11.8.15

This is where the wheels fell off - almost literally!

Ok, we set off from Daly Waters, heading for a little place called Longreach Waterhole, near Elliott (which is halfway between Darwin and Alice Springs).  On the way there, we stopped for fuel, where someone asked if we had the van handbrake on, as they could smell the brakes burning behind us.  Trevor checked, and there was no problem, so we continued.  

We arrived at Longreach Waterhole, which was off the road along an 11km dirt road, and it was just beautiful. However, Trev noticed that one of the wheels on the van looked a bit 'scrubbed' so he went to change it, put the jack on, and as he did so, the whole of the van moved backwards instead of upwards!  On further inspection he found that the axle had totally come away from the chassis, and had pulled the steel away from the chassis!  Not good at all - in fact, very serious!

We realised we had a real problem, and that our little van was not going to proceed any further.  We drove into Elliott to see if anyone could bring the van out and fix it.  We found a vehicle repairer with a tow-truck, Bob from Elliott Mechanical - he agreed to 
come out and have a look at it the next morning and tow it into Elliott if necessary.  We slept in the van that evening, after witnessing a spectacular sunset over the water, with lots of birdlife around.  Next day, Bob arrived and took our little van away - he had a look and said that this was not a problem he could fix, and we ended up contacting our insurance company.

After speaking to them, paying our $200 excess, they gave us a claim number and said that they would be in contact and they would possibly write off the van, or arrange for it to be transported to a location where it could be fixed.  We spent a further night at Longreach Waterhole in our tent, but it was one of the windiest, coldest nights so far of our trip, so we were not very happy next morning.  Next morning, we went back into Elliott (we had no phone reception at the waterhole) to again contact the insurance company to find out what our next step would be.

We finally got onto another claims person (each time we called we got a different person and had to go through the whole scenario again), who then threw in the fact that they were neither accepting nor denying that there was a claim, until an assessor had seen the van.  Needless to say, this did upset us somewhat!  Up until then, we had no qualms that there was indeed a claim, and it was just a matter of time until it was assessed and determined what the outcome would be.

We decided to leave our van at Elliott and head south, and our whole way of travelling had changed - we now had no van, no home, and had to decide what we could take in our Disco, and what had to be left in the van.  This was a huge job, and quite upsetting.  Our Disco ended being packed to the rooftop (and beyond), with our clothes and essential belongings shoved into whatever bags we could find.  A total mess, really!

Carole and John decided to head east, as there was no point staying with us, as we would now be staying in hotels/motels rather than camping areas.  So off we went to Threeways Roadhouse where we stayed for one night in a pretty poor 'motel room' for $115pn.  It was very ordinary, and a bit dirty, but it was the only spot around.

Next up, we arrived at Alice Springs, where I had booked 4 nights at the Desert Palms Resort, so we could at least have a good look at the Alice and the MacDonnell Ranges while waiting for info from the insurance company.  Alice Springs is an interesting town, with lots to see and do, and the backdrop of the ranges is brilliant.  We made the most of our time there, while still waiting for the bloody insurance company to let us know what was happening.  

We went out to the East MacDonnell Ranges one day, took in Emily & Jessie Gaps, Trephina Gorge (which was lovely) and did a really good 4WD track out to Ross River and N'dhala Gorge.  

Then we had to do a very quick trip back to Simpson's Gap in the West MacDonnell Range to go on our Sunset Camel Ride (which we'd booked previously).  Got there just in time, and it was great.  First time either of us had been on a camel, and I was amazed at how far off the ground we were - it was a long, long way to fall!  I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, despite that the fact that I ended up with blisters on my behind.  And the ranges in the background at sunset were just beautiful.

Next day, we tried contacting the insurance co yet again, and still got no joy.  As far as we knew, the van was still at Elliott, and no-one had yet seen it.  This was getting sooooo frustrating.

We went for a drive out to the West MacDonnell Ranges, drove all the way out to Glen Helen, and found that there were helicopter flights available there.  So, off we went - a 20 minute flight over Glen Helen, the ranges and Ormiston Gorge for $149pp - it was brilliant, and the views of all the rock formations were spectacular from the air.  On landing, we went for a walk to the Glen Helen Gorge, then drove out to Two Mile Camp (a free camp on the river which had been pointed out to us by our helicopter pilot).  It would have been perfect for us to stay there if we'd had our van, but we made do with having lunch there, overlooking the river with the MacDonnell Ranges as our backdrop.  Pretty special!

On the way back to Alice we stopped off at Ormiston Gorge, the Ochre Pits (brilliant colours ranging from purple to red to orange to yellow), Ellery Creek Big Hole (wonderful swimming area) and Simpson's Gap.  It was a great day out, and took our minds off the problem of our van for a little while.

We booked another night in Alice Springs at the Swagman's Rest Apartments, and the next way we visited the Old Telegraph Station which was immaculately preserved and most interesting.  We also went to the Desert Park (a bit expensive at $25pp, and they wouldn't take National Seniors cards), and this was really good too.  The nocturnal house was excellent, and I saw many native Australian animals I had never seen before - quolls, bandicoots, bilbies and many more).  We listened to a talk on dingoes, and watched the 
free-flying birds show - whitling kites, boobook owl, wedge-tailed eagles, stone curlews - they flew so close to us, and the ranger was most knowledgeable.

Our stay in Alice Springs has been most enjoyable - it's a great little town, and there is still so much more to see and do - we'll have to come back on another trip.

After 5 nights in Alice, we set off for Coober Pedy.  We have booked into the Underground Motel, which is really quite different to anything we've stayed in before.  Our room is basically a cave hewn out of the rock - we have a little bedroom area, with a lounge/dining/kitchen area and separate bathroom.  It's very solid, and although the wind is howling outside and very cold, we are very snug inside here and can't even hear the wind!  We had dinner at John's Pizza Bar and Trev order the 'Coat of Arms' pizza - yes, emu and kangaroo - and it was delicious.  I had a very good chicken fettuccini.  

Over the past few days we have been in and out of phone contact, but have tried to find out what's happening with our caravan claim - it has now been 8 days since our problem, and we are still waiting for clarification - to say we're getting a little angry is an  understatement.  We'll have to see what happens tomorrow......

5 comments:

the macs said...

I do hope you hear something soon - at least you will know . We stayed at Glen Helen gorge and like you, really enjoyed the area. We are now home - arrived yesterday.

Unknown said...

Hang in there you will have to tell us all about it when you get back on the shuttle.

Jim's Thoughts said...

So what happened next...that was six months ago? Were you eaten by dingos or something dreadful. Nice writing, left me wanting more....

sylvs10 said...

Thanks for your comment, Jim. No, not eaten by dingoes - it's a very loooong story. Will update soon.

Sylvia T said...

OK, Jim, I've updated. Next update will be about our new van.