Offroading Online Magazine Issue 6

Issue 6 April 2012 Spectacular coverage of the Loveday Guinness World Records Weekend

Cooking with The Cast Iron Boys P7 Offroad Driver Training

Simpson Desert Wanderings with Voyager 4x4 Adventures Diesel Tips with Berrima Diesel Flight 4 Life

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A word from the editor Last issue I invited readers to send in a story in return for free advertising.

The response has been great and as a result we now have an additional four contributors to the magazine.

Nick and Mick are the Cast Iron Boys who jumped at the chance to become our resident cooks, showcasing their camp oven skills in our new cooking pages. Their popularity has soared since they started with one of the fastest growing ‘Liked’ pages on Facebook.

Dave Darmody, director and instructor of P7COMMS & P7OFFROAD, is a qualified teacher with a Bachelor of Education, who also holds a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment. With over a decade’s teaching experience in the outdoors, Dave’s background means that your education is important. It’s about learning, rather than training.

Reinhard, Andrew and Scott Leimroth from the world renowned DPChip and Berrima Diesel have come on board and submitted a great article on the benefits of diesel.

Jason King, Director of Voyager 4x4 Adventures jumped at the chance to join our team and has agreed to submit articles covering their extensive Tag a Long Tours. Their article on the Simpson Desert is a great read.

It is important to note that the crew above own businesses and of course we will read references to their products.

Offroading Online Magazine is open and honest about who is writing these articles. We consider we are privileged to have contributors of such expertise and standing within the 4WD community.

Finally I have been racking my brain about a few free give aways, just like all the big magazines. You know, subscribe and get three free issues, etc etc.

Well, it came to me in the middle of the night download every issue of Offroading Online Magazine for free from www.offroadingonline.com.au and you can download the next 10 years for free as well.

Danny Hanrahan

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www.harvestthesun.com.au

Denis O’Dea: 0404839137

In this issue A Word from the Editor Loveday Guinness World Record Weekend P7 Offroad Driver Training Cast Iron Boys Simpson Desert Wanderings Diesel Tips with Berrima Diesel Flight 4 Life and a lot more......

Offroading Online

When you see this Youtube icon click on it and it will take you to related video.

Be sure to return to Offroading Online Magazine

The Smiley Icon is where you will get a laugh.

Send in your jokes to danny@offroadingonline.com.au

Offroading Online Magazine is looking for stories from accross Australia and around the world.

Want to promote your club or event? email details, stories and photos to danny@offroadingonline.com.au

Editor Danny Hanrahan Contributors Geordie Wright Sue Callow Darren Berryman Jasmine Brown The Cast Iron Boys P7 Offroad & P7 Comms DPChip Voyager 4x4 Adventures Website editor Danny Hanrahan Geordie Wright Facebook editor Geordie Wright Tony Whateley Offroading Online No part of this magazine may be copied, broadcast or reproduced in any manner on any medium without the written consent of the copyright owner.

Offroading Online info@offroadingonline.com.au

Road trains loading cattle at Helen Springs Station, north of Tennant Creek NT .

They capture the unusual sight of 16 full road trains heading out of Helen Springs station - about 140km north of Tennant Creek - all at once.

Alice Springs photographer Hans Boessem - Todd Camera Store owner - snapped the shots back in 2001 in a muster chopper.

“They loaded the cattle up, lots of cattle,” he said. “It was pretty good - you don’t see it that often, all those trucks all at once.”

Boessem has travelled over good portions of the Territory with his cameras.

He travelled to Australia from Germany in his youth, looking for adventure, “working here and there” at his trade in smash repairs.

“But (taking photos) was always a hobby, and slowly I got into it,” Boessem said.

Ask him how long he’s owned his camera store for, and he says “not very long ... only 40 years”.

People wanting copies of his pictures can call him on 8952 8043.

Compliments of the NT News

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The Guinness World Records weekend attracted the biggest crowd ever to attend the Loveday 4x4 Adventure Park.

Monster Trucks everywhere, world records smashed on the hour with a few more coming agonisingly close to be broken.

Without a doubt the main attraction was Andrew Nichols semi jump that landed a fraction short of the world record.

This record has never previously been attempted in Australia, so for I have included photos from a few photographers covering just about every angle.

As they say ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ so flip the pages and enjoy these spectacular images.

Riverland Challenge 2011

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otor sport is a dangerous occupation. These words are often heard during the drivers briefing at many motor sport events and unfortunately rang true at the recent Riverland Challenge.

During the Sunday two competitors came crashing to the ground after launching their Jackeroo high into the air. Both ended up OK, but fairly sore after spending the night in the Berri hospital. As a photographer on the track I remain highly impressed by the response from a number of the local emergency services.

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Andrew Nichols lands in a cloud of dust after covering 49.5 feet, just over one miserable foot short of the World Record.

Remarkably the semi was relatively undamaged, just a minor problem with the rear passenger hubs that prevented it being driven away.

Andrew couldn’t hide his relief at landing safely and immediately confirmed he would be back next year to smash the world record.

There was no one happier than his family when the dust settled. The only problem encountered during the jump was when Andrew hit his head on the steering wheel. He is still trying to figure out how this happened as he had all the required safety gear on.

See you next year mate, and bloody well done.

Congratulations to you, your family and the many generous sponsors that made this great entertainment happen.

Photos by Sue Callow

Photos by Sue Callow

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Photos by Jasmine Brown

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Photos by Jasmine Brown

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Guinness World Record Number 1

Devils Taxi owner and driver Sam Xuerb is a bundle of entertainment and extraordinary skills.

Equal top billing on the programme and straight from the Adelaide Monster Truck Show Sam grabbed every opportunity to entertain the huge crowd.

The roar of Devils Taxi reverberated throughout the park and thrilled the crowd. The looks on the kids faces was indeed something special.

Here Sam is grabbing a world record for himself with a reverse wheelie by a quad bike of 1,607 feet.

Guinness World Record Number 2

Loveday star, 14 year old Toby Whateley in the process of Guinness World Record Number 2 by riding a quad bike on two wheels over 100 metres with the most people on board.

The previous record was with six people, Toby had an amazing seven stacked on.

Proud grandfather Wayne commented it was a bit different from when he used to donkey Ray around the farm on his bicycle chasing the cows.

Toby Whateley racked up G 3 by jumping a mot

The following week Toby sm another huge crowd at

Toby is looking forward to n an amazi

Guinness World R

Guinness World Record Number torised esky 13.3 feet.

mashed that distance in front of t the Brisbane 4x4 Show.

next years show and is looking at ing 20 feet.

Record Number 3

Micheal Xuerb more than doubled the previous world record UTV jump of 47 feet by jumping a breath taking 94 feet.

Micheal is the son of Sam Xuerb and these dare devil skills certainly run in the family.

Micheal jumped three times, each time breaking the world record and landing perfectly on the down ramp.

Guinness World Record Number 4

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Photos by Jasmine Brown

Guinness World Record Number 5

Sam Xuerb powers Devils Taxi to a new wold record for a monster truck wheelie of 514 feet.

The distance could have been a lot longer but was restricted by space.

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Bigger is not always better.....

4wders love their gear, let’s face it there is always another mod (we installed a TPMS this week ), and there are plenty of suppliers out there producing some really well designed and practical equipment to help YOU to make YOUR vehicle your own.

We’ve all considered our choices in suspension and tyres very carefully; we’ve weighed up our options in UHF radios and roof racks. We’ve kicked tyres, literally in our search for the perfect size and pattern. However for many of us the composition of our Recovery Kit is sometimes one of the very last things that we do.

Many 4wders carry a snatch strap and a couple of shackles, but most of these have not really thought through what gear is needed to give you flexibility and safety in a range of recovery operations.

On January 1st, 2009, it became law that all snatch straps sold in Queensland needed to bear a label on the packaging and on the strap itself giving the purchaser and user some guidance in selecting the most appropriate strap. The label should bear words to the effect of... “The Breaking Strain of the strap should be between 2 and 3 times the GVM of the lightest vehicle in the recovery”.

Imagine you are our wheeling in your favourite Zook, when you come across some other travellers bogged in their F250.

Now, using rough figures, we have a mobile vehicle with a GVM of around 2000kg, attempting to move a vehicle with a GVM of around 4000kgs.

If we use the 2-3 times GVM standard we could see that, under different circumstances, the F250 owner would be quite justified to have a 12000 kg strap (3xGVM), while your Zook will likely have a 6000kg (3xGVM). In this scenario, if we were to use the F250’s 12000 kg strap you can see that the strap has a breaking strain of 6 x the Suzuki’s GVM... How strong do you think the chassis rails on a Zook are??

For this reason, we should use the ‘lighter’ strap, and do everything we can to reduce the load on the Zook and the Strap with the shovel. (How to perform the recovery is for another edition).

Most users should be looking for an 8000kg snatch (or Dynamic Recovery) strap Remember:Putting a trailer on your car does not make your recovery points, or chassis stronger and is not a justification for buying a ‘heavier’ strap.

The strap is the soft part in the system, and that is the part which we want as the ‘fuse’.

Buy quality straps, which have been tested to fail at their advertised MBS. Snatch straps do not last forever, they are good for between 10 and 20 stretches (depending on manufacturer).

Dave Darmody (Director) P7COMMS & P7OFFROAD Pty Ltd Phone Fax Web

1300 725 440 07 4125 4207 www.4x4training.com.au

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Advertisement

A male patient is lying in bed in the hospital, wearing an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. A young student nurse appears to give him a partial sponge bath.

“Nurse,”’ he mumbles from behind the mask, “are my testicles black?”

Embarrassed, the young nurse replies, “I don’t know, Sir. I’m only here to wash your upper body and feet.”

He struggles to ask again, “Nurse, please check for me. Are my testicles black?”

Concerned that he might elevate his blood pressure and heart rate from worrying about his testicles, she overcomes her embarrassment and pulls back the covers.

She raises his gown, holds his manhood in one hand and his testicles in the other.

She looks very closely and says, “There’s nothing wrong with them, Sir. They look fine.”

The man slowly pulls off his oxygen mask, smiles at her, and says very slowly, “Thank you very much. That was wonderful. Now listen very, very closely: Are - my - test - results - back?”

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Simpson Desert Wan

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Words and Photography by Jason King

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The Simpson Desert. Just the name of this wonderful place conjures up all sorts of feelings in different people, from fear to wonder and amazement at the natural environment. In all honesty the desert is not a place to be feared but a place to be respected and enjoyed by the well-prepared traveller. Personally this is one of my favourite 4wd destinations in Australia as the trip to and from the desert can sometimes be just as epic as the desert crossing itself.

On this trip we started in Broken Hill where we met our customers before enjoying an afternoon tour of Silverton, Mundi Mundi Lookout and the living desert sculptures at sunset before returning to our caravan park for a big BBQ and a good night’s sleep.

An early start was planned for our second day and the excitement in the group was evident as most had never done any remote area travel before and they had no idea of what was in store for them.

After breakfast we headed south on the blacktop out of Broken Hill to Yunta where we all fuelled our vehicles to the brim as this was the cheapest fuel we were going to find for a few days before leaving this sleepy little town. We then hit the dirt and the real adventure had begun.

Everyone in the group had their children with them as this tour was run during the school holidays, with the ages ranging between 5 and 11 years old. It only took a few minutes for the fun to begin when my oldest son Lachlan spotted a shingleback lizard sunbaking in the middle of the road. Lachie is a mad keen animal lover and has always been into reptiles so we stopped the car and he went out the door as quick as a flash to catch the young lizard so he could show it off to all the other kids many of whom had not been up close and personal with a wild animal (as he put it) before. After a few photos the lizard was carefully placed away from the road and the convoy continued towards Arkaroola for our second night.

The amount and variety of wildlife in the arid regions has always amazed me and on this treeless, Gibber Plain area of South Australia we were not disappointed with regular sightings of lizards, dragons, monitors, snakes, emus, kangaroos and large wedge tailed eagles. The other incredible thing about this region is the scenery and with the Flinders Ranges on our left, the Gibber Plains all around and the greenery that follows the temporary creeks and rivers, you are never far from a photo opportunity.

Our third day was a little different to usual for us as we knew that

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later on in the trip we would have a spare day to fill as Coongie Lakes had been closed for the entire travelling season. It was decided to head up the Birdsville Track as far as Cooper Creek and take a ride on the ferry and have a look at the oasis that had been created by the massive rainfall over the last two years.

On the way from Arkaroola we travelled to Copley (awesome bakery) and Leigh Creek (real coffee) before stopping in to meet my old mate Cornelius Alferink or Talc Alf as he is better known. Talc is a unique bush character who creates sculptures out of talc blocks from the nearby Mt Fitton talc

mine. He is also the local postie so if you are in the area on Mondays or Thursdays you may not get the chance to meet him but you are more than welcome to have a look around his gallery if he isn’t there. There’s an honesty box on the wall if you would like to purchase any of his creations that are marked for sale. Talc also has an interesting take on the alphabet.

You can find his gallery just out of Lyndhurst a few minute’s drive up the Strzelecki Track. We later returned to Lyndhurst to top up the tanks as it is the cheapest fuel in the area and the last place to get LPG on this trip. We then ventured up to the Aboriginal ochre pits and Farina Ruins before starting our trip up the iconic Birdsville Track.

Our group awoke on day four to a beautifully still morning without a breath of wind and an incredible outback sunrise over the Cooper Creek. As we had decided to cross the creek the previous day and camp on the northern side we knew we had to pack up quickly and get our cars to the start of the ferry line or we may be stuck waiting for some time. As luck would have it everyone around us decided to sleep in (all 3 other cars) and we were across again in no time and heading back down the Birdsville Track towards Marree. We made a quick breakfast stop on top of a large hill with a great view over Lake Harry.

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When we reached Marree the weather was starting to look a little gloomy so the decision was made to continue on up the Oodnadatta Track towards our next campsite at Coward Springs. Along the way we stopped to have a look at the artworks at Plane Henge before continuing on to the Springs.

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the magic sign changed from red to green and word spread quickly throughout the area. We all packed up as fast as we could and got out of there, only stopping briefly to take a picture of the green sign so if we got pulled over down the road at least we could prove that we had permission to be there. Between William Creek and Algebuckina Bridge the road was in a bad For those of you that have never been there before way with lots of rutts and large bog holes and by the Coward Springs is an oasis in the outback with some time we made it to Oodnadatta it did not matter what fantastic wetlands and a small plunge pool that is fed colour car you had as everything was a rich red colour by the Artesian Basin although the water this year was from the tyres to the roofs of every vehicle. a little colder than I remembered. You don’t have to be staying there to enjoy the facilities you can simply If you ever make it to the Pink Roadhouse at pay a small entry fee to visit the wetlands and pool.

Oodnadatta an Oodnaburger is an absolute must and I challenge anyone to try and eat one and stay clean After our swim it started to rain lightly and although whilst doing so. The burger must be at least 15cm high we were supposed to be staying there I decided to push and a real challenge to fit your mouth around. further up the Oodnadatta Track to William Creek because if they closed the track due to wet weather The country out here amazes me every time I visit. at least we would have had a chance to go north via We had just been stuck by rain for the past few days Coober Pedy. What we did not realise was that the and then we found out that the Oodnadatta Track rain front was coming from the northwest and the through Hamilton Station had been closed for the last area ahead of us was already drenched. By the time few days due to fires. Once again we caught a lucky the conditions deteriorated we were closer to William break as just after lunch the road was opened again.

Creek so we made the choice to keep going and it We headed off towards Mount Dare to refuel and certainly made for an interesting afternoon of slipping tried to make up time by reaching Dalhousie Springs and sliding from one side of the road to the other. I to camp for the night if time permitted. really felt sorry for the people out there that did not have mud tyres on their 4wd’s as they had absolutely We had lost a few days at William Creek and we no control of their vehicles and many were ending up had used up our spare day at Cooper Creek so we off the side of the road. headed east towards Dalhousie Springs where we set up for the night before enjoying a very relaxing swim At one point we came across an F250 towing a 24 in the warm waters of the thermal spring. The locals foot caravan and he had come over the top of one of around here are pretty friendly too as we were to find the dunes at slow speed and completely lost control out later that night. When most campers had gone to and turned the whole rig sideways across the track. bed and the campsite was relatively quiet, the adults We caught up with the same car the next day in were sitting around the fire talking about the day’s William Creek and the guy told me that it took him events when we started to notice movement around nine hours to drive the thirteen kilometres back to the the camp and the next thing we knew we had three campground. dingos rustling around the tents trying to find some left over scraps to eat! So make sure when you are out As luck would have it we managed to get the last few this way to secure all your food in good quality conrooms at the William Creek Caravan Park opposite tainers and put your scraps up high so that the dingos the pub and this is where we stayed for the next few don’t hang around a little longer than you would like days as all roads in the area were closed and everything them to. including the campground had turned to slushy mud.

The next morning we awoke to perfectly clear skies, The next few days were full of anticipation as the a cool desert morning and this amazing cloud hoverpopulation of William Creek had ballooned from two ing just above the warm waters of the thermal pool. to over a hundred people. After we had all had enough Whilst floating in the 38 degree water on tyre inner of playing cricket in the main street the next best thing tubes left by previous visitors our group decided that to do was watch the road closed sign and hope that they wanted to spend some extra time at this magical somehow it would turn to green and the road OPEN spot and enjoy some of the area’s many walks so we sign would come flashing up. Ha, like that was going stayed until after lunch before packing up and headto happen. ing into the Simpson Desert. We left Dalhousie and crossed the heavily corrugated planes and small dunes On our third day in William Creek it was like a before stopping at Purni Bore for afternoon tea and a miracle had happened. We had just checked the road walk around. The flow at Purni has now been slowed conditions at the pub and been told that we could be to a trickle but it still maintains all the vegetation stuck for a week. Nobody could get out because even and wildlife that has become accustomed to having the road to Coober Pedy was still blocked by a road a regular supply of water in this extremely harsh part train that had ignored the road closed sign and kept of the desert. driving only to lose control and concertina all three trailers together across the road. But all of a sudden as we were walking across the road to the campground

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We then continued east along the French Line and stopped at the Simpson Desert Regional Reserve sign for a quick photo before turning down the Rig Rd and past Lynnie Junction to a large swale that we have camped at before in between two large dunes. After setting up camp the whole group walked to the top of one of the dunes with cameras in hand and we felt like we were on top of the world as we watched the sunset before returning to camp to cook up a feast over the open fire.

As we sat around the campfire that night we noticed that we were again being watched from a distance but our visitors were not as brave as the dingos on the previous night and they did not enter camp until we had all gone to sleep. In fact the only way we knew we had had visitors over night was by the paw prints. My kids and I were sleeping in swags on this trip and the dingos had walked right up to our beds during the night and had sniffed around without waking any of us from our sleep.

With temperatures in the desert being reasonably cool in the early morning and then rising quickly when the sun comes up the best thing you can do is pack up early and get moving before it gets too hot.

We left our campsite behind us and headed further east before turning north onto the Erabena Track. Usually we would continue down the WAA line to the Knolls Track but with water still covering the track and the last clay pan still soaking wet we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and we should leave that area alone. Our group followed the Erabena Track back up to The French Line and onto the Approdinna Attora Knolls. These two gypsum hills in the middle of nowhere are a welcome sight when all you have seen for a couple of days is sand dune after sand dune.

After a short stop we headed back to the French Line to find a campsite for the night when bang, one of the Prado Grandes that has been travelling with us had a major suspension failure.

The owner had just had a two inch lift fitted before the trip and one of the airbag posts had snapped off its mounting on the diff and the body of the Prado had come down hard on the diff.

Luckily enough we were close to a nice clearing which became our campsite for the night as the Prado was jacked up and the rear wheels taken off to assess the damage and affect a possible repair.

Over the next few hours our Isatphone Pro Satellite Phone became our new best friend because even though we found all the broken pieces of the mount we couldn’t weld it back together as it was a plastic mount and the bottom locating pin had completely snapped off. At that stage we were advised by experts in Sydney to tether the chassis of the Prado to the diff with branches placed carefully inbetween so the car couldn’t bounce and just make a slow trip out of the desert as carefully as possible.

We were half way across the Simpson Desert and it was mid October so the prevailing winds have been blowing the sand into piles at the base of the dunes for months, the corrugations were also quite bad in the swales so the poor Prado and its owners were not having a very nice ride and we could only travel at around 10 kilometres an hour instead of the usual 25 – 30 kph an hour you can usually average across the desert.

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The following day we slowly made our way across the dry saltpans to Poeppel Corner for the obligatory photo and a run in with the biting ants before picking up time by driving the smooth edge of Lake Poeppel to the QAA line. This was a blessing for us as the Prado could easily do 60kph on the smooth dry lake.

The decision was made amongst the group that we should get as many kilometres as we could under our belt and try to reach the Eyre Creek bypass track so we could camp under the shady trees that line the banks. This was a great idea in theory but when we got there, there were so many mozzies that no one was keen to spend the night. Even though it was getting dark the decision was made to keep moving and see how far we could get. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the desert crossing for most of the drivers as none of us including me had ever tried driving through sand dunes at night. It definitely took a bit of getting used to as you can’t see all the holes, gullies and drop offs that are clearly visible throughout the day but it is a real rush to see the desert this way. In the end we had a great day and we reached the base of Big Red by about 9.00pm but nobody wanted to go to sleep because we were all pumped up from our night drive.

The following morning we all took turns conquering Big Red, including the broken Prado. It took him a few goes and a rejected offer of a tow but he finally made it to the top to claim his prize - a photo from the top and bragging rights to say that his Prado made it unassisted.

After our victorious climb we headed into Birdsville along the diversion track beside the S.A. border as the eastern side of Big Red was still a huge lake. Everyone was keen to check into the caravan park and have a shower as we had not had one since Dalhousie and with the limitless water in Birdsville a long hot shower was definitely on the to-do list.

Unfortunately we could not get any parts flown into Birdsville for more than a week so after a town tour and a Camel Pie at the famous Birdsville Bakery the decision was made to whileaway the afternoon at the Birdsville Hotel. It just happened to be Lachie’s birthday that day and so the only thing to do was head back to the hotel for a celebratory dinner followed by a night of star gazing at the observatory.

This is where the Prado finished his trip with us as he had to head to Dubbo to have the car fixed before returning to Sydney. For the rest of us the trip then continued on to Cadelga Ruins and Cordillo Downs before ending up in Innamincka.

When we got there we had all sorts of trouble finding a suitable campsite because we wanted to stay in one of the smaller riverside sites but they all had massive brown snakes throughout the campsites so we had to settle for the town common as the ladies amongst us were not too keen to cuddle up to a reptile overnight.

After a well deserved lie-in that morning our group headed out of town to check out Will’s grave from the ill-fated Burke & Will’s expedition from Victoria to the Gulf. This is a very easy walk along the Cooper Creek to the gravesite with numerous plaques and information boards along the way and it is well worth a visit. After that we headed out to Cullymurra Waterhole to have a look at all the pelicans that had made this area home after the recent rains. Finally we crossed the border into Queensland to view the Burke & Will’s Dig Tree where the party had left supplies for the two explorers before heading for home only hours before the men returned from the Gulf.

After a day of exploring we returned to our campsite to have a big cook up as our time in Innamincka had come to an end and we were heading for home the next day.

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After a great night’s sleep and a big breakfast we left Innamincka and headed for Broken Hill. We only got around fifteen kilometres out of town before one of the other cars in the convoy blew a head gasket in his Rodeo and we were forced to head back to town. Unfortunately the mechanic in Innamincka was in hospital in Adelaide at the time and so the decision was made to leave the Rodeo and it’s driver in town to await a tow truck and I took his wife and kids along with their gear to Mildura in Victoria via Broken Hill so they could fly home to get the kids back to school.

Unfortunately this tour was supposed to include a visit to Cameron Corner, Tibooburra and finish up at Whitecliffs at the Underground Motel but due to the weather conditions and breakdowns along the way we ran out of time for our participants to make it back to their home town to start work after their holidays.

The Simpson Desert is one of the great road trips in this incredible country however as I said earlier in the story that it should only be attempted by well prepared vehicles and drivers in the company of experienced 4wders who carry all the necessary recovery equipment and have the knowledge and ability to complete a crossing safely.

This article was written by Jason King who is the owner of Voyager 4x4 Adventures, a Tagalong & Passenger tour company that operates 4x4 tours to every corner of Australia. Jason has crossed the Simpson Desert eleven times over the past seven years and will cross it again at least another three times in 2012.

For more details on any of their tours please go to: www.voyager4x4adventures.com.au

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Why is Diesel so Good? la grande

Words by Andrew Leimroth

The diesel market is growing worldwide at an amazing rate. At least so it would appear to counties dominated by gasoline cars. Diesel has always had a strong following in Europe but increasingly the United States and other countries including Australia are becoming more convinced of the benefits of the diesel engine right down to even small cars. Just look at the endless stream of caravans and motor homes we so often see on our roads nowadays.

Simply put, there are a number of reasons why diesel is so good. Out of all the forms of propulsion on offer, the diesel engine is arguably the most effective in all areas.

Diesels achieve their high performance and excellent fuel economy by compressing air to high pressures then injecting a small amount of fuel into the highly compressed and very hot air.

Besides their fuel economy advantage they emit really low concentrations of unburned hydro carbon and have low carbon monoxide emissions. The reason for these extremely low hydro carbon and carbon monoxide emissions is that diesels operate generally in a state of lean and clean fuel/air mixture. In diesel engines both hydro carbon and CO emissions are a small fraction of their gasoline counterparts. If a Diesel is running out of tune it will tell you by emitting black smoke, a sign for the owner to take action, whereas a gasoline engine running out of tune will generally continue to run unnoticed by the owner while pumping out all sorts of toxic emissions.

Because diesels produce more torque and power at lower engine speeds than gasoline engines, friction losses are reduced which adds to their service life.

Unlike Gasoline, Diesel fuel is not volatile and is therefore safer to handle, for example in spills relating to road accidents.

The compression ratio (the pressure to which the air is compressed during the compression stroke) in diesel engines is approximately twice as high as in petrol engines so the expansion ratio during which energy is released is also greater in diesel engines than petrol engines.

Diesel engines are known for their long useful life which may be up to 3 or 4 times that of petrol engines. In trucking and other heavy duty applications it is not unusual to have diesel engines last close to 2 million kilometres. This durability is of great benefit to the trucking industry and indeed anyone who tows or carries large weights. Drivers of diesel engines have realised the reliability of their vehicles despite the demanding applications and tough environments in which they work.

To summarise, the advantages of the diesel engine are as follows: fuel economy, durability, high torque for towing, low emissions and reliability.

Safe Driving, Andrew Leimroth

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Outback Farm Stay - 4WD Tag Along Tours – Caravan Park

www.eldeestation.com

2011 Bronze Award Winners for Hosted Accommodation NSW Tourism Awards 2011 Winners for Hosted Accommodation Inland Tourism Awards 2010 Finalist for Hosted Accommodation Inland NSW Tourism Awards 2010 Winner for Station Stays Broken Hill Tourism Awards 2007 Finalist for Hosted Accommodation Inland NSW Tourism Awards 2005 Winner of Hosted Accommodation Inland NSW Tourism Awards Eldee Station is the quintessential outback experience and is the perfect place to immerse yourself in the wide open spaces and where your whole family can enjoy the freedom of being outdoors.

We offer a great family atmosphere where everyone can relax, rest and revive. You will really feel like you have had a holiday. You can choose to participate in the activities that are offered while you stay with us or you can withdraw the comfort of your room furnished with all of the modern conveniences you would expect of a city motel.

Naomi Schmidt Eldee Station 2886 Wilangee Road SILVERTON NSW 2880 Ph 0880912578

Two years ago now, I came up with a ridiculous concept.

Take a powered paraglider and set a Guinness World Record for flying it further than anyone else!

For a rally driver from Canada it may seem a little extreme but we had a good cause.

Flight 4 Life

Words and Photographs by Mark Jennings-Bates www.theFlight4Life.com

The

objective was to generate publicity through a major adventure that we could leverage into donations over time to a couple of charities. The venue would be Africa. I would start in Cape Town fly up the eastern coast, divert around Somalia, cross the gulf and get some security advice on flying through Yemen and then south through India to Sri Lanka.

I spoke to a flying partner, Glenn Derouin, who I used to fly with many years ago and he agreed straight away, but not in Africa. He was not too fond of being used as target practice and the thought of crossing so many borders with all our equipment was terrifying!

So in January of this year we landed in Australia. A friendly nation that had no borders and spoke English.

Bliss. And it is hot here too, a far cry from Canada at this time of year.

The objective was to start flying in Townsville, Queensland and then fly south to Port Augusta and across the Nullarbor to Perth. At that point, we will have flown enough kilometres (over 9000km) to claim a new world record.

As is typical with this type of expedition and in this economy, securing sponsors was not easy and so we were very fortunate to get support from Parajet a UK paramotor manufacturer and Dudek a polish paraglider manufacturer. That would at least ease the burden although my wife and I have had to write the tab for the rest which with this type of trip is a significant amount of money.

The reason we decided to underwrite the balance of the costs is because we believe so much in the plan and it is proven to be working. Three years ago we founded a charity called Rally4Life (www.rally4life. org). It’s aim is to help reduce global poverty with the provision of safe water, sanitation, food, shelter and education to children and families around the world. In a nutshell, anything that can help a poor community. We know from experience that on a community level it only takes $20 to give a child water for life. Currently a child under 5 dies every 20 seconds because of unsafe water. . The benefit of giving a community safe water is radical, everything from stronger social and health care systems to the development of a free enterprise economy.

The challenge we have always encountered is that if you explain to the media about a poverty challenge in any country it is often ignored, it is no longer newsworthy. So we took the opportunity to change our lives and engage in a lifestyle that would offer some entertainment to the media and fans by offering a glimpse into an adventure athletes life that could also juxtapose the challenges I face training for different adventures compared to the challenges faced by a family in a developing country. So far the media has

picked up on the project and reported both sides of the story. As a result we are in the throws of working with a TV production company in the UK to tell the story in a more traditional medium.

So here we are in sunny Australia. We spent hours pouring over years of data to ascertain that a start in Townsville would be very advantageous since in the summer and autumn, prevailing winds are north to south about 400km inland from the east coast.

Prevailing winds in the south are easterly, blowing us across the Nullarbor and rainfall historically was quite low that far inland.

At the time of reviewing the charts, Queensland was underwater (about twelve months ago) and I remember commenting to Glenn that with it being a one in one hundred year event, it could not possibly happen two years in a row.

Seemed like we could make it ok and we had a reserve petrol tank of 40 litres What I didn’t enquire about was pricing. What was around 60 cents per litre in Brisbane quickly turned in to $1.60 up north and started to throw the budget way off.

The curious thing was that petrol and diesel remained the same price as Brisbane. As we have driven around I should say that not only does the price of LPG fluctuate radically, but where it is supposed to be available, it often is not. Very likely 30% of the pumps we have stopped at have not been working which makes a difference to what route we can take as we plan the flightpath each day.

The final preparations were complete in Townsville and we head west to Cloncurry on February 8th giving ourselves approximately 2 months to complete the 9000 kilometres required for a new world record.

Preparations included testing the live internet tracking, Sat phone, emergency communications procedures, setting up the paramotors, pilot EPIRB units. Then, of course meal and route planning.

Leg 1, went quite smoothly. The winds were cross to our route but not head wind which was good. However, we were concerned that they were blowing from the south. This meant that route planning was going to be an issue since we had to fly south. There was no option to fly north in to Queensland further or west to Uluru because the weather was too severe or the roads were not paved.

The team assembled in Worongary, Queensland and swiftly purchased a high quality 4x4. A 1990 GQ Nissan Patrol. The only upgrades it had was an LPG conversion! Thank goodness. $3,000 well spent and hopefully it would survive the rigours of a drive across Oz. We were talking to vehicle sponsors who all gave a negative response to us with only two weeks to go and hence the low cost vehicle. We did not expect to do any offroad driving unless one of the pilots landed in the bush and then we needed to be prepared to change gears and go searching through rough terrain.

A camper of similar vintage was acquired, a Chesney Kampa Mk4. Then we cleared our goods from customs and head north to Townsville.

It was naturally easy driving although we had a full load and noticed that the price of LPG got higher and higher the further north we went. I did quite a bit of research before buying an LPG vehicle and looked at availability.

For me personally however, after two years of planning and a large expense, the Guinness World Record attempt was over. On one launch, about 800km into the trip, I sat in the harness a little too early, forcing the motor back to the ground resulting in a prop strike that destroyed my carbon fibre prop. We had no spares and another 8,000kms to go. In discussions with the manufacturer we were advised it would take a few weeks to get one. Thankfully a local distributor in Queensland indicated he had one and could send it to Cloncurry.

The team agreed to press on and then when the prop arrived, I would back track and add the miles into my flight log so that we could continue together.

The parcel arrived at the campground in Cloncurry and sadly the prop was incorrect. Now we were really stuck. I could not force the team to wait two weeks for a new prop and so I made the decision to press on with one pilot, Glenn and I would drop back into a support roll. It probably was the toughest decision I have ever had to make, but in the circumstances it was the only right decision.

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la grande OOM101

After a couple of days rest, we turned south for Charleville along the Matilda highway and passed through some wonderful small communities. The flying for this leg was slow. The wind was constantly in our face giving Glenn a very challenging time. To make matters worse, we heard that Charleville was underwater. We had in fact been told by everyone that we would not be able to get to Cloncurry because of floods and now we were being told we could never get to Charleville because of high water. Well, we ended up feeling like Moses with the Red Sea parting in front of us! The challenge with the amount of water the countryside was seeing was the resulting mosquitos.

Reluctantly we all agreed to backtrack up to Nyngan and then head west towards Broken Hill and fly with the now prevailing winds. It would at least give us a chance to get into the Nullarbor and some predictable weather conditions!

The next leg required a turn to the east and a run into Roma where we hoped to do some repairs and maintenance. It was a simple run, complicated only by wind direction but looming in the backs of our minds was the threat of great rain storms.

The description of epic in the title of our project is an appropriate one. Nobody that I know of has got to the end of a world record and said “that was easy!�. There have been plenty of opportunities and good reasons to throw the towel in and fly home to our families and businesses but the thought of children dying around the world because of unsafe water is enough to make me continue... $20 saves the life of a child by providing them water for their life.

It turned out that we weren’t wrong in our assumption. On the next leg, from Moyie Junction to Cunnamulla the weather plagues us with wet, wrong wind directions and multi day delays because of storms.

We finally arrived in Cunnamulla and instantly took note of the rain across the roads and many roads off to the east closed. The run to Bourke which everybody told us would not be possible, went smoothly from a driving point of view but we were still fighting southerly winds which made the progress painfully slow.

In Bourke we spoke to locals who said that any day the rainfall from where we had just come would arrive in town and they would expect flooding. We quickly loaded up and made our way down through Nyngan and in to Warren where we were hit by a massive storm. It stopped us dead in our tracks with no way to proceed. At that time we decided the best thing to do was head east towards the coast, fly with the winds for a change and get some better weather.

That was around March 7th.

We moved from Warren and went to Gilgandra where we were immediately hit by a 180 degree change in wind direction all of a sudden and we were back to flying in to a headwind... what have we done to deserve this?

In Gilgandra, some serious coffee shop planning happened. We looked at weather, wind, rain and road closures and decided that NSW was not a good place to be. To complicate matters we had some urgent spares for the paramotors sent out from Europe to Wagga Wagga which that day had just been declared a disaster zone.

The first days run was amazing, then guess what? The wind changed direction and started to blow in our faces!

To make matters worse, the Paramotors were needing maintenance and we were running out of parts and in one maintenance session we left off a ground connection and fried the wiring harness the minute we attempted to start the motor.

It is a haunting vision after you have visited places like Kenya and Guatemala that need so much help along with many other parts of the world. A vision of just on child dying because I threw the towel in early is inspiration enough to push harder.

So I am not eligible for a world record. That was a tough pill to swallow at the beginning, but it has helped me understand that this was never about that. That the world record is just sugar water on top of the cake. The important thing is to communicate that people are dying around the world at an alarming rate with challenges that are simple and inexpensive to cure. No inventions or miracle drugs needed, just a hole with a pump and some water testing.

To date, I may not have done a good enough job of communicating that, but it is a life long passion, my livelihood is now other peoples lives, a different form of currency.

You can of course donate at www.theflight4life.com For me, we are currently in Mildura getting closer to Port Augusta where some much needed parts await and a desert crossing which will be amazing. I have also started training for my next adventure, a 100km ultramarathon in Guatemala in November. For someone who does not enjoy running it is sure to be just as much of a challenge.

After that, we will be training for the Dakar Rally with Team Bowler Offroad in the UK and scheming all kinds of different activities. Hopefully one of those may be back in Australia with my wife Jackie.

See you then.

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If you see these blokes on the road make sure you say hello and throw a donation their way.

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Darren Berryman Photography I am a photographer specialising in landscape, nature and still life.

Are you a B&B, resort or winery?

My aim is to capture the essence of your business.

My photographs can be incorporated into your promotional material, used to create a gallery at your premises or delivered as a DVD set to music of your choice.

I offer prints that can be sold in various sizes and price ranges, framed and unframed, plus the DVDs which would make a great gift.

If you would be interested in viewing my work please feel free to contact me on 0435 730 999.

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