Day 11 - Journey to the centre of Australia which nearly ended in disaster

This morning we woke up to the best view we have had so far, the Pillar was right behind us and if you think sunset is impressive you should see it under the sunrise. Another chilly morning helped by a still smouldering fire from the night before it was time to pack up and head off another convoy drive to Kulgera. On our drive out of Chambers Pillar we had to drive back up the track we came in on, that has certainly wet Matts appetite for more off roading. 

Today's drive was probably our most exhausting, driving along the Old Ghan Line again brought the dangers of railway spikes and today it got its first casualty, John & Caitie got a flat tire. It's an intense drive keeping a constant eye out for these spikes, there are hundreds of them scattered all over the road. John did give us the option of turning around just outside of Maryvale to go an easier way but we made the decision to continue with the group and make our way to Lamberts Centre of Australia. The geographical middle of Australia as determined by the Royal Geographical Society of Australisia in 1988.

We drove through Finke which is a remote little Aboriginal community to refuel and head off. At this point we split into two groups those refuelling and those not. Matt and I ended up making the drive into the centre point solo listening to the others on the radio to make sure we were heading in the right direction with all the different tracks and turns it became quite confusing. But we made it! Had a look at the monument went to the disgusting toilets but the bushes are not much for a girl to use and rejoined the group on the way out and my god am I glad we caught up.........

As we were driving out Matt started to notice the trailer making some odd noises and not driving quite right with some of the roads and tracks we had been on I thought he was just being overly cautious, so we radioed Tobias & Karen behind us to advise we were stopping for a look. Matt took his time coming back to the car and after speaking with Tobias came back jumped on the radio and told John our Ubolt was broken, for those who don't know what a u Bolt does it holds the trailer suspension onto the axle, a few voices came back saying that's not good mate..... Matt looked at me and said holiday may be over here Di. Shit.

The best part about travelling with a group was how quickly people came to our aid, a few calls came over  the radio saying they had pulled over and checked to see if they had the part we needed with no luck, but thanks to those who pulled over and checked anyway. But luckily for us we still had three cars behind us and our great travelling mate Linda turned back to assit. 

With the little group now pulled over with our trailer looking very sorry for itself it was time to brain storm, Matt discussed leaving the trailer where we were in the middle of nowhere and coming back for it. But with Jacko & Matt putting their minds together they worked out a solution if it would fit, a U Bolt from the tool box on the front of the trailer. Danny came over & with tools and jacks from Tobias and Linda they managed to get us a fix which would get us into Kulgera for a mechanic to fix properly.

This situation could have been much worse and thank goodness we are travelling with people so we were not on own in the middle of nowhere. We finally made it into Kulgera after nightfall and set up camp then straight to the bar for a well earned drink and a roadhouse meal, to see many happy faces to see we had made it. We were all exhausted.

A huge thank you to those who stopped and helped Dan & Melissa (Danadelaide), Tobias & Karen (Shrek), Jacko & Tracy (Jacko) ,Linda & Kristin(Lindamc)  & all the kids. Even if it was just to give us moral support we would not have been able to carry on with out all your help, I am a useless mechanic and yes David (my father in law) I did have a few tears. It's been a rough few weeks leading into this trip and we finally made it and then this happened, I was a little overwhelmed.

But hey tomorrow is another day & we will wait behind the others to fix the trailer in the morning & meet up with everyone at Yulara. It's all part of the adventure!