Land Rover 60th anniversary – cross Australia journey
August 19, 2008 by Paul Maric
Day 2
Everyone at Birdsville’s pub was raving about the ‘camel pie’ on offer at the Birdsville Bakery. I couldn’t leave Birdsville without trying the famous pie. After all, they received a silver medal award at the Great Aussie Meat Pie competition.
Proprietor Dusty Miller (pictured below) was more than happy to sit down for a chat – even giving us a taste of the famous camel pie, along with an outback cappuccino.
The bakery offers a variety of bread, pies, cakes and drinks. The rustic look to the interior, along with the inbuilt windmill were all concepts of the proprietor and builder, Dusty.
After cleaning, checking and preparing the fleet of eight cars, the group of fourteen (five journalists, four Land Rover crew, four catering crew and one desert expert) set off from Birdsville for the beginning of the cross-country journey.
All cars on the fleet were fitted with Goodyear Wrangler tyres to assist with dune crossing and hill climbing. Spare tyres were also carried in the event of punctures. Only three tyres needed replacing during the leg I travelled (all of which were punctured by Land Rover staff!).
Soon after leaving Birdsville we arrived at a river crossing. All vehicles – including the Freelander – made it through without any dramas. It was the last slab of water we would be seeing until at least Alice Springs, with most of the lakebeds in the Simpson Desert being bone dry.
Big Red is the first sand dune that is crossed when trekking the Simpson Desert from Birdsville. Sitting some 40-metres above the plain, Big Red offers tremendous scenic views of the surrounding areas.
Spanning some 176,500sq km, the Simpson Desert has around 1100 sand dunes which vary in distance from each other, along with intensity. Such is the terrain that the dunes continuously change in shape. The path taken weeks ago to cross a sand dune can be completely different to the path taken today.
The average rainfall throughout the Simpson Desert is less than 200mm, meaning that most of the lake beds you see are totally dry and look spectacular.
Before setting up camp for the first night in the desert, we visited a small spot called Poeppel’s Corner, which sits at the corner of three states – Queensland, Northern Territory and South Australia. Well before the time of GPS, the corner of the three states was mapped out by John Carruthers, Lawrence Allen Wells and Augustus Poeppel around 1879.
The first camping stop was at Poeppel’s Lake. After setting up our tents (some using distance to keep in mind the snoring populous of the group!) and grabbing a bite to eat, we sat around the campfire observing absolute silence and complete serenity.
One of the things that struck me most about each night on this trek was the amazing detail in the sky. You could literally see every single detail of the universe, it certainly beats the light polluted skies of the city.
darkwater:
Freelander with its quality advanced 6spd command shift transmission that does 0-100kph in 8.9 seconds (0-60mph 8.4) aswell as being economical on the fuel would have to be the pick. WHereas the rubicon with its 4spd (if your going auto) is a bit sluggish and hard on fuel.
Big Jim:
Smack-on there with transmissions, also rubicons thirst has always been a major consideration. Standing at a pedestrian crossing yesterday a 4-door wrangler drove past (so it’s going to be a 2007 model), not sure if the driver has been servicing it regularly or it’s just been flogged to buggery, but all the wrong noises were coming from the engine bay. Sounded half a dozen rasps heading down a long metal slide. I’m earing on the side of lack of service or as some seem to think that a 4bie is just as cabable on the road as a beamer.
darkwater:
yeah the 3.2L i6 in the freelander is highly rated with good high torque.
“The DEFENDER is the shit when it comes to crossing through and around Aus and for going bush and hardcore offroading.”
^^^by that I mean its good. The 300 tdi equiped DEFENDER Im used to, has a top speed of about 135, that would be my only slight gripe. However its the type of indestructible engine that just keeps on going (a hard 310 000km without a problem). It cruises effortlessly at the speed limit. The new 4 would have to be better.
Big Jim:
If it was just me, myself, and I, a defender would be the only consideration – out asap smack down money for factory fitted modifications. However, I’ve got to tow a family of girls so comfort (road noise, egonomics etc) needs to be considered.
Believe me, I would really love a defender. Pity they don’t provide the swb. Could get that for fun.
Darkwater:
Post how the test driving and eventual purchase goes, Im interested to know. You should be able to talk them down a fair bit.
Big Jim:
Thank you for your interest and advice. I’m looking at a minimum of 6 to 12 month purchase time for either a defender or disco3, so please don’t hang on my post. When it comes around I’ll post on whatever forum associated with this or following articles or even on this site’s car review for the defender or disco3. Either way I’m getting a rattler. Sod a petrol – top end performance but bugger all down low where you need it when you need it for how long you need it.
Darkwater:
With the current new car market conditions- dealers doing alot of heavy discounting, its quite possible to get a big discount on a Discovery 4.0 V6 SE or the TDV6 Auto S.
Edaw: “Enjoy your X-Trail, one of only 2 soft roaders not made for girls.” Do you honestly think girls can’t drive offroad? Or are you saying LR and Nissan made vehicles purely for men?
GT2000: Just because something is popular, doesn’t make it good. Take Top 40 music, AFL, Neighbours for eg… Very popular, doesn’t make them good though.