Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[roverdriver]

If you have missed Part 1 of this tale, it can be found here-

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14196&highlight=red+center+centre

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At the end of the sixth day of our excursion, I gave Beatrix a thorough check-over and replace the problem fuel filter with a new one.



Next morning we set off early for the run back to Coober Pedy. We knew that we had missed seeing some of the scenery because, of course, it was dark for the last part of our journey into Alice. We certainly did not expect the beautiful sunrise, so had to stop to enjoy it. I took the opportunity to experiment with photos of Beatrix.







Further along the road there were more interesting scenes to be photographed.





For a while we followed another road train.



But we then stopped to view this memorial





We could have stopped every few yards to photograph scenes like this



Noreen rode with her camera at the ready to record pictures when stopping was not practical, but there are far too many pictures to post here. We detoured with the intent of driving to a place called Rainbow Valley, but after a short while realised that as our speed was impaired by the rough road, it would take too long to get there. Here is a smooth section of the road, where we had a drinks stop.


By lunch time we reached the Northern Territory/South Australia border.



We had heard that there had been rain to the south while we were in Alice. When we reached Cadney Homestead, there were a lot of puddles about. There was also a stationary road train to study.





I remarked about the rain to the cashier there. "Oh yes," she said, "We had 18 millimeters". Where I live, 18mm of rain would have soaked away in a few minutes, so there must be something about the soils of the region to trap the moisture. I have already sent an enquiry to a geologist to see if he has an answer.

The overcast sky and cool breeze from the south made for quite a cold day. Instead of the shirtsleeves of yesterday, it was a case of putting on the woolies.

Just after we passed Marla, quite unaccountably the engine stopped. I coasted to a halt to investigate. Tests revealed no spark. Further tests suggested that current was getting from the coil to the distributor but no further. I had two unused spare rotors in my emergency kit, fitted the newest of them and Beatrix started up and ran properly. Off we went again.

Further on the engine started to run rough. Investigation revealed that the brass contact on the rotor was fouling contacts on the distributor cap. Turning by hand, all seemed well, but there was some brass dust within the distributor. I cleaned that off and we were back to normal running.

I have mentioned the cattle and sheep on the stations, but was rather surprised that at one of our stops these two characters wandered over to see who we were.



By late in the day we arrived again at Coober Pedy having covered 439 miles according to our odometer.

That evening I carefully checked and made sure the distributor was as free of brass dust as possible.

Next morning, again an early start and quite cold. Noreen shot this one as we drove along.



Surely there had been more than 18mm of rain here. There were lots of places with water lying either side of the road.



At one point we could see that perhaps a certain Doctor had arrived in his Tardis.



But closer inspection showed the object to be merely an old vertical boiler set up as an advertising sign.



Just near Glendambo, the ignition problem arose again with the engine just dying. The replacement rotor had failed. I replaced it with another new one, but this was a very old stock one. Beatrix fired up immediately so we could carry on. Now I was worried. What to do if that rotor failed? Still we continued to enjoy the drive.



It is interesting that even though Alice Springs is virtually at the center of the land mass, and as far from the sea as possible, the rainfall there, although sparse and intermittent is sufficient to support trees, grasses and generally much stronger plant life than this more southerly region.



It had been our intention to spend some time visiting a few places off the tar-sealed road. Unfortunately each road we sought had been closed due to the rain, so we had to return via Port Augusta. At Pimba we turned off to visit Woomera, the township set up in the 1940's for testing rockets, and as a base for the atomic bomb tests. It was Sunday so the museum was closed, but there was a wealth of outside exhibits to see.



I will post some more pictures in the Aircraft section as being more appropriate there.

As we looked about, I wondered if there would be any mention of the late Len Beadell. Len had been the surveyor who located and set out Woomera, Emu Field, Giles Weather Station and was instrumental in creating some of the famous outback roads such as the 'Gunbarrel Highway'.
I was not disappointed.











I can strongly recommend his books. Start off with "Too Long in the Bush". His descriptions are both clever accurate and funny.

From Woomera we continued on to Port Augusta. Here we are approaching that town, with the Flinders Ranges in the distance, and the pipe that carries water all the way to Coober Pedy, in the foreground.



We passed through Port Augusta, and a short way on turned towards the North again, heading for Quorn. We drove through the Pitchie Ritchie pass.







Then on into the Flinders Ranges to the little town of Quorn where we spent the night. Our plan was to continue on into the Ranges to Hawker the next day.

The odometer showed that we had now covered 2546 miles since leaving home.

Part 4 is posted here-

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=103769#103769
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[Rusty]

Well done, I have just read all 3 of your postings and it brought back a lot of memories of a great trip some friends and I did in 2010 over a lot of the same area. Its absolutely spectacular out there isn't it. The fact that you did it in your Rover just makes it far more interesting, WELL DONE !