Mackenzie Trail 2005 - Part 5

By 9:30 we were all packed and lined up at our new bridge to head westward. The new bridge with Land Rovers going over it provided a photo op for everyone, after which we proceeded up towards the runway. It's half mile of smooth surface was just too tempting after the torturous miles on the previous days. We raced down the runway 4 abreast in 4th gear low range. Great fun, but over rather quickly as we all converged, speed-shifting downward on the cow path at the west end of the runway.
The next few kilometers were the typical endless rough terrain, with mozzies sneaking in the cab and biting us every chance they could. We had a bit of a disadvantage here as we were the only open-cabbed truck and we were constantly dousing ourselves in Deet to keep the bugs at bay.
A short diversion around the end of Tsacha Lake turned out to be longer than expected. We intended to take a quick look at the other recreational lodge on this lake, the Blackwater Lodge, which was about a 2 km detour in and out. However, within about a half kilometer, and in the middle of a rather rough spot, I discovered that the 4WD on my truck had stopped working on the front axle. This discovery was the result of getting abysmally stuck in a spot that I should have gotten through with no problem. Dave T and Peter stayed back and dragged me out of the predicament, while in the meanwhile getting themselves a bit stuck, but we finally both made it to the lodge where the rest were waiting and having a tour around. Phil, Kris and I tore down the front hubs to try and decipher what was happening. It became obvious that either the spider gears had failed or a halfshaft had failed in the front axle. It was decided that rather than try and tear something down that we didn't have parts to fix, we should reassemble, keep the hubs locked in and continue onward, provided I didn't hear any untoward grinds or growls from the front end. by keeping the hubs locked, at least everything turned at the same pace as the energy from the transmission, so less chance of serious damage.
At around 11 we left the Blackwater Lodge, back through the muck and to the main trail.
It takes a significantly different driving style to drive in two wheel drive on 4WD roads. Anyone who's gone fishing in an old F250 Ford knows what I'm talking about. You can get a long ways before getting stuck, but you gotta be a bit creative about it. So what we did was set up Phil and Deb in the D90 in front of us, and he would drive through the bad spots first, with me watching his approach and his path. When he got though to the other end of the bad spot, usually about 50 yards or so, he would pull up and let me give it a try. I would go through following his path, except at about 3 times his speed, and more often than not it got me through. In all Phil had to tug me out due to no 4WD about a dozen times. Other tugs would have happened whether I had 4WD or not, as all of the trucks had to be tugged through various spots. One of the biggest challenges was if I was pushing to get through the last few feet of a mud hole and Phil hadn't moved up far enough. More than once there was a desperate toot of the airhorns to get him to pull further ahead. The other unfortunate side effect was the resultant wheel spin that kicked up mud from the tires to the back of Pamela's head! Of course this resulted in me getting a huge bruise on my arm as she hit me again and again through every mud hole. Finally after a few hours of this we came up with the plan to wrap a towel around her before I proceeded, which kept her clean, but Oliver still was the recipient to regular mud clods.
The loss of 4WD did not slow our progress much, as I'm a rather determined individual and we got to be pretty quick attaching a line for Phil to tug if it was too much to get through.
Around 1PM, we came across an old ranch and hayfield as the day progressed and the road led through the hayfield. Perhaps due to my 4WD problems I was a bit hesitant, and while the Defenders all headed through the hayfield I saw a small trail to the left that seemed to skirt the field. Good decision for us and the 3 trucks that followed us, as those in the hayfield took a couple of hours to clear themselves of the mud holes that had developed where the road had been. This was followed only about 200 metres later by a rather delicate crossing of a collapsed bridge, perhaps this could be a future bridge building project for the club!
Around 3 PM we arrived at the Pan Phillips Fishing Camp. We enjoyed tea with the Phillip's and great conversation. Just before dinner we proceeded towards the Lampert ranch, having decided not to detour southwards to the Home Ranch on this trip. A few moments at the Lamperts that quickly turned into an hour, and we headed across the Blackwater bridge and set up camp at the edge of another hay field.
Oliver was very tired and grumpy that night, and immediately when the tent was erected he dived in for a two hour nap. The rest of us enjoyed trout from our early morning fishing the day before, and ended the day with hot showers courtesy of Kris.
With all the innovations Kris had come up with, like the hot shower, I figured I had to get in the act, and thus was created Dave's Beauty Salon, taking the drivers side defrost hose and rerouting it to the passenger side. With the engine idling, and the heater on high, with all heat vents plugged off, it was like a superheated blow dryer on high speed. The girls enjoyed being able to wash their hair in the shower and actually dry it off afterwards.
Certainly this was one of the most eventful days in terms of the type of terrain covered, and the points west of here are the most remote on the entire trail so we looked forward to a good nights rest to prepare us to tackle the real outback.