AUSTRALIA
1 JAN 2010 - SC - the Beginning
It's not really the beginning. This trip has been in the works for a long time, and so much has already been done. But it seems an appropriate date to begin the diary.
Where do we stand? We bought the car about a month ago. Mark is currently back in Sydney for a visit. We've been very busy buying equipment, working over the car, reading stuff, poring over maps, etc. We've picked up a fridge, inverter, a hiking tent, dry bags, sat phone, and various other bits and pieces.
We've sorted through a problem with the windscreen washer/squirter and the right hand reversing light. We spent several grueling days working to fix some minor body rust on the car as a precautionary measure. I've never understood why Ewen McGreggor always brings up Boyzone when he talks about this kind of work on Long Way Round/Down.
We're not yet sure when we are leaving. Our to-do list still has about 120 items on it.
3 FEB 2010 - SC - Update
Mark is back in Bahrain. Steve is back from 18 glorious days camping and diving with the UNSW dive club on an uninhabited coral cay on the Great Barrier Reef. We haven't been able to agree on a leaving date yet, the satellite phone we bought on ebay has not shown up, and there is much to be done.
9 FEB 2010 - SC - Sat Phone Fraud
The sat phone bought second hand on ebay, which never showed up, is now the subject of a fraud investigation by the police. Holding my breath to see if Paypal gives me my money back.
15 FEB 2010 - SC -TLCC Driver Training
Here I am back from the Driver Training run by the Toyota Landcruiser Club at the club property near Goulburn. What a weekend!
We only got to the property, in the bush about 40km out of Goulburn, at about 11pm on Friday night. It was pouring when we set up camp (and it didn't stop all weekend).
The TLCC training is run by a group of volunteer Driver Trainers, who really know their stuff and are a personable bunch to boot. The training involves a full day of driving, and a full day of vehicle recovery.
The driving module was full on, straight away. Within about 200 metres, I was struggling to get up out of a muddy creek bed. Lesson 1: momentum. Lesson 2: drop your air pressure.
There were some very narrow sections weaving between tight gums down and up hills. This was all before we got anywhere near the "first obstacle". At morning tea the trainers talked us through the various bullbars, winches, rear bars and other accessories that make this hobby ridiculously expensive (but which we largely already have).
The obstacles covered that day were steep, muddy, narrow, rutted, rocky or a combination of all of them.
Opposing Wheels - a wet downhill section with ruts inconveniently placed to get the front left and rear right opposing wheels off the ground, and demonstrate the traction and drive problems these situations present. Not to mention a badass muddy downhill section.
Dry Creek Bed - a misnomer in those conditions. Featuring a section where you turn right over a lurching track with a tree 2 inches on your left, and a boulder at window height 2 inches from your right.
Steep Descent - long, steep, muddy gravel. Delicious.
The Track to the River Crossing - this is not an official obstacle. But 4 goes at it in low range second (with a run-up) ended in a crashing sideways slide into a deep mud rut that grounded the front diff. I had to back down, and the convoy had to go another way.
River Crossing - a dam somewhere between waist and chest depth. Pace is everything - create a bow-wave, but don't outrun it. Fit a blind.
Road building - find a rock, plug a hole in the slowly forming ramp over the rock step. Repeat.
Merry Go Round - this time with no guidance, tips or assistance from the trainers. A deep, steep hole with a climb up a gravelly track, with opposing wheel issues and a decent rock step. Called the Merry go Round because you do it over and over until you get it right.
I would not have contemplated driving some of the wet transit tracks found on the way back to camp before that Saturday, but by the end of the day, you barely bat an eyelid at these puny tracks. It was amazing to see what these vehicles can do.
Sunday began with some theory about recovery gear, followed by practical sessions in the pouring rain:
snatching a 40 Series Cruiser with another vehicle, hand winching that same 40 series after fitting bushbrakes, and my personal favourite, winching Toy! I got to do both a single line pull, and then we set up a pulley system using 3 snatch blocks. Awesome.
This training was of commercial quality (or better, since there is less pussy-footing around) and was fantastic for my knowledge of the car and my confidence in its/my capabilities. Shame about the weather and the wet tent! Thank you to Jess Tresser, photographer in residence, who cheerfully put up with a bogan camping weekend in the pouring rain.
1 JAN 2010 - SC - the Beginning
It's not really the beginning. This trip has been in the works for a long time, and so much has already been done. But it seems an appropriate date to begin the diary.
Where do we stand? We bought the car about a month ago. Mark is currently back in Sydney for a visit. We've been very busy buying equipment, working over the car, reading stuff, poring over maps, etc. We've picked up a fridge, inverter, a hiking tent, dry bags, sat phone, and various other bits and pieces.
We've sorted through a problem with the windscreen washer/squirter and the right hand reversing light. We spent several grueling days working to fix some minor body rust on the car as a precautionary measure. I've never understood why Ewen McGreggor always brings up Boyzone when he talks about this kind of work on Long Way Round/Down.
We're not yet sure when we are leaving. Our to-do list still has about 120 items on it.
3 FEB 2010 - SC - Update
Mark is back in Bahrain. Steve is back from 18 glorious days camping and diving with the UNSW dive club on an uninhabited coral cay on the Great Barrier Reef. We haven't been able to agree on a leaving date yet, the satellite phone we bought on ebay has not shown up, and there is much to be done.
9 FEB 2010 - SC - Sat Phone Fraud
The sat phone bought second hand on ebay, which never showed up, is now the subject of a fraud investigation by the police. Holding my breath to see if Paypal gives me my money back.
15 FEB 2010 - SC -TLCC Driver Training
Here I am back from the Driver Training run by the Toyota Landcruiser Club at the club property near Goulburn. What a weekend!
We only got to the property, in the bush about 40km out of Goulburn, at about 11pm on Friday night. It was pouring when we set up camp (and it didn't stop all weekend).
The TLCC training is run by a group of volunteer Driver Trainers, who really know their stuff and are a personable bunch to boot. The training involves a full day of driving, and a full day of vehicle recovery.
The driving module was full on, straight away. Within about 200 metres, I was struggling to get up out of a muddy creek bed. Lesson 1: momentum. Lesson 2: drop your air pressure.
There were some very narrow sections weaving between tight gums down and up hills. This was all before we got anywhere near the "first obstacle". At morning tea the trainers talked us through the various bullbars, winches, rear bars and other accessories that make this hobby ridiculously expensive (but which we largely already have).
The obstacles covered that day were steep, muddy, narrow, rutted, rocky or a combination of all of them.
Opposing Wheels - a wet downhill section with ruts inconveniently placed to get the front left and rear right opposing wheels off the ground, and demonstrate the traction and drive problems these situations present. Not to mention a badass muddy downhill section.
Dry Creek Bed - a misnomer in those conditions. Featuring a section where you turn right over a lurching track with a tree 2 inches on your left, and a boulder at window height 2 inches from your right.
Steep Descent - long, steep, muddy gravel. Delicious.
The Track to the River Crossing - this is not an official obstacle. But 4 goes at it in low range second (with a run-up) ended in a crashing sideways slide into a deep mud rut that grounded the front diff. I had to back down, and the convoy had to go another way.
River Crossing - a dam somewhere between waist and chest depth. Pace is everything - create a bow-wave, but don't outrun it. Fit a blind.
Road building - find a rock, plug a hole in the slowly forming ramp over the rock step. Repeat.
Merry Go Round - this time with no guidance, tips or assistance from the trainers. A deep, steep hole with a climb up a gravelly track, with opposing wheel issues and a decent rock step. Called the Merry go Round because you do it over and over until you get it right.
I would not have contemplated driving some of the wet transit tracks found on the way back to camp before that Saturday, but by the end of the day, you barely bat an eyelid at these puny tracks. It was amazing to see what these vehicles can do.
Sunday began with some theory about recovery gear, followed by practical sessions in the pouring rain:
snatching a 40 Series Cruiser with another vehicle, hand winching that same 40 series after fitting bushbrakes, and my personal favourite, winching Toy! I got to do both a single line pull, and then we set up a pulley system using 3 snatch blocks. Awesome.
This training was of commercial quality (or better, since there is less pussy-footing around) and was fantastic for my knowledge of the car and my confidence in its/my capabilities. Shame about the weather and the wet tent! Thank you to Jess Tresser, photographer in residence, who cheerfully put up with a bogan camping weekend in the pouring rain.
22 FEB 2010 - SC - The Prep continues
We have a new sat phone (from a different buyer) via ebay. Paypal have come through and refunded the money paid to the old fraudulent seller.
We have a Garmin Nuvi 265WT GPS unit, and have downloaded the Tracks 4 Africa maps.
Here's an example of why all this setup business takes so long. This was the weekend:
Friday night - cleaning the inside of the car, reading the manual for the new satellite phone, playing with the phone, playing with the GPS.
Saturday - washing car (it takes a long time to clean Toy down), removing roofracks, going to car wash, then Repco for paint supplies, then Bunnings for bits and pieces, then coming home and running over the wooden drawer which I'd removed from the back of Toy and left on the driveway. Brilliant! Add that to the list of things to fix. Sanding, treating and repainting minor rust spots on roof, recoating existing rust fixes from December, start coming up with a plan for the safe, fire extinguisher and fridge slide. Play with the T4A Africa GPS maps on the laptop.
Sunday - more painting, moving the fire extinguisher mount to accomodate the fridge slide, drilling holes for the hidden safe (you didn't read that), fitting the fridge slide, and working out what I'll need to fix the broken drawer.
This week - more website setup and lots of shock training to get out of holiday mode and prepare for a sparring workshop in about 12 days. This weekend Toy is booked in to go to the good people at Total Care 4WD at Seven Hills for gearbox reconditioning, replacing some suspension components, winch servicing, replacement of many of the hoses, components and other bits and pieces (we'll keep the old ones for our spares collection), general servicing, fitting front recovery points, and fixing a few issues Alan Kirkby identified when he looked at Toy during the purchasing phase. It's going to be an expensive weekend.
25 FEBRUARY 2010 - SC - Sudan News
BBC News are reporting that a peace deal has been reached between Bashir's government and one of the major rebel groups in the Darfur area. Will it hold? Will other rebel groups come to the party? Who knows what implications this might have for the old routes into Chad or South Eastern Libya.
In other news, Mandela walked free 20 years ago today.
2 MARCH 2010 - SC - Mechanical surprise!
Jason at Total Care 4WD has found some problems in the front and rear diff/axle assemblies, which he has recommended we have rebuilt. Given the nature of the trip, and our lack of enthusiasm for carrying lingering doubts into remote areas, we have decided to go ahead with these additional works.
Toy will be at Total Care until 22 March 2010, and we are trying not to think about the bill. I love public transport.
5 MARCH 2010 - SC - Leaving date
We have committed to a date - landed in Cape Town as close to 23 May 2010 as the shipping schedule will allow. This will be set in stone once shipping arrangements are confirmed and flights are booked! This is a massive step - the ambiguity which has overshadowed the last few months has been dispelled.
Had a successful sparring session tonight.
18 MARCH 2010 - SC - Transport arrangements
After some initial (and stressful) to-ing and fro-ing with the NRMA about whether the carnet could be issued in time for our planned shipping date, they are now processing our carnet application. Shipping has been booked. Flights have been booked.
29 MARCH 2010 - MR - Viva le Afrique
Dear Diary,
After keeping Steve sweating for weeks (and by weeks, I mean months), I finally announced my leave to work. My newfound freedom of speech has called for my first diary entry.
Firstly, a huge thanks to Steve for his grueling work to dwindle our daunting 'To do' list down to bite size morsels.
My area of expertise to date has largely been entertainment ideas. Some say this is trivial, others say... similar things. My list of ideas include: frisbee, hammocks, lilos, a mat of fake grass and golf tee, a dog, Barry White's greatest hits, connect 4, scrabble, chess, a well stocked beer fridge, a list of hypotheticals, tasers, a deck of cards, and a giant piece of cardboard to sled down Namibian sand dunes. Most of these ideas have been adopted.
Looking forward to kitting my Canon 7D out with a few more awesome lenses before departure. Currently have the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 USM and looking to stock up with a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM for dramatic wide angle shots of Steve as a speck on the Serengeti and a Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L with a 2x extender to photograph fleas on a lion's back from 3km away (give or take).
Viva la Africa (as they may or may not say in French).
17 APRIL 2010 - SC - COUNTDOWN
Africa is getting so close we can almost taste it. 23 May will be here before we know it.
Toy is currently finding his sea legs somewhere near Cairns. Orlando is living it tough on a beach in New Caledonia. And I'm selling everything I own on ebay to scrounge up some spending money. Will I once again be reduced to eating Sultana Bran for days and days on end, ala Honduras in 2003? Possibly.
We hit South Africa on 23 May and then... we wait. At some stage Toy will roll out of the shipping container (or some nice man will regret to inform us that the container fell off the ship) and we are off. In the meantime, we will go for runs up Table Mountain to prove how maxtreme we are.
Whenever we think about the things we haven't had time to look into, we check out what the amateurish Western-Afrrican backpackers are doing over at Amateurs in Africa and instantly feel a whole lot better.
23 MAY 2010 - MR - DEPARTURE
And we're off. In 18 hours, we'll be in Cape Town. Boom.
Follow us in the South Africa diaries.
We have a new sat phone (from a different buyer) via ebay. Paypal have come through and refunded the money paid to the old fraudulent seller.
We have a Garmin Nuvi 265WT GPS unit, and have downloaded the Tracks 4 Africa maps.
Here's an example of why all this setup business takes so long. This was the weekend:
Friday night - cleaning the inside of the car, reading the manual for the new satellite phone, playing with the phone, playing with the GPS.
Saturday - washing car (it takes a long time to clean Toy down), removing roofracks, going to car wash, then Repco for paint supplies, then Bunnings for bits and pieces, then coming home and running over the wooden drawer which I'd removed from the back of Toy and left on the driveway. Brilliant! Add that to the list of things to fix. Sanding, treating and repainting minor rust spots on roof, recoating existing rust fixes from December, start coming up with a plan for the safe, fire extinguisher and fridge slide. Play with the T4A Africa GPS maps on the laptop.
Sunday - more painting, moving the fire extinguisher mount to accomodate the fridge slide, drilling holes for the hidden safe (you didn't read that), fitting the fridge slide, and working out what I'll need to fix the broken drawer.
This week - more website setup and lots of shock training to get out of holiday mode and prepare for a sparring workshop in about 12 days. This weekend Toy is booked in to go to the good people at Total Care 4WD at Seven Hills for gearbox reconditioning, replacing some suspension components, winch servicing, replacement of many of the hoses, components and other bits and pieces (we'll keep the old ones for our spares collection), general servicing, fitting front recovery points, and fixing a few issues Alan Kirkby identified when he looked at Toy during the purchasing phase. It's going to be an expensive weekend.
25 FEBRUARY 2010 - SC - Sudan News
BBC News are reporting that a peace deal has been reached between Bashir's government and one of the major rebel groups in the Darfur area. Will it hold? Will other rebel groups come to the party? Who knows what implications this might have for the old routes into Chad or South Eastern Libya.
In other news, Mandela walked free 20 years ago today.
2 MARCH 2010 - SC - Mechanical surprise!
Jason at Total Care 4WD has found some problems in the front and rear diff/axle assemblies, which he has recommended we have rebuilt. Given the nature of the trip, and our lack of enthusiasm for carrying lingering doubts into remote areas, we have decided to go ahead with these additional works.
Toy will be at Total Care until 22 March 2010, and we are trying not to think about the bill. I love public transport.
5 MARCH 2010 - SC - Leaving date
We have committed to a date - landed in Cape Town as close to 23 May 2010 as the shipping schedule will allow. This will be set in stone once shipping arrangements are confirmed and flights are booked! This is a massive step - the ambiguity which has overshadowed the last few months has been dispelled.
Had a successful sparring session tonight.
18 MARCH 2010 - SC - Transport arrangements
After some initial (and stressful) to-ing and fro-ing with the NRMA about whether the carnet could be issued in time for our planned shipping date, they are now processing our carnet application. Shipping has been booked. Flights have been booked.
29 MARCH 2010 - MR - Viva le Afrique
Dear Diary,
After keeping Steve sweating for weeks (and by weeks, I mean months), I finally announced my leave to work. My newfound freedom of speech has called for my first diary entry.
Firstly, a huge thanks to Steve for his grueling work to dwindle our daunting 'To do' list down to bite size morsels.
My area of expertise to date has largely been entertainment ideas. Some say this is trivial, others say... similar things. My list of ideas include: frisbee, hammocks, lilos, a mat of fake grass and golf tee, a dog, Barry White's greatest hits, connect 4, scrabble, chess, a well stocked beer fridge, a list of hypotheticals, tasers, a deck of cards, and a giant piece of cardboard to sled down Namibian sand dunes. Most of these ideas have been adopted.
Looking forward to kitting my Canon 7D out with a few more awesome lenses before departure. Currently have the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 USM and looking to stock up with a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM for dramatic wide angle shots of Steve as a speck on the Serengeti and a Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L with a 2x extender to photograph fleas on a lion's back from 3km away (give or take).
Viva la Africa (as they may or may not say in French).
17 APRIL 2010 - SC - COUNTDOWN
Africa is getting so close we can almost taste it. 23 May will be here before we know it.
Toy is currently finding his sea legs somewhere near Cairns. Orlando is living it tough on a beach in New Caledonia. And I'm selling everything I own on ebay to scrounge up some spending money. Will I once again be reduced to eating Sultana Bran for days and days on end, ala Honduras in 2003? Possibly.
We hit South Africa on 23 May and then... we wait. At some stage Toy will roll out of the shipping container (or some nice man will regret to inform us that the container fell off the ship) and we are off. In the meantime, we will go for runs up Table Mountain to prove how maxtreme we are.
Whenever we think about the things we haven't had time to look into, we check out what the amateurish Western-Afrrican backpackers are doing over at Amateurs in Africa and instantly feel a whole lot better.
23 MAY 2010 - MR - DEPARTURE
And we're off. In 18 hours, we'll be in Cape Town. Boom.
Follow us in the South Africa diaries.
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