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8. Raid Australia
2016 |
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August 3rd,
2016 Tanami Desert, Central Australia
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere. We are looking for the location for
our bush camp.
There is a lot of empty space everywhere around us, but neither at the
coordinates nor near the published distance is it possible to leave the
road. Something is wrong in the road book. At least, not only we are lost.
Within radio reach are two more teams with the same problem.
"I've got an idea," says a voice on the radio "just 30 km
down the road is the old Tanami Gold Mine. Mining there is long
discontinued and it is only used as a dump for the new mine. I worked
there for some years. We can camp along the access road!"
And off we go! However, on location we are greeted by a big sign that
unmistakably declares that only mining vehicles are allowed to enter - but
the turnpike is open. "That's ok, we'll stay at the sides so we will
not block the road. Nobody will ever know." As soon as the tents are
pitched, a big excavator comes down the road and the driver looks quite
baffled. He had certainly not expected to find such a motley crowd there.
Shortly after, he returns with the manager. Apparently, our friend left a
lasting impression with his company, they still remember his name and we
are allowed to stay if we promise not to stray off into the bush which is
perforated by many overgrown holes and mining shafts. We happily obey and
are rewarded with a beautiful quiet night under the southern stars. Try to
imagine that anywhere else in this world!
Two days earlier we left Alice Springs with 62 A-models and 2 support
vehicles in groups of 5 - 8 cars. We are an international group with many
seasoned Raid Australia participants, happy to meet the new raiders. But
as long as we don't all sit at the same campfire at night it is impossible
to bond as one big group. Also the night before only half the raid spent a
very cold and windy night at the same place. It is winter in the southern
hemisphere and dry season in the tropics. We are already north of the
tropic of Capricorn but it is still lousy cold. At night the thermometer
drops to almost freezing and at daytime it barely gets to 25°C (77°F).
We are thankful that we got warm Raid jackets!
But finally we turn straight north! In Lajamanu we can fill up at the
first petrol station after 700 km (450 miles) and Michi buys a frozen
Kangaroo tail in the small supermarket.
Today we are able to find a path turning off the highway at the
coordinates provided, leading to a beautiful place big enough for the
whole raid to camp. We put a makeshift marker up on the highway for all
those traveling behind us. But those ahead of us have apparently missed
the turn off. Later that day Bob catches up with us after racing across
half of the continent in less than four days. We will meet many of his
family members who share his two cars for a week at the time, including
his mom, age 86! He brings his well known "Raid Runner" as well
as a new creation, made out of a 2CV chassis with GS engine, some scrap DS
body parts and a lot of plywood. And it even passed the NSW safety
inspection!
As Axel backs up against our tent, the gearbox locks up. Oh well, that
can happen, that will be fixed in no time. Unless the screw driver is
magnetized and pulls up one of those little metal balls which falls - of
course - right into the open box … now everybody gets a chance to go
fishing for it with a magnet, but the stupid thing is well hidden and it
is getting dark. But it must come out and get back into its place! So we
plan to drain the oil and hope it will come out there. To reach the drain
plug, the protection plate has to come off, which is mounted under the
motor and gearbox and welded to the front bumper. As the plate is almost
off, Chris gets lucky and pulls out the ball. Instead of a half hour
repair, this turned into a full evening life entertainment. But this will
be our only breakdown; we will not even have a flat tire.
At night the Kangaroo tail is cooked in the campfire and we get a bite.
Not bad at all!
We spend the next night in Top Springs. The settlement on the map is
nothing but a road house on a dusty cross roads, but with showers and
green lawn to pitch the tents and with a nice garden behind the pub where
we get served a good dinner. Finally the whole raid is together again, for
the first time since the start. There were already some serious breakdowns
and many flat tires. Broken suspension arms and even a broken chassis were
welded on the spot. So far the roads were unsealed but in comparably good
condition. It was very dusty, especially when the huge Road Trains with 3
-4 trailers were passing at high speed, but there were not many potholes,
rocks and corrugations. The roads must have been graded not too long ago.
After about 1000 km on dirt roads we hit the pavement again. In Katherine
our campground is next to the hot springs - awesome! I always found pool
noodles pretty silly but now I must have such a thing to float with
everyone else in the 33°C (91°F) warm "Noodle Soup".
And finally the air has tropical temperatures, too!
In town we check out the old railroad bridge with the 1998 record flood
marker of 21.78 m (71.5 ft)! The Katherine River gorge is fairly wide and
not much water is flowing down there now. What a difference to the wet
season when the monsoons are drowning the otherwise bone-dry country! Even
on major Highways we see many water markers of 1 - 2 m (3.3 - 6.6 ft)
high, warning motorists to stop and wait for the water to recede if it
gets too deep. With those regular floods crocodiles find their way far
into the continent where they get trapped in rivers, creeks and billabongs
(ponds) when the water recedes. From now on we have to be careful near any
body of water.
Now we have a week to spend on our own, there is so much to do and to see
up here that the raid organizers left it up to the participants to choose
what to do. With a small group we take off to explore Litchfield Natl.
Park and leaving that area we find 80 km of really tough road.
We stay 3 nights in Darwin. We visit the Motor Museum to see a Citroen
Kegresse without body and meet a number of raiders at sunset at the Mindil
Beach night market.
We continue to Kakadu Natl. Park with a stop at the Adelaide River to see
the "Jumping Crocodiles" up close. There are also many at
Cahills Crossing at the East Alligator River but there we keep our safe
distance, now without the glass windows of the boat between them and us.
At Ubirr Rock we follow Annie's very interesting ranger talk. She became a
member of a local aboriginal community and she brings a very different
world a little bit closer to us.
On that day at a different location in the park a very tragic accident
took place. A 2CV hit a tree at full speed, without braking. Most likely
the driver dozed off in the midday heat, he died at the scene. The
co-driver was air lifted to Darwin but could be released from hospital the
next day already.
The shock hits hard! While Citroen friends in Darwin care for the
injured, we remember in Katherine Markku's life. He will be deeply missed
by everyone who knew him.
The raid continues the next day. Two 2CVs in bad condition are left
behind in Katherine. The drivers rent a 4WD to continue the trip. They
will pick up their little Citroens in about 2 weeks when we return to the
Stuart HWY and stay on pavement. We have permits to drive through
Arnhemland. This is Aboriginal land and alcohol is strictly forbidden. And
indeed - in the middle of nowhere we are stopped by two very friendly
police officers with Breathalyzer tests for the drivers. They catch no one
and invite us for a visit instead.
Nhulunbuy is a Bauxit mining town up north at the Arafura Sea. We spend a
few nice days at the Walkabout Lodge. A good time to check and repair the
cars and do some sight seeing. By now even the last spare tires are gone
and patching tubes becomes regular pastime for many. The advice to drive a
bit more careful and slower is not well received by some.
On the way back we do the short detour to the village of Gapuwiyak to
visit the "coppers". They are pleased to see us and proudly show
us around their new police station. It seems they do not have too much to
do and welcome the distraction.
The next day we arrive in Mataranka and enjoy the tropical hot springs.
It is so relaxing to just float with the current in the warm creek of
Bitter Springs. On the road we meet once again the "Outback Bash",
a bunch of people in crazy made up cars, driving through the outback to
collect money for charity and having fun doing so.
The road to Roper Bar is one construction site after the other and one
even has a mobile traffic light - the only one we find outside of bigger
places like Alice Springs, Katherine and Darwin!
Our campground at the Roper River is really nice and the following night
Isabelle, Carolin and Axel get a very special birthday party. After the
custom made birthday songs by Bernie, Moz and John, "Bosko &
Honey" perform a live concert for our group, a busload of tourists
and a handful of locals. They are enchanting their audience with the fun
they share with their "Ukulele Safari".
We continue on very bad roads. At lunch break we hear on the radio "A
2CV is burning!!!" Where? Who's is it? It is not far away, so we rush
to help.
Fortunately the car is not engulfed in flames, it turns out it was a
short circuit and part of the wiring harness is charred. Axel and a few
helpers spend a few hours to repair the damage. The others in the group
are using a tarp to get them some shade.
We are supposed to stay two nights in Butterfly Springs but most are
continuing the next day already. On the road to the "Lost City"
(beautifully eroded rock formations) we find a group broken down on the
side of the road. Peta's car has a broken suspension arm and the welding
gear is needed for the repair. Axel is driving back with Viking to get the
Tech Team, everybody else is waiting with Peta. As the Tech Team arrives
we cannot do anything to help and so we go ahead with Lorraine and Eirik.
After the turnoff to Lorella Springs the road turns really bad and the
last few miles we are driving in the dark and almost at walking speed.
Lorella Springs Wilderness Park is a 4000 km² (1 million square miles
or about as big as the state of Rhode Island) big privately owned station
(ranch) and their income is mainly tourism and some cattle. And again we
find a pool with lovely warm water surrounded by Bananas and Palm trees. I
wish I could take one of those heavenly billabongs home …!
Those who stayed at Butterfly Springs are arriving the next day to report
that Joe was air lifted to Mt. Isa with a heart problem by the Flying
Doctors. Fortunately it turns out to be a false alarm and the following
day he charters the small aircraft from Lorella Springs to fly him and his
wife back to the raid. As the plane is circling the campground we all
cheer so loud he could have heard us - if he wasn't motion sick from the
flight!
The money we all donated to help them pay for the expensive return flight
is donated straight on to the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia.
What a great safety net for everyone living in or traveling the remote
outback! All it takes to get medical help fast is a satellite phone and an
airstrip in the area.
The following day we hear from incoming tourists that Florent and
Frederic are broken down on the main HWY. Bad luck, the Tech Team is gone
fishing and since we all will pass them anyway the next day, they will
have to wait. No big deal, like everyone on the raid they are carrying
water, food and their camping equipment. The next morning we are leaving
early to start the repair before the Tech Team will get there. They are
always the last ones in order to be able to help if someone is broken
down.
We find out that two of the rear axle bolts are broken off and a small
piece is stuck in the axle and cannot be reached. So both rear fenders
have to come off, one suspension arm needs to be removed and then the axle
can come out. But the stubborn piece sits tight and does not budge! In the
meantime two other teams opened repair bays 2 and 3 near by and are
working on their cars. After a long fight and a lot of team effort we
finally get the last little piece out! Four new bolts are holding the axle
in place but now the suspension arm cannot be tightened … who's got
new bearings for it? Just replacing the axle bolts turned into the biggest
repair job of this raid! But we all make it to Cape Crawford and from
there on we will be on pavement. Good for all those who are having
problems with their cars.
The historic Daly Waters Pub is feeding us an excellent Beef and Barra
dinner (Barramundi is a very tasty fish of northern Australia). The pub is
showing off an unbelievable collection of things that tourists have left
there over many years. A few raiders are leaving something behind or find
again something they have left here during earlier visits. A great fun
atmosphere! And again we have live music and are celebrating the birthdays
of Eva, Brianna and (a little belated) Helen.
Our campsite in Tennat Creek is a dustbowl, so we decide to carry on to
the Devils Marbels with a small group. We arrive at sunset and find a nice
place in the midst of the huge round boulders. Just as the food is ready
and cake and damper (bread) is cooking in dutch ovens in the coals of the
fire a young Frenchman arrives on a bicycle. The small campground is full
and so our group simply adopts Alex for the night and invites him to
dinner. He is a professional photographer and writes for extreme sports
magazines. He is bicycling from New Zealand through Australia and Asia
back to Paris:
http://pixnbike.com/adventure-diary/everyday-journal/australia-stuart-highway-part-1/
Next morning he is driving a 2CV for the very first time while Tony is
pedaling back to the parking lot on the bicycle. Alex is enthusiastic and
would like to do a trip in a 2CV in the future while Tony would not so
much swap his ride, at least not for such a long distance and in that kind
of heat.
During that last leg of our journey we finally see some of those iconic
wind wheels. In many places they are already replaced by solar panels to
operate the water pumps. We are passing the "extraterrestrials"
of Wycliff Well and the historic Telegraph Station of Barrow Creek. We
stop at the Red Centre Mango Farm to taste mango wine and eat mango ice
cream and as we arrive in Aileron clouds are building up and it cools
down. A last night is spent around the campfire to listen to the stories
of the last days. At night it starts raining and the rain follows us to
Alice Springs. For the last night of the raid we rent a cabin on a
campground to dry out our tent. We will not need it any more.
We spend the last night with old and new friends and then it is time to
say goodbye. We take home many good - and one very sad - memories. And in
4 years it will be time for the next Raid Australia!
Since the start 30 days ago we traveled about 6200 km (3800 miles), of
that about 3500 km (2200 miles) on dirt roads and 2700 km (1600 miles) on
pavement, plus 2500 km (1500 miles) to get to the start and the same
distance back again.
Many heartfelt thanks to Helen & Ted, Ian, Gricy, Bernie, Greg and
everybody else involved for their work on this raid!
Uschi & Axel