101 Outback Trip

[grey_ghost]

Hi All,

In late May/ early June we did a bit of an outback trip into South Australia. I didn't take any notes so I am hoping that my memory can make sense of the pictures that I took.

Warning: Picture heavy posts ahead. [biggrin]

Day One
SWMBO and myself woke up at a reasonable hour for a Saturday, although it was a little chilly.. First job was to load the 101, second job was to drop the dogs off at a kennel.

It was a little cold as we packed the 101:
https://i.imgur.com/IFAsrbQ.jpg

We headed north and eventually ended up in Hope Lascelles late in the afternoon.

https://i.imgur.com/wTMmrc5.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/L6tTn5F.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tKRGF8K.jpg

I haven't really driven the 101 much in the last 18 months due to Covid - it certainly took some time to get used to it, but it was certainly a lot of fun.

I decided on this trip not to keep a track of fuel - it's a 101, so who cares?

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

Day Two:

Heading off towards the South Australian border, we naturally stopped off at some of the silos:

https://i.imgur.com/9XH49LD.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dFF0t7r.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BmnZ7YU.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7uHnB1k.jpg

Onto Lake Crosbie:

https://i.imgur.com/R1zBN99.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YnoI9To.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/kLhDUWW.jpg

We eventually set-up camp in Lake Bonney:

https://i.imgur.com/HEhRmXg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/w3zf1XK.jpg



As night hit - this tree was holding up the moon:

https://i.imgur.com/44Fi7Xh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VbJJiLh.jpg

The moon was quite eerie that night:

https://i.imgur.com/VacmED4.jpg

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

Day 3:

We headed off to Morgan and the museum..

https://i.imgur.com/Gs7Qr0K.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/McVWdgL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yOkqaLE.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KhQGyIX.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/EYBOyeS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5S08R4d.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UHAzmT4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6IvCmr5.jpg

While SWMBO was in the local craft shop I had a bit of a walk around..

https://i.imgur.com/SgHIjyT.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dDEftUP.jpg

Cheers,
GG

[grey_ghost]

Day 4:

From Morgan we headed over to Burra and spent the day there. I love Burra - it's a lovely town.

https://i.imgur.com/FB22bWR.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Jt6hKEE.jpg

We had a lovely meal in a pub, and holed up in the 101 for a wet & windy night.

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

Day 5:

From Morgan we drove through Port Augusta and stopped for supplies and fuel... Actually - every day you stop in a 101 for fuel, often twice.

Up the highway heading North (the eventual plan was to head to Uluru) and we stopped for the night at Lake Hart.

The camp ground at Lake Hart was quiet busy, but we managed to squeeze the 101 in... We then headed off for a quick walk to the actual lake.

https://i.imgur.com/bA2TxnO.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4UHuP9h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FD1cN6Z.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Ndu3c26.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2ojD7m7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dnYlzAT.jpg





Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

Day 6.

Well we woke-up to the **** storm that is Covid19... There had been an outbreak of Covid19 in Victoria AFTER we left, but that didn't matter - we had a valid Permit, but because we had come out of Sictoria, and even though we had not been in any hot spots - we had to head to the nearest hospital for a Covid test and isolation.

So we turned around, headed south and went to Roxby Downs for a Covid test and isolation for 2 days until we got our results...

The view from the caravan park for the next few days..

https://i.imgur.com/4x6gOVv.jpg

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

Day 8

We got our (as expected, but you can never be too careful) negative Covid results and so headed off to Andamooka. Our initial goal for the trip was Uluru, but the NT had slammed the border closed on us, and we had to have a Covid test on day 1, day 4, and day 13. It meant that we had to re-plan the entire trip with stops at larger towns so that we could get our Covid tests. At least we weren't in full lock down like the Victorians and could enjoy this beautiful country that we live in.

https://i.imgur.com/UcFqHDs.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5sA1X6b.jpg

I have already been to Andamooka before, but had never made it to Lake Torrens - so off we went.

https://i.imgur.com/XXXW2ao.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6iNm6eG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/EEEwq0y.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VBqj3Rg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/GYlbpun.jpg

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

Day 9

Leaving Andamooka we headed off towards Coober Peddy and the next Covid test... Waiting for the results we had 3 days to kill...

https://i.imgur.com/WRWeXpw.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IUimPg5.jpg

Land Rover's everywhere!

https://i.imgur.com/UZB5mHr.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yI6jAvP.jpg

One of the underground churches:

https://i.imgur.com/ehMSKaS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Y4cHWsj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4AqFZfL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/qdp2zT0.jpg

We also did a mine tour:

https://i.imgur.com/V99UoWJ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ouJwuDY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1mDXBhX.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4cQNHR1.jpg

I even managed to find an underground Perentie...

https://i.imgur.com/59WI9Ic.jpg

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

Day 12

Well - I think that I have got my days out of sequence already, and I think that some of these pictures are also out of sequence... It doesn't really matter though - you get the picture!

I missed this section of the Oodnadatta track.. Ooops.

We spent an afternoon and night at Cowards springs:

https://i.imgur.com/CogaWPG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/i8VTXjG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/v02vlUm.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/h0I2WTI.jpg

Stopping for petrol at Mount William wasn't exactly cheap.

https://i.imgur.com/Q7YvRVl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1nYzSNO.jpg

Along the way we stopped at a few of the ruins:

https://i.imgur.com/ignDt10.jpg

The Strangways and the Bubbler:

https://i.imgur.com/dXjilfu.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4AFLtUP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KWDhCZY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yfGLfqn.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/swo9CqG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/aXz8efj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/m0UG2cg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/OAQoNN2.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Czj10r8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Yz0rnie.jpg



Along the way I did a windscreen, thanks to a Ford Ranger flying in the opposite direction.. The windscreen held up until we eventually got home.

https://i.imgur.com/26iQfjA.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2sxKOBO.jpg

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

Day - I can't remember already.

We spent an afternoon out at the Breakaways.

https://i.imgur.com/kx1yYPF.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PisEzMP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xZ7pDFJ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VVzWLoY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3jmFoVO.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0hisE5i.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cti4G1Q.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/W1Iov1K.jpg

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

We headed up the track towards Oodnadatta itself.

https://i.imgur.com/gRyB2zY.jpg

The owner of the roadhouse likes his Land Rovers..

https://i.imgur.com/xjNdzjH.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1VXFH6h.jpg

We kept heading north, eventually stopping at Mount Dare..

Action shot!

https://i.imgur.com/aijnsk3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WSaBXDH.jpg

Oh and petrol wasn't exactly cheap..

https://i.imgur.com/prWB49I.jpg

Some night time photography:

https://i.imgur.com/pVfZhzV.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/qzXxFST.jpg

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

Mount Dare was as close as we got to the NT border.. We could almost taste it.

Along the way to Mount Dare we spotted 7 wild Dingos.

https://i.imgur.com/mkbXWeT.jpg

After Mount Dare we headed off to Dalhousie Springs - and the worst road (4wd track) I think that I have ever driven on! The corrugations were worse than the road going into Cameron Corner.

It look us just over 2 hours to travel 70 kms - there were sections on sand, corrugations, wash outs, etc. But the 101 made it through - the only minor issue was the passenger side window latch got lost somewhere along the way.

https://i.imgur.com/AjrMuW4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jHDgjui.jpg

There was a section of 360o views of nothing, absolutely nothing. It was magnificent!

https://i.imgur.com/YWRErLo.jpg

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

More of Mount Dare:

https://i.imgur.com/EDa8Ld3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/gKEY5dv.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KQ0VyyB.jpg

Heading south we stopped off for a break:

https://i.imgur.com/PYrcss8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CMs5le4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WTEVgMr.jpg

Heading back down the track - we stopped off at the famous railway bridge..

https://i.imgur.com/L45fUDS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/OiYOZAB.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dlV692U.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zDxrki6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ijQhiR5.jpg

Cheers,
GG.

[grey_ghost]

The remainder of the trip was - Marree, Leigh Creek (another Covid test), Farina, the edge of the Fliders Ranges, Renmark, Mildura and home.

We covered just over 5,000km in 3 weeks and had an absolute ball.

Here are some more pictures of the final part of the journey home.

A new Defender in Marree:

https://i.imgur.com/TV1AFvm.jpg

The cemetery:

https://i.imgur.com/KwE88CI.jpg

Farina:

https://i.imgur.com/HqSKrNj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ipilEdb.jpg

The Flinders:

https://i.imgur.com/mwZCvTd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7H5teMd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jCmOhc5.jpg

With a few hundred photos taken with 2 mobile phones, it's always a little tricky trying to keep them in order.

But we had a ball - we arrived home to wind, rain, and multiple trees down on multiple fences - but we wouldn't change a thing!

I didn't keep fuel consumption figures, but on one leg the 101 got down to 21.3 L/100km - which I was quite happy with. :)

Cheers,
GG.

[I Love My Landy!]

Thank you for sharing Grey Ghost. Certainly looked like a fantastic trip! That 360 degree photo of open plain, and the photo of the Flinders rising out of the desert in particular got me excited.

I've had two windows on my 110 smashed on different trips on the Oodnadatta Track. I had an alpine window smashed by a hoon driving a modified Patrol, and the other by a road train. We were able to drive about 30 m off the track before we encountered the truck but a rock still took out a rear window.

One of the locals in Marree said when approaching oncoming traffic to stay in the centre of the road until the last moment to force them to slow down. Seems to work pretty well, but unfortunately the patrol was the second in a convoy and didn't slow down.

Edward :)

[86mud]

Amazing photos!

How's the back set up in the 101?

[DiscoChris]

Great photos - brings back memories and urges me to do it again though not sure that swob will let me. Thanks for sharing

[grey_ghost]

Amazing photos!

How's the back set up in the 101?

The 101 is set-up very basic in the back. There is a double bed (with storage underneath) and some cupboards (cooking stuff, inverter, fridge, food, clothes, maps, etc)

It’s worked for us over the years on numerous trips. If it’s raining when we arrive at our campsite we can crawl between the front seats and just go straight to bed. Lols

The previous owner has lined it with carpet squares, and being an ambulance body it already has insulation - so it is quite warm inside.

We have done 3 big trips (5,000+kms) and many small to medium ones as well.

Cheers,
GG

[Phideaux]

[QUOTE=grey_ghost;3098414]Hi All,

In late May/ early June we did a bit of an outback trip into South Australia. I didn't take any notes so I am hoping that my memory can make sense of the pictures that I took.

Thanks for the trip, mate! (Feeling ever so confined-to-barracks, here).
((So much that should have been learned from the Goyder Line...))

So glad you were paying for the fuel, not me!

[JDNSW]

Looking at your pictures I am reminded again of how much more civilised the outback is than when I was working in central Australia in the sixties.

On my first trip from PA to Alice in 1964, over four days, we saw only seven vehicles on the road (not including in the few settlements) - and two of those were broken down.

On my first visit to Mt Dare in 1965, it was a homestead, with no facilities for travellers at all.

And there were no sealed roads between Port Augusta and Alice Springs, and, from memory, the only fuel was at Coober Pedy and Kulgera.

[trumpycam]

Great shots and trip, reminds us of some of our favourite spots.
Thanks