A big day loomed ahead of us as we left Mt Pleasant just before dawn. The vineyards of the Barossa were soon behind us as we were travelled the flat, straight Augusta Highway headed north. It wasn't long before we encountered our first road train & standard procedure when approaching was to give them as much road as possible and hold on tight. It seemed to do the job.
By midday we had reached Port Augusta & after a quick bite to eat continued on. The roads were straight & long, the road trains frequent as we travelled over the plains. At this point Tomoko and I debated whether we were in the Outback or not. Tomoko’s argument was for the negative, reasoning there was too much greenery on the landscape. I was for the affirmative, my case being that the soil had turned orange, a sure sign of the Outback. In the more sparse areas we spotted some emus grazing by the side of the road, adding weight to my argument.
It was around this time that the engine over revved slightly while the ute was cruising along in 5th gear. It was an unusual occurance & repeated over the next few kms. Tomoko was of the opinion that we ring roadside assistance. I wasn’t as convinced as we had hardly broken down. A compromise was reached that if it happened again we would get it looked at & from that moment on, normal transmission was resumed and the car returned to it's reliable self. By mid afternoon we reached the free camp at Spuds Roadhouse at Pimba. Later, after some internet searching, I found 'Outback' to be 'a term that describes rural and remote areas in Australia' & declared myself the 'winner on points' of our earlier debate. As the day reached it's conclusion we experienced our first outback sunset and it was quite spectacular.
The next morning we were up & at 'em en route to Coober Pedy. Within half an hour the over revving of the engine recommenced but this time more frequently and with greater intensity. I soon found that 5th gear was no longer an option, finding a happy medium in 4th gear travelling at 80km/h. By the time we had travelled 60km and reached the small roadside fuel stop of Glendambo, the usually reliable 4th gear was beginning to waver as well. With another 250km to Coober Pedy I considered soldiering on but Tomoko was quite insistent we call roadside assistance. I was still of the mind that we hadn’t technically 'broken down' but relented to Tomoko’s request.
A call to NRMA & a bit of interstate cooperation with the SA motoring association & our mechanic was on the way. Unfortunately he was also far away, the wait time up to 4 hours. Luckily we had the caravan & could pass the time in comfort. I started to feel a headache coming on though & feeling a bit dodgy, lied down for a bit. After 3 hours or so our mechanic arrived, quickly diagnosing that the clutch was cactus & we would have to be replaced. Tomoko had been confident the likely cause was just a faulty spark plug & on presenting this theory to the mechanic, was met with a smile & explaination that diesel engines don't actually have spark plugs.
The truck was put on the back of his brand new Hino, the caravan attached to the tow bar and we all jumped in the front to return from where we came and onto the BHP mining town of Roxby Downs. Despite the inconvienice and obvious monetary cost of the incident we actually enjoyed riding in the front of the cab. The driver acted as a quasi tour guide & shared many an interesting story about the local area. It felt a bit weird when we passed our previous nights camp spot at Pimba & we were soon passing Woomera, home of the famous rocket base. He pointed out various places of interest, among them the Woomera Detention Centre where they used to send boat people. I wondered if sticking them out here in the middle of nowhere on possibly radioactive ground was a government initiative to discourage future uninvited guests.
It was well after dark by the time we reached the mechanic's shop in Roxby Downs (now on to be referred to as ‘Roxy B’ as Tomoko has insisted on calling it). The driver in the meantime received another call out – a blown head gasket back at Pimba so he loaned us a Landcruisier to tow the van to the caravan park. It was quite late by the time we finished setting up and after a quick dinner we collapsed in bed.
The first day in Roxy B was an unenjoyable one for me. I woke with a cracking headache most likely attributed to dehydration and the stress of the previous day. I am not unfamiliar with them and they arise even if I’m the slightest dehydrated. In fact, I have to drink at least 4 litres of water each day to keep them at bay. I completed some essential chores under duress & by mid morning, dizzy spells & severe pain drew me to the sanctuary of my bed. Here I spent the remainder of the day, mostly in the foetal position, dosed up with pain meds & an abundance of drinking water at hand. There was just the hint of improvement in my condition by evening & I skipped dinner, loaded up with more meds & went to bed.
By morning the pain had reduced considerably but I was still feeling wonky so decided to potter around the van for the day. Plenty of fluids, a bit of tele & a couple of naps did wonders for me and the following day I was right as rain. So too was the ute & I rode the pushbike through town to pick it up. There wasn’t much change out of two grand but it was a relief to have wheels again. Mobile once again, we had a look around Roxy B. The town's only been established since 1988 so everything has a fresh feel to it but it seemed a little deserted for all the infrastructure that's here. We decided we had enough of the place & planned to leave the next day. We were grateful that I decided to take out the NRMA’s premium roadside assistance package. They paid for our accommodation & towing costs, were super helpful to deal with & I couldn’t praise them enough. Hopefully we won't need them again but until that time...adios amigos.