Little Desert 2004

Introduction

The planning began whilst sitting around in the cold and wet conditions in Woods Point last year. As the time passed, the number of people pledging attendance has grown and grown. The number of threads relating to this trip has been numerous. As the sleeps grew less, the eagerness increased as this was to be the biggest ExplorOz gathering so far, with people travelling from two states (Victoria & South Australia). The list of people who attended were as follows:

Glenn (Vic): Glenn and James

Mr & Mrs Al (Vic): Al, Lyn, Tegan and Callum

Diamond: Jim, Tab,  Ashleigh, Penny and Diamond

Wombat: Paul, Helen and Kiralee

Willem and Milton

Andrew and Jen: with Luke, Lachlan and Kaitlyn

GaryInOz (Vic): Gary and the Kia

Des Lexik (SA): Alan and Elaine

Toonfish: Brendan, Corinna, EJ and Dash

Peter (SA): Peter and Leslie

John, Andrew and Laurway

Fay D Way (Vic): Bill and Pauline

Eric with Jiota, Natalie and Dean

Nick with Antigone, Dillon and Andria

Voxson (SA):

Dragan T (Vic): Dragan

Bernie (Vic): Bernie

Day One Friday 5th March 2004 – Rowville to Dimboola:

After finally finishing packing at 11.00 pm last night, I was not as refreshed as I would have liked when the alarm went off this morning. Still, James and I were on the road at 9.00 am, and greeted the peak hour traffic with a smile for once. Whilst everyone else was heading to work, we were heading for Dimboola and the Little Desert. The traffic was lighter once through the Domain Tunnel, and with intermittent showers, we crossed the Westgate Bridge and headed for the Western Ring Road. At Deer Park we turned onto the Western Highway, following the signs to Horsham. Once over the Great Divide, the temperatures rose as the clouds were replaced with blue sky and sun. We made good time to Beaufort, before coming across the first of many hold ups caused by road works. It was after midday when we reached Horsham and we had been driving for a while, so we stopped for lunch and some supplies. 

The temperature was really heating up as we continued on from Horsham towards Dimboola. Dimboola is 38 kms north of Horsham on the Western Highway, and so it didn't take us long to reach our destination and locate the Caravan Park. We were the first to arrive and so after being showed where we could set up, James relaxed in his chair while he watched me pitch the tent and unpack the truck. I was hot, sweaty and thirsty at the end of it, so we stopped at the supermarket for a couple of Strongbow's before heading out towards Horseshoe Bend in the Little Desert. 

On the road out to Horseshoe Bend, we came across Des Lexik in his 100 series, as he headed in towards Dimboola. We introduced ourselves before returning to the Caravan Park so that Alan and Elaine could settle in. Willem and Milton arrived at the same time - Willem's truck certainly is a one of a kind - great setup too.  Willem and Milton had made their way to Dimboola via the Border Track from the Murray River and then across the Little Desert from West to East. I think they were quite sick of the sand driving and the inverter had packed up on the tracks. They were certainly looking forward to a hot shower before settling down and having a couple of beverages. Peter and Leslie were next to arrive, and we all watched intently as they assembled their Oz Tent for the first time. Soon to follow was Fay D Away in their ex Brit Camper Troopy, Andrew & Jen with the camper van and Toonfish with the caravan. As the beverages started to flow as the setting up was completed one by one, it wasn't long before the beautiful new 100 Series Turbo Diesel towing the 17 foot van appeared, carrying Mr & Mrs Al. Following closely on their heels was Diamond with the camper trailer, before Wombat arrived as Tail End Charlie with their camper van.

More beverages flowed as dinners were prepared and everyone settled in and got comfortable. There was a multitude of children who didn't take long to become acquainted before they expended some built up energy after the drive to Dimboola. The parents sat in the campers circle around the non existent fire and chatted and laughed. John and Gary drove in from Horseshoe Bend and joined the circle as everyone told tales of their adventures, rig set ups, jokes and the like. It was quite late when Jim and I realised that we were the only ones left awake and everyone else was in their beds enjoying some zzzzzzzz's, so we too headed off (read stumbled) to our respective sleeping quarters.

Accommodation:

Dimboola Riverside Caravan Park
2 Wimmera St Dimboola Vic 3414
Phone: (03) 5389 1416
Fax: (03) 5389 1045
Email: dimboolapark@telstra.com

Day Two Saturday 6th March 2004 – Little Desert:

The head was rather heavy upon waking, and I was rather fragile as I wandered over to the shower block. The water was on the coolish side as I tried to remove the cobwebs from my head. A coffee and a smoke on returning to camp certainly improved things a bit, but I soon realised that I was not the only one suffering. It was a relaxing morning as people checked out each others rigs in the daylight before some wandered into town for a look and purchase supplies. Bernie arrived to say gooday, as did Voxson shortly afterwards.

Before long it was lunch time, and there were a few restless people who decided to head off into the desert for some exploration. James was one of those itching to hit the sand, and so he jumped in the Kia with Gary and headed off with the first group. I was sure he would enjoy himself, especially if the Kia happened to get stuck in the sand. Eric and Nick arrived just after lunch and started setting up. They and the Diamonds decided not to join Al, Lyn, Alan, Elaine, Bill, Pauline, the Wombats and myself as we headed off to Horseshoe Bend and into the Eastern Block of the Little Desert.

After Horseshoe Bend we travelled along the dirt track before turning right onto One Tree Hill track. Here we ran into Willem and Milton, who had been exploring on their own. We deflated our tyres and continued on with Willem as Tail End Charlie before turning left onto the Eagle Swamp track. Willem and Milton left us here and headed in another direction as we made our way to the dry swamp. After a quick stop we headed north west up the McCabes Hut track, turned left onto the Pump Jack Track. We stopped for a break at one of the water points, where poor Wombat discovered that his stubbies of beer had decided to unscrew themselves and disperse their contents through out his fridge. After the mess had been cleaned up we headed off again to Albrechts Mill before veering right onto the Salt Lake Track. We re-inflated our tyres when we reached the Kiata Campground Road, and watched as the Toyota Landcruiser Club of Victoria roared past in front of us. Bernie was in the group and he stopped for a quick chat before we went our different ways. It was here that Wombat also discovered that he had blown a polyair - not happy. We hit the bitumen on Sanctuary Road and turned right onto the Coker Dam Road, that lead us back to the Western Highway. A coffee station had been set up at the wayside on the Wimmera River, and so we stopped there for a while before returning to Dimboola.

The other group hadn't returned yet, so we settled down to preparing dinner and having a few cold ones. It wasn't long before everyone was back and after the food was consumed, the camping circle again grew as we sat around an imaginary fire. The kids played cricket and hide and seek before Al took the younger ones on a drop bear hunt before bed. I believe that they only spotted one, but it refused to "drop" onto them, so I think they were mistaken. It was an early night as a few of us were still suffering from the previous nights work.

Day Three Sunday 7th March 2004 – Little Desert:

It was another perfect day as a group left early to conquer the Border Track. I have already completed that track on three other occasions, so decided that I would lead the rest of the group on a drive along the McDonald Highway. We took the highway to Nhill before turning left and heading south down the Goroke Road. When we reached the turn off to the McDonald Highway, we saw a Subaru flooring it in reverse to remove himself from the deep sand. Mind you his family and the rear of the vehicle were sitting on the side of the road watching.

A few of us turned directly onto the track before lowering our tyres, but the only vehicle that did get stuck in the deep sand was the Kia. Once everyone had deflated their tyres, we were again on the move. Unfortunately we did not have to snatch the Kia out of the sand, as with the lowered tyres pressures, Gary just drove on and out of his bind. This is an important lesson that lowered tyre pressures can remove most from being stuck in soft sand, without the need of snatching, digging or damaging the track.

Everyone was enjoying themselves as we headed directly west along the Highway, and we only came across two vehicles coming the other way. The sand was soft in places and there were a few places where the suspension system was really tested. I did notice though that my Kelly Tyres were doing a great job of floating on the sand. The footprint was fantastic and I had no troubles at all - a good sign for the Simpson in July.

Lunch was at Broughtons Waterhole. This waterhole is on private property, but access is graciously permitted by the owners. Some deep sand greeted us as we completed the final sections of the Highway and reached the Edenhope Road. Alan and Elaine left us here and turned north, heading home to Berri. We turned south and drove very slowly along the bitumen with deflated tyres to reach the East West Track. It was getting late in the day so we didn't quite reach the Vic/SA border as we turned right onto the Tallageira Track. It was on this track that I came across a couple of emus, and decided to take up the chase. One deviated off the track almost immediately, whilst the other headed straight along the track. The chase only lasted 3 or 4 minutes, but James and Ashleigh were having a ball as we sped along.

We exited the Western Block of the Little Desert National Park and re-inflated our tyres before heading to Kaniva on the Western Highway. Within an hour we were back in Dimboola. The Border Track gang had not returned, and it had been dark for a while, and we had all finished dinner before they did return. A great day was had by all and again the liquor was in abundance as was the story telling and laughs. Andrew pulled out his laptop and we saw a slideshow of the things he had done - it was fantastic. I was exhausted and it was rather cold as the wind blew, so I hit the sack rather early.

Day Four Monday 8th March 2004 – Dimboola to Rowville:

The wind had died down when we arose this morning, and after breakfast had been consumed, everyone begun the process of packing up. As we were in no rush, we took our time, and eventually we were ready to go just after 10:30am. After topping up the fuel and tyres, we turned off the Western Highway and headed to Halls Gap in the Grampians. It was fish and chips for lunch in the park, before we all went our separate ways. James and I followed Jim and Co. to Ararat where they turned off towards Bendigo, and we continued onto Melbourne. We passed the Wombats on the side of the road just out of Ararat and then ran into GaryInOz in Ballarat while topping up the fuel. 

After arriving home and unpacking some of the truck, I reflected on what a fantastic weekend it had been. Again the people I met from the EO website provided hours of enjoyment and laughter as we gathered in Dimboola. The friendships developed with with people are fantastic, and I cannot wait for the next meeting. So until then............