I spent three months preparing for this long trip. I'd never been to the big rock or anywhere near there so I didn't know what to expect, or whether the 1973 old bus will make it.
Me
and my mate Jeff set out for the long trip on 25 August at 4:35 in the morning
and headed to Cobar which was the first goal. We stopped for breakfast for an
hour at Bathurst and also stopped at the Bell River Estate in Wellington to buy
some local wine. The first fuel stop was at Dubbo (41.33 L for 389 km - 10.6
L/100 km) and we arrived in Cobar at 4:05pm - total of 689 km.
We left Cobar in the morning at 7:30 and arrived at Wilcannia at 10:50am, which was the next fuel stop after Cobar. The price of fuel was $1.55 (!) and my consumption worked out at 10.6 L/100 km again. From Wilcannia we drove to Broken Hill and stopped there for lunch and filled up again at $1.37..
From Broken Hill we headed to Peterborough and arrived there at 7.00pm at night, just in time before the Caravan Park closed for business. At Peterborough fuel was $1.33 - and that's Premium.
On the way to Coober Pedy we saw a wild camel and many black eagles scavenging on dead roos. The long journey took us 11 hours. In between we filled up at Port Augusta and Pimba. Coober Pedy is the only real town between Port Augusta and Alice Springs; all the other towns are just Road Houses set up for fuel and small food chains.
We
left Coober Pedy on Tuesday morning at 6.00am and stopped for breakfast at
Cadney Park for about 20 minutes, and then drove to Marla to fuel up again which
was 239 km north of Coober Pedy. We arrived at Erldunda Roadhouse on the Sturt
Highway at 1:00pm. This was the turn off to Ayres Rock. We met a couple there in
an orange 1977 Kombi. They were stuck there waiting for parts to arrive from
Adelaide, CV joints I believe. While we were having lunch, a 'local' asked us to
get him a case of beer with the food vouchers, but we kept telling him it was
against the law. The girl in the Roadhouse told us there was a $15,000 fine for
supplying alcohol to aborigines. She also warned us about them trying to hitch a
ride on the highway, pretending their car has broken down.
We finally arrived at Yulara at 5:05pm on the Tuesday afternoon, a total of 2,886 km there, 339 litres of fuel at a cost of $508.00, and 11.7 L/100 km economy. There's only one petrol station there, a Mobil, and you have a choice of unleaded, premium and LPG. The Premium bowser was padlocked to stop the 'locals' sniffing the petrol. There's plenty of accommodation at Yulara and a fair size supermarket and pub, plus a newsagent and post office, but not much else.
The caravan park fee was reasonable at $35.00 a night, a lot of red dust on the campsite of course. I managed to drop some of the steamed vegies on the ground, but instead of wasting them I washed them under the tap. They still tasted a little bit crunchy. We were lucky to witness the eclipse of the moon at night. It was magic to see with a clear starry night and no street lights from the ground.
I was having trouble starting in the morning and during the day, so I called in at the only mechanical workshop in town, which was about 10 km from the Resort. As soon as I walked in the lady said to me, "read the sign, $30 up front". Anyway the mechanic said the points gap was too narrow. He adjusted the points without using a feeler gauge and away we went.
On Wednesday we visited the Olgas about 43 km west of Yalara. Nowadays they call it Kata Tjuta. It's still part of the National Park. By the way it cost $25 per person to enter 'Uluru-Kata Tjuta' National Park, bit of a rip-off I think. On Thursday we headed to Kings Canyon, 291 km from Ayres Rock, stopped at Kings Creek Station on the way where you can have camel and helicopter rides. There was a coach there, and I asked the driver where he was heading. He said Alice Springs, and I said, "That's a fair distance away," and he said "Oh that's just up the road, you know, only 435 km." Anything within 400 or so km the locals call it 'just up the road'.
We walked the 6 km track at Kings Canyon in about 90 minutes. It was well worth it! The view from the top was spectacular, a little steep at times, and you have to be reasonably fit to climb it. When we arrived at the camp site, again there was only one Mobil Station which was also a small shop, which only sold 91 unleaded fuel and LPG, so I put in 20 litres of fuel just enough to get me to the Stuart Hwy at Erldunda, 275 km from Kings Canyon. I just got there with 2 or 3 litres to spare; boy that was close.
On Friday, after leaving Kings Canyon at 5:00am and stopping at Erldunda for fuel, we headed back down to Coober Pedy where we spent the night at a caravan park just out of town. We arrived there at 4.30pm, 777 km later. I was still having trouble starting the engine, so I went to see the local mechanic at RAA. Well he didn't want to know me. He was in a hurry to close shop and go home at 4.30pm in the afternoon ! He was the only repair shop in town, so if your car breaks down in Coober Pedy, guess what -you're on your own.
I also got in trouble with the 'locals' there. I was taking a movie of a purple Beetle when I saw these people frantically waving their arms at me, and one of them approached me and demanded money. You're not allowed to film the 'locals' without their permission. I talked my way out if it and got out of the town as quickly as the Kombi could go.
On Saturday we left Coober Pedy at 8.10am heading back to Port Augusta. Both me and Jeff broke the law here, I let him drive without a licence while I sat in the back preparing lunch. No cops around over this long stretch of wilderness. We arrived safely at Port Augusta at 3:30pm (548 km) It was quite a relief to be back in civilization again with plenty of petrol stations, shops, pubs etc etc. We had dinner at the local pub, which served kangaroo meat so I tried kangaroo lasagna. It was quite good. For just $15 the plate was full plus you helped yourself with the salad bar. We met two blokes here who were driving a 1977 green Kombi Camper with a trailer in the back. They told us they were going to Perth. There was another green Kombi in the caravan park too, so all up we saw just three Kombis on our trip.
By now we had travelled approx 5,000 km so the next morning I got under the van to adjust the valves, checked the spark plugs and topped up the oil. The long and hard driving was over now. On Sunday it was just a short trip of about 300 km to Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. On the way there we stopped at Clare for morning tea and Freeling where they film the TV show McClouds Daughters, took some shots of the town, pub and the truck stop.
We stayed two nights at Tanunda, toured around the Barossa Valley and tested some of the wine as well. I called in at the local mechanic there and told him I had all the tools you need to adjust the points gap including the feeler gauge. He found the gap was still too narrow. He also adjusted the headlights for me and charged me just $10.
On Tuesday we drove to Pinaroo via Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend, which was just over 300 km, and stayed in the only caravan park in town. Nobody there to take your money, you had to report to the BP Roadhouse on the highway. On Wednesday we were off to Echuca via Ouyen and Swan Hill, another 442 km. On the way near Swan Hill we saw these prickly pear trees growing wild, and some already had these big red fruit on them so we stopped and plucked some out. They were sweet and delicious.
Echuca is a tourist attraction. There's the steam boats in the river, the old part of town dating back to the 1800's and the Holden Museum of course. There used to be a VW dealership in town so I decided to look it up, and in its place there's a Caltex Service Station and Echuca Muffler business.
Friday morning we left at 7:40am heading to Tumut. On the way we stopped at Shepparton where there used to be a VW dealer called Victor Silvester Motors, now there's a Sewing Centre. We also stopped in Wangaratta to look out for Detnor Motors in Chisolm street, there's an electrical wholesaler now.
In Tumut where a VW dealership was supposed to be, the building H Kell & Son is still there intact, at the moment it's vacant and up for sale or lease. Well from Tumut we headed down to Cooma where we stayed for the night with my brother Manny and Carol. That was one night we didn't have to put up the annexe. We had a good sleep in a warm and soft bed. We arrived back home on Sunday at 1:30pm. In 16 days we covered 6,975 km, used 785 litres of fuel (11.2 L/100 km) at a cost of $1144, and accommodation $380. I sat on between 90 and 100 km/h all the way.
If you want to feel like you have climbed your little Mount Everest, then the Kombi Camper is the way to go. It is slow, struggles up hills and you need to hold on tight to the steering wheel when you see those long road trains approaching at 140 km/h. But this is all part of the appeal. You can stop where you want, cook your own meals and allows you to meet new friends and gives you a chance to be an individual in a world of package holidays and watch the sun go down and decide where tomorrow will take you because 'home is where you park it'.
Joe Buttegieg