sooo Im back :P

Myal

Myal

Joined
Jun 7, 2003
Messages
1,850
Just got back from a trip across the country to see my little brother

Spent a few weeks travelling , with a few memorable incidents .. starting with a guy who looked like he fell asleep at the wheel crossing into my lane heading for me .. I lost as much speed as I could without the guy behind actually hitting me .. while I decided if I went left or right ... I was hitting the horn and flashing my headlights at him hoping he would wake up before I had to dive off the road ... he did . kinda split second before I was about to dive off the road and pray he didnt head for me in his sleep , and just as the guy behind pulled out to pass , he was unaware of why I was braking so hard and just wanted to get around ... .. they almost hit next to me ..

I spent the rest of the time dam well alert and near paranoid on the road , in case the guy coming at me was another stoner been trying to focus too long and needed a power nap while driving ... I actually just now got the shakes from it .. like days after and when the trip is over , weird kinda delayed reaction

I found a guy on the return journey who was broken down , we towed him to the nearest town with facilities to deal with his breakdown ... 800 km away .. his set up was a 4x4 ful of family and trailer full of belongings .. I have a truck with a 1800cc motor ... it was a slow tow , considering especialy we towed him and his crew over 800 kms , from Caiguna in West Aus to Ceduna in South Aus

Spending that time with their family was a lesson for me kinda in just how slim the difference between a minor hiccup on a trip and a dam near major disaster can be ... in the outback , its kinda lonely ... the disances are vast , and no one much prepares to help others ... these guys were at a disadvantage from all kinds of angles .. they are black , broken down , in the mile of nowhere ... poor guy was in all kinds of trouble , from his car deciding to chew belts , to being black and broken down .. sad fact of life is that color counts when youre relying on help from strangers way out in midle of nowhere still . not that anyone helps much thes days anyway ...

while we were in Mildura , we hit a shopping centre for caffine drinks , next days trip ( todays trip ) was going to be the last day of travel , a long one , when we got back to our camp , I went to empty my pockets and noticed my knife was opened in my pocket .. not unusual kinda since we had been on the coast in humid area and now we were inland in a dry environment .. the blade of my opinel was swinging very free , but when I pulled it out of my pocket , there was a strip of skin stuck to the blade ... a finger pad and part of a knuckle bend ... it was a deep cut strip , and it was stuck to my blade with its blood ... odd part is , it wasnt my skin and meat stuck there ... and I had pocketed it after stropping it prior to leaving to go to the shopping centre ... Im kinda laughing here because I seriously think that some pickpocket got more than they bargained for when they went into my pocket , maybe they think twice before doing that again .

dam tho it is good to be home in a chair thats comfortable for once
 
That sounds like quite a trip :)
Treat yourself to a good drink for a successful trip and for being a good samaritan.
 
:) thanks

had a few hours sleep instead tho

some pictures to make thngs more interesting :


hooked up ready for towing :
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trying to make pictures show how empty of ordinary civilisation the place can be is hard , but Im gunna give it a go with this next couple
this is just heading along the nulabor .. nothing unusual :
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I cheated a little here .. I detoured up the Alice Springs road for a visit to a special place to my family . Still you get the feeling of how alone you can be , to be honest , being out here made my personal emergency kit and even the jerry cans of water we carried on the truck feel a little .. less than adaquate almost
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We have customs checkpoints between most states in Australia .. allegedly its to prevent the spread of fruit fly . and stuff .. the customs guys do not check tents or sleeping gear , tho in my experience , these spread more weeds and seeds than most other stuff a camper carries .. but they do check car floors , and DO check eskys in case you have any fresh produce you didnt buy in their state ... there is no law Im aware of requiring you to actually drive thru these points ( no customs laws seem to apply to domestic freight tho .. I have freighted all kinds of stuff around the country that I am prohibited from personally carrying across state borders ) , so I usualy drive around them , sometimes this involves using dirt roads , this one into Vic is my favorite , when we were exploring these tracks a couple years ago , the surface was all broken thru and we were relying on momentum to keep us from sinking in sand and bulldust .. this time , it was heaps better and as a result , a lot less exciting ..
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More pictures coming , still uploading , and unloading the truck :)
 
just when you start thinking its all desert and nothing to see tho , we went to more places than that , spent time at the river , the kids harrassed the fish some
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common logic says when youre looking for water , you go down hill to the lowest placs where it collects .. that is not always good practise here , there is a lot of salt ... the lowest areas do have water but its also salt lakes too , but ... if you are near rocky hills , looking around uphill can be OK too ..
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this was an interesting camp between Coolgardie and Norseman .. it was just rough n ready .. threw the tents up and kicked back to watch the sun set ... next day tho mum got all excited , she found a medicine plant , one that previously we had been traveling out back of beyond up north to get hands on , its good to know it grows relatively close and handy .
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This is supposed to be a serious kind of traditional cancer treatment . I cannot think of the name of it at the moment tho Im sposed to know it .
 
finally .. spend some time lookin thru my ( really grotty ) windscreen and see what i seen for most the trip :)

[video]http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u208/okapiknives/?action=view&current=DSCF2079.mp4[/video]
 
hahaha pick pocket got a opinel cut. That is freaking awesome. Wow, I would have never thought that could happen. Is it pacific yew?
 
It is good to be back , thanks guys :)

It was the best trip yet to be honnest , bought the old truck off ebay for about $800 if I remember right , fixed it with the kids to get it legal , the guy at the inspection place said he didnt want to register it but he couldnt actually fail it .. called me mad for planning to take it anywhere further than the scrapdealers .

it used nearly 1/4 litre oil in 14000 kms of driving ... went over a fair chunk of the old eyre highway ... I thought Id been off road till I tried that road .. its got to be experienced to be believed :) the old truck done it all and is still going strong , I think Ill keep it a while now , I cant complain at it anyway .

hit every kind of weather but snow I think ... it was a blast :)

enjoying vegging out now lookin at knife porn for a while tho , waiting for the wind noise to ease up out of my ears .. old truck dont got weather seals , but that just adds character .. and drowns out sounds of kids fighting in back ...

my little inzula is showing signs of wear and tear now , it was the go to knife for just about everyone from mum opening oysters with it to the kids using it for fishing , that green coating is kinda scratched up a little now
 
Joezilla said:
hahaha pick pocket got a opinel cut. That is freaking awesome. Wow, I would have never thought that could happen. Is it pacific yew?
Click to expand...

I dont know what wood the handle is , its kind of yellowish in color ... I bought the knife mail order from the USA .. soo whatever you guys get there as run of the mill average garden variety wood , its probably it :)

It really swells when the weather gets humid , I use it enough that it freed up while it was swollen , now its back to sub 10% humidity .. its really free and swings out kinda too easy . Itll be right when the weather here gets back to normal tho
 
There's nothing like a long road trip. Does wonders to your perspective of the world. All the dangers, mistakes, random happenings, moments of peace and anxiety, all add to the adventure aspect. Millions would dream of a genuine trip across Australia like that! I like your choice of kit.
 
Wow, great trip, I would love to make that drive. I really like wide open spaces.

And good on you for helping those folks out. Not many would do what you did.
 
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