#  >  > Non Asia Travel Forums >  >  > Australia & New Zealand Travel Forum >  >  Wayne Kerr Does the Desert

## Wayne Kerr

A few months back my old mate Johhny Longprong and I flew home to catch up with a some other chaps for a bit of a desert adventure. I reckon Johnny must be a zillionaire as he never seems to do any work, and when he isn’t bumming around on his mango farm up in Uthai Thani Province, he’s always off on some crazy trip. 

Anyway over way too many beers up at his farm earlier in the year we cooked up a bit of a plan to do a 12,000 km outback odyssey around Australia. Johnny pretty much wanted to get away from his harem for a while, and I hadn’t been back for yonks, so it seemed like the perfect getaway from Asia. Here’s a rough sketch of our planned route.


^ The mud map we sketched out whilst on the piss  :Smile: 

We knew we couldn’t do it ourselves and a few phone calls back home and we quickly had a bit of a team together for a month long piss-up in the desert. First up was Big Kev, an accomplished rally driver, adventurer, and beer drinker extraordinaire, old Roger the dodger as mechanic, Paul de Mills as video man, and bloody Wally the Whinger, our cook. 

We were equipped with a Toyota Landcruiser with strengthened front end and canister shock absorbers and an aging Toyota troopcarrier as the packhorse. The Landcruiser was towing a Trak camper with our kitchen and water supply.


^ Our ride – nice little turbo diesel 


^ The mechanic, video man, and cook drove the troop carrier


^ A taste of things to come  :Smile:

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## buad hai

This is gonna be great, he says, rubbing his hands together. Another whacko Wayne Kerr travel saga....

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## Wayne Kerr

I'm gunna try and link this thread up with Google Earth were possible. You can click on the blue boxes to "fly" into the places I refer to … if you don't have Google Earth you can get it free by clicking here. 

Our starting point was our home town on the east coast of Australia - click the blue square to check it out on Google Earth 


^ Our first bush camp was here at a small place called Paterson’s Creek in southern Queensland … we put in a good 20 hours drive to get away friom things as fast as possible. As you can see it was in the middle of bloody nowwhere but the perfect getaway nonetheless 


^ We had to make contact with the outside world via HF radio because some dipstick forgot where they’d hidden the charger for the satellite phone in the truck  :Smile:

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## flash

nice one, you do a good travel thread mr Kerr.

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## blackgang

looks good so far, I never made it down under yet.

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## jizzybloke

Good start Wayne looking forward to more.
Thanks again!

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## Wayne Kerr

This little blue tounged skink scared the crappers out of me whilst taking an early morning leak ... it was kinda like I suffered some reverse culture shock going from Bangkok to this  :Smile: .

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## Wayne Kerr

We set up camp the next day on a small river somewhere half way between the towns of Quilpie and Windorah in Queensland  - click here to visit the exact location.

The idea was to try to catch some yabbies in the creek for breakfast. These suckers are dead easy to catch with a bit of steak tied up in a ball of string. They were the delicious fried up in a lovely chilli/garlic sauce prepared by our cook  but it was about this time I started missing Mrs. Kerrs cooking. 


^ Small creek we camped by on the second night


^ Did alright on the yabbies in the first hour before sunset


^ Lovely looking critters


^ Nice sized one getting ready for the breakfast frying pan. As these critters live in muddy water they can taste a bit muddy so its important to remember to pull their head and tail off before cooking in order to remove the digestive tract.


^ Bald Rock Lookout  quite fertile country out there  still a long way from the desert proper  :Smile: .

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## terry57

Lovely photos of our home country wayne, and your just teasing these fellas.

Especially the pommy blighters.  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

> Lovely photos of our home country wayne, and your just teasing these fellas.


Thanks Tez ... just starting out. Not teasing ... just sharing  :Wink: . Seriously, what percentage of Australians have seen this stuff ... I reckon less than 1%. It really is something spectacular  :Smile: .


^ A kangaroo on the Barcoo River in the Welford National Park northeast of Windorah Queensland. This shot is during the dry season ... in the wet season it floods the river bank of course.

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## terry57

I've been all around Australia and without a doubt Queensland get's the gurnsy.

I especially love far north Queensland for the tropical weather,  the stunning Daintree rain Forrest and its to bad its so bloody far away from Perth.  

Your photos are brilliant and you are correct that not many people get to see this sort of country.

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## Wayne Kerr

Next leg was from Bald Rock across to Welford National Park – the Wiki page could use some updating. Anyway we came across these strange rocks below and weren’t surprised to hear that the indigenous folk in the area refer to them as the “crocodile rocks” … apparently they are a little ominous when the water is up a bit.


^ Can understand why the indigenous folk treat this rock with a fair bit of respect


^ The big crocodile rock - wasn't there a song about that  :Smile: 


^ Found this lovely little billabong to set up camp


^ Our camp in Welford National Park Queensland


^ Set my tent up under this lovely tree … the lads made a few jokes about the branches falling down and all that but a night sleeping under a tree like this is better than 2 sleeps in the city  :Smile: 


^ A lovely river red gum tree on the Barcoo River in Welford National Park Queensland\

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## astasinim

Another superb thread.   :goldcup: 

From reading your other threads, you certainly know how to live life.
Now i know why most of my friends moved over there and never come back.

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## dirtydog

> Now i know why most of my friends moved over there and never come back.


Yeah, Australia is full of poisonous animals, they were all probably killed and eaten by snakes or spiders  :Smile:

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## astasinim

> Yeah, Australia is full of poisonous animals, they were all probably killed and eaten by snakes or spiders


One was killed by a snake of sorts... Went by the name of bradley Murdock :Sad:

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## MeMock

So far so good. Keep it up.

According to your drunking road map we must of almost crossed paths!

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## kingwilly

great stuff mate, love it!

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## corvettelover

great pics but wouldnt entertain setting up camp near a little billabong further up north.
or you might find a flash flood carrying you off 
or
A large croc carrying you off over night.
Dont worry the blue tongue lizard wont kill you,but some of the snakes you will come across will.
1&#37; is a high figure most aussies have no idea what the real bush is like.
i had a cruise up in early 70s in NT (northern territory ) doing the testing on the lepord tanks when in the army and that country is amazing.
The desert is a little to hot and bloody freezing overnight.
pack some wollies.
good luck i am sure you will have some amazing memories from the trip.
Hope you got some pub shots outback pubs have some characters in them.
No bargirls damm shame

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## buad hai

Great stuff again. I've driven from Alice Springs up to Darwin and then over to Kakadu and all over Queensland. Some of the most beautiful and some of the most desolate geography I've ever seen. Keep 'em coming.

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## Jet Gorgon

Stunning photos, thanks. What's that fir-like tree in the sunset pic? Beautiful. Can you show us some cooking pics?

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## sabang

> I've been all around Australia and without a doubt Queensland get's the gurnsy.
> 
> I especially love far north Queensland for the tropical weather, the stunning Daintree rain Forrest and its to bad its so bloody far away from Perth. 
> 
> Your photos are brilliant and you are correct that not many people get to see this sort of country.


Old Adelaidean here, we know something of the Outback.
The Flinders Ranges are awesome. The Painted Desert is amazing, and few have even heard of it. The area around Uluru is great too- the Olga's in particular. Then theres the Kimberleys, and Arnhem Land. Shit, it's a vast area- we are talking bigger than western Europe.

Daintree's the tropics though- thats different again.  :Wink:

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## terry57

> Originally Posted by dirtydog
> 
> 
> Yeah, Australia is full of poisonous animals, they were all probably killed and eaten by snakes or spiders 
> 
> 
> One was killed by a snake of sorts... Went by the name of Bradley Murdock




Bradley Murdock  murdered an English backpacker on an outback road by the name of " falconio " .

He was eventually caught and sentenced to life imprisonment.

He appealed the sentence and this year a ruling was handed down that the original sentence will stand. 

Australia has an unusual amount of backpacker murders and it must be all that sun that effects the locals.

Anyway wayne,  keep throwing those photos up.   :Smile:

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## MeMock

> Bradley Murdock  murdered an English backpacker on an outback road by the name of " falconio " .


I thought it was the 'Stuart Highway'  :Wink:

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## Wayne Kerr

> great pics but wouldnt entertain setting up camp near a little billabong further up north.


... funny you say that mate. Crocodile encounters to come. Sure puts the wind up you when you hear a big croc rustling around outside your tent at night  :Smile: .




> What's that fir-like tree in the sunset pic? Beautiful. Can you show us some cooking pics?


... they'd be gum trees I reckon mate ... beautiful aren't they. Yep cooking bits to come ... kangaroos, koala bears, and other cuddly critters Wayne Kerr style  :Wink: .

Sorry to disappoint on the murdering side ladies and gents ... I guess there are some nut cases out there but overall the people out in the sticks were a lovely mob.

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## MeMock

> the people out in the sticks were a lovely mob.


Of course we are - would you expect anything less?  :Smile:

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## dirtydog

So neither of you have murdered a backpacker?

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## terry57

> Originally Posted by terry57
> 
> 
> 
> Bradley Murdock  murdered an English backpacker on an outback road by the name of " falconio " .
> 
> 
> I thought it was the 'Stuart Highway'






Just cracked onto that mate and the name of the road was the Stuart Hwy and not Falconio.

Fare play and play on.  :Smile:

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## terry57

Hey wayne,  kangaroo risoles,    bloody marvelous mate.

But you cant keep them in the fridge as they give of a powerful smell so better to eat your share and give the rest to the crocs.

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## sabang

> So neither of you have murdered a backpacker?


Not Yet, anyway.  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

> So neither of you have murdered a backpacker?


Nup, but I would have killed for a root by the time we got to Carnarvon on the west coast  :Smile: .

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## donmeurett

This is truly a adventure of a life time.

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## MeMock

> So neither of you have murdered a backpacker?


Not yet.

Just waiting for you to visit doggy  :Smile:

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## MeMock

> Originally Posted by MeMock
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by terry57
> ...


Falconio was the bloke murdered, Stuart was an amazing explorer who was the first bloke to trek from Adelaide to the coast at the top end (near where Darwin is now) and back again after about 6 attempts to do so.

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## Richard Littlejohn

There was a Trivial Pursuit question that read "Who murdered Peter Falconio on the Stuart Road" before Murdoch was even convicted. That was the reason they halted the trial, if anybody remembers.

Hiss girlfriend, Joanne Lees, faced some pretty horrible accusations that it was her & her life was torn apart by media hounds.

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## corvettelover

Quote:
Originally Posted by *corvettelover* 
_great pics but wouldnt entertain setting up camp near a little billabong further up north._

... funny you say that mate. Crocodile encounters to come. Sure puts the wind up you when you hear a big croc rustling around outside your tent at night  :Smile: .

Its the roaring that the crocs do that put the wind up you.
If you can hear them they are moving or you are too close to the water.
been a few people washing plates at waters edge that have been snatched.

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## Wayne Kerr

^ too right mate  :Smile: .

Anyway, back to the road 

These trucks get a bit thirsty when battling the sandy roads, so next stop was into Windorah, Queensland to refuel. The bloke running the fuel stop is blind as a bat so its pretty much self service and you have to tell him how much it is and stuff. Not much else in good old Windorah except for this little shop. Windorah means big fish in the lingo the local indigenous folk speak  it was unfortunate that we couldnt stick around and have a fish in one of the creeks but we were keen to get to the mighty Diamentina River before sunset to set up camp.


^ Service station in Windorah Queensland


^ The trusty old Windorah General Store

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## Wayne Kerr

The Diamentia River is a massive waterway, but since it was dry season at the time it was limited to some large, drying billabongs and pools. Things were pretty dry out there and the driving was a bit of a chore at times  had to put Big Kev behind the wheel for the tricky bits. Heres a pic of us pushing through a spot of bulldust  the trick is keeping the truck straight whlist maintaining  enough momentum to avoid getting bogged in the deeper sections.


^ The mighty Landcruiser charging a heavy section of bulldust ... ahh boys and their toys hey ... putting ones driving skills to the test was great fun  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

We finally hit the Diamentia River in Queensland somewhere around here - . If youve got Google Earth installed click on the blue square to fly into the where we first hit water  if you zoom out to an altitude of about 50km its possible to see that we were dead bang in the middle of a friggin massive inland river system with no water in it. Heres a few pics of where we camped that night  of course during the wet season the whole camp site would be under water.


^ Diamentia River camp site in Queensland Australia  :Smile:

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## terry57

How much you paying for fuel mate ?  

Be tragic out there ain't it.

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## kingwilly

> Originally Posted by dirtydog
> 
> 
> So neither of you have murdered a backpacker?
> 
> 
> Not Yet, anyway.


i think they were talking about _backpackers_ not _bumbag wearers!_

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## Wayne Kerr

The Diamentia area is great cattle country with some big stations up to 4 million acres in size. Here are some shots of the plains, drying billabongs, and one with some camels resting.


^ Diamentia river floodplains 


^ Drying billabong of the Diamentia River  not that impressive country really  next few days got better as we made it into the desert proper


^ This pelican seemed to be doing okay on the fishing


^ Bloody camels around everywhere out there ... didn't see one "camel jockey" for the whole trip though  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

> How much you paying for fuel mate ?


Way too much ... about $2 litre in some places or about 55 baht a litre  :Sad:

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## kingwilly

sounds a lot in aussie dollars.... then i hear the baht and then thats not so bad  :rofl:

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## terry57

> sounds a lot in aussie dollars.... then i hear the baht and then thats not so bad





Fuel is hideously expensive in Australia and that works out at $ 9.00 a gallon for you yanks out there.    

The deeper one goes into the country the more expensive it gets.

Waynes ok,   as hes with his mates and can spread the costs,  but it big dollars to do a road trip in Aussie.

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## chinthee

Wow, those expanses look like Texas.  Beautiful pics and travelogue.  Keep it up.

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## Wayne Kerr

We pushed on that day to a camp site along side a creek about 12 km west of a small town called Boulia   we camped here . 

Boulia is kinda famous in that it hosts the Boulia Camel Races every July. Has a bit of a problem with the local Indigenous folks though which is why we stayed well out of town  good tip unless youre a bit of a Gin Jockey like old Johnny Longprong or fancy some new drinking buddies  :Smile: . 

Wed covered quite a long distance over the past 3 days or so, mainly as we wanted to get up into the Northern Territory to enjoy the desert proper as soon as we could. Early nights and early starts  all driving and not much time to look around or get too pissed. The next day we were due to hit the Northern Territory where the real action and fun started.


^ Our river side campsite at Boulia  these are the river mallee gum trees 


^ Nice galah in the tree next to my tent. The river in this area was lined with these river mallee gum trees which are ideal for nesting birds. The place was alive with Budgerigars, Cockateils, Galahs, Major Mitchells, and the like which meant no sleeping in.

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## dirtydog

These campsites in Australia don't seem to have any toilet facilities.

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## Bexar County Stud

> Wow, those expanses look like Texas.  Beautiful pics and travelogue.  Keep it up.


That's what I was thinking too...looks like Tejas. And the GF says it looks like Issan. Zoinks!

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## astasinim

Those pics are amazing.
What sort of camera do you use? It doesn't look like a good old point and shoot one.

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## dirtydog

It's a Nikon E8800.

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## astasinim

> It's a Nikon E8800.


That explains it then. Supposed to be a good camera, from my limited knowledge. :Smile:

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## terry57

> These campsites in Australia don't seem to have any toilet facilities.





Don't need one mate, 

Aussies are tough bastards and theres no need to shit.     :Smile:

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## The Basket Weaver

> These campsites in Australia don't seem to have any toilet facilities.


^ in the absence of toilet facilities, aussies have learned to use gum leaves, sticks , soft pieces of bark, we are the masters of adaptation and survival in the bush. Anyway, it beats the hell out of shitting in your pants or using your fingernail  :Sad:

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## sabang

^ Plenty of dingo's, lizards and croc's to clean up afterwards anyway.  :Wink:

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## Jet Gorgon

> Fuel is hideously expensive in Australia and that works out at $ 9.00 a gallon for you yanks out there.


Um, no. At current exchange rates and expecting that the liters/gallon conversion formula is unchanged, the price would be just over US$6.40 a gallon or about A$7.60.

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## The Basket Weaver

> Originally Posted by terry57
> 
> 
> Fuel is hideously expensive in Australia and that works out at $ 9.00 a gallon for you yanks out there. 
> 
> 
> Um, no. At current exchange rates and expecting that the liters/gallon conversion formula is unchanged, the price would be just over US$6.40 a gallon or about A$7.60.



im feeling a bit tense right now. expecting a pavlovian reaction any time soon...

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## Jet Gorgon

[quote=Wayne Kerr;401435]

^ Small creek we camped by on the second night

Thanks, Wayne. This is the tree I meant. So maybe not a gum tree? And how do you get those pics of the jeep racing down the track? Do you have two vehicles or do you run ahead? Anyway, it adds great traction to the photologue.

^ Basket W, I'm a financial editor. One of my jobs is to ensure the numbers are correct. Can't help myself when I see something that looks iffy.

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## Marmite the Dog

> Fuel is hideously expensive in Australia and that works out at $ 9.00 a gallon for you yanks out there.


Is that a real gallon or a US gallon?

$2AUS is till cheaper than UK prices. Bladdy whinging convicts...

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## Wayne Kerr

> It's a Nikon E8800.


Yep ... lovely little sucker.




> Aussies are tough bastards and theres no need to shit.


I guess it gives new meaning to old saying "Jeez ya full of shit mate"  :Smile: .

Anyway the blokes we were travelling with like to take a dump European style so we carted a porta loo along. The bashful ones like to put up the special tent ... I think it was only bloody Wally the Cook that used the "special tent" ... boy did we give him a hard time about that. 

Being experienced bushmen and having spent a little bit of time in Asia, blokes like Johnny and I just go into the bush with our shovel and roll and adopt the old asiatic squat position... not together of course. Great opportunity to see the wildlife. The flies and the occasional snake can be a problem though. 

The porta loos aint that bad. You just take the bottom section off and dig a hole and bury the contents. Not a pleasant job when most of the contents are not yours. Another case for using the shovel and roll system. Of course you can add chemical to the porta loo which extends the emptying time, but eventually someone has to do it. I prefer that it isnt me.


^ The trusty porta loo


^ Here I am winding Wally the Cook up showing him how to take a dump without the "special tent"... was "off my face" at the time  :Smile: 


^ Wally the Cook setting up his "special tent" ... bloody city slickers  :Smile:

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## klongmaster

do try to keep up jet...



> how do you get those pics of the jeep racing down the track? Do you have two vehicles or do you run ahead?

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## klongmaster

excellent thread WK: in the standard which we have come to expect from you...

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## Wayne Kerr

> Thanks, Wayne. This is the tree I meant.


Hi JG, pretty sure they're an Acacia or what the local indigenous folk call a Gidgee ... the Gidgee and the Mulga are the most common plants in that part of the world as they are extremely drought resistant.

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## Wayne Kerr

*Anyway, back to the road *

  Whilst camped up at Boulia, Rog the mechanic mentioned something about some caves in the area hed like to check out. He reckoned that there was meant to be a great waterhole there that we camp by for the night. Quick check of the map and put our finger on Camooweal Caves National Park in Queensland. This joint is 1720 km northwest from Brisbane and about 190 km west of Mount  Isa  out in the middle of nowhere really.

  We agreed to postpone our arrival in the Northern   Territory a night to go and check the joint out. Along the way we crossed briefly into the Northern   Territory at Tobermory Station. Check the sign into the territory  whilst lovely people, the folk in the bush don't seem to spell real goood.



  ^ The Nature Territory ... at last   :Smile: 

  Many of the outback cattle stations have opened themselves up to tourists. They usually sell diesel, food and provide a camping ground and facilities for those who like the security of a managed camp. This station was 1.4 million acres and stretches across NT and QLD.



  ^ Tobermory Station in the Northern Territory  good place to stop off if you like the security of a managed camp

  The road up there was bloody busy with road trains transporting cattle. This one was only 3 trailers, most have 4. You just get right off the road until they all go by and the dust clears.



  ^ Outback road train for transporting cattle  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

We finally found the waterhole Rog had heard about  it was magic and well worth the drive up there. You can check it out on Google Earth by clicking this blue square - 

Here are a few pics of the camp that night. Being the dry season it was like all the birds in Queensland had flown to this waterhole for a drink. Bit noisy around dawn and dusk with the birds going off  but being a bit of a bird lover it was great to see Australian native birds in the wild again instead of for sale at the weekend market at Chatuchack  :Smile: .


^ The campsite in Camooweal National Park we lucked upon  :Smile: 


^ Corella nesting in the tree  :Smile: 


^ The waterhole in Camooweal National Park we camped by  :Smile: 


^ Waterhole  take 2  :Smile: 


^ Waterhole  take 3  used this one earlier but its a beauty so thought Id whack it in again  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

The Camooweal Caves is bloody big system of caves that youve gotta abseil into. As we had no abseiling gear with us we decided against trying to climb down into the suckers. Instead we spent an hour or two exploring all the sink holes. After one or two of us nearly gut struck by deadly Taipan snakes sunning themselves on the rocks we decided it was time to get our arses out of Queensland and into the Northern Territory.


^ The Camooweal Caves  :Smile: 


^ Entrance into the Camooweal Caves  bloody prime Taipan country this is  :Smile:

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## buad hai

Stunning photography.

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## terry57

^

Jeez Wayne,

Can you please tell " wally the cook " that i think he's a horses hoof.

Friggin shitting in a tent on a porta crapper when your in the great out back.

For fuck sake mate,

Give him a good talking to will ya,  as he sounds like a tefler to me.

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## Wayne Kerr

Too right ... big horses hoof ... my very words exactly  :Smile: . 




> Stunning photography.


Thanks BH, we were covering such big distances in the early days that we didn't have much time to explore and get good photos ... would love to spend a year doing this loop instead of 30 days  :Smile: .

*Anyway, back to the road ...*


As we spent little too long dodging Taipans back at the Camooweal Caves, we found ourselves at Elliot in the Northern Territory around sunset. Elliot is about half way between Darwin and Alice Springs. Unfortunately that evening the local indigenous folks were a little wound up about something and the local shop keeper suggested it would probably be safer to stay at the Dunmarra Roadhouse - .

The trip between Camooweal and Elliot/Dunmarra was all dirt like in pic below, and it seemed the local indigenous folk were busy burning off their bush the whole way.


^ Dry dusty road between Camooweal, Queensland and Dunmarra, Northern Territory  :Smile: 


^ Indigenous folk firing their bush between Camooweal and Dunmarra  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

Our mate Big Kev is an ex rally car racer and he always seems to be pushing to visit as many places as he can in a day, I suspect mainly so he can have some pushing whatever he’s driving to the limit. 

So we wake up the next morning with a revised plan. He reckoned we could leave Dunmarra, then onto Top Springs Roadhouse, then Jasper Gorge in the Gregory National Park, and then Kununurra in Western Australia all in one day. 

It is quite fun when he gets in one of these moods as we all know the ride will be exhilaratingly fast and dangerous – we were all up for it since the last few days had been hard going on sand and the hard roads of the Northern Territory would be a relief.


^ Top Springs Roadhouse … a few years back a truck driver went crazy here and drove his truck into the bar killing 9 people … it aint all backpacker murders out there you know.


^ Shot from the car going across Dashwood Crossing 1


^ Shot from the car going across Dashwood Crossing 2


^ Jasper Gorge in the Gregory National Park, Northern Territory – 1 


^ Jasper Gorge in the Gregory National Park, Northern Territory – 2 


^ Jasper Gorge in the Gregory National Park, Northern Territory – some interesting rock formations out there  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

The next leg of the day was from Jasper Gorge in the Northern Territory onto Kununurra in Western Australia. Now Ive done a little investigating and it seems Kununurra may be where very own MeMock calls home, and I feel like a right prick for not using my noggin and trying to catch up with the lad for a beer. The photos of this part of the world hes posted over the years are crackers. Would be great MeMock if you see this if you could post some pics that do Kununurra justice  it is a bloody amazing part of the world and as far as I can tell largely man-made.

The area is irrigated by the man-made Lake Argyle, which was formed by damming the good old Ord River. Check it out on Google Earth, with all the water and rich soils it really is an oasis in the middle desert. There is lots of fruit farming, so the population there seems to be dominated by itinerant fruit pickers (lots of backpackers), people from all over the world touring with caravans, the local indigenous folk, and a minority of locals.  

Heres the Google Earth link for Kununurra - .   

We got there by heading up the Buchanan Highway, then onto the Victory Highway at Timber Creek. We stayed at the Kununurra Lakeside Resort, but since we were keen to keep out of towns and camp in the scrub were possible, we got out of Kununurra first the next morning headed for the Bungle Bungle Ranges.


^ Downtown Kununurra


^ A handful of the local indigenous folk enjoying a lazy day


^ Sardine can city  seemed like the whole place was overrun with people from all over the towing caravans around Australia


^ Our camp site


^ Man the caravanners we met were a strange mob. Some tour around for years towing there sardine can along behind them. Would be a pretty good life but there are some nutcases amongst them. Reckon thered be a few backpacker murderers amongst them too. This bloke was travelling around with his dog and pet chook  for some strange reason hed died the chooks head purple  :Confused: .

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## MeMock

You better not have come to Kununurra without telling me. I;m gonna be really pissed if the next few pics are from around here  :Smile: 

I really am loving this thread but thought I better correct a few things if I may. Dunmurra and gregory national park are in the NT not WA.

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## MeMock

Arrrrhhhhh you beat my post with your pics!

I seriously can't believe you didn't call in. That pic of kununurra is about 200m from my house. Those pics of the black fellas is classic (i know three of them and see them almost daily when I take my daughter for a walk every afternoon)

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## dirtydog

> Arrrrhhhhh you beat my post with your pics! 
> I seriously can't believe you didn't call in, we could have gone backpacker hunting together, I've bagged a few in my time


hmmmmmm....

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## Wayne Kerr

> That pic of kununurra is about 200m from my house.


Sorry mate, somehow this post went into yours and I just cut it out.

Now I feel like a right dill. Sorry for the f'up with the Gregory NP reference to WA ... not too far out though  :Smile: . Too many beers  :Smile: . Just got some more ready to put up. Hope you enjoy.

Seems a bit of a town of blow ins, including many of the indigenous folk. Are you still out in that part of the world ... we're planning the same trip for sometime during the 2008 dry season ... wouldn't mind spending a few days and hunting a few female sweedish backpackers that seemed to inundate the place  :Smile: .

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## Wayne Kerr

Glad to get out of the big smoke of Kununurra and on the road again, we were headed to the famous Bungle Bungle Ranges within the Purnululu National Park Purnululu National Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The road into this park is only open in the dry season and you can see why as passing it was a little bit of a challenge in even the driest part of the year. Ill split this bit up into 3 bits. Click here to fly into the place on Google Earth . 

The first bit (this post) shows the river crossing into the place and provides some info about the Bungle Bungle Ranges. The second shows a few pics which made me realise why the local Indigenous folk believe the ancestors are in the rocks. The last bit is just a big heap of photos ... hope you enjoy  :Smile: .


^ River crossing into the Bungle Bungle Ranges from Kununurra  :Smile: 


^ A little bit on the geological history of the place in plain English which is good for us simpletons  :Smile: 


 ^ A bit on how the big termite mounds are formed  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

I see how the local indigenous folk have come to believe that their ancestors spirits are inside these rocks  :Smile: .


^ I often wonder when I see things like if some rat bags have spent a few years chiselling away to scare the kiddies  :Smile: 


^ A close up on the face of an ancestor of some lucky indigenous chap  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

Heres a whole heap of photos of the rock formations within the park without comments. I didnt write anything mainly as I cant think of what to say. When I first saw them it was like fuck, thats nice, oh fuck, thats better  anyway hope they load okay in here and enjoy.

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## Wayne Kerr



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## Wayne Kerr



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## Wayne Kerr

We got away late after spending half the day bashing around the bungle bungles. Johnny Longprong reckons he caught up with a Swedish backpacker whilst off exploring the rock formations by himself (well that was his story, but he did look very pleased with himself) and we were well knackered. Hes a bit of a health nut our old Johnny Longprong which is a bit of a surprise given the amount of beer he drinks, and he and Paul the photographer bloke always looked a bit nervous at the quarantine/border checkpoints. I think they may have had a little more stashed in their bags then they let on  the old whacky tobaccy I imagine. Seemed to do alright with the odd backpacker sheila though  :Smile: .

We were headed for a place called Mary Pool. To get to this place you need to cross a causeway and there are usually quite a few salt water crocodiles in the creek by the camp site, but it was the dry and there didnt seem to be too many about (we hoped). I had my "persuader" handy in case they tried to get into the tent  I usually dont sleep with the safety on the rifle off, but I did that night. Johnny Longprong knew I was shitting pineapples and gave me heaps. The other blokes missed the croc warning signs, so we kept our traps shut in the hope that Wally the horses hoof cook would get cleaned up by one whilst doing the dishes to add a bit of spice to the trip. Here's a few good photos on the way in  :Smile: .


^ Spinifex country in the west Kimberly area of Western Australia  :Smile: 


^ Crossing the croc lined creek coming into the camp  Johnny Longprong and I only noticed the crocodile warning signs as we stopped to get some pics of the other guys coming across  :Smile: 


^ Crocodile warning sign  :Smile: 


^ Set my tent up a little further away from the creek then the other chaps that night and had the windows rolled up so I could see what was lurking around at night  :Smile:

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## jizzybloke

The pics of the rocks and stuff came out well WK, the only similar thing iv'e experienced is the Grand Canyon and my photos were shit.
People asked me what its like and you can't really explain, in the end i just said go and see yourself a verbal description can't do it justice.

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## MeMock

Wayne, what date where you in Kununurra?

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## Jock Itch

great thread Wayne !! - makes one wonder what the hell we're doing day by day doing the grind in the big smoke - should load up the Hilux at head out bush !!

Can't wait till Jock jr is a bit older to get out on some bush/fishing safari's !!

Maybe you'll have to bring Wayne jr next time and we'll make a convoy of it !! :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## klongmaster

magnificent colours in these rocks...

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## El Gibbon

Flock me Wayne, I enjoy all your threads but this one is spectacular... 

"must ... green before you can'...... 

You've a great eye for photography and really am enjoying the Auz tour.

E. G.

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## terry57

Lovely stuff wayne.  I ain't never been up there.

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## babygirl

Great thread! Those rock formations are amazing! What type of rock is it? 
The pics of the reflection of the trees along the riverside are beautiful.

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## Wayne Kerr

I think youll find that the rocks are made of sandstone BG. Thanks for all the nice comments. I was initially a bit reluctant to post this on here as it isnt really related to Asia or Thailand, but I guess thats one of the nice things about TD. Glad to hear that some are enjoying it.

Anyway, back to road 

Next stop was Winjana Gorge National Park - . This bit Ill again split up into three parts. The first bit (this post) is a look at the Tunnel Creek National Park. The second is the place we visited that was the location for a massive battle between a legendary aboriginal freedom fighter and the eurpoean settlers in the late 1800s. The final includes some shots from the beautiful Winjana Gorge. 

Tunnel Creek National Park, little to the west of the Bungle Bungles, check it out here on Google Earth - .


^ Welcome to Tunnel Creek


^ A bit of information about how the tunnels were formed


^ Heaps of life in the underground


^ Some more nice rock formations in Tunnel Creek


^ Walking into Tunnel Creek -1


^ Walking into Tunnel Creek - 2


^ Walking out of Tunnel Creek


^ A lovely Boab Tree at Tunnel Creek

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## Wayne Kerr

Next stop was to check out the location of a legendary stand between an Aboriginal freedom fighter and the local white blokes in the early days. The story boards give some info (you made need your glasses) and the wrecked plaque to the deceased copper indicates feeling in the local community about who should have been the honoured one.


Aboriginal freedom fighter – storyboard 1


Aboriginal freedom fighter – storyboard 2


Aboriginal freedom fighter – storyboard 3


Aboriginal freedom fighter – storyboard 4


Aboriginal freedom fighter – wrecked plaque for copper killed in the stand

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## Wayne Kerr

Winjana Gorge National Park was friggin lovely. Few photos of the place below. We got into a bit of strife from the ranger out there for unknowingly camping in the tour operator section of the camp site (bloody 10 acres and no one in it) but Johnny Longprong smoothed things over. Big Kev is a bit of a lad and gave the poor young ranger bloke a bit of stick about being a bit of control freak government type. The gorge was magnificent the next morning and we saw many Johnson river crocs (freshwater, and only take your hand off it you put in their mouth types)  see the last few pics.

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## tiswas

As usual Wayne another truly fantastic thread, once again cannot find the right words to describe this.  :goldcup:

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## buad hai

^The high quality of the photos is a big plus. Technically excellent, beautifully composed and enormously interesting.

Well done, again.

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## Wayne Kerr

> ^The high quality of the photos is a big plus. *Technically excellent*, *beautifully composed* and *enormously interesting*.  Well done, again.


Just a handful of good ones picked from maybe thousands, so as you can imagine there are lots of crap ones. Much credit has to go to my travel companion Johnny Longprong who took most of the "artistic" type ones  :Smile: .

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## Wayne Kerr

After a busy morning exploring the gorge we were off to our next stop - the small coastal town of Broome on the northwest coast of Western Australia. We werent far out of the national park when we spotted these turd like looking structures on the side of the road  they were quite evenly distributed like in the photo below for a good 15-20 km in all directions. We gave bloody Wally the Cook heaps, asking if hed started taking dumps like the real men on the trip and all that. He didnt like it  but I reminded him that he should learn to expect such treatment for carrying on like a bloody horses hoof all the time.


^ Big turd like looking things on the way to Broome

First stop on the way was a place called Derby  for lunch and a few cold beers to help soak of the smell of salt in the air again  you quickly forget how good the sea smells after a week or so in the bush.  

Derby is a tidal port mainly used to export lead and other mineral concentrates from nearby mines. They load the stuff onto small draft ships which take it out to export ships waiting offshore. Beaches arent so inviting, and they have massive tidal ranges up there (about 7-9 metres) and plenty of hungry crocs about ready to clean up unsuspecting tourists. Made me wonder how many of the boat people that wash up in this part of the world end up as croc food  far more than the immigration mob in Canberra let on I imagine. Best thing about Derby is the freshwater sawfish burgers at the local fish and chip shop  check em out if youre ever in town


^ Crappy looking beach in Derby Western Australia


^ Funny crocodile warning sign


^ The famous freshwater sawfish that the local fish and chip shop uses to knock up a lovely fish burger and chips

Derby has got some lovely Boab trees. The one in the picture below was used as a jail for local Indigenous folk as recently as 10 years I think.


^ Boab tree jail in Derby, Western Australia


^ The old Boab trees are a bit promiscuous and we spotted this one trying to breed with a gum tree

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## Wayne Kerr

Broomes a bloody lovely place ... check it out here -  .

You can see on Google Earth that the joint is located on a big tropical bay. The area has been used for yonks to culture pearls, but being the bushman we are, and knowing that we could buy similar things in places like Beihai in China for a tenth of the price, we kept out of the pearl shops and spent most of the time at the local pub trying to get laid. Broome has about 15,000 residents, but lots of tourists from all over the world. Quite a lively little town and reckon I could easily spend a few months or years living there. A few pics of Broome below:


^ The lovely Cable Beach in Broome, Western Australia  taken with my trusty mobile phone on my early morning run


^ Roebuck Bay in Broome, Western Australia 


^ Rog the mechanic in his lucky yellow shorts


^ Roebuck Bay surf beach


^ You might of heard of the mob in Australia that hires budget campers to backpackers. They paint them in all sorts of weird designs and have stuff written on them that could only appeal to the mentality of a rock lifter ... they seem to be everywhere in Aus these days. Anyway, heres their website should you be interested - Campervan Hire Australia, Camper Van Rentals, Wicked Campers Oz.


^ Good thing about these camper vans is that if you hang around long enough theres a fair chance some hot little number will rock up  heres a pic of Johnny Longprong going up to say gday.


^ Camel riding seems to be quite popular in Broome  the business attracts all manner of butch women as this photo shows. It is estimated that there are over 500,000 camels in Australia  having initially been brought in with Afghan handlers to help explore the deserts. These days Australia exports the things back to the camel jockey countries to put some genetic diversity back into their racing animals. They dont cause too much environmental damage but are bloody dangerous if you get too close to them as we were to learn the hard way a few days later.


^ The foreshore area on Roebuck Bay beach was a great place to have a few cold beers. This is taken from the local pub.

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## Wayne Kerr

One night in the township of Broome was enough and we were keen to get somewhere a little more remote. A quick check of the map and we put our finger on Cape Keraudren, about 400 km south of Broome, as the perfect overnight stopover. The Cape is located at the end of 80 mile beach and is basically a big croc infested estuary. We had a great afternoon checking out the mangrove lined creeks and were treated to a spectacular sunset over the Indian Ocean. Check out Cape Keraudren on Google Earth  by clicking here - .

On the way there were came across this roadhouse that had recently burnt down. The owners were battling on in a makeshift shop with a few fuel pumps, and as you can see from the sign hadn’t yet lost their sense of humour.


^The Sandfire Roadhouse ... recently burnt down in an electical fire  :Sad: 


^ This bloke was doing the trip on a big trail bike ... this was the temporary shop the poor old chap out there had set up after the fire


^ Sign at the old roadhouse ... I guess they got tired of answering the same questions day in day out ... might make a shirt like this in Thai for next trip out "What's your name?" ... "Where do you come from?" ... "Do you want a shag" etc  :Smile: 


^ Lovely mangrove lined creeks at the Cape ... we spotted quite a few crocs lurking at about 2 or 3 metres  :Smile: 


^ The tidal range there is about 9 metres ... so at low tide the place don't look so good ... fortunately it was high tide around sunset  :Smile: 


^ These mud flats went out for kilometres  :Smile: 


^ Our camp site at Cape Keraudren ... we were a bit "off our faces" at the time  :Smile: 


^ Sunset from our campsite looking over the estuary and Indian Ocean in the background  :Smile: 


^ Johhny Longprong and Big Kev ... the bloke on the left is 6'2'' tall ... the bloke on the right is a giant  :Smile: 


^ Johnny Longprong  :Smile: 


^ Sunset over Cape Keraudren estuary and Indian Ocean - 2  :Smile: 


^ Sunset over Cape Keraudren estuary and Indian Ocean - 3  :Smile:

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## dirtydog

Do all Australians take their corks off their hats at night  :Smile:

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## daveboy

fantastic really enjoyed reading this thread .

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## geoff

Magnificent photo's.  Well done.

Makes you want to go to Oz for your next hol.!!!!! :St George:

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## HAMILTON

yes.  I've had a month there already.  Cant wait to get back.  Will spend more time the next trip.   Thanks WK

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## buad hai

I'm scrolling through this latest batch of photos. Ms. B is getting ready for work. She looks over my shoulder and says, "Wow. Beautiful photographs. Is he a professional?"

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## MeMock

Amazing how 90&#37; of international tourists will never see any of this as they stay in Sydney and Melbourne and go home and boast to their friends about how they have 'done' Australia.

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## Marmite the Dog

> Amazing how 90&#37; of international tourists will never see any of this as they stay in Sydney and Melbourne and go home and boast to their friends about how they have 'done' Australia.


Luckily, I've not been to the East coast and have visited a few out of the way sites in North and Western Aus.

I'll post some picures one day.

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## MeMock

Your what we call the 10 percenters  :Smile:

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## dirtydog

> Amazing how 90&#37; of international tourists will never see Soi Yodsak, one of the most amazing streets in Thailand


I quite agree memock.

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## HAMILTON

Earlier on someone aked for photos of the cooking.  Any hope of seeingthe baked beans WK???

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## HAMILTON

> Quote: Originally Posted by MeMock Amazing how 90&#37; of international tourists will never see Soi Yodsak, one of the most amazing streets in Thailand I quite agree memock.


I thought Soi Yodsak had been voted No: 1 in the new 10 Wonders of The World.

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## Wayne Kerr

> Earlier on someone aked for photos of the cooking.  Any hope of seeingthe baked beans WK???


Yep, on its way mate. Now i'm on the grog. 21 more days of trip still to come.

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## Wayne Kerr

It was decided by Johnny Longprong that after a big night in Broome trying to get laid in the local pub that we should get out of town quick smart  hed clearly had a little too much fun the night before with the young French lass in the camper van. Some us had flights to catch a few weeks down the track and if we were gunna back home in time via the notorious Anne Beadell Track then it was gunna have to be pedal to the metal for a few days. 

Next stop was Karajini National Park in the Plibara region of northwestern Australia. The park is notable for its gorges, waterfalls and water holes, but has been buggered by nazi style rangers who pretty much watch your every move  apparently keeping an eye on the Indigenous folks sacred land. Check out the campsite on Google Earth  and how close it is to an amazing gorge  the bugger is it is just about impossible to get too close to the gorge without some dopey ranger saying you cant do that. 

It was a long and tough drive into the place and we were knackered by the time we arrived. Last thing we needed was some dipstick ranger telling us how it was. Big Kev put his message across to the young chap away by turning this song up a little loud when the bloke came in telling us what we could and couldn't do etc - 



We were soon off our faces again, and here are a few pics of camp that night.


^ Wally the Cook sitting on the trailer and applying some moisturiser after a long day in the bush  bloody big horses hoof. 


^ Shot of the campsite


^ Rog the mechanic trying to get a bit of shut eye around the fire

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## dirtydog

One of our members would like to know if you ate any dingo and how you cooked it, I won't name him as he wishes to remain anonymous, but here's his message.




> Hey dd, can you ask wayne if he ate any dingo and how he cooked it, don't want to ask him myself as you know what the vegan liberals are like on here.
> 
> All the best stroller

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## Wayne Kerr

Next day we got away early headed for Meekathata in Western Australia and skipped breakfast with the view that if we got there early enough we could bag a kangaroo and have a good roast leg of roo and veggies for dinner. 

We stopped at a place called the Newman on the way  not much there except heaps of iron ore. The mining game is going quite well there  and not a bad place to pick up a bit of work according to the bloke at the service station. Apparently unskilled labourers earn more than $50 an hour, truck drivers more than $120,000 a year, whilst tradesmen can pretty much name their price. 

Apparently smart backpackers get in there for 3 months and earn enough to fund their travelling for the next 9 months of the year. Most people get free or subsidised housing and all manner of tax breaks for working out in the scrub in a dangerous industry. 


^ The township of Newman in Western Australia


^ The desert country out around Meekathata


^ We eventually made our way to Meekathata. This is where we camped for the night - .

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## Wayne Kerr

> One of our members would like to know if you ate any dingo and how you cooked it, I won't name him as he wishes to remain anonymous, but here's his message.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 			
> 				Hey dd, can you ask wayne if he ate any dingo and how he cooked it, don't want to ask him myself as you know what the vegan liberals are like on here.
> 
> All the best stroller


He knows I dont mind a bit of dog meat from time to time ... he could have asked me himself.

*Roast Kangaroo at Meekathata in Western Australia*

Unfortunately no dingo this trip  dingo isnt that good to eat as they dont carry a lot of fat, plus preparing them for the camp oven is a pain in the arse. We mostly ate Kangaroo as they are easier to shoot and butcher, and the meat is good for a few days if kept cool. Ive left the action shots out so the vegan types dont get too upset  :Smile: . 

The photos below outline the procedure we followed to make a lovely roast kangaroo leg dinner at Meekathata in Western Australia.


^ *Step 1* - find a good place to dig a whole for your camp oven. Money ant holes are a good spot as the ground is a bit soft and there is a fair chance youll find a bit of money in them as well.


^ Sure enough whilst digging the hole we found a bit of money  $6.65 to be precise  :Smile: .


^ *Step 2*  once youve dug all the dirt get a bit of a fire happening to make some hot coals for cooking  :Smile: 


^ *Step 3*  bung a meaty section of kangaroo leg in your camp oven, put it in the hole half filled with hot coals, then cover the camp oven lid with more hot coals  leave the meat cooking like this for as long as it takes you to drink 6 small bottles of beer.


^ *Step 4*  take the camp oven out of the hole, take the lid off, and fill with medium sized pieces of potato and pumpkin, whole brown onions, and half a dozen large cloves of garlic.


^ No need to be too careful, just bung them in like this, I usually add about half a bottle of beer to the oven at this stage


^ *Step 5*  Put the lid back on


^ *Step 6*  Put the oven pack in the hole


^ *Step 7*  Put the old hot coals on top and leave for as long as it takes to drink about 2 beers

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## Wayne Kerr

^ *Step 8* – by the time you’ve had about 8 bottles of beer everything should be about 75&#37; cooked, but to make the kangaroo skin and veggies nice and crispy it’s a good idea at this time to rekindle the fire to get some ultra hot coals happening  :Smile: .


^ *Step 9* – in order to add the ultra hot coals you got to dig the old ones out of the hole first. Get as much as you can out and take the ones off the lid too


^ *Step 10* – add ultra hot coals to the hole and on top of the camp oven and leave like this for as long as it takes to drink 3 small beers


^ *Step 11* – take the camp oven out of the hole and take the lid off


^ *Step 12* – stick a knife into everything to check that its cooked. If the veggies feel a bit hard, bung the lid back on and have another beer  :Smile: .


^ *Step 13* – take the veggies and then the meat out of the oven


^ *Step 14* – slice up the kangaroo meat and eat with the veggies ... wash it all down with a few more beers  :Smile: 

* Step 15* - pass out. It is a good idea to do this in your tent.

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## Panda

I am surprised you blokes didnt make some damper for desert?

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## hillbilly

If the Wayne Kerr travel book ever comes out, I will be the first in line. :goldcup:

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## terry57

hey  wayne,

wally the cook still taking a crap in the friggin tent on the porta potty. ?

jeez.
,

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## HAMILTON

nice one WK!!!!    BTW  who caught/shot the roo?

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## Wayne Kerr

> nice one WK!!!! BTW who caught/shot the roo?


Rog the mechanic bagged the sucker from about 75 metres ... head shot. He's a crack shot. 




> hey wayne,  wally the cook still taking a crap in the friggin tent on the porta potty. ?


I guess so or similar anally retentive stuff. Bloody big horses hoof he is.

*Camping Equipment - Trailer*

I've been getting a few requests for information regarding the trailer we were towing around. These things are friggin awesome  Ive annotated the picture below to give you some idea of how versatile they. Main thing is the independent suspension, and universal joint swivel like thingo used to connect it to the truck. If the truck makes it, this thing will too. Shits all over a caravan or any trailer Ive ever seen used. They are made by a company called Trak ... their website is here - Trak Shak > Trailer Campers <. The main thing the pic doesnt show is the queen sized bed inside the bloody thing.


^ The trailer used on the trip


^ A pic of the trailer with the tent set up


^ Close up of the tent on the back of the trailer

Expect to pay a minimum of AU$40,000 for one though ... at about 1.15 million Thai baht you could buy a decent house up country with the same money  :Smile: .

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## dirtydog

I take it "Money Ants" are ant holes that people put money into to annoy the ants?

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## MeMock

Don't u no nuffink doggy?

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## dirtydog

Gentlemen from England do not torture small animals for fun memock, of course we wouldn't expect you to know anything about that  :Smile:  Anyway, a magnifying glass annonys them a lot more, although not for very long  :Sad:

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## Jock Itch

Any Gin-jockey action in Meekatharra Wayne ??

I hear the Meekatharra goon bag a Go-Go is popular on a Thursday (Pension day) night !???? :Smile: 

YouTube - livin next door to allan

Some great pics there mate - truly envious of this trip !!

Forgot to ask - with all these amazing billabongs, creeks etc you've been staying at, did anyone whip out a fishing rod for a bit of fresh Barra or similar ????

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## Lady Hawk

Great thread,love the pics  :goldcup:

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## corvettelover

Your roast roo reminds me everything is done to beers in the outback. Drive to next town 3 stubbie drive,and the roadside is littered with empty stubbies appears every one finishes their beer within 2KLM of each other.
great thread

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## flash

Great photos, what type of camera do you use, i'm going to africa soon and want to buy a half decent digital camera, any suggestions?

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## MeMock

Flash that question has already been asked an answered in the thread somewhere.

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## gos

Thanks for great thread again I will be looking to get the same camera before I come to los my first green coming your way if I can do it properly

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## Wayne Kerr

> Great photos, what type of camera do you use, i'm going to africa soon and want to buy a half decent digital camera, any suggestions?


Tried posting this before from my phone mate, but it dropped the connection. The camera is an Nikon 8800, but some are taken on the old mobile phone - Nokia 73. To be honest it is hard to tell the difference between the quality of the pics when compressed for use in here. I really don't know that much about cameras, but if you are looking to buy, check out this site Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ - was recommended to me by Snaff when buying the Nikon about 3 ago  :Smile: .




> Thanks for great thread again I will be looking to get the same camera before I come to los my first green coming your way if I can do it properly


Just checked and it made it mate ... thanks alot! Beers on me should we ever meet!

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## Mister E

Thanks for this. What a treat for a Yank to get to see the Aus Outback. Did a lot of trips like this myself back home and it looks like you guys are pros! Can't wait for the return trip pics and to find out who got roughed up by the camel  :Smile:

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## geoff

On step 13 in the cooking sequence, I see a sort of shield around your ankle.  Is this the top of your boot, or some kind of anti- snake thing????

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## MeMock

keeps the prickles out of ya socks  :Smile: 

and the snakes

and the spiders

and the crocs

and the....

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## Wayne Kerr

The next leg of the trip was the start of the most challenging part of the tour  crossing the infamous Anne Beadell Track. This track is 1340 km of rough unsealed dirt road linking Laverton in Western Australia and Cooper Pedy in South Australia, and passes through very remote arid deserts, with day time temperatures of up to of 50°C. First stop was a place called Lake Yeo .

As soon as we hit the track, the desert seemed to come alive with all manner of plants and animals. It was friggin lovely, but since the track usually takes a minimum of 5 days to cross we had plenty of time to cop the serenity. Heres a few pics of the trip from Meekathara  Laverton  Lake Yeo.


^ Big Kev putting his last thoughts on video in case we got lost and perished in the desert  :Smile: 


^ Typical stretch of desert road at the start of the Anne Beadell Track near Laverton  :Smile: 


^ Some more desert track  :Smile: 


^ We got a little lost here  :Smile: 


^ Strange looking termite mound along the Anne Beadell Track  :Smile: 


^ Our campsite on Lake Yeo ... the area is a big salt pan  :Smile: 


^ Lovely desert bottle brush like plant  :Smile: 


^ Common bearded dragon  these critters are the delicious bbqd gently over the fire  :Smile:

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## MeMock

That video camera is pretty impressive

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## Wayne Kerr

> Is this the top of your boot, or some kind of anti- snake thing????


MeMock missed the bull ants ... these suckers are about an inch long out in the desert and pack a mean bite.

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## Wayne Kerr

> That video camera is pretty impressive


You're not wrong there mate ... we're putting a vid of the trip together. Some footage will also be sold to some big TV mobs ... a bit has already gone to a musician for a music video  :Smile: .

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## Udonite

Excellent thread WK, you've made a good choice of camera it covers everything from wide angle to telephoto. You don't have to change the lens, avoiding dust on the sensor.

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## Jet Gorgon

Thanks especially for the cookout vignette, Wayne. Time measured in beers. Dam fine way to do it.

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## Wayne Kerr

> hanks especially for the cookout vignette, Wayne. Time measured in beers. Dam fine way to do it.


No worries mate. A little bit busy of late, but in the meanwhile some of you may appreciate this clip on YouTube which I reckon sums up life in many of the outback Australian towns we visited - YouTube - Kevin Bloody Wilson The Local  :Smile: .

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## bkkmadness

INSPIRING! 

That's the one word that sums up Wayne Kerr's threads to me, inspiring!

For my own part I've been planning a trip to Khao Yai national park camping with my mate.  We don't even need to arrange transport coz he's got a car so we only gotta load the tent and jump in and off we would go.

Been talking about it for 2 years now I think. :Sad:

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## corvettelover

True wayne you cant beat kevin bloody wilson
The man is a star a fucken MONSTAR
some great outback songs that most aussies relate to

Kevin Bloody Wilson - Australia&rsquo;s Outback Outlaw

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## Wayne Kerr

*Anyway, back to the road ...*

   Johnny Longprong and I had been joking along the way that we hoped bloody Wally the cook would get done by a crocodile or something so we’d have a good excuse to extend the trip a little and put off going back to work. Anyway we may have jinxed ourselves somehow and woke up early at Lake Yeo to find our bloody best desert driver Big Kev screaming in pain out in the scrub. Seems he’d got up for a leak, bleary eyed, and stumbled into a sleeping camel … and the bloody thing had got startled and trod on his foot. End result was what looked like a broken ankle and a big blood clot like thing moving quite quickly up Big Kev’s leg. 

  Big Kev had serious problems before with blood clots and as we were out in the middle of nowhere decided we’d better try and get close to a bush airstrip in case we had to call in the Flyer Doctor should the clot get any worse. Anyway a quick check of the map and we spotted the airstrip in the photo below, about 180 kms east of Laverton or the start of the Anne Beadell Track. Due to the rough track it took all day to get there, and Big Kev was in serious pain, with each bump in the track seeming to make things worse for him. We finally got there and made contact with the flying doctor via Johnny Longprong’s desert radio (we still hadn’t found the charger for the bloody satellite phone). Desert airstrip location - . 



^ Desert airstrip in outback Australia  :Smile: 


^ Johnny Longprong’s desert radio … I had to drink a few quick beers so I could piss on the sand to get an earth for the radio (note the wet patches) … this is a very reliable mode of communication when outback and really worth having in emergency situations like this. The flying doctor service advised us to keep Big Kev’s leg elevated and report in on his status every two hours ... this gave us a good excuse to stay up all night drinking and I vaguely recall the doctors laughing and telling us at about 5am in the morning that desert hangovers can be pretty bad … bastards obviously knew their stuff  :Smile: .


^ Our campsite by the desert airstrip


^ Big Kev’s situation improved over night but was in too much pain to travel the following day … here’s one of old Rog enjoying a liquid breakfast


^ The break gave us a bit of time to collect some bush food for dinner … this camel wasn’t bad eating  :Smile: 


^ We were contemplating eating this bustard bird, but thought he looked too happy wandering around the scrub


^ A lovely desert acacia


^ There were loads of small flowering plants, they really were quite striking in the middle of the desert but these photos don’t do them justice


^ There was also lots of thorny devils out there … they try to camouflage themselves but their shadows make them stick out like dog’s balls  :Smile: 


^ Another thorny devil doing a not-so-good job of camouflaging himself  :Smile:

----------


## peterpan

One of the best travel threads ever, I did a similar trip in '99 but my photos are no where near as good so your thread brought back great memories. I'm on dial up so it takes me about 15 mins to load each page but well worth the wait. Thanks Wayne

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## Wayne Kerr

> One of the best travel threads ever, I did a similar trip in '99 but my photos are no where near as good so your thread brought back great memories. I'm on dial up so it takes me about 15 mins to load each page but well worth the wait. Thanks Wayne


Thanks PP, and sorry I sometimes forget about dial-up. Have tried to compress the pics as much as possible, but I can imagine it must be a pain loading all the suckers.

*Anyway, back to the road ...*

After a few lay days due to Big Kevs buggered ankle, we decided to push onto a place called Wanna Lakes - . If you check the place out on Google Earth from an altitude of about 20 km, you'll see that Wanna Lakes is dead bang in the middle of some seriously big sand dunes that run parallel across the desert. Getting into this place was a right pain in the arse, as we had to cross what seemed like 100s of large soft sand dunes.

We refuelled at the Illkulkra roadhouse on an aboriginal mission about halfway along the track. There was a sign on the door "back at 11.30". Well at about 2.00pm a very nice bloke by the name of Tom, a white fella volunteer from southwest Western Australia, sold us some diesel and we refilled our water tanks with some magificent bore water from the Great Artesian Basin. The pictures dont capture the grandeur of the dry Wanna Lake, colourful sands and all that, but hopefully they give some idea of what the joint looks like.


^ The Illkulkra roadhouse where we filled up the fuel tanks with diesel at about a $2 a litre, and got some of the best tasting freshwater Ive ever had  pumped direct from Australias Great Artesian Basin.


^ Our campsite on Wanna Lakes


^ Another view of Wanna Lakes


^ For years Paul the photographer has said he's "going to look for crashed helicopters" as an excuse to disappear for a while in order to indulge in a few of his special cigarettes  I thought he was just bloody stoned when he came back saying hed found a crashed plane, but sure enough a short walk into the scrub and we found this sucker. No skeletons inside so we thought the occupants must have walked away from the crash.


^ Another shot of the crashed plane  interestingly there is a guest book inside that we signed (we obviously werent the first to find the thing), a few newspapers from around the time of the crash, and it appeared the local indigenous folk had knocked off the motors

Heres a few shots of the vegetation in the area. Bloody Paul the photographer reckoned the spinifex circles in the last pic were caused by bits of asteroids crashing into the earth  I told him I should try some of his whacky tobaccy that evening to help stimulate my imagination

----------


## Wayne Kerr

The next section of the Anne Beadell track was really tough going. Our number 1 driver, Big Kev, has done more than 2 million miles racing and testing 4 wheel drive vehicles in outback Australia and reckoned this was one of the toughest bits of track he’s crossed. 

The corrugations in the track were about 6 inches deep and the wheels of the trucks fitted in perfectly. Under these conditions you have 2 options: (1) go flat out and risk breaking the vehicle; or (2) roll over them at 10 km/hr. With Kev’s buggered foot and driving some bloody expensive equipment, we opted for the second option. 

We eventually stopped at a nice bit of desert in the middle of nowhere in South Australia with a few black oak trees … seemed a good as spot as any to have a few beers and cook up some of the left over kangaroo meat we had in the fridge - . 


^ The corrugations in the track were bloody aweful


^ Most of the track was narrow and crappy like this … I wondered at times  how long we’d be stuck out there if we had a serious mechanical failure or something. The front end of the Landcruiser we were driving had been strengthened specifically for roads like this, including the best ARB shock absorbers that had been rigged up to big gas canisters that helped absorb all the bumps … most ordinary 4 wheel drive vehicles would shake to death on this stuff. Getting the tyre pressure right is critical too … for roads like this we had tyre pressure down around 24 lb (normal roads 40 in the back and 38 in the front). Fortunately we did not have one flat during the whole 12,000 kms of the trip.


^ Camp site near some black oak trees that stuck out in the middle of the desert like dog’s balls


^ There was also this lone Kurrajong tree … would only come across one every couple of hundred of kms

It was obvious that a fire had been through in the area in recent times, but it was amazing how alive the place was with reptiles and small flowering plants. Here are few pictures of the flora and fauna in these parts.

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## Wayne Kerr

I’ve received a few questions about my tent. It really is a beauty, designed for hot climates, and the best feature is it only takes about 1 minute to set up. It is made by a company called Freedom Camping.




> *Northern Tourer* 
> 
> The Northern Tourer is designed to give the best ventilation possible for touring in hot climates. It has an extra 3 way window opposite the door giving four way ventilation. The clear PVC outer on the back window provides for natural light to enter even in constant rain. The storm flaps on the side windows have been modified to zip around in case of a dust storm. These features mean that the Northern Tourer is excellent value for money and is our best ventilated single pole. 
> 
> *Setup Time:* 1 minutes 
> *Dimensions:* W320cm x L 260cm x H 210cm
> *Pack Size:* 90cm x 90cm x 9cm (Flat and Square)
> *Pole Size:* 120 x 5cm
> *Weight:* 19kg + 2kg poles 
> ...


I paid about $1,200 for this. There are of course shitloads of tents much cheaper than this, but would probably be rooted after a month outback. This one looks as good as the day I brought it after 30 days in a tough environment ... I highly recommend it if you're on the lookout for one.


^ Here's the beauty in action  :Smile: 

Might add that the sucker stood up to a force 5 gale on the sand flats one night and never looked like falling over.

----------


## MeMock

$1,200 for a tent???

Your kiddin me right?

My swag cost $120 12 years ago and is still going strong.

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## Wayne Kerr

^ Nup, family man now and all that, so we all fit in it ok, and I can stand up in it easily at 6'4''. Planning some serious travel over the next few years and think it will serve us well. At $1,200 it will have to last us a lot longer than 12 years  :Smile: .

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## MeMock

Fair enough, I thought this was a solo trip for you though.

----------


## Wayne Kerr

Yep solo this year, but we'll try to the trip again next year with Wayne Jnr, he will be 5 by then, also would like to do the Overland Track in Tasmania with him and Mrs. Kerr next year too, as well as some upland locations in Laos and Vietnam ... now if only I didn't have to work for a living  :Smile: .

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## MeMock

I loved the sand dunes that are visible from google earth.

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## Wayne Kerr

> I loved the sand dunes that are visible from google earth.


We all wished we'd had a closer look before the trip ... they are bloody hard work to cross  :Smile: .

*Anyway, back to the road ...*

Our next destination was a place where many fear to tread … the still radioactive land of a place called Emu. The trip took us through a defence restricted area and the land of the Maralinga Indigenous peoples. 

Emu is where some obviously intelligent chaps from merry old England decided to let a couple of atom bombs during the early 1950s … they then went into Marlalinga to let off another 7. I imagine the fields of Yorkshire or Kent where too important for croquet or polo matches at the time. 

Apparently the land should be fit for habitation by the local indigenous folk in about 240,000 years, and as you can see from the photos below the merry old English gents did a great job of cleaning up after themselves. We took the risk of camping near by for the night, but everything did seem to glow in the dark during the evening. I guess the photos tell the story better - .


^ Lots of areas in South Australia are used by the military … gotta get permits before so you don’t shot


^ The Anne Beadell track was pretty bad in this area … lots of camels that Big Kev had it in for


^If it isn’t military controlled land in outback South Australia, its run by the local indigenous folk


^ The local indigenous folk do a splendid job looking after their spinifex gardens … I guess they must have heaps of spare time between hunting kangaroos and goannas


^ Finally made it to the site where the atom bombs were tested


^ Reminded me of bloody Springfield on the Simpsons


^ This is where the merry old English chaps watched the bombs from ... about 7kms from ground zero


^ The whole area was littered with twisted radioactive metal like this … bloody Wally the cook took some home as a souvenir … bloody dipstick


^ More radioactive trash left behind by the merry old English chaps


^ At least there are some warning signs for the local Indigenous folk warning of the dangers of setting up camp in the area


^ Plenty of reptiles around though … bloody resilient bastards they are


^ A lovely specimen of the Gould’s Goanna … great eating they are


^ Lots of lovely little desert plants to … this is the Sturt’s desert pea I think


^ Everything seemed to take on an eerie glow at night … we hoped it was the Coopers pale ale we were drinking rather than the radiation  

Here’s a vid of one of the tests ... I think this was shot from the observation area shown above - YouTube - Buffalo Kite Explosion

----------


## buad hai

How did you keep stocked up on beer? You seem to have consumed more brew than fuel....

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## MeMock

It's pretty easy buadhai, channel 11 on the shortwave or a sat phone will do the trick as there is a great company called beer para drop that does beer drops from airplanes.

The desert rose was correct Wayne, beautiful little flower they are.

Those pommy bastards have a lot to answer for don't they  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

> How did you keep stocked up on beer? You seem to have consumed more brew than fuel...


For starters we set off with 18 cartons of beer spread across the two vehicles ... it didn't last long. Our truck had two 50 litre fridges, one for beer, another for food. Reality was that both were just about filled with beer most of the time. The other chaps had a similar set up.

Also the local indigenous folk like their beer so it is quite easy to buy in most biggish towns, and at the time there was talk about the government banning sale of grog to the local indigenous folks, so most places were selling up cheaply to drunken travellers like us.

The beer para drop company is hilarious. You pay a hefty surcharge on top of normal beer prices, but so many of the outback travellers are under prepared and after a hot day in the desertare willing to pay anything for beer. You basically give your credit card card details, geographic location (lat/longs) and the beer arrives in a timely fashion ... mostly dropped from small commercial planes servicing remote areas. Our yeah they only drop tinnies of course, too much breakage with bottles I imagine  :Smile: .

----------


## MeMock

I wonder if the government will try and shut down beer para drop to try and dry out the Aboriginal communities.

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## Wayne Kerr

> I wonder if the government will try and shut down beer para drop to try and dry out the Aboriginal communities.


They seem to be doing such a roaring trade with the cattle stations and travellers that it'd be tough to shut down the beer drop business down ... I guess the local indigenous folk will get onto it sooner or later ... come to think of it they probably bloody own the business anyway  :Smile: .

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## astasinim

> I imagine the fields of Yorkshire or Kent where too important for croquet or polo matches at the time.


Have you tried playing croquet or polo on this type of terrain?

----------


## Wayne Kerr

^ Looks a lovely place ... I guess I can see why the merry old chaps from England decided to use outback Australia to test their fireworks instead  :Smile: 

btw ... I sincerely hope the photographer is using an alias  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

We’d just about had enough of the slow going of the past few days, and with Big Kev’s leg improving, we decided to put in a big day and get to the end of the Anne Beadell track and push onto a place called Island Lagoon near Woomera in South Australia. We figured we’d cross the Dingo Fence, stop for lunch at a place called Coober Pedy, and be at the lagoon in the late afternoon to set up camp. 

Coober Pedy is popular on the tourist trail as an opal mining town. We visited one of the usual "tourist attractions" in the town run by a pushy old Chinaman whose first words to us were "where you from, I’m from Hong Kong". He offers views from his scenic lookout, a look down a hole with a light at the end, pet rocks for sale, and some cheap opal jewellery at inflated prices. Here’s a few photos and comments on the joint. You can find Coober Pedy on Google Earth by clicking here - .


^ The Dingo Fence … designed to keep dingoes out of southern grazing country but wasn’t so successful


^ Reading this sign got me thinking that the poison baits they use couldn’t be so good for the local wildlife or hungry indigenous folks


^ This sign was somewhere near the end (or start if coming from the east) of the Anne Beadell Track … we noted that there wasn’t a similar sign at the western end of the track and each had a few cold beers to celebrate our successful crossing of the track without any mechanical failures or flat tyres  :Smile: 


^ This is a shot taken upon our arrival at one of the tourist stops in Coober Pedy ... the fella is the pushy Chinaman owner of the joint


^ Moon rocks, petrified wood, spectacular views ... a clip joint if I've ever seen one  :Smile: 


^ One of the little opal shops in town


^ The Chinaman has even been so nice to show you the best place to take a “scenic shot” from


^ Opal mine shafts litter the landscape around Coober Pedy

The local joke is that there are more missing people down the opal mine shafts in Coober Pedy than anywhere in the world. It is quite common for miners (or their partners) to mysteriously go missing after having struck a rich vein of opal … either runaway with the money or pushing up daisies somewhere. No one in the town has a second name and most of the inhabitants are called “Jimmy”. Most people live underground because of the extreme summer heat and many of the hotels and public buildings are built into the rock also. We’d all been there before and since the joint was being bombarded by a dust storm dust storm at the time we were glad to see the arse end of the joint … a few hours later we’d be knocking back some icy cold beers whilst cooking up a storm in the middle of Island Lagoon  :Smile: .

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## Wayne Kerr

Island Lagoon is basically a large salt flat with a number of large islands in the middle. This is truly one of my favourite spots of all the places Ive been in Asia-Pacific. Last time I was there was about 10 years ago. At that time there was a derelict building there with what looked like asbestos blowing around it, but I couldnt find anything on the net about what it was. 

Anyway I recently got talking to a friend on the radio who works at the nearby Woomera rocket range and he reckons it was an old NASA tracking station that once housed hundreds of scientists tracking the early range rocket tests. The old building, to the credit of the yanks, has been cleaned up and all that remains now is a large cement slab  finally found something online about the joint Island Lagoon.

However, we came here for one reason, and that was to camp on the lagoon surface. You cant really explain the grandeur of this place and it is impossible to give any impression with photos, but Ive included some here to give you a general idea of what the joint looks like. There is also some great imagery of the place on Google Earth - .


^ First view of the lagoons coming into the place  really looks like a big inland sea from a distance  :Smile: 


^ The island after which the joint is named looks spectacular  :Smile: 


^ One of my favourite photos from the trip  our campsite on Island Lagoon


^ Wayne Kerrs trusty tent in the middle of bloody nowhere  does it get any better than this?


^ I must have inhaled some of Paul the cameramans whacky tobaccy or something as I tried to get a bit artistic with these shots


^ A shadow of an infamous desert Yowie  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

The next day had us travelling over the border into our home state of NSW. The delays associated with Big Kev’s run in with the camel had us a bit strapped for time, but after more than 3 weeks in the bush the last thing we were worried about were our jobs and commitments back home. The main thing on our mind was some good draught beer and a counter meal at the Silverton Pub. Some of you may know Silverton as the home of many Australian films, notably Mad Max II and A Town Like Alice. Google Earth has some decent photos of the place - .

The locals let us stay in an old bunk house out there, I guess they knew we’d inject a fair bit of money into the local economy at the pub. As you can see from the pics there’s not much in old Silverton these days, except Mad Max’s car. There was a tree there too … I was quite surprised that the local indigenous folk hadn’t turned it into didgeridoos, boomarangs, or firewood. The town is struggling these days, but the locals are really lovely people. Go and get pissed at their pub if you ever get a chance … I guarantee you’ll have the time of your life. 


^ Snapped one last picture of Island Lagoon on our way out of the place


^ The Silverton Pub … home of Mad Max II … as you can see from the photo below you should have no problem finding this joint


^ The township of Silverton … not much there except an old church and a few old houses


^ The small bunk house the locals let us stay in … nice beds and running water was a real treat after a few weeks in the bush


^ The Silverton Pub by night … Mad Max had his car parked out the front, and was much shorter than I imagined, you can see him holding up the bar in the picture below


^ Big Kev is on the far right telling the locals his story about how the camel broke his bloody ankle … one of them was the local nurse and told him she thought he was full of shit and it looked more like gout than a broken ankle. Boy did everyone in the pub give him heaps, but he still claims it was a camel, I guess we’ll never know.


^ A giant red gum tree near Silverton Pub … one of few left in the area 


^ Close up of the big red gum - bloody 500 years old

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## Wayne Kerr

After a touch of the high life in the swanky bunkhouse, we thought wed do a bit of a pub crawl then make a run for home. After all it was Saturday so we stopped off at pubs in Broken Hill, Wilcannia, and a place called Nevertire. I only have one picture of note for this part of the trip and it is of the Marios Hotel in Broken Hill  the biggest knocking shop in western New South Wales. Embarrassingly my 4 GB memory card was full by this stage, and I regretted not spending an extra $50 or whatever for the 8 GB card  too much memory is never enough on a trip like this.

We ended up going back across the Great Dividing Range around midnight and rolled down to Johnny Longprongs shack on the mid north coast of NSW about 3 am in the morning. We stayed up all that night drinking his home brew and crapping on about how much fun wed had. Heres a few photos taken from the deck of Johhnys shack the next day and the last two are from a beach just up from him the next day. It was great to be home for a few days before jumping on a flight back to Thailand  :Smile: .


^ Broken Hill Hotel  one of the biggest knocking shops in outback NSW


^ Mid-north coast of New South Wales  small island off the coast in front of Johnny Longprongs place


^ Pic from the small headland in front of Johnny Longprongs place back on the east coast of Australia


^ View up the beach from Johnny Longprongs place


^ Beach just up the road from Johhnys place


^ Beach just up the road from Johhnys place at dusk

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## buad hai

^Nice waves. Why isn't anybody riding them?

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## MeMock

Because nobody lives in Australia  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

> ^Nice waves. Why isn't anybody riding them?


Lots of great surf breaks along this part of the Australian coast ... but since it is just a small township of say 2,000 people the handful of surfers are probably down the beach at one of the reefs. Doing this thread has made me homesick  :Smile: .

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## Jock Itch

Mate - reading this post has made _me homesick........ and I live in Oz most of the time !!! 

_Great post Wayne - geez that Right hander looks enticing !! - reminds me of that break down south where we used to frequent ! - until we had that visit by the man in the grey suit !! - those white pointers are enough to keep anyone out of the water !!

I can't believe none of the lads tucked a fishing rod into their suitcase for the trip - some amazing bits of waterway that you passed. Serenity's one thing, but a fresh barra on teh Barbie is another thing all together !!

That roast roo looked similar to the epic roasts "tassie Highland" style, though we had to settle for povo-pack wallaby mostly down there  :Smile:

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## sabang

^ Now thats a point Itchy. Around Broome & Derby is classic Barra country.  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

> Great post Wayne - geez that Right hander looks enticing !! - reminds me of that break down south where we used to frequent ! - until we had that visit by the man in the grey suit !! - those white pointers are enough to keep anyone out of the water !!


Yep I remember that day well mate. They were some big white sharks giving us a hard time. Mostly hammerheads these days though, which tend to keep to themselves a bit  :Smile: .




> I can't believe none of the lads tucked a fishing rod into their suitcase for the trip - some amazing bits of waterway that you passed. Serenity's one thing, but a fresh barra on teh Barbie is another thing all together !!


This trip was aimed finding the good spots. Next year we are going to do it properly, hopefully over a few months and lots of fishing ... you in or not?




> That roast roo looked similar to the epic roasts "tassie Highland" style


Yep remember those times in highland Tasmania well. In fact I think it was you who taught me how to do the roast wallaby this way one night up on cradle mountain in the snow ... I should have called it Roast Roo Jock Itch style  :Smile: .

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## Marmite the Dog

Not much of a lagoon. Where's the water?

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## Wayne Kerr

> Not much of a lagoon. Where's the water?


Up in the clouds somewhere I imagine. Lagoon fills up during the wet season and is full of life, and the during the dry season all the water evaporates off it.

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## MeMock

Looks perfect for taking a pommy shower doesn't it  :Smile:

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## buad hai

> Not much of a lagoon. Where's the water?


Have you been reading this thread or do you just look at the photos?
 :Sad:

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## Marmite the Dog

> Have you been reading this thread or do you just look at the photos?


Guess...

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## MeMock

Poms can't read remember Buadhai  :Smile:

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## Johnny Longprong

Thanks for the company on the trip, the memories in photographs and your gift of truth embellishment. Jock Itch asks why no-one took a rod. Truth of the matter is, you may know a lot about fish, but you are bloody hopeless at catching the buggers and we didn't want to embarrass you.

Today, I got hold of some cheap Vannamei cooked prawns for fishing bait (21/30's). I will post the shots of the Bream I catch with them over the backside of the current moon. Have fun in the big smoke. hahahaha. Poor bugger.

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## Wayne Kerr

^ No worries mate, not sure about this talk of "truth embellishment", in fact I think you'd be more than pleased that I left many of the "details" out. Anyway the highlight for me was being met by Wayne Jnr at the end of the trip and helping him bag his first catch where I think I caught my first fish all them years back  :Smile: .



The funniest bit for me is his "flip flops" up the path ... still finding it hard to get him to wear shoes  :Smile:

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## baldrick

^ a puffer ?

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## Jock Itch

> This trip was aimed finding the good spots. Next year we are going to do it properly, hopefully over a few months and lots of fishing ... you in or not?
> 
> [.


Jeez - that's mighty enticing - Might have to think up a "fisheries related business trip" and fire up the Hilux to meet you for the WA leg of the trip !!  :Smile:

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## Jock Itch

> Today, I got hold of some cheap Vannamei cooked prawns for fishing bait (21/30's). I will post the shots of the Bream I catch with them over the backside of the current moon. Have fun in the big smoke. hahahaha. Poor bugger.


HaHa - while you're still allowed to !!  :Smile:  - I hear they're cracking down on raw Vannamei because of all the careless rec. fishers risking the spread of disease by using them for bait !!  :Smile:  - I look foreward to the pics !! - don't forget your SAMPI bait !!  :Smile: 




> The funniest bit for me is his "flip flops" up the path ... still finding it hard to get him to wear shoes


you need to invest in a proper pair of double pluggers for the poor lad - not those yuppy slippers !!  :Smile:

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## Bruce

A mate told me about this thread so I looked it up and loved it. Been to some of those places. Got the fourby and camper stored for future visits. Made me very nostalgic. Have you been to the Flinders Ranges north of Adelaide - I love it there.

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## JoGeAr

Great thread. Brilliant pics.

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## Gallowspole

Awesome.

Brought back so many memories. The smells, the heat, the flies, the snakes, the crocs, the best locals (when not killing backpackers), the outback pubs, the stars, the corrugated roads, the billabongs... I'm going to have to nip down to Udon and grab a VB.

When the kid is 18 (6 more years) I've sworn to take her across Australia before she goes to uni. If she doesn't want to go because her access to MSN will be severely limited, I'll just do it by myself again.  :Smile:

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## davearn

Best thread I have read through. Gret job, Wayne.

Thanks, mate

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## Wayne Kerr

Thanks for the comments chaps. Would kill to be there doing the same thing now  :Smile: .

I'm very, very jealous of Memock having done a similar trip by chopper  - https://teakdoor.com/travel-the-world...elicopter.html

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## Gallowspole

Whatever happened to the sat nav charger?

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## Wayne Kerr

Bloody Big Kev had stashed it in his toiletries bag amongst his tooth brush, deodorant and stuff. Found it at the end of the trip when his missus told him his breath stunk worse than a dead wombat when we arrived back. Told me down the pub last Christmas the silly bastard did. Apparently didn't brush his friggin false teeth for the whole trip. Reckoned he was just rinsing them with beer and water  :Smile: .

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## stu

Took a while to rummage through the pics but one thing I must say is they are absolutely striking/ sharp images, anyway g'day to you all i am still working on navigating this site lookin for recent posts, I am a new member, well done Wayne!

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## Nawty

Very nice photos, brings back fond memories.

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## dirtydog

> brings back fond memories of hunting down and killing English backpackers


Bstard....

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## MeMock

Only the ones that deserved it.

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## Nawty

Most...except for 'Helen'....a 20 something backpacker with hoooge hooters I met in Katherine hotsprings and played with her hoooge hooters.

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## Happyman

A hint of necrophilia has entered via Mr Nawty's last post !!! :rofl:

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## phuketbound

> ^ Sunset from our campsite looking over the estuary and Indian Ocean in the background 
> 
> 
> ^ Johhny Longprong and Big Kev ... the bloke on the left is 6'2'' tall ... the bloke on the right is a giant 
> 
> 
> ^ Johnny Longprong 
> 
> 
> ...


Awesome thread, and sunset pics. I've seen this thread before, but looking again.  :Smile:  

The 'camper van' that you can rent looks like a great way to see Australia. I wonder just how safe they are, and how far they can go. I'll check the website out that you posted. I'm hoping to do this trip in the near enough future. Just not sure where I'm going in Australia yet. Any recommendations?  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

> The 'camper van' that you can rent looks like a great way to see Australia. I wonder just how safe they are, and how far they can go.


Funny you ask. Was down the beach this morning and of the 6 cars in the car park two of them where these "Wicked Campervan" thingos. Pretty cheap considering you can sleep in the suckers.




> Just not sure where I'm going in Australia yet. Any recommendations?


My only recommendation would be to head south during summer and north during winter. It is hard to beat north Queensland I reckon. Hope you enjoy the trip  :Smile: .

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## phuketbound

^Thanks Wayne for the tips.  :Smile:

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## Loy Toy

Wayne this thread should be merged with my Oz versus Brit thread.  :Smile: 

Fantastic presentation mate and a great showcase for our homeland!  :Smile:

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## EmperorTud

^ It's a desert LT.

Only thing spectacular about it is the sunrise and sunsets. Dust, dust and more dust.

You guys have obviously never seen a proper glen or the snow on the bens in Autumn.

No offence Wayne, it's a good thread, but it's a desert.

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## Bruce

No offence but you've obviously never seen a desert. Deserts are more interesting than glens, any day.

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## Marmite the Dog

> No offence but you've obviously never seen a desert. Deserts are more interesting than glens, any day.


Utter bollocks.

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## nedwalk

^crap!

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## phuketbound

> No offence but you've obviously never seen a desert. Deserts are more interesting than glens, any day.


They seem interesting, but wouldn't want the van to break down in one. Imagine all the wildlife out there..eesh.. :Smile:

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## Cap cha cha

The "empty quarter "of Arabia is like most deserts full of nightlife

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## Attilla the Hen

Wot? Like bars and discos and stuff?
Are you sure?

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## Johnny Longprong

Just preparing for another trip through The Great Victoria Desert. 1400 km of ungraded track with lots of challenges.  here are a few trips from our last journey to keep us motivated.

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## Chittychangchang

Nice bump, a harsh inhospitable place is the Ozzie desert.

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## Headworx

^Nah, not really. We worked in them for years and none of us ever died, but we did find the bodies of a few people who shouldn't have ventured into them.

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