End Of The Trip

It has been a long time coming but The Deckie has finally sorted out all of the costs of our big adventure and is now able to bring the it, and this blog, to its conclusion.  A very sad moment indeed!

Just a Few Roads To Travel

Left Coffs Harbour on Saturday 19th March 2011 and returned on Thursday 10th November 2011 - a total of 237 days.

Distance travelled - 21,438 kilometres

Fuel consumed by The Turtle - 4,825 litres

The Turtle's average fuel consumption - 4.58 klms/litre

The worst fuel consumption was 3.52 klms/litre near Hughenden QLD.  There were several other days when the fuel consumption was nearly as bad.  The wind would have been blowing a gale in the opposite direction than what we were travelling or coming at us from side on.  Not very pleasant, particularly when The Captain could see the fuel gauge needle moving very quickly towards the Big E!  Thank goodness for full jerry cans, although the roadhouses (or small towns) are in good positions - about every 200 or 250 kilometres apart and it would have been only a very foolish person who would have run out of fuel!

The best fuel consumption was 5.96 klms/litre.  Also in Queensland - near Winton - and only two days before our worst fuel consumption.  Tuf Cat had been having a rest in the caravan park whilst we did some touristy stuff - no boat, no wind and we were travelling a bit slow on some unsealed roads - all makes a big difference!

There had been many negative comments prior to the trip regarding the price of diesel fuel in outback and remote parts of Australia.  Some people had said that it was "well over the $2 mark".  These comments had brought some fear into a budget allocations but then, what the heck - after all - we were "SKI-ing"!

We never broke that $2 mark!!  The highest price that we paid for diesel fuel was 199.90cpl at Barkly Homestead in the Northern Territory.  A couple of other places - in the NT and very remote - also came very close to that mark.  The fuel ranged in price from 137.40 cpl in Orange NSW, 141.90cpl in Port Augusta SA and 147.70 cpl in Katherine NT.  The average cost was 158.72 cpl.

Caravan Parks - the cheapest - $10 per night at Mitchell QLD

                          the dearest - $45 per night at Lee Point (Darwin)

                          most were around $25 - $30 per night

Groceries were our next highest expense followed by Alcohol (when we could get it), Vehicle, Boat and Trailer Repairs, then Tours and, finally, Souvenirs.

One of the best purchases - "The Camps Australia Wide 6" book which shows nearly every rest stop, free camp spot and cost effective caravan park in Australia!

With all of the kilometres that we travelled and unsealed roads that we drove on, we were fortunate in that we only had two busted tyres and they were both on Tuf Cat's trailer!

Our average speed would have been about 80 - 90 klms/hour - depending on the wind direction and road conditions.  We were overtaken by many a road train but who cares - they were men (or women) on a mission and we were enjoying the scenery.

Breakages on the trip -Tuf Cat - propellers, trim motor and transducer (for depth sounder)

                                   Trailer - two busted tyres and a set of springs

                                   The Turtle's Exterior - just a few scratches

                                   The Turtle's Interior - the light fitting kept coming off when we travelled over rough roads

                                                                  - a couple of wine glasses and three dinner plates

When one considers the types of road that we travelled over we did very well!

Whilst we were preparing for our trip, we had read many articles on how some travellers had managed to keep their costs - on average - to around $100 per day.  The plan was for Team Turtle to try and do the same but hey! that certainly didn't happen.  

Team Turtle had an absolute ball on our big trek.  We travelled to some places that we had only ever dreamed about going to - some places we would not need to go back to and others - most definitely!  We spent more than what we had planned to but then we did help out - financially - a lot of rural economies ;-))  Met some wonderful people and had some great times!

The Roads Travelled

Would we go again?  In a heartbeat!  However, the practicalities of life sometimes get in the way and 2012 will see us just doing a few shortish trips and then perhaps a big one the following year.

Who knows what is in store for any of us!

In the meantime - Happy Trekking!!!

Back at Coffs Harbour

Yes, we have been here for a few weeks and yes, it has been ages since we posted anything on our blog.  And why is that you ask?  Probably because we were both a little sad at the thought that our wonderful adventures were coming to a close!

Now to recap what we have been up to in the last ten weeks since we parked ourselves in Greg's paddock at Orange.  It was absolutely freezing - well, maybe not quite that bad but for two days the maximum temperature was only 8 degrees celsius - and it also rained.  After we got ourselves organised, we made the trip down to Sydney and the Central Coast to pick up the Rav from Allan The Plumber and to see the family.  The grandchildren have shot up like weeds, the girls and their husbands are well and The Deckie's Mum is recovering very well after her mishap a few months back.

There was also a mix-up in the dates for The Boys Fishing Weekend and so we had a few weeks to fill in.  Orange at the end of winter is not one of the most ideal places to be hanging around especially after we had enjoyed some brilliant weather.

Anyway, the weekend before The Boys Fishing Weekend, we headed out to Wyangala Dam for some camping and fishing.  The Deckie's daughter, Kylie, son-in-law, Gavin and two grandchildren - Jacob and Ebony - joined us and we had a ball.

The water was a little bit on the cool side but the weather was fine and sunny and we managed procured a stack of firewood to keep the campfire going all weekend.  We also borrowed a 'ski biscuit' from Greg and so we had three boats - Tuf Cat, Li'l Pussy and The Pink Biscuit - to play around in!

Gavin managed to catch the first fish of the weekend but as it was a crappy carp it was disposed of rather quickly.  Kylie caught a keepable yellowbelly and was very proud of herself!

It's A Hard Life!

Water Safety for the Three Kiddies

Having Breakfast and a Fish

The Family At Play

The Girls Testing Their Skills

The four days that we spent at Wyangala passed very quickly and before we knew it, the family was returning to the Central Coast and Team Turtle was heading back to Orange.

Just About Sunrise

Tuf Cat thoroughly enjoyed her few days paddling around Wyangala Dam as it will probably be a while before she is able to immerse herself in some deep water.

Later in the next week, The Deckie headed back to Sydney whilst The Captain went back to Wyangala (minus Tuf Cat) for The Boys Weekend.  The plans were for The Deckie to meet up with The Captain and the rest of Team Turtle early the following week on the way to Coffs Harbour but The Deckie foiled those plans in a very big way.

The Deckie managed to come down with a severe ear infection - perichondritis - and spent eight nights in Gosford Hospital.  When The Captain found out about this on the Friday evening, he took a very deep breath, shook his head and made plans to forgo his fishing and pack up and head straight to the Central Coast.  Once there, he parked the Turtle and Tuf Cat in Kylie and Gavin's front yard and gave The Deckie moral support until she was able to leave hospital and head up the coast.

A little bit convoluted, but it just goes with the rest of our trip!!

Back Into New South Wales

After a few days meandering up the Barrier Highway and across South Australia we finally returned to New South Wales.  Well, weren't we in for a shock!!

The 'bad weather gods' had finally caught up to, and overtaken, us.  Ever since we left Coffs Harbour many months ago we have enjoyed absolutely brilliant weather with no rain except for one day at Mount Isa and one evening a few weeks ago in Alice Springs. 

We spent a couple of nights 'free camping' before we reached Nyngan on Wednesday afternoon and the rain started about 15 minutes after we arrived and did not stop until nearly midnight.  The wind was blowing a gale and it was freezing.  Our poor little heater was going at top speed and an extra blanket was put onto the bed!

And then to top it all off - oops, another small hiccup!

When The Captain was packing up for us to leave, he noticed that Tuf Cat (and her trailer) were leaning slightly to the port side.  This is not a good look at any time - but on dry land??

On further inspection it was noted that both springs on the port side were broken!!!  Definitely, not a good look!

A quick trip to the local engineering establishment and we were able to procure two new springs - cause that's all they had.  Four would have been better as the two springs on the starboard side of the trailer are also unwell.

The Captain then had the unenviable task of replacing the springs before we could continue our journey.

Go away, I'm busy!

One Down and One To Go!

The Remains of The Springs

The rest of the day was uneventful (thank goodness) and we travelled down to Orange where we have set up camp in The Captain's friend's paddock for a couple of weeks.

The Captain has a "boy's fishing weekend" at nearby Wyangala Dam to attend as well as watching the V8's in the relative comfort of Greg's lounge room.  After these things have been and gone, Team Turtle will then be spending a week or so out at Wyangala Dam before visiting family in Sydney and then heading back to Coffs Harbour.

There may not be a lot of posts to our blog in those weeks, but one never knows with Team Turtle.........

Port Augusta and Beyond

After managing to watch a rather despondent game of footy on Friday night, we made the 'huge' trip into Port Augusta first thing on Saturday morning.  In fact, we were so early, people were still checking out as we were checking in!

Found the supermarket and the grog shop (life's essentials) and then headed back to do a few loads of washing (boring stuff).  A bit more preventative maintenance on the vehicles and then relaxed with some more sad footy.

Sunday morning and we continued south to Mount Remarkable National Park to see what it had to offer.  There are three entrances to the Park and we chose the most accessible - Mambray Creek.   And what a very pleasant surprise!  A great, sealed road, rather large designated camp sites, flushing toilets and hot showers - very spoilt we were!!!

On The Edge of the Creek Bed

After lunch, we headed off for a small walk through Davey's Gully - only 2.2 klms.  It was an easy climb up and around the nearby mountain and great views of Spencer Gulf. 

Part of Mambray Creek Valley

South West Over Spencer Gulf

We even had some company on our walk!

Old Man Emu

Yesterday morning (Monday) we were planning to do another walk in the area but the wind was bitterly cold (again) and just blowing a gale so we thought it more prudent not to.  After a latish start we hit the road again and started meandering towards Broken Hill.  We will take a few days to get there - just enjoying the scenery as we go!

Still Travelling Through South Australia

Wednesday morning - we fueled up The Turtle and left Cooper Pedy.  With no specific destination in mind, we just cruised down the Stuart Highway for a few hours and made camp for the evening at a roadside rest area just north of the little village of Glendambo. 

Thursday morning - the wind started to pick up and even though it was up our backside, it was very rough going!  Our morning tea spot was at a lookout over Lake Hart - a rather large salt lake and one of many salt lakes that exist in this part of the country.  

A Small Part Of Lake Hart

A few kilometres further along was the turn-off to Woomera. Hmm, big decision time - shall we go?  Why not!!  So, we turned left (and into the wind) and checked out the town.  Not a bad little place and they have gone to quite an effort to organise the displays.

Colour Co-ordinated Plane and Rocket

More Rockets!

Further up the road from Woomera is Roxby Downs and Andamooka.  Roxby Downs was a purpose built town to cater for the nearby Olympic Dam Mine and Andamooka is another opal mining town and we thought that as we were so close we should visit them both.

Our visit to Roxby Downs wasn't overly successful as we would have liked to have gone on a Mine Surface Tour.  Unfortunately, the next tour wasn't until Monday - oh well, not to worry.  By the time we reached Andamooka, we were all very tired and worn out by the gusty winds so we just pulled into our camp spot for the night.  The entire town is just surrounded by mullock heaps - so very similar to Cooper Pedy!

Fortunately, the wind died down a fair bit through the night so we could actually have a reasonable sleep.  Up bright and early this morning (Friday) - mainly because the curtains were left open and the sunshine came in - and thought we would do some sightseeing.  Not much luck here either as the couple of touristy places weren't open and apart from mullock heaps, there wasn't much to see.  We had already realised that opal noodling/fossicking was very unproductive (and hard work) so we were not going to attempt that here.  So, within a short time, we were back on the road again.

Andamooka Township

Mullock Heaps At Andamooka

Morning Tea was at Island Lagoon Lookout - another salt lake - but this one was part of Woomera Missile Facility.

Island Lagoon

The rest of today's drive was pretty easy as the wind had dropped right off and we stopped just 34 klms away from Port Augusta for the night.

                         

Continuing In Cooper Pedy

Another bright and cheery day in Cooper Pedy and the wind was hardly blowing at all.  Thank goodness for that as The Deckie was getting just a little bit annoyed about having to wipe that fine film of dust off everything every few hours.

Decided to go on another tour, but this time it was a very short tour at a nearby 'working opal mine".  It was only a small group of people in attendance and a jovial Scotsman as the tour guide so we had an interesting, and amusing, time.

Jimmy, the Scotsman, showed us how some opal miners use divining rods to locate the opal seams and then showed us the 'bosun's chair' which allows miners to move up and down their mine shafts.

Crossed Rods not Eyes!

Just Hanging Around!

We continued going through the mine and learning quite a lot along the way.  After it was finished we were tempted to purchase some very nice jewellery whilst enjoying a nice cuppa.  Hmmm, we were both very strong and managed to get out of there with wallets and purses intact.

After some grocery shopping we struggled up the town's biggest hill so that we could view the surrounding areas and check out The Big Winch at the lookout and to have lunch.  The views of the town from the lookout were not a great deal better than from ground level but it wold be nice to have the bucket from The Big Winch filled with opals!

The Big Winch

Our curiosity satisfied, we went through one last museum before heading back out to 'The Breakaways' to spend a bit more time enjoying the place.

There was one section on the road called 'The Moon Plains' - where there is a ridge of black soil covered in broken shards of solid gypsum.  It looks very eerie and just as barren.

Traffic Jam On The Moon Plains

And on we travelled - stopped a lot to look at the landscape (and take heaps of pics) and then settled in at a lookout to (hopefully) watch The Breakaways change colour with the setting sun.  The rocks didn't change colour all that much but it was a very pleasant afternoon indeed.

Part of The Breakaways

Lengthening Shadows

Enjoying The Sunset

 Tomorrow (Wednesday) we shall be leaving Cooper Pedy and heading towards Port Augusta.  As The Captain doesn't like to spend too much time driving each day, it will probably take us a few days to get there.  Just cannot rush these things!

Opal Capital of the World - Cooper Pedy

Made it to Cooper Pedy yesterday (Sunday) afternoon and it only took us two days from Erldunda.  We had a nice, peaceful, free camp stopover about halfway between Erldunda and Cooper Pedy - it was a nice spot but dusty!

Found the Visitors' Information Centre without any trouble and then settled nicely into a nearby caravan park.  The Captain and The Deckie then managed to do a quick lap of the CBD in between the V8 Supercars doing laps of Phillip Island.

Unfortunately, we missed out on doing the The Mail Run so we booked in on another shorter tour around the area.  This tour was to show us the opal fields and the type of machinery used, go out to some geological formations called 'The Breakaways' and 'Moon Plains', the Dog (or Dingo) fence and then come back into town and visit the underground Serbian Church and the Umoona Museum.

Monday morning and we were up bright and early for our tour but, unfortunately, so was the wind - it was blowing a gale and also bringing in most of the surrounding desert.  Oh well, nothing else to do and besides, we had already paid for the tour.  

There were only three couples and the driver/tour guide was quite informative although a little bit hard to understand at times - after all, he was from Bosnia and had only been in Australia for 15 years.

The opal fields are very barren looking and nearly totally covered with mullock heaps - where the miners have dug their shafts and just left the soil from the shafts piled up next to the hole.  

A 'Blower' and Mullock Heaps

Another Old Mine Site

On to 'The Breakaways'.  When we arrived at the lookout, it actually looked like someone had been opal mining out there as well.  But, we were assured that what we saw was entirely natural!!  Apparently, all of 'The Breakaways' used to be part of what is now the Stuart Range and sections of it have eroded away.

Out To The South West

The Main Breakaway

On the return trip to Cooper Pedy, we stopped at a small section of the Dog Fence sometimes called The Dingo Fence.  This fence is 5,400 klms long and runs from near Brisbane, through New South Wales and most of South Australia and was built to keep the dingoes away from sheep country.

Desolate Dog Fence looking North

Desolate Dog Fence looking South

Back on the bus and we passed through the 'Moon Plains', travelled on the Oodnadatta Track and returned to Cooper Pedy.  We then visited the Serbian Church, the Museum - where we checked out the old mining tunnels - and then had a complimentary drink at the Desert Cave Hotel.  A very pleasant morning!!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we are hoping to visit a working opal mine and then go back out to The Breakaways for a sunset viewing of the nearby mountains.