We had a relaxing start to the day with our usual community breakfast. We were one of the early motorhomes to leave as we wanted to see if we could avoid the road trains that travel on the narrow road between Mount Isa and Boulia.
We had our fingers crossed that the removal of the battery would resolve the truck issues but that hope was shattered when the error appeared before the engine was started.
Nevertheless, we departed our camp site and had to stop and restart the vehicle about 5 kilometers later. A pattern was starting to appear with the problem occurring when slowing. The error appeared several kilometers later and this time, there was no power at all when we attempted to restart the engine. We were stranded in the middle of the road unable to move.
“She” ran back down the road to stop any approaching vehicles whilst he opened the bonnet and removed and reattached the battery cable. Fortunately the vehicle started and we were soon on our way. The problem reoccurred several times during the trip to Mount Isa.
We were lucky that we only saw one road train and were able to evacuate the road quickly to let it pass. We were also fortunate that the majority of the approaching traffic left the road and allowed the motorhome to stay on the black stuff.
We arrived at the caravan park just before lunch only to find that the manager was far from happy as he was not aware of the size of the arriving vehicles. We were eventually all given sites but got the impression that the park was not as friendly as we would have expected.
On the way to Mount Isa we decided that we would ring Iveco at Townsville to see if they had a local agent to look at the truck. The call was made, the answer was no. The options available were either Alice Springs (1200 kilometers way or Townsville (900 kilometers). We made a very difficult decision that we would have to leave the safari and travel to Townsville. A booking was made for Friday. We informed the safari leader of our intentions.
This decision was devastating as we had missed the camel races and we would now miss a ride in the Gulflander and the seafood joys we expected at Karumba. The opportunity to see crocs in the wild also disappeared with our decision. Nevertheless, the problem with the truck was very real and we were concerned that travelling 400 kilometers north would not be clever if the problem became worse. “He” has a date to return to work and we need to meet that schedule (bring on retirement when we can take our times if this type of situation was to reoccur).
The local press arrived at 12:30pm and took photographs of the group in our safari shirts. Several of the group were interviewed. Our story would appear in the next issues of “The North West Star”.
We took the car back into Mount Isa in the afternoon and had a look around the area and did some shopping. We also found an establishment to fix the crack in the motorhome window and a booking was made for the next afternoon. We arrived back at the caravan park just in time for happy hour.
Most of the safari members went to the local hotel for tea and we enjoyed an excellent meal before heading back to Coles to do some late shopping. After returning to the caravan park, we watched two episodes of CSI before heading to bed.
Hi, it sounds as though this is a trip to remember. I was watching the forecast and saw how wet it has been in Sydney and thought well at least you will be nice and dry and warm where you are! Thank goodness you are in a nice group as it seems to be a lonely stretch, it certainly pays to travel with others. Maybe you can do it again when you are retired. Weather has been horrible here. We are fed up with it, it is so cold. The kids are all home safe and sound, all had a great time and wonderful weather. Will keep reading your stories, take care Love Liz and Tony