5th Lap - On the Way to the VIC / SA Border

THE FIFTH LAP

On the Way to the Vic / SA Border

Previous: The Mosaics of a pink lake

Photo Album: On The Way to the Vic / SA Border

We left Lake Tyrrell in gathering rain, wasn't a very pleasant morning overall. Shortly later, we were back in Sea Lake, and we took a pause to grab a couple of snaps of this little township, albeit in this terrible weather.

It was mostly a rain drenched drive on some of the minor highways to Warracknabeal. However there were rare moments of clear skies that allowed us to snap a photos of the "silo arts" that are becoming more and more prevalent in the last 15 years in the rural towns of Australia, especially along the wheat belts. Indeed, there exists a tourist map linking these arts together.

Shortly before lunch, Sandi was parked up in the center of Warracknabeal. The weather seemed to have improved, however, the forecast for the trip ahead towards Little Desert National Park looks pretty miserable for the next day or two. What to do ?!

We decided over lunch to hold our horses, and looked for a local tyre shop that can handle truck tyres to rotate the new set of tyres that was fitted before Sandi's maiden trip nearly 12 months and about 9,500 Kms ago. Sandi's boots are of the Mud Terrain types, and they tend to wear out faster than All Terrain type.

We found one shop in town, however, they do not have the machinery to balance the tyres, however, I thought, these tyres were balanced quite well, so I decided to go ahead. Just as well that I did!

The young mechanic who was assigned to our job, with his sharp eyes, pointed out the bulge that was appearing on the sidewall of one of the rear tyres. Upon further inspection, it appeared that the neighbouring sidewall were feeling puffy, perhaps delamination of the rubber plys had occurred. We checked for any external signs of damages, but could not found any.

It was lucky, the tyre could have a sudden catastrophic blowout. As a result, that tyre was moved to the spare position and left in a deflated state. I immediately notified the supplier in Queensland of the tyre's defect, asking for a replacement urgently sent. The question of stock and availability raced through my mind!

We decided to stay put for the night, and camped at the town's showground. Rain raged throughout the night.

Our trip so far, has breached the 2,100 Km mark at Warracknabeal, and used about 380 L of diesel fuel.

Whilst deploying the Starlink dish for the night, I discovered the USB-C connector for attaching the cable from the router to the dish was soiled by the mud from Lake Tyrrell. Fortunately after some delicate cleaning with a small dental floss pick, the system worked fine. However, a suitable cover protector must be found, otherwise this connector will fail very soon. USB-C connectors were not designed for rugged applications.

Early in the morning, in heavy mist and rainly conditions, we decided to skip the Little Desert National Park, and headed for Horsham, a major Victorian town.

On reaching Horsham, I received the news from the tyre's supplier in Queensland, All Terrain Warriors, which is also the manufacturer of the residence pod of Sandi, indicated that they have plenty of stocks and was ready to send one to any location that I wanted, regardless of the warranty issues.

So I quickly searched for a truck tyre fitter in Adelaide, where I would be in a few days time, called and confirmed their readiness to receive the delivery etc. That was quickly settled.

There I shopped at the Bunnings in town, the various bits and pieces to help manage the long Starlink cable. This included a small rubber cap for protecting the USB-C cable, an easy temporary solution, and a cord roller for keeping the cable tidily scrolled.

However, the glad-wrap solution for protecting the combination lock did not stay on reliably. So, for at least as a temporary solution, I defer to use the "trusty" condoms from the nearest supermarket, for want of a better way. They are also used for other electrical connectors under the body of Sandi. The only obvious issue is the oily nature of the devices used. A muddy problem requiring an innovative solution.

We took on the highway again in mid morning, and headed for the South Australian border, to our next major destination, Mt Gambier.

The weather was gradually improving. We stopped at the little township of Natimuk, in front of a 150 year old school. What attracted my attention was its roof, which was quite uncommon in the Australian bush. Probably this is the main reason, the school through different stage of re-development, still preserved this old section.

Further down the highway, we passed Mt Araphile. I quietly noted that I should spend a little bit more time exploring this region, including the Little Desert National Park which we decided to miss because of the uncertain weather.

But this little blob on the horizon further away from Mt. Araphile puzzled me, I could not find the name and more information for it so far. That's for another day. ( Had the same puzzle in 2011 when we passed, still a puzzle today ! )