Simpson Desert - Hay River 2009

Lea was a little off colour due to something she ate in Alice. A whiter shade ofale is just not her ;-)

Whilst packing up, "oops" emanated from the SandersT camp. Di had managed to rip off the corner ring from their tent whilst recovering tent pegs. One might wonder where such super human strength came from but rumour has it thet the PJs are the source. Di was ordered to ditch the super hero suit before attempting any further packing up.

All vehicles were lined up ready to go by just afer 0800. Hard to tell who was last as the Thrifts, Kargas' and SandersI vehicles were all moving into position at the same time. We weren't on the road long when the corrugations were back again. Upside was Benny's headlight that wasn't working suddenly did again. After a few open gates, we were seen off by a sizeable white dog. He saw most of the group off but ran out of puff toward the end of the convoy, electing to sit and watch the last couple go past. We came across a good wood collecting area and seeing as we had two days in Dalhousie coming up, decided to "stock up". Everyone started collecting dead wood and stacking it beside the vehicles whilst the drivers loaded up. With Tim and Darren on bowsaws, we didn't need the motorised kind. Ivan looked like a bull elephant pushing trees to see which ones were dead. Adam learnt that he should be aware of what is going on around him. As he was wandering past, a tree Tim was cutting came down on his head. Thankfully no damage done. Helen was struggling lifting wood to Benny who was on top of his car, so he came down to heave some of the larger bits up. One piece went up "funny" and brought down most of what was already up there. Hayden, being the helpful soul he is, near wet himself laughing.

Further down the track and we discovered how to tell when Di is not happy with Tim. He becomes "Timothy". The lead vehicle then yelled "Dingo"; on the side of the road. As the rest of the vehicles approached, it sauntered of about 50m and took shade under a tree. It didn't seem too fussed about our presence. After many photos, Gerry decided to "have a yarn" with the Dingo. This got his attention, as well as keeping the rest of us amused. Unfortunately, the Dingo didn't respond; playing hard to get I'm sure. After we moved on, Caitlin decided that a change was in order so "did a Benny" down the side of the Patrol. After things had settled down, she asked, "Why is that tree falling down the side of the car??". Gerry was in need of remedial loads and lashings training.

A mere a few hundred metres from Dalhousie, the Red Jelly Bean (RJB aka Cam's Suzuki) had more issues; this time with the diff. The diff housing had split in half and bent the axle. Cam and Tim did some bush repairs and lashed a lump of collected firewood with draw cord to hold the diff housing up. A ratchet strap was used to keep the rear wheels together. This allowed the RJB to be towed into Dalhousie where work could commence. The sticker on the back of Cam's car should read "Don't follow me, I won't make it". Whilst this was going on, Ranger Brown was checking on Desert passes so Gerry was chuffed to bits that he had bought one at Mt Dare. Meanwhile, Tim's call to Ritchie revealed he had a wrecker mate in Alice who may be able to help. Whilst that was occuring, the rest of us propped up the RJB and proceeded to dismantle the rear end. Ritchie returned some good news; his mate had a complete diff assembly (still on a car) so Tim and Cam loaded the busted one in Tim's Hilux and headed for Alice.

Will Tim and Cam get to the wrecker in Alice?? Will the diff assembly be suitable?? Will this story telling idiot ever shut up?? Stay tuned to the same Hay station at the same Hay time...........