WEDNESDAY - from Eyre Creek to 90k West of Birdsville

The sky is clear and two ultra-lites fly West just to the South if us. The breeze is fresh and cool from the South West and we decide to give the land a little time to dry out. We open up the windows and doors and get the sense of damp out of Vicki.

Mal does some fuel calculations, we seem to have used about 26 litres per 100k on our first day. So if it does not get any worse we should rock into Mount Dare with about 10 litres in reserve - yes a bit close but we hope our fuel consumption will drop off as the track dries out and the going gets a bit easier.

We head West, the going gets rougher. There are sections where the track crosses flat areas where the plain is pock marked with miniature sinkholes about a foot to three feet across that are randomly dotted across the plain but so close together it is impossible to miss them. It is the ultimate work out for the suspension. We wade through shallow pools and each time we crest a sand dune another complex matrix of water and slippery wheel tracks confront us. This is not a case of two choices - to go forward or turn back - this is go forward but which track - because the track curves and winds it is not always easy to see if the left detour is better than the three right variations or sometimes just make like a duck and take to the water straight ahead.

We are not in a hurry and we stop and look around as we travel. We make just on 30km for the day. We go off walking for an hour or so as the sun starts to find a lower part of the sky to occupy. We walk back to the vehicle and Mal spots a part of the driver side suspension which is all shiny while the rest of the undercarriage is splattered (best case scenario) or encased (the more normal outcome).

He takes his time and looks at the surface - he does not taste it but feeling and smelling tells him this is oil - source - mmmmm driver side front shock absorber. We talk about the options - we are 90km across a 5-600km section of desert to go. The shock is not going to self heal - we decide to sleep on the matter.

We know getting our vehicle retrived from the desert costs around $6,000 - with the road so rough and no shock function the front spring could fail and then big bucks.