The Plan

 

The plan at the start was:

1. Head to Augathella for a couple of days

2. Head to Hell Hole Gorge on the way to Birdsville

3. Cross the Simpson Desert on the QAA and French Line and end up at Mt Dare Hotel

4. Worlds your oyster as long as you stay in South Australia  and plan it day by day based on track conditions and what you find along the way.

Pretty much stayed on plan for the first stage with a stop over at Chinchilla on the way to Augathella.

From Mt Dare, the track led us down to Oodndatta and on to Coober Pedy. Coober Pedy was a little disappointing so the plan was then to head over to William Creek on the Oodnadatta Track and make a right turn after Lake Eyre South and head down to Lake Hart via Roxby Downs and Woomera.

From Lake Hart, a long day in the saddle saw us head down to Cape Jervis via Adelaide to pick up a battery charger for my camera (don't ask). A night in Cape Jervis and an early morning ferry ride saw us on Kangaroo Island for a few days of sight seeing and photography.

After some wonderful days on Kangaroo Island, the road led us north and into the Flinders Ranges for a few days. We had an enforced slow down when the Jimny blew a rear axle bearing.  The good little car got us back to civilisation in the form of Hawker where the Repco service centre let us know they needed to get a replacement rear axle and assembly as the heat may cause something more disasterous down the track so a second hand part was secured and we had two days on our hands to explore the local area - and a car hire to collect the tent etc from Wilpena Pound.

From Hawker, the road led north through Leigh Creek to Lyndhurst where we headed right after getting our Queensland border passes and on to Innamincka via the Strzlecki Track.  From Innamincka the road led back into Queensland and onto Thargominda before heading into Yowah and then onto Eulo for a night on the Paroo River. Onward to Moonie via St George and Cunnamulla and then the final stretch home via the back way from Dalby which is a much nicer drive than heading back via Toowoomba.

Never thought the little car would have to carry us over 8000kms over 3.5 weeks of roaming into the arid heart of Australia and turning left before running out of road and heading north and back home.

Ode to My Travel Buddy

 

The 12 Volt Oven was a revelation and has made touring all the easier.  From hot breakfasts, reheating pies, roasts, ribs, casseroles, chicken and rice, mince dishes, brownies, deserts, cakes - this oven can do it all.  The best part is you can switch the oven on, put all your ingredients in the pan, shut the door and drive on to your destination with wonderful aromas running around the car to get you looking forward to your next meal.

With the  second battery system setup, the oven can run when you have pulled up so a slow cooked meal can continue to cook into the evening as you relax in front of the fire until you are ready to eat.  Lamb shanks and roast veges worked a treat - lots of options!

This oven only draws 7 amps and has one setting - cooks at around 160 degrees and there is a timer if you want to go for a hike and want to only cook for a set time.  Had some amazing meals whilst I was away and didn't loose those extra kilos I had put on thanks to Covid-19 and working from home.

I did bring the gas stove and a couple of bottles but these were completely redundant with the Travel Buddy on board.  The jetboil was for hot drinks and wash up/bath water.

Oven bags reduce the amount of clean up involved but remember to poke some holes in the bag.  An exploding bag is not much fun and it is amazing how much force the bag blows out and how far roast veges can splatter around a small car :-(

I wouldn't road trip without one of these!  Amazing range of meals that you can prepare with this set and forget 12 volt oven.

The Jimny

 

Love these little cars.  Under its small exterior is an even smaller interior and a long pedigree as a 4wd.

At the heart of this monster is a 1.3cc 4 cylinder engine.  The improvements that I have made are:

• 2 inch Tough Dog lift;
• 215/75R15 Hankook AT/M Shoes;
• Bull Bar; and
• Snorkel.

The fuel tank is a bit of a problem for long distance remote driving.  40 litres is all you have to play with so sorting how to carry extra fuel was a priority.  The maximum I had to carry was 60l in addition to the standard tank.  This ended up giving me a buffer of 30L as it took 70L to cross the Simpson Desert from Birdsville to Mt Dare, a distance of 510kms.

The major changes to the car are on the inside.  The rear seats have been removed and have been replaced with the touring setup.

The sliding drawer contains the pantry and supports the fridge slide and the 55l Dometic Fridge.  The Travel Buddy on the right was the relevation for this trip.  Hot meals when you arrived at camp without having to cook at night was brilliant.  More time to relax with a wine in hand and to get those sunset photos.

The heart of the system was a second battery which was charging from the alternator whilst driving.  This was isolated from the main battery so I never had to worry about the car not starting.

I ran the UHF radio off the second battery so I could leave it on in camp if I needed to - changing channels when you were driving is a bit of a challenge as the unit is behind the drivers seat, but otherwise is was good to keep the cab clear of clutter.

Anderson plugs were a must on 4WD tracks, gibber roads and nasty corrugations.  Apart from some teething problems with a redundant fuse in the line, the system worked a treat and never left us without power to charge mobile phones, camera batteries, run the laptop through a DC convertor, as well as cooking dinner and having the fridge running 24x7.

I tried to keep the rear setup as light as possible and used ply and angle iron to allow strength and flexibility given the type of 4wding I was going to experience.  I had 60 litres of fuel to sit on the floor beside the fridge so strength was important.

I will probably make some minor mods - the unit had a little too much flex so might put some corner bracing for the top shelf and will think of a way to stop the items on the top shelf bouncing forward and landing in the cab when you least expect it!  Apart from that it worked a treat and allowed us to play the tetris packing game a little more efficiently.

Jimny does the Simpson Desert

 

This is the story of a little car that could and an Odyssey that started in Brisbane and led to the heart of the country via the Simpson Desert and then south to the wonderful Kangaroo Island and back again via the Flinders Ranges and the Strzlecki Track.

The journey was greater than the title of this blog but the trip started out with a plan to cross the Simpson Desert and the rest was just icing on the cake!

It was a minor miracle that the trip happened in this time of Covid-19 with borders being shutdown and travel restrictions changing on a daily basis.  At one point I had around 5 different trip plans on the table, but plan A was always to cross the desert and the stars and moon aligned for the trip to go ahead.

This is the story of that Odyssey in a time of lock down and turmoil.