It’s said that no plan survives contact with reality, so this is really a triumph of optimism over experience. We’re planning to go 10,000 kilometers in 45 days – ish, and I’ve mentally broken this down into four phases.
Phase 1 is ‘Do these vehicles really work?‘ This is an easy phase, basically driving a Land Rover down a road. It is rather a long road, as it will take us from Brisbane via the Gold Coast to Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide with a small diversion to test out cross country capabilities in Victoria’s high country. The key point is if they don’t work we will never be too far form civilization and a good garage!
Phase 2 is ‘Trying them out in the bush‘. We’ll then embark on a series of largely dirt track tests to see if my bolting-on and servicing expertise stands the test of Australia’s dust and corrugations – again not too far from civilization. Heading north from Adelaide we’ll rattle along the Oodnadatta Track, take in Uluru, Kings Canyon, and the MacDonnell Ranges before a pause and final check on everything in Alice Springs.
Phase 3, ‘The Simpson Desert‘ will take us from Alice to Mt Dare, final fill up with fuel and then into the Simpson itself. The Madigan line is 722 kilometers and estimated to take 10 days. We’ll finish on ‘Big Red’, the largest sand dune and then to the Birdsville pub. I’ve been to ‘Big Red’ before…
Phase 4 is ‘Trundling home‘. While it’s in Queensland, The Birdsville Pub is 1,500 kilometers from Brisbane, along increasingly good highways. It should be an easy run home. But plans have a habit of not sticking to ‘easy’. So, watch this space to see what actually happens!
Of course, the real plan is to raise funds for our four charities – Mates4Mates, The Smith Family, Onside and Combat Stress. You can see how much of a difference we have already made collectively on our GoFundMe site. So please share the link and consider helping out if you can.