Shorty and Me - 3

G'day Folks

When the going gets tough, the tough strap a genie to their roof…

Come and see the desert they said, endless fluffy sand dunes they said, clear blue skies, warm days and crisp clear nights they said…what THEY didn’t mention was the single greatest rainfall figures in the Simpson for many a year. MUD is what they should have said!

Now I have just returned from my first ever Simpson Desert crossing. Given the amount of water the region has endured, it was nothing like the images I had in my head. Truth be told, I should have strapped my kayak to the roof like the hordes of tourists I passed out near Cooper Creek. So what did I think of the desert during a flood…?

Absolutely and utterly mind blowing!

Given that this is an event that may not happen again for, well, decades…I strongly urge everyone who is even slightly intrigued to beg borrow or steal a couple of weeks leave, pack the fourby and do whatever it takes to get inland and check it out for yourself. I have never seen anything like it and feel very, very lucky to have witnessed it firsthand. As the ad says, just do it, you will NOT be disappointed.

This trip really hit home just why I own the truck I do and why I could never even dream of another lifestyle. To be able to pack up a 20 year old truck and head off to check out such an amazing phenomenon is an act we four wheel drivers have over just about any other group of enthusiasts. Owning a fourby is about so much more than owning a mode of transport, it’s the key to a lifestyle many can only shake their heads and day dream about. A damn lucky bunch we are!

It wasn’t all plain sailing however…just south of the Cooper Creek ferry, the alternator on the Shorty decided to pack it in. No amount of dodgy roadside mechanics could coax it back to life. Now I figured it was no big deal, a diesel doesn’t need much electricity once its running and I had my trusty generator with me for battery charging. So off I went.

Then it started raining and I needed the wipers…which run off the battery, which hadn’t been charged in days. Yep, no wipers…no go. Out with the genie, quick charge and back on the road. Trouble was, a quick charge only lasted about an hour of driving, at this rate the Nullarbor was going to take me weeks.

Then I hatched a master plan!

I ratchet strapped the genie to Shorty’s roof rack, ran the DC cable down the windscreen and into the engine bay, clamped the leads to the battery and fired up the genie! I then drove from Kimba to Perth with the genie cranking on the roof and Country and Western cranking in the cab. Got some weird looks at the SA/WA border but made it home.

Alternator…? Pffft who needs em?

Catch ya

Graham