Seagull Grey EK 2106

[rosco]

Ok, fair enough Craig - each to his own.... we find "working" with the trucks on UHF when towing the van a definite plus.
Windscreen..... hmmm, tricky one - I guess, logic suggests that a laminated one should go in now - at least, if you do score something from the road - you might get away with just a crack or chip - safety glass only has one option... especially if it's the original - it will be really brittle.
Ok, down the south west - some really good stuff down there. At Cape Leuwin, you can literally walk up to the lighthouse and see where the Indian meets the Southern ocean - they "smash" into each other there.. if it's windy, fit some tie-downs to yourself - it was the only time in my life that I have been lifted off my feet.... flying Nun style - wasn't up for long, and fortunately - came down on land.

Telstra - yes, 3G all the way across.... only when we went off the main drag to free camp in the scrub coming across there did we occasionally only get one bar.... you should be fine all the way across - but, we didn't check it whilst we were traveling.

You'll have to run through Pt A (Portagutta).... the Big 4 CP there empties and fills every day.... at the "cross-roads"..... that's one place you might like to book ahead to get into - one night only..... into town to stock up on supplies and fuel.... then set off loose through Pimba to Ceduna (last real chance for a good scrub and catch up on some washing before you take to the "plain").

It's an interesting run across - nothing to what it was when we did it on dirt between Penong and Border Village into WA - 318 miles of dirt, whilst the "new" road was being made - and we couldn't get onto it. 44 gallon drums in bull-dust holes that truckies had placed to mark them.. wow! - that was a trip.. both ways.... shook the wardrobe out of the caravan... cracked both front windows - it's well and truly "beaten" now.... but still almost just as long.

Places like Nullabor and Ivy Tanks are now well gone... you might like to drop into the Madura Hotel and get a certificate to say that you have crossed it...... "King Billy" will sign it for you... and, the beer ain't half bad there after making it across...

frats,
Rosco

[BILLY BLACKARROW]

Craig
I agree with Rosco CBs are a must to talk to truck drivers whilst towing, you can let them know what your intentions are and when it is safe to let them overtake and you may want to just chat. I would be lost without mine I almost run out of diesel going from Warren to Bourke in August if it wasn't for my CB to call up a passing Truck , He even offered to take some out of his tank ,now you don't get that every day.You can buy a hand held set cheap at auto accessory places and they come in handy when you separate from your wife in shopping centers they come in handy when your in convoy with other FB / EKer,s .

BILLY

[Errol62]

Can I recommend the oyster bar at Ceduna fruit fly inspection point? Cactus Beach, 20km of average to very good clay and gypsum road from Penong is well worth checking out.


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[Craig Allardyce]

Thanks Rosco, Billy & Errol. Keep em coming!

[rosco]

I doubt that this will interest you - maybe it will....... you can also play "Nullabor Links" - the longest golf course in the world. It stretches right across the Nullabor starting at Ceduna and ending in Norseman. There are 18 holes at roadside locations (usually where the servo's are) and you pay your "green" fees at either end. Don't for one moment believe that there is a lush green fairway and green at any of them - they are all in dirt and usually one hit will get you from the tee to the pin. For golfers, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to add to their list of played links. Adding to this, and way of course (pun intended) - Coober Pedy..... the golf course there is the sister course to St. Andrews in Scotland.... the diverse contrast between the two was chosen. With that one, when you pay your fees - you are loaned a 12" square piece of artificial grass... you put it down on the tee and shoot off onto the red dirt/rocks. Wherever the ball lands, you put your grass down again and take another stroke. The "greens" are bitumen/rubber ... there simply isn't water for anything but necessities at Coober. Running the Nullabor at that time of year will have you in the midst of the grey nomad migration - many will run each way to start their northerly trek on both coasts - you'll lose most of them at "portagutta" at the Crossroads, but many will continue on with you across the plain. A stern warning should be made here - you are going to be amongst many who simply shouldn't be on the road... many will dawdle along at 80 km/h on the wide open spaces where you can't overtake - then speed up in the left overtaking lane to 100.... and back to 80 again out the other end.... you'll get "convoys" of trucks running so close up each other's backsides when they overtake - it will be two or three at a time. The B doubles and road trains are much more professional... it's the single trailer and rigids who seem to have their own set of rules - jungle rules. Ok, I'll chime in more as each person puts stuff up that I can make comment or add to.
frats,
Rosco

[Blacky]

Koonalda homestead is worth a look , just under 100km west of Nullarbor Roadhouse and 15km North of the main road. Road is a bit hard on the old girls though , if you are precious about your paint make sure you have a good set of mudflaps

[rosco]

Merry Christmas, Craig (and all others).
Just throwing a little more weight into suggesting a small hand held UHF - which can be very cheaply picked up.
When we did our first trip away in the van with the Hilux - at every stop, I opened the bonnet to check "stuff" - being a little nervous about being out in the very wide, open spaces where there was nothing to view in the entire 360 degree horizon except a black strip of bitumen going one way - and another 180 degrees in the other direction. On a couple of occasions, I heard passing motorists (truckies included) ask us if we were ok over the radio in the cab..... it was very reassuring.
Further, a very small little unit will go a long way to help if you do get stuck and see something coming....
There is a "law" out there, that you simply mustn't leave anyone who is in trouble unassisted.... having radio contact will afford both parties confimation that all is ok without need of slowing down to check....

Further, if you run on ch 40 - you'll pick up the "pilot" vehicles of oversize loads.... I'll attach a pic of the largest one we came up against at the bottom of this.... it was all of the blacktop and some.... we had to get right off our side of the road to get this monster past... and, they travel along at around the 80 mark - and a bit more when it's straight and clear. Without radio, these will come up on you very quickly - not so bad if you are in a sedan or the like - but with anything in tow which takes a bit more to get off the road - knowing that they are coming is well worth the effort of listening for. You'll start to get warnings as the pilot at both ends comes up on passing trucks - they "must" call to trucks their oversize... eg "one at 5 metres".... the 5 metres meaning that is the width of the load being floated. We had this one at 8m - as mentioned, it was all of the blacktop...when it had to come out due to obstructions on the left side...

When we did our first trip - I even went to the extent of carrying a huge blasted "Tirfor" hand winch and cable... it weighed about 70 kg's... there is nothing out there that requires this sort of equipment to be carried... maybe if you do the Tanami and roll over - but the main routes west and north up the centre are well and truly tamed - in fact, the road up the guts is the best in Oz.. and very wide.
The road across the west was also in very good nick - quite wide and well maintained. It's been a few years since we went across... but I suspect it to be in very good shape to run on.

Just tried to post a pic - can someone tell me how I can post up from my own files... and not from a third party program like Photobucket?

frats,
Rosco

[EK283]

Hi Rosco,

Sounds like a great trip crossing big old oz !!

To post a picture scroll down to the attachment tab when in this screen (post reply) and load it from your files. Insert inline with your comments and presto there it is !

Regards Greg

[rosco]

Thanks Greg - I posted many pix over the years in this forum, but always through Photobucket... I did not know about being able to add them from my files... thank you.

If this works, below is the 8m oversize we came up on.... it had been called by the pilot for some time before we came up on it.... we knew it was going to be big by the comments truckies were making as it came into view.

8m oversize

8m oversize.jpg (87.5 KiB) Viewed 940 times

Further, I took these two pix at a lay-by coming across from Three Ways to Barkly Homestead.... these are the monsters you'll encounter - bit of a trick shot, this one... the next will reveal how I did it...

triple road train 001 mail.jpg (95.84 KiB) Viewed 940 times

triple road train 002 mail.jpg (94.14 KiB) Viewed 940 times

The next two were taken at Wycliffe Well... but are typical of what you'll have to play with on the main links west and north... the third trailer is always a shortie...

road train Wycliffe Well 002 mail.jpg (91.37 KiB) Viewed 940 times

road train Wycliffe Well mail.jpg (82.38 KiB) Viewed 940 times

And finally, just to whet your appetite for the splendour of free camping in the wide open spaces - this sunset was taken at a freebie when coming down the west coast...

sunset free camp mail.jpg (88.51 KiB) Viewed 940 times

frats,
Rosco

[BILLY BLACKARROW]

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Just seeing if I could do it
Great photos Rossco must have been a great trip ( nothing like a free camp )

[Craig Allardyce]

Thanks Rosco and Blacky.

Koonalda is on my list for sure.

Rosco, have you any reccomendations for a UHF radio. Would a hand held be enough?

[rosco]

Hi Craig,
most certainly - hand held perfect.... and legal - it's mobile phones that are not to be used hand held.
For all intents and purposes, a hand held UHF is no different than the mic of a fitted UHF unit - I have not heard of anyone getting pinged for using a UHF hand held..... yet.

I have had a number of them over the years... I found the 1/4 watt ones to be pretty much for kids - playing around in the back yard.
I did have a 1/2 watt one, which was good - but limited in that I could hear everything in the area, but I could not talk back to anyone more than about a kilometer away if there were hills in between.

I ended up getting two "Oricom" 5500's... I bought them at Repco when on catalogue special.
These units are the full 80 channels and have all features included with a mounted unit... duplexing, CTSS, and privacy calling.
Further, they are the full allowable 5 watts transmission output.

You might ask why two?.... well, I originally only had the one - which I used when I set off climbing mountains or walking tracks when my wife did not want to come with me and stayed in the truck with it's UHF turned on in case I called in to report I was in trouble, lost or going to be later than agreed.....

Then, one day I wanted to do the Pyramid Gorge track and she decided to go to the lookout and wait for me there..... this meant that I did not have UHF contact with her... so, we got the second one and she has that so that I can talk to her without being in the truck..

These might be a bit more expensive than you would consider... not cheap, but very high end quality.
Link..... for two, this is.... not that I'd pay this much, but the package is available.....

http://radioindustries.com.au/oricom-uh ... gKgZ_D_BwE

This is more near the mark.. with free shipping..

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ORICOM-UHF5 ... Swh1paE4iD

Keep your eye on Repco and Supersteal etc., etc..... they come up on special often.

As you can see in the difference on price - there is a lot of "fat" profit margin in retailing these great units... the second link is probably as good as you'll get.. and not much more in price than you would pay "lame" for either a 2W in a retail store.

I'd seriously suggest the 5W unit, not a pultry 1/4 or 1/2 watt.... even a 1W can get out of range pretty quickly if in hilly terrain.

You will also find that when on club runs, or running in convoy - UHF is of a great assistance.... just choose a channel which is not used by the "nominated" groups.... we found channel 19 to be one which does not attract a lot of use...

With this 5500 unit, you can "scan" two channels for broadcasts.... I leave mine on 40 almost all of the time, but in convoy (mainly in the caravan club) - I also have channel 18 programmed so that if anything is broadcast on it.... it will switch to 18 until transmissions cease.. then revert back to 40.....

This way, you keep abreast with the "road" channel - yet also monitor 18 for any "group" discussion.

If you want more, let me know.... I don't believe you'll find a better unit for hand-held than this one... a bit exxy, but worth every sheckle when it comes to getting "stuck" - you will also be able to use it with your boat, but only on UHF channels - not the 27.880 mhz marine service... I do not know of any allocated marine channel on UHF - but, if you are with other boaties - and they have a UHF hand held.... no reason you can't keep in contact - in fact, range will be superior on water vs land.....

frats,
Rosco

[Craig Allardyce]

Thanks Rosco. As usual, a great help.

[Craig Allardyce]

Project "Lowline" is well under way.

[rosco]

Craig, I can see it gleaming in Seagull grey already...... is there going to be a little temporary air-deflector on top towards the rear for the following van?.... with such a long trip to follow, a couple of mpg's might make it worthwhile - not to mention the "sports" look it will give without the van....
Easy option is to mount some soft neoprene under such a deflector - and use a mount each side to secure it.
Good opportunity to consider such things now - before you get too far into the finished job....

frats,
Rosco