"A Safari is not a destination, it is a journey through life ..." & "An exciting buffalo hunt"

Turned Fifty at the Beginning of August and decided a buffalp hunt was in order.

Claydog from Katherine had invited me to hunt if ever up there and also had invited Larcher in the past so decided to get Larcher along too.

Larcher was coming out for about a week and would arrive at Darwin airport so set off for the long 3000 km drive from South Australia to Darwin.

It WAS the plan to have a leisurely drive over five days ... always good to plan for an early start as ... I missed the first day and only set off at 5 pm on the next day. That left me the evening and three and a half days to do the drive. Three days is difficult from past experience if one person has to do all the driving as it require about 12 hours of driving every day. Four days is fine if all goes well.

Day One, set off at 5 pm and drove from the Barossa, via various small towns in the mid North of SA. I had "Lord of the Rings" on the ipod to listen to on the trip and it should last for the whole drive. Good to have big books for this purpose.

Rainy weather and cold when I set off.

First hiccup. Driving through the beginnings of Clare, not paying any attention, flashing police lights, glanced at the GPS or speedo - 70 kmph ... shouldn't be too bad. Pulling over the cop came to my window, asked me what speed, I said 70, he said I had been speeding, and at 70 in a 50 zone, did I know the fine would be $690 and a loss of 5 demerit points !!!! Did I have 5 demerit points left?

FFFFing hell !!! I am not responsible to pay for the bankrupt SA gov'ts incompetence!

I said to the cop, I thought the speed limit was 60. He replied so I knew I was speeding. I said maybe I was slowing down. He replied, so you were doing 80 in a 50 zone. I replied I don't know, I was just doing 70.

Then he started to talk about how he normally did not do this, but he would give a warning only. Drive safely and don't stuff up your trip. I thanked him and drove on.

Good to see some cops still understand that they aren't tax collectors and that warnings are better than ridiculously high fines. Draconian.

Drove on, first stop would be Port Augusta.

Using "writer's licence" and mixing up pics from both the trip North and South. The drive South was more leisurely and stopped more often and at places for photos.

The Road North ...

Gibber plains of Northern SA.

Northern SA road - "the long and not so winding road" ...

You find most drivers finish their outback drives before dark. The outback roads can be risky as often the roads are unfenced. Kangaroos are a risk. Cattle, horses, donkeys and even camels. Camels are especially bad as they will end up in the windscreen if struck.

But I wanted to make a good dent into the distance the first drive, and was aiming for Marla. Marla is 1,050 kms and about 11 hours without breaks. Having started so late, it wouldn't be possible.

Passing some vehicles but mostly semi's and road trains, they don't have as much issue with hitting animals. Actually it is often good if you can get up behind a road train going the same way. Usually have to drive slower but they clear the road.

The remains of the old Stuart Highway. I drove this route the first and last time in April 1984. The "highway" at the time from Kingoonya to just South of the Territory border was a dirt, gravel and bulldust track, full of road corrugations, holes filled with slippery and fine bulldust which filled the Landcruiser through any small gap, raised cattle grids from the road being worn down on each side. It was fun, but took us 24 hours of non stop driving to drive to the border. Car wrecks littered the side of the road from the unwary. At night every here and there were campfires of the occaisonal travellor camping for the night.

It was cool and adventurous compared to a surfaced road.

Returning from that trip in May 1984 we avoided this route and took the Oonadatta Track instead, another dirt road, but actually better though longer, by a round about way.

We didn't know at the time that the Stuart Highway had actually been finished while we were away and it was now all surfaced, the same highway as today.

200 km South of Coober Pedy a kangaroo hopped out from behind a bush right beside the front of the vehicle and bang, I hit it in the head and shoulders with the left corner of the vehicle. Getting out the bull bar had protected the Landcruiser, but the indicator light in the bull bar was hanging down. Using some wire to keep it on, must have blown the fuse and the indicators no longer worked. Drove back to find the roo to kill it if it was still alive. Didn't find it, it must have been thrown off into the bush or moved away.

Decided I was far enough and stopped at the next rest stop. Three other vehicles, all caravans or campers were there. Finished day ONE at about 2 am. 622 kms down.

Northern SA scenes

A mesa in Northern SA.

One of the many salt lakes of Northern South Australia, but a tiny one.

An emergency airstrip utilising part of the Stuart Highway.

Slept in the Landcruiser that night. I had unrolled the swag on a cargo box where the rear seat would be. Damned it was cramped though. The car was nice and warm and did not even need the sleeping bag. Woke up iun the night, I did need the sleeping bag now. Later wokle up again and there was ice formed on the windscreen. It was getting down to minus 2 or 3 celsius in the Northern SA deserts these days.

Woke up later than planned, everyone else was gone and a road crew was spraying weeds at the road stop.

Drove on and reached Coober Pedy. Had lunch at the roadhouse and found a mechanic, who removed the indicator light and a new fuse put in. Should have known it was only a fuse. I had indicators on the Landcruiser itself so the bullbar one wasn't needed.

Coober Pedy

A blower marks the entrance to Coober Pedy.

Under the gibber plains lie opals and gemstones.

Tantooine on Earth.

Be careful of where you walk!

Now off to Marla. Stopped at Marla for a break and then off again for the border.

Thought the two speed signs were funny, and stopped on the way back for photos.

"In the Northern Territory - Max Speed 110"

But metres further on, speed limit 130 kmph.

The Northern Territory used to have unlimited speeds, and still does on a section of road, but the oppressive thumb of Federal bureacracy squashed it finally to enforce a maximum limit.

Even on the Stuart Highway however the roads are often too bumpy and rough in places for an "unlimited" speed IMO and are nothing like the snmoothness of the autobahns.

I enjoy this part of Central Australia, the region between the NT border and Alice Springs. Arid but with mountain ranges, creeks and often pretty arid bush and forests.

Central Australia

One of the many Central Australian creeks.

Arrived at Erldunda around 9 pm. Erldunda is the roadhouse at the turnoff for the road heading West to Ayers Rock. Had enough of the risky night driving again. Filled up with diesel and decided a good night's sleep in the motel would recharge the batteries better. Didn't make it as far as intended as the previous night' sleep wasn't good enough.

Came close as the motel reception closed 15 minutes later. I needed to buy a phone card to phone home using the public phone boxes and the petrol station was closed already to, at 9:15 pm. One gets used to 24 hour fuel stations but with so little traffic at night in the bush, these places can close anywhere from 7pm to around 9 pm. In the old days one had to plan an outback hunt and carry enough fuel in jerrycans to get to the next fuel stop. Sometimes waiting by the fuel stations for them to open in the morning, after a night's drive.

Day TWO was only 5 hours total driving and 490 kms.