BUSHNUT
Well-Known Member
Bushnut’s South Australian trip.
The loose nuts crew consisted on the first part of the trip Royboy , Singapore Dave and myself crambed into Royboy’s GU wagon, Little Bobby and Di in a Nissan Navara Twin cab , Stevo and Justine in a Rodeo Twin cab – Others to join us later were Beesnees in his 75 series ute at Goog’s Lakes and Simon and Linda in their VW Tiguan at Ceduna .
On Saturday the 8th of August we left Melbourne for Renmark, where we soft camped at the Big 4 Caravan park , stayed in cabins there .
Sunday’s travel was to Leigh Creek and again we went soft and stayed in Cabins there .
Mondays travel was all the way to William Creek . On the Oodnadatta track, between Marree and William Creek, Little Bobby’s Navara had its first mishap, a delaminated back right handed tyre, it was in tatters .
William Creek was a s#!t hole , somehow the pub now owns the camping ground and what was the café across from it , it was a good place for a feed when we were up there two years ago . The present people who ran the pub are not the sort of people that should be in a pub , they seemed to have all the character of a fart in a bottle . We swagged it in the camping ground for the two nights.
Tuesday’s travel was out to Halligan bay , about 60 KM out from the Oodnadatta track , on the way out you pass a reminder of if your vehicle fails to proceed, the first rule is to never leave it, a monument to a German tourist who tried to walk back to the Oodnadatta track after the vehicle they were in got bogged whilst driving on the lake bed – it was in the December , imagine the heat then , she perished after only covering about 17 KM .
Returning to William Creek, we took a flight over Lake Eyre North, on the way out to it , you are flying over part of Anna Creek station, the largest cattle station in the world , you can fit Belgium within its borders, Belgium has 16 million people, Anna Creek has 4 people and a the cattle dog , in good years , it will support one head of stock to the hectare , it is a hard country . The flight over the lake was very interesting but not spectaclular, it was unique in the fact that there was water in there , it had receded down to about 50% of what it had been but because it is a fairly shallow basin it still looked immense . There were still quite a few pelicans there although most of them had gone .
Wednesday morning we left William Creek and took the road to Coober Pedy , on the way, Little Bobby had his second tyre go , he was running Cooper ST’s for those who want to know, so one has to question the durability of them . At Coober Pedy we went to get 2 new tyres , we were hoping to get BF Goodrichs but not to be had, it seems that most people use Hercules up there a Chinese tyre and swear by them they seem very hardy and at $220 a pop fitted , saw a lot of vehicles with them on too .
It was there that we noticed that Bobby had another problem, the back plate of his rear diff had a weep, we took it to the local garage, who didn’t seem all that interested in doing it , so we got diff oil , a bucket, Gasket goo and decided we would fix it our selves when we stopped at Glendambo to the south .
In the evening by torchlight we drained the oil out of the diff and cleaned the existing gasket as best we could and applied the gasket goo and filled the diff up to it proper level, it hadn’t lost a lot which was my concern .
Thursday we drove out past Tarcoola which basically follows the transcontinental railway line to the start of Googs track , travelling from North to South is supposed to be the steeper way for the 300 dunes, we diverted from the track and went out to Mount Finke had lunch there and then resumed back onto the track and arrived at Goog’s Lakes for the camp about 4.30 in the afternoon . Here we met up with another of our Group Robin Beasey or Bee’snees ,who had come in from the South . We spent the next day and night there, a rest day you might say, went for a walk and found aboriginal middings , Beesnees has spent a lot of time with the aboriginals up in the territory and is very Knowledgable about bush tucker and so forth , we even found a Quandong tree . Returning to camp, Bobby produced a big bottle of Vodka so we investigated the merits of Vodka , lime and Lemon – I think we enjoyed ourselves but it needs further discussion .
Friday we drove to Ceduna and camped at a caravan park as I think the women in the group would have rebelled somewhat and I must admit , I liked that shower. We also met up with another couple in our Group, Simon and Linda who were driving a VW Tiguan , which is not an off roader at all .
On Saturday, we changed our plans a bit and drove 300 KM’S to the top of the Bight to look at the whales , this was fantastic, they were wonderful creatures .
We then made our way back and camped well off the road just before Yatala .
On Sunday, we resumed our journey back through Ceduna and started down the western coast of the Eyre peninsula , drove out to Point Brown but decided to come a bit inland as it was a bit blowy on the coast and not much firewood, should have stuck with blowy as the bloody mosquitos were in their thousands and as big as dive bombers .
On the Monday we explored a bit more of Point Brown and on the high tide , we did a bit of surf fishing and we caught 7 salmon between us . We then drove down to Baird bay and camped there for the night, we had salmon done in foil with lemon , Capsicum, red peppers and tomato – we do eat well . Each night we would sample reds and the occasional white as you do, nothing better than that around a campfire .
On the Tuesday we drove down to Coffin Bay , went to an oyster boat that had not been in long and bought about 8 dozen oysters got some lemons from the general store made up our own oyster sauce mixing tomato sauce and mayonnaise , had a picnic on the foreshore lawns , shucked our own oysters downed with a nice couple of whites – life is tough . We drove onto Port Lincoln and then headed north up the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula . not as interesting as the western side . We decided to camp off the highway just before Arno Bay .
The next Day , Thursday, some were heading to Adelaide and so our party split up, Beesnees and I , Bobby and Di , Simon and Linda decided that we would come across via Renmark or get us as far as we felt like it and then the next day make it all the way home if possible . We didn’ t stick together as in a convoy but but we kept in frequent contact as Bobby was a bit crook and so he was taking it easily – we were prepared to turn back if he needed us . Just before Renmark we really rough camped it at the Country Club Golf course , Linda and Simon shouted Beesnees and I a night and a meal there which was really hard to take . I rang Bobby and Di to see how they were fairing , they had made it to Renmark and were staying at the Big 4 caravan park in a cabin – we weren’t the only ones doing it soft .
Next day we made it back to reality .
Trip Summary – Googs Track was quite good, it was the only time we went into 4WD, I would rate it as low level to medium , tyres down to 20 and you are fine .
The whales at the top of the Bight – Fantastic .
Photo 1/. Over lake Eyre, the high salt content gives a high mirror image.
Photo 2/. Bobbys Navara on Googs Track
Photo 3/. Our Camp at Googs Lake
Photo 4/. One of Googs Lake
Photo 5/. Whales at the top of the Bight.
complete set of photos of the trip to come .
The loose nuts crew consisted on the first part of the trip Royboy , Singapore Dave and myself crambed into Royboy’s GU wagon, Little Bobby and Di in a Nissan Navara Twin cab , Stevo and Justine in a Rodeo Twin cab – Others to join us later were Beesnees in his 75 series ute at Goog’s Lakes and Simon and Linda in their VW Tiguan at Ceduna .
On Saturday the 8th of August we left Melbourne for Renmark, where we soft camped at the Big 4 Caravan park , stayed in cabins there .
Sunday’s travel was to Leigh Creek and again we went soft and stayed in Cabins there .
Mondays travel was all the way to William Creek . On the Oodnadatta track, between Marree and William Creek, Little Bobby’s Navara had its first mishap, a delaminated back right handed tyre, it was in tatters .
William Creek was a s#!t hole , somehow the pub now owns the camping ground and what was the café across from it , it was a good place for a feed when we were up there two years ago . The present people who ran the pub are not the sort of people that should be in a pub , they seemed to have all the character of a fart in a bottle . We swagged it in the camping ground for the two nights.
Tuesday’s travel was out to Halligan bay , about 60 KM out from the Oodnadatta track , on the way out you pass a reminder of if your vehicle fails to proceed, the first rule is to never leave it, a monument to a German tourist who tried to walk back to the Oodnadatta track after the vehicle they were in got bogged whilst driving on the lake bed – it was in the December , imagine the heat then , she perished after only covering about 17 KM .
Returning to William Creek, we took a flight over Lake Eyre North, on the way out to it , you are flying over part of Anna Creek station, the largest cattle station in the world , you can fit Belgium within its borders, Belgium has 16 million people, Anna Creek has 4 people and a the cattle dog , in good years , it will support one head of stock to the hectare , it is a hard country . The flight over the lake was very interesting but not spectaclular, it was unique in the fact that there was water in there , it had receded down to about 50% of what it had been but because it is a fairly shallow basin it still looked immense . There were still quite a few pelicans there although most of them had gone .
Wednesday morning we left William Creek and took the road to Coober Pedy , on the way, Little Bobby had his second tyre go , he was running Cooper ST’s for those who want to know, so one has to question the durability of them . At Coober Pedy we went to get 2 new tyres , we were hoping to get BF Goodrichs but not to be had, it seems that most people use Hercules up there a Chinese tyre and swear by them they seem very hardy and at $220 a pop fitted , saw a lot of vehicles with them on too .
It was there that we noticed that Bobby had another problem, the back plate of his rear diff had a weep, we took it to the local garage, who didn’t seem all that interested in doing it , so we got diff oil , a bucket, Gasket goo and decided we would fix it our selves when we stopped at Glendambo to the south .
In the evening by torchlight we drained the oil out of the diff and cleaned the existing gasket as best we could and applied the gasket goo and filled the diff up to it proper level, it hadn’t lost a lot which was my concern .
Thursday we drove out past Tarcoola which basically follows the transcontinental railway line to the start of Googs track , travelling from North to South is supposed to be the steeper way for the 300 dunes, we diverted from the track and went out to Mount Finke had lunch there and then resumed back onto the track and arrived at Goog’s Lakes for the camp about 4.30 in the afternoon . Here we met up with another of our Group Robin Beasey or Bee’snees ,who had come in from the South . We spent the next day and night there, a rest day you might say, went for a walk and found aboriginal middings , Beesnees has spent a lot of time with the aboriginals up in the territory and is very Knowledgable about bush tucker and so forth , we even found a Quandong tree . Returning to camp, Bobby produced a big bottle of Vodka so we investigated the merits of Vodka , lime and Lemon – I think we enjoyed ourselves but it needs further discussion .
Friday we drove to Ceduna and camped at a caravan park as I think the women in the group would have rebelled somewhat and I must admit , I liked that shower. We also met up with another couple in our Group, Simon and Linda who were driving a VW Tiguan , which is not an off roader at all .
On Saturday, we changed our plans a bit and drove 300 KM’S to the top of the Bight to look at the whales , this was fantastic, they were wonderful creatures .
We then made our way back and camped well off the road just before Yatala .
On Sunday, we resumed our journey back through Ceduna and started down the western coast of the Eyre peninsula , drove out to Point Brown but decided to come a bit inland as it was a bit blowy on the coast and not much firewood, should have stuck with blowy as the bloody mosquitos were in their thousands and as big as dive bombers .
On the Monday we explored a bit more of Point Brown and on the high tide , we did a bit of surf fishing and we caught 7 salmon between us . We then drove down to Baird bay and camped there for the night, we had salmon done in foil with lemon , Capsicum, red peppers and tomato – we do eat well . Each night we would sample reds and the occasional white as you do, nothing better than that around a campfire .
On the Tuesday we drove down to Coffin Bay , went to an oyster boat that had not been in long and bought about 8 dozen oysters got some lemons from the general store made up our own oyster sauce mixing tomato sauce and mayonnaise , had a picnic on the foreshore lawns , shucked our own oysters downed with a nice couple of whites – life is tough . We drove onto Port Lincoln and then headed north up the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula . not as interesting as the western side . We decided to camp off the highway just before Arno Bay .
The next Day , Thursday, some were heading to Adelaide and so our party split up, Beesnees and I , Bobby and Di , Simon and Linda decided that we would come across via Renmark or get us as far as we felt like it and then the next day make it all the way home if possible . We didn’ t stick together as in a convoy but but we kept in frequent contact as Bobby was a bit crook and so he was taking it easily – we were prepared to turn back if he needed us . Just before Renmark we really rough camped it at the Country Club Golf course , Linda and Simon shouted Beesnees and I a night and a meal there which was really hard to take . I rang Bobby and Di to see how they were fairing , they had made it to Renmark and were staying at the Big 4 caravan park in a cabin – we weren’t the only ones doing it soft .
Next day we made it back to reality .
Trip Summary – Googs Track was quite good, it was the only time we went into 4WD, I would rate it as low level to medium , tyres down to 20 and you are fine .
The whales at the top of the Bight – Fantastic .
Photo 1/. Over lake Eyre, the high salt content gives a high mirror image.
Photo 2/. Bobbys Navara on Googs Track
Photo 3/. Our Camp at Googs Lake
Photo 4/. One of Googs Lake
Photo 5/. Whales at the top of the Bight.
complete set of photos of the trip to come .
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