Earthcruisers do a Simpson double cross

EARTHCRUISERS DO A SIMPSON DOUBLE CROSS

This expedition turned out to be a lot more eventful than expected.

 

When you buy a new or used Earthcruiser 4×4 motorhome you get bonus membership of a tight-knit group of fellow-minded bush travellers. Just how supportive that group can be was evident on a double crossing of the Simpson Desert.

 

 

The Earthcruiser owners group regularly swaps info on vehicles and organises expeditions, sometimes with and other times without the input of Earthcruiser proprietors, Susan and Mark Fawcett. The Wollongong (NSW)-based Fawcetts love going bush with their customers, but someone’s got to keep building new units and maintaining older ones, so they can’t get away as often as they’d like.

Speaking of building new units, Earthcruiser bodies and gear are now fitted to Mercedes-Benz Unimogs, Iveco Dailys, Fuso Canters, Isuzu N Series, OKAs and LandCruiser 70 Series. Most are 4x4s, but some LandCruisers are 6x6s.

The nine-strong Earthcruiser Simpson double crossing was done without the Fawcetts, but among the group of Earthcruiser owners is a wealth of practical knowledge, so the group managed the journey very well, despite the inevitable issues that are bound to occur on every desert expedition – let alone a combined Madigan-QAA-French Line trip.

The itinerary was to meet, greet and fuel-up at Mount Dare; run up to Old Andado; join the Madigan Line and drive it to Birdsville; then re-cross The Simpson, via the various ‘Lines’, back to Mount Dare. The Trip Diary noted:

‘As always on these trips, we gathered for the “get to know you” meal and the tone of the trip was set with some wondering what on earth they had let themselves in for. 

‘A rough itinerary, convoy procedures and departure times were set for day one, but it was noted that this would be the first convoy to travel the track this season, following the summer closure and recent rains. 

“It could prove very interesting.”

Just how ‘interesting’ was soon revealed.

 

 

 

The resident doctor in one of the Earthcruisers was called early on day one, following a mishap that resulted in a badly gashed knee. The doctor called for an assistant, who later claimed he hadn’t really been needed:

‘On reflection, he thought that if future legal action was taken, he would be a witness. After all it’s not often that a doctor gets to stitch up a lawyer. It remained to be seen who finally stitched up whom in this case.’

The knee repair proved effective and saved a call to the Royal Flying Doctor (RFD), so the convoy proceeded as planned.

(OTA has done the Madigan several times and once as the first vehicle of the season, so we know how much blown debris and track wash-aways the Earthcruisers had to deal with.)

 

 

The Madigan’s notoriously rough and bumpy surface claimed an early victim, when one machine had a shocker mounting bolt shear off. The broken end resisted extraction, so the vehicle continued with only three dampers. (We’ve had to do that, as well and it’s OK, if you take it very easy!)

Three days into the Madigan and a serious issue emerged with one of the Iveco Daily Earthcruisers – no, not the well-known transfer case issue, but a seeming loss of power that was traced to a slipping clutch. That slippage soon became complete failure. (To be fair, this vehicle had been ‘everywhere’ and its owner, Phil, had even helped extract a full-sized bus from a beach bogging in WA.)

 

 

There was nothing for it, but to try towing the crippled vehicle, as the Trip Diary records:

‘After a confab at lunch it was decided to try to tow him out, with a double tow and others in front if needed.

‘Peter’s and Martin’s vehicles hooked up the immobile vehicle and began the mammoth task of hauling him through the dunes. 

‘Chook and Pete were in front of us ready to hook up as needed, because it was very hard going. 

 

 

‘The difficulty was with the corners, where the forward vehicle tended to pull the following truck in a straight line, pulling it and the crippled vehicle off the track and onto some horrible angles. 

‘This involved Pete and Andrew running up and down the dunes in 43-degree heat, assisting with resetting the straps. 

‘Eventually it was a relief to pull into camp, unhook and sit down with a refreshing drink.’

 

 

The next day’s progress was just as agonising and stressful, so the decision was made to abandon the idea of towing the Earthcruiser out:

‘This was an extremely difficult decision to make and was the first time the Earthcruiser team ever had the leave a vehicle on a trip.

‘Although this put a dampener on the day, everyone came together to help Martin celebrate his birthday.

‘Karen from the Entertainment Committee provided Martin with the most beautiful birthday cake and enough biscuits to feed an army. 

‘Blakey followed by playing happy birthday on his gizzo and presented Martin with a magnificent yo-yo. 

‘It’s a pity the birthday cake was still in its box, as it was way too hot for a campfire to cook it on. The thought counted.’

‘Next morning, Phil handed out various belongings and food among the convoy, and left a sign on his truck saying it wasn’t abandoned and he would be back with parts for repairs – after he worked out how to repair and extract the wounded Daily:

‘Phil secured his vehicle and left as a passenger with Chook and Chick.’

At the next camp a debate about where Phil would sleep began, but was cut short:

‘The Entertainment Committee came to the forefront again and produced a swag for Phil to use for the rest of the trip.

‘A swag! After being involved with many trips with Earthcruisers and meeting many different people, just when you think you have seen it all, something comes along. ‘A swag is big and bulky, and takes up storage space in an Earthcruiser that already has a very comfortable double bed. 

‘Could the mystery swag be Blakey’s dog house; does he or she have a snoring problem; or perhaps a wind problem? 

‘Either way Phil was grateful for the use of it!’

The less-burdened convoy maintained a good pace along the Madigan Line:

‘It was very pleasurable travelling up and over the sand dunes then transversing diagonally long the swales to the next dune.’

 

 

After the mandatory photos at the blaze tree and a stop at Camp 17, it was declared Ladies Day:

‘Marg and Amanda drove until lunch and Jean put Driver Under Instruction signs on the front and back of their truck and drove for three sand dunes before giving up, because her ankle was sore.’

Day 6 started on a lucky note, when one of Andrew’s tyre monitors wasn’t working and fortunately he went back and found it in the sand. The drive along the station tracks saw the convoy arrive at Camp 21 quite quickly. It was a little off the track and the convoy made a circle near the post:

‘The track followed Eyre Creek towards the QAA line and there were quite a few washouts from the earlier rain.

‘At one point the track disappeared into a waterhole and the surrounding trees were close  to the water, so we had to make our own track higher up the sand dune.

‘When back on the Flood Bypass Track, one vehicle started making a different noise, so the boys rallied around and discovered that the rubber cushioning on the gearbox mount had split and dislodged. 

‘With a few jacks and blocks of wood, the gearbox mount was realigned and secured in place with straps.

‘Then Pete noticed Glen’s water tank had a bracket hanging down, because a screw had come loose. A quick fix and they rejoined us all.’

At Big Red there were the usual passes and fails, but after tyre pressure adjustments, all made the climb and were soon in Birdsville – at the Pub, of course –  planning how to get Phil’s vehicle out of the desert. 

 

 

It soon became obvious that no-one could drive in with a large rescue vehicle and recover it, so that meant a repair on the Madigan and a drive out. The plan was for the convoy to finish the trip back to Mount Dare, after which a few Earthcruisers would head back across The Madigan to Phil’s vehicle, fit a new clutch and drive it out to Old Andado.

Phil left the convoy at Birdsville and began sourcing parts – with great assistance from Earthcruiser HQ in Wollongong. He also had to find a couple of mechanics. In a roundabout air route he flew to Alice Springs, from where he hoped to orchestrate the recovery of his precious Earthcruiser.

 

 

After a few happy days in Birdsville and some repair and resupply work the Earthcruiser convoy headed across the desert once more, but this time on the much busier QAA Line, to Poeppel Corner. The Earthcruisers were joined on and off by a TV crew filming a doco and a bunch of refurbished old Land Rovers.

 

 

All seemed fine as the group ran along the French Line to Knolls Track, the Trip Diary recorded:

‘We got caught out by a couple of sand dunes and had to drop tyre pressures further, when Rick stopped to investigate a noise. It wasn’t good…

‘He’d sheared off the wheel studs on the driver’s side rear wheel and the gang gathered to work out an on-site solution.

“There wasn’t one, so after few satphone calls, Andrew and Martin (A Team) headed off to Mount Dare, for replacement studs.’

Some of the convoy beetled along the Rig Road (B Team) and Pete and Judy stayed with Rick and Amanda (C Team). There was no time to be wasted on formal goodbyes, but The Trip Diary recorded:

‘We really did not even get a chance for a proper goodbye as the B team headed off on its own mini expedition.

‘There was a real loss about leaving our friends and some nervousness that we did not have the A team to save our arses if a new calamity was to arise.

‘The B Team decided from some previous experience that the Rig Road was the safest route, but it did not take long for some to wonder if the choice was the correct one. 

‘What was easy on our last trip in 2019 was quite different, because the eastern sides of the dunes were long and bumpy and not exactly small either.

‘The most unnerving bit was the amount of water damage to the tracks that were often quite firm, but wash-outs were the norm and many were gorges down the centre of the track. 

‘This meant straddling a sometimes metre-deep trench on the bumpy ascent and decent, where accidentally putting a wheel into these trenches was not something you would want to do.

‘As we had come to expect in the desert, the tops of dunes were a combination of soft sand, tight bends and big holes… but, also lots of fun!

‘Before long, we were into the familiar rhythm: up, down, bounce, bounce, bounce..repeat.’

 

 

At one point the little convoy came across a massive wash-away that ran across the track and that dictated a couple of hours of heavy shovelling to smooth the approach and departure gradients. All in a day’s work in the Simpson! After the junction of the Rig Road and the French Line, the B Team was wondering how their mates had fared:

‘All of a sudden, there was a familiar voice on the radio and in front of us were the friends that had been left a few days ago. 

“They had collected the right bits and managed to keep on the move despite a split fuel line on Martin and Maureen’s machine. 

‘It was a relatively easy trip back to Mount Dare via Dalhousie Springs, (also known as Mosquito Central). 

‘For at least one of the crews a drama was unfolding. It was getting late and there was the worry that the kitchen at Mount Dare would be closed. 

“I really needed a steak cooked by someone else!” said one hopeful.

“As we pulled up my heart sank, because the lights were dimmed and the kitchen staff were on the way out. 

“Fortunately, they turned around and headed back in and orders were placed. 

“It was nice of them but my crazy steak eyes probably gave them little choice.”

A nice meal, a welcome shower, a sound night’s sleep and our Earthcruiser group adventure was over.

 

 

Recovering the lost Earthcruiser

 

 

While the double crossing was over for the Earthcruiser gang, there was still the question of how to repair and recover Phil’s stranded machine.

He was crook with Covid-19 and in isolation in Alice Springs, but the Earthcruiser team rallied around. Matt from Earthcruiser HQ organised the parts and had them flown to Alice Springs. However, they couldn’t find any mechanics in Alice Springs willing to go out and do an on-site clutch replacement.

Fortunately, the mechanics that Andrew used in Hobart agreed to fly up to The Alice. They’d have a helicopter fly them to Phil’s truck; replace the clutch and then fly back in the helicopter; stay in a hotel in Alice and fly back to Hobart on the Thursday before Easter, in time for an Easter break with their families!

This airforce was backed up by a ground crew – the A Team – who were happy to venture back along the Madigan Line, to where Phil’s Earthcruiser was parked.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, for a start, there was no Phil to drive his vehicle out, so one of the A Team would have to do that. The three A Team ladies weren’t as experienced in dune driving as their blokes, but needs must. On the way to Phil’s vehicle they did a crash course…not literally.

Finally, in the dark, the A Team got to Phil’s truck – a most welcome sight! It was how it was left, with the fridges still running and freezer items still frozen, despite daytime temperatures well into the 30s.

The chopper was due at this little camp next morning, but…nothing. The pilot couldn’t find the four Earthcruisers and was running low on fuel, so he dropped the mechanics and their tools and parts at Camp 6!

(OTA has had a similar experience with a chopper unable to find a location, near Mount Knuckey, when we had a very seriously injured person with us. The system of three words, instead of co-ordinates should be in much wider use in Australia.)

Unbelievably, but fortunately, they were picked up by three young guys in three LandCruisers, who had room for the two extra passengers, the tools and the parts. The three young men were Army chopper pilots from Townsville and they said that they couldn’t believe it when a chopper landed in front of them.

The mechanics made quick work of the clutch replacement and were finished before dark. Everyone enjoyed a slap-up dinner and headed off at dawn next day, to take maximum advantage of the cooler sand on the steep eastern faces of the Madigan dunes. (They’re bloody steep, OTA remembers.)

The fact that the mechanics didn’t get a chopper ride back to Alice Springs meant they could drive Phil’s vehicle and that let the girls off the hook.

 

 

The lightest Earthcruiser led the way and offered a tow assist on some hills, so it went like clockwork. After an overnight camp, the convoy made it into The Alice, where Phil, like his Earthcruiser, was recovered. 

For everyone in this Earthcruiser expedition it had been one of the journeys of a lifetime.