Flooding

A cold night out in the desert.  Carlin slept with my old army heavy woollen (Swandri) coat draped over his sleeping bag.  I shivered!  Tonight I will wear my thermal 'long johns' and long sleeved merino top.

One of the first tasks was to check the Lithium battery State of Charge (soc).  It was 80% charged.  Obviously we had solved the recharging issue and the very cold night meant the fridge and freezer didn't consume much power.

Breakfast was bacon and egg jaffles cooked in the embers of our open fire.  After cleaning the campsite and ensuring the fire was extinguished, we continued east on the Great Central Road. 

Wide, flat and corrugated.  Only 1000km to go!

150km later we reach the Tjukayirla Roadhouse where we stopped for fuel.  This was an unplanned stop as a consequence of being unable to obtain fuel at Laverton.  As anticipated; the price of diesel was high (2.50ltr).

Given the high price fuel theft is a problem out here.  The bowsers are contained in very secure locked cages. 

During the process of paying for the fuel we discovered our next problem.  The manager of the roadhouse informed us he believed the far end of the road was closed due to flooding and mentioned other travellers had turned back electing to take the sealed longer route.  If we did the same it would add 3000km to our journey.  I had been watching the weather and had known there had been some significant rainfall in the NW with a band heading SE. 

Decision time!  Do we continue another 800+km only to find the road cut by flood waters or turn back.  I didn't want to detour an additional 3000km and incur the cost of the required fuel.  We would push on and if the road was cut, wait until the water level dropped.

At this end the sky was looking good and the road dry.  We would find out in two days whether the other end was passable.

After travelling another 400km we reached the Warburton Roadhouse.  At this point we're travelled approximately half the length of the road.  I hadn't planned on stopping here as I knew the fuel would be very expensive.  We had sufficient to reach Yulara at the far end.  However I decided to purchase 20ltr ($2.65ltr).  This gave me the opportunity to ask the roadhouse manager about the 'rumour' of flooding. 

He hadn't seen any traffic from the east to confirm the road was passable.  However he suggested that although the road might be flooded if you stayed in the middle of the road the surface should be firm. 

We continued east for several more hours before finding a suitable campsite around 3pm.   Tonight I wanted to see if I could cook a roast in the 'dutch oven'.  Last time I attempted this I ended up with a charcoal ball.

This time I check the pork roast twice adding the veggies on the second occasion. 

It was cooked to perfection (if I say so myself) and the crackling was divine.  I must have fluked it!

 

Another cold night, but this time I wore my thermals.