DAY 5 – FLINDERS RANGES

What an exciting day. It started really well when after a lazy start, we headed up the main track on the property to Mt. Arden, the highest point in this locality at 750 metres from which the lakes to the west and Wilpena Pound to the north can be seen. The track up was interesting and challenging but not too difficult and, as you know, I was able to post yesterday’s blog from there and ring John to confirm that he was back in Australia and that his health issues were under control.

But the day went downhill from there in every respect. The “difficult” track down was even more exciting than the track up and very rough. It was one of those tracks where you feel as if you were driving down steps which was fine until a red light and warning appeared on the dashboard telling me I had a suspension problem and the car went into limp home mode which means that the suspension lowers itself to the lowest setting. That’s fine on a bitumen road but doesn’t work on a steep rocky trail needing every bit of ground clearance. Fortunately it seemed to work at least partially after a bit of a rest and, by putting some well placed rocks in some of the bigger holes, we made it back to camp.

The suspension has been playing up and Land Rover have had two attempts to fix it under warranty but I suspect they haven’t found the problem yet. It works fine around town but, put it under a bit of pressure and, whatever the fault is, it manifests itself again.

After lunch we went exploring the nearby attractions and guess what, the red light came on again as we were driving along the road. What I didn’t immediately realize was that I had a flat tyre which I suspect was the cause of the red light this time but, because I was focussed on the faulty suspension, I didn’t realize that the tyre was flat until I had destroyed it. I suspect I probably pinched or punctured the tyre on the steep rocky track and didn’t notice that it was slowly deflating.

You would think that was enough adventures for one day but the worst was yet to come. The car was on a flat dirt road. The transmission was in park. The parking brake was on and guess what, just as I was about to put the spare tyre on, the car moved. Fortunately it didn’t come off the jack but it twisted the jack enough that I couldn’t wind it up or down and the car was not high enough to get the spare tyre on Next time I will chock the wheels. Time to get out the satellite phone and call for help. Fortunately a passing good samaritan used his jack to raise the car so I could get the tyre on and get the twisted jack out.

What a fun day but a good day to have those hassles because we are in no hurry to go anywhere.

So, tomorrow’s activity is to go to Port Augusta which is fortunately not far from here, get the suspension looked at and, hopefully this time fixed, and buy a new tyre and jack. Perhaps we will be spending more time in Port Augusta than planned. I expect that’s where I will be sending this blog from, hopefully with photos.

But as I sit here typing this, watching one of the local wallabies grazing just below our camp, enjoying a glass of wine, life couldn’t be better.

What excitement will tomorrow bring?