I had enough time the night before to make some phone calls to the right people and do my own internet research into our little gearbox issue and now I understood the problem better I was confident to drive on and nurse us home.
However I have always wanted to have a look at the 'Binns Track' which runs from near Tennant Creek approximately 2000 or so kilometres south to Mount Dare. But given our current mechanical issue I decided I would spend today on the highway and start the Binns track from Alice Springs IF everything went ok today and against advice given to nurse the Patrol home....I like a bit of adventure with an element of risk ;)
So we packed up early and hit the road only to be pulled over by the police approximately 200 metres into our day.........for doing 49kph in a 40 zone! Luckily he was a nice copper and after breatholising me, he let me off. In my defence I am pretty sure I pulled out of a side street into the 40 zone and didnt go past a speed limit sign although Michelle suggested I went past a big flashing 40kph sign so who knows lol
Not far down the road from Tennant creek we re-visited Devils Marlbes. Once again timing didnt allow us to camp here but we stayed long enough to have a play around the unusual rocks and grab some pics.
A little further down the road we stopped at Ti Tree for lunch, this time we bought some junk food to save a bit of time.
A random pic of an escarpment beside the highway, its name escapes me though lol
Late in the arvo we arrived at Alice Springs, refuelled and made the decision to take on the Binns Track regardless of our gear box problem. It was a risk being out in the desert in a remote part of Australia and breaking down, but it was also a little bit exciting taking it on.....yes I know Im a bit silly but I was happy that no matter what, I wasn't risking lives....just risking the potential of a very expensive recovery if we get stranded out there!
We had been giving our camper a real caning on some of the 4wd tracks and rough roads so we were now feeling confident enough that it was strong enough to take anything extra we could throw at it...............
So, after refuelling off we go down the Binns Track as far as we could get before dark and we planned on camping in the bush some where.
Once the road turned to gravel it was again time to air down the tyres because it was straight away really corrugated and rough.
Not too much further we turned off at the Aboriginal community of Santa Teresa towards the western side of the Simpson Desert.
Plenty of Cattle and wild camels out in these parts.
We are now back in the real red centre, the road or more accurate the track was getting really rough and rutted out.
It was getting very late in the day so we found a nice clearing off to the side of the road that had a nice enough outlook and set up camp for the night.
We would have liked to have got further along the track because the following day we have set ourselves a massive task to get all the way to Dalhousie springs and stop at Old Andado Station and Mt Dare Hotel along the way.
The track so far has been really rough and slow going, although we were probably pushing things a bit harder than we should have been, to make up time.
These free camps in the bush are always the best. Lots of wood, no one around for miles and just beautiful. As the sun sets, we had tea, lit a fire and spent the night sitting around it having a few drinks.
We went to bed feeling excited as to what the following day would hold.
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