Its been ten years since i saw my first Camp on the Madigan Line and we are now attempting to do most of the rest of it.
Madigan Line 21-6-19
Madigan Line 21-6-19
Its been ten years since i saw my first Camp on the Madigan Line and we are now attempting to do most of the rest of it.
Re: Madigan Line 21-6-19
some pics of Annandale Station ruins from back in 2009
Re: Madigan Line 21-6-19
The trip begins .....
Madigan Line June 2019
I only had two weeks of holidays available so began looking for something on this side of the country that we could do in the time I had and which could be the start of a longer trip for the other guys.
Chatting with Brett, Jeff and Phil we decided to tackle the Madigan Line across the Simpson Desert.
Way back in 1939, Dr Cecil Madigan on Camels was the first to cross the Simpson a fair bit north of the current vehicle track blazed by Reg Sprigg in an old Nissan G60 in 1962.
Our plans were made, holidays booked and vehicle preps done.
I would be driving my 2000 Nissan GU 4.2 TD Ute, Brett had his late model Toyota 200 series 4.5 TD, Jeff had his late model 3.2 TD Mazda BT50 and Phil had his late model Toyota 79 series 4.5 TD Ute.
Jeff was first into Birdsville, leaving home Wednesday arriving on Saturday morning, Phil had been on holiday for a few weeks and arrived Sunday lunch time and Brett left Friday morning and arrived Sunday afternoon.
Friday 21st June 2019
I left Friday after work and drove out to Mitchell then camped at Fishermans Rest along with heaps of caravanners.
Madigan Line June 2019
I only had two weeks of holidays available so began looking for something on this side of the country that we could do in the time I had and which could be the start of a longer trip for the other guys.
Chatting with Brett, Jeff and Phil we decided to tackle the Madigan Line across the Simpson Desert.
Way back in 1939, Dr Cecil Madigan on Camels was the first to cross the Simpson a fair bit north of the current vehicle track blazed by Reg Sprigg in an old Nissan G60 in 1962.
Our plans were made, holidays booked and vehicle preps done.
I would be driving my 2000 Nissan GU 4.2 TD Ute, Brett had his late model Toyota 200 series 4.5 TD, Jeff had his late model 3.2 TD Mazda BT50 and Phil had his late model Toyota 79 series 4.5 TD Ute.
Jeff was first into Birdsville, leaving home Wednesday arriving on Saturday morning, Phil had been on holiday for a few weeks and arrived Sunday lunch time and Brett left Friday morning and arrived Sunday afternoon.
Friday 21st June 2019
I left Friday after work and drove out to Mitchell then camped at Fishermans Rest along with heaps of caravanners.
Re: Madigan Line 21-6-19
Saturday 22nd
Saturday morning was so cold it froze my water tank and I couldn’t get any water out for my coffee … wouldn’t have been much use anyway as the gas stove hardly had any flame due to such low pressure.
I had a layer of ice stripes on the windscreen and when I tried to wash them off the water instantly froze and I couldn’t see at all so I had to use a credit card to scrape the Ice layer off before I could drive off.
Saturday morning was so cold it froze my water tank and I couldn’t get any water out for my coffee … wouldn’t have been much use anyway as the gas stove hardly had any flame due to such low pressure.
I had a layer of ice stripes on the windscreen and when I tried to wash them off the water instantly froze and I couldn’t see at all so I had to use a credit card to scrape the Ice layer off before I could drive off.
Re: Madigan Line 21-6-19
I didn’t get far up the road before losing power and made a couple of stop to check things out.
I could hold 3000 revs when stopped but could barely maintain 80 Kmh on the road, the fuel filter glass was clear as well so it had me stumped for a bit as it was acting like it was running out of fuel.
I decided to change the fuel filter anyway and once I pulled it out a whole heap of black granules came out of the filter. I dismantled it and cleaned it all up then installed a new filter and drained the subtank dry as I had filled from it the night before.
Seems to have fixed it as I had no more problems.
I could hold 3000 revs when stopped but could barely maintain 80 Kmh on the road, the fuel filter glass was clear as well so it had me stumped for a bit as it was acting like it was running out of fuel.
I decided to change the fuel filter anyway and once I pulled it out a whole heap of black granules came out of the filter. I dismantled it and cleaned it all up then installed a new filter and drained the subtank dry as I had filled from it the night before.
Seems to have fixed it as I had no more problems.
Re: Madigan Line 21-6-19
I refuelled in Charleville and after crossing Cooper Creek before Windorah I saw a message that Brett had pulled up to camp in Windorah, he messaged to turn left over the bridge so I kept an eye out for a bridge when I got to Windorah but it turn out he was camped way back before Windorah and I must have been very close behind him when he turned off and didn’t see his message until I had gone past.
Re: Madigan Line 21-6-19
I decided to continue on stopping at the JC Hotel Ruins and a few other things
cropped from the above pic to try and see the hole
cropped from the above pic to try and see the hole
Re: Madigan Line 21-6-19
before camping at sunset up at Deons Lookout.
Nice views but incessant winds and low temps kept me in my swag.
Nice views but incessant winds and low temps kept me in my swag.
Re: Madigan Line 21-6-19
Sunday 23rd
At 2.3 degrees it was positively balmy compared to the previous night but the wind chill factor made it seem colder so I didn’t even bother trying to make coffee and hit the road west.
The new fuel filter was blocking up keeping my speed down but I soldiered on only stopping to get a pic of some red necked storks that crossed the road in front of me at Betoota.
I pulled in to the caravan park, said g’day to Jeff and made a coffee first up.
We chatted for a bit them I took a quick walk around town passing the old Royal Mail Hotel, the artesian water supply, airport and pub before buying a sausage roll for lunch because that’s all they had.
At 2.3 degrees it was positively balmy compared to the previous night but the wind chill factor made it seem colder so I didn’t even bother trying to make coffee and hit the road west.
The new fuel filter was blocking up keeping my speed down but I soldiered on only stopping to get a pic of some red necked storks that crossed the road in front of me at Betoota.
I pulled in to the caravan park, said g’day to Jeff and made a coffee first up.
We chatted for a bit them I took a quick walk around town passing the old Royal Mail Hotel, the artesian water supply, airport and pub before buying a sausage roll for lunch because that’s all they had.
Re: Madigan Line 21-6-19
Phil had turned up the a couple of hours later Brett turned up and we chatted for a bit before I headed out of town to shake up my tank and find a slope to drain a bit out to see if there was any crud in the main tank.
I changed filter again getting a bit more black junk out then headed back to town after a look at the old creek crossing and refilled the tanks and got the Ute ready for tomorrows crossing.
We all headed to the Pub for a Lamb Roast then Jeff and I headed back to camp while Brett and Phil stayed on to watch the State of Origin.
I changed filter again getting a bit more black junk out then headed back to town after a look at the old creek crossing and refilled the tanks and got the Ute ready for tomorrows crossing.
We all headed to the Pub for a Lamb Roast then Jeff and I headed back to camp while Brett and Phil stayed on to watch the State of Origin.