2022...

[Moneybox]

Time is really running out now and there's still so much to do

Mrs M has been trying to find the time to get me some vehicle insurance but she's been as busy as me. I got out early and went looking for a couple of new tyres that I bought for the bus a month ago. They were dispatched from Perth but never turned up here. I found them in the end down at the roadtrain assembly area. They must have come in on a vehicle too big for local deliveries and even the usual freight depot is right in town. Anyway that's one thing to tick off the list.



Mrs M spent the morning dealing with a mining company that looks like helping her out with setting up the heritage centre. They might come up with some relics and they've offered some manual labour as well.

After she got home she got stuck into cutting and laying the floor insulation. She really wants to keep me warm at night without actually being there



After fitting the insulation she used it as a template and marked out the floor mat. It was a bit heavy to cut with scissors so I gave her a hand. I should have fitted a diamond blade but that would have taken time I just don't have.



The finished floor looks really good and will keep me well off the cold steel floor. I unbolted half of the ramps too. They were too long and too big to pack away.

I wasted a lot of time this afternoon trying to get the DC to DC charger working again. I took a run out of town after lunch, beyond telephone range, to try out the 5m high telescopic antenna. I bought a Desert Eagle antenna and a Netgear Nighthawk WiFi modem. The overall cost was about $550 and should be better than the CelFi from Telstra. Unfortunately, the patch lead connection to the antenna doesn't fit the new M6 modem properly. It fits the old M1 and both connection terminals are meant to be the same. Just another thing to sort out. Anyway the DC to DC charger was working when I went for the drive but wouldn't work after I removed the auxiliary battery to fit the floor mat. I eventually found an earth cable that I'd left off but I spent a lot of time that I could have put to better use.

Tomorrow....well that's just another day, it should be the last day of my preparation and packing but we'll see .

 

[Moneybox]

Today we put the self adhesive felt strips under the lids on the ramps and laid insulation on the floor inside. Then we got busy packing but that's not quite finished.

I took the quad out the back and hosed out all the sticks, leaves and dust so that they won't give me too much grief at the border. Mrs M was busy cooking me some meals and doing the last of the washing.



Then she cut out some new tint for the side door window while I fitted the glass.



There's a special tool for this job but it wasn't available.



I made this one by fitting an R-clip into a socket screw driver. The wire was a bit thick but it did the job.

We tried to do it all during the week but the rubber supplied wasn't the right size. I finished off the day applying the new tint so we're pretty much done.



Meanwhile Taz is looking a bit bored having to hang around waiting to hit the road

 

[PabloP]

Safe travels and I hope you get to the special functions in time.

 

[Moneybox]

Safe travels and I hope you get to the special functions in time.

Thanks PabloP, I expect to get somewhere and when it comes down to it the travel is often more fun than the destination.



It's already started out like a camping trip. It happened before I got out of bed. I sat up late, well after midnight watching a bit of the Wimbledon tennis and just wasting time away. I rolled out late at about 8:30 this morning to find everything that was nearly packed but still sitting in the driveway well and truly soaked. We had the first rain in weeks and I wasn't expecting it last night

 

[Moneybox]

Mrs M started a 4D puzzle a couple of days back. She said she hoped to have it finished by the time I get home.



With a few things wet from the overnight rain and then Mrs M fussing about to see that I had everything packed the morning wore on.



She wanted the speedo reeding like we always do before leaving. It was pretty easy at right on 240,000km.



The last thing to go in was the quad. Then she could see it was going to drop water on my bed if it was raining so she cut me a piece of synthetic grass to go over the bed. It does the job but now that I'm parked 500km down the road at New Norcia I'm looking for somewhere to put the grass

I hit the road at 11:15am and she dropped me a text by the time I reached Paynes Find 200km down the road she'd finished the puzzle. I don't know what she's going to do now

 

[Tathradj]

Don't be like me.
Tossed all the gear in the back of the Prado in a panic
and took off for a weekend of camping.
Unpacked only too find me chainsaw had leaked oil on my sleeping bag.
Lucky I had plenty of other spare bedding.

 

[Moneybox]

Don't be like me.
Tossed all the gear in the back of the Prado in a panic
and took off for a weekend of camping.
Unpacked only too find me chainsaw had leaked oil on my sleeping bag.
Lucky I had plenty of other spare bedding.

Yes having the quad over my bed is a potential hazard but Mrs M reminded me to turn the fuel off

 

[Moneybox]

I had a cold night last night at New Norcia, it dropped to 5°C although it seemed colder and I don't have a thermometer. Tonight I'm at Widgiemooltha just north of Norseman and the forecast is for a little cooler



I don't really have the time but I couldn't resist the temptation to camp up on a pending lease tonight. I woke to rain on the roof this morning but if the weather is kind to me tomorrow I might just try to get one little nugget before I leave WA

 

[Mackka]

Nice mate, that little symbol of a knife and fork is that a small roadhouse for fuel and tucker? Mackka

 

[Moneybox]

Nice mate, that little symbol of a knife and fork is that a small roadhouse for fuel and tucker? Mackka

Yes that's the Widgiemooltha roadhouse and pub I think. Mrs M has loaded my fridge with so much food I can't buy any more

I wandered about for a couple of hours but didn't turn up any gold but I did at least give my legs a bit exercise as well as digging a shot gun pellet, a couple of tacks, a tiny nail and a fair bit of rust.

I hit the road by 10am and fueled up at Norseman before heading east. I should have done a bit of research on fuel prices but I just took my chances and made the first stop Caiguna and paid $2.77 p/l.



Next I stopped in "P" and picked up a couple of rocks. I intended to do a bit of maintenance on one of our Geocaches on the way. It's called Lets Build Little Egypt. The cache container had a cracked ceramic tile but when I got there somebody had beaten me to it and carried out a satisfactory repair.



Before we built our bus we drove the Isuzu truck back to WA from Melbourne. It had a crane on the back so we stopped here at Cocklebiddy and placed the four big corner rocks in place. That was about nine years ago and it was the base for a pyramid that has been very slow to grow. Today I added two more rocks

Even with the 5m high antenna I've had limited phone or internet reception while crossing the Nullarbor. I finished all my fruit and drained my water tank before getting into Ceduna. The water had a brown tinge that must have come from the liquid rubber lining. It tasted ok but I like my water clear. When I got into Ceduna I found out that the only water available for travellers is at the $1 slot machine. That goes against the grain so I filled a few small bottles from a drink fountain down by the beach and moved on. I'm not going to spend my money in a town that can't give away a bit of drinking water

 

[Simmo]

Love GeoCaching!
And yeah, concurr with the water issue!

 

[Mackka]

Yes that's the Widgiemooltha roadhouse and pub I think. Mrs M has loaded my fridge with so much food I can't buy any more

I wandered about for a couple of hours but didn't turn up any gold but I did at least give my legs a bit exercise as well as digging a shot gun pellet, a couple of tacks, a tiny nail and a fair bit of rust.

I hit the road by 10am and fueled up at Norseman before heading east. I should have done a bit of research on fuel prices but I just took my chances and made the first stop Caiguna and paid $2.77 p/l.

View attachment 2808

Next I stopped in "P" and picked up a couple of rocks. I intended to do a bit of maintenance on one of our Geocaches on the way. It's called Lets Build Little Egypt. The cache container had a cracked ceramic tile but when I got there somebody had beaten me to it and carried out a satisfactory repair.

View attachment 2809

Before we built our bus we drove the Isuzu truck back to WA from Melbourne. It had a crane on the back so we stopped here at Cocklebiddy and placed the four big corner rocks in place. That was about nine years ago and it was the base for a pyramid that has been very slow to grow. Today I added two more rocks

Even with the 5m high antenna I've had limited phone or internet reception while crossing the Nullarbor. I finished all my fruit and drained my water tank before getting into Ceduna. The water had a brown tinge that must have come from the liquid rubber lining. It tasted ok but I like my water clear. When I got into Ceduna I found out that the only water available for travellers is at the $1 slot machine. That goes against the grain so I filled a few small bottles from a drink fountain down by the beach and moved on. I'm not going to spend my money in a town that can't give away a bit of drinking water

Thanks mate andfollowing your travels with interest as always. Stay Safe Phil. Mackka

 

[Moneybox]

Today I passed Halfway Across Australia, Kimba. As I was steadily driving down the main street, well the highway, past the big Galah I met a big semi-tipper.



I was only doing 50 kph when he through a stone that struck directly I my line of sight. That's the third stone chip this trip but the other two are off to the side.



After seeing that add on the telly where they say "we've got your crack covered" I immediately gave Novis a call. Well they wanted my post code and the dick on the other end was not smart enough to be able to work with the town name. I said "Port Augusta", he said "where's that"? I said "South Australia", he said "we have a windscreen repair place in Adelaide" I said "that's no good because I'm heading east from there" he said "no problem I can send the mobile guy". He never had a clue but in the end I got connected with the radiator and windscreen guy in Port Augusta and booked it in. The guys were really prompt and did the best they could although I don't think they've really "got my crack covered", never mind it's a lot better than it was and hopefully won't crack further from that spot.

 

[Moneybox]

After leaving Port Augusta I had to take Horrocks Pass through the beautiful green Flinders Range.

Then while pottering along at 100 kph this little patch of historic gold mines popped up on my phone.



Now without doing any research it was just a stab in the dark but I dropped in on the old girl at the farmhouse. She said both her sons had gone to town so I couldn't get permission right there and then but she knew the phone number so I left a message with her son Keith. I sat on the side of the road and boiled up a cup of coffee and never got a call back but I took a quick trip down between fence lines and had a quick swing along the edges of the track uncovering nothing but lead and a few small relics.

Has anybody amongst you SA guys tried this spot?



I spent a bit long there before moving on to a roadside stop. The fog had already started to set in so I aimed for an elevated spot. Now I did drag my feet a bit getting here but surely the sun isn't coming back already I took this photo about five minutes after I pulled up.

 

[Mackka]

I always thought those stone deflector shields on the windscreens were a good idea and a money saver. Those hills look beautiful mate.

 

[Jaros]

I've only been thru there once and it is beautiful country.

 

[Manpa]

Nice to see the Flinders looking green, heading up that way in a fortnight, checking out Leigh Creek, Farina and Maree.

 

[Moneybox]

I'm camped out the back of Bourke tonight.



Just 900km and 10hrs to destination 1

I'm having Rogan Josh with Basmati rice and peas. The poor old bugger died the other day so I guess I'm having dead horse for dinner

 

[Simmo]

Where are ya heading Phil?

 

[Moneybox]

Where are ya heading Phil?

Dropping in on my eldest brother at Blackbutt and arriving there the same day, Sunday, as my youngest brother from Busselton. Then we're off to my other brother's 70th birthday on 22nd at his Cape Palmerston Holiday Park near Serina.

After that, somewhere further north? I don't know if we (my young brother and me) will make it as far north as you but no decisions have been made. We're pretty sure to drop in on DaveNT and Glenn01 in Darwin on the way through.