Oonadatta Track August 2022

Monday 1st August 2022 Night at Serviceton Reservoir - $0
Theo finished night shift and came home, did some last-minute packing, showered and then we headed off on a 4-week trip in the new caravan.
Some upgrades on this new van include more roof solar panels, lithium battery and inverter, compressor fridge, instantaneous hot water system, diesel heater, air assisted roof lifter for the pop top, which works off the same system as the air bag suspension, dual axle, dust suppression system and WiTi security system.
The van was ordered in June 2021 and scheduled for completion in April 2022, but due to COVID and supply delays, we did not pick it up until 8th July 2022, the day before Theo had his gall bladder removed.
We had originally planned to take a few weeks leave in April, then postponed it till May, and finally we are on our way. As it is an off-road caravan, we want to check nothing breaks or falls apart, and dust does not get inside, so have decided to head outback South Australia to put it through its paces.
Weather depending, we are planning to make our way to the Flinders Rangers where we may camp at a farm or station stay. Could possibly even stay at Rawnsley Park where we have stayed a couple of times in the past.
Previously, we have used Wikicamps or Camps Australia to locate campsites, but this time we also have access to several other free or low-cost camping apps on our phone or iPad such as Hipcamps or Aircamps.
We would like to spend some time exploring the Flinders Rangers area, before heading north to Maree, and then onto the Oodnadatta Track which is on the western side of Lake Eyre, and then possibly as far north as Dalhousie Springs. If the weather turns wet, we may have to rethink travelling on the unsealed roads and have Plan B.
We left home about 9.30am, driving up the Western Highway, with Theo at the wheel, and after getting on to the open road, I was going to take over so he could have a sleep. Theo kept driving and said he was okay, which worried me as by the time we found the location where we were going to camp for the night, he had been awake for 26 hours. And that is not okay. I kept asking him how he was going and we had a couple of stops for fuel etc where he said he felt refreshed.
We were a bit worried about the weights of the caravan and car, as there had been a lot in the media recently about overweight caravans. Theo took the caravan to work on the Saturday night before we left on our trip, and had loaded up the car with most of the things that we take. The car weight was 2820 allowing approx. 250 for ball weight and 80kgs for me and drinks etc, which brought us right on the limit of 3200 for the car. Because the van was lighter than the maximum weight, that made us legal (or a tad above). We pulled into the weighbridge at Gordon on the Western Highway and our total weight was 6080, which put us 80 kgs over so Theo kindly suggested he would pick me up on the way back!

Before leaving home, I had anticipated we would have our first night at Serviceton Reservoir, and the reviews on Wikicamps were all great with nice pictures. But. We were not aware that there had been heavy rains prior to us arriving.
We drove into the site and Theo decided to drive around the other side of the reservoir. We drove through mud, with wheel ruts and water on the ground. It will be fine he said. We will just go right around the other side and have a nice peaceful quiet night. Anything but.
Started to drive onto grass next to a tree, and realized that we would not fit under the tree, so started to reverse, and that is when mud turned to shit. The max tracks were unwrapped (had been on a couple of trips before, but never used), the winch came out, then an extension strap, then the tree protector, grass was put under the wheels, but they kept on spinning and we were not gaining any traction. Theo still had the idea that when he got free of the bog, we were going around the other side of the dam.
During this time, a caravan arrived and although they were on the other side of the water, I could see that they were watching us. Next thing the man, who we now know as Damian from Queensland, unhitched his Land Cruiser and came around to see if we needed help. What a lovely man. We discussed a plan of action, which involved getting out the chainsaw and cutting off an overhanging branch, so we could do a u-turn around the tree and drive onto more solid, grassy ground. Pity no one was around to take a photo of Damian and myself hanging onto the branch when Theo cut it off. Damian did us a favour, not because he physically did a lot, but because he was willing to help, and he also gave advice that the other side of the dam could possibly be more slippery and was on an angle which could mean that the van could possibly slip close to the water. Thank you, Damian.
The whole process took about an hour but seemed more like 2 hours. The wind was blowing sideways and it rained and was very cold. Once we got onto the grass, we had more traction and Theo headed off a great speed, leaving me to walk back to the van. Getting set up then took nearly as long as getting out of the bog, because clay/mud that stuck to everything had to be scraped off.
We finally made it inside and put the heater on, dinner was pre-cooked and just needed warming up, like us, then a shower and bed. I had a restless night, always do in a new van, it was cold so ended up leaving the heater on all night on low. (We checked it the next day when we fuelled-up the car, and we had used about a litre or $2 worth of diesel to heat the van all night, so that was not too bad).Read more