24 10.07

HOME

There was 12 mm of rain although it didn’t rain thro the night, left by 0700 and went into rain and strong winds about Olary and Yunta. There was some water over the road but the signs of a lot of flooding on the previous day were evident. We called into Peterborough and also Terowie and had lunch at Burra. The crops from there down were a lot better than expected and some very good, the rain would have helped.

We arrived at Grant and Beks about 1400 and Youngy was there to greet us. We went to Andre’s for tea with P and B there as well. The kids were very excited especially Victoria.

It was good to be back home after14 weeks and approx 10,000 ks and apart from the gearbox at Roxby not another thing at all going wrong. I was very impressed with the AVan which stood up to the rougher roads around Birdsville very well. It did let in a lot of dust in the early stages but after we laid coverings over everything it was a lot better. The plastic over the back window of the Prado was a great idea as the top of the spare tyre was covered in rocks with one about fist size, also the pack rack was great .Before leaving I had wondered if it was too big but on the road it was exceptional, also the canvas bag was good and perfectly water proof. As for the Cooper tyres that a lot of people either love or detest there was not a sign of any of the chipping tearing or ripping off of lugs and in the sand of Fraser Island they were great. The Prado was exceptionally comfortable and we did about 18 Lts per hundred and with the two tanks made for long range driving. Although we did not do any night driving the lights are lousy, I don’t know if the ARB bar blocks it at all but for a new vehicle they could be a lot better. Before another trip I will take the UHF out of the glove box and put it in my reach as Di is not interested and I need to have it closer to adjust volume at times.