Day 30 – (8/16/15) Well 27 to Well 24, 48 miles.
After a lazy morning of breaking camp, we were greeted by a check engine light. The three OBD2 codes were P0300, P0301 and P0303. They all basically have to do with misfires. The engine has been running a little rough on cold starts in the morning. Once the engine warms up and we clear the codes, we have no issues. These likely have to do with a sensor and pose no threat to forward motion. Keep reading to see if we make it…
The warm day and imminent water availability led us to take a mid-morning bush shower. The wind was so warm and dry, it dried me in a couple minutes. LeeWhay did not take advantage of this drying method. She walked around sheltered in her privacy tent. She actually picked up the tent and walked around with it to get back to the car where her clothes and towel were waiting!
We saw several vehicles today going north and south. I was able to practice my German with a couple from southern Germany who were heading north to south – the same as us. They arrived at Well 26 while we were checking it out in the early afternoon. They decided to camp there for the night while we pressed on. We will see them again since they are traveling double our rate. They are six days into the CSR as compared to our 12 days.
Their rental 70 Series Land Cruiser was from Travel Car Center out of Sydney. Their tires were in sad shape and a lot of their camping equipment was in disrepair. The rental was about $9,000 USD for 8 weeks. $850 of that was a surcharge to do the Canning. We’re still good with the decision to ship our own vehicle and trailer even though it will end up costing $5,000 more. It’s really nice having your own gear that works and you can trust.
We also encountered 3 men who had a camper trailer in tow. They were very interested in our Adventure Trailer Chaser. One crawled under the trailer to check out the suspension. Ryan tends to do this when he is curious about other vehicles, but we have not noticed others doing the same thing. LeeWhay asked if they were going to fill up on water at Well 26 since it contained very clear water and they responded, “We don’t drink water. All we need is beer!” Interesting!
Well 26.
We camped just before Well 24 for the night under beautiful Gum trees.
We are three days into the bottom “half” of the Canning which is over 600 miles. For the last two days, our calculations show at our current gas mileage, we should use 85 of our 105 gallons of gasoline we carry. 20 gallons extra is not a lot of margin. If that margin erodes as the trip progresses, a bailout route to Carnegie Station on the Gunbarrel is an option if they have fuel. Keep reading to see if we make it…
-Ryan