Western 4W Driver #123 Spring 2022

MAKE THE ROAD MAKE ROAD AHEADTHE SMOOTHER AHEAD WITH A SMOOTHER TOYOTA WITH A TOYOTA GENUINE SERVICE GENUINE SERVICE

123rd EDITION Spring 2022

HEADING NORTH

FOLLOW OUR FILMING TRIP

HUNTS TRACK KIMBERLEY ADVENTURE GREAT VICTORIA DESERT GREAT WESTERN WOODLANDS

Toyota WA Distributor toyota.com.au 10 Miles Road, Kewdale T: 08 9268 8844 *Toyota Genuine Parts/Accessories purchased at and fitted by a Toyota Dealer to a Toyota vehicle which was purchased on or after 01/01/2019, are warranted for the remainder of that vehicle’s Toyota Warranty Advantage period, or 2yrs toyota.com.au from installation (whichever is greater). Genuine Parts/Accessories purchased from, but not fitted by, a Toyota Dealer are warranted for 2yrs from date of purchase. See toyota.com.au for T&Cs. These warranties do not limit & may not necessarily exceed your rights under the Australian Consumer Law. Vehicle shown fitted with optional Toyota Genuine Accessories, sold separately. See your Toyota Dealer. Towing capacity subject to regulatory requirements, towbar and vehicle design and towing equipment limitations. Ask your dealer for Toyota Genuine Towbar capacity and availability details. Towbar, tow ball and wiring harness sold separately.

T2020-014300 TOY1393 *Toyota Genuine Parts/Accessories purchased at and fitted by a Toyota Dealer to a Toyota vehicle which was purchased on or after 01/01/2019, are warranted for the remainder of that vehicle’s Toyota Warranty Advantage period, or 2yrs from installation (whichever is greater). Genuine Parts/Accessories purchased from, but not fitted by, a Toyota Dealer are warranted for 2yrs from date of purchase. See toyota.com.au for T&Cs. These warranties do not limit & may not necessarily exceed your rights under the Australian Consumer Law. Vehicle shown fitted with optional Toyota Genuine Accessories, sold separately. See your Toyota Dealer. Towing capacity subject to regulatory requirements, towbar and vehicle design and towing equipment limitations. Ask your dealer for Toyota Genuine Towbar capacity and availability details. Towbar, tow ball and wiring harness sold separately.

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WESTERN 4W DRIVER 123rd EDITION Spring 2022

AND MORE!

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CONTENTS ADVENTURES

Edition 123 Spring 2022

Heading North

Western 4W Driver's content creation trip ........................................................................................................................................................ 8

A Walk in the Woods

Travel the Great Western Woodlands with Geoff Lewis ........................................................................................................... 32

Hunts Track

Phil Bianchi follows the footsteps of an early WA explorer. Includes trip notes! ................................... 46

Red Dirt Beckons

Easter in the Great Victoria Desert ........................................................................................................................................................................ 60

Maralinga

Australia's most unlikely tourist destination ............................................................................................................................................... 66

Erabiddy Outcamp and the White Box

Mrs Watson's Story ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 82

Kimberley Adventure - Part 1

Lauren hits the road with her border collie puppy in tow ..................................................................................................... 86

HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! Order a copy of The 4W Driver's Guide Canning Stock Route between 1/9/22 and 30/11/22 to automatically go into the draw to win a Hema HX2 Navigator, valued at $799.

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY FOR $39.95 www.western4wdriver.com.au/shop 4

| Western 4W Driver #123

FEATURES

REGULARS

Jeep Compass

Neil Dowling gives us his take on the S-Limited and Trailhawk ................................................................. 40

4Thought

........................................................................................................

Over the Bonnet ..................................................................... 114 Bush Mechanics

Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems

What's in a Name

Making Your Fourbie a Watering Can

The Things You See

12 Top Tips for Travelling with a Puppy ...................................................................................... 92 Pooch Protection Product Review

.........................................................................................

93

Safety ... Who Cares?

......................................................

Outback Survival

.................................................................

Gear to Go Camping Clewed Up

..................................................................

153

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157

...........................................................................................

160

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163

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165

Capture the Moment Smart Photography

A poem by Marc Glasby ............................................................ 109

Now We're TAWKing!

Book review

Are We There Yet?

Drifta Rooftop Tent and Awning

Product Review ........................................................................................ 112

Workhorse Camera

Product Review ....................................................................................... 162

Subscriptions

................................................

168

..............................................................

...............................................................................

171

174

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175

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176

...........................................................................................

178

Supplier Directory Keep me handy!

Silly Snaps

134 138

The People We Meet

How to be an Award-Winning Tour Guide ......... 110

131

.................................................

Track Care WA News

Goings On

129

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..........................................................................................

Land Patrol

Toorak Taxis

124

Women in 4W Driving .............................................. 126

4WD Club Focus

What does off-road mean and what is an off-road vehicle? ....................... 104

119

................................................................

Vehicle safety electronics ........................................................... 94 If it could go wrong ... .................................................................... 100

116

.....................................................................

Do they really protect your tyres? ................................... 54

Part 2 ......................................................................................................................... 76

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Western 4W Driver #123 |

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AFTER THOUGHTS

Premium Publishers ABN 70 616 133 870 26 John Street, Northbridge WA 6003 PO Box 50, Northbridge WA 6865 Phone: (08) 9291 8303 admin@western4wdriver.com.au www.western4wdriver.com.au Editors Chris and Karen Morton Graphic Design Karen Morton Advertising Chris Morton Matt Clarke Natalie Du Preez Administration Chris Morton Steve Larcombe Printing Vanguard Press

B

ack at the start of June, the magazine headed north on a content creation trip of epic proportions. Partnering with the team behind Nine’s new show, Everything Outdoors, we ventured into the Gascoyne/ Murchison and East Pilbara, seeking out stories and adventure. Accompanying me on this mammoth road-trip was my good friend, Rob, who would wield his cinematic skills behind a camera and my father, also Rob, who tagged along to give us a hand.

The Everything Outdoors crew met us in Carnarvon about 10 days into the trip, spending four days with us before flying home from Paraburdoo. A new team flew in five days later to Newman for an eightday stint and flew home from Port Hedland.

The schedule was brutal with an average day seeing us filming in a location before hitting the road for the next destination.

We were on the road for 30+ days and covered more than 8,200km (that’s further than a return trip across the country) and managed to visit some amazing destinations. A few things struck me leading up to and during the trip:

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Premium Publishers or the editors but those of the authors who accept sole responsibility and liability for them.

While every care is taken with images and photographs, and all other material submitted, Premium Publishers accepts no liability for loss or damage.

Premium Publishers reserves the right to amend publication schedules and frequencies.

Edition 123 Spring 2022

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A large segment of our society appears to rely exclusively on social media for all their news and knowledge. The amount of people who contacted us commenting that we were driving into a flooded landscape was ridiculous. We spoke to people living or working in the areas that we intended to travel. We consulted long range weather forecasts and made decisions based on fact, not hearsay. This surprised me and was more than a little concerning. The more I look at the content flowing through social media, the more I want to distance myself from it.

We had a lady approach us in the Newman caravan park to ask us for some assistance. She was having some issues with her caravan batteries not charging.

4 THOUGHT with CHRIS MORTON We grabbed a multi-meter and went and took a look. Long story short, her car was missing a BCDC charger, so we hooked her up to our generator to charge the batteries. A quick call to our mate Gary from REDARC and we were able to get Sue some assistance from a local auto sparky.

Later that day, we had some issues with the 240-volt power in our van. A fellow traveller soon heard about our plight and wandered over to offer his electrician’s knowledge. As a result, we were able to troubleshoot and resolve the issue and restore power. While at the caravan park, we, along with the 40 or so other travellers in the park, needed to wash our clothes. Only one machine was operational, and we didn’t have time to stand in line waiting our turn with the washing machine. I opted to ask a local, who we had struck up a conversation about all things 4WD and adventure, if there was a local laundromat in town. There wasn’t, however, we were more than welcome to come and use their machine. Mind. Blown.

Thankyou Karen and Mark.

to overcome most issues. It highlighted the need to pace yourself and to get plenty of rest when travelling, as we found that when we didn’t, things started to go wrong.

It was an amazing experience, and we hope you enjoy the content that has come out of it. The Everything Outdoors series has now finished, however, you can still watch the episodes on 9NOW or our individual stories on our YouTube channel. Our content is still being put together and will slowly make its way onto YouTube.

Take care and we will see you out on the tracks somewhere.

The trip was extremely tough on both man and machine. It brought home the benefits of ensuring that we were well prepared before departure and that we were well equipped with tools and spares

Western 4W Driver #123 |

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HEADING NORTH

BY CHRIS MORTON

Scan QR code to view the stories as they were featured on Channel 9's Everything Outdoors.

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In June 2022, Western 4W Driver embarked upon one of the longest content creation trips ever undertaken by the magazine. Our plan was to cover more than 7,000km of WA’s Coral Coast, Gascoyne and East Pilbara, while filming for both ourselves and Channel 9’s Everything Outdoors.

W

hen the dust had settled, we had covered more than 8,300km and used more than 134 man-days in the field.

We had shot just shy of six terabytes of data and consumed almost $8,000 in diesel.

Producing content in the field is always tough on your crew and equipment, and when you add the unforgiving Pilbara and

a very tight schedule, you push everyone and everything to the limit.

My intention was to originally write an article that captured the essence of the trip, however I struggled. When I looked back over my daily logs I realised that I had found the perfect way to tell the story.

Western 4W Driver #123 |

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Excerpt from Hema's WA state map.

3 June 2022

6 June 2022

We left a very wet Perth and headed north.

Looking for the most direct route to our destination, we headed up the Midlands Road, arriving at Gabyon Station midafternoon. After quickly setting up camp, we headed back to the homestead for happy hour and a chat with Helen and Mel.

Rob shot more b-roll and we conducted multiple drone flights around the historic homestead. An interview with Jo included a walk-through tour of her homestead before we shot some pieces to camera. Ken took us to a spot on the western boundary to show us some country that was making a comeback, where we were lucky enough to see a bustard (or bush turkey) on the fence line. It hung around long enough for me to get the drone in the air and get some footage before it took flight. Ian, from Hema Maps, had caught up with us earlier in the day and was joining us for a week or so.

4 June 2022

Treated to a beautiful sunrise, we started the day by watching the goats leaving the relative safety of the homestead to graze around the shearing shed and beyond.

Rob filmed b-roll of the shearing shed and surrounds and we interviewed Helen.

Scotty from REDARC had arrived during the early hours and he and wife Mel took us for a tour.

5 June 2022

We shot some footage of the quad bikes and ran the drone over the homestead one last time before saying goodbye to Gabyon. Needing fuel, we headed across to Melangata Station via Yalgoo, arriving with minutes to spare to head out on a tagalong tour around the property with Ken. Jo was hosting campground guests around the campfire so we chucked a roast in the camp oven and joined in. I even managed to whip up one of Jo’s apple pies, with a slightly burnt base.

Scott from REDARC with his new friend at Gabyon Station.

On the road with Ian from Hema Maps joining us.

7 June 2022 An early morning start. We were meeting the crew from the Model A Restorers Club at Murchison Settlement, about two hours away, until a text message came through indicating that they were already at Gascoyne Junction. Bugger. Instead of just over two hours, we needed to cover more than six hours. We needed to cover the distance quickly and had to bypass a couple of spots that I had wanted to visit along the way. We quickly picked up the tell-tale marks of a Model A’s skinny wheels as we headed north. Another late afternoon arrival into Gascoyne Junction before heading out to the start of the Kennedy Range Loop Trail. The sun was getting pretty low when we started to Western 4W Driver #123 |

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Photo by Scott Montgomery

Gabyon Station

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cross the Gascoyne River and I was getting pretty tired. Suffice to say, after restarting the LandCruiser, I failed to switch off the safety systems, and bogged it just short of the water crossing. To increase the level of difficulty, we were also towing an offroad hybrid. After a bit of digging, a lot of swearing and some winching, John Collins from Track Care came to the rescue in his Mog. It was well after dark by the time we got to camp.

being towed across the river by the Mog before heading deeper into the park. A stop at Mooka Spring was fortuitous as we had split the side wall of one of the caravan’s tyres. Knowing we still had two more days of rugged terrain to cover and only a single spare, we opted to plug it, with a view of changing it once we arrived on maintained roads. We pushed on to Chaff Cutters, a delightful campsite nestled in a small valley, with a small creek running through it. Here we interviewed Brett, the owner of 'Glad', his mate Paul and John about why they wanted to drive a 1930s Model A through the Kennedy Range and what was the attraction to the iconic vehicle.

9 June 2022

Overcast skies and the news that the shire had closed roads and asked visitors on the eastern side of the Kennedy Range to leave greeted us the next morning. We had a shire representative with us and permission to continue. We filmed the Model A, 'Glad'

We were visited during the night by at least one curious dingo, finding fresh paw prints around the camp. After a rendition of Morning Has Broken from a pyjama-clad Brett, our convoy kept moving north. We had jumped into lead position so that we could control locations where we could get some good footage, much to the ire of the Model A’s crew. 'Glad' was overheating due to the slower speeds. The loss of her starter motor during the trip up from Perth meant that a push or tow was required to get her moving again. The rain caught us as we started the climb to the top of the range, playing havoc with our drone and camera gear. Getting into the sand dune

Mooka Spring from the air.

Morning has broken.

Camped out Model A style.

8 June 2022

Western 4W Driver #123 |

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Melangata Station

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country atop the range demonstrated the landscape’s diversity. One minute we had been crawling up over a rocky track/creek and then we were in undulating red sand dunes covered in spinifex. A light, annoying rain kept us company until we reached the cliffs at The Neck. Another late end to a very long day.

Camped on the basketball court at the old PCYC in Carnarvon.

Temporary office sheltered from the rain.

10 June 2022 Watching the sun rise in the east, bathing the cliff face in light was one of the highlights of this trip. The drone gave us a bird’s eye view as the gloom made way for a beautiful day. Rob shot another interview, this time just with Brett and his beloved 'Glad' before we got some aerial footage of her in her element. Ian and I found a spot to shoot some drone footage without any other vehicles in view before it was time to head for Carnarvon. Ian left us so that he could make some client visits in town with a plan that we would meet up at the end of the day. Arriving back in Gascoyne, we refuelled and checked in. The Guru Productions Everything Outdoors crew that was flying in from Perth and meeting us in Carnarvon had been delayed. Bugger.

Our overnight accommodation was being provided by good friend Ben Broeder. Ben bought Gascoyne Auto about a year ago and has quickly made his mark on the town.

He had recently purchased the old PCYC centre and was in the process of renovating

it into a new mechanical workshop and 4WD centre. We were able to drive our vehicles inside onto the old basketball courts and sleep right alongside them. Ben treated us all to a very tasty dinner at the Carnarvon Motel.

11 June 2022

Saturday ended up giving us a chance to stop. We got some washing done and made some running repairs to the vehicles.

We put the LandCruiser up on the hoist and removed the wheels. The brake assemblies had collected river stones during their immersion in the Gascoyne River, which was producing a constant grinding noise.

LandCruiser getting de-stoned.

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Kennedy Range

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caravan tyre and shot some more footage on the banks of the Gascoyne River. Today was a resupply day, ensuring that we had everything we needed for the next 10 days, and the vehicles were prepped. I looked everywhere for an icecream birthday cake but had to settle for some Bulla icecream sandwiches instead. We cooked a roast in the Weber, with Ben and his crew joining us for dinner. The Guru crew arrived in town, having driven up from Perth.

Filming the Bushranger winch in action with Ben Broeder.

12 June 2022 We headed down to a section of the river on the edge of town to shoot some additional content. We had been tasked with producing a winch video piece for Bushranger 4x4 and needed to bog the Ranger to do it. It took us four attempts, Ben’s hat and 70psi in the tyres to get it adequately bogged. Ben invited us over to his place for dinner.

14 June 2022

Day 1 of filming for Everything Outdoors.

After a quick briefing over coffee, we headed out to Quobba Station. It was still pretty overcast and windy, however, the team shot their footage and we were quickly on our way. Next stop, Gascoyne Junction (again). By now we had all developed exceptional night vision as it was dark when we finally made camp at the caravan park.

15 June 2022

Rob’s birthday. The poor bugger had already been away from home for two weeks prior to this trip, only to come home and find his family all infected with COVID. He spent the week in between trips sleeping in the shed. We swapped out the damaged

Today we filmed in the gorges on the eastern side of the Kennedy Range before coming back to town (the road north was still closed beyond the gorges turn-off), refuelling and then continuing on to Mount Augustus. The country was beautiful, however, our tight schedule meant that we couldn’t really appreciate it. We managed to startle three bustards on the side of the road, catching them taking flight with the

Happy birthday Rob.

Heading for Mount Augustus.

13 June 2022

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Quobba Station

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dash cam. Another late arrival into camp.

The Guru team, not towing, had arrived almost an hour before us. We opted to have dinner in the restaurant. Steak makes everything better.

16 June 2022

We filmed an interview, some b-roll around the campgrounds, took a quick look at Cattle Pool and got some drone footage.

The Guru team took off to film some location pieces before we all met up for a quick lunch before hitting the road.

We were heading north on the recently re-opened Dooley Downs Road. One of the local rangers that we got talking to laughed and said that the Dooley Downs Road had been made by giant snake. If the number of twists and turns was any indication, he might be right. Spectacular scenery. The Guru team quickly left us behind, arriving more than an hour before us at Cheela Plains Station Stay. Another late arrival. I could have kissed Robin, owner of Cheela.

She had arranged dinner for all of us. We shot an interview with Robin after dinner before falling into bed.

17 June 2022

More drone and b-roll around the campsite before heading out to Cheela’s spectacular gorge country on the Beasley River. A visit to The Wall and Mussel Pool was all we had time for before we had to make tracks to Paraburdoo. The crew were flying home.

The Wall at Cheela Plains.

Another chance to fuel up and grab some treats before driving back to Cheela Plains for the night.

18 June 2022

We spent the first few hours of the morning repairing some damage to both the trailer and caravan’s 12-volt trailer plugs.

Ricocheting rocks had destroyed both plugs and they needed replacing. We then headed back out to The Wall and Mussel Pool to shoot additional footage and get some drone shots. Lunch was generously provided by Robin and her team and then we were back on the road.

Next stop, Newman, five hours away. An uneventful drive through more beautiful Pilbara landscape, dissecting through the middle of Karijini National Park. Another late afternoon arrival. We opted to eat in a restaurant for dinner. Another good steak.

19 June 2022

A rest day. I think we spent much of the day either sitting in the sun or sleeping.

We were camped in the caravan park in town, so we got talking to plenty of other travellers and handed out a lot of magazine samples. We helped Sue with her battery charging issue and fixed some technical issues that we were experiencing.

20 June 2022

A slower day. We shot some footage at the big haulpak and conducted some vehicle maintenance.

Set up in the caravan park in Newman.

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Cheela Plains Station 20

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21 June 2022 We did some sight-seeing today. Headed up to Radio Hill and got a good overview of the town before heading out to look around Opthalmia Dam. Perfect spot to shoot some drone footage before we stopped at a water crossing on the track in. Rob and I switched roles, and he jumped in front of the camera. The Guru team flew back in and we met them at the airport.

down the Kalgan River, thanks to the dewatering pumps at one of the nearby Rio mines. The five water obstacles were fun and made the drive out to Kalgans much more interesting. Arriving back in town, the team wanted to stock up on snacks and drinks. I was boring and bought a new tyre inflator and an additional air line.

23 June 2022

The Guru team needed to get some footage around town as well as at the Visitor Centre.

With that “in the can” (you gotta learn the lingo) we headed out to Kalgans Pool.

There is always plenty of water flowing

We headed out to Hickman Crater and the Punda Rock Art Site. More great country, just a pity we are always in a hurry to get to our next destination. The corrugations were as brutal as ever and the track out to Hickman hadn’t changed since our visit last year. We had both drones in the air, Alex and I sounded like fighter pilots as we talked to each other, making sure that there were no mid-air collisions. More b-roll and pieces to camera before we loaded up and headed back to Punda. Great spot for lunch before we got to exploring the rock art.

More drone, b-roll, pieces to camera before Rob and I went and looked at a water tank hiding in the bushes. We found a well right next to it. Heading back to Newman, we stopped to air up on the rail access road.

We even managed to time it as an ore train went past. This was something the Guru team had never experienced before.

Heading out to Kalgans Pool.

Alongside the iron ore train.

Filming at Radio Hill.

22 June 2022

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Kalgans Pool

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24 June 2022 Today was a big day. First we had to get out to Eagle Rock Falls and film a story. We opted to take the Kalgans Pool track as we already knew its condition, before cutting across from Kalgans to the Eagle Rock Falls track. Absolutely stunning. Dad made a comment about a woman’s ability to drive this track which got Emma steamed up. I decided I needed to fly the drone instead of drive and gave the LandCruiser keys to Emma. Alex had to conduct a search and rescue mission when his drone clipped a tree and went down on the side of a hill. We lost our first Go-Pro around here somewhere, swallowed up by the Pilbara landscape. We spent some time at Eagle Rock Pool before heading onto the Falls.

The team ventured down a section of the waterfall with Rob. I opted to see it from the air and had the drone running up and down the impressive river valley. We had some lunch on the edge of the cliff and then started making our way back to town.

We had an idea where the Go-Pro fell off.

It wasn’t the camera that we needed, just the footage. It was nowhere to be found.

This was our fourth pass through the water obstacles. Arriving back in Newman, we hooked up the van and trailer, topped up our fuel tanks and headed for Nullagine. It was after 5.00pm by the time we left. We got to Nullagine sometime after 7.30pm and quickly ordered dinner. We got the crew settled into their accommodation before we went to find the caravan park.

They lock the gates at 5.30pm. Back to the Nullagine Hotel to book three rooms. Cold showers and a reasonably comfortable bed.

25 June 2022

Eagle Rock Pool.

Eagle Rock Falls.

The crew were filming around the hotel and shooting an interview with one of the owners. We made some breakfast - it wasn’t included with our very expensive rooms, and drafted some social media posts. A drive up to the lookout revealed the town’s connection to our proud military history with an information board telling the story of William (Bill) Lynas, VC, MC with Bar (WW1). We visited Garden Pool, just out of town before again hooking up the towables and heading further north. The

Filming at Garden Pool in Nullagine.

Western 4W Driver #123 |

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Hickman Crater

Punda Rock Art

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road out of town was in great condition.

There were two graders operating, making the surface much more pleasurable to drive than the road in had been. We arrived at Meentheena around 4.00pm. The Guru team grabbed the ute and shot out to get some footage down near the river. This was home for the next three nights, with the crew being billeted in the retreat’s donga accommodation. Dinner was a quick affair.

headed for the camp kitchen. Rob dragged the generator out and hooked it up to the camp’s washing machine and ran a load of laundry through their twin tub. We were all tired however I thought we needed something to lift our spirits. Another apple pie was created from scratch and cooked in the kitchen’s gas oven. I think it was well received.

26 June 2022

We hooked up the van and headed to Carawine Gorge. The glacier rock was a little bit of a letdown as we arrived in the morning. Last time we arrived here it had been in the afternoon and it was lit up like glass. We set up the van along the bank of the river and the crew shot some staged footage. We had both drones back in the

Apple pie made from scratch.

27 June 2022

Filming at Carawine Gorge.

air and Rob shot more b-roll. Alex had to thumb a lift across the river in a small boat to recover his drone after landing it on the wrong side. I reckon his drone had developed a complex about now. We packed up and headed for the Oakover River. The script needed to show a water crossing. It was a little drier than our last visit but still enough to get the footage we needed. It was getting dark as we pulled back into Meentheena. The wind was blowing a gale and we had been struggling with the gas burners producing enough heat. I grabbed the dinner ingredients and

Another early start. This time we were covering the same ground as yesterday and pushing on to Skull Springs and then back to Running Waters. We could travel a bit quicker though, not towing anything.

We only spent an hour or so at Skull Springs before back-tracking to Running Waters. The team were a little disappointed

This skull and spring mark the turn-off to Skull Springs.

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Running Waters

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with the lack of swimming options at Skull Springs so I was praying that Running Waters delivered. We drove right up to the water’s edge, with another group leaving as we arrived. This place is amazing. I could easily spend a week here, swimming every day and chilling out under the trees. The crew were impressed. We got a fire going so Emma could make chocolate bananas and we weaved the drones through the trees to get some aerial and over the water shots. We had multiple cameras

28 June 2022 We shot a little footage around the campground before packing up and getting on the road. It was only a short trip to Marble Bar but we had a lot to do. We had topped both vehicles up with fuel from the jerry cans we were carrying, however, the Ranger limped into town with less than 10km of range in the tank. We got the crew filming at the heritage buildings and visitor centre while we fuelled up and unhooked the van and trailer at the caravan park.

Some footage was needed from Marble Bar Pool and some prospecting out at the 4 Mile before we raced out to Dooleena Gorge and Coongan Pool for more footage.

With a setting sun we made it back to the Flying Fox Lookout. Once the drones were back on the ground and the camera work was done, we all took the opportunity to sit for a few minutes and enjoy the sunset.

Campfire on the water's edge at Running Waters.

going at various times, capturing as much content as we could. Emma was already in the water as part of one of the shots they needed. She was able to coax both Kat and Taihra into the water to join her. I didn’t go in. No one needs to see that. It was a great way to finish another hard day of filming.

Early during the day, the girls had given me a proposal for dinner. If I was prepared to make another apple pie they were happy to forgo dinner. I guess it was a hit. After spotting four dingos crossing the road and a very near miss with a large horned cow commuting down the Ripon Hills Road, we arrived back at camp in the dark. Dragging dinner and dessert ingredients back to the camp kitchen, I discovered that the oven had finally given up the ghost. As there was already a raging fire, I resorted to plan B and grabbed the trusty camp oven. Dinner was filling (and tasty) and dessert was another hit. Thanks Jo for sharing that recipe.

My Dad and I enjoying the Flying Fox Lookout.

Back in town we took over the front bar of the Iron Clad Hotel for more content before back to camp and a late dinner. The girls gave me the night off and cooked.

29 June 2022

We had quite a bit of ground to cover today, so we got going relatively early. A final top up of fuel and we were on our way to Coppins Gap. It was not what I remembered from our visit 12 months ago with a much lower water level and most of the reeds having died off. Despite the strong winds, Western 4W Driver #123 |

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Cape Keraudren

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we managed to get the drone in the air and the crew shot some footage. We cut across to Kittys Gap and then onto the Muccan-Shay Gap Road. Crossing the De Grey River, the crew decided we needed some additional footage. We doubled back and repositioned the vehicles so that we could get some Go-Pro and drone footage.

Jumping back into the car, the wind caught the door of the LandCruiser, slamming it shut on my protruding ankle. Let’s just say some tears were suppressed and many expletives were thought of. We carried on to the petroglyph site on the Yarri homestead driveway. More footage and some lunch.

Petroglyphs at Yarri Station.

to Shay Gap. We got the drones up and the crew were keen to recreate some images of the town before it was demolished. We got some more pieces to camera as well as some in-car pieces before calling it a day.

We still had more than a 100km to cover to get to Pardoo Station for the night.

Another very late afternoon arrival and having our thoughts of a cooked dinner for us dashed. Due to COVID restrictions and the station catering for mine workers, their restaurant was off limits to campground guests. At least the showers were hot. Oh wait, they weren’t.

30 June 2022

We got going early and headed for Cape Keraudren. The wind had not let up and when we arrived, we were severely limited as to where we could get decent footage.

Drone flights were not possible (Alex was at three crashes and wasn’t keen on losing one out to sea) so we shot what we could before meeting up with Dave the Ranger.

Interviewing him at the Ranger Station was the only place we could get out of the wind.

With that content done, we headed towards Port Hedland. The crew were flying out that evening. A quick detour for some additional footage to close off the story and we were done. We headed for the Esplanade Hotel and ordered a late lunch. Steak had never tasted so good. We spent a couple of hours enjoying the ambience of the place and not being in a rush to be at our next destination

Emma George checking out the petroglyphs.

I put an icepack on my ankle, which was getting worse by the minute, however, I was not keen to take my boot off. We pushed on

Group shot before the Guru team flew home.

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Bullara Station

Warroora Station

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before taking the crew to the airport. We squeezed into a very small caravan bay at one of the local caravan parks. We took over the laundry room and put three loads of washing through and had a pretty simple dinner (we were all full from our late lunch).

1 July 2022

Today we had to get from Port Hedland to Bullara Station in time for burger night. About eight hours of bitumen. We unknowingly passed my mate Mitch (exExplorex Caravans marketing manager) before having a pitstop at the service station on the highway at Karratha. We pushed onto Nanutarra for more fuel before the final push to Bullara. Just for something different, it was dark when we got there. The place was pumping. A sea of people were encamped out the front of the shearing shed, enjoying some live music.

We parked up in our allotted camp site and then got to work. More b-roll of the night’s festivities before enjoying a Bullara Burger and then crashing in my swag.

pulled into a campsite for the night. Another cold shower.

4 July 2022

Rob got going early and shot some b-roll around the campground. I got the drone flying, trying to capture some of the sunrise and the coast around the main camp site. We tracked down owner Tim and interviewed him before hitting the road again. We fuelled up in Carnarvon and took a break at Overlander. It was here that we decided that we had had enough.

We were all exhausted and my foot was not getting any better. I had broken the same ankle a year earlier, walking on it for about four months before it was surgically repaired. This felt just like that. A top up of fuel in Geraldton and then onto the home straight. We pulled into the driveway just after 10.30pm.

2 July 2022

Today was more filming around the campground, drone overflights and a trip out to the gulf. We managed to get a couple of hours in the afternoon to do nothing.

Well, when I say nothing, I mean to catch up on some sleep.

3 July 2022

Today was another busy day. We left Bullara and headed for Warroora Station, only about 100km south. We ended up turning in too soon and made our way down the coastal tracks instead of the more maintained gravel road. Great coastal scenery made for some good drone footage. Arriving at Warroora, we quickly unhooked and went on a quick tour with owner Marty. We shot additional drone and b-roll before finding a spot out of the wind to interview Marty about the station. We originally planned to stay, however, with my ankle getting worse we decided to push onto Quobba Station, a further 230km south. As the last rays of daylight disappeared, we

This car looks how I felt by the time we got home.

Would I do another trip this big? Probably not. We and our equipment were pushed to the limit by tight deadlines and unrealistic schedules that left little time to capture the reason for visiting many of these destinations. A single delay meant having to change our own schedules and left us little time to visit locations when first planned. With that said, I do look forward to revisiting some of these destinations again and enjoying just being there.

For those following along, I didn’t break my ankle, however, I did require surgery to fix the damage sustained to it.

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A Walk in the

WOODS

BY GEOFF LEWIS

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S

o with sufficient provisions for a week and the Series 2 Land Rover’s oil and fuel topped up, I ventured deep into the woodlands down the corrugated Victoria Rock Road (so named after Queen Victoria).

My destination was the granite dome of Cave Hill Nature Reserve. Turning off the gravel road and onto a wellformed track, I slowed the speed Undoubtedly, Western Australia has of the Land Rover considerably to the greatest diversity of ecosystems negotiate the violent corrugations than any other part of Australia. up ahead. Due to the slow nature of The Great Western Woodlands, which the journey, Cave Hill would not be is found in the southwest region, is reached today. Fortunately, there is the largest Mediterranean climate always a tomorrow.

woodland in the world, covering some 40,000,000 acres. The woodlands survive on less than 300mm of rainfall per year and are home to over 3,500 plant species, 215 bird species, 138 reptile species and 49 species of mammals. How can such a large ecosystem survive on so little water?

And how did the early pioneers travel and survive in this part of the world?

These questions were the inspiration for this adventure.

Stretching and looking forward to a quiet evening by the campfire, I gazed up at the sky, which had now turned from light blue to black. I then cast my eyes to the horizon where a large column of rain could be seen, criss-crossed with flashes of fork lightning. So much for checking the weather! It was phenomena such as this that the early drovers looked out for, as they guided their herds to places with fresh water and plenty of feed.

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Waking late the next morning after a rough night due to the storm, I decided to spend the day around camp. I was thankful I had packed my canvas tarpaulin; it had saved me and most of my camp from being flooded by the rain. I ran through my checks on the Land Rover, as the steering had felt a bit sloppy and I had attributed this to possibly being a loose wheel bearing on the front axle. However, on closer inspection, I found that the bolts holding the swivel hub housing were very loose, and by rocking the front lefthand hub I could see the entire swivel hub assembly move. This definitely was not great!

Fortunately I always carry a well-prepared toolkit – within half an hour the bolts were all tightened up again and the Landy was good as new.

The next day with the camp packed up and the Land Rover ready for another stage of the adventure, I set off down the track towards my next stop. Cave Hill is one of the most prominent landmarks in the Great

Landy troubles front hub.

Western Woodlands. It is one of many large granite domes, which due to their hard resistive nature, have stood up to the effects of weathering over billions of years, while the surrounding rock above and around them has weathered away leaving them the most elevated outcrops in the area. The granite plays another important role; the smooth uneven surface acts as a catchment area in times of rain, and the cracks and crevices channel this water into small and large rock holes, providing water practically all year round.

Cave at Cave Hill.

Cave Hill from the air.

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Door tops off provides natural air con.

After climbing to the summit of the dome and checking out the cave, it was time to continue down the track to a place called Sunday Soak. The track follows the remnants of what is known as a woodline.

This formed part of an extensive narrowgauge railway network that was used to deliver wood to Kalgoorlie to be used in the mines for ground supports and to provide fuel for the steam-fired boilers to run the gold mines. The Series 2 bumped down the

track at 15 to 20 mph and the tyres brushed against the leaves to the sides of the track. There were very few signs that anyone had travelled down the track recently, with no corrugations to be found. With the door tops off and the day warming up, it was great to sit back and listen to the monotone purr of the 2.25-litre petrol engine as I entered deeper and deeper into the Great Western Woodlands.

The drive to Sunday Soak soon turned into even more of an adventure, as there were signs of the aftermath of a thunderstorm that had passed through a few days previously – trees had been blown over the track, some of which were too large to move by hand, and this left me with no choice other than to allow the Land Rover to forge its own track around the obstacles. The storm had obviously been accompanied by heavy rain, and there were large sections Track ahead to Sunday Soak.

Forging our own tracks.

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of the track covered in deep bodies of water and mud.

This provided me with a challenge, however it was not an issue for the Series 2.

Crawling through the deepest of the water crossings yet encountered on the trip, the Series 2 entered the ruins of the settlement of Sunday Soak.

Similar to Cave Hill, Sunday Soak is a granite outcrop that in the past had provided sufficient water for a small settlement to flourish. It is also very close to the railway that connected Kalgoorlie to the township of Norseman at the start of the Nullarbor, which further links Western Australia with the rest of the country. These soaks and granite outcrops provided milestones and hubs for would-

Sunday Soak.

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Settlement ruins at Sunday Soak.

be prospectors travelling from Norseman to Kalgoorlie or vice versa with soaks and granite outcrops being given names such as ‘10 Mile’ and ‘20 Mile’, indicating the distance away from the township of Norseman. Except for these soaks, there is very little water to be found elsewhere in the area.

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Lake Cowan near Widgiemootha.

After filling up the canvas water bag and washing the dust from the track off my face, it was time to make the final leg to the last important site on this trip. Other key features in this landscape are the salt lakes and one of the largest in the region is Lake Cowan. Many regard salt lakes as being somewhat of a wasteland, however they do serve an important purpose. All the run-off of water during the storms of the summer months, which are caused by monsoons from southeast Asia, drains off from the elevated areas such as Sunday Soak and slowly makes its way down to the low-lying areas of the salt lakes. The salt lakes themselves mark the remnants of river systems that once ran out to sea thousands of years ago, though with less rain nowadays there are no longer sufficient water sources to create flowing rivers. Therefore, the diminished amounts of water that do reach the salt lakes evaporate over the hotter, dryer months and a small salt residue is all that remains.

Lake Cowan.

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However, beneath the salt there is life to be found in the form of a salt shrimp.

The eggs of this little shrimp lay dormant during dryer times, often up to several years. Once the mud in the lakes moistens, the shrimp eggs hatch and the shrimps make their way to the surface to where the salt lake is partly or fully covered with water. The shrimps play an important role in the ecosystem and attract many migratory birds.

As these salt lakes act as a basin there are also riches and wealth to be found beneath the salt, as over thousands of years fine particles of gold have drained into these lakes and many people have found some interesting colours and nuggets beneath the salt.

After scouting the shores of Lake Cowan and sadly not finding my fortune, and with the sun setting low on the horizon, it was time to make the trip back home. This trip was a fantastic adventure, and all my thoughts and questions were satisfactorily answered. I hope this article helps to prove that there is more to owning a Land Rover or a four-by-four; by venturing into the natural environment you will be amazed as to what you are able to discover.

Scan QR code to view Geoff's video of this trip: Seriously Series: Land Rover off road adventure - Golden Quest Episode 4.

Jeep Compass S-Limited.

JEEP COMPASS

BY NEIL DOWLING

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Neil Dowling gives us his take on the Jeep Compass S-Limited and Trailhawk For a world so enamoured with the great outdoors and the spirit of adventure and the resulting ballooning of SUV sales, finding capable go-anywhere vehicles has surprisingly become harder than ever.

I

n the smallest end of the Australian market, there are remarkably only two with a lowrange transmission feature, and even then, one is not much more than a crawler gear.

However, not having a full low-range transfer case won’t slow the Jeep Compass — now with its Trailhawk version being the only new small SUV alongside the Suzuki Jimny that sits in the budget end of capable off-roaders.

That’s right, there is no other light to small SUV that shows as much off-road ability. Most of the peers of the Jimny and Compass are front-wheel drive, for example, and few have a ground clearance above 180mm.

Jeep has, of course, a lot to lose if its smallest model — since the Fiat 500X twin, the Renegade, was pulled from the local market in 2020 — doesn’t cut it in the dirt.

Cleverly, Jeep offers four variants for buyers who want the go-anywhere looks without much ability and at a budget price (the front-drive Compass Night Eagle at $39,950 plus onroad costs), then the all-wheel drive 2.4-litre petrol Limited and more upmarket S-Limited ($45,350 and $48,350 plus costs), and then the sole diesel AWD Trailhawk ($52,650 plus costs) with high-rise suspension and lots of macho gear.

The Compass is the brand’s city-focussed model yet is a contented family wagon on the open road, in the city and through much of the outback’s unsealed pathways.

It can be a serious addition to a family shopping list but comes with a disclaimer — it’s not cheap. The Compass Trailhawk is only $4,300 cheaper than the physically bigger Cherokee Trailhawk. Don’t go looking for any mid-size SUV with lowrange transmission — you have to move up to the (more expensive) large-SUV sector to pick up more capable machines such as the Prado, Ford Everest and Jeep Grand Cherokee.

So the Compass has some compromises, but one of those is not how it performs on the country road and away from the bitumen.

Both the Compass Trailhawk and the S-Limited were driven here. On reflection, the $5,300 saved on buying the petrol S-Limited makes it a better buy, unless you really need rugged performance and really want a Compass.

Both these versions, despite the marketing that presses the increased capability of

Jeep Compass Trailhawk.

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started in 2005 in models including some Hyundais, the Dodge Caliber, Dodge Journey and the previous generation Jeep Compass and Patriot.

Jeep Compass S-Limited.

Its longevity is attributed to its relatively simple design, with the variable-valve timing and variable lift of the (only) intake valves a gift from Fiat which markets the design as ‘MultiAir’. The point is that the engine has been around for a while so should have plenty of knowledge from technicians as well as accessible spare parts.

In the Compass, it pumps 129kW at 6400rpm and 229Nm of torque at 3900rpm and claims fuel economy averages of 9.7L/100km, enough to squeeze up to 620km from the standard 60-litre tank.

Jeep Compass S-Limited.

the Trailhawk, share the same nine-speed automatic transmission.

Compass variants are 4.4m long, 1.8m wide and up to 1.66m high so fit perfectly into an urban life. The Trailhawk is the tallest (1.657m) because of its high-rise suspension that adds 13mm to the S-Limited’s ground clearance (from 212mm to 225mm).

The platform is monocoque and the engines — either the 2.4-litre petrol in three variants or the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel in the top-shelf Trailhawk — are transversely mounted so, in comparison to say the Subaru Forester, are tucked well back and close to the front axle line to minimise the approach angle.

There’s also a fairly flat underbody that gets extra protection in the Trailhawk with additional metal skid plates over the front valance, beneath the engine, the fuel tank and forward drive components.

Jeep’s 2.4-litre “Tigershark” engine has been around in its current spec since 2012, but is heavily based on an engine that 42

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The 2.0-litre diesel in the Trailhawk is, as you’d expect, the better bet for longer distances. It’s also a shared engine and offshoots have appeared in everything from GM’s Astra and Insignia, to the Alfa Romeo 159, various Fiats and the Jeep Cherokee.

It pumps 125kW at 3750rpm and a gutsy 350Nm of torque at a low 1750pm. Jeep claims a 6.7L/100km average for a plausible range of 895km. Expect closer to 9L/100km for some arduous off-road work.

There’s only one gearbox for the Limited, S-Limited and Trailhawk and it’s a Jeeptuned nine-speed auto. Why nine? Because it spreads out the gearing to keep engine revs low enough to save on fuel and emissions.

Spreading the love through nine gears also means that first gear can be much lower than traditional gearboxes. That suits Jeep’s purpose to create a low-speed drive option without the cost and weight of adding a two-speed transfer case. Jeep isn’t alone in using this idea — Volkswagen’s Amarok also has a crawler gear instead of a transfer case.

The fact is, the petrol and diesel engine are powerful enough to automatically bypass the low first gear when used in virtually all on-road conditions and probably 95 per cent of off-road conditions.

Compass 4WD variants are actually frontdrive that uses Jeep’s Selec-Terrain system with an ‘on demand’ ability to engage the rear wheels. Its default is the ‘Auto’ button that will bias the front wheels and pick up the rear axle depending on the loss of front-wheel traction. The more the front spins, the more the drive goes to the rear.

It can be operated manually, so you can press the console-mounted button to engage ‘4WD Lock’ to give 50:50 front and rear.

There’s also a ‘4WD Low’ button that holds the low first gear and it’s this button that gives the Trailhawk a slight edge over its Limited and S-Limited siblings.

In the dirt the package is surprisingly capable, easy to point and shoot and reasonably comfortable. I’m saying ‘reasonably’ because the suspension in both the Trailhawk and S-Limited is nicely firm to promote a sure-footed feel through bitumen bends.

But it’s not a suspension package that enjoys being hurried too hard over offroad ground as the car-type short-travel suspension has little compliance.

The trick, of course, is to slow down but there are occasions - crossing beach sand for example - where momentum is paramount. One note is that lowering tyre pressure for beach work will hurt your ears — nothing to do with the

tyres but with the tyre pressure warning system that will beep mercilessly. Small price to pay, I guess, but something to be forewarned about.

Seat comfort (leather facings) is good, steering control is great off the road, and brakes have more than sufficient power and fade-free operation. The tyres are adequate for the dual-purpose role of the wagon but buyers looking at more dirt action should look at an upgrade to the stock rubber.

On the road the wagon (S-Limited tested here) is pretty good but weirdly seems to be lacking a bit of confidence in the steering department which feels overly light and returns a feeling of vagueness to the driver.

The 2.4-litre petrol is a smooth performer and its economy (9.2 L/100km overall) was

Jeep Compass Trailhawk.

Jeep Compass Trailhawk.

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good given the conditions. But in an age where turbochargers rule the small-bore new-car market, the performance of this engine feels a bit lacklustre.

Cabin treatment of both Compass variants is pleasing to the eye and ergonomic, with a high level of information available in the driver’s screen and through the centreconsole’s infotainment touchscreen.

It is, simply, a nice place to be and shows a sense of careful design, appreciative choice of durable yet attractive materials, and good construction.

I will point out that the Compass for the Australian market is made in India but in terms of quality and feel, there’s nothing to show that this is an issue. It’s as good as the Jeeps made in other markets.

The nine-speaker Uconnect system of Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge and even Maserati (yep, same system) was easy to use and never missed a beat while giving good Jeep Compass S-Limited.

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clarity and good functionality. It also wins for visibility, with the 10.1-inch screen sitting up high in the centre.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, as are features including a luggage blind for the boot, LED projector headlights (both versions), roof rails (all versions), ISOFIX child seat connections, wireless phone charger (all), USB points front and rear, and rear-seat 230-volt and 12-volt plugs.

The safety inventory is right up there, with standard autonomous emergency braking (AEB), active cruise with stop-and-go function, blind-spot monitor, rear crosstraffic monitor, traffic-sign recognition, trailer sway control, roll mitigation and for those who have yet to master the technicalities of parking, park assist for perpendicular and parallel parking.

Interior room is as big as most of its class rivals but there is a penalty of the rear-drive

hardware that means a space-saver spare for all variants except the Trailhawk that — in acknowledgement that its audience is more likely to get out of town — has a fullsize spare.

The Trailhawk also has 17-inch alloys with its sibling, the S-Limited, having 19-inches.

Again, a clever move by Jeep to allow customers to easily opt for alternative rubber with 17-inch tyres offering a greater tread and brand choice.

The list of equipment in the Compass’ here is impressive and can exceed many rivals, a key indicator as to why the model is more expensive than less off-road savvy competitors.

It is also sized to suit a diverse range of buyers and a diverse range of ownership conditions. It has all the right ingredients for a go-anywhere tow machine but unfortunately, it maxes out at 1000kg —

way too low for some of the more durable two-wheel off-road campers.

Jeep offers a five-year, 100,000km warranty and will provide roadside assistance for the life of the vehicle as long as it remains serviced by a Jeep dealer.

The model also has capped-price servicing for its 12-month or 12,000km (petrol) intervals (diesel has 20,000km gaps) which cost $399 for each service for up to five years.

THE VERDICT:

If you want a wagon that goes out (and comes back) of the metro area with confidence, the Compass Trailhawk is a good thing. It’s very similar in feel and capability to an earlier Forester (a good thing) and will likely appeal to a similar audience.

DL17210

EXPLOREX CARAVANS 66 Prestige Parade, Wangara

Phone 08 9302 2295 • reception@explorex.com.au

www.explorex.com.au Western 4W Driver #123 |

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BY PHIL BIANCHI

Most people have never heard of an early WA explorer named Charles Cooke Hunt (CCH). He was exploring in the eastern goldfields region in the early 1860s, but his exploits have been overshadowed by explorers including Forrest, Giles, Carnegie and Hann who came later.

B

orn in England in 1832, Hunt arrived in WA in 1863. In 1864 he was asked

by Governor Hampton and the York Agricultural Society to explore eastward for some 300 miles, in search of grazing lands and water sources. He completed four expeditions, two in 1864. In 1865 Hunt

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established a track and sunk 26 wells, dams or tanks at regular intervals from York to Gnarlbine Soak. He returned in 1866 to extend the track and wells to Slate Well near Lake Lefroy. Hunt died in Geraldton aged 35.

When gold was discovered in the eastern goldfields the already established Hunts Track and wells were a boon for prospectors, not only providing a watered safe track but also hastening their arrival in the goldfields.

This article talks about the section of Hunts Track from Gnarlbine Rock to the Woolgangie turn-off on Great Eastern

Hunts Track in purple.

Highway. The section was overgrown and impassable until recently when it was re-established.

Leaving Coolgardie, follow Great Eastern Highway west for 13km to Bali, then head south. Part of this section of track follows the Kurrawang Woodline’s main feeder line from the Burra Rock and Cave Hill and areas westward. It also travels through some magnificent stands of Salmon Gum. Keep on the main track and at the junction with Victoria Rock Road head southwest to Gnarlbine Rock and Hunt’s stone-lined well.

This well is located on the northern edge of the rock. On the eastern side of the rock near Victoria Rock Road is a stone-lined pioneer well. This well was discovered when the group researching to reopen Hunts Track became aware of it. It was buried under the most impenetrable thicket.

Gnarlbine Rock soakage and wells were a vital water source for Traditional Owners, prospectors and explorers, and was also a water point on the Holland Track.

There is a second well at Gnarlbine Rock.

When returning to the Victoria Rock Road from Hunts Well, turn southward to a stonelined pioneer well, located in thick bush.

This well is on the eastern side of Victoria Rock Road and some 250 metres from Hunt's Gnarlbine Well. It is of a smaller diameter than his well, but deeper, and the stone masonry is in excellent condition.

Head back up the Victoria Rock Road from the Gnarlbine Well turn-off for 1.1km and head west at the Boral Quarries sign. After 2.8km turn south for 0.4km - don’t take any side tracks. Then head west - you are now on Hunts Track. When reopening the Hunts Track, existing tracks near Gnarlbine Rock were used rather than opening new ones.

Plaque at Gnarlbine Rock.

Gnarlbine Rock is worth a climb, if only for the views across the woodland. Take a walk around the edge of the rock and enjoy the shapes of the ever-changing rock formations, the woodland and reed-like thickets on the edge. I’ve walked through the bush up to some 500 metres westward of the rock and found the remains of significant diggings for water.

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Follow the meandering track westward, don’t rush, take your time and enjoy the eucalyptus and acacia woodland. At the 8.4km mark, on the southern side, look out for a salmon gum with about 15 files nailed into it. If you fossick around the area, you will also find old tins, broken glass etc. This area was the site of a Kurrawang Woodline camp in the early 1920s.

Pioneer Well at Gnarlbine Rock. Photo Alan McCall

Please don’t be the ugly Australian and disfigure the tree by cutting your initials into it or interfere with the files.

These files have been in this tree for 100 years and are of no value to you should you remove them.

Leave them untouched for another 100 years. If you’re really desperate for files go to Bunnings.

Gnarlbine Soak historical plaque.

Hunts Well Gnarlbine Soak.

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File tree.

What is a

WOODLINE? Firewood was used by Kalgoorlie-based mining companies and when supplies nearer Kalgoorlie had been exhausted trains were introduced to bring supplies in from further afield. WA Goldfields Firewood Supply (Kurrawang) was the largest company, beginning operations in 1899. By 1937 they had cut from Coolgardie to 100 miles northwest, 100 miles west to Darrine and 120 miles southwest to beyond and Cave Hill. Being uneconomical to continue southward of Cave Hill, the company’s headquarters at Kurrawang was relocated to Lakewood near Boulder.

Majestic woodlands.

A village, known as the Main Camp, was the centre of company operations in the bush and was where most bush workers lived. Cutters would cut wood, horse drivers would load drays and deliver the cut wood to the spur line and loaders would load the rail wagons for delivery to Kalgoorlie. When the area surrounding the Main Camp was cut out, the operation was moved to a new location and the Main Camp re-established.

The life of woodline workers at the end of the line was bleak. Typically, they lived in a tent or at best a hessianwalled shack that had a corrugated iron roof. Most camps had earthen floors, were very primitive, unbearably hot in summer and freezing cold in winter. Despite the poor conditions many migrants seeking a better life got their start in Australia working on the woodlines.

Old woodline rail formation.

The scale of the woodline industry is staggering, with 21.6 million tons of firewood and timber cut by 1964. They clearfelled 3.04 million hectares.

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Continuing westward from the file tree, at the 4.1km mark and for a further 0.8km you will be driving on an old woodlines rail formation. Be on the lookout for tins and glass.

Continuing west for 0.6km, you will come to a crossroad; ignore it, and continue westward for another 0.1km. Be on the lookout for a track heading north. Follow it up 0.6km and you will be in the area of the abandoned Prince of Wales Goldmine.

These diggings are almost in a north-south straight line and spread over some 250 metres. At the southern end of the mining area is a small headframe with chute, and a shaft disappearing into the depths. Take care here, the mine was a small operation and their interest in safety and shoring up shafts and tunnels was rudimentary.

Wander around, there are lots of mining related bits and pieces scattered about.

There are also some magnificent stands of salmon gum nearby.

Return to the main east-west track and continue westward for 0.7km, where you will reach an area of low rocks with a rockhole trackside.

Prince of Wales mine diggings.

PRINCE OF WALES MINE The deposit was discovered by a cattle drover. After sinking a shaft to 30 feet, the mine was sold to an English Company for £10,000 and named Glenmore.

The company then spent £17,000 on developing the mine, but as little gold was found, the lease was abandoned.

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As you continue westward the track becomes very twisty, potentially making it difficult for those towing a camper trailer. The track also passes through some uninteresting acacia scrub country.

There is an area of track 4.7km west of the rockhole that could be a significant bogging risk should heavy rain have fallen.

A further 0.4km brings you to a crossroad; continue westward. A further 9.4km brings you to another crossroad; again continue westward.

The track skirts the southern edge of Yerdanie Rock, and at the 3.7km mark from the last crossroad, and nearer the western end of the rock, is the walk-in point to Hunts Well. It is only a short walk and the way is usually marked by plastic tape hanging

It's not all Salmon Gum woodland.

Prince of Wales mine headframe.

It was taken over in 1899 and renamed the Prince of Wales. Initially 290 tons was crushed for 410 ounces. The mine was floated and £5,000 capital raised.

Plant including a 10 head battery, boiler, winding engine and cyanide plant was installed and the main shaft was down to 150 feet. The gold found wasn’t rich enough, so in 1904 the mine closed.

from trees. BE SNAKE AWARE. The well is in a thicket and although easy to see, the space around it is very tight. The depth of the well is unknown because it’s almost filled with silt.

A walk along the edge of Yerdanie Rock will reveal numerous depressions where prospectors of old dug soaks to get to freshwater. Presumably this Hunts Well didn’t have the capacity or recovery rate to provide sufficient water for large numbers of travellers heading to the goldfields further east, hence the diggings in search of water.

Direction signage.

Climbing the rock is relatively easy. At the very top is a surveyor’s cairn with a wooden post jutting out and the letter H is inscribed on it. This is not likely to be a Hunt inscription but probably a government surveyor in later years.

Extensive 360° views over the woodland can be enjoyed from the top of the rock.

It is a 5.7km drive through more woodland to meet up with the Great Eastern Highway at Woolgangie and the end of this track.

Collapsed Hunts Well, Yerdanie Rock.

Cairn at Yerdanie Rock with close-up of H19 on survey post. Photos Alan McCall Western 4W Driver #123 |

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INFORMATION BAY

TRIP NOTES Hunts Track 0.0km Coolgardie

13.1km Coolgardie to Bali turn off 10.4km Bali to Victoria Rocks Road junction 12.6km Southward to Gnarlbine Rock and Hunts Well 1.5km Return up Victoria Rocks Road 1.5km To Boral quarries turn off and head west 3.1km

Turn south

0.5km Turn west 8.4km To file tree and old woodline camp 4.1km

After file tree the track follows an old woodline

TERRAIN

It is preferable that only high clearance 4WDs attempt this track.

Some sections of this track could become very boggy after rain.

Check with the shire office at Coolgardie on (08) 9080 2111 if uncertain of track conditions.

BEST TIME TO VISIT

Travelling the track at the height of summer is unpleasant and not recommended.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

For more information on Charles Cooke Hunt (CCH), the book Exploration Eastward 1860-1869 by Bridge and Epton (Hesperian Press) details his exploration from York.

For more detail on the woodlines, read Woodlines of Western Australia.

A comprehensive history of the Goldfields Woodlines by Phil Bianchi (Hesperian Press).

0.8km Old woodline ends 0.6km Crossroad, continue westward 0.1km

West is the turn off to the Prince of Wales mine

0.6km Northward is the Prince of Wales Mine 0.6km Junction with main track 0.7km West is a rockhole 4.7km A potentially bad boggy patch in wet weather 0.4km Crossroad, continue westward 9.4km Crossroad, continue westward 2.2km Hunts Track sign 36km to Gnarlbine Rock 1.7km

Yerdanie Rock and Hunts Well walk in point

5.7km Junction of Hunts Track and Great Eastern Highway 52

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Storm approaching Yerdanie Rock.

TYRE

PRESSURE MONITORING

SYSTEMS Do they really protect your tyres or are they simply full of hot air?

When you outlay big coin for 4WD tyres, imagine how you’d feel if one or more were completely written off on their first trip. It’s fair to say that if you’re like us, you’d probably be quite peeved when it could have potentially been avoided with a TPMS. So what is a TPMS? Let’s look at them in more detail, and how this type of system can help protect your rubber.

WHAT IS A TPMS?

In simple terms, a TPMS or Tyre Pressure Monitoring System are sensors which detect tyre pressures. Some systems measure tyre temperatures as well. All this information is provided in real time via some sort of signal, alarm or display device in the vehicle’s cabin.

BY GRANT & LINDA HANAN

Scan QR code to watch Grant and Linda's video on tyre pressure monitoring systems.

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ARB’s TPMS is incorporated into its LINX system.

The whole idea behind a TPMS is to provide the driver with an early warning of a potentially hazardous tyre situation. This could be something to do with either the inflation pressure or the tyre temperature (or both). There are also different kinds of TPMS on the market. They’re not something new, and some high-end vehicles have them fitted as OE from the vehicle manufacturer.

As an alternative, they’re also available as an aftermarket product. Speaking from first hand experience, we found out the hard way that not all TPMS systems are equal after being let down twice in the middle of nowhere.

HOW THEY WORK

The system has sensors/transmitters that are fitted to your wheel and tyre combination. Each has a small replaceable battery which provides power to small electronic circuits. These sensors measure both pressure and temperature and the

A damaged external sensor let us down on this occasion.

output is transmitted via a wireless signal.

This signal is then picked up by a powered, receiver/monitor display that’s located inside the vehicle cabin for the driver to view. Some brands also use small aerials that are generally located under the vehicle to assist in boosting the wireless signal to reach inside the cabin. Using the in-vehicle display is how the driver can

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see what pressure and/or temperature the vehicles’ tyres are at in real time. Like any display, it’s only good if you are constantly observing the output. And as this isn’t always possible, the monitor display can be programmed with a series of alarms that can flash or make a sound. These are designed to alert the driver to look at the display to determine what has triggered the alarm, i.e. a change in tyre pressure or temperature.

TPMS COMPONENTS

There are a number of components which make up the system, starting with the way they’re fitted to the rim - externally or internally.

Some external sensor systems come with anti-theft devices.

EXTERNAL

INTERNAL

These types of sensors screw on to the end of the tyre valve stem and replace the valve cap. Anti-theft types are also available in this style that prevent the sensors from being unscrewed. Depending on the type of valve stem used and the position of the sensor, the negative is they can be prone to damage when tracks are overgrown. The small lithium batteries that are used with this style of tyre sensor can be replaced at any time.

This style has a clamp type of sensor transmitter which is fitted on the inside of the rims and tyres. As they’re fitted internally, there is less risk of the transmitter being knocked about or being removed accidentally. Like the external style, each of the internal transmitters contains a lithium battery. However, the major difference here is the tyre needs to be removed to change it. Although this style is our preferred type, we would generally review and replace the batteries at the time when we have new tyres fitted if necessary.

External sensors are labelled to assist with fitment location, eg front right.

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Fitting internal sensors is a DIY job.

and cables helps eliminate any issues and disturbances which can happen when you’re relying solely on a radio signal. An example of this could be from something like a trailer tyre that has to reach a longer distance to the driver’s position in the cabin.

MONITORS/DISPLAYS

We like to fit the sensors in the same location on all rims.

ANTENNAS/RF BOOSTERS While not all brands will supply these within their kits, most will have them as an extra option that can be purchased separately.

These antennas are strategically placed under the vehicle to pick up the information. Some models just amplify and boost the radio signal so it can reach the monitor inside the cabin. Other models use antenna cables that are routed under the vehicle through a series of joiners and splitters. These then feed into the digital receiver display unit located inside the cabin. Having this combination of antennas

These come in all shapes and sizes and can have numerous features. Primarily, their function is to show the real time pressure and temperature of individual tyres, and to alert you when things change. They require some form of power which could simply be AA batteries, a 12 volt system, or solar.

You then pre-programme the unit and set alarm pressures and temperature thresholds to suit your circumstances.

An alarm will activate should the system reach these settings giving you time to investigate further. The higher end models have more display settings to be able to record a lot more than just your four vehicle road tyres. And you can set thresholds and alarms for something like trailer wheels and tyres that are different to those settings on your vehicle.

Some systems allow you to monitor the vehicle and whatever you’re towing.

Fitting an amplifier to the chassis helps boost the signal.

This display unit uses solar rather than using a 12v connection.

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WHAT TO LOOK FOR

An entry level aftermarket kit generally comes with four external type valve sensors and a 12v cig socket display. At the other end of the market, the kit has more programming ability. Each tyre sensor/transmitter now has a unique code and alarm setting thresholds that can be personalised separately. This includes programming when the alarm sounds so the display will flash to indicate which tyre has had a dramatic change in pressure or temperature. Some kits will be capable of monitoring not just the tyres on your vehicle, but also on multiple trailer set ups when each is hitched to your vehicle. This incorporates caravans, camper trailers and boat trailers.

TPMS ADVOCATES

We’ve been strong supporters of using TPMS, especially when our current Sensatyre system has been able to accommodate up to 14 internal sensor

transmitters that are installed across our vehicle and trailers. We’re very impressed with this set-up as it includes spare tyres as well. To help boost the signal, there’s two under-vehicle antennas that are fitted to our 79 series LandCruiser given that we tow. One of these is fitted at the vehicle’s rear while another is inside the engine bay on the side rail. Both have been joined using the cables and joiners/splitters provided with the kit. A final connection has been made to the suction cap digital 12v powered display unit that’s located on the vehicle dashboard. We’ve been using this system in our vehicle and trailers for many years now, and it’s copped a good workout along some serious terrain. During that time, it’s done exactly what it’s supposed to do. It’s alerted us when we’ve taken on a puncture, yet still given us enough time to stop and fit plugs while there’s ample pressure left in the tyre. But the temperature feature has also alerted us when tyres are beginning to heat up at speed on gravel roads. We like the fact we’ve got time to

The sensor helped us get on to this repair before it became a major problem.

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make adjustments to tyre pressures to protect them from overheating and risking delamination. We’ve also found the digital display is very intuitive and allows us to set alarms individually for all 14 tyres. This is a real bonus! It means we can set different pressures on our tyres depending on the loads we’re carrying or towing, plus our speed.

Just a note – we mentioned earlier that not all systems are equal, and we’ve tried a few different brands with mixed results. In our case, the issue has been the reliability of the transmitted signal to the monitor when a change has occurred in the tyre. Radio signals can be influenced by all sorts of things. These can include humidity in the air and other radio noise in the vehicle.

But there’s plenty of other factors as well.

Vehicle insulating shields such as window tint and sound deadening mats can cause issues, and simple things like the way and

what you pack inside your vehicle can also be contributors. As every vehicle is set up differently, our advice is to speak to the reseller of the TPMS to see if you can test that their system works with your set-up before outlaying any coin.

SUMMING UP

Getting a puncture at any time is a real pain in the butt. But getting it in the middle of nowhere and not knowing you have a puncture until it’s way too late is far more than that. Having a reliable TPMS provides assurance when transmitters are providing real time information regardless of what speeds, terrain and conditions you’re putting your wheels and tyres through.

In some cases, a TPMS could just be the difference between fixing a tyre to get going or having to sit things out until help arrives. I know which option we’d prefer!

Quality 4WD and Camping Equipment in Bassendean. www.aus4wdequipment.com.au Western 4W Driver #123 |

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RED DIRT

BECKONS Easter in the Great Victoria Desert

BY PHIL BIANCHI

The long road to Queen Victoria Spring.

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It had been more than 12 months since my LandCruiser’s wheels had seen serious action. What better than an Easter trip to the Great Victoria Desert to break the drought.

Burtville cemetery.

A

rmed with the latest track information from Laurinda and her crew at the Laverton Visitor Centre we set off on a trip to Burtville, down to Lake Minigwal, Queen Victoria Spring, Pingin, Kanowna and Perth via Kalgoorlie.

A visit to the Burtville cemetery was very depressing. It’s very sad to read the tombstones, so many deaths by suicide, especially using dynamite.

We will never know what made these people commit such desperate acts.

Following the Coglia-Merolia Road towards Coglia Well we were able to travel on an unused haul road, and although it was rough in patches it allowed reasonable speeds. At the well we took a track that headed directly south and kept us close to the eastern side of Lake Minigwal. The drive through the woodland was superb - it was like driving through a mosaic of everchanging woodland. Fluctuating between mulga, mallee and majestic marble gum, this is superb country.

At Granite Hill, we went in search of explorer Frank Hann’s inscription. Hann visited here on 14 October 1907 and noted that although someone had camped on the corkwood flat years earlier, the soakage at the time of his visit was dry. Nevertheless Talbot inscribed FH on a granite surface facing the soakage area.

Granite Hill.

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Frank Hann's inscription at Granite Hill vandalised by changing the F to B.

The tracks in general are easy to follow, but numerous, so it’s easy to miss turnoffs.

Pulling up on the western side of the hill, we went in search of the inscription. I walked up and down and along the rock face and couldn’t find the inscription. It had been some ten years since my last visit and I started to think my memory was shot. We had been searching for about 90 minutes when, with dusk approaching, most of the group headed off to find a camp. I put in another 30 minutes before giving up. As I walked back to the vehicle, I saw it. It was plain as day and right near where the vehicles were parked. The reason we hadn’t see it earlier was that a low bush had covered the inscription with its shadow.

Once the sun lit up the inscription it was easy to see. Sadly someone had defaced the FH inscription by changing the F to a B so it now reads BH. The ugly Australian sure gets around, even way out here. We Locals are a regular sight.

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Surprise Granite Rock Holes.

Surprise Granite Rock Holes.

returned in the morning to have another look at the blaze and wander around the large corkwood flat near it.

Hann’s Surprise Granite Rock Holes was our next stop. We could see why Hann called these rocks Surprise Granite; they were almost level with the ground. The rockholes are situated on a corkwood flat, the woodland around the rockhole

Mountain devils are a rare sight.

Talbot inscription at Surprise Granite Rock Holes.

was sparse and mainly corkwood trees with a scattering of native apricot trees (weeping pittosporum), some of which were flowering. Talbot’s name is inscribed near the largest rockhole.

As the track heads further southward, it closely follows the lake, the vegetation becoming sparse with open eucalypt woodland and low salt bush.

Crossing the neck of Lake Minigwal our trek took us westward to some rockholes on a low granite and a nearby dogger’s camp.

The camp is situated at the northern end of the PNC Baseline Road. The camp has a three-walled corrugated iron shed with an earth floor, a rainwater tank with an inverted roof for capturing water, and a rustic no-roof enclosure in which one could shower. On past visits I saw a large coil of steel cable that featured a sign saying please use with respect because the next person getting

Who was the PNC? The PNC was the Pacific Nuclear Corporation, a Japanese-owned multinational, that in the 1980s, explored in various parts of Australia for uranium.

The PNC Baseline Road and Nippon Highway were named after the work they did in the Great Victoria Desert.

The PNC Baseline Road is a 147km long unsealed road that connects with the Cable Haul Road and the Nippon Highway. The Nippon Highway is a 130km long unsealed road starting near Kirgella Rocks. bogged on the lake will need it. Again, the ugly Australia raises his head and burns the steel cable in a campfire, thus destroying its strength. Why? Our next destination was to be Queen Victoria Spring. We headed south-east on the PNC Baseline Road toward the Nippon Highway when at the 29km mark we came across the Tropicana Mine access road.

Doggers camp - Lake Minigwal.

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At this junction was a large plastic sheetlined dam and pump. Crossing the haul road and continuing for another 16km along the recently cleared four-lane wide unsealed PNC Baseline Road, we came to newly installed gates, fencing and video camera on a pole. A sign on the gate told us the track was closed and to go back.

Using a satellite phone, we rang the Vimy Resources phone number on the gate, and were told, "No exceptions." We had to go back. Had there been a sign warning us back at the Tropicana access road, we would not have wasted our time and fuel.

In the heat of summer, this stuff up has the potential of someone dying should they be ill, low on fuel or water and in need of rescue, by driving down this dead end.

Discussions at a later date with DBAC Kalgoorlie revealed they knew nothing of the road closure. They pointed out that it was a recognised road and as such the mining company should have made alternative arrangements, such as creating a diversion around the area, for travellers using that portion of the PNC Baseline Road.

Vimy Resources lift your game, put up proper signage and build a diversion road

A very dry Queen Victoria Spring.

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around your exploration area. I suspect the reason for the Vimy Resources cloak and dagger stuff is they are seeking to mine uranium.

Fortunately, we had prior permission to use the Tropicana access road. We followed it south west and turned off at the junction with the Nippon Highway. Near this junction are the Mulga Rockholes, one large and four smaller ones. It’s been a popular camping spot over the years, evidenced by rubbish scattered throughout the area.

Heading south east on the Nippon Highway, the vegetation was changing to mallee woodland with occasional marble gum patches.

At Argus Corner we turned southward toward Queen Victoria Spring. Just as well that was our intention because Vimy Resources were at it again - they had closed the Nippon Highway at that junction, preventing anyone travelling further eastward.

The woodland south of Argus Corner had been completely burned out by a series of bush fires in recent years. It was desertlike, no animals were seen while we were in the area. The spring, named by explorer Ernest Giles after Queen Victoria in 1875,

INFORMATION BAY TRIP PREPARATION

This trip is not suitable for soft roaders.

Kirgella homestead ruins.

was completely dry, not the slightest trace of moisture in the middle was found. When Giles found this soakage, he remarked: "On our arrival here our camels drank as only thirsty camels can, and great was our own delight to find ourselves again enabled to drink at will and indulge in the luxury of a bath."

Returning towards Argus Corner, we stopped on a large dune about one kilometre from Streich Mound. Consensus determined we wouldn’t attempt to drive closer to the steep dune. Explorer David Lindsay, in 1891, named the mound after Victor Streich, the geologist on his expedition.

With our trip almost finished, we returned to the Tropicana access road and then headed for Kalgoorlie, but not before stopping off at Kirgella Rocks abandoned homestead. Lots of ingenuity, fencing wire and tin was used to create buildings and fencing that would have made Salt Bush Bill proud.

This is very isolated country, so plan thoroughly and be well prepared and totally self-sufficient.

Ensure your vehicle has been serviced and thoroughly checked over with a special emphasis on tyres, shock absorbers, springs and batteries.

Two spare tyres is a must out here.

You would be very fortunate to come across someone else travelling in this area to provide assistance.

Plan your fuel needs carefully.

Expect up to double your normal consumption rate.

COMMUNICATION

A HF Radio or satellite phone is also a must out here. Your mobile phone or UHF radio are useless if seeking help in an emergency - the signal from these will not carry.

BEST TIME TO GO

The cooler months April to September.

Unusual shaped rock near Kookynie.

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MARALINGA When nuclear tests took place in the Great Victoria Desert 70 years ago, the program was shrouded with secrecy.

Today, Maralinga shares its story, so Grant and Linda join a tour to uncover some of its secrets.

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I

t was a full day behind the wheel as we pulled into one of Ceduna’s caravan parks to call it a night. We were back on the road the next morning at a reasonable hour after a quick pack up and refuel for the 79 before heading west. After driving for nearly 180 kilometres on the blacktop, we reached the Maralinga turn-off. There was no signpost to be found here (which we later learned is intentional to avoid unwanted visitors), so the instructions we had came in handy.

Making our way north, we reached the Trans-Australian Railway line at Ooldea by late morning. The railway story is a long and interesting one as it originally began back in 1917, spanning a considerable distance from Kalgoorlie through to Port Augusta.

Some centenary celebrations were held at Ooldea in 2017 and the commemoration memorial made a good spot for our lunch stop. It’s also a place where we got phone service as well.

Australia’s most n o i t a n i t s e d t s i r u o t y unlikel

BY GRANT & LINDA HANAN

A short distance away we found another memorial belonging to Daisy Bates. Daisy spent well over a decade living at Ooldea while conducting welfare work with local aboriginals. While some would say her work was controversial, she was awarded a CBE in 1935 and lived to the ripe old age of 91.

It was time to continue so it was back on the road to push on. Maralinga is a total of almost 400km north-west of Ceduna.

We reached Maralinga’s entrance and were stopped dead in our tracks by some high cyclone fencing that’s topped with a few runs of barbed wire and locked double gates. If that wasn’t enough of a deterrent to say it’s a no-go zone, a large sign to our left indicated we’d arrived at a former nuclear test site. I don’t think we’re alone when saying we were never taught anything about what happened at Maralinga while growing up. Everything

about the place had always been hushhush. It was only through a family friend whose husband worked at Maralinga that I learnt of this strange place. As it turned out, his life was cut short through cancer years ago. And although it was never proven, the family always blamed his time at Maralinga for that.

As we’ve gotten older and reflect more on things, it was just one of those places we wanted to visit if we ever got the chance.

Knowing the site was off limits to the public until around 10 years ago, we knew tours had become increasingly popular as the word got out. Now was the time to make it happen. Another reason for our visit was to experience more of Len Beadell’s work. We’ve managed to travel many of his outback roads and tracks over the years, with Maralinga the hub of his work so to speak.

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But from what we’d already experienced, it was clear a Maralinga visit isn’t the type of destination where you can simply drop in. Pulling up at those ominous locked gates made that loud and clear. While nuclear testing ceased around half a century ago, we’d heard security is still tight. So jumping on a tour That’s the end of the line unless you’ve pre-arranged a tour. with Maralinga Tours is the only way you’re able to experience the place. Having booked our tour some before they were locked again behind us. weeks earlier, it includes everything you Back in his vehicle, we followed Robin need to visit. The tour covers site directions, to the village along a 60-plus year old road permits, an escorted group tour, plus bitumen road that is still in remarkably good camping in the village. condition. As we drove through the village, it was a bit of a concrete jungle. There On the day, Robin Matthews was our guide were plenty of slabs to be seen where for the tour. He played a massive part at many buildings once were. We all pulled Maralinga for decades and knew the place up next to a large building which turned better than most. We’d pre-arranged a time out to be the camping amenities block. to meet Robin at the gates and we didn’t Next door there was a camp kitchen, and have to wait long. We spotted his troopy these buildings are all surrounded by large bobbing along in the distance before concrete slabs. Robin explained many of eventually pulling up to a stop on the other the buildings had been sold off during the side of the gates. After a short meet and greet, Robin pulled out a bundle of keys clean-up and have received a new lease of to unlock the gates and we drove through life on stations and in towns further south.

Concrete plinths are found at detonation sites.

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... the concrete slabs are a metre thick!

No complaints about this campsite!

But he also tells us the concrete slabs are a metre thick! Seriously? The British probably had a good reason they needed to be this way, but we had no idea why when the buildings were only lightweight aluminium.

It turns out the British government didn’t do things by halves and spent big money in all directions. Besides erecting a range of buildings and quarters for up to 2,000 staff, the village had its own cinema, church, barber shop, basketball and tennis courts.

And all of this in the desert. But wait for it … the village also had an Olympic sized swimming pool that was put in well before the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne!

After Robin had given us the rundown of the place, we went about setting up camp. We were here for a couple of nights and there was no shortage of concrete slabs to choose from.

The village had some well-kept amenities that included hot showers and toilets plus a free washing machine for visitor use.

That’s not something we see too often. The camp kitchen comes with a gas BBQ and close by was a communal firepit with wood provided.

With setting up done and dusted, the rest of the afternoon was free to look around the village.

We made our way over to the basketball and tennis courts that funnily enough still had their rings and nets. And we were quite surprised to find patchy mobile phone coverage at the old swimming pool site given Maralinga’s remote location.

One of the more substantial buildings in the village that’s still in use is the old hospital complex. After being de-commissioned it was used as living quarters and office space by the commonwealth police. These days it’s the site caretaker’s home. Another of the original village buildings is now being used as a museum. A variety of items from the site were on display that have been collected over the years. Detailed maps, photos and other memorabilia also adorned the walls, so it was a good

Bits and pieces that are now on display in the museum.

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opportunity to get familiar with the site in general. But it was the old cinema footage playing that we really found interesting. We watched several short films and documentaries that shared all sorts of info about Maralinga’s history. Watching these really turned out to be a good pre-cursor to the formal tour with Robin.

The tour started early the following morning with Robin pulling up with the bus. Around a dozen of us piled in before heading off to the village airport. All of us entered the terminal building and found it contained dozens of old-school-style kerosene lamps that were originally used to light up the runway. There was plenty to read on the walls here as well with a mix of signs and posters. Numerous storyboards provided interesting information about Maralinga while Robin brought the stories to life and answered any questions.

It was then a short walk outside to the runway which was still in very good nick. That really came as no surprise, when Robin explained, “The touchdown pads at either end are built on five metres of

A cute camp visitor.

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A heavily modified troopy used during site clean-up.

reinforced concrete!” Back in the day up to 30 planes used the airstrip each day during testing. Maralinga’s airstrip is also one of the longest in the southern hemisphere. That too came as no surprise when learning the runway had been registered as a backup should the US space shuttle of the day ever need to land. Just behind the terminal complex sat an old troop carrier. But this was far from your average troopy as it had been heavily modified. Apparently, there were a number of troopies that had been modified like this one and used to check the site’s radiation levels during one of the clean-ups.

It was back in the bus to our next stop Lough Mackew. A strange name for the village’s water catchment area, but nonetheless it was a real oasis. British engineers had designed the site’s airstrip to include stormwater drains on its edges to collect water runoff. This in turn flowed into the dam. After having some time to settle, the water was syphoned off and pumped into water tanks back at the village. Our bus made another stop at a well named after the explorer, William Tietkens. He initially supported explorer Ernest Giles on his central Australia expedition in the mid 1870s. William then went on to lead his own expedition a decade later through the land where Maralinga lies. That was his last big stint in SA before moving to NSW shortly

examples of his gunbarrel, dead straight road building style could be seen everywhere we went.

The roads are still in extremely good condition even though they were laid more than half a century ago.

Maralinga’s water catchment area.

afterwards to take up a surveying position with the Department of Lands.

But it’s Len Beadell’s name that people most associate with Maralinga. And there were many things we experienced that could be attributed to him in some shape or form. Things like survey markers, the village layout, access roads and detonation site locations were all some of Len’s handiwork. And

From here, much of the tour focuses on the Maralinga Forward Area. This is an area about 30 kilometres north of the village, where nearly a dozen major atomic bomb trials and hundreds of smaller test explosions were conducted. These major trials were designed to explode nuclear devices and used different techniques to record their effects. Some of the trials had bombs detonated from purpose-built 31-metrehigh towers. Others were detonated at ground level, air dropped, or 300 metres up in the air from a balloon.

One of Len Beadell’s survey markers.

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Size-wise, bombs ranged between one kiloton to a mind blowing 27 kilotons. For a bit of comparison, this is almost twice the size used at Hiroshima!

Glass remnants found at a detonation site.

We came across a few of these during the tour.

With Robin behind the wheel, the tour bus stopped at the various ground zero sites which are all marked with concrete plinths. A few fragments of twisted steel can be seen here and there, but anything else that survived the blasts was buried during clean-ups. During the tour, we were shown a couple of massive pits that are scattered around the site where radiation level warning signage is displayed. We also saw areas where elements of the landscape are devoid of growing anything substantial. A stop at the Breakaway detonation site highlighted how hot things got when an area was scattered with sand that had been melted into glass. One of our group pulled out a Geiger counter to check radiation levels at Breakaway and the other detonation sites. I think he alleviated any concerns the group had about leaving with a “glow” after saying we’d be exposed to more radiation when travelling on a commercial aeroplane.

As the day was drawing to a close, our last site visit was to the Tufi detonation site. Whilst the site had been prepared for another major test, the signing of the nuclear disarmament treaty made this detonation site redundant. This in turn was the end of Maralinga and cut its life short after only 10 years.

By the time we arrived back at the village in the late afternoon there were ominous black clouds looming overhead. It was time to bunker down. The skies opened later that evening with a heavy downpour and spectacular light show lasting about 90 minutes. By morning the skies had cleared and everything dry again as we packed up.

Checking radiation levels with a Geiger counter.

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So the entire Maralinga concept turned out to be a very expensive exercise in more ways than one. Clean-up of the site began as early as 1964, but there were all sorts of issues with that. Some years later in 1985, a royal commission report found radiation

Aerial shot of the site at Tufi. Photo: Tim Froling

levels were still dangerous. Another 10 years passed by before the Australian Government decided to proceed with a rehabilitation project that cost $100m+. A group of scientists specialising in radiation management plus a rehabilitation advisory committee were put in place to oversee the project. It took five years to complete the project before the site was declared safe in all areas except two. Finally in 2009, this section of land was handed to the Maralinga Tjarutja organisation, who now manages it on behalf of the Anangu people.

Camels have made their way into Maralinga.

The wildflowers were blooming during the trip.

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Visiting Maralinga was a tour we didn’t want to end. The time went far too quick, and we still wanted to learn more. To Robin’s credit, he never glossed over the stories about the British, Australian and Indigenous connection to Maralinga, and he answered all sorts of questions the group threw at him that no doubt helped us get the most out of the tour.

While plenty of books and documentaries have been published about Maralinga, it’s fair to say we’ll never know the entire story. But what is clear, is that the cost has been enormous … in terms of health, environment, and the public’s attitude towards the government and the role it played. Maralinga’s story is one every Australian should be aware of. While we might have only scratched the surface on this tour, we’ve come away with a greater knowledge of this turbulent chapter in Australia’s history.

INFORMATION BAY LOCATION

Maralinga is located 400km northwest of Ceduna in South Australia on the edge of the Great Victorian Desert.

It’s remote, so be prepared. High clearance vehicles are recommended.

WHAT TO BRING

You need to carry enough fuel for the return journey, plus bring your own food and camp gear (no alcohol permitted).

Mobile phone coverage is limited once leaving the Eyre Highway until reaching the crossing of the Trans-Australian Railway Line at Ooldea (an hour’s drive from Maralinga). There’s patchy mobile service within the village.

TOUR BOOKINGS

Maralinga Tours runs tours a couple of times a week during April to October.

Bookings are essential and the package includes the tour, entry permits and camping fees.

MARALINGA ACCESS

The tour booking includes a permit to travel the most direct route from Ceduna to Maralinga. Travelling any other route to Maralinga while passing through Maralinga Tjarutja Lands (MT) requires an additional permit.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? Contact Maralinga Tours maralingatours.com.au Mobile: 0427 581 341

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e i b r u o F r u o y g n Maki Isuzu I-Venture Club D-MAX exits the Wollondilly River.

Last time we corresponded I was offering some sage advice, hmmm, maybe even trying to put you off the idea of taking a 4WD for a swim.

In the decades I’ve been mucking around with vehicles, I’ve noted that crossing a stream is a risky business, because 4WDs really don’t boat too well.

B I-Venture Club D-MAX takes a dip with thankfully a short immersion over the bonnet.

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ack in the day, when vehicles weren’t crammed with electronics and faced with the prospects of crossing a stream hovering around bonnet-high, it was likely that your fourbie was going to float, just like today. To pre-empt that moment and as you

2 T R A P n a C g n i r e t a aW

BY DAVID WILSON

Back in the day when 4WDs had hair on their chests.

About the only other things that were truly vulnerable in the cab were the Masonite backs of the door cards. You’d strip them out and leave them in the sun for a day or two and voilà, back in business.

In case you hadn’t noticed, vehicles aren’t built like that today, so deliberately flooding the vehicle won’t be happening. Unless by accident … maybe? entered the stream, you’d crack open your door, thus encouraging the vehicle to flood.

What the?

All that extra mass filling the floor kept wheels in contact with the riverbed and progress was reasonably assured. Exit the other side, pause, doors ajar, as the river escaped the vehicle’s interior.

In that illustration likely no harm done, because the floor was a rudimentary sheet of vinyl with no sound deadening and the closest you’d get to compromising the sophisticated electronics would be keeping a watchful eye on that fabbo AM radio and the dashboard gauges, making sure they didn’t get submerged.

When a creek crossing goes bad.

So, fast-forward to 2022, you come across a river system and there is a body of water sitting at the crossing, what to do?

Perhaps in the lead up to the trip, you did a bit of reading and found out about the positive experience of others at this location.

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at this moment you should consider some tyre pressure reduction is in order, perhaps fifty percent?

The next two agendas are depth and flow.

No good if the stream is both deep and quick, because before you know it, you’ll be belting out one of Rod Stewart’s favourites, that mentions sailing stormy waters.

Gunshot Creek descent is not for the fainthearted.

Old Tele Track travellers heading up to Cape York will know of Gunshot Creek and that there are a couple of alternatives.

Gunshot proper is a short, but near-vertical descent, with a real chance you’ll damage your car, and that’s even before you get into the drink. An apparently safer, less harrowing alternative is Slingshot, with a tamer descent.

Committed to the crossing and hoping we don’t float.

We mentioned last time that depth is a problem, because 4WDs float.

That modern, hermetically sealed cabin you’re luxuriating in is tighter than a fish’s bum hole and will make your fourbie float without too much trouble, and at the relatively innocent depth of around 750mm. But before it gets that deep, it’ll be bobbing around and starting to stumble at maybe half that depth unless you’re heavy.

That earlier reading you did might reference the entry and exit points that’ll offer the greatest chance of success, just like Slingshot offers.

You’ll also learn when is the best time of year to visit and what to expect of the bottom?

I like bottoms.

That might sound a bit creepy, but I like my bottoms solid and hard, not mushy and slippery, so, fingers-crossed, the base of this creek you’re about to tackle, has some firmness to it to minimise the lack of traction risk. Maybe it’s 78

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The base to this stream was rocky and firm, no problem finding traction.

I can tell you that there’s been a couple of watery moments in my 4WD experience that have had my full attention and each time it was when I realised my grip was being lost and now, I was at the mercy of the stream.

With a couple of knots of force being exerted on the slab side of your vehicle it will start to drift.

I’ve practised it, where there’s been space mid-stream to enable it, in aiming for a wider point in the middle. The line I’m taking would look like an arrowhead from above, the logic is that you’re aiming for the exit at a point higher than it actually is, the drift pushing you back to where you hope to land and emerge from the stream successfully.

Of course before we did any of this, we should have checked the preparedness of the vehicle and got our technique ready.

Jeep’s launch of the Gladiator in NZ was epic thanks to wild weather the day before. Nerf bar doors permit the full flooded experience.

Last time we spoke of snorkels. Snorkels are those contraptions that are affixed to your door pillar and elevate the airbox’s entry point and supposedly eliminate much of the risk of “hydraulically” busting your engine. If, and that’s a big if, your snorkel has been sealed at all the joints with plenty of silicone, you are still vulnerable. Don’t think that this accessory alone is going to make you waterproof.

Aiming for the exit and allowing for some drift at this crossing.

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ARB’s Water Crossing Cover is a good way to exclude water from your engine bay.

You might consider fitting a car-bra, a bespoke and fitted vinyl “blind” stretched across the face of your vehicle to further eliminate the entry of water into your engine bay. A low-rent version is a poly tarp and a couple of ockies. This goes hand-inhand with the use of second gear in LOW range, because there’ll be an optimum speed to achieve to create this thing called a “bow” wave.

Got the bow wave moment going nicely here.

LOW range is the go.

With near-maximum torque available at a speed I’d describe as a walkingto-jogging pace, you’ve got the best prospects of maintaining forward progress and knocking the water down ahead of you.

That’s the bow wave. Go too fast and you’ll push the water over the top of the bonnet.

Submarining isn’t desirable.

The cover has a pocket to hold a snatch-strap at the ready.

I know some crew go to the trouble of affixing a snatch strap to recovery points ahead of submersion. If the crossing is so wild that you’re already anticipating rescue drama, I’d be admitting defeat and find another way, or wait there until some other hero could safely demonstrate to me that it was possible!

Make a watering can out of my 4WD? No thank you.

Too much enthusiasm with the accelerator creates a big, big splash, that at the very least will tear off a numberplate and at worst, fill your airbox to the max.

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ERRABIDDY OUTCAMP

and the WHITE

BOX

Mrs Watson’s Story

BY JOHN COLLINS

Excerpt from Hema's WA state map.

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oday, travellers following the Wool Wagon Pathway can travel the 355 kilometres from Geraldton via Pindar to the Murchison Settlement in about four hours. Located at the Settlement is the Oasis Roadhouse and Caravan Park, which combines motel style accommodation and a well-equipped caravan park with infrastructure that provides quality visitor services, including tourist information, shady trees, grass and modern facilities.

The shop has great food and 24-hour EFTPOS fuel available.

Outcamps were a feature on many stations, and they mostly remained in service until the era of horses ended around the late 1950s and when motor vehicles became more available and suitable for purpose. The purpose of an outcamp is to service and maintain windmills that provided drinking water for the livestock and undertake other tasks such as fence building and other infrastructure upkeep.

Typically, an outcamp would be 'serviced' weekly by horse and wagon with supplies of essentials. In some locations the outcamp

Errabiddy Bluff.

Oasis Caravan Park.

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that time, Mary’s only regular companions were Aboriginal women during the two pregnancies that resulted in the birth of two sons.

Errabiddy Bluff free camp area.

would be connected to the homestead by a rudimentary telephone system that relied on transmitting the signals using a wire in the livestock fence system. Primitive but it works ... mostly!

The Errabiddy Outcamp was one of two identical facilities that were located at opposite ends of the then sprawling Wooleen Station. At the time, the station was owned by Ben H Sharpe and his family.

The family built the current Wooleen Homestead that incorporated some interesting and innovative Alf Couch architectural features. Couch was a renowned pioneer builder who was active in the vast Murchison district in the period 1915 - 1950 and his amazing self-supporting barrel-vault roof construction achievements is described in Cathedrals of Corrugated Iron by Marriot and Critch.

Mrs Watson’s Story Mary Watson was born in 1903 in Midland Junction, being one of 12 children. At the age of 18, she married James who was the station cook at Wooleen Station. This would be the first time that Mary had left home, and James advised her to take a good hat for their new home together. Without any additional detail, arriving at Wooleen must have been an interesting experience as … well, it’s not much like Midland Junction!

James and Mary were soon sent to the lonely Errabiddy Outcamp that was to be their home for the next two years. During 84

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The second child died and was buried in a sandhill near the Wooleen homestead.

Due to complications associated with the birth, Mary left the station and she never actually saw his grave. Mary eventually had seven children with James and a successful working life as a railway employee, being at one time the only Railway Station Mistress in Western Australia. Nevertheless, Mary quietly carried the loss of her second-born until she confided the story to a daughter around 1990. As more than 60 years had elapsed, the only real details Mary could recall about the events was a conversation with a young girl she thought to be Ben Sharpe’s daughter. The young girl's bedside words resonated in Mary’s memory for more than three decades … "Don’t worry Mrs Watson, Dad has built a beautiful white box for the baby".

As a result of some ingenious detective work, Mary returned to Wooleen at the age of 88 years with other members of her family in order to visit the grave of her infant son after an absence of more than 65 years.

During this visit, Mary returned to the Errabiddy Outcamp site. Although the old hut had been demolished to salvage and repurpose building materials, the Kurrajong trees that had been grown from seed

by James remained. Mary said, "I really missed the place after I left. It’s wonderful to come back. I never expected to find anything from my past still remaining."

Today, visitors will also find the remains of the chimney and fireplace that may interest those travellers looking for unusual night landscape photography opportunities.

The contributions of pioneering European women to pastoral industry development is often forgotten, although only slightly less so than the mostly untold contributions of Aboriginal women during that era.

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y e l r e Kimb ADVENTURE PART 1

BY LAUREN DARGE

When you’re overdue for a break what else do you do but hitch up and hit the road?

We took this trip in late 2021 with our border collie puppy in tow. We were fortunate throughout the trip to find friends or other travellers who were able to mind our dog the few times we did things that she wasn’t allowed to.

Manning Gorge.

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D

eparting Perth, we camped at Wooramal Roadhouse the first night and made pizza for dinner. As we had a big block of time off, we wanted to head north quickly - we can explore spots closer to Perth when we have shorter periods of time off.

We started early the next morning, aiming for Onslow.

You see all sorts of things in the middle of nowhere, like half a dozen historic 1930s cars just south of Nanutarra!

We drove past Parry Range on the way and then arrived at Onslow in the mid-afternoon. We checked out the port and salt mine and then made our way just out of town to camp at the Ashburton River.

We camped at Three Mile Camp, which was a lovely spot, but the mozzies were there in plague proportions, so we had an early night.

The next morning, we explored the old Onslow townsite. The town was relocated after the old jetty was rendered unusable due to the silt build up from the flooded river and cyclone damage. From here we continued north and viewed Mesa A and Warrnambool mine on the way.

We wanted to camp at Panna George in Fortescue, but a permit is required to access it, so we didn't as we hadn’t organised one. We checked out Pannawonica, the Fortescue River and Karratha as potential camp spots and ended up camping at Cleaverville, just north of Karratha. The Fortescue River spot was a bit close to the road and there were lots of river stones, and Karratha was booked out, so we moved on. Burgers were on the menu that night.

Cleaverville was a glorious spot and we decided to stay a few nights. The next morning, we left camp and headed to Dampier, went for a walk along the coast and visited Red Dog. We had a look at Withnell Bay and drove into Murujuga Western 4W Driver #123 |

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Camped at Cleaverville.

National Park. This park hosts the largest collection of Aboriginal rock art in the world.

We checked out the North Shelf Visitor Centre and Hearson Cove, then made our way back to camp. We explored the area including having a look across at Dixon Island and went for a quick swim. Then we went back to camp to put the pork roast on.

In the morning we cooked brekky and kept it warm in the Travel Buddy while we packed up camp. This turned out to be a great idea as we were able to make a speedy getaway and have our bacon and egg wraps on the road. Our new Yeti travel mugs also kept our coffee nice and hot for a good hour.

Continuing our way north, we popped into Samson Point for a look and explored the Cossack Museum. We drove through Roebourne and arrived in Port Hedland early in the afternoon. We were lucky to be able to book in a few days before.

The next morning, we went out for brekky with a school friend of mine and then spent 88

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the rest of the day relaxing, swimming in the pool, doing a bit of washing and planning the next part of the trip. We couldn’t believe how busy it was on the road. We knew it would be busy, but not this busy! Everywhere had been booked out and even the 24-hour rest stops looked like caravan parks!

We spent the rest of the time in Port Hedland exploring the markets and the town. We headed out to the Finucane area which gives you a close look at the port. There’s also a boat ramp and beach access where we pulled two bogged cars out. They were glad to see us. We ended up airing back up while watching the tugs bring a ship into the port.

The first station stay We travelled from Port Hedland to Barn Hill Station where we spent a few days relaxing, going for walks and swimming.

They do Tai Chi every morning, have bowls competitions, a weekly band performance,

Beach at Barn Hill Station.

pizzas, barista coffee and delicious baked treats like cinnamon scrolls and vanilla slices as well as fresh baked bread. This is a spot we are keen to revisit.

Departing Barn Hill for Derby, we stopped on the side of the road to pump some fuel into the car off the tank on the trailer and to put sausage rolls in the Travel Buddy. One of our best purchases for the trip!

When we arrived in Derby we topped up on a few supplies, including dog poo bags (freezer bags did the job) and dropped the dog off at the kennels so we could go to the National Park the following day.

The next morning we made an early start for Windjana Gorge. We made it there before 8.00am which meant we completed the 7km walk without too many other travellers.

We spotted a few crocs having a swim and a lot sunning themselves on our walk out.

We next headed to Tunnel Creek which was a great adventure. It was busier there but well worth the look. We spotted a few crocs on the way, and we had to

swim to complete the walk! For the added challenge, the head torch ran out of power, and I left my glasses in the car, so I only had my prescription sunglasses, making it rather dark.

After collecting the dog on our way back we took her for a run on the local footy oval and then chilled back at camp.

First half of the Gibb

We packed up early and hit the Gibb, stopping at the ever so slightly cheaper truck fuel stop in Derby. Part way along the road we had a wee stop and the dog met her first cow. She thought it was a large dog and barked. Bet she wouldn’t have been so brave if it was any closer!

We saw Queen Victoria’s head in the Napier Ranges and then stopped in at Lennard Gorge, doing the 3km walk. We decided not to clamber down to the waterfall and had a quick dip on the way out.

We checked out Bells Creek as a potential camp site, but it was too early in the day to Western 4W Driver #123 |

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paying our camp fees for the night at the Mt Barnett Roadhouse.

After parking up and going for a swim, we decided that this spot was too nice, and we decided to stay another night. There’s also a nice little area where you can let the dog off to go for a swim. This was great and she enjoyed the run around, making a few doggy friends.

Adcock Gorge.

stay and it wasn’t that nice in the end as there wasn’t that much water. We visited Adcock Gorge and took the dog for a walk and went for a swim at the end. It was a lovely spot we had mostly to ourselves.

We then headed out onto the Gibb and across the road to a clearing to camp for the night, cooking steak on the fire under a full moon.

We decided on an early start to beat the crowds and headed to Bell Gorge (although we had to back track a little as we couldn’t camp at the gorge with the dog.) The walk was lovely, and we enjoyed the swim at the bottom of the falls. It only took us about two hours including the swim.

Next, we made our way to Manning Gorge, 90

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Enjoying a dip at Manning Gorge.

We spent the afternoon swimming and cooked ribs on the fire. We all got a huge fright when a cow wandered through our camp.

We left the dog at camp to do the hike into the gorge and to the falls. This was a lovely spot. We spent some time exploring up the falls, jumping off the rocks (well just me!) and swimming.

We started the next morning with a cooked breakfast, packed up and headed back to Galvins Gorge from the Manning Gorge

campground, which wasn’t far at all. We did the short hike with the dog who had a great time. A nice couple looked after her while we went for a quick swim at the waterfall as she wasn’t so keen for a swim.

Next, we visited Jigngarrin Gorge where we took the dog on another big walk and then clambered down to the bottom of the gorge for a swim. The dog was happy to get her feet wet here.

Our adventures continue in the next issue.

Jigngarrin Gorge.

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12 TOP TIPS FOR TRAVELLING WITH A PUPPY 1

Bring more poo bags than you think you’ll need.

Buy a few rolls, freezer or nappy bags will do the trick if you’re stuck.

2

Have a spare leash and consider how it will work once it has been soaked in the ocean and the dirt. The dust, sand and salt was obviously too much for the clasp on our dog leash so invest in a carabiner style one.

3

Consider crate training your dog before you go, that way you can bring their house with you and there’s a safe space for them where they don’t have to be tied up. Especially when you don’t want muddy paws in your bed!

4

Bring brushes, scissors and lots of treats to get any prickles and knots out.

5

Research dog minding places, travel with a buddy who will babysit or join different travelling Facebook groups where like-minded people might be looking for a dog sitter. You can take your dog to lots of spots, but not everywhere.

6

Consider your camp set up, and how many poles a dog on a rope might take out.

It doesn’t matter how well behaved your dog is, sometimes they just have to be tied up.

7

Bring lots of water, especially if it’s hot. Have water for your dog in a separate bottle so you can pour it from the bowl back into the bottle when they’re not thirsty so you’re not wasting water.

8

Have lots of things for your dog to chew on, especially when you go to a café.

9

Get your dog used to being in the car for trips of different lengths and different types of journeys like corrugations.

10

Research the area you are travelling to for things you need to look out for, and know where the nearest vet is. For this trip we treated our dog with flea and tick chews and a tick collar. Watch your dog closely, as 1080 is everywhere.

11

Our dog lost her name tag so consider carrying a spare or have one like a sheep tag around their collar that won’t come off easily.

12

Bring lots of their favourite toys.

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POOCH PROTECTION

BY CHRIS MORTON

M

ore and more of us are opting to travel with our furry friends when heading off on holiday. The big fear for many is that our doggy mates will slip their leash and then become lost in unfamiliar surroundings. Fear no more! The team at Wanderlust have the answer. The Tractive GPS combines the latest technology to ensure your peace of mind.

Slipping snuggly onto their collar, the Tractive GPS Dog 4 offers worldwide tracking and activity monitoring with a LIVE mode, providing updates every 2-3 seconds. Geofencing allows you to be alerted if your poochy pal wanders too far and the unit is 100% waterproof. The battery will give you up to 7 days before needing to be replaced.

Just like your activity watch, the Tractive GPS will also keep track of your dog’s

activity levels, allowing you to monitor their health and compare it to other, similar dogs.

The tracker operates using a SIM card and utilises the mobile network to send back GPS and other doggy related data. It currently works in over 150 countries and offers 24/7 coverage. Subscriptions start from $6.92/month.

You can curb your canine’s curiosity by grabbing a Tractive GPS Dog 4 from Wanderlust either online or instore.

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SAFETY... ? s e r a c o Wh

BY DAVID WILSON

If you’ve bought a new vehicle recently, you will have noticed that a non-car guy/girl is determining the features list and going all out to rub you out of the Captain and Commander role and relegate you to the backseat.

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I

I was mightily impressed with the Jeep Trailhawk, plenty of 4WD capability and a willing diesel, only blunted by a mildly annoying steering trait.

recall back in 2018, when reviewing the Jeep Compass Trailhawk, that it had (compared to today) a pretty basic safety setup for lane-keeping and other duties. Because of it, I thought that maybe there was a problem with the steering box, because every now and then it would bindup, especially when going around a corner.

That was my first introduction to lane-keeping vehiclesafety electronics that are generally loved by road-safety legislators and loathed by you and me, the longsuffering car consumers.

I’ve been driving Isuzu’s new D-MAX and their new MU-X for two years now and at the time of their release, IDAS, as Isuzu Ute Australia call it (Intelligent Driver Assistance System), was the most technologically advanced suite of safety electronics seen on a motor vehicle in this country.

The camera in the new Isuzu sees all sorts of things, even ghosts!

It uses a twin-lens (stereo) camera located up in the windscreen that is constantly on the lookout ahead for peril and left in its most-sensitive settings it finds plenty of it, both real and imagined.

One of its party-tricks is scouring the roadspace for lane markings, white lines that might define where you need to be.

My first encounter of new D-MAX’s corrective steering was on a wet August day out in the backblocks after rain had left a heap of puddles in the craggy bitumen’s unmarked left edge. IDAS saw that as the 'white line' and my left-hand margin, forcing me out to the centre of the road where it saw the mid-road marking. What ensued Western 4W Driver #123 |

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was a bizarre couple of kilometres of being bounced around like the ball in a pinball machine, as the flippers (IDAS) had a bout of histrionics.

It seems I wasn’t the only one to have experienced something similar and the crescendo of unpopular opinion resulted in Isuzu offering up a 'fix' a year later, with a steering wheel button depression that disables the lane-keeping function, winning back more driver control.

it had managed to set its parameters at the low end of the scale and it was bearable, but the conversation I had with a mate who bought a 300 GR Sport recently was typical of a first-time user on a current Toyota 4WD.

New LandCruiser 300 is another one blighted by an overly attentive set of safety initiatives that needs some taming.

This magic button turns off most of the D-MAX and MU-X lane-keeping hysteria and is the automotive equivalent of Valium.

Hang on, we’ve just turned off a key component in a technology that the automotive safety-Nannas reckon is the Holy Grail and mandatory in every new vehicle design? Talk about conflicted.

Of course Isuzu aren’t alone in this caper and EVERY new 4WD and passenger car sold in this country and elsewhere, use similar systems designed by Bosch, ZF, Denso and Hitachi. It’s reasonable to expect too, that all these systems, whether employed in a Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Mitsubishi or Mazda, or LDV, are likely to be as intrusive as the Isuzu setup, maybe even more so?

In Ian’s words, “This would have to be the most dangerous car I’ve ever driven, steering me into oncoming traffic and applying the brakes in the middle of the road, in traffic, for no reason. It’s crap”.

He went on, “If this is the best Toyota can do, I’m taking it back and they can stick it where …” and I think you get the rest of where that yarn was going.

Now, Ian isn’t a dumb bunny, because his garage is filled with high-end and pretty diverse machinery, like a McLaren, Mercedes G-Wagen and an AMG GT, a Porsche or two, a new Defender, a couple of Ranger Raptors and chuckle, a JB74 Jimny. All of them possessed their own iteration of the safety electronics, but he was mightily pissed with his LandCruiser, because it offered the most-burdensome version.

A case in point.

In the last few weeks I’ve been swanning around in a new Toyota LandCruiser 300, the VX version, and costing around the $120K mark, including on-roads.

It too has its own version of IDAS, but luckily for me the previous journalist driving 96

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Luckily Toyota fiddled with his car’s brain and stopped the histrionics before they totally lost a previously loyal customer.

That begs the question then.

If we are frustrated with the performance on-road of these systems and increasingly they are making 4WDs almost impossible to drive off-road, and add so much complexity to a vehicle and therefore cost, why have we allowed this to happen?

It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to turn off the 'aids' on a new vehicle. You just can’t escape their reach, on or off-road.

And then there’s the cost.

I’ve done a bit of a consult with some automotive tech-folk and asked what the pure cost of these safety systems might be, and there’s a thought it might be adding anywhere between $5-15K, depending on the vehicle in question, the hardware required and the licensing and upkeep of the software installed. It all begs the question about longevity as well?

Will this stuff only increase the disposable nature of the automotive world and in ten year's time there’ll be zero support, rendering today’s cars undriveable, when inevitably things start going wrong?

To the scrapheap they go with random electrical faults and prohibitively expensive to repair.

You’ve all read about, or experienced, the lengthy wait-times for new vehicles and a lot of that is locked up in this discussion, the need for ever-increasingly more powerful computer processing that’s just not made in sufficient numbers, in this era of recorddemand for new vehicles. In the case of an LC300, that means forecasted wait times being anywhere between one to four years (depending on country), sheesh!

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Somewhere in Europe there’s a cabal of safety-zealots who are plotting the overthrow of the automobile world as we know it. They’ve never enjoyed the pleasure of shifting gears, or anticipating a braking moment. They’ve never engaged LOW range, instinctively adjusted traction or been bogged. What we’re witnessing is the devolution of 4WD design, with too much emphasis on risk-aversion. Safety … who cares?

Yep, that’s my D-MAX and right, royally bogged, thanks to traction control that despite being turned off, re-emerges once you get over 40km/h.

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LAND PATROL If it could go wrong ...

BY BERNIE WEBB

For 25 years I was a Customs Officer with the Australian Customs Service. Between 1976 and 1979 I was stationed in Broome as one of the six crew members on ACV (Australian Customs Vessel) ‘Jacana’. As well as our Marine tasks we were also required to assist the rest of the staff with other duties.

One of these, and definitely my favourite, was Land Patrols.

L

and Patrols were completed in one of Broome Customs' two Series III Land Rovers (one for the Office and one for the Marine Unit). The purpose of these patrols was to liaise with the various cattle stations in the Kimberley on an irregular basis to check for such things as unusual sightings of aircraft, 4WDs, people, and anything else considered suspicious.

Accompanying me on this particular patrol was Kevin S. (another crew member whose nickname was ‘Speed’).

Our first or second overnight camp was at the camping ground at Windjana Gorge, I suspect a completely different arrangement to what it is now. As we arrived the sun was setting and the twilight in the tropics is very short lived due to its proximity to the equator. We quickly began to set up camp while there was some light left to see what we were doing. After most things were organised, I needed to go for a pee.

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It was now nearly completely dark, just a distant glow of the last receding rays of the sun lighting up some clouds. On arrival, I had noticed, what I thought was a relatively shallow dry creek bed running alongside the campground about 20 metres from where we had camped. Deciding this would be a good place to pee, I wandered over and jumped down …

First mishap: The ‘shallow’ creek bed was more like 1 to 1.5 metres deep. I ‘came to’ lying on the bottom of the creek bed ‘seeing stars’, a few seconds later. Luckily no serious damage but it was a bit of a shock to the system! I hastily peed and scrambled back up to the top, covered in a bit more Kimberley pindan dust than I had been, sporting some new scratches and feeling slightly sore and uncomfortable. I strolled back to camp as innocently as I could.

The next day, as we were only half an hour or so from Tunnel Creek (Aboriginal name Dimalurra) and being on our way to our next station, we decided to have a look. Tunnel Creek is a natural cave formed over millions of years by fast flowing wet season water cutting through from one side of Napier Range to the other. It is about 1km long (2km return trip), around 12m wide and with varying amounts of water in many pools. On occasion it is known to be inhabited by freshwater crocodiles, and while they're relatively safe

and harmless, all bets are off if you step on one! Depending on the time of year, wading through water is required in some parts of the tunnel. A good quality torch with fresh batteries is essential (this was long before headlamps were a thing!)

the next station earlier than expected, with more time to enjoy a beer. So, off we went armed with this new information, out into the unforgiving Kimberley bush along a far from well-used station track.

(Many decades later when visiting Tunnel Creek again, on one of our 4x4 trips, this time accompanied by Warrick G, we did successfully climb over the top but were nearly thwarted, right at the last part, by a severe climb/scramble back down to normal ground level. Just as well Kevin didn’t attempt it all those years before!)

down in the rear. Quickly stopping, with the rear leaning badly over to the left, we got out to survey the scene. “Oh sh!t”, we both mumbled at the same time. “That’s going to be a problem,” said Kevin. We were looking at where the left wheel should have been but instead, we were looking at a badly gouged wheel hub with no less than five of the five wheel studs broken off.

Progress slowed to a crawl while we Second mishap: No, neither of us stepped negotiated one obstacle after another. As on a crocodile, but Kevin came very close the track was quite rough, it was also very to doing so whilst looking up at some noisy in the Land Rover. After what seemed bats on the roof near to the far end of the hours, the track slowly started to improve, cave. The close encounter scared the sh!t and we figured we must be on the next out of both of us. ‘Speed’ quickly (very station and closing in on the homestead unusual for Kevin) recovered and took (not that we had any idea where we actually refuge on a higher part of the tunnel floor were – this was long before any form of where I had already leapt. After regaining satellite navigation in vehicles). The track our composure, we were soon at continued to improve to the point the end of the tunnel, only where it was quite smooth problem was, we had to again. Only problem was go back the same way or the noise in the vehicle ...thought we climb over the top. Kevin had stayed the same decided he wasn’t built and the back end was were seeing pairs for climbing across the jumping around for no of red eyes in the top, so we had to go particular reason. We torchlights back the same way. were just starting to Reluctantly we retraced wonder what was going our steps back through on when it happened … the tunnel, but it took us Third mishap: The left rear nearly twice as long as the wheel went hurtling past us inward trip as we kept seeing, or and disappeared into the bush to thought we were seeing pairs of red eyes the left of the track ahead, as the vehicle in the torchlights. lurched violently to the left and dropped

So, onward to the next station. Here we made contact with the Station Manager, recording anything of possible interest.

After downing a nice cup of tea and some freshly baked scones he asked where we were heading next. He then hastily scribbled a mud map and verbally described a ‘short cut’ between his station and the adjoining one, which was our next destination. Excellent we thought; arrive at

Slowly regaining our composure, we headed off looking for the missing wheel (well, the vehicle wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry!) This took much longer than we had anticipated, because neither of us had really noticed where the wheel had entered the bush and we weren’t prepared for how far it had travelled. So, five or ten minutes later, we finally returned to the Western 4W Driver #123 |

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stricken ‘Rover’ with the missing wheel.

“Now what?” said I. “Time for a cuppa”, said Kevin. A good idea, so we gathered up some dry twigs and commenced to boil the billy. A few minutes later, with fresh cups of tea in hand we had a closer look at our new problem.

All five holes for the wheel studs in the retrieved wheel were completely flogged out making that wheel totally unusable.

Closer inspection of the left rear wheel hub showed four of the wheel studs had sheared off completely, leaving only one with a mangled thread and no wheel nuts to be seen anywhere. What the hell were we going to do?

All went well and we finally made it into the station where we were staying that night (in the shearing quarters). We were a few hours later than we should have been, and it was now dark. Although the station family were concerned for our whereabouts, they had decided to think positively and had made us dinner as were staying overnight.

It was an excellent roast followed down with a couple of cold beers; very hospitable people. After relaying our eventful story to them, they explained that nobody had actually driven the ‘short cut’ for a number of years. Now they tell us!

The next day, due to our ‘modified’ ‘Rover’, we decided we had better head straight back to Broome. Initially, as we were Eventually we decided the only sticking to our self-imposed option we had was to jack up speed limits, our return trip the other three wheels in continued as smoothly as turn and remove a wheel ...WE DECIDED circumstances permitted. stud and wheel nut WE'D BETTER That is until after we had from each wheel hub. stopped for morning tea, HEAD STRAIGHT This we accomplished near a creek. Tea break reasonably easily, well, BACK TO BROOME. finished, we jumped certainly compared to back into the ‘Rover’, jacking up the left-hand started her up and … rear of the vehicle. ‘All’ that remained was to knock out three of the sheared off wheel studs in the damaged hub and install the borrowed wheel studs.

The end result, three wheels with only four studs instead of five and the damaged lefthand rear, with only three studs and nuts and part of a stud sticking through one of the holes in the rim. So, we should be good to go. We picked up and stowed all the tools and finally got going, now considerably later than we should have been. Kevin started the engine, put it into gear and very gingerly accelerated and all seemed okay. We decided to keep the speed down to 50km/h absolute max and down to only 30km/h or less on any rough surfaces. We stopped and got out a couple of times to visually inspect each wheel to see if they were behaving, and luckily, they all were.

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Fourth mishap: For reasons unknown, we were stuck in third gear!

Trying to take off in third gear high range simply stalled the vehicle. The only solution we could come up with was to drive in low range third gear all the way back to Broome.

(Luckily, we could disengage the front ‘free-wheeling’ hubs, so that we weren’t stuck in 4WD - which could have caused even more damage). At least it solved the problem of keeping our speed down due to our earlier mishap! We limped into Broome late in the afternoon, with a lot of explaining to do. The office staff, especially the Sub-Collector, couldn’t believe that so much had happened in a relatively short five-day trip. Neither could we.

Moral of this story: If it could go wrong, it probably will.

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What does OFF-ROAD mean and what is an OFF-ROAD VEHICLE?

BY DR JOHN COLLINS

Recently this question has cropped up repeatedly, so it is timely to explore what offroad means in the context of responsible four-wheel driving and explore possible definitions.

W

e know that definitions can be vexatious topics as many people have a tendency to use highly specialised and often technical terms out of context. That said, there are very few English language words that have or retain a single meaning as our language is dynamic with word use and meaning continually changing over time. I’m confident that readers will be able to point to many examples, but one of my favourites is “decimation”, which is often used as a synonym for “devastation” in conversation and/or media reporting.

This invites spleen from some linguistic enthusiasts who cling to the historic barbaric ancient Roman practice of executing one in every ten soldiers as a form of military punishment. But relax, for according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it's now totally fine to use “decimate” as a synonym for “devastate”. There are many other tricky English words such as when, a, person, use, tricky, or word, all of which have multiple meanings, so we use context to

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understand the speaker’s intent. For this reason, the first step to deciding what offroad means is the review of some of the legislative or government definitions that are used in Western Australia to provide conversational context.

In recent years there has been a significant increase in the purchases of four-wheel drive vehicles registered under the Road Traffic Act 1974 (RTA) as a growing number of people want to enjoy off-road or fourwheel driving. At the same time, there has been increasing public concern expressed about the environmental damage that can and is being caused to coastal, hilly, and wetland areas by irresponsible driving of a variety of motorised recreational vehicles.

Communities also express concern about safety issues relating to conflicting use of the environment particularly in coastal areas that has resulted in land managers excluding off-road vehicles in Western Australia and in other Australian jurisdictions.

To mitigate damage resulting from inappropriate off-road vehicle use, considerable funds are spent by all levels of Western Australian government to restore damage being done by off-road vehicles. Organisations such as Track Care WA Inc., the Western Australian Four-Wheel

Drive Association, other four-wheel drive clubs, and the Recreational Trail Riders Association all seek to promote responsible four-wheel driving and trail bike riding on publicly managed land.

To define the term “off-road” and then to describe the types of vehicles likely to be involved in off-road driving it is essential to define the term “road”. In the Western Australian jurisdiction these three legislative instruments need consideration: • The RTA in section 5 includes any highway, road or street open to, or used by the public.

• The Land Administration Act 1997 defines a road as land dedicated at common law or reserved, declared or otherwise dedicated under the Act as a road, street, or thoroughfare for pedestrians or both.

• The Local Government Act 1995 does not define a road although there is reference to public throughfares and (obliquely) to those throughfares that are dedicated as roads.

While many people still refer to “gazetted roads” or “public roads” these are outdated terms as there is no longer any requirement to publish road details in the Government Gazette or to give a dedicated road an identification number. Roads under these three Acts can be best described as dedicated roads being Crown Land set aside as a road (road reserves) and increasingly, Main Roads WA and/or local government prefer the term “dedicated road” to describe the infrastructure they manage.

A significant portion of the roads and trails used by recreationalists are outside of the jurisdiction of the three Acts outlined above.

Roads and trails within land managed by the

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) are regulated by the Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 (CALM Act) together with Regulations 51 - 57 (Division 2) within the CALM Regulations, and Corporate Policy 40: Road Management. These prescriptive requirements are then used together to guide motorised vehicle-based activities within the CALM Act land estate.

Simply, all vehicle users of roads and trails within CALM Act land estate are required to comply with the RTA. What is an off-road vehicle? According to Australian Government Road Vehicle Standards (Classes of Vehicles that are not Road Vehicles) Determination 2021 definition, an off-road vehicle means a vehicle that has at least four of the following five characteristics when the vehicle is at unladen mass on level ground, with the front wheels in the straight ahead position and the tyres inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure: (a) approach angle of 28 degrees or more; (b) breakover angle of 14 degrees or more; (c) departure angle of 20 degrees or more; (d) running clearance of 200mm or more; (e) distance from the ground to the lowest point of any suspension or drivetrain component of 175mm or more.

Approach angle

Departure angle Breakover angle

Vehicle diagram depicting approach, breakover and departure angles from: Road Vehicle Standards (Classes of Vehicles that are not Road Vehicles) Determination 2021 (legislation.gov.au) Western 4W Driver #123 |

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The CALM Act policy road guidelines describe “off-road driving includes accessing roads or tracks closed to the public or driving where there are no roads, e.g. across vegetation, beaches/ sand or rock”. It is worth noting that the closure of access to the public of CALM Act roads or tracks may be done by departmental signage or barrier, for example, “management track”, “authorised vehicles only”, “no access” types of signage. CALM Act road use is subject to users being fully compliant with the RTA and/or The Control of Vehicles (Offroad Areas) Act 1978 unless with written permission of the DBCA Regional or District Manager. Underage and unlicensed drivers are not permitted to use CALM Act roads unless this is authorised by The Control of Vehicles (Off-road Areas) Act 1978.

Simply, any closed road, track or trail on CALM Act managed land estate cannot be legally accessed in a vehicle by any member of the public unless permitted by the relevant DBCA Regional or District Manager. Any road, track or trail cannot be used by a vehicle off road registered to be compliant with The Control of Vehicles (Off-road Areas) Act 1978 unless the area is register as an off-road vehicle area. No unregistered vehicles can legally access CALM Act land estate.

According to the TENDING THE TRACKS: A strategy for community-based management projects for the off-road environments between Wilbinga and Dongara, which was an alliance supported by the Northern Agricultural Catchment Council (NACC), the Australian Government National Landcare program, The Western Australian Four Wheel Drive Association, Track Care WA Inc., the Conservation Council of Western Australia, and local coastcare groups in their strategic plan stated that:

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1. Off-Road Vehicle Road or Trail: A multiple purpose corridor that is open to recreational travel by an ORV that is designated or managed by or for the managing authority of the property that the trail traverses for ORV use.

2. Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) is a motor driven, off-road recreational vehicle capable of cross-country travel without benefit of a road or trail. An ORV is a motorised vehicle operated primarily on land, marsh, wetland or other natural terrain. ORV includes a two wheel, three-wheel, four-wheel, other multi-wheeled, tacked or multi-tracked vehicle, motorcycle, dune buggy, amphibious vehicle, ground effects or aircushion vehicle and any other means of land transportation deriving motive power from a source other than muscle or wind. By definition, ATVs, UTVs, side by sides, RZRs®, ROVs, motorcycles and mopeds are all considered ORVs. ORVs registered for road use comply with the requirements of the Road Traffic Act 1974.

It remains unclear to me why there is controversy among motorised recreational drivers and users about the definition of what off-road means and what is an off-road vehicle. It is disappointing to note significant effort, time and fiscal resources being used that, in my opinion, would be better applied assisting land managers, be they private or publicly owned, to help educate users and undertake volunteer projects to mitigate damage done by a few individuals.

Surely, a positive user engagement model that creates tangible on-ground solutions is preferable to devoting spleen to solving a problem that does not appear to require a solution given the investigation and the preceding report?

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Toorak Taxis A POEM BY MARC GLASBY

There's a load of Toorak taxis headin' for the back o' Bourke taken out by city cowboys going west to "make 'em work" They follow one another like a herd of bloody sheep The things they say about the bush would make a swaggie weep They're loaded up with camping gear and bucket loads of beer But ask 'em if they've got a spade they seem to go all queer They tear along the dusty trail without a thought or care Until they get a second flat without another spare Driving on the unsealed road they never stop for rain They chew it up so no one else can use the track again They camp right by the river and lather up with soap To leave the campsite fresh and clean is just too much to hope Unprepared and uninformed they're heading off out back Making lists of all they need but then forget to pack Their stereos are blasting for all the world to hear the wildlife flees in terror whenever they appear Some noisy thoughtless people who spoil it for the rest are flattening the bush again somewhere off out west Their shiny brand new four wheel drives without a scratch or dent come home a little worse for wear and looking rather bent So when you see them coming you'd best be on your way and like the roo keep running until they're far away.

Western 4W Driver #123 |

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BOOK REVIEW

BY CHRIS MORTON

How to be an award-winning tour guide

By Jeremy Perks and Jan Barrie

I

f you love the outdoors and exploring everything nature has to offer, then maybe you need to read this book. As the title suggests, the book can equip you with the right tools and mindset to get you on your way as a tour guide (or help you reinvigorate yourself if already working in the industry), however it is also a great resource for those who are not aspiring to get into the industry.

This is not one of those stuffy, academicbased books, based upon theory, but one that has been crafted from real-life experience. The book is filled with the authors' personal experiences, industry insights and hands-on experiences to put you on the right path.

Regardless of whether you intend to guide a group through the back streets of Perth, venture into the remote outback or are put in charge of organising your next adventure with friends and family, How to be an Award-Winning Tour Guide breaks down everything you need to know, consider and do to make your next trip a successful one.

With over 40 years combined experience, Jeremy and Jan are recognised as leaders in the tourism industry. You can grab your own copy of How to be an Award-Winning Tour Guide from: www.globalgypsies.com.au

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PRODUCT REVIEW

BY ALEX WRIGHT & BRONTE HARTLAND

DRIFTA ROOFTOP TENT AND AWNING A

s we sit around the campfire, overlooking the setting sun with a gleam of content in our eyes, it’s hard to imagine living life any other way. Since packing up our lives into the LandCruiser three months ago to head around our beautifully diverse country, Bronte and I (Alex) have learnt, (often painfully) the trade secrets of camping and fine tuned our setup along the way.

With the intention of exploring some of Australia’s remote 4W driving we needed a roof top and awning that would be lightweight enough to tackle the tracks without worrying about being excessively top-heavy. With the Drifta 1.2 RTT being one of the lightest hard-shells on the market at 57kg, it was a no-brainer for us. We also wanted a 270-degree free-standing awning that was easy to set up and have the option for side walls to bunker down out of the weather when we needed.

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Since the beginning of the trip, the Drifta RTT has withstood the relentless downpour we experienced in NSW, keeping us high and dry up in the tent - literally not a single drop! We did make the mistake however of not putting a timber floorboard underneath us, leaving us teeth-chattering cold in the NSW hinterlands. This was easily resolved though by getting the ply bedbase provided by Drifta that’s made to fit the RTT, which now lives in our rooftop under the mattress, keeping us insulated from the chilly temperatures.

I know what you’re probably thinking ... how does a rooftop go in the wind? After experiencing the strong southerly winds along the Great Australian Bight cliffs, the Drifta rooftop surpassed the test but there is a small trick to it. You have to face the hardshell into the wind. The tent and the hardshell are separated with an air gap

which is great for airflow and reducing condensation, but it will flap in strong winds if you are not facing the right direction.

Keep the hardshell facing into the wind and you will be sure to have a restful night, full of 4W driving dreams.

The one thing you appreciate the most on the road after a long day outdoors, is a good night's sleep and with the compact design of the Drifta rooftop we wanted to make sure we weren’t missing out on comfort. After a bit of trial and error, we now have the comfiest bed that we look forward to each night. We LOVE our sleep and if you do too, we recommend doing the same (in this order): ply bedbase, the Drifta eggshell mattress (game changer), a mattress topper, warm sheets and the Drifta sleeping bag for the cooler nights. All this fits into the rooftop (minus the pillows) and feels like you’re sleeping on clouds with no sore shoulders or Deep Heat required the next day. Bronte can also stay up in bed reading with the interior LED lighting and I keep my sandy shoes out with the handy boot bags provided.

The rooftop has been incredibly easy to pop up and down, making daily camp movements a breeze and simple enough for one person. We’ve added the ladder

upgrade kit to make the climb into bed more sturdy and mounted our solar panel to the rooftop bars. We also put our surfboards on top of the rooftop bars to allow more room for storage in the car which added a bit of weight on the gas struts but we use the Drifta twist lock crab claw bar to give us peace of mind whilst sleeping during windy nights.

We also have the Drifta Stockton freestanding 270-degree awning attached to our roof rack, chosen for its lightweight, broad coverage and ease of use, only requiring one person to set it up. During our trip, we have had a couple of days of sideways wind and rain where the side awning walls came in handy and created a cosy area for us to escape the weather.

Although it's very sturdy in the wind and rain, we add poles and tie downs just for peace of mind while we’re sleeping. Overall, the awning has been perfect for our needs with good drainage of the rain and of course, some nice shade on those balmy sunny days. The 270-degree awning alongside the Drifta 1.2 RTT have been fundamental to our adventure around Oz which you can follow along on YouTube “Wrighty’s Root”.

Now it's time to get back to cracking a tinny and watching the sunset!

Western 4W Driver #123 |

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OVER THE BONNET

OUR READERS WRITE

Hello Chris and Karen, Driver magazine.

I'm an avid reader of Western 4W in the mag. that might be worthy of a mention I have attached a couple of photos as my new my annual caravan trip to Broome I was in danger of missing out on old towing my and date ery deliv ths over its due vehicle I purchased was six mon use of his the to the rescue and offered me vehicle was sold. My son came .

LandCruiser which I duly accepted Because I except for my driver's side mirrors.

The trip was enjoyably trouble-free the mirror past t wen every time a large road train had the extension mirror attached, p at just stra a and occy an , some inventiveness would fold in on the pivot. Time for well. ose purp the ed serv r doo the e n and clos the right tension so I could also ope tennis ball and roached by a man who gave me a Fuelling up in Carnarvon I was app s to say, 1000 dles Nee it. with do to t ed me wha said, "Try this". Perplexed he show g there and sittin the tennis ball was still snugly kilometres later and safely home, the mirror hadn't budged. .

So thanks to the stranger. It worked Cheers, Benny

WINNER Hi Benny, The tennis ball is a great idea and one I wish would work with my Clearview mirrors when we are up north. This is another great example of travellers looking after each other on the road and a simple solution to a sometimes very frustrating problem.

Congratulations Benny!

You've won a Red Roads canvas clear top cargo drawer bag thanks to

Got a question?

Got an opinion?

Send us a message!

PO Box 50, Northbridge WA 6865 Email admin@western4wdriver.com.au

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BUSH MECHANICS with GEOFF LEWIS

KEEPING YOUR COOL

Keeping the operator or driver in tip-top condition is a must for any adventure.

I

n recent times many of us have enjoyed the now-affordable 12-volt fridge, though in warmer situations these fridges can become congested with plastic bottles of water while the other distilled or fermented varieties are left by the wayside. It seems a bit wrong or is it just me? I have even seen people keep an entirely separate fridge for keeping disposable water bottles cool.

A set-up similar to this can cost a good couple of thousand dollars and there is the constant worry about not having enough power to run an extra fridge.

Once again, the old ways provide. I spend a lot of my time working, living and filming in very remote parts of Australia and having items which are reusable and require no electricity tend to work the best.

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One such item is the canvas water bag, and yes they still make them. These can be hung on your bullbar and as you drive along the process of evaporation through the canvas causes the water within the bag to become cool, but not cold.

As many of you know, in hot conditions it does not pay to drink hot or cold water as this causes your body to work harder as it then needs to heat or cool the water you just drank. This may not seem like much but it can and has brought on heat stress and stroke for many.

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What's in a Name?

with PHIL BIANCHI

Explorer Frank Hann left his mark E

nglish born Frank Hann (1846-1921) was an explorer, pastoralist and expert bushman.

He came to WA from Queensland in 1896.

In WA he explored in the Kimberley, Pilbara, Norseman Ravensthorpe area and most prolifically in the Gibson and Queen Victoria Deserts.

Naming over 500 geographical features in WA, his expeditions extended as far as the Petermann Ranges in Central Australia and Oodnadatta, SA. Hann River, Hanns Tabletop, Frank Hann National Park and Mount Hann in Western Australia are officially named in his honour. He also has a track, known as Hanns Track, opened up by Ian Elliot and others, named after him. Should you wish to travel this track a comprehensive guide is available from www.western4wdriver.com.au/shop Hann kept journals and maps (some are lost) of his expeditions. It is through these journals that places named by him have been confirmed. Hann was accompanied PLEASE NOTE: If you left your name on surfaces nowadays, as Hann did, it would be seen as graffiti, but when done over 100 years ago, they are seen as historic.

Please don’t deface them or add your own nearby.

by his close friend Talbot, who came overland with him from Queensland. From 1903 he based himself 10km eastward of Laverton at a camp shown on today’s maps as Hanns Camp. While prospecting and exploring in the eastern goldfields

and the deserts to the east he had access to government camels and equipment. In naming features Hann was astute to ensure he named them after his financial backers, presumably in the hope this would ensure continued financial support. He also chose many quirky names, including Hidden Secret Rockhole, Crow Cave Hill, Lake Disappointment, and Bishop Rileys Pulpit.

Hanns Tabletop.

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He also used descriptive names such as Wallaby Rocks Breakaway, Mallee Hen Rocks and Sunday Surprise Rocks.

Many rockholes and features, have FH or Hann or Talbot or combinations of them chiselled onto nearby rock faces or trees.

Hann describes these in his journals.

In my 4WD travels over the years I have sought out countless Hann inscriptions.

There’s a sense of achievement in finding them. I also check on previously located ones. Here are a few.

Blaze Point The point is located on a breakaway some 22km north-west of Lake Rason. Hann visited here on 20 January 1906 and erected a cairn on top of the point so it could be seen from a distance. South-east of the cairn in a small creek line he located a rockhole; here he blazed a tree. This blaze eluded me for years but I eventually found it some 1.5km away from Point Blaze itself. It’s on the west side of the creek and some distance below the rockhole. This is the only Hann blaze on a mulga tree found by me that is still living. The names, F Hann, Talbot and S Giles, are in good condition and easy to see. The names face eastward on the tree. It’s well worth spending some time in the area, climbing the breakaway to the cairn; the vistas are superb. The low rocky area where the rockhole is found is also picturesque, with numerous animal pads leading to the rockhole.

Take caution if travelling out here, because at the time of my last visit mining companies were exploring and drilling throughout the area. Also be on the lookout for those ‘special’ mining vehicles that can do amazing speeds and carry amazing weights zooming around. Collision risk is high. Note that some maps show this feature as Point Blaze.

Hidden Secret Rockhole It was discovered and named by Hann on 5 September 1907. They were running short of water when he spotted an open flat going east into Doctor Hicks Range.

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Hann's blaze at Blaze Point.

southward around the bottom and then drove up the western side. When we saw the open flat, we knew we were in the right spot. Driving up the flat we crossed a small creek, and on the creek bank was a dead mulga with the inscriptions FH, T and H Mc (Frank Hann, Talbot and Henry McCarthy). These inscriptions, although legible, are deteriorating. Each time I Hidden Secret Rock Hole, what a magnificent sight. visit I clear the low scrub and grass away from the dead tree Following it up he "… saw very old black's in an effort to provide some protection camps" and following their tracks up from from bushfire. the flat "… to my great surprise and joy there was a splendid rockhole with about 1,000 gallons of water. All our troubles over now for water". The following day Hann records "... Oh, thank God for his great mercy to us on this trip … I will call this The Hidden Secret".

This rockhole is another that proved tricky for me to find. I had rough GPS coordinates and followed the eastern edge of Doctor Hicks Range southward. I was getting closer and closer when suddenly the digital mapping showed I had passed it and was getting further away. Driving back to the spot nearest to the coordinates, I noted that they were some two kilometres west, so it was on the western side of the range. We followed the range

Hann's blazed tree: Hidden Secret Rock Hole.

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The rockhole isn’t situated near the edge of the breakaway as most are, but in a creek line about halfway down to the flat. Being in permanent shade, I’ve always found water in the rockhole as well as lillies.

When full the rockhole would hold about 2,000 gallons.

A walk around the flat will reveal pieces of old grinding stones and stone chippings that had been used as knives. Please leave them where they are. This type of cutlery set isn’t of much use nowadays.

Spend some time here exploring the breakaway; this is nature at its best.

Without doubt Hidden Secret Rockhole would have to be my favourite spot in the western deserts.

Hann inscription east of Lake Rason.

Lang Rock and Shenton Soak

Soak was favoured by many prospectors and explorers of old because this was a reliable source of water.

Lang Rock is 7km south of the Great Central Road and 19km from the Mt Shenton Yarmana Road turn-off. Shenton Soak is on the western side of Lang Rock. Although not named by Hann, he visited here on 20 October 1905. His initials FH and Talbot’s name are chiselled on a westward facing rockface that looks over a corkwood flat; the location of Shenton Soak. Shenton

In addition to Hann and Talbot’s inscriptions there are numerous others including Drinkwater 13/4/1, H E 7/5/1, Swincer, Mason 27/7/1, May 24, Hassan 13/4/1, CB 7/6/94 and GF, HS, Miller, Evans, Pope, Jonson, and Wood 15/6/95. Drinkwater’s name was originally inscribed as Dinkwater, to correct the error a small r was inserted above the D and k.

Peter Muir breakdown story at Lang Rock.

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A few hundred metres to the south of the inscriptions on Lang Rock, Peter Muir, an Agriculture Protection Board dogger, broke down here in 1972 and waited for help to arrive, he was short of water. The story of his wait is painted on a rock. He broke down on 25 November and help arrived 28 November 1972.

the western side to the rockhole. Look for Hann’s “FH” inscription on a rock face as you climb up to the rock hole. This is a great camping spot. Another is in a mulga patch on the way back to the Lake Rason Road.

Note: permits are required for access to this area.

Mallee Hen Rocks These rocks are 100km east of Laverton on the Lake Rason Road. Hann first visited them in January 1902. He doesn’t say he named the rocks, but in a letter to the Lands Department on 24 January 1902, he infers he did by saying Mallee Hen Rocks is a good water point, and that he saw three mallee hens here.

This is a great spot to visit. Take the track south of the Lake Rason Road. You approach the rocks on the eastern side, then follow the rock around and head up

Hann Blaze Charnley River Station.

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123

THE THINGS YOU SEE! with (TRUTHFUL) PHIL BIANCHI

TO PLUG OR NOT TO PLUG Being a keen remote area 4W driver, often doing so cross country, it’s almost certain I’ll cop a dose of punctures from stakes. It's not my way of collecting firewood, but staked tyres go with that type of 4W driving.

There is no fixing this tyre.

M

y worst puncture experience was doing cross country exploring in goldfields mulga country - four tyres got staked. One was terminal; even a carton of plugs couldn’t get this one to hold air. Limping into a wheatbelt town, tyres bristling with plugs, I was lucky to find and have fitted two second hand tyres to go with the two that had escaped the mulga carnage. On another cross-country trip, every vehicle suffered punctures, with some punctures needing four or more strings to plug a leak. Towards the end of that trip, with stocks of tyre strings among the group rapidly depleting, I considered locking mine up, fearing a raid during the night. When doing cross country work, always endeavour to plug a leak, and use the plugged tyre as long as possible. This

A novel way of collecting firewood.

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way you are protecting your spares for use when highway driving when going home.

So what’s a tyre plug? They are lengths of spongy cord and are usually made of rubber-like compounds, some having fibres to make them stronger. In simple terms they are used to provide a temporary fix by being inserted into a punctured tubeless tyre to seal it so it will hold air again.

A kit is probably the best way to go, because you get everything you need to complete a plug repair. Kits usually consist of a reamer, plug insertion tool, plugs and a grease-like lubricant to reduce friction when inserting the plugs. Others include pliers, a sharp blade to cut off excess string, tyre pressure gauge and a small collection of valve removers, valves, and valve caps.

How do they work? Your tyre sensor goes off or your vehicle is pulling heavily left or right. On getting out of the vehicle a hissing sound greets your ears. Before we go on, let’s assume you’ve got a tyre pump, and you’re working on the puncture in a safe area, away from traffic, the ground is stable and so on. Once you’ve found the puncture, make sure the hole is clean by removing

Multiple plugs needed here.

the stake, nail or screw. If you can’t readily locate the puncture, spray soapy water onto the tyre and any puncture will soon reveal itself with a stream of bubbles. It's critical the puncture is free of all debris or it won’t hold air when plugged. Place a string into the insertion tool and fold it back at its midpoint. I prefer to smear tyre tube glue on the string rather than lubricant. The glue acts as a lubricant and provides additional holding strength in the hole when it dries.

Commence pumping up the tyre while spraying soapy water. If no bubbles are present then the hole is plugged. If bubbles continue, insert another plug and use soapy water again until the bubbles stop.

Are they legal? No simple answer here, yes and no. If they were totally illegal, they wouldn’t be sold in the shops.

I plug a puncture to get me back to civlisation so I can make a legal and more permanent repair or buy new tyres. Tyre plugs should not be considered a permanent repair. New tyres aren’t that expensive when you consider that at speed a plug may let go and you could roll your vehicle and injure the occupants.

What kit should you get?

I recall an incident many moons ago, when I saw a

lady with a flat tyre by the road, I offered to help. I soon found a tek screw was the culprit. "Let’s get the spare on for you", I said. There wasn’t one. She didn’t know there wasn’t a spare, she was borrowing the car. "No worries", I said, getting out my tyre plug kit. I explained what I was doing and when she got going that she should get the tyre looked at by tyre people because the plug was an emergency fix and not a permanent one. I put a string into the insertion tool, gave it a liberal coating of glue and commenced pushing.

Suddenly the plastic handle of the insertion tool snapped off revealing the metal shaft which fortunately for me, grazed my wrist by running along it and not piercing vital nerves or blood vessels. Lesson learned.

I got rid of any plastic handle tyre repair equipment. They are dangerous, yet still sold in auto shops. Pay more and get all metal tools, not only are they much safer they don’t have any give like the plastic variety.

Some dealers may repair tread punctures using mushroom plugs fitted from the inside. Most dealers however won’t repair a tubeless tyre. They are often accused of money making. Not so, it’s all about liability and litigation. The dealer doesn’t know if the integrity of the punctured tyre has been compromised by being run flat. Although not visible, wires, cords and rubber polymers may be damaged. Such a repair could fail and the tyre dealer may be liable for any accident resulting in damage or injury.

Insertion of a tyre plug.

Plugs are not a permanent tyre repair; they are an emergency repair to get you back to civilisation from the middle of nowhere. You should then go to a tyre dealer and have it checked out and probably have the tyre replaced.

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WOMEN IN 4W DRIVING

BY CHRIS MORTON

Jo Clews

Jo Clews is one of those people you immediately fall in love with.

No, not like that. She is warm and welcoming and extremely down to earth. She has been a popular figure in the outdoor industry for more than a decade and, dare I say it, she is the type of influencer that our society needs instead of the endless disappointment that is currently on offer.

I

first met Jo when we were introduced to the core of magazine contributors back in 2019. From family adventures on her property to having camp oven delights delivered to us during the 4WD show, Jo has made an indelible mark on our family and she is an extremely important part of the Western 4W Driver family.

Jo’s love of cooking dates to being a 4-yearold, making fairy cakes in her grandmother’s kitchen in Mount Hawthorn. She had her own small box that she could stand on, allowing her to reach the countertop. She fondly recalls the smells and the warmth of that kitchen and the joy she felt learning to cook with her grandmother.

She has always been a lover of the outdoors and you could say that it was fate that she would make her mark in the outdoor industry. She started writing for Western 4W Driver in 2000, after she

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and her partner Ken had been away on a Track Care project with Nick Underwood.

Reading a subsequent trip report, she commented to Ken that it didn’t reflect the participant’s enjoyment, or the sense of accomplishment experienced by all.

Jo started to assist Nick with some of his Campfire Escape’s tours when they ventured south to Nannup. Ken and Jo had a small café at the time, and they would meet the tours after the café closed with dessert for the participants.

In 2002, they participated in a Variety 4WD Adventure, getting rained in near Bidyadanga. While everyone else opted to, “take their vehicles and damage them in the mud”, Jo went exploring. Finding a couple of camp ovens, she managed to get some ingredients from the station and had a go at making some damper. The damper was a hit and subsequently, she was asked to assist with the catering on the next four 4WD adventures.

It was during one of these trips, while cooking at Israelite Bay that she met Russell Booth from ARB. Russell was very good friends with Peter Woods, owner of the Perth 4WD and Adventure Show. Peter was looking for someone who could talk to a crowd and who could cook. Jo ticked both of those boxes.

Getting thrown in the deep end, Jo was asked to cook with camp ovens for her

first 4WD show. Her experience with them, to date, was extremely limited. Doubting herself, she said that she pre-made a batch of scones to stick in one of the camp ovens to ensure success in front of a live audience.

By the end of the three-day show, she was hooked. She began to develop her camp oven cooking style.

As a result of her involvement with the show, she met John Fitzgerald. John was the head of Engel and was looking for a brand ambassador. They hit it off straight away. John was a 'station boy' at heart and Jo’s love of the outdoors connected the two kindred spirits. For the next five years she represented Engel at the Perth, Sydney and Adelaide 4WD Shows.

Jo credits her involvement with the show for another achievement. “Being involved with the show introduced me to the guys who would publish my first cookbook.”

I asked Jo, what drives her? What makes her want to share her knowledge with others? Her response was quite simply, “Loving seeing people go away with a smile on their face.”

I must have more than 50 copies stashed away as a result,” she says with a smile.

Her joy comes from seeing people succeed.

“I had a gentleman contact me who wanted to learn how to make bread in his camp oven. He arranged to come and camp at Melangata where we stoked up the fire and went about making some bread. The look on his face when his perfect loaf came out of the camp oven is why I love what I do.”

Finally, I asked Jo where is her happy place?

“My happy place is wherever I am at the moment. Right now, it’s here on Melangata, otherwise, why would we stay here. In particular, it’s Tom’s Lookout. There are others out here but that is my favourite place at the moment. One day, when we leave the station my happy place is sure to change.”

Jo at Tom's Lookout.

Jo wanted to prove that anyone can cook, especially when enjoying the outdoors.

“I didn’t have anyone that I could turn to when I first started out. It was all trial and error until I had an epiphany. It’s not rocket science, it’s just science”, she said.

“Cooking doesn’t have to be pretentious, nor does it have to be hard. No-one owns the recipes; they are all just slightly modified versions of food that humans have been eating for centuries. You don’t need the latest and greatest gadgets and gizmos, you just need some basic kitchen tools and basic ingredients.”

“I did have some help starting out”, Jo confesses. “Jack Absolom’s Camp Oven Cookbook was a big help to me when I was first getting started. There wasn’t really anything else to guide me.” Jo goes on, “I’ve had quite a few people who have learnt to use their camp ovens with me send me a gift to say thank you, a copy of Jack’s book.

Due to station commitments, Jo only exhibits at the Perth 4WD and Adventure Show now. If you are wanting to improve your camping culinary skills then I highly recommend going along to one of her demonstrations at this year’s show. If you can’t make it or don’t want to wait that long, then pack up the family and head north to Melangata Station and sample the real WA outback at Jo’s home. She offers one-on-one and small group cooking demonstrations as well as some unique outback experiences.

Tell her Western 4W Driver sent you.

Western 4W Driver #123 |

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With over 40 years experience teaching Outback Survival, Bob Cooper has produced what he calls the ‘Trilogy for Survival’.

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OUTBACK SURVIVAL with BOB COOPER

KEEPING KIDS SAFE IN THE BUSH Pre-primary and primary school children should have a few ‘survival items’ in their day packs for every venture – particularly in large bush areas where the inquisitiveness and wonder of your child’s mind should be encouraged, with their safety being paramount at all times.

Y

ou can start by dressing them in brightly coloured clothes, especially their hat; it should be a see-easy fluoro colour.

Another good idea is to attach little bells onto a toddler's clothing so parents can tell where the little one is at all times.

Children’s day pack items include: • Tissues • Lollies • Whistle • LED Torch • Favourite toy • Bright coloured raincoat

• Hang their tissues as high as possible in a circle around the tree as a signal.

• If they blow their whistle three times every few minutes it will help them to be found.

• Use their colouring book or some other mind-occupying game while at the friendly tree.

• Definitely no fire lighting – this is dangerous.

• Have a small LED torch and teach them how to use it.

• Emergency lollies are a must and fruit juice to complement their water supply.

• Demonstrate the correct use of the rain poncho for warmth/shelter and how to use it as a signalling device.

• Spare emergency lightweight jacket for extra protection in colder weather.

• Play an 'I am lost' game as rehearsal prior to excursions or camping.

• Water and spare juice drink • Colouring-in book and pencils If lost, these young ones should be encouraged to make friends with a tree, a 'Friendly Tree' and stay there. Show them a large tree in an open area as an example, and make it a protective area, not a scary one. Usually, anything taller is a threat in young minds so reinforce the safety of this 'friendly tree'.

Hints: • Explain that they should never lose sight of their new 'friend'. Use its shade when hot or for cover from wind or rain.

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When we camp #WeCampWell

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131

GEAR TO GO CAMPING

Patagonia's Black Hole Duffle Y ou know that one person, it might even be you? They spend thousands on a complex drawer system to keep all their camping gear organised, but then throw their own personal clothing and gear into a plastic carry bag from the supermarket, which falls over and spews their items into the footwell of the back seat. Well campers, get ready for the upgrade.

For many, many years, before many of our readers were even born, Patagonia has been making and improving the Black Hole Duffle. Now in stock at everyone's favourite camping store is the 2022 Patagonia

Black Hole Duffle.

A multifunctional storage solution for your personal belongings, it can be used as a duffle bag or converted to a carry pack.

Durable and functional, made of recycled materials in line with Patagonia's ethics, it's available in a couple of smaller sizes (40 litre and 55 litre) and one big whopping 100 litre for the extended range.

Available from Go Camping and Overlanding.

9/58 Erindale Road, Balcatta www.gocampingoverlanding.com.au

Stop, it's (Red Roads) Hammer time I f you are old-school like us, you don't want to lug around your modern gadgets like a cordless drill just to get your tent pegs into hard ground, when instead a good hammer, proper tent pegs and at least half a brain will do the job; cheaper, more effective and without the bulk.

The brass head Strike Hammer from Red Roads is a modern take on a metalsmith's invention from the mid-18th century (no, it was not invented in Japan in the late 20th century).

The softer headed brass allows a nice and evenly spread impact onto the head of the mild-steel tent pegs, which are manufactured like a nail i.e. straight to 132

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begin with (think about it ... most pegs have a bend in them to begin with).

The extraction hook and 'ice axe' inspired cordage system are all housed in a properly made (in Perth), good looking, canvas storage bag.

Best yet, this little combo is available at Go Camping and Overlanding for just $99 that's over 10% off its normal price!

Available from Go Camping and Overlanding.

9/58 Erindale Road, Balcatta www.gocampingoverlanding.com.au

GEAR TO GO CAMPING

Nemo Astro Sleeping Pad G

etting a good night's sleep is critical, regardless of what you are doing, and for those that like to walk to their destination you no longer need to compromise.

When every gram counts, everything you take with you must either have multiple uses or strongly contribute to reaching your destination. The Nemo Astro Sleeping Pad has only one job: to provide you with a very comfortable and insulated surface to sleep on. Weighing it at around 540 grams, this innovative sleeping mat provides approximately 3.5 inches of ground-smoothing comfort.

Lateral baffles provide additional comfort and prevent the mat from curling. A built-in pillow baffle helps prevent your other musthave from disappearing in the night and the included carry bag doubles as a pump sack.

Available from Go Camping and Overlanding.

9/58 Erindale Road, Balcatta www.gocampingoverlanding.com.au

Nemo Helio LX Pressure Shower T here is nothing better than a hot shower at the end of a long day out on the tracks. You are not always guaranteed one when pulling into a campsite and there is nothing wrong with having a plan B. What I like about the Nemo Helio is its simplicity. It’s a pressure pack with a foot pump (instead of the hand pumps found on garden sprayers), allowing for hands-free operation when the pressure gets low.

You can leave the unit in the sun to warm up during the day or fill it with hot water just prior to use. The unit is large enough to provide 7-10 minutes of strong, continuous spray and the 22 litre capacity is more than enough for even the dirtiest person.

A relief valve ensures that the tank cannot be over-pressurised and the 7-foot hose provides more than enough reach to use the nozzle overhead.

Available from Go Camping and Overlanding.

9/58 Erindale Road, Balcatta www.gocampingoverlanding.com.au Western 4W Driver #123 |

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Butte rfly n e k c i h C t Roas

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CLEWED UP with JO CLEWS There are three things that most of us are competent, proficient or legends at cooking in the camp oven: a stew, a roast and a burnt bottom damper are the big three.

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ost of us seem to be able to jag one or all three of these well enough to feed ourselves and possibly a few mates. If you have been following my advice on baking things in the camp oven and done some practicing then you may have perfected the non-burnt bottom damper too.

Camp ovens are just the best thing to cook a roast in, so much so that I use my small cast iron camp oven in my oven at home.

It is especially good for cooking juicy succulent chicken to perfection.

I feel there are a number of magic things going on when meat is cooked in a camp oven. Number one and possibly the most important is the fact that you are outdoors in the bush and around a camp fire with family and friends.

There is just that special something that being part of nature brings and makes everything taste so much better than being at home.

Secondly is the fact that camp oven lids tend to seal in the steam that is coming from the process of cooking your food, thus all those precious liquids and flavours are not being evaporated into the atmosphere.

This is one reason why you won’t need to add too much liquid when cooking a stew as what comes from your food is often almost as much as you will need. You know the rules though and if in doubt check it out; lift the lid and make a judgement call.

The recipe I will share with you is how I have been roasting my chickens now for quite a while and by butterflying your chicken it can take slightly less time to cook and is evenly browned on all sides.

Butterfly Roast Chicken This recipe will easily feed 4-6 hungry campers.

You will need: 1 butterflied whole chicken Bread stuffing Combine these ingredients in a large bowl: 5 slices of bread, ripped or cut into small pieces 1 onion, finely diced 3 tablespoons olive oil ½ cup water Generous pinch of dried mixed herbs Salt and pepper to taste 2 generous chunks of butter Extra oil to baste Your favourite spice rub 2-4 potatoes, cut in half depending on how many people you are feeding.

Butterflying a chicken is a pretty simple thing to do. With either a pair of kitchen scissors or a very sharp knife you simply have to remove the whole back bone then flatten the chicken out so the cavity of the chicken is now underneath. “But where are we meant to put the stuffing?” I hear you say. Never fear, stay with me and you will be amazed.

Simply separate the skin of the breast from the flesh and insert some stuffing and butter between the two.

Once the chicken has been butterflied and some stuffing inserted you will need to arrange the chicken into your camp oven.

Heat your camp oven up before you put your chicken in: about 20 minutes over your cooking coals for a cast iron pot or 10 minutes for a steel pot.

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Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom then place halved potatoes, cut side down, into the camp oven.

Make any remaining stuffing into balls and arrange between the potatoes, place the chicken on top of the potatoes, baste with oil and rub on your favourite spice rub, add half a cup of water to the bottom and place the lid on top.

Transfer the whole pot and lid back to the cooking coals. Have a small amount of coals underneath, a solid ring of hot coals around the outer edge of the lid and allow

to cook undisturbed for about 30 minutes.

At the half hour mark sweep the coals off the lid and check on the cooking progress, add fresh coals and allow to cook now for about an hour. Check regularly if you want to make sure the chicken is not burning or cooking too slow. Full cooking time should be about 1.5-2 hours.

Chicken is ready when the juices of the thigh run clear and the skin is crunchy and golden.

Enjoy.

Potatoes wont be crispy roasted spuds but what they do is soak up all the juices.

Excess stuffing can be mixed with the juices and made into the most delicious gravy.

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BEFORE YOU GO BUSH GO TO Over 30 Years Family Owned and Operated

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www.fremantlefuel.com.au info@fremantlefuel.com.au 27 Strang Court, Beaconsfield WA

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TRACK CARE WA NEWS

Yeagarup Clean-up Weekend 12-14 NOVEMBER 2021

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his was our first weekend away with Track Care WA and we were unsure what to expect, other than we knew we would enjoy being in the gorgeous forest surrounds of Pemberton and the Yeagarup sand dunes.

As instructed, our group met at the Crossings Bakery in Pemberton where the smell of freshly baked bread and hot pies was a fabulous start. Team leader Grant introduced himself and gave an excellent overview and preliminary information about what the overall plan was for the weekend, especially travelling with 17 vehicles in convoy.

We were grateful that he highlighted the necessity for standard convoy procedure to ensure no one went missing on tracks and in the sand dunes, and thankfully everyone put the procedure into practice when out and about. We had witnessed first-hand, with camping tag-along tours, how easy it is for some people to take the wrong turn and get lost if everyone doesn’t follow the correct procedure.

Most importantly we felt reassured by Grant’s words that the purpose of Track Care’s involvement in the Yeagarup clean-up 138

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By Bel and Darce Holman

was to ensure we were doing something for the environment, something for the community and something for ourselves.

The first convoy of 11 vehicles made their way to a beautiful private campground just out of Pemberton. Everyone set

about making camp, while appreciating the delightful canopy of huge trees, flocks of Carnaby Cockatoos, an authentic camp kitchen with plenty of character and two toilets and a hot shower. Luxury!!

Berry Sweet very kindly donated a huge box of the sweetest red strawberries and plump blueberries, and a supply of freshly picked avocados from Toni and Graeme of Pemberton Discovery Tours was left for us all to enjoy.

The group appreciated an official g’day from Senior Ranger Jeff from DBCA before we left for the first clean-up and drive to have ‘early’ sunset drinks at Barker Road crossing. It was an evocative drive back to camp through the forest, which was filled with twinkling filtered sunshine. The kids in the group were very enthusiastic about getting the fire going in a big central firepit for all to enjoy under the stars.

On Saturday morning an impressive convoy of now 17 vehicles, left on time at 8am towards Calcup Hill and the first serious track and dune clean-up. The beach entry was pretty soft and fluffy with not much room to manouvre, but there was plenty of work to be done on the tracks and small campsites off the beach. It was amazing how many bottles, cans, plastics, and that damned awful white toilet paper was collected.

It was really great to see the little kids and teenagers getting into the clean-up, actively being part of a community of like-minded people, as well as enjoying all the freedoms that remote 4W driving and camping offers.

The convoy returned to camp for a bit of lunch and a quick siesta before heading off to the Yeagerup Dunes to check the tracks and pristine white sand dunes. It was here that the most unusual item of ‘waste’ was identified and removed - a human skull and bony hand made of plastic. We assumed that these spooky artefacts were leftovers from a Yeagarup Halloween gathering! The

Yeagarup entrance find of the day.

The team at Yeagarup Lake.

Yeagarup entrance.

Saturday afternoon activities finished on top of the dunes, with a tired but satisfied crew of cleaners, albeit the track back to camp still offered up the occasional can and indestructible hand wipe to be collected. It was a late return to camp, but magically another roaring camp fire appeared and kept us all warm under a star-filled night sky.

As newbies to the event, it would be remiss not to mention the very yummy sweet treats provided for afternoon tea, and generously baked by Bill of Track Care melting moments, fruit cake and an upsidedown pineapple cake. So kind, thankyou!

Sunday morning was an optional activity to return to those extensive dunes with Toni and Graeme for an additional litter sweep. Those that had time tagged along to help with this environmentally essential task, while others left for home after a final tidy up of the campgrounds and a farewell chat. There’s no doubt in our minds that the mission of Track Care WA is a win-win for individuals, communities and our great state of WA. Thanks so much for having us along.

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TRACK CARE WA NEWS

Around the Kennedy Range in Five Days A VINTAGE CAR CHALLENGE

BY GERARD TEN BOKKEL, PAUL KELLY AND JOHN COLLINS

The Vintage Car Challenge is intended to be the first step in assisting the creation of a new trail that will add value to the existing Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathways www.outbackpathways.com

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e anticipate the new trail will spotlight the local attractions of astronomy, geology, station stays, birdlife and wildflowers. These attractions appeal to self-drive overlanders, particularly those who are prepared for an authentic 4WD adventure.

Track Care WA Inc. is a volunteer Environment and Conservation Group with a positive contribution to the protection of bush heritage and advocating responsible access for off-road recreational use.

Our model of close collaboration, as a tripartite agreement between Government, Voluntary Groups and Commercial Enterprise has been proven to work in delivering sustainable management outcomes. The Model A Restorers Club of Western Australia Inc. was founded in 1980 by a dedicated group of people interested in the ownership and preservation of Ford Model A vehicles made between 1928

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and 1931. The challenge creators believe that this expedition meets the ongoing objectives of both organisations while demonstrating the value of collaboration to achieve shared goals.

The creators of the project are Dr John Collins (Chair, Track Care WA) who is an expert on outback tourism functionality, a former Kununurra-based air-tourism operator and a former pastoralist at Glenburgh Station that has resulted in a deep understanding of pastoral tourism opportunities, together with an ongoing family connection (that now spans five generations) and love for the Gascoyne Region. Co-creator, Brett Pollack, was the inspiration for creating the Gascoyne Murchison Pathway Project including the Kingsford Smith Mail Run and Wool Wagon Pathways, that both meet at Gascoyne Junction. Former pastoralist at Wooleen Station and past chair of the Our Outback Program Australia (Desert Knowledge), Brett has also been a Tourism Australia recipient of the Specialist Accommodation Award (National and State).

This project is intended to be the start of the development of a new and exciting tourism product in the self-drive market that will provide an exciting albeit challenging

TRACK CARE WA NEWS additional 4WD adventure trail. It will be an add-on to the current Kingsford Smith Mail Run commencing and finishing at the town of Gascoyne Junction. Keeping tourists in the immediate area for an extra week has economic benefits that have been outlined in previous tourism development reports. For example, this five-day tourism itinerary can be available to the self-drive market and fly-in fly-out packages that will

leverage established destinations such as Mount Augustus with long-term economic development.

This project will encourage better cooperation between pastoralists, DBCA, the Shire of Upper Gascoyne, Tourism WA, Australia’s Golden Outback, Australia’s Coral Coast, Tourism Australia, and also provide additional economic development opportunity for the Shire’s residents.

My Kennedy Range Trip JUNE 2022

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BY GERARD TEN BOKKEL

I was intrigued by a proposal

by Brett Pollock for a trip circumnavigating the 270km loop trail of the Kennedy Range (approximately 150km east of Carnarvon and about 900km north of Perth) over four days with an additional six days travelling there and back.

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he trip was open only to Ford Model A vehicles with 'moderns' (4WDs) banned. As I had a few months to prepare, I attempted to build a camper trailer that I had planned for some time to mount a quick erecting tent on top and plenty of space within the trailer well for equipment, spare parts, food, water and fuel. As it turned out, I was unable to complete and license the trailer in time necessitating carrying only those things I believed I really needed in my Model A. This included petrol, water, my 45L Engel fridge, gas bottle, cooking equipment, gas stove, chair, table, swag, tent, bush toilet and enough food for several days along with several miscellaneous items such as tools and spare parts. To fit all this in I had to remove both the passenger and rear seats.

I was somewhat overloaded and unable

to get to most things because whatever I wanted seemed to be underneath other stuff requiring me to unload half the car.

The intended itinerary started with everyone from the southwest areas meeting at the Bindoon Bakery at 9.30am and travelling to stay overnight at Mingenew. However, as the departure date drew close, a number of people withdrew and only myself and John Collins in the Unimog would be meeting at Bindoon so we decided to make our own way to Mingenew and meet there.

Ray Major went to Dongara first to visit his parents but also withdrew because his ‘C’ cab ute had a few issues from being heavily loaded including the rear rubbing the inside top of the guards whenever he drove over

My Tudor, Ray’s C cab and John’s Unimog at the Mingenew Caravan Park.

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TRACK CARE WA NEWS

Brett and Paul arrive at Murchison Settlement Roadhouse and Caravan Park.

a dip in the road ... and this was on bitumen!

He showed up unexpectedly early the next morning at the Mingenew Caravan Park to see us off, having unloaded most of his gear in Dongara. Ray generously ended up travelling with us as far Mullewa where we re-fuelled and had a break before he returned to the coast while John and I continued to Murchison Settlement for the second night.

Brett Pollock, with Paul Kelly as passenger, had travelled earlier to Wooleen Station and met up with John and I at Murchison Settlement in his 1930 Model A Phaeton towing his custom (homemade) tear-drop caravan. Brett and Paul usually camp in swags and use the caravan for storage and the kitchen in the rear tailgate.

Taking a lunch break between Murchison and Gascoyne Junction.

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After initial greetings John and I were told that Brett’s starter motor doesn't work and every time we stopped thereafter, we had to push start it. Luckily the Model As usually start very easily. We were also due to meet up with the film crew from Western 4W Driver, Ian from Hema Maps and Colin (Brett’s brother-in-law) in his Isuzu AWD wagon. After waiting till 10.30am and only Brett, Paul and Colin showing up, Brett declared the others missing in action and that the Model As should head off to Gascoyne Junction and the others could catch up later.

After arriving at Gascoyne Junction and re-fuelling I decided to stay in the caravan park (flushing toilets and showers) while the others went to camp out down at the ‘creek’ which I later found out was the Gascoyne River. I had driven my 1929 Model A about 1,270km up to this point. The next morning I drove to the campsite near the ‘creek’.

On arrival I found Paul working on Brett’s starter motor. Eventually the starter was removed and installed several times and the old Bendix assembly replaced with a new modern type that I had as part of my spares still without success. An examination of the ring gear found it to have moved forward about 8mm. Colin, with my tent peg 4lb gympie mallet and a ball pein hammer as an intermediary, easily tapped (too easily) the ring gear back into position with

TRACK CARE WA NEWS speculation that the 12-volt system was too harsh on the 6-volt starter motor. After a few more removals and strip downs, it was decided the fault may be in the frayed brush leads reducing voltage to the starter and we had to get going even though the film crew still had not arrived. While the others were working on the starter motor, I walked down to the river which required walking through 750 metres of very loose, boggy river sand. I found two river crossing sites and walked the sand crossing first which was about 80-100 metres wide. I found rocks ranging from grapefruit size to as large as a basketball under the water which was halfway up my thigh at the deepest point. Near the shore was very soft, with my feet sinking up to my ankles and I almost lost my Crocs footwear in the sand.

The second crossing is the rocky crossing with a deep scoured channel just below knee deep. The deep part was around two meters wide, but the entire river was running fast through the channel and there were numerous submerged rocks to negotiate.

Due to the slippery, rocky bottom and the depth and rush of water no-one was willing to attempt walking this crossing. By the time I returned to the camp site, they had given up trying to get the starter motor working and had packed up camp. Colin in his AWD wagon towing the teardrop caravan attempted the crossing but the 750 metres of loose river sand and the wet areas within it bogged him several times.

Usually, we could dig and push him out but closer to the river being wetter, he got so stuck it needed to be towed out by the Unimog a few times.

One of several times getting stuck crossing the river sand wet areas.

Bogged again, this time mainly the other side.

Colin being towed through the rocky crossing.

It was decided that Colin needed to be towed the rest of the way and also through the crossing.

Brett’s Model A was next, but he didn’t even get through 100 metres of river sand before getting bogged. Therefore, he was towed the whole distance and through the river crossing.

Brett being towed through the crossing.

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TRACK CARE WA NEWS Note that when Brett is being towed, the rear bumper bar and indicator lights are submerged with the exhaust bubbling under water. These items are much higher than most cars. I refused to take my car through as I was concerned about damaging my car and the possibility of the front axle being pulled out from under the car. I instead returned to Gascoyne Junction. At the Shire Offices I met up with the missing film crew from Western 4W Driver who had two 4WDs and were towing a trailer plus a small offroad caravan for one of their sponsors. Ian from Hema Maps was also there and Ainsley, the Tourism and Community Development Officer for Shire of Upper Gascoyne and her husband in their 4WDs all left to meet up with the others while I returned to the caravan park for the night. I was told later that the Western 4W Driver vehicles also had to be towed by the Unimog most of the way over the river sand and crossing but the two 4WDs not towing trailers had made it through on their own. Ainsley and her husband returned to Gascoyne Junction the next morning due to other commitments. I also left in the morning to meet up with the others, but in a counter-clockwise direction. One of my objectives on the western side was the Khyber Pass. I thought it would be great to tell people I’ve been up the Khyber in my Model A, remembering the film Carry On Up The Khyber.

The Lyons River crossing.

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The road was quite bad in places this boggy part was 150m long.

I had to go bush to get around boggy sections worrying about staking my thin tyres.

On my way I had to negotiate the Lyons River crossing which has a concrete deck often submerged below the river level.

I found the turn-off to a minor gravel road which after several kilometers turned into a track and this progressively deteriorated the further I travelled.

I arrived at the ruins of Mount Sandiman shearing shed.

The stone building housed the wool store,

TRACK CARE WA NEWS and returned to Gascoyne Junction, having to go back through all those bad tracks and roads. I had driven 211km for the day, probably half on a formed gravel road and half on the rough tracks. As the others were still days away, I decided to return home on my own the next day.

The ruins of Mount Sandiman shearing shed.

The track got less defined and continued to get quite rough the further I went.

The Kennedy Range is in the distance.

sorting and packing the wool bales while the steel framed section was where the shearing was done.

I carried on a few more kilometres but as the track was less defined and was quite rough in places, with the Kennedy Range in sight but still a very long way off, I decided it was too much to do alone and my car was getting bashed around too much. I thought the others would take about three days to get to where I was so I turned around

Due to the rough tracks and roads one of the casualties was the radiator stone guard. The two top mount brackets broke and the third bottom mount rubbed a hole in the radiator vertical tubes resulting in losing the engine coolant. I was stranded about 167km from Gascoyne Junction and 130km from Murchison Settlement at about 10.15am. There was no phone coverage this far out and I waited until noon for the first car to come along. This was the mail lady Kylie, who delivers (and picks up) mail from the pastoral stations in the area. She had a satellite phone but sat phones do not ring 1300 numbers so we could not ring the RAC direct, so we had to communicate through intermediaries. We were told the RAC tow truck driver for the area refused to come out, but Kylie knew another tow truck driver so we phoned him who then had to contact the RAC and get authorisation for his quote to take me the 856km to home. Kylie was with me for two hours making and taking numerous sat phone calls until she was sure everything was sorted out before she left. So extraordinarily kind. I do not recall any other traffic from when I broke down at 10.15am until I was picked up at 6.30pm.

Broken down on the Mullewa - Carnarvon Road.

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TRACK CARE WA NEWS he delivered me outside my home about 4.00pm after ‘towing’ my Model A about 856km.

The Model A getting ‘picked up’ 130km north of Murchison Settlement and 168km south of Gascoyne Junction.

Trevor, the tow truck driver from Geraldton and Midwest Towing Service arrived about 6.30pm just as it got dark. He took me to his home in Geraldton as it was near midnight, and I could not get accommodation, so Trevor put me up in his caravan for the night and his wife made up a new bed, provided tea, coffee and biscuits and said to go into the house in the morning for a breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast. I was feeling very unwell so did not take up this very generous offer.

Trevor and I left Geraldton before 7.00am after swapping trucks and putting my Model A on a trailer so he could move a tractor and some other equipment. After doing a couple of pick-ups and drop-offs,

Delivered safe and sound in front of my home.

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I wrote a letter of commendation to the RAC for him and bagged the RAC contractor who refused to come out to assist. The policy I have is the Ultimate Plus which lists my wife’s Lancer and has my name on it so my wife is covered in her car and also any car I am driving whether owned by me or not. Although the policy states only 300km country towing, there is also $7,000pa ‘recovery’ in which it is determined the repair cannot be performed in the nearest town.

After telling my story to a few people, they felt sorry for me for not completing the trip and being towed home. However, I had a great time and have an interesting story, and met some really terrific, caring people.

I have already thanked Brett for making this memorable tour available and I apologised to him for not completing (not even starting) the circumnavigation of the Kennedy Range. My experience really puts meaning into ‘it’s the journey not the destination’.

It was a great adventure. Thanks Brett for working to create this project and everyone else who participated.

TRACK CARE WA NEWS

Glad Conquers Kennedy Range JUNE 2022

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BY PAUL KELLY

Following the excellent article

by Gerry, it is important to follow up with the success story of a solitary Model A conquering the Kennedy Range.

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aving left Wooleen Station in the company of Colin Riley (Brett’s brotherin-law) following much discussion about gold whilst camped out on the station at a secret location, we headed off to rendezvous with what we thought was a few Model As and John Collins in his Unimog at Murchison Settlement. We arrived to find Gerry in his blue 'A' packed to the gunnels and JC in what was to become the quintessential Unimog.

Not to be put off, Brett and I in Glad plus Gerry (Model A), Colin in his AWD and JC set off to Gascoyne Junction. We stopped for lunch at Bilung Pool, a beautiful river setting (apart from the flies). The trip so far was without a hitch and we thought it was a good omen ... little did we know what lay ahead!

We refuelled in Gascoyne Junction and excitedly headed out to camp by the river crossing and to meet up with the film crew from Western 4W Driver ... or at least we thought. We then learnt from the Shire that there was a mix up and they would arrive the next day. Not to worry, we had a relaxed night camped out in swags with plenty of whiskey and chocolate … Pollock nearly cleaned the lot up on the first night!!

We were up early and raring to go … to hell with the film crew, we were here to conquer the Kennedy Range! Inspections of the crossing had been done the night before and confidence was up in the Pollock camp but Gerry was showing all

the signs of a concerned Model A owner.

The only hitch was trusty Glad appeared to be as reluctant as Gerry and decided to throw a wobbly with her starter motor.

After three removals and reinstallations with a new Bendix she wasn’t going to budge. No problems, who needs a starter motor? Let's hit the river crossing ... well, we didn’t even see the water before we were bogged in the sand. Unimog to the rescue.

Under tow and some of our own power we bubbled and bounced our way across the boulder-strewn crossing having improvised a snorkel out of radiator hose to stop water entering the carburetor. Old Glad was superb and never missed a beat ... she was a little embarrassed having the snatch strap wrapped around her bumper though.

Brett and I were so excited we took off and forgot we had agreed to camp the night at Khyber Pass, not far from the river crossing, to wait for the film crew. We returned to Khyber Pass and set up camp. At dusk we

Kyber Pass camp.

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TRACK CARE WA NEWS headed back to the river for a wash, and whilst having a public nude bath in the river we saw the film crew arrive on the other side with their 4WDs and towing a caravan! We hastily dressed and there was more drama as the LandCruiser and brand new caravan (not for long!) had to get ‘Unimogged’ across the river. Ian from Hema Maps accompanied the film crew and succeeded in crossing unaided.

It was a great night’s camp as we got to know our new travelling companions and a great bunch they turned out to be ... although a little embarrassed at having to be towed. Ian was mapping the track for the first time ever for Hema which indicates the uniqueness and challenge of our adventure.

Brett and I were up early with the usual Pollock atrocious rendition of ‘O What a Beautiful Morning’. Our new friends cringed, and Brett of course was parading around the camera crew trying to be in every shot ... he didn’t realise they were just testing their equipment!

him alone and with no phone or ability to contact anyone. We stopped at Mooka Spring, a beautiful spot but we couldn’t get the vehicles in as DBCA had cordoned it off from vehicular traffic. Close by was the Mookaite Rock mine which was still active, and some partook in a bit of rock gathering while repairs were made to the caravan.

The name 'mookaite' is derived from the locality where the rock is dug, namely Mooka Creek. According to locals, the Aboriginal word 'mooka' means 'running waters', no doubt in reference to the many freshwater springs that feed Mooka Creek.

Camp for the second night on the range was at Chaff Cutters Spring, up by a stream which was not running but a beautiful setting where for short moments we even got phone coverage if you walked to the top of the hill. It was a wet camp, in more ways than one, but fined up as we sat around the campfire with studio lights ablaze and were

So off we set with drones buzzing around us, still cameras set up at incredibly deep wash outs, Go Pro cameras adorning Glad as if she were a film star ... bonnet, dash, rear guard. Progress was incredibly slow but very enjoyable as it was unbelievably rough terrain ... wise decision Gerry to not cross the river. Alas Gerry’s attempt around the reverse path was to be doomed as well, but it was an incredible attempt by

Caravan repairs at Mooka Spring.

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Chaff Cutters Spring camp.

TRACK CARE WA NEWS

Early rising at Chaff Cutters Spring.

Glad starting the climb.

interviewed by Chris Morton from Western 4W Driver.

Having braved a rough day thinking the worst was behind us, the next was to be unbelievable. Glad was an absolute champion, going through washouts which would have had the tear-drop caravan coming through the roof of the old Phaeton. As if that wasn’t enough, the steep rock climbing and gradient was unbelievable and a massive challenge for

the LandCruiser with caravan. In fact, our frustration grew, as notwithstanding the rain and colder weather, the fuel was vaporising and Glad was cutting out due to the heat under the bonnet. We had to keep the old girl revving and ride the clutch as we were stuck behind the LandCruiser and caravan.

Glad was annoyed and was supremely confident and wanted to get going! The engine cutting out on a massive rocky hill climb was no fun for the restart crew as captain Pollock barked orders. All the while we had drones with cameras buzzing past and Go Pros on the bonnet and inside Glad, a major distraction for the lead actor at the wheel who kept wanting to know if it was focussed on him or me! Eventually with great relief we reached the top of the range and stopped on the sandy plateau for a well-deserved lunch. Up until this time I was wondering what I was coming out in all over me, thinking it was from the swag that hadn’t been used for six months, only to realise they were sand flies - the invisible type, all around my neck and midriff. I was pleasantly surprised to learn others were suffering the same fate. Incredibly itchy and lasting for the next two weeks!

Camp that night was again with the threat of inclement weather and so it was up with the tarp over Glad sheltering a couple of intrepid outback geriatrics in their swags.

Not to be deterred, we set up the fire and had another glorious meal of vegies and meat wrapped in aluminium foil and placed in hot coals and of course the last of the whiskey and Colin's secret stash of Tim Tams.

The location at the Neck is so absolutely beautiful and right on the edge on the range looking out over the plain. The rock formation and colours were glorious. We were up early again the following morning for the lengthy trip down the range and on the eastern side via Mount Sandiman, through Sandiman Station, across the Lyon River and on to Gascoyne Junction where we had started. Alas another setback ... with the rain over the last couple of days Western 4W Driver #123 |

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TRACK CARE WA NEWS

Neck Camp view.

the Shire had closed the road back to Gascoyne Junction. Not to be deterred and given what we had just accomplished there was no stopping us. A diplomatic call on the new crystal set telephone radio thing (that I was sick to death of the squealing and squawking from) now installed in Glad so Brett, when broken down, can call from anywhere in the world for help (God help us - it’s bad enough just with mobile coverage!)

We were able to get special dispensation to drive carefully in the late afternoon and not destroy their road. We dutifully abided by their request and arrived having driven through the Lyon River to Gascoyne Junction for hot showers and a meal at the pub reminiscing over our amazing feat.

Glad was a legend in achieving what was a remarkable challenge conquering the Kennedy Range … a formidable 4WD track and to complete the circuit from west to east was nothing short of outstanding. We 150

| Western 4W Driver #123

Lyon River crossing.

eagerly await the articles in Western 4W Driver and the promotional videos. Thanks to Brett, John Collins (without whom we would never have even made it over the river!) Colin for his creative solutions to problems (even solutions to problems that hadn’t been thought of yet), the guys from Western 4W Driver, Ian from Hema Maps and lastly the Upper Gascoyne Shire for their support and encouragement.

We envisage the activity experiences associated with the Kennedy Range Loop Road into the future will include Aboriginal stories and culture, bird observation, rock collection, geocaches, scenic views, and ancient landscapes. Some of these activities may be based or facilitated by the low impact Winnimia bush camp site planned for the now-abandoned shearing shed that is located on the banks of the Gascoyne River on Jimba Jimba Station.

The

'Loop'

landscape

is

consistently

TRACK CARE WA NEWS changing from spinifex sand dunes to mulga plains, which are accessible to wellprepared and experienced overlanding travellers. We believe that the Kennedy Range Loop will be a challenge for the experienced self-drive overlander who is prepared for an authentic off-road adventure that will be the equal of the Holland Track, the Gus Luck Track, the Birdsville Track, the Canning Stock Route and many other iconic Australian trails. The Kennedy Range Loop Track has definite potential to become a 'must do' destination. Unlike some of those other iconic adventure trails, Gascoyne Junction is relatively close to Perth and can easily be incorporated into other exciting itineraries associated with the Coral Coast or other inland destinations such as Mount Augustus, Karijini National Park or some of the magnificent station stay destinations of the Gascoyne and Murchison Regions.

Although coastal destinations currently are more fully marketed, we anticipate the

Q

promotional video about this adventure may be the first small but important step towards the subtle development of this under-appreciated area.

The different experiences reported by Gerry and Paul highlight some important considerations for people planning an offroad adventure. You may have to change plans due to weather, mechanical or other considerations so think about your 'Plan B' and be prepared for some unexpected experiences. As the Model A Ford restorers have been known to say, you will meet some new best friends able and willing to help resolve your problem.

Our sincere thanks to the Shire of Upper Gascoyne, the Western 4W Driver team and our friends at Austravel Safety Net Inc., a volunteer organisation that provides a reliable long distance HF communication network Australia-wide that Colin, Brett, and John use to stay connected to home by radiotelephone.

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53 Austin St, Cue 6640 Tel: (08) 9963 1625 info@queenofthemurchison.com.au www.queenofthemurchison.com.au Western 4W Driver #123 |

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UNRIVALLED

durability

www.icom.net.au

4WD CLUB FOCUS E

stablished in 1986, Quad-Drive is one of Western Australia’s most seasoned off-road enthusiast clubs. The infancy of Quad-Drive and for some decades after its inception was a hard core 'go hard or go home' ethos with an emphasis on challenging 4WD vehicles to perform to their utmost capacity. In the early days of the club 4+ inches lift, 35+ inch tyres and twin diff locks was an average vehicle and the tracks were extreme.

These days the club has broadened its horizons offering a wide variety of trips, catering for all 4x4s from mild to wild. The heart of the club is still strong, meaning we go 4W driving on our trips and don’t like to turn back from a challenging track. In recent days more moderately modified 4x4s, often daily drivers are most common in our club.

The experienced club members give you the confidence to challenge yourself and take your vehicle places you didn’t think possible while knowing you are going to drive your car to work Monday morning.

Quad-Drive 4WD Club has a moderatesized membership base ranging from young adults to mature age. We have singles, young couples and families. As long as you share the common thread of off road adventures in your 4WD, good banter and tall stories at a campfire, it is likely you will get hooked on our club culture.

Winter is our most active time of year. Mud terrain is frequently navigated and explored by those members who have a passive fascination for high pressure hoses and car wash affiliations. Once the sun comes out you will find us tackling beaches and sand dunes. Weekend and long weekend trips are favoured as we enjoy a social drink and a campfire to end a hard day's driving. We keep the calendar varied with a range of close to Perth day trips too.

If you would like your club featured in our 4WD Club Focus, please email: admin@western4wdriver.com.au

Annually there are extended touring and social trips. In the past these trips have included the Kimberley, Canning Stock Route, Holland Track, Karijini and Cape York, just to name a few.

We ask that as an absolute minimum you have front and rear recovery points on your vehicle, a snatch strap and third party vehicle insurance. This way if you get stuck you can be safely recovered. If you are unsure drop us a message and we can offer some advice.

A good kit can be put together over a period of time. A big advantage of joining a 4WD club is you can learn from others to ensure you spend your money wisely and learn to use the equipment.

Some basic items that should be acquired to aid in recoveries are: • Front and rear recovery points are a must have!

• Snatch strap, shackles and dampener • Shovel • Tyre deflator and air compressor • UHF radio • Recovery tracks • Basic tool kit incl. spare tyre and jack.

We meet on the first Tuesday of each month at Morley Noranda Recreation Club at 7pm.

To find out more about our club, contact: Matthew Johnson - President 0477 154 061 quad.drive@outlook.com You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram @quaddrive4wdclub Western 4W Driver #123 |

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4WD CLUB FOCUS

Western Patrol Club & Quad-Drive 4WD Club Interclub Event Sunday 22 May 2022 at Captain Fawcett Track

I

t started out as a chilly Sunday morning as we headed down the freeway towards the town of Dwellingup.

When we arrived, there was already a great selection of 4WDs waiting in the carpark of the Tourist Centre. We had members young and old, some new faces and some regulars. We even had a surprise guest tag along. Matt from Westralian Offroad joined us for half of the trip.

Half an hour later and after everyone grabbed a coffee from the café to warm up, introductions were made by Dee, Secretary from Western Patrol Club and Matt, President from Quad-Drive 4WD Club.

BY DEE – WESTERN PATROL CLUB & MATT – QUAD-DRIVE 4WD CLUB We were led through beautiful bushland, with trees still glistening from the rain and dew, when we came across our first ‘major’ mud crossing. If you went straight, it was an easy crossing with minimal mud getting on the fourbie, but if you went right, well, that was a different story! The right track was deep with a hairpin turn that few made it through with ease, but a couple of members got caught up needing a winch and a snatch. This was a great time to stop and have a chat while cheering on other members.

Matt then kindly took on the role as trip leader (even if he does drive a LandCruiser), with a tail-end Charlie car from Western Patrol Club. We headed out of the carpark and towards Nanga Road, where we would turn off at the entry to the Captain Fawcett Track ready to air-down and start the day.

Wrangling 17 4WDs is no easy feat, but we managed to get everyone on the track and off the road before we aired down fairly quickly and headed off on our adventure through the bush.

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After about an hour of playing, we kept going on our travels towards a spot to have lunch. Matt pulled us into a great flat area right by the river, where we could all stretch

4WD CLUB FOCUS

our legs, have something to eat, let the kids run free, chat and relax.

After an hour or more, we packed up from lunch and headed back out onto the track that led us through twists and turns, mud and more mud, deep and shallow.

It was a terrific day of driving and we would like to thank all the members from both Western Patrol Club and Quad-Drive 4WD Club for making it an excellent day out.

We pulled over again next to the river for a quick pit stop when it started to rain. The weather had held off all day, but it looked like the rain had come to stay. We managed to get onto the gravel road before hitting the tar and finding a place to air up on the side of the road.

Once everyone had aired up and gotten very drenched from the rain, those that had to head home left and those that wanted a well-earned beverage after a great day out, went straight through to the Quindanning Hotel. Beer in hand in front of the open fire, there was no better way to finish off a great day out on the tracks.

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THE PEOPLE WE MEET

BY CHRIS MORTON Tell us about yourself and your husband / family.

Rikki Schulze

We met Rikki while at the Mount Augustus Tourist Park. We got talking about the location, the drive in and what else there was to see in the region before we discovered that she and her husband had sold everything and had hit the road, permanently. Younger, permanent travellers is something we are seeing more often and it intrigued us as to the motivations that encourage this type of lifestyle.

We posed some questions to Rikki, and this is how she responded.

G’day, my name is Rikki! I’m wife to Scott - genius with a spanner and the grower of an excellent beard and mum to Navanah - a ripper almost-7 year old and outdoor adventuring legend! We love camping, 4W driving and have newly discovered a love of fishing! I spent the last 17 years working 9 to 5 in a corporate desk job (or sometimes 5 to 5!) Scott is a drill fitter working a 2:2 roster on the mines and he flies in and out from wherever we are. We met through our parents 4WD club in Perth when we were kids, were reunited about 12 years ago as adults and the rest is history!

What has prompted you to this new lifestyle?

It’s the dream, right? We talked about travelling long term in one form or another for years but were too comfortable in our jobs and our home to take the leap. We were geared up to do the big lap in 2020.

We’d saved enough for a year, arranged everything with work and school and were ready to head off but of course, come March 2020 we couldn’t even leave home, let alone anything else! Once things started to return to normal, we spent a month travelling up the coast and something just clicked for the both of us. Within three months we’d sold our house, I’d quit my job of 17 years and enrolled Nav into distance education!

Where have you been so far?

We’ve been to Shark Bay, then drove through from the Overlander Roadhouse to Auski (only seeing bitumen for about 40km) via Mount Augustus, Tom Price and Karijini. We were in Broome and around the Dampier Peninsula for a few weeks before hitting the Gibb River Road. We then spent Western 4W Driver #123 |

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some time around Wyndham, Kununurra and Lake Argyle before heading to the Daly River and Dundee Beach in the NT. We’re now in Darwin!

How long do you think you will live on the road?

Either until we get homesick, find somewhere we don't want to leave or Nav starts high school. We both think that high school is as much about the social side and connections as it is about the learning so want her to have that opportunity! But that doesn’t mean we won't go again once she’s done!!

Describe your vehicle and caravan.

Our home is a 2020 Lotus Off Grid Caravan towed by a 2019 200-series Toyota LandCruiser!

Our caravan is on the smaller end of the scale at 19 foot but has twin bunks, separate toilet/shower and plenty of storage. It’s incredibly comfortable.

The Cruiser was pretty much stock when we bought it other than a bull bar and tyres.

It’s now had a GVM upgrade and has been tuned for towing. We also installed airbag suspension, a roof rack with a Bushwakka awning, snorkel and a new airbox. BUT the list of further upgrades - drawer systems, new head unit, rear wheel carrier, etc. etc. etc. is never ending!!

What has been the challenges to living on the road?

Adjusting to homeschooling has been by far the hardest challenge! It’s hard to be motivated when there are so many fun things to be doing! But we are getting much better at it.

Spending every waking moment together is also challenging at times!

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What do you love so far about your new lifestyle?

The Freedom! Knowing that we can literally go anywhere at any time for however long we want is so incredibly liberating. Waking up each day with no need to set an alarm.

Having the freedom to choose to do only things that bring us joy every single day!

Watching Nav’s confidence grow and the life skills she is learning all the time! Plus all the amazing things we are seeing and the people we are meeting - we had no idea how many other families were doing their own version of the same thing!

What do you miss?

Obviously our friends and family! But staying in touch is really easy these days thanks to FaceTime and social media!

We also miss our doggos. We decided it wasn’t fair on them to bring them along and have left them in excellent hands where they’re living their best lives! But we still miss them every single day.

Any advice for others considering this move?

Just do it! What’s the worst that can happen? You hate it and go home! I don't think that’s likely, but honestly there is no down side that i can see.

There is so much work out there at the moment and it would be very easy to work your way around if needed. I also think people should question why they don't just do it! I know life is easy when it’s comfortable but does that make it good, great or even amazing?

Our Instagram handle is the_ginger_gypsies if anyone has any specific questions. I love a chat!

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Share the starlit sky and avoid the midday sun with the DS-2 Pitch Black Double Dome Swag. It’s large, comfortable and comes fully kitted for today’s drovers and adventurers.

* OZTENT DS-1 Pitch Black Single Dome Swag shown.

Key features • OZTENT’s Pitch Black Tech® - keeps out up to 95% of sunlight • 2 Person - Sleeps two comfortably • Easy access - through the side or the head of the swag • Replaceable super-fine 65gsm No-See-Um mesh sky-screens • 100% waterproof - stay dry • Multiple storage features - keeping everything close and secure • Power cord inlet and light loops - tech-friendly and flexible.

OZTENT ..it’s the experience.

“The main focus on light-proof fabric is a great bonus for Australian outback conditions. This is the first product of its kind to block out sunlight, which is very impressive.

It’s a well thought out and executed double swag that offers high-quality, breathable fabric, in-built ventilation solutions and good tie-downs.

Overall, it’s the ultimate high-end swag. A standout project that ticks all the boxes for good design in this category. Well done.”

GDA Judges comment, 2021

GOINGS ON Off Road Equipment celebrateS 50 years I n July, long time industry presence, Off Road Equipment, celebrated their 50th anniversary. 115 friends, family and supporters of the iconic retailer helped Andrew, Jaquie and the team enjoy the night.

“We had a great evening, and it was great to enjoy the occasion with so many people who have supported us over the years.” said owner, Andrew Fardon.

Andrew has been involved with the company for 33 years, starting work there at a young age, sweeping the floors after school. In 2004 he bought into the business, buying it out completely in 2006.

ORE offer clients a complete range of 4WD accessories and equipment and are an ARB reseller. Their team all live and breathe the 4WD lifestyle and can offer plenty of firsthand advice for anyone new or looking to expand their 4WD experience.

TLCC NATIONAL GATHERING T

he National Gathering and Conference of the LandCruiser Club is this year being hosted by the Western Australian branch in Dunsborough.

Spanning three days, the gathering brings together members from all around Australia, to renew acquaintances and shared camaraderie.

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The Gathering is on between the 14th and 18th October 2022.

For more info, go to www.tlccwa.org.au

GOINGS ON

CSR REOPENS R

emote adventure seekers rejoice. After more than 900 days of COVID-related restrictions, the Canning Stock Route has finally reopened to travellers.

A statement on the Kuju Wangka’s permit website made the announcement in early June, inviting travellers to register for permits. Light vehicle permits are currently $195 and, although not recommended, trailers will incur an addition fee of $100.

Light trucks are $385 per vehicle.

Having seen little to no vehicle traffic for three seasons, the travellers are reminded to allow for additional fuel consumption and a possible increase in vehicle wear and tear.

If contemplating undertaking the CSR, please ensure that you are well prepared and allow sufficient time.

To book your permit, go to: www.canningstockroute.net.au/apply-fora-permit To assist with your CSR preparations, don’t forget to grab a copy of The 4W Driver’s Guide - Canning Stock Route from our online store.

AN ICONIC ADVENTURE

In 1910, Alfred Canning constructed 51 wells to establish a stock route to move cattle from north east WA to the south west via Wiluna through some of the harshest country on the planet.

100 years on, you can follow Canning’s footsteps by taking on the world’s longest and most remote 4WD adventure as you cross sandy deserts, endless sand dunes and vast vistas. Immerse yourself in the history of this truly monumental achievement, discovering rarely visited sites along the way.

Use this guide to plan your trip using the wealth of information provided along with detailed Hema maps showing the location of all the wells and other sites along the length of the Canning Stock Route.

Product features: • History of the Canning Stock Route • Preparing for your trip • Where to buy fuel and supplies • Where to camp • Detailed maps of the entire CSR • Trip notes and interesting facts from Halls Creek to Wiluna and all the wells in between.

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Western 4W Driver #123 |

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workhorse CAMERA

BY CHRIS MORTON

R

eleased in 2021, the Sony FX3 is a cinematic version of the very popular A7S III, utilising the same sensor, same ISO range and same resolution. The FX3 is capable of shooting in S-Cinetone, which is used in all of the Sony Cinema Camera range, is fitted with an internal fan and has an unlimited recording time (unlike the A7S III which has a maximum of 13 hours). The inclusion of the fan prevents the camera from overheating.

We extensively used two FX3 cameras while filming in remote locations and found them to be highly versatile. They were small enough to make 'run and gun' filming easy and rugged enough to survive a month in the field. Battery life was not great as we had to run the LED screens at high brightness to compensate for the Pilbara sun. We did try one with a small external monitor, however the added weight and bulk reduced its manoeuvrability substantially.

The other key difference with the FX3 is the inclusion of an audio top-hat that slides into (and screws down into the body) the hot shoe connector, providing you with multiple audio inputs and controls. Having ticked all of the boxes, the FX3 is also approved for Netflix.

Overall, the FX3 performed exceptionally well and proved to be a valuable addition to our kit. At just over $1000 more than an A7S III, you would need to decide if the addition of the top-hat and the ability to shoot in S-Cinetone is worth the money.

The Sony FX3 is available from Camera Electronic online and instore.

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CAPTURE THE MOMENT with UNCLE DICK STEIN We Love Photography

ASHLEY VINCE - BUSSELTON JETTY, WA

W

e often read about the transmissions in our 4WD vehicles having 'four on the floor'. Well, here is a photograph that has 'four on the beach' …

Ashley Vince stopped off on his way through the southwest at the jetty in Busselton. Lots of people do, because the town itself is a lot of fun for tourists and a lot of commercial help to the local residents.

And the jetty is a world-famous site for marine specimens - there is also a lot of watery life going on down in the pilings at the other end.

Most of us walk down the jetty and take pictures of the ocean along the way. The

Well done Ashley!

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better photographers get the horizon level and the exposure even between sundown and water. Ashley has been smarter, though - he’s taken a different view by going onto the sand and seeing the structure from the side. And he’s been wise enough to concentrate his vision on the most attractive feature of the structure - the four sister buildings that make up the museum.

Western 4W Driver #123 |

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Do an experiment: block off the two cruciform windows on the central buildings and look at the picture - then look again with them back in view. That shows you the power of graphic design and the wisdom of the architects in adding those two features.

Ashley has a good exposure, aided by the slightly falling light and the intense blue of the sea and the sky. The saturation is echoed by the reddened pilings plus the warm yellow of the wood and its reflections.

Again - try blocking out those reflections and see just how rewarding they are in the

composition. There’s a slight vignetting of the scene - intentional or not - that draws our eyes into the colours. It’s a real icon of the southwest.

Ashley now gets to go to another icon of Western Australia - Camera Electronic in Stirling or Murray Street - armed with a gift voucher as reward for his artistry.

Well done! When you’ve got your new something, head out to other parts of our great state and see what other colours are there to capture.

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SMART PHOTOGRAPHY with KARL FEHLAUER

CAMERA SETTINGS FOR YOUR SMARTPHONE Welcome to my third article on Smartphone Photography.

I hope you have enjoyed the first two articles and have learnt something from them.

I

n this article, I am going to go through the setting up of your camera so that you get the best results when you take a photo. All camera types, regardless of whether they are conventional cameras or smartphone cameras need to be correctly set up if you wish to get the best results from them as the settings out of the factory are generic and basic.

them and will look very flat and dull and will require you to use a photo editing app to get the best out of it. The benefit of RAW format is that it captures the most detail, which in turns allows you to get the best out of an image. I strongly suggest that if you intend to take your photography to the next level that you save in a RAW format and use an editing programme or app.

Figure 1

While this article is based on Android phones, there should be similar settings for iPhones, Android tablets, iPads etc.

I have taken a screenshot of the camera page of my Samsung S21 (see Figure 1) and will be referring to this image throughout the article, but as I said, iPhones and tablets will look very similar.

Starting from the top on the left hand side you will see the symbol for ‘Settings’ – it looks like a cog. Click on this and it will take you into the settings page where you have a whole lot of different setting options to choose from. There are lots of options here and too many to go into any sort of detail, so I will concentrate on the ones that I think are the most important to change.

They are: 1. Scene optimiser – this will automatically adjust the camera settings to make dark areas lighter, landscapes more vivid etc.

2. Picture formats – this will allow you to take RAW and JPEG images. RAW images have no post processing done to Western 4W Driver #123 |

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3. Auto HDR – this captures more details in the bright and dark areas of your image (the same as Scene Optimiser) and is great if you are intending to only shoot in automatic mode and don’t want to use an editing app.

camera will decide; however, just be aware that the flash is only good for subjects that are close to the camera (about an arm’s length). I have seen people trying to take a landscape photo with the flash on and wondering why it wasn’t working!

4. Tracking auto-focus – this keeps the rear camera focussed on the subject even if they are moving and is great for when you are trying to photograph moving subjects such as children, animals etc.

The next symbol represents a clock and is used for setting a timer count down – usually 2-10 seconds depending on the phone and is particularly good when the phone is on a tripod of sorts and you want to remove any chance of shake which can cause blurry images.

5. Grid lines – I strongly suggest that you enable grid lines as they will help in composing your image. I will discuss composition in a future article.

6. Location tags – this will add information as to where the image was taken for future reference; however, I would keep this off if you have privacy concerns etc.

7. Shooting methods – this allows you to set different ways to take an image, such as voice commands etc. For example, I have set my volume keys to zoom in and out.

These are the main settings that I suggest you have a look at and see if they will assist you with taking an image.

Moving from left to right, the next symbol is a lightning bolt which represents the flash. You can have this set to on, off or auto. If you are unsure if the image will be too dark then set this to auto and the en with Samsung S10.

Sunset Point Peron - tak

The next symbol is the aspect ratio and can be shown as 3:4 or 9:16 or 1:1 and so on.

This represents the amount of the camera’s sensor that will be used when taking an image. Most phone camera sensors have an aspect ratio of 3:4, therefore when this ratio is chosen it will use the whole sensor to capture the image, whereas 9:16 or 1:1 etc. will only be using a portion of the sensor. I strongly suggest that you use the 3:4 ratio or whichever ratio fits the entire sensor as that way you are capturing as much detail in your image as possible and then if you wish to crop it to a panorama or a square you can use an editing app to do it.

Also, in this setting you may be able to select the megapixels (MP) size. I have mine set to the maximum of 64MP as this will allow you to capture a larger image size and to print images.

One drawback with digital files is that the smaller the image size, the more images that you can fit on a memory card; however, they will not be suitable for printing and I would always recommend using the largest file size that you can, as you never know when you will capture that special image and want to print it out, or enter it into one of our competitions, such as ‘Silly Snaps’ or 'Capture the Moment' in this magazine.

The next two symbols relate to motion and filters, neither of

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which I use. If you want to play around with them and see how they go, then please do. That’s it for the top row.

Nightscape - taken wit h Samsung S10.

Located on the bottom row are your picture modes. There are many different types to choose from and I will run you through some of them now: 1. Night – this tells the camera you are taking a photo in low light or the dark and it applies automatic settings to optimise the image.

Be aware, that to get the best result you will need to hold the camera really still or place it on some sort of a tripod to prevent any shakiness and image blurring as it may take up to 30 seconds to capture the image.

2. Photo – this is the auto mode and you simply face the camera to the subject, press the button and the camera takes the photo using settings that it thinks are right. You don’t have any control over the image but in editing apps or sites such as Instagram you can add filters etc. to try and improve an image.

Most people will leave their camera in this mode as it is the easiest and simplest to use if they are not interested in editing images.

3. Pro – this is the manual mode and is where you can change image settings such as shutter speed, ISO and colour balance to achieve the result you are after. Using this mode and capturing the image in RAW format and editing in an app will give you the best result.

4. Video and Pro Video – these are the modes for taking video which I will discuss in a future article.

5. Hyperlapse (Timelapse) – this mode takes a series of still images and merges them together to make a video.

Hyperlapse is where you are moving as you take the images and timelapse is when you are standing still. You can use either mode to create either a timelapse

or hyperlapse as they are essentially the same thing.

6. Panorama – allows you to take a panorama image while moving the camera to the left or right.

7. Food – enhances the colours of food.

8. Slow motion or Super slow motion – creates slow or very slow video images, again I will discuss this in a future article.

There may be more modes depending on your camera type, so have a play around and see what suits your style of shooting.

So there you are, a quick explanation on how to set up your camera settings and the various modes available to use to take a photo with your Smartphone. For me, I will generally use manual modes (Pro Photo/ Pro Video) when I take my photos/videos as I like to have full control over what I am doing.

However, there is no right or wrong as each of us have a different preference. The best piece of advice I can give you is to just get out there and take photos (lots of them) and have fun, as it is a great hobby and creates great memories.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me by email: karl@westralianimages.com The next article will be on composition and how to frame your image, so I will catch you then. Keep the shiny side up and have fun.

Western 4W Driver #123 |

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now we're tawk ing! travelling australia with kids - with mandy farabegoli

KEEPING THE KIDS ENTERTAINED Many people think that travelling Australia with their kids is just a dream. I’d like to encourage you to turn it into a plan.

I

’m Mandy Farabegoli and I run the website www.travellingaustraliawithkids.com encouraging families to take a few weeks, months or years and travel our amazing country.

I travelled Australia with my husband and three children for two years and it was the best thing we ever did, as a couple and as a family.

In my articles, I address some of the major concerns that families seem to have and that may get in the way of turning their dreams into a plan.

In this article we are going to address those looooong hours in the car and ideas to keep the kids occupied and for you to keep your sanity.

Are we there yet?

As you may already know, even a trip to visit grandparents that may live more than

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an hour away, you get halfway into the trip and the, “Are we there yets?” start. So, you can imagine when travelling around the country, often with trips of more than three to four hours, entertaining the kids can really be a challenge.

At Travelling Australia With Kids, our whole concept is to help each other, meaning that the thoughts and ideas are not just mine.

I’ll share what worked for us, but I have also asked the question on our Facebook page Travel Australia With Kids as to what works for other families. Clearly with families, there are always different dynamics and ages and so this way, you can work out what would help your family.

Here are some TAWK families’ suggestions from a post on our Facebook page, some great ideas for families that are currently travelling the country and have long trips in the car: • We take an activity tub in the middle of the back seat with activities for miss 2 (busy board, flap books, etch-a-sketch) and miss 6 (colouring, beads, Barbies) plus iPads are allowed after lunch. All stops are for running

and we make snack boxes and lunch boxes for the car. I take things in and out of the box with a stash of extras in the caravan to change things up. This is all in between pointing out things out the window. It can be hard work from the passenger seat. But we try and factor in rest days and not too many long car days in a row.

• We recently bought our children earmuffs to block out the excess noises from each other. It has helped immensely. Other times we play games such as spot the animals, I spy, find seven coloured cars - one of each rainbow colour, red, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, purple. We also take snacks ... lots of snacks.

• We play 'I think' instead of 'I spy'. So, “I think of an animal starting with the letter L”. Then they guess animals. It’s good for littlies to help with their sounds and letters.

You can also give clues eg. land or ocean animals, Australian animal etc. My kids love it.

• I have my phone (or device) on Bluetooth and the children get to each choose a song that we all have to listen to until our next turn. At least one stop to shake the sillies out and stretch the legs.

• Audio books have been our life saviours.

Use the free app Borrow Box with your local library details and it is great. Mr 7 and Mr 9 loved anything David Walliams, Emily Rhodda series Rohan of Rin, How to Train Your Dragon series, Jack and Harry. Even my husband is really getting into them! It certainly passes the time for us.

• Audio books and/or podcasts. There are some excellent podcasts aimed at kids.

You could either listen as a family or allow the kids to listen on headphones from a device. Otherwise, we crack out the TAWK quiz book sometimes (more about this later in the article.)

We've been through the whole thing, but it gives us a giggle at how bad we all are at retaining trivia.

• I took my boys across the country on a four-week road trip. They were 5, 7 and 8.

They each had a backpack with colouring books, reading books, pencils and magnetic travel games in them, plus I made them each a road trip book with eye spy sheets, bingo sheets, tic tac toe, hangman etc., each page laminated, and they used white board pens to write on them and magic erasers to wipe clean and reuse over and over.

What we did For us, when we travelled the country, we used to space out the daily drive into segments. Our kids were 6, 7 and 9, so not too young and this meant we could also integrate some schooling into the mix.

We’d start off, just letting them all settle in and then around the half hour mark we would let them on their electronics for another half hour – this also gave us time to plan our travels and get organised for the next segment … schooling! Yes, that also took some prepping this end, as all the kids were at different stages. However, this also had its benefits, which I will get to.

We’d just do some spelling, science and maths for each of their levels – I had workbooks from Homeschooling Supplies Australia - we chose not to do Distance Education (S.I.D.E.) or any formal program, so this worked for us. To make it a bit of fun too, I’d also test my husband and not being the best speller, the kids loved it when he made mistakes. It made it more about fun and less about learning, which in turn led to them being keener to do it.

Maths was just about each child learning their times tables and some mental maths recall. As mentioned above, the bonus to this was that my youngest knew all of the times tables by the time he was 7 as he was hearing the two elder children recite theirs. When he eventually Western 4W Driver #123 |

169

got to Year 3, his teachers were very impressed.

Number of questions per subject each round:

We had a great science book and I’d read this to them and test them after each page.

One for Pre-schoolers (age 3-5),

After this, it was snack time and each of the children had a packed lunch box with snacks and lunch in and this seemed to be a break for them. Whilst they were snacking, I would be reading a book to them.

Two questions for Older Children (age 9-12),

Then we’d let them watch a DVD. Each child had a mobile player, and they could choose from a selection of DVDs that we brought with us.

After an hour, we’d generally all have lunch.

We’d pull over and enjoy a local park, rest stop or attraction. Everyone would get some fresh air and stretch their legs and we’d all be ready for the last part of the trip.

For the last part of the trip, we’d do a quiz of sorts. I would have three or four quiz books on my lap and have to look through the questions to suit the age of the children and of course my husband. It was quite the juggling act, but they all loved it and so juggle I did.

This led me however, to realise that there was an opportunity here and I decided to grab it! I wrote a family quiz book designed for all the family to play at their own level.

In consultation with the children’s school teachers, I thought I’d throw in some questions that encompassed some school subjects and expand your child’s general knowledge (without them realising it!).

By taking the quiz again and again, it reinforces their learning, and the kids love the fact that the next time they get the question, they know it and get the answer right!

The book has ten rounds, and all rounds contain twelve questions. There are 11 subjects: Animal World, Spelling and English, General Knowledge, Geography, History, Maths, Movies, Music, Science, Space and Sport.

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Two questions for Young Children (age 6-8),

One question for Teenagers (some older teenagers able to complete questions for adults), Two question for Adults.

It was designed especially for those long road trips where you need to pass some time as a family in the car and educate the children as you go. It is equally good for family time after dinner or sitting around the campfire.

The Quiz Book for ALL the Family is a great way to level the playing field between all family members.

We hope that this has given you lots of ideas on how to pass those long hours in the car on your travels around our great land. It can certainly be an adjustment for all. Now, I have to confess … I ended up being worse than the kids! They ended up coping so well with the trip and all the segments that I organised, that they could go for hours! So, be careful how good you get at it!

For Western 4W Driver readers, we would like to offer a 30% discount on the real book or the eBook (available for immediate download). Use the code Western4wd on the TAWK shop website. tawk-shop.travellingaustraliawithkids.com

e y t ? e r e h t e Are w

Written by kids ... for kids

TRACK YOUR TRIP

W

henever we travel, we like to record where we've been on a map. We have a large map on our living room wall, with our collection of hat pins stuck on their locations and tracks drawn to show where we've travelled.

If you'd like to try tracking your own trips grab yourselves a TAWK Trip Tracker. This is a physical map of Australia for you to record your trip. You can highlight favourite spots, show where you stopped and it's a great way to personalise and most of all remember your trip.

There are several sizes and options available to purchase, including the famous TAWK Magnetic Maps which enables you to pop them on your car or fridge for all to see when you are travelling or when you get home.

For 30% discount on the Trip Tracker, use the code Western4wd on the TAWK shop website. tawk-shop.travellingaustraliawithkids.com

TAWK Trip Tracker benefits: • Choice of sizes.

• Choice of materials and options - NeverTear Paper, Magnetic, or download your own!

• Children can get their own map and have ownership of their trip and highlight their favourite spots.

• Educational: reinforces where towns and cities are.

• You'll all remember it because you tracked it!

Western 4W Driver #123 |

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PUZZLES FOR KIDS MAP word search ATLAS CITY COASTLINE COMPASS COUNTRY EAST GEOGRAPHY LANDMARK LATITUDE LOCATION LONGITUDE MAP NAVIGATE NORTH ROAD SOUTH STREET TOWN TRACK WEST

B T I R V Q L H Z W E S T J M P Z M

A G E O G R A P H Y X J C O C Y L Q

F W F N T K T Q X V G P O X R S O B

D O L N A V I G A T E K U M B R C E

J M A P B D T D H Y L C N I T V A S

I X T E Z B U M T A F S T R E E T O

C R L G A X D U C I P R R L N Y I U

P Y A D T U E P O Z W E Y W G V O T

K H S O R O C R M V X F J G H C N H

Q U J F A K V D P W A R N S K I S N

N A F H C G T L A F M T O W N Q A K

O V K Q K W Y R S T E Z Z P W R E T

R O B D S C O A S T L I N E N O M O

T N E S P Y J K B N A Y U C L A S J

H L O N G I T U D E G D Z B H D Y U

I U M O Q X V M U L A N D M A R K L

S C I T Y P H N A W L E I O T U G W

C L E G X C S F H J I Z E A S T Q D

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| Western 4W Driver #123

Strawberry icecream

Fudge brownie

Choc chip cookie

CLUES: 1. Jamie and Claire don't like anything with chocolate in it.

2. Alex loves fruity flavours in his desserts.

3. Molly doesn't like fruit in her desserts.

4. Someone with a name ending in 'e' is eating icecream.

5. Jamie loves sprinkles on her dessert.

6. Tony has to cut his dessert into pieces before he can eat it.

7. Molly loves to dip her dessert in milk.

8. Claire has to eat her dessert with a spoon.

Vanilla cupcake

Six children had dessert after dinner.

Figure out which dessert each child had.

Apple pie

LOGIC PUZZLE

Jamie Tony Alex Molly Claire Answers on page 175.

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CVC

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Expiry

DIRECTORY

Your quick-find reference to products and services in Western 4W Driver

ACCOMMODATION Queen of the Murchison.......................................151

MAGAZINES Western Angler.......................................................156

BATTERIES/BATTERY SYSTEMS Battery World............................................................ 99 Topo DC Power.......................................................107

MAPS & NAVIGATION Hema Maps...............................................................118 WAITOC....................................................................103

BRAKES Bendix Brakes.......................................................... 85

MECHANICAL SERVICE, REPAIRS & REPLACEMENT Fremantle Fuel Injection....................................... 137 Goldfields Offroad....................................................75 Medicar Automotive Solutions..............................97 Turbo Tech.................................................................37 United Fuel Injection.............................................. 53

4WD PARTS & ACCESSORIES ARB......................................................................... IFC-1 AUS 4WD Equipment............................................. 59 Drifta Stockton........................................................IBC Goldfields Offroad....................................................75 Make Tracks WA....................................................... 81 Maxtrax.......................................................................111 Medicar Automotive Solutions..............................97 Off Road Equipment .............................................. 117 Supafit Seat Covers...............................................108

TRAINING & TOURS Bob Cooper Outback Survival............................128 Epic 4WD Tours........................................................115 WAITOC....................................................................103

LOGIC PUZZLE ANSWERS

Jamie Tony Alex Molly Claire

Strawberry icecream

ELECTRONICS Camera Electronic..................................................162 Wanderlust................................................................ 93

PHOTOGRAPHY Camera Electronic..................................................162 Wanderlust................................................................ 93

Fudge brownie

DESTINATIONS Shire of Ashburton.................................................164

PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS Fremantle Fuel Injection....................................... 137 Manta Performance Exhausts.............................. 39 Turbo Tech.................................................................37 United Fuel Injection.............................................. 53

Choc chip cookie

COMMUNICATION Icom...........................................................................152

MOTOR VEHICLES Toyota..................................................................... OBC

Apple pie

CAMPING SUPPLIES AUS 4WD Equipment............................................. 59 Bob Cooper Outback Survival............................128 Drifta Stockton........................................................IBC Go Camping and Overlanding............................130 OzTent.......................................................................159

Vanilla cupcake

CAMPERS/CARAVANS & TRAILERS Explorex Caravans.................................................. 45 Off Road Equipment............................................... 117

✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗

✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗

✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗

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Western 4W Driver #123 |

175

KEEP ME HANDY!

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Emergency Contact PHONE NUMBERS NAME

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EMERGENCY ONLY

000

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131 444

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133 337

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(08) 9334 1222

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1800 733 772

Royal Flying Doctor Service NT

24 hour medical & emergency

Main Roads WA

Road conditions

138 138

State Emergency Services (SES)

Natural disasters & emergencies

132 500

Wildcare Helpline

For injured wildlife

(08) 9474 9055 office hours only

Bureau of Meteorology (BoM)

National weather warnings

1300 659 210

Lifeline

Crisis support & suicide prevention

13 11 14

RAC

Roadside assistance

13 11 11

1800 625 800 Sat phone: 0011 61 8 9417 6389

Central Australia: 1800 167 222 Top End/Darwin: 000

80 CHANNEL UHF INFORMATION Below are the main UHF channels being used in Australia detailing each channel’s main use. To download the full list, register for the Members Only section at: www.western4wdriver.com.au Channel:

Frequency:

Use:

Channel Spacing:

CH 10 CH 11 CH 18 CH 29 CH 30 CH 40

476.6500 476.6750 476.8500 477.1250 477.1500 477.4000

Simplex - 4WD Drivers - Convoy, Clubs & National Parks Simplex - Call Channel only Simplex - Caravan & Campers Convoy Channel Simplex - Pacific Hwy (NSW) & Bruce Hwy (Qld) Road Channel Simplex - UHF CB Broadcasts Simplex - Highway, Truckies & Roadworks Channel

12.5 KHz 12.5 KHz 12.5 KHz 12.5 KHz 12.5 KHz 12.5 KHz

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| Western 4W Driver #123

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