Many years ago we had visited Australia and ever since wanted to go back for an extended time to live the adventure of the southern continent and the infamous Outback. Finally, we were able to make this dream come true: we shipped our trusted Jeep Cherokee and flew to Sydney mid-February. Our plan was to circumnavigate the continent clockwise for roughly 6 months. Thanks to our website and online boards we were warmly welcomed by four-wheelers throughout Australia who contacted us via email. The word about our expedition had spread rapidly and they were eager to meet us.
Upon our arrival in Sydney we found out that our US shipper Rinkens had issued the wrong type of carnet paperwork for the temporary vehicle import and our truck could not clear customs. After two weeks of frantic organization and investing a lot of additional time and money we eventually were reunited with our vehicle.

At least we weren't stuck in a bad place. While waiting for our rig to clear customs we explored marvelous Sydney on foot and got to know some of the neighborhoods quite well. The famous harbor area is always a beautiful sight and at night the pub options are endless. We also rented a car to drive south along the coast for a few days. Spending one night in the back of the little Corolla made us look forward to our own vehicle even more.
One evening, we were invited by the Sydney Jeep Club to participate in their monthly meeting and give a brief presentation about our adventures. Members were very interested in the built-up of our rig. In Australia vehicles generally are modified differently from the States: Jeeps are rare and Toyotas and Nissans are the common choice of truck since their aftermarket is much bigger. They are equipped for touring and camping and not so much for hard-core trails. Long-range fuel tanks to achieve at least 900 miles are a standard upgrade. In this environment, our Jeep really stuck out.

Down Under has about the size of the lower 48 but a population of a little over 20 million; in comparison, Greater Los Angeles has 14 million! Interestingly, there are more than 2 kangaroos per human here. Of the more than 600 different Aboriginal tribes less than 30 of them actually use the famous Didgeridoo - which, by the way, is actually an Irish term.

Once our Jeep was released from customs, we were eager to leave the city. Driving on the other side of the road proved less weird than anticipated. Especially in heavy traffic there's always a car to follow. We made our way through the Blue Mountains to Canberra where we met up with Mark and Grace from Canada who had been touring through Australia for 8 months by now. We had been in email contact with them for a while after meeting them through a 4WD-trip online board. After exchanging travel tips and impressions for hours, we pushed south to the coast where we enjoyed a secluded campsite on gorgeous Ninety Mile beach. Further on in Melbourne we stayed with a friend and painted the lovely city for a couple of days. We had been looking forward to a special item on our agenda: At the last SEMA show in Las Vegas, ARB had invited us to visit their headquarters in Melbourne and so we received a fascinating tour through their facility. It is impressive how much goes into developing and manufacturing vehicle parts and accessories!
On Sunday, we joined local four-wheelers at their annual Jeep Fest, a BBQ gathering for all Melbourne clubs on a local 4x4 test track. We exchanged ideas and track experiences and received many great tips about the area and the Outback. As usual, our Jeep received a lot of attention which was summarized candidly by the club secretary: "If you had charged everyone who looked at your vehicle today, you would have collected enough to pay for this entire trip!"

We bid our good-byes in Melbourne and followed the Great Ocean Road west. This is a dramatic stretch of road hugging the southern coastline with breathtaking vistas and impressive rock formations such as the Twelve Apostles. Not too far from Adelaide, we followed the recommendation from several locals and explored Little Dip Conservation Park around Robe. A scenic track winds through the sand dunes and along beaches and offers inexpensive basic camping. In places, the sand was very deep and definitely required a 4WD. Once in Adelaide we met with a few members of the Jeep Club. Glenn, the owner of the local 4x4 store/shop invited us to stay with him and kindly opened his shop for us so we could thoroughly inspect the XXXpedition vehicle to get ready for the desert trip ahead.

Fully prepared and stocked for several isolated days in the remote Outback we headed north for the Flinders Ranges. This is where we finally hooked up with a Dutch couple who had contacted us weeks earlier after spotting our truck in Sydney. We had been traveling on roughly the same route and had kept missing each other in various locations. We spent an afternoon chatting about travels; they had a lot of stories to share since they had driven half-way around the world. The Flinders are a ruggedly beautiful mountain range with many off-road tracks mostly on private land. Please look for a detailed report on this area in the next issue.

After leaving this mountainous area, we reached the true Outback and followed the infamous Oodnadatta track west through seemingly endless desert. The track used to be a real challenge with severe corrugation but has been kept in very good condition lately so we managed to drive to Coober Pedy in half the allotted time. We were glad that we arrived well-prepared, though. The dusty trail continued for miles without any facilities or water sources and traffic was scarce. On the way we stopped in William Creek for a cold drink. This pub in the middle of nowhere has its own character - over the years people have left behind many paraphernalia tacked to the walls and ceiling to mark their stay: bills in different currencies, business cards, shirts, bras, etc.
Coober Pedy is a mining town where more than half the population lives under ground to escape the insane summer heat. Locals prospect for opal very successfully and the town has become quite a tourist magnet. From here we pushed on south towards the coast; for the first part, we followed the main (paved) highway before taking a shortcut along another dirt track. We counted on Kingoonya, a little village on the way, for gas. Although we had checked in Coober Pedy to ensure the map's accuracy and were assured that the gas station was open 7 days a week ("Just knock on the door if you don't see anyone; after all, they live there!"), we only found a ghost town. Clearly, the gas station had been closed for years. This could have been a severe problem since traffic in this area was hardly existent. Luckily we carried another 15 gallons of gas in our spare cans and could continue to the next town 200 miles away. This is where a long-range fuel tank would come in handy!

After hitting the coast, we drove west through the desolate Nullarbor plains (from Latin: "No Trees") and stopped at several of the stunning lookouts over the spectacular cliffs. Once it veers inland, this drive is infamous for lulling drivers with its dull surroundings. Yet it lures a considerable number of tourists who want to drive the 90 miles of "longest straight road in Australia". As we were driving for hours through this vast plain with nothing much to see, we were looking forward to what lay ahead of us...