Thursday started off so well. We were all packed up and ready to go at
8 am, meeting in the Main Street of Halls Creek. Paul and Maggie,
Damian and Alf and Mick had headed off early to stop in at Wolfe Creek
meteorite crater on the way. We got to Biliuna around 10'ish and
topped up the fuel tanks. Then we found out that Paul's Patrol had a
leaky sub-tank so he headed back to Halls Creek with Damian to see if
it could be fixed.
The rest of us continued on to the Canning with the hope the others
could catch up when the tank was fixed. The track continued to get
worse the farther we went with the corrugations getting pretty bad. We
had some lunch and then stopped in at the first well (Well 51) for a
look and a few photos. We continued on bypassing the next well and
having a quick stop for some afternoon tea, then it was fire
collection time with Shane's ute ending up with more than enough wood
for the evening. The onto Well 49 which had been reconstructed and
held what looked like good water.
Just before this I noticed that the Paj wasn't handling at all well
and a quick look showed the rear shocks both leaking oil. I headed
back to Halls Creek slowly while the others continued onto their first
camp site. I was around 150 kms from Biliuna and traversed this
section of the Canning doing around 30 km/hr at the most, stopping
every 45 minutes or so to allow the shocks to cool down. Once I got to
the Tanami track after Biliuna I could increase speed to around 50
km/hr. After 30 mins or so I found a nice area off to the side of the
track and had a sleep in the car.
I find the Paj seats quite comfortable for long distance driving but
sleeping is another matter. I woke up at 4'ish and continued on into
town getting there just after 8 am with the back end of the Paj
feeling very slushy. I found the mechanic who fixed Sue's car and he
was able to track down a set of shocks and could fit them the
following morning at 8 am, so it was back to the caravan park for the
day. I walked into town for coffee but generally relaxed and got
things ready, including a Plan B for tomorrow depending on whether I
try to catch up with the others.
I've just talked to the others via their sat phone and they have had a
very easy day, so I will head off after them tomorrow morning after
the shocks are fixed. It's supposed to be a very noisy night in Halls
Creek tonight as the pub gets very busy, I'm still tired after the
drive last night so I should sleep pretty well.
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