The Breakdown

280 kilometres north of Alice Springs we broke down. Unhappily the nearest mechanic was 250 kilometres further north. Worse still, we had broken down right next to a rotting kangaroo carcass and the thousand flies it was host to, found us more interesting. Even more unhappily, we were stranded for three days while our roadside recovery people refused to come and rescue us until we had paid 500 pounds of excess. We did not know this until day two. You see, we had no reception and the only way to communicate is by stopping a car and asking them to pass on a message in the next town (a good two hour drive). We had sufficient supplies for four days and plenty of kind souls stopped to ensure we were alright.

The Road Less Travelled...

We were able to identify what was to blame: massive leak of transmission fluid from the front seal of the gearbox. Impossible to fix without a spare seal and an apprenticeship in mechanics. We were able to apprehend some transmission fluid and a few cans of stop leak on the third day and we made a very sluggish track to Tennant Creek. Tennant Creek is a small town of no significance but we made friends with some very generous natives. In essence, no mechanics were prepared to do the job as a) it was a very big job and b) they wouldn’t do it for a few weeks. The prospect of spending two weeks in a town of no significance is about as appealing as having a demented and slightly rabid ferret chew on my face. So we sent the car up to Darwin via road train (lorries three to four trailers long and they literally cause the ground to tremble) and followed it on the night bus.

So this is the moon down under. Is it true that it is the other way round up there?

So we are now in Darwin and have the car booked with a mechanic on Wednesday. The whole gear box needs to come out (it is a massive beast) and it is at least an 8 hour job. Considering we have already had to have a fuel leak fixed, a new exhaust welded and there are a plethora of other mechanical woes to be addressed, we may be backing the wrong horse. But other travellers seem to have spent more than us on their chariots, so I guess we are lucky.

Auhtor's note: You may have noticed that I have a tendancy to put up photos that do not appear to have any relevance to either the paragraph bellow or the one above. Let me assure you that, you are correct, there is no relevance at all.

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