My previous experience of the border track was one very hot weekend a few years ago when Stuart took a group from Murrayville through the Big Desert Wilderness Area meeting the border track at Red Bluff camping area on our way south. This was a precursor to Stuart’s trip along the Canning Stock Route, to see how trailers would go in the sand hills of the Canning.

So when Martin suggested earlier this year to run a trip in the same area I was one of the first to put my hand up. Time for departure came around quickly and I met Lee on Cross Road and Peter at Crafers on the Friday morning setting off for Pinnaroo. Then we made the obligatory stop for the essential cup of coffee at Murray Bridge, at Jen and my favourite coffee shop by the fire station, then we proceeded to Pinnaroo for lunch at the bakery. After our tummy stop we filled up with fuel, met Martin and headed for our overnight camp and meeting spot, Pine Hut Soak.

As we were setting up Gary and his two grandsons arrived followed shortly by Greg and Leonie and just before tea Dean. The sky was overcast so we all made our meals except Gary, the boys and Dean headed into Pinnaroo for a counter tea. By the time they returned it was well and truly raining and also the camp ground had filled to overflowing. We were lucky to be the first to arrive claiming the best camping areas. The rain sent us all scurrying for our beds and I was glad I had a tent along with Greg, Leonie and Martin. All the others slipped into their swags and Lee had his specially rigged off the ground attached to his stretcher. It rained most of the night and those who had slept in their swags arose from many different places, certainly not their swags. Lee gingerly appeared from his car as his swag had proven not to be water proof along with many of the others.

After breakfast we headed off to the Border Track, through Scorpion Springs. Believing if we turned south down the track we would be at Red Bluff by around lunch time, so we headed north into Victoria’s Big Desert Wilderness Area retracing many of the steps Stuart had taken on that earlier trip. We headed east across the fire track and had morning tea at the Red Gums camp ground.

At this stage Peter noticed he was using an extraordinary large amount of fuel for the trip and after investigation found that one of the fuel lines to his new after market TJM main fuel tank was leaking. Doing some quick repairs and extolling the virtues of TJM, Peter was ready to continue the journey.

On the previous trip there was one sand hill that had beaten all but a few so this challenge was conquered after a number of failed attempts. Dean and Gary showed us how it should be done easily conquering it in one go, but the others did not give up until we were all at the top. We then wound our way to Cactus Bore for lunch where Peter made extensive repairs to the hose into his main fuel tank, all the time, continuing to extol the virtues of TJM and their workmanship. He successfully completed the task under the watchful eye of Dean and much verbal assistance from the others in the group.

Just when we had finished lunch a couple came the other way, one a Prado towing a Kimberly Camper. They were doing the exact same thing as we had done on the previous trip, checking out the worthiness of the trailer for undertaking the Caning Stock Route. They were heading down the Border Track and we fully expected to meet them stuck on one of the sand hills later in the day. We wished them well and headed north, then west along the fire track back into South Australia and down the Border Track. It was a good run with great sand hills to conquer along the way. Peter had successfully fixed his problem which added to a relaxing evening at Doggers Hut after the camping gear had dried out from the previous evening.

Sunday morning we headed south for Red Bluff. It was easy driving as we had earlier driven over most of the more challenging sand hills. Had the weather been warmer and the sand softer the journey would have been much more challenging. We turned east into Red Bluff and after a time realised that we had turned onto the Red Bluff track heading for the Murrayville to Nhill road, not into the Red Bluff camp ground. An about turn we retraced our steps and headed into the camp ground for morning tea. Another group of four wheel drivers had camped there the night and were heading south.

After a short stay we also moved off heading south to Keith and then our separate ways. Before exiting the park, a short way along the track we came onto the group that had been at Red Bluff, stopped for a few moments exchanging our experiences of the weekend.

They warned us about the mud further on where a vehicle had been bogged for up to a couple of hours before it was successfully retrieved and said it was best not to drive through the bog hole. It did not take long to find the mud after we left the other group and Gary was in his element, straight into the bog showing us how to tackle mud. One steep part did beat him but using all his experience, his diff locker and the long handled shovel managed to exit the ruts three quarters of the way through the bog hole. Dean promptly informed the group we had just met of our success. Others tackled the bog hole successfully as we moved on to other boggy situations further along the track It would be an excellent training ground for mud and its virtues were discussed by all in our group. A suggestion was also made that trainers showed all students how it should be tackled, not in the student’s vehicles, but in their own. . Both Gary and Dean said "Len Tonkin eat your heart out."

On reaching the Pinnaroo to Keith road we said our goodbyes to Greg and Leonie who were heading to the Grampians, pumped up our tires and headed to Keith for lunch and a quick trip to Adelaide.

As we traveled along the track many other opportunities for trips at the southern end of the park were highlighted and the trainers could help those in the club who need to qualify in mud, reach their goal at the same time.

It was a great weekend and I would like to express my thanks to Martin for his organisation of the trip and to those who ventured out on a cold wet weekend to make it truly memorable.

Ian Williams