IdefixOnTour

This is a long and whining story about technology and how ignorant people relate to it.

Day 1: The watertanks are being filled and we read on the meters: 20% full. After looking under the car we did not see more than the 50 liter water we spilled during the filling of the two 60L tanks. Shit, the meters are not working properly. Oh well, we cannot fix it and it is a luxury anyway. Open issue until we are home again I guess and then we will no longer bother.

First weeks: the hairblower is not working. “It is not important, your hair dries very quickly in this weather”. Buzz, wrong answer: a hairdryer is not just drying hair, it is much more important. (Open issue for me until the rest of my life). In the first few weeks on every camping the hairdryer is tried with the adaptor plug but is is not working. At home it worked fine and it was bought specifically
for our travels.
With a lot of more stuff, we had too much, it was send by sea-mail home.
Much later: this battery charger is not working anymore. “Try it with turning the adaptor plug to Australian instead of German outlets”.
Huh?
It is nice to know a good hairdryer is waiting at home.

In the same box we returned our original number plates. To put the different-sized copies on properly, Hoesche drilled some holes and gave me nuts and bolts with me. It took only one hour to undo the plates on the back. The frame broke but did not look good anyway. Undoing the front plates was a piece of cake - 5 minutes. Half an hour later:” this is not going to work, you know what, we will just put the plate with cablebinders on the grille”. If the police asks about the poor visibility because the bullbar is blocking the view and sees the cablebinders, we will just say that it is the Swiss perfection they are looking at.
The plates must be protected at all times!

Can you charge the laptop for me, I want to download our photos. Uh, the electrical outlet we have made especially for this is not powerful enough, you have to wait until we are at a camping with poweroutlets again.

The charger of our electrical toothbrush is not working. Next evening: it is working, you see. The morning after: oh, it did not. Several tries later we threw it away and bought two new brushes with charger. European brushes cannot be charged on an Australian charger (Braun!). Actually, we found the latter out the evening that we bought the first brush for 50 dollars, the next day the second one in the opposite shop only costed 30 dollars. We’re also good buyers eh?

In Coral Bay it was decided after five days deliberations that the new greasegun would be tested. We properly documented Hoesches test-run and within an hour all 12 points under the car (try crawling under a truck when it is 30 degrees and the snorkels, coral and beautiful fishes are waiting. All 12? No two of the bastards have hidden themselves. No worries, 6 were very near to where the two should be so that is good enough isn’t it? (Open issue until now after one more greasetrip and many, many more views under the car). The prescribed physical inspection was done as well: all nuts and bolts look allright, no parts have dropped off, as far as I can tell, which still isn’t much by the way. The only thing: the right side of the front axle looks wet, check, yeah with oil. The left side is dry.
Okay, it does not look like it should but what the heck, it is only the brake, I think. Open issue until today. Still wet on one side and dry on the other. Servive is planned in Alice or Darwin and there we will address the issue (if we ever get out of the Kimberley, that is).
Hey, where does this screw come from? Later that evening the appropiate hole is found in the dashboard. Three days later: Another screw is found and some twenty (!) are found loose in the cabin only. I am still checking the rest of the 10000 screws and nuts and bolts which are on the car. Some are lost forever I discovered.

A few missing bolts could be replaced after I hit a major pothole on the road to Cape Leveque. As the space between the wheel and the mudcover is not very much we had to have the damage repaired at a workshop in Broome. They supplied us with some other missing bolts as well. At 1.50 each, mind you.
Although you should not hit potholes too hard we think this is a construction fault from Bremach. Our mudcover is at least 10 centimeters lower than that of Dirk’s Bremach )and the Toyotas, Nissans and Mitsis that we see offroad. Some of the many admirers of our car stated that unsollicited as well.
One screw is rolling over our heads on the cabin every day since that hit.
Nothing fell off until now so we leave that on the open issue list too.

In between we noticed in Chicester-Millstream NP that our warning light for the radiator started to blink. Stopped, topped up the cooling fluid a bit, drove on stopped, drove on, stopped. Now the light is burning all the time! Yes, but the temperature gauge is ok. The motor is not overheated. After another panic attack and the advice of some prison wardens we decided to ignore the light and drive on the meter reading only. Several attempts were made but the fault is not found. Open issue until we have a service done to the car. But it was a bloody omen!

After Broome we bypassed Derby and went via Fitzroy Crossing on the Gibb River Road. We have been told afterwards by Derbians (?) that that is the cause of our problems. On Charnley River Station we arrived early in the afternoon and decided to have a look at one of their sights.
Donkey’s Hole is only 8 kilometer away from the Station and campground so we decided to have a look. What a place to bushcamp would it be.
A nice pond with waterlillies at the bottom of some cascading waterfalls. Lots and lots of birds and cangeroes. Already on the first kilometer to the Hole we saw various wallabys and cangeroes. Also on that kilometer was a small creek crossing. Looks like it has only 30 centimeters of water in it. Ooops, and a much deeper hole. So on the way back we were warned. We stopped, looked for the best way to go and
gently moved forward in first gear, low range. Yes, the hole is still there but last time we did not hear that tearing sound, did we. We quickly drove back to report us back at the station and parked at our spot. There I could see the last drops of our coolant fluid drop on the ground.
After opening the bonnet we could see a ring of torn metal in our radiator, a broken and partly ripped cal (keeps the air to the radiator) and a fan without any blades left. How could this happen, no way was the water deep enough. Quick check, the bumper is still dry, only the bottom side of the wheels are wet.

Yes, we are in deep shit. Some of our supplies were running out, we could not charge our batteries, did not have enough cash to stay for another two to three weeks replaement parts would need to get there. Peter, the station owner offered to drive our car back to Broome on the back of his truck the next day. Great, we are rescued as the place that fixed our mudcover is actually a radiator specialist. Next day the truck did not leave because rain would come according to the forecast . Rain did come and it poured a day and a night. Roads closed until they are dry again.
Peters trip to Broome was postponed indefinately as he had other things to do on his stations. He did make a couple of phonecalls and found a person in Derby who would come and get us on his tow truck. First the roads had to dry again. Surviving on a generator we could use until the unleaded fuel ran out, the use of solar power from other campers we managed to save the meagre contents of our fridge until the tow truck arrived after six nights. Derby is 40 kilometers on the station and 260 kilometers on the Gibb away. Broome is another 200 kilometers. Through the helpline of our insurance company we found a person in Broome who was willing to get us for AUD 5.500! No thanks, we take the now cheap guy from Derby for less than a third of that price. We are talking towing only, not repairing.

Jeff turned out to be quite a character and very pleasant person to be with. After checking whether we could empty our water tanks, no: the valve is broken and stuck, we can only pump it out in liter portions using our tap in the car. The 300 km to Derby were done in about 6 hours as the road was still bad from the rain.
First stop was Imintji where I could buy some cigarettes after gone cold turkey for 24 hours, after the last breakfast of pumpernickel with jam the steak pie tasted delicious as well. A few more stops were made on the way back and the first two beer were drunk. Jeff seems to live on beer and cigarettes
only. He offered us to stay in his ‘garden’ for the night. In the midst of his wreckyard he had a house with some palms and grass surrounding it. On the one side palm trees and on the other rows of car-wrecks was our campground for 4 nights. Although no worries in Australia is often said things move so slow that not worrying is very difficult. Jeff called the Iveco dealer in Perth about a new fan and radiator. The Iveco partnumbers I gave him were apparently not a lot of help as they could only identify after two days! the fan. This was in stock in Perth and could be flown out in 24 hours.
The probably right radiator had to come from Melbourne and would need a few days more. We could use one of Jeff’s cars to drive around town and do some shopping and other stuff. The evenings usually started at about three in the afternoon when Braddo, Blue or Barney would come for a beer. A beer is not the right expression, cases of 36 cans of XXXXGold were disappearing fast. New supply came from customers paying this way for some part taken of a wreck or some other service.
Many true lies were told and we had a great time with these guys. Their Derbian/Kimberley hospitality has been one of the highlights of our  trip thusfar. On the third day we finally started doing something. The fan was ordered from Perth and we decided not to let the allegedly correct radiator come
from Melbourne but patch up the damaged one. Jeff was convinced that if we stopped the leaks we could drive to Darwin and let an Iveco dealer take care of the ordering at his risk than ours. On the day our fan was supposed to arrive (Friday the 13th) Jeff and I worked on and off for 9 hours fixing and testing the radiator. Tools we used were you-knead-it and another steel putty, seal-it, two pairs of very old pliers, a broken nailcutter, kitchen scissors and about twenty cans of beer. In between Jeff was forced to eat one sandwich of us. More people were coming, drinking and going and witnessed our ‘professional’ leak testing. In the mean time to Jeff’s displeasure his wife arrived back from a holiday rather than our fan.
Next morning we decided to build the fixed radiator in the car again to have it tested under working conditions. The fan would not come on Saturday as the expedition companies were closed. We actually drove ,in vain, around town to find the van which usually does the deliveries.

Saturday morning a few minor leaks were repaired and nothing would be done anymore until the fan would arrive, cross our fingers, on Monday. At any rate, the horse races which are held twice a year in Derby were on in the afternoon and some pre-drinking was required. We decided to move to the caravan park to have a hot (bliss) shower again. Just before we would leave Jeff got a call that the fan arrived in town and we quickly went to pick it up.
At the races all people from town showed up in their best dress and exqusite hats. Jeff even put in his false teeth and looked dandy. After the two-up spectacle
we left and returned on Sunday morning to Jeff’s place to build in the Fan. Jeff was gone but Barney came looking for his shoes, hat, hous-keys
and mobile phone. Someone (he did not know who) brought him home after the races where Barney had to sleep in his shed by lack of house-keys.
To sober up some beer was drunk and together with the returned Jeff we took out the radiator again and build in the fan.
A fifty kilometer test-drive showed no more leaks and finally made us mobile again. The 1700 kilometers to Darwin would not be a problem anymore according to
the experts, we could even see the sights on the way, no worries!

When I tried to take out the radiator the first time I happened to undo the wrong hose and we had to top-up the gas in the airco. This could not be done on Monday so on Tuesday we finally left.
Back on the Gibb we saw a road-train coming towards us with the driver waving like a maniac. Ah, good old Barney, returning from his run to the mines
with his delivery of food and other supplies. With big smiles, a cool cabin and a confident feeling about the car we went to March Glen bushcamp to
to have that wonmderful feeling of freedom again. The next day we visited more gorges and decided not to go to the Mitchell Falls to make
up some of the time we lost. At Russ Creek we bushcamped again and had a great evening under the stars by the fire.

Next morning: shall we stay for another night? Uh, well, I don’t know, the auxiliary bateries are very low, we must drive a bit to fill them. The time we have been
standing still in Derby must have drained the batteries completely and it might take some time to recover, or are they damaged? After a few hundred kilometers
we arrived at Hidden Valley campsite in Kununurra. Batteries were hooked up on the power and recharged. The next day we bought a voltage meter I could work with.
Before we went on our trip I looked at these but decided that these meters with dials and symbols that I did not understand anyway, would be
a waste of money. The new voltage meter was just right. It can only read whether a car battery is bad, fair or good. Other than putting minus on minus and positive on positive
nothing had to be done. Yes, all our batteries are good,let’s get going again. Two nights in the bush at Keep River NP and then on to Bungle Bungles. After that
we will take the Tanami Track to Alice Springs were a new Radiator flown in from Europe will be waiting for us (for less than half the Melbourne price). Yes, I can build it in myself now. I have
seen it done a couple of times now.
We decided to camp at a roadside camping before driving the 2 hours on the 60 kilometer entrance road to the Bungle Bungles. Quickly we collected some wood
to have a nice fire for the chilly evening. Table, chairs set-up and then: hey, have a look, the fridge is not charging! Oh no! Yes, it stopped and the auxiliary batteries are flat again.
Okay we will quickly drive to Halls Creek and use power on the Caravan Park and then decide what to do. We arrived at dusk in Halls Creek and got more depressed.
Also the Caravan Park is a pretty awful place. We have to get out of here as quick as possible again.
The split relay charging our batteries must have burned out when we took the earth cable away from the radiator and had the motor running for a test.
New plan: we can live two nights after a full charge out in the bush. We go to the Bungle Bungles and spend two nights there, return to Halls Creek, recharge and
drive the 1000 kilometers across the Tanami Desert in two nights. In Alice we can then sort out our radator and battery problem, we might even give Idefix a full service.
Great, we are happy again. The drive in the Bungle Bungles was indeed on an abysmal road. Many, many creek crossings, horrible corrugations and in between potoles and rocks in and on the road. About two thirds of the way our EDC warning light went on. Stop, check the code. Yes, soething is wrong with the brakes
or with the fuel pump. But what, and what to do? After 15 minutes hectic communication between two complete ignorant people we decided to head on. Ah, warning light is off again, must have been
the heat. No, there it is again. I have the feeling the motor sounds different after that last creek. No, it must be our imagination, we are driving on edge. The thought of having to be towed from the bush again is put very, very far away.
Safely at the campground Erich Christ gets a call from us. Warning light is not to big of a deal. 4 fault codes are not that important and the fifth must be a confusion in the system when the brakelights have to be of or on, I will mail you a PDF to explain what to do. If the warning light is constantly on it is ok, it is only a big problem when it blinks. We slept wonderfully. Next morning: I still think the motor sounds different. The next next morning after the daily oil and watercheck: here, have a look, we have two blades missing of our new fan. Oh ferthef. Okay not to panic, we drive even more careful back to the main road and then we are on the tar road to Halls Creek again. If all goes well we go on across the Tanami as planned. Let’s first see the other sights here.

Pfff, we survived that horrible road and only have to do 100 km on tar to Halls Creek. 70 Kilometers later we pulled off the road. What are you doing?
The temperature meter is going up too quickly, look there is a new hole in the radiator. Shit is almost dark, we have to move to a flat spot where we can stay overnight.
Let’s try to fix it. Fix it, you’re mad. Let’s just try, look whether we still have enough power in the battery to use the waterpump and fill these bottles(the valve on the tanks is still an open issue). Because the radator lost half of the water it was surprisingly cool. You-knead-it kneaded and a wack is put on the leaking part. First bottle went in,
still leaking, but less. Please fill the bottle again. Fifteen minutes later we were driving again with the four eyes on the temeperature meter and none on the road. Yes, we are back on that horrible beautiful caravan park with power. As every else we quickly have some spectators admiring our car.
That thing looks great, you can get anywhere in that can’t you. Yes, we can. (Loud and silent scream!)

How is it possible that a third blade broke of the fan on a smooth tar road? It might already have been damaged. Perhaps something happened when we pulled out of the
parking and went on the road again. The motor is moving at will. Scream!!!

Next morning a helpful camper looked at our problem and did what Peter, Jeff and Barney did before, check whether the engine mounts are broken.
No, seems to be alright.

Okay, what do we do now? Well, last night after we drank the beer we bought in the Fort Knox bottle shop we were more brave. We take the Tanami and repair any new leaks if we get any. We take plenty of water with us and are not afraid to go through the desert like that.
In the morning we decided to be a bit more cautious and drive the 400 kilometers on tar bak to Kununurra. The one mechanic in Halls Creek is not in on this Friday and Australians normally
do not work on the weekend. The place where our wheels were balanced (another story) had pretty competent people I think. At any rate, the town has more possibilities, is pleasant and the caravan park is great.

Six hours of driving at 200rpm only we went straight to the workshop. Little discussion, it is not the motor but a wobbly fan. That cannot be the cause, they have designed it like that.
I would put on two electrical fans on the radiator, that will sort the problem out. Your battery problem can easily be fixed. We left and agreed that they would get to the bottom of the problem on Monday. At the Post Office we were told that our Radiator can be send from Alice (if it arrived already) through to Kununurra. The request will
take three full working days to process. Shipment will probably be Alice to Adelaide to Perth to Kununurra and probably takes about 10 days.
Well Kununurra is a nice place. We can spend here easily a couple of weeks (louder scream!). Phone call to frustrated Erich Christ: it has to be the motor that moves.

Today is Sunday, tomorrow we’ll bring Idefix to the workshop. If this story has no follow up you know where to find us: somewhere in the Kimberley, the last Frontier!