Wednesday October 22, 2003 03:30:38 PM

Skip and Cam have just reached Well 33 and will now head west down the Kidson Track. They have had a great run - "rough as guts, but most enjoyable". They haven't had to put a spanner to the Tonka yet, not even any blown tyres. He's been running 25lb in the front tyres and 32lb in the rear. The only tiny hitch has been that his auxiliary battery setup doesn't work - apparently after they stop for the evening they only get about 4 hours out of it before the fridge dies. So far, the meat is staying frozen overnight, but nevertheless they have been having a roast every night to get through the meat before it spoils.

All in all, having a blast! I'll let you know when I hear from them again.

With compliments from: Lisa McIntosh

Just thought that I would let you know that we heard from the boys yesterday, and they were passing through Derby and heading for the Gibb River Rd and then to Wyndam and then on to Broome for a few days. Al said to let you know. No problems with vehicle so far, keep fingers crossed.

Take care for now, Andrea

Spoke with Skip Saturday night, 14th of July, 2001. Both Skip and Cam are well, and they are with Devra's Cousin in Whyndham. Tonka is not faring to well at the minute. They have thus far traversed part of the 'Canning Stock Route' the 'Kidson Track' and the 'Gibb River Road'. Skip says that the Gibb River Road is by far the roughest track they have been on, even rougher than the time Scrounger and Gadget went with them a year ago.   

The Tonka's clutch has almost given up the ghost, the auxiliary battery is knackered and they do not have a spare tyre. Gibb River Road has paid the penalty on the BF Goodrich -KO's. Skip reckons its just luck of the draw on the tyre situation. Anyhow, they will be trying for Broome where they will be giving the Tonka a good going over.

Due to the repairs to the Tonka in Broome, the boys may not be able to do as much as what was originally planned. It will all depend on how long they are held up in Broome.

Skip half promised some pics soon, if not in Whyndham, they will try somewhere in Broome where they send off the pics. All in all, Skip says they have had a blast and basically, want to stay up there, who can blame them for that, too damn cold down here, that's for sure.

Skip and Cam are on their way home. Not sure of the actual circumstances, but they still have clutch problems. Their plan is to drive straight home, no stops apart from re-fuelling. They should be rocking in tomorrow night some time. Let's all wish them safe travels.

Wednesday, 18th July 2001:

Yes. We are home early, due to car problems. This is how it went from Wyndham...

Saturday 14th: Arrived in Wyndham (spelling) after completion of the Gibb River road, with clutch not operating, and no spare tyres. Stayed with Devra's brother and his wife (Blair and Alicia) overnight. Thanks for the accommodation and tucker guys! It was nice to have a real shower and watch TV he hehe

Sunday: Morning: Drove to the 3 possible tyre shops in Wyndham, but no-one sold BFG tyres. SO we decided to pack up and limp into Kununurra, 100k away.

Arvo: In Kununurra, we went shopping for supplies, and I had a Barra-burger (yum!). Checked with local mechanics and tyre shops - all closed. Settled into the "Hidden Valley" (I think) caravan park, and setup our tents, then swum in their pool.

Monday: Morning - early. Went to tyre shop, and bought a new BFG-KO tyre for $240 (which is not bad for the country! I paid $295 for same in Alice springs!) Went to Holden. They said they could have a look at my car on Friday (5 days time), and if it needed parts (which it would) that would be a further 5 days delay, plus several days work. We would have been stuck in Kununurra for 2 weeks plus. So, we drove straight back to caravan park, packed up and headed off. The aim was to head for Broome, as the Holden dealer there was much larger. We were on-the road by 8:30am. I called Holden in Broome, only to get exactly the same response - they could look at car on friday, and then parts would be 5 days extra, unless I paid air-freight. So, the decision was made on the spot to not stop - just keep driving to Perth, over 3200k away.

Arvo: Driving was a bit awkward, having to match revs to change gears, and keep revs to a minimum - we would be in 5th gear at 30kph. Taking off was also hard, but usually achieved by starting the engine in 1st gear, so that it leapt forward into action, when the key was turned. About mid arvo, we had the starter motor failure, which did not seem to be related to the other problem - it was merely a sticky solenoid, which could be overcome by tapping the side of the solenoid with a spanner, whilst the key was in the "crank" position. The tricky part was that with the motor running in neutral, and no clutch, the only way to get 1st gear, was to push the car to about jogging speed to match the revs, then it would clunk into 1st, and Cam would jump in on the fly, and then we were off. We had to follow these rules all the way home, always leaving the engine running whilst re-fuelling, and then pushing it to get it into first gear. The only problem we had, was that 1 service station attendant closed my fuel filler flap, which requires the ignition key to open it, so we had to shut down the motor to open the flap, then do the "tap-tap" on the solenoid to re-start it.

Tuesday: We drove solid, only stopping for 3 hours restless sleep in the car, at 3:30am Tuesday morning, on the side of the road, between port-headland and Roebourne. We nearly ran out of fuel too, as all roadhouses are shut at night-time. We were running on empty, and had already fed Tonka it's last 2 jerry cans. At about 6:30am we did the "tap-tap" on the solenoid, and Tonka only just started, with a very slow crank speed. Could the battery be failing as well? We fuelled up at Roebourne, and like every fuel stop, filled up with junk food, and then carried on. Although Tonka had no clutch or starter motor, she run fine, averaging 105Kph, and achieving economies as good as 10L per 100K (28MPG). Thanks god for the cruise control that I installed prior to the trip. All I had to do was steer! We then drove solid until we arrived home at 1am Wednesday morning

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