This update chronicles a very different part of our trip, and its one where we are working hard to make the most of a radical change to the plans.  After our 9 days of walking in the West MacDonnells we had a couple of other places to see and we were ready to leave Alice and start the journey home.  Fate had other ideas.

From leaving Glen Helen we stopped at Gosse Bluff, an impact crater that looks like a circular mountain range rising out of the flat sand plain.  It was formed by the violent arrival of a comet 142 million years ago.  The inner core is now about 5 km in diameter, and we had a walk and a good look around the area. As I drove out, I noticed that the van had lost power and wouldn’t go over 80km/hr and struggled to go up hills – it was a strange and ominous feeling.  We called Toyota in Alice Springs who gave us a couple of things to try, but we decided to drive straight there and see if they could rectify the problem.  They suggested we bypass the additional fuel filter and that seemed to help so we decided to head out to Chambers Pillar. Stayed at Ooraminna Station and had a look around the film set for ‘The Drovers Boy’ movie (intended to  go with the song of the same name) but the movie was never made. Almost like stepping back into an old outback town.  Stopped at Ewaninga Rock Carvings to see the petroglyphs and then completed the 3 hour drive on rough roads to Chambers Pillar. This 50 meter high pillar of rock was named by the explorer Stuart in 1860. As we camped there we got to enjoy the rock changing colors at sunset and I also saw it at sunrise.  Its on the western edge of the Simpson Desert and was formed by weathering between 80 & 20 million years ago. The red top is sand coated with rust (iron oxide).  In aboriginal legends the pillar is a permanent reminder of the need to observe kinship laws.

As we left there the trouble began again with two warning lights on the dash (malfunction [engine] indicator and the slip indicator light [stability control]).  We were able to drive so we kept going, and after about 80 kms on very bad roads, we started losing power and then stopped completely about 60 kms out of Alice in a place with no phone reception and hardly any traffic.  At least people in the outback stop when you are stranded!  Some locals from Alice ended up driving me 40kms out of their way so I could get phone reception and call our NRMA Premium Roadside assistance to organize a tow truck. Three hours later it turned up, just on dusk and we were very happy to see him arrive.  We got taken to the Big 4 Caravan Park where we had a booking – they just moved us to the breakdown site.  That was on the 4th of July.

That’s how we ended up spending the next 22 days in Alice Springs living at Big 4.  Our new life was a colorful mix of all that Alice had to offer, plus more walking in the MacDonnell Ranges and lots of time on the phone and skype with friends and family in Aus and overseas; as well as almost daily visits to Toyota to check on their progress and numerous hours on the phone with two insurance companies.  We had a rental car and a nice cabin at the Big 4 CP so we weren’t really suffering.  We just didn’t know what was wrong or how long it would take to fix, so ended up extending the car and cabin, mostly two days at a time, for more times that I can remember.  Dick also continued to work on writing his app and I worked on my Babbel Spanish lessons.  Of course we visited most of the restaurants and takeaways in town; lots of lunches and dinners out.

Cultural/historical/social activities included: a Kasey Chambers concert (excellent), the recently opened Megafauna Central musuem (megafauna bones and fossils discovered in the late 1950’s at Alcoota Station), an exhibition of Beanies from the Beanie Festival, various art galleries, a tour of the Old Telegraph Station (first white settlement in Central Australia), the ‘Govies Muster’ (fundraising evening for the School of the Air), a day at the Camel Cup to watch camel races, a Ukranian Dance Performance at the Art Centre and four movies: Gauguin, Tea with the Dames, Mama Mia 2, and The Lorax Project.

Walking excursions included Trephina Gorge in the East MacDonnells, Larapinta Trail-Section 6 Ellery Creek Big Hole to the saddle return, Old Telegraph Station-Stuart & Spencer Hill walk, then later the Wiggly Gorge walk, Simpsons Gap-Cassia Hill walk, Ellery Creek Big Hole-Dolomite walk, Ochre Pits-Aranda Walk to Inarlanga Pass return.  All up another 46 kms of walking in a beautiful part of the world.

If anyone is interested, this is what we believe were the issues with the Lestervan. Good section to skip if not a mechanic or 4WD owner.

*Initially a leak in the fuel tank in Birdsville on 2nd of June, which was repaired/welded in Alice on 12 June.

*A fuel filter warning light on 16 June led to Dick changing the fuel filter in Marla. Toyota turned off the warning light on 21 June.

*Loss of power/limp mode on 2 July.  Toyota checked it and suggested we bypass the additional fuel filter, which we did.

*Engine and stability warning lights on 4 July. Called Toyota and they said drive in.  We broke down 60 kms from Alice & were towed in.

*Toyota diagnosed three leaks in the fuel tank and sent it out to be welded on 9 July.

*Repaired fuel tank installed and engine won’t start on 11 July. Toyota diagnoses injector pump issues so sends it to Adelaide to be tested.

*Test results say we had contaminated fuel and need new injector pump and new injectors on 17 July.  Need to order from Darwin.

*New injector pump etc installed on 20 July and van won’t start. Toyota need to consult with head office on Monday.

*New injector pump was faulty so another new one needs to be ordered on 23 July

*Second new injector pump installed and we get our van back on 26 July.

Conclusion: the fuel got contaminated due to leaks in the fuel tank. Toyota warranty will not cover contaminated fuel,  Ken Tame insurance will cover contaminated fuel, so our NRMA Premium Roadside Assistance and Ken Tame insurance helped big time to alleviate the financial pain of this exercise.

We learned a lot more about Alice Springs, its history and the current time.  We met interesting residents and started to get more of an insight into life in Alice, including lots of comments about the local indigenous populace which make up about 30% of the population. Had we known we had 22 days there we may have even volunteered or gotten involved in something, or left town completely. We found interesting things to do and tried to deal with the uncertainty and delays in a positive manner,  but it was a bit stressful and frustrating. Thankfully people were always nice and helpful so that makes it all easier to manage. The staff at Big 4 were particularly helpful and said we were part of the family by the time we left.  However we found that we missed being on the road and we missed being in the Lestervan.