Well here is how it stands.
After seeing Holden Mans adventure I was sure I could post on the run however that clearly was not the case.
So here is my effort to tell the story of our trip, oh by the way, we didn't make Birdsville.
At the last minute we did the time vs kilometers calculation and decided if we wanted to enjoy the trip we would have to shorten it.
Before we went
Saturday before the trip, very busy, auto elec. for wiring up of Anderson Plug and Electric Brake Unit.
I read a lot on the dangers of playing with the electrics on the 200 series so I ran all the cabling, installed the units and left the sparky to do the final connection. Money well spent, all good.
Off to BCF and purchase a UHF and install on returning home.
Jack up the panda to find one wheel bearing feeling a bit dodgy, strip down reset and all good. Change fitting on panda to suit new vehicle and test, replace a bulb or two and check brakes.
Three days to go.
Drop the 200 at my mechanic for a total going over........10 am call to advise that water pump is stuffed, can fix next week. No good mate, heading to Charleville at 3am on Saturday. As always J&S Autos at Brendale come to the rescue and supply and fit new water pump same day, exceptional.
Call previous owner and tell story of water pump, no worries he will reimburse as agreed at time of purchase (gentlemen agreement on handshake that if mechanic found any issues, he would cover it). Previous owner payed $600 for repairs.
Off to Charleville after a dream that saw us run out of petrol on the Toowoomba Range, all the way to Mitchell before topping up, happy with consumption so far, lunch at Mitchell before making it to Charleville and the Evening Star caravan park, first regret of trip, three echidnas wandering across a red dirt road, lined up biggest to smallest, don't have time to stop for a one minute photo, to much of a hurry to get to where we are going, dammm.
Evening Star as good as always, just one night however and we are on the road to Quilpie early next morning.
A great run, seems a lot less road kill than previous trips and a lot less pigs, perhaps this is a good thing.
At Quilpie for lunch and take advice from the very nice managers at the caravan before heading off to baldy top and lake Honduran, worth the drive and snap a few pics to remember the views.
View From Baldy Top, first time this 200 has been off the bitumen.
Join the rest of the park fora camp oven dinner and a couple of country rockers for the night, might have had a couple of good reds but slept really well.
Next morning on the road again and off to Noccundra, a long run with a couple of stops but looking forward to the night at Noccundra. On arrival we jumped out of the car to a fly invasion, plague proportions, opened the mouth to talk and got a mouth full, crunchy, no bones and full of protein.
Decided to move from the riverside up to the hotel. The newish license doesn't like guests, asked to park on grass at rear of hotel, as advertised......sorry don't like tyre marks on grass.......ok we'll park on bitumen at other side, no generator will be too loud.......ok we'll park out front, sorry road trains might turn up, wouldn't park there either. So we sat and had a beer and listened to the same story told to two other travelers that arrived and then decided to head off to Thargomindah.
Noccundra Hotel, the only disappointment on a fantastic trip
Thargomindah is managed by a lovely Irish lass who made us feel very welcome, unlike our previous stop. Toilets were spotless and we joined a very pleasant group of travelers for a drink before dinner and a walk along the river walk, not a big town but full of big personalities and very welcoming.
Next morning we slept in and enjoyed a late breakfast before heading to Cunnamulla. After reading the reports on numerous forums I was apprehensive of leaving the van to look around this town, on arrival we found a clean, green and friendly town, no boarded up shops, no roaming gangs of youths and a lot of friendly and happy locals, spent a few hours wandering around andyacking with the local shop keepers before heading for Charlotte Plains.
Tomorrow night.
