Sunday, 17 October 2010

Wednesday 13th October - Nabiac

I’m afraid that we seem to have got out of the habit of writing the blog, although I’m not sure how interested you would be regarding the ins and outs of the Crabtree family gathering that has kept us occupied these last three weeks.

As for the Land Rover, it safely completed its 4000km journey on the back of one of Shaws Darwin Transport’s trucks, whereupon it stayed in their Wetherill Park yard until our shipping company could book passage and arrange for a container to be delivered.  We had to present our Carnet to customs at the airport, after which they would normally inspect the vehicle at one of their depots or charge to go out to an alternative location, but after hearing about the accident and the immobile state of the Land Rover they stamped the Carnet there and then, much to our relief.

Erich and Sheila, who had read about our accident on the Australia Land Rover Owners forum, kindly offered to help with loading the vehicle into the container, so we met them at Shaws’ yard last Thursday and they followed us and the Land Rover (which was on the back of a tilt tray) over to our shippers yard in Kingsgrove.  Spark Global had said that we could use their premises to load the Land Rover ourselves, saving several hundred dollars, so we’d been shopping for some man sized ratchet straps, and with Erich and Sheila’s help (and a push by a fork lift) we got the vehicle in and secured in the container.  With the doors closed and custom’s seal attached, we left N609 to its long journey home.  It was on the wharf the next day and has sailed on APL Peru (you can check its position online at http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?mmsi=304454000).


It’s due to arrive in the UK on 24th November.  I think Erich was itching to get his hands on our Camel as he rebuilds Land Rovers as a hobby, but we had to disappoint him.  Many thanks to Erich and Sheila, whom we’ll hopefully meet up with again next week.

Wednesday, 13 October 2010

Sunday 10th October - Canberra

If you want to witness a real test of physical and mental endurance, pit crew a 24 hour mountain bike race.


Our friend Jane (also a Camel Trophy Land Rover owner) qualified for the World Solo 24hr Championship which took place on Mount Stromlo near Canberra at the weekend, and flew out to compete.


As luck would have it we were in Sydney, so could join her husband Andy in the pits to help out.


Their friend Jon was also competing,


along with a dozen other British riders, so we had a busy Saturday and Sunday supporting their race, checking bikes,


oiling chains,


replenishing water bottles and forcing food down the competitors after each lap.


At 3am this morning it was hard for us in the pits to keep awake,


so give some thought to the racers who had at that time been on their bikes for 15 hours, with another 9 hours more riding ahead of them.


By this point I think it was more mental than physical for them, having to force themselves back out for another lap.


We provided all the help and encouragement we could,


but it was down to the rider to grind out the laps throughout the night and into the dawn.


I have to say that we were both in awe.

Come midday, all the UK riders had secured top ten places in their respective classes (http://www.onlineresults.com.au/Results/Comp/World_Solo_24hr_Championships_2010).  Jane was fifth, although I don’t think she was too impressed when we sent her out for a final extra lap as there was still the possibility of a top three finish.


Keith from Scotland was also sent out for another lap as he was fighting for a podium finish.


Unfortunately Jane’s extra lap failed to raise her up the placing, but Keith’s secured third place in his class.  I think it was his daughter’s pink CamelBak that made the difference.


Jon was eighth in the single speed class, which is only open to masochists or those with excess facial hair.


A well deserved beer was reward for months of training, and we’re all off to the after race dinner.  I’m not sure how long we’ll manage to stay awake.

Monday, 13 September 2010

Sunday 13th September - Darwin

What have we been up to these last two weeks?

The first order of business after getting back to Darwin was to inform our families about the accident, who were glad nobody had been hurt and also disappointed for us that our travels have ended this way.

Then we had to figure out the next step.  At the accident site it was apparent that the damage to the Land Rover was too great for us to be able to patch it up and carry on with our trip as we have a broken chassis, crushed front end, bent steering components and the possibility of mechanical damage to the drive train.  Despite the overwhelming offers of help from the Land Rover community in Australia after a Camel owning friend of ours posted about our plight on the Australia Land Rover Owners website (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/general-chat/112900-camel-110-rolled-darwin.html), the only real option for us is to get it shipped back to the UK where we can take our time sourcing replacement parts and earning the money to pay for the repairs.

After a few phone calls to our shipping agent, it became clear that whilst we could ship back to the UK directly from Darwin, it would be about half the cost to ship from Sydney (even factoring in the extra expense of transporting the Land Rover 4000km by truck).  As we need to head down to NSW to join my parents who are flying out next week to visit my brother and family who live just north of Sydney, it made sense to ship from there.

In order to help with the transport and loading of the Land Rover we had to get it as mobile as possible, so we had it moved from the road train yard in Berrimah to Mitch and Chelsea’s house in order to work on the vehicle.  The deformed front bumper, which was catching on the front offside tyre, had to be removed (which in typical Land Rover fashion was easier said than done), and we changed the rear near side wheel which had buckled and was catching the brake calliper.  We also managed to straighten the bonnet a little, replaced the broken glass in the rear and side doors with ply and patched the windscreen.  The roof rack then went back on after gently persuading the bent support brackets to straighten out, and we also reattached the roof tent.  The vehicle’s still rather lopsided and the wheels are all out of alignment due to the bent chassis, but at least it’s upright and rolling.


In the accident a couple of cartons of UHT milk exploded in the back so a good hose out was required as it was starting to get a little ripe, and we also took the opportunity to wash out all the red dust that we’ve collected on our travels.  Taking stock of our possessions, we were a little surprised to find that the only casualties were Anne’s sunglasses and our Kelly Kettle, although a little remodelling with a hammer will hopefully resurrect the latter.  Everything got a clean and we gradually repacked the Land Rover, and it’s now ready to be moved to the haulage company’s yard tomorrow to start its trip south.

Mitch and Chelsea have been great, providing us with a roof over our heads and helping us through the whole “sorting out” process.  To take our minds off the accident, Mitch even arranged for us to join him on his Navy patrol boat as they ran some exercises around Darwin harbour last week


- part of the vessel’s and new crews’ work up before they start active patrol in a week’s time.


Very cool, and judging by the grin on her face I think Anne especially enjoyed driving the RIB.


With the vehicle ready for transport, the time has come to leave hot and humid Darwin (we even witnessed a tropical downpour, which is really unusual this time of year), and we fly down to Sydney on Tuesday and are looking forward to seeing my brother, his wife and my two nieces.


Tonight we’re off to the Mindl Beach markets for a last taste of Darwin’s multicultural cuisine, which will be a nice end to our time in the Northern Territories.

Thursday, 9 September 2010

Saturday 28th August - Heartbreak Hotel to Darwin

Sleeping on a road train’s trailer in a swag, how Australian is that?  Justin finally succumbed to the need to sleep at about 2:30am, so pulled over for a few hours to make use of the sleeping compartment whilst we borrowed Tamara’s swag to lie out on one of the trailers.  We are so going to have to get a couple of swags before we leave.


A stop outside Materanka to deliver waste oil to a cement factory (it’s used to fire the furnace) was followed by bacon and egg rolls for breakfast, and then it was onto Katherine for a mail delivery before we finally reached Darwin at 6:30pm.  It was so good to see Mitch and Chelsea turn up in their Defender to collect us after a rather stressful 48 hours.

Friday 27th August - Borroloola to Heartbreak Hotel

Recovery costs for the 97km to TJS One Stop in Borroloola were $2/km plus a $150 rough roads surcharge, but Darwin was still 900km away and, whilst the Land Rover had its passage booked (for a mere $550), we didn’t know if we would be leaving today or not.  There isn’t any public transport, so if the road train driver wouldn’t take us we’d be looking for a lift out.  We had a long wait as the driver was running late, not arriving at the haulage yard until 3:30pm, but he agreed to take us at least as far as the Hi-Way Roadhouse which is on the Stuart Highway near Daly Waters.  From there we would probably be able to get a lift to Darwin, although we hoped he would decide we weren’t bad passengers and take us all the way.


As we had nothing else to do, and we thought it wouldn’t do any harm to ingratiate ourselves with the driver, we helped with the unloading and loading of the road train, handling the gates and rope as well as man handling some of the cargo into position for the forklifts.  I think Justin (the driver) appreciated our efforts and he become more friendly, breaking out the chilled Coke whilst we worked (how many people get to say they worked a road train?!).  Eventually we were ready to go at 7:30pm, so we climbed aboard along with Tamara whose parents live on a nearby station.  The girls were in the sleeping compartment and I road shotgun as we left Borroloola and started an unforgettable journey back to Darwin (Justin had, by this time, agreed to give us a lift the whole way).

You certainly get good view from a road train and oncoming cars gave us respect on the single track bitumen road, pulling off to the side, appreciating the “might is right” sentiment.  A stop at the Heartbreak Hotel roadhouse at Cape Crawford had us unloading a few items, then it was back on the road into the night.

Thursday 26th August - Robinson River Road to Borroloola

There was no traffic during the night so we avoided getting showered in dust, although neither of us got much sleep and we were up early.

A single recovery truck turned up at about 7:30am as there had been some confusion regarding the police message to the recovery company. The latter had been told that two Land Rovers and a caravan had been involved in an accident, but they thought that there couldn’t possibly have been a collision between two Land Rovers and assumed there was just a single vehicle which they could bring back on the lone recovery truck whilst towing the caravan behind. The result was that it was a long day for Bruce and Stacy as they sent us and the Camel back on the first run, then had to wait for the truck to do the three hour return trip twice - their camper and our roof rack came back on the second trip, then finally they and their Discovery returned on the third run.


We got into Borroloola at about 10am having ridden back with Brett, the recovery truck driver.  The staff at TJS One Stop were great, allowing us to use their phone as our mobile wouldn’t work (it wasn’t a NextG model), and putting up with us hanging around for the rest of the day as we tried to make arrangements.  We informed our insurance company, managed to book the Land Rover on a road train leaving tomorrow for Darwin (although we’re not sure if we can go with it as passengers are taken at the driver’s discretion, so we’ll have to ask him tomorrow), and our shipping agent was put on the case re finding options for containering the vehicle back to the UK as it’s beyond a quick repair in Australia.

Whilst we were in TJS One Stop, Rhonda from Butterfly Springs came in looking for us, having seen our damaged Land Rover outside.  A familiar face, even though we’d only met them yesterday, was just what we needed to see, and they invited us round for dinner this evening. SPOT


Bruce and Stacey eventually got back to Borroloola at 8:30pm looking a bit sunburnt (their suncream was in their trailer which went back in the second run).  We’d booked them into the motel where we were staying as accommodation options were a little limited when camping was no longer possible.  They’d spent the day at the crash site being interrupted by passing motorists who stopped about every 10 minutes to ask what had happened, and they soon grew tired of having to explain things.  It was fortunate that they stayed with their vehicle as I think otherwise it would have been stripped, and they had to fend off one bloke who wanted to take our roof rack and tent (he asked them to look the other way, but thankfully Bruce had promised he would look after our rack until the recovery truck returned and was good to his word).  We shared a drink at the bar before bed.

Wednesday 25th August - Limmen National Park (Butterfly Springs) to Robinson River Road

This must be the hardest blog post we’ve written, which I think you’ll understand from the photographs below.  Before you worry we’re both fine, although the Land Rover will require a lot of work before it’s back on the road.

We’d left Butterfly Springs, having chatted to our neighbours Don and Rhonda (who’ve been travelling for four years), before calling in on the Southern Lost City. SPOT


Consisting of impressive sandstone pillars, with few visitors due to their remoteness, it’s one of several such sites in the region.


We topped up with diesel at Borroloola after lunch as the price was surprisingly reasonable for being 400km from the Stuart Highway, and after having a look at the Aboriginal arts centre in town we continued east on the Savannah Way.


It was about 4:30pm and we were starting to think about finding a bush camping spot for the night when a Discovery 3 pulling a camping trailer approached from the other direction.  Anne slowed and moved the Land Rover over to the left, but unfortunately there was a drop off at the edge of the gravel road, rather than the usual tapered bank, which the near side wheels caught, unbalancing the vehicle and causing it to skid to the right into the side of the oncoming Discovery.  The end result was us on our side in the middle of the road, and the Discovery on its roof in the ditch on the other side of the road.


Anne climbed out vertically through the driver’s door to check on the occupants of the Discovery, fortunately they were unhurt and had already exited their vehicle. SPOT


It’s surprisingly difficult to get out of a vehicle that’s on its side (it’s not easy climbing up the seats), but first I switched off the radio which was still playing and cut the electrics.  The cubby box had ripped off its mountings and was beneath me, and diesel was dripping out of the secondary tank that’s located under the driver’s seat.


The dust was starting to settle, and as everybody was all right it was time to think what to do next.  Without mobile phone reception, Bruce, the driver of the Discovery, activated his EPERB (this sends an emergency signal to the control centre in Canberra which then mobilises local resources).


A couple towing a caravan stopped to help (Ross and Vicki), and we recognised them from earlier as we’d checked to see if they’d needed assistance when they had a flat tyre.  As our Land Rover was partly blocking the road and it would soon be getting dark we thought it best to move it out of the way, so Ross unhooked his caravan and used a tow strap attached to our roll cage to pull us back onto our wheels.  Vicki then got the kettle on and some ice for the lump that was above my right eye (I’d probably been hit by the cubby box), and someone also started a camp fire.  Another passing driver on his way to the small community of Robinson River had a satellite phone so called the police to report the accident, although the police from Borroloola had already responded to the EPERB.

It was a two hour wait for help to come the 97km, time which we spent trying to sort out the contents of our respective Land Rovers.  The police sergeant was originally from Denmark, and after interviewing and breathalysing us all concluded that the incident was an accident (not that he was allowed to call it that, officially it’s a crash).  A Toyota Land Cruiser ambulance accompanied the police and we all got a check over from nurse K.L.

There was some discussion as to whether we would go back to Borroloola with the police, which was nurse K.L.’s preferred option in order to keep us under observation in case of internal injury or delayed shock, but none of us wanted to leave the vehicles unattended in the middle of nowhere.  We therefore ended up camping by the side of the road for the night, Bruce and Stacy using swags by the fire, whilst we unfolded the roof tent (our roof rack detached itself from the Land Rover in the accident, but the tent was undamaged).