The Ultimate Inspection

Two working days passed without hearing back from the compliance inspection centre. They had said that the inspection normally takes a day or so, so I was starting to get even more nervous. On the third day I decided to call and see how it was going. Unfortunately, the news was not good.

The inspector started reeling off a list of reasons for failure, and it was so long I had to get him to go through it again so I could write it all down. Having only discussed it over the phone and not being able to talk about each item while looking at the vehicle, we were a little unsure of the full extent of the problem. There followed a period of soul-searching, wondering whether, despite our research into importing a vehicle into New Zealand, we had underestimated the standards that vehicles were required to meet. Maybe a 14-year-old vehicle would be too difficult to bring up to the required standard, and the dreaded fall-back option of shipping back to the UK to sell was once again mentioned. That would be a last resort though, and we spent the rest of the day phoning around various places getting an idea of prices and availability for parts and work. We decided to head down to the inspection centre early the next morning to get a better grasp of exactly what would need to be done to pass the inspection. It was well worth our while, and after talking it through with the inspector we realised that a lot of the items would be relatively easy to resolve. In fact, we managed to sort out a good number there and then.

By the end of the day we had cleaned out our number plate light and replaced one of the bulbs, realigned our headlights (probably to account for the removal of the one tonne of equipment from the back of the vehicle), made a few ‘minor’ adjustments to our auxiliary lighting and sourced new front brake discs and pads. The next day I went back down to Auckland and spent the day replacing the front brake discs (as well as taking the opportunity to replace the wheel bearings on one wheel) and fit two new red reflectors to the rear of the vehicle. Fortunately when I cleaned up the disc pads, we could see that they were an approved brand and still had plenty of wear, so I’ve been able to save the new pads we bought for use in the future. The guys at the compliance inspection centre have been really helpful while we have been sorting out these matters, and I can’t thank them enough.

The Camel has now been transported to a specialist Land Rover mechanic to get his opinion on the remaining items that need to be rectified, namely exhaust emissions and two small areas of corrosion. As from this year, all used vehicles being imported into New Zealand have to undergo an exhaust emissions test on entry, and ours has failed. An emissions test is a normal part of the annual MOT in the UK, and we have never had any trouble passing that before. In fact, it is still within those limits. The New Zealand test is much more stringent though, with the limits being just over a quarter of those for the UK. Hopefully a thorough clean out and fine tune can get it through the test.

In the meantime, the Suzuki we have been running around in sprang an oil leak from the rear axle, and the need to replace the oil seal gave me a chance to replace the rumbly wheel bearing at the same time. Friday was spent on that, and now we can actually hear ourselves as we drive around in it.

So there we are. Still a bit apprehensive about the emissions test, and not sure just when it will be going back for the retest, but at least we are making progress, no matter how slowly.

We’ve been back in New Zealand for just over two and a half weeks, but it seems like an age ago since we left Brisbane. It’s great to finally be back, especially that it’s for good this time and not just for a holiday. Catching up with friends and family has been fantastic, although we’ve been trying hard not to bore them all with our “When I was in Africa…” stories.

Long Way Down

Another birthday rolls past for me, so that means Happy Birthday to Sue as well.

Now have the special edition dvd of the McGregor/Boorman Long Way Down to accompany the book received from GAS, so once the Olympics are done with we can sit down to ten episodes, plus extras, of African overland travel as it should be. Or could be, if you have an unlimited budget, heaps of sponsorship and massive support team...

Back in the bosom

As soon as we had packed the car up in the container David decided it was time for a bit of sightseeing so off we went to view the Glass House Mountains and other local areas. We also managed to see Kathy and Dave, friends from Queenstown. They are working in Brisbane and were pretty keen to pop up to Bribie Island for a bit of a cycle around and lunch. We managed something like a 5 minute cycle ride in between eating and talking.

We were still not finished with exporting the car formally and as soon as various documents came through we jumped on the train to Brisbane to pay a visit to the Customs house for our final exit stamp in the Carnet. The whole process took just a couple of minutes and a couple more because the Customs officer was quite perturbed that we had omitted to sign the front of the carnet- she was the first to notice our error. With everything done we had just one more day in Australia so we borrowed David and Helen’s bikes again and explored a bit more of Bribie Island.

David very kindly drove us to the airport and we had hoped that we might be able to catch a glimpse of the container ship transporting our car from the plane but we were in the middle row of seats, so we could not even see New Zealand as we came in to land.

Normally it can take quite a while to get through the quarantine section of arrivals at Auckland and because we had taken George the Giraffe (a carved wooden giraffe), one of our few African souvenirs with us, we had anticipated that we would be quite a while and had suggested to Gavin’s parents that they didn’t rush to be at the airport for the arrival time. So of course the plane was early and we were through Immigration, Customs and Quarantine in 10 minutes flat and out into the arrivals hall just about the time the plane was due to arrive waiting to be welcomed back. Pete and Trish were not far behind though and soon we were on our way again. After popping in to see Gavin’s sister and her boyfriend, Kathryn and Alan, who live in Auckland we carried on back to Warkworth.

The following day we drove out to the Wenzlick farm at Matakana where Gavin’s uncle and aunt, Bryan and Bev, have been looking after the trusty Suzuki in one of their sheds. When we parked it up, nearly 18 months ago, we forgot to disconnect the battery and after a few tows around by tractor (it is a rather hilly and very, very, very wet farm at the moment) the little beast refused to start so off went Gavin to buy a new battery while Bev and I studied the waterlogged garden, it has been raining here for weeks. The new battery did the trick and it started first time- what a beauty. It may not be the most luxurious or modern little beast but it even made it through a Warrant of Fitness without any problems, after washing all the bird poo off.

Over the next few days we caught up with many more members of Gavin’s family and friends. We have made a couple of trips down to Auckland to get into progress importing the car and in all honesty, not be down on Australia, but it does seem to be a lot more straight forward than our last country.

So now we have been back for a week. Yesterday we unpacked the car from the container and our hard work and David’s hard work seems to have paid off. The car passed its quarantine (MAF) inspection with flying colours, apart from a quick hovering up of a little dust and sand that had shaken down during shipping no further cleaning or fumigation was required. A process which had taken 11 hours in Fremantle took only a couple of hours in Auckland. In the afternoon the car was transported to a vehicle compliance testing station where inspectors are going through it with a fine tooth comb to ensure that it meets all the Kiwi safety regulations. Gavin has been worrying about this inspection ever since we departed the UK so we just hope that it goes OK. Fingers crossed.

71 today

Happy Birthday to my Pa from a wintry New Zealand.

Tantalisingly close

Camping right on Teewah Beach, right beside the Pacific Ocean, it started to sink in just how close we are now to the end of the journey. New Zealand is only 2000km away now. We have been listening to Radio New Zealand on short wave, and even heard my home town of Warkworth mentioned in the news the other day (because of a landslip in The Dome).

The sand dunes at Teewah were a great camping spot, and luckily we had a bit more room for the drive out along the beach the next day, instead of just the single lane width above the lapping waves of the previous evening.

All of our focus was now turning to shipping the Land Rover to New Zealand. This included sorting out shipping details as well as preparing the vehicle for entry to New Zealand. We had begun contacting shipping companies a couple of weeks ago, but still needed to arrange loading. Most importantly we needed to get on with cleaning the vehicle, and there were numerous small repair jobs I needed to sort out. We spent our last two nights camping in a forest park an hour or so north of Brisbane and spent the whole day touching up paint and attending to small repairs.

From there it was only a short run to my uncle’s place on Bribie Island, where we are staying until we fly out next week. Helen and Uncle David have had their driveway taken over by the Land Rover, and we have used up all their rainwater cleaning the vehicle from bottom to top to bottom again, inside and out.

Uncle David’s workshop and years of experience as a mechanic have been put to good use fixing everything that needed fixing, including re-welding our leaking front diff. He’s a Ford and Jeep man through and through, but secretly knows his way around a Land Rover pretty well also.

The thorough cleaning carried out before shipping from South Africa and on arrival to Fremantle meant that this time ’round the job was ten times easier. After three full days the Land Rover is looking a million bucks again, and all the little (and some not so little) repairs are complete. Hopefully the vehicle is clean enough to satisfy the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officials and the Land Transport Safety Authority entry certifiers. We’re both pretty nervous about those two steps to importing the land Rover to New Zealand.

Over the weekend we took a run into Brisbane and caught up with Dr John, a friend that Catkin worked with on the ski fields in Queenstown a few years ago. It was good to see him again, and he and his family kept us well entertained while feeding us pizza for dinner. John was off to Mongolia the next day for a few weeks, so we got to play travel agent and make all sorts of suggestions about things to see and do there.

Yesterday we packed the car into a container for the second time on the trip. We decided to try it with the roof tent still on, and it just fitted in (just!). After chocking the wheels and lashing it in, we closed the container doors and sealed it. Hopefully we will see the Land Rover again in ten days or so, all going well.

In the eight weeks since leaving Perth we have covered almost 12,000km in Australia, bringing our total for the trip so far to about 56,000km. Diesel prices have been the highest on record, and in some of the more remote places has been the most expensive we have had to buy anywhere on our whole trip so far. All this has lead to nearly half our total fuel costs being spent on less than a quarter of the total journey. Only now that we have finished the Australian leg of the journey have fuel prices started to come down.

Everyone has been eagerly anticipating the start of the Olympics, but this auspicious date 08.08.08 just happens to be my Mum’s birthday, so Happy Birthday Mum! Mum has been counting off the days until we get there - not long to go now.

Nearly there now

A place with a name like Coober Pedy certainly had us intrigued and after learning that most of the living is done underground we decided to visit, it was even on our way. One teenage lad had told us that the town was really spectacular and although we learned a long time ago not to set too much store by other people’s impressions, we came away with a decidedly different impression. The town really is rather bizarre. The locals are very proudly displaying recent photos taken of the surface of Mars and comparing them to photos of their beloved town. We had to agree that they are very similar, except that Coober Pedy is probably a bit more dusty. The town is the centre of the Opal mining industry and every other premises is either an old mine museum or Opal shop. The original pioneers and miners decided that the environment was a little too hot for them and being miners burrowed underground to live and today many of these dwellings house commercial premises and hotels. It was lovely to go down into the cave like rooms, they must have been a real sanctuary from the wind, dust and heat.

Dotted all round the town are many small private mining ventures and there are numerous signs warning of the potential dangers.

After the usual fuel and water top up we took a road eastwards to William Creek to meet up with the Oodnadatta track. For the first time on the whole trip we had to pay for the water which is dispensed from a coin operated machine. Water is fairly precious in these parts, although it did only cost a few cents.

We were by now rather wary of gravel roads but were very pleasantly surprised. This one was almost, not quite, as smooth as a baby’s bottom. What a delight. The road itself was also a lot more interesting than the Tanami track. The next day we expected that on meeting up with the Oodnadatta track we would again be met by huge corrugations, but again the road was good. In fact none of the roads we have travelled on since have been nearly as bad as we feared. What a bonus.

The Oodnadatta track follows part of the route of the Old Ghan Railway, which travelled from Adelaide to Darwin. All along the part we travelled were a number of sidings and homesteads some in a completely ruined state and some restored. One even hosts a ball on alternate years. We encountered a sandstorm in the afternoon so I hope the ball is scheduled for a different season. We also drove through the world’s largest cattle station, Anna Creek, which is larger than Belgium. We did not see a single cow.



We stopped for a few drops of fuel in Leigh Creek before heading into the North Flinders Ranges. Leigh Creek is a modern mining town which has been fully landscaped and planned with all sorts of modern amenities (no bare patches of dust for the wind to agitate which gets into your nooks and crannies). It formed such a juxtaposition with the harsh environment and very different to the old fashioned homesteads and roadhouses we had passed.

That evening we found a site to camp which we hoped would provide us with enough shelter from the wind, also rain was looking imminent. Usually we find that the wind dies down when the sun sets, but not on this occasion so it was pitch black by the time we made camp. Few hours later the wind decided to change direction and it sounded as if our tent would be torn to shreds. Gavin got up to see if he find could somewhere a bit more sheltered and before long I felt the whole car moving underneath me. It was rather cool, I felt a bit like the Queen of Sheba being transported around but I did get up also because when the tent is erected the driver is unable to see anything. Eventually we were settled in a more sheltered spot and spent the rest of the night quite peacefully.

The following day we were keen to explore the mountains on foot but it was still so windy that all the dust in the dry river courses was just swirling everywhere and it was in fact really unpleasant so we stayed in the car and carried on driving. That evening we joined up with the Strzelecki Track and camped at a hot springs nestled between low sand dunes. It was still windy. The following morning it was still so Gavin set about repairing another puncture and a few other repairs. One of our oldest tyres really has had it but we are determined to get the last few miles out of it- especially as we are still on gravel roads and not travelling very fast. I enjoyed the luxury of washing my hair with HOT water and attending to some laundry.

Despite the ever present wind becoming even stronger as the day progressed we decided to spend the rest of the day hiding from the wind and having a bit of a break from travelling. The next day we were on the road again, not really bright and early because it really is pretty cold in the mornings, and arrived in Innamincka. The route took us past the Moomba gas fields and we were intrigued to see signs for various camps and then saw just a few containers. The odd container had a satellite dish and one had a sign on it “Hotel California”. These were the accommodation blocks for the mining workers- a few containers dumped in the desert, most congenial living quarters. We understand that the workers are paid very well. Although we were still in the desert there was evidence of recent rains as we drove past swathes of yellow, white and purple flowers.

That evening we were driving on tar seal. This has good and bad points. The worst thing is that it is only a single track of tar seal so in the event of meeting a road train or a road train wanting to overtake we have to pull right off the road. Two normal vehicles travelling in opposite directions both pull off half way onto the gravel which is great when a stone flicks up from the other vehicle and chips your windscreen.

It seemed that quite rapidly the scenery was changing from desertscape to pastoral countryside and the following morning we awoke to the scent of camomile pasture and the stares of an inquisitive neighbour of the bovine variety. Now it seemed that the wind had abated, after a week, and rain was imminent.

That evening the rain started and did not cease for days. In the morning we stopped at a picnic area when a chap originally from Devon pulled up in his land rover and thus ensued another of many landy conversations. He was also very proud of his beast which was preserved for real off-road adventures, so I think he was bit put out when another chap pulled up in his car towing a caravan and exclaimed that had he known that this big yellow land rover (us of course) was just down the road he would have come and asked us for a tow rather than going to the local garage, without even glancing at the Devonians land rover.

As we carried on our way we were coming across towns every two or three hundred kilometres, towns which were also incrementally increasing in size as the price of fuel was decreasing. We drove through the heart of the Australian cotton growing industry with large dams attached to towns. These dams provided the towns with lovely waterfront parks and although the ecological effect of these dams on the river systems downstream is highly controversial there is no denying the beautifying effect they have on these cotton towns.

Bush camping becomes more and more difficult as the roads become busier and the population density increases so when we heard about a rural pub which encourages bush camping on its common that was almost on our way we could not pass up the opportunity of a draft beer without having to drive or make camp. We arrived at the pub and very welcoming it looked however, with all the rain we had just encountered our potential camping area looked less than inviting. MUD. As we were surveying the scene a chap waved to us indicating to go no further. He gingerly picked his way through the mud over to us, followed by another chap caked from head to foot on his left side with mud. He explained that there were a number of vehicles all bogged down and were waiting for a tractor to come and pull them out. Okay, so we gave that area a miss and carefully made our way over to another to survey and almost got stuck ourselves and decided to give the whole thing a miss. We eventually found a campsite much later after dark by an agricultural railway depot which amazingly even provided hot showers. There were only two houses there and nothing else.

As we got closer to the coast we stayed in a couple of really delightful National Parks campsites, they even provided firewood (wet) which gave Gavin the opportunity of baking scones. In a delightful rural area we called in to visit Virgil, a friend of Gavin’s, and his new family. He and all his extended family-in-law made us very welcome and it was lovely to sit round a family dining table again.

Our time in Australia is coming to an end so we are spending our last week on the road exploring the area north of Brisbane which is very pretty, lush and hilly. Yesterday we passed through Gympie, an attractive old railway town on our way to the Great Sandy National Park. Last night we camped on the beach, nestled in the sand dunes, after driving a few kilometres along the beach, cutting it a bit thin as high tide was nigh.

Finally, before I go, very happy 25th birthday to Kathryn.

The Red Centre

Crossing the border into the Northern Territory we had to adjust our watches by one and a half hours to the strangest time zone we have been to – now we are nine and a half hours ahead of GMT, and we have to remember to listen to the World Service news at half past the hour. Just before the end of our journey down the Tanami Road we again crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn, so are once again out of the tropics. The night time temperatures have fallen dramatically to suit – the other night it was 0.2ºC, so at least it wasn’t freezing. The weather reports on the radio seem to constantly remind us that the temperature in Darwin is double that around Alice Springs.

Our visit to Alice Springs just happened to coincide with the annual “Camel Cup” held in town. It started a few years back when two locals raced camels down the dry riverbed in the middle of town and has carried on ever since as a local fundraiser. It seems that it has become quite popular, and people come from all over Australia to see it. We could see people looking at our Land Rover with the big Camel Trophy stickers on the doors, and a couple of our neighbours at the campsite even came over and asked if we were involved in the racing – they all looked a bit disappointed when we told them we weren’t. We didn’t end up going to the races, but by all accounts it was a great day, except for the rider who fell off and broke her leg. It’s a long way down…

We only spent just over 24 hours in Alice Springs, but there were busy hours. As Catkin mentioned we headed into Repco to see about our punctured shock absorber, and that took a while to get nowhere. We also stocked up on groceries, filled up with diesel, caught up on emails, picked up a parcel from the UK that had arrived at the Post Office that very day, spent a couple of hours on Skype talking to family in New York, New Zealand and England and even had time to visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service headquarters. With all that done we made our way out of town into the West MacDonnell National Park and found a spot to camp. This park has lots of scenic water holes and gorges to visit, plus loads of bush camping sites. We spent a couple of days making our way through the park.

At one water hole that we stopped at we started talking to an Australian couple who were on their way to Darwin to visit friends. They were regaling us with stories of the places they had visited so far, and insisted that we visit Ayers Rock. The lady got out her camera and started showing me all her photos, asking if we had even seen such red sand. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that actually we’ve seen loads of it, both here and in Africa, but just nodded and complimented her photography.



At Glen Helen Resort we purchased a permit (for $2.20) to allow us to travel around the Mereenie Loop to King’s Canyon. The road was another rough, corrugated gravel road, so again we had a nice slow afternoon, taking in all the scenery. We have noticed that four wheel drive is recommended for any gravel roads here – the only reason seems to be for the corrugations. No bush camping allowed around this area, so we had to fork out $27 for an unpowered campsite in a dust bowl. At least it was another chance for a shower and to do some laundry.

King’s Canyon was pretty spectacular, and we had a good look around on the 6km canyon rim walk, which, as you may have guessed, circumnavigates the rim of the canyon’s towering cliffs.

From there, we headed to Australia’s tourist mecca, Uluru or Ayers Rock. It’s really noticeable that the numbers of overseas tourists here is far greater than in other areas we have been. Road signs are shown in a number of languages, and there are big signs reminding you to drive on the left. This seemed a bit odd in the middle of the country (how did you get this far if you didn’t know to drive on the left?) but lots of people fly in and pick up their rental car here I suppose.

The town of Yulara was purpose-built as a resort to host visitors to Uluru. The visitor’s centre had a great display on the history of the area and the flora and fauna found locally. You are allowed to walk to the top of Uluru, although the indigenous people prefer it if you don’t.

Further along the road are the domes of Kata Tjuta, which are in themselves quite impressive. You could probably sit there and take photos all day.

The favourite times for viewing are by far sunrise and sunset, and big viewing areas have been built at both for these times. We were at Uluru for sunset, just as the almost-full moon was rising.

So, our whistle-stop tour of the Red Centre is all but complete, and now we turn our attention more directly eastward, and closer to our final destination. It sounds like we cannot take any fruit or vegetables across the border into South Australia, so we may have to camp out for a day our two on the way to consume all our oranges, potatoes and butternut pumpkin.