
I’m rushing to put this togeather quick as my internet voucher only lasts 30 minutes.

This was my first camp outside of Dubbo

Grada/Grader/Gradie is a nickname, so this seemed worth capturing.

Quorn at f1.8.

My camp site from last night.

I’m taking a box from this service station to Cameron Corner (they must know one another?)
Apparently its full of chips but it’s more likely I’m going to be a drug mule.

Stunning day

Today is a stunning day on many accounts.
I've seen maybe three brown snakes on the road, but by the time I get the camera out, they are long gone. Wow they can move fast. I'd say the can cross one lane of a road in one second.

Leaving Brewarranal today was bittersweet. I feel sorry for the children. The adults have their own lives, but the children are just starting theirs. The highlight of this one boys day was getting piggybacked for all of 10M. He made me promise yesterday that if I came back today that I would pay him that. As I was driving out, I counted roughly 20 people with nothing to do.
I dropped the tyre pressures when I hit the dirt, and I'm glad I did. Two minutes down the road, it was like driving on a beach. A brilliant red beach nonetheless. It's tempting to go faster, but on the lower pressures and varied road surfaces, it's easier just to stay in fourth gear which puts you at about 70kph. The road is long, but it's still beautiful and varied. Over every hill and around every corner is something new. From ocre dunes to billabongs teaming with birdlife.

My camp for tonight is just breathtaking. There is no sound whatsoever other than the occasional fly. I've been camped stopped for what has felt like an hour, and no one has gone past. In fact, since I hit the dirt some 200KM ago, I would have only passed 10 cars. The isolation is brilliant. There is something wholesome about actually being on your own, and these days that is few and far between.

The car is running like a dream. Everything is still intact, still have so much fuel which is grand. The fuel guage seems to be in direct relation to my spirits.
I had three steak skewers for dinner tonight. The ones were there is capsicum, onion, pineapple... mmmm all that good stuff. It's pretty much dark now so I should post this before I can't see any more. I do want to boil some water for a cup of tea a relax and a read.

With any luck, you'll be able to click the link below and it will show you on Google Maps my location. It should be the same as the spot location, but sometimes a straight Google Map is easier to read. I'm writing this with the laptop on the bonnet. My next post may be another photo from today if it uploads, but while on the sat phone, I try not to push the upload limits as it won't resume if it fails (like 50% of the time)

PS. Correction, one car just went past after all this time.

Position: 12-04-18 18:09:13 +1000 +0000
http://maps.google.com/maps?&ll=-29.70433,143.5949&q=-29.70433,143.5949&z=16

"it's not five stars you know"

... The words from the anemic, chain smoking, neck collar wearing, cross eyed yokel that checked us in. What an amazing reception. Such confidence he has in his establishment.

Today was uneventful, 530KM with at least 6 hours driving. I'm sure most people (myself included) have no appreciation of quite how big our country is! At the moment, in a state of exhaustion, I'm not sure I could be bothered doing the whole Cameron corner thing. I reach this mental point where if I can't drive it in one day, then I'm a reallyyyyy long way from home. It's 13+ hours from here to Cameron corner (653KM), and then 19+ hours driving back home (1390KM). It's just too overwhelming to consider right now, and bad thinking about these things when tired is a waste of energy and spirits.

By my calculations, it would be two days driving to Cameron Corner, then three driving home. Assuming I leave here effectively Thursday morning, I would only just have enough time to make it back as I have to be in Canberra 9am on Tuesday the 24th for another round of vaccinations. I'm not sure if that's the right mentality to be traveling with. Ideally, I'd like to finish afternoon Wednesday and get a couple of hundred kilometers behind me to lift my spirits and create a bit of time buffer, but that is being pretty optimistic. 

How easy it rolls off the tongue "three days driving", it's not that easy in practice. I find driving exhausting and I don't know how some people can responsibly drive much longer. Adventure is the journey, not the destination, but when working with a time pressure, it might as well be work. I'd feel guilty stopping for photographs or video. Even when I do stop, it's not relaxing. I spent my breakfast break reinstalling the windscreen washer bottle, and last night cooking dinner with minutes before dark. 

I don't say this to worry anyone, but I also find driving dangerous in nature. Speed and fatigue are just factors which multiply the inherit likelihood of making a mistake. Mistakes could be a cats-eye you hit when cutting a corner, an animal crossing or worse!. But its a risk so many take every day! And you're just as likely to be effected by someone else's mistake even if you are super careful.

A huge part of me wants to just get takeaway and head off into the night, homeward bound, but I have a job to do tomorrow. I've done well not to eat takeaway at any point. I have such yummy food in the car but not enough time to stop and enjoy it. Lunch today was 6 slices of bakers delight sesame seed bread, washed down with water. When I ran out of water, I pulled over, quickly jumped in the back, pumped some more, jumped back into the drivers seat and took off fearing that the caravan I overtook about 30km earlier would catch me. It's no problem overtaking, it's just kind of embarrassing. Like a tortes and the hare deal. I'm sure that is spelt wrong!

I'm not sure if I'm meant to have dinner with this volunteer rep or not, shes in the room next to mine but I don't want to go knocking as I am feeling particularly selfish with my time, and would rather cook something from my car and watch tv. Or maybe I do want to go, but alone... Ugh decisions. I might post more later.

X-trails and 3 tv channels

Aljazeera news is the best of three available channels. Last night there seemed to be more. I'm really enjoying watching tv and doing menial tasks. I've made lunch in my room (sneaky) and done the whole Chinese laundry in the sink. I stunk up some clothes line in the back of the car which is doing wonders for drying my clothes. It's so relaxing. My idea of a holiday seems to be housework. Women have it good! *throws grenade and waits for the explosion* I knowwww I should be outside doing stuff, but laying on the bed, watching mind numbing tv, eating noodles in the middle of the day is too hard to pass up.

I have seen perhaps three brand news Nissan X-Trail's with bull bars. I bet they are the result of weeks of studies, consultation, planning and testing? Who is supplying these cars?!

Maybe I don't watch much tv, but I've never seen so many ads for funeral insurance plans. Naturally I feel like I'm going to die and need a funeral plan now. What rot!. If they are advertising something, it means it's rubbish. Like a $400 laptop, mini bullet blenders, funeral cover or 6 pairs of jeans for your whole family" you've never seen an ad for an iPhone, but you always see ads for androids.

Today was fun. Scheduled for 9am start, no one turned up. Thats ok, we were briefed about this. They call it 'blackfella time'. The organisation representative was looking somewhat shaky as this was what she feared. She was making calls as was another lady. They rounded up three/four random people who were not in the initial 8 that this project was for. By 10am we had started. We wrote a few words in a text document, signed up to an email service and sent emails between one another. I am at a loss to what I'll teach tomorrow. Lunch arrived at 1130 which ended up winding up the day by 12. 

I forgot to mention, at Dubbo, an elderly gentleman had a pyramid of metal Jerry cans. Naturally I was curious as he filled and loaded each can into his old combie van He said, "my fuel discount docket has a max of 150L". I postulated that he must live remote and buys fuel more often than he shops at the supermarket. When I posed this angle, he said "nah I'm in there every other day". Unable to comprehend what this retiree was building in his backyard, I continued to fill my tank. Minutes later, after what must have been a puzzled look on my face, he said he had a 20c a liter discount voucher. Why he didn't just come forward and say that in the beginning I don't know! Maybe he thought I would rob him for his 20c/L docket... Which I should have at $1.56/L.

These recent blog posts are very scarce of any media which is because there is no wifi and I'm just posting these off my Telstra iPad. I would have said 29 times in my career that Telstra is the only network that works outside of cities... Why don't I take my own advice. Now that I think about it, I have a perfectly good Telstra USB modem somewhere... But not here. 

I did score a paparazzi-like video of the creepy reception man. Plus some epic footage taken from the roadside with the tripod as I smashed though all of six inches of water over the road. 
Oh and got my new camera soaked in the process... doh! It's fine because I had the uv filter on it.

Post

I should set the scene. I'm in the car beneath a bridge watching the last trace of light disappear over the horizon. I'm about 100KM from Dubbo, and seen as I have an 11AM appointment, I have far too much time up my sleeve. Tomorrow I'll be driving to Brewarrena (I have no doubt spelt that wrong). It should be a 3.5 hour drive, so tomorrow could be a big day for driving.

I couldn't help but think eating my dinner alone, that maybe this whole trip is in search of an dream that isn't really achievable. I have been sold on the experience of a 'round the world' trip. My inspiration was a DVD called Long Way Round. Naturally these documentaries are edited to portray a brilliant story, but skim over how potentially pointless a trip like this could be.
I'm just feeling a little worried that all of this effort may have been in vein. What if we hate it? So much hard work has gone into getting us this far, to loose or fail would be devastating.
So many people know about it that it would be too embarrassing to admit failure. Part of me suspects that the negative people out there would be happy to hear we have failed, and quick with an 'I told you so' but hopefully they are few and far between.

I want people to ask me, six months after the trip is done.... was it worth it? In retrospect, every time previous, the answer has been a definate YES. It would stand to reason that the result would be the same, but whilst in the middle of it, it makes me skeptical. If I look back on our Australia trip, it was terrific. Terrific peppered with low lows, fatigue and resentment for the 'outback'. The lows were always breif. Like the first night outside Wagga, the second night outside Mildura. The nights were probably the worst on that trip as the heat was relentless. Sleep eluded us which put a bad perspective on everything else. But the highs were immense. Waking up in some of the places we did were amazing. This probably also points to fatigue been a major component in our experience.

I'm a low low, and a high high kind of guy. I'm very quick to joy and equally quick to disappointment. Just today is an example. We went and purchased a 6mm eye-bolt to secure our folding table. From an excited and productive morning it quickly spiraled into anger and disappointment with a very sub-par result on my part. The eye-bolt I purchased was indeed 6mm, but it seems it needed to be 5mm. After getting the bolt jammed and needing to leave a big gaping hole were the receiving thread was, I was already annoyed. Now that this position was out of the question, I now had a hole in the brand new chopping board were there didn't need to be one. ugh. I can't explain it. I'm not sure if it was the combination of heat, sun, an audience or what, but I was furious!
I have in my head what the result should look like, and if it isn't anywhere near my expectation of what is possible, it is sad.

Up until about 10 minutes ago, I was hearing weird noises outside the car. Of course it's the old sensory deprivation problem whereby the absence of sight heightens your sound perception. I bet if someone knocked on the door right now I would loose it. I will probably upload this post in Dubbo tomorrow.

#END