Date: December 4th 2009

 

Westprint Friday Five December 04, 2009  

Included this week are:

·         Trailers

·         Satellite Phones

 

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Friday Five are valid for seven days.

 Friday Five 04.12.09

 

1. Native Trees And Shrubs South East Australia . New Edition. A comprehensive coverage of 900 species stretching from the Flinders and Mt Lofty Ranges in South Australia, across Victoria and southern New South Wales to the NSW South Coast. It records the land and its vegetation in a scientifically accurate, but accessible, style. In a systematic sequence, every species is illustrated and accompanied by a distribution map. Descriptive information is concise, and carefully researched. There are more than 300 colour plates and over 160 black and white photographs. $44.95 plus post. Add to Cart 

2. Henty Journals.  A record of Farming, Whaling and Shipping in Portland Bay , 1834 – 1839. A 300 page, high quality hard cover book printed by Melbourne University Press. $54.95 plus post. Add to Cart

3. Red Rover. Mike Steel ferried tourists around the outback in his Red Landrovers in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1975 he took over the newly build store and re-fuelling facilities at Innamincka. One signed hardcover first edition $32.00 including post. One softcover second edition $19.00 including post.

4. Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield. Second hand, hard cover in fair condition. No dust jacket. First published in 1920, this edition published 1948. One copy only $28.00 including post.

5. Nevil Shute Bundle. Six books all hardcover, second hand in fair to good condition. One book is missing dust jacket. All others covered with acid free plastic book covering. Titles are: A Town Like Alice –dust jacket okay, On The Beach dust jacket okay, The Rainbow and the Rose dust jacket okay, Most Secret dust jacket poor, Slide Rule dust jacket good, ex-library copy, No Highway dust jacket missing.$90.00 including post. One set only.

 

Books are allocated on a first-come first serve basis. To reserve your copy of any of the following books please email info@westprint.com.au with the title you are interested in. All emails will be answered during the following week, either with details of how to pay, or a ‘sorry, the item has already sold’ email. Where possible, postage on multiple items will be recalculated to offer you the best price.  

Postage Rates. These items will usually not be found on our website. Orders will be supplied on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis. Westprint normal postage rates are now $8.50 for one book, $11.00 for two books, $13.00 for 3 or more books. Free post applies to orders of more than $150.00. Postage rates apply to Australia only. Airmail postage rates apply to overseas orders.

 

Disclaimer.

Please note that the opinions and articles included in the Friday Five are not necessarily those of the Westprint mob. Nor do we endorse any products (other than our own), or tours listed in contributed articles.  

Friday Forum

Jo’s forum comments in green.

Great Victoria Desert  

Last week we had for sale one copy of the Great Victoria Desert by Mark Shephard. We could have sold 20 copies if we had them. Sorry to everyone who missed out. I will keep looking for copies in the second-hand market and keep you posted.  

Report from our printer  

·         It has always been important to the Westprint mob to use all Australian products and to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Some of the things we have achieved in 2009 include reducing our CO2 emissions by 1486 kg, compared with CO2 emissions averaged across the printing industry. One of the main pollutants in the printing industry is the use of alcohol and other mineral solvents. Our printer Finsbury Green has been 100% alcohol free for two years and been using 99% vegetable based inks and varnishes for the past seven years. In 2005 the company became the first carbon neutral printer in Australia by planting trees on public land to offset CO2 emissions.

Trailers – again

We had a huge response to the query about trailers in National Parks and several comments are listed below. I now have a copy of the specifications from Department of Environment and Conservation, East Kimberley and am just waiting for official permission to use it in the Friday Five. Stay tuned.  

·         I can't understand why anyone would think DEH (Parks SA!); a government department would be recommending any particular brand of trailer. I am sure they don't care what anyone tows; they just don't want anyone towing them across the Simpson Desert parks for reasons well explained previously. Our group of volunteers have carted out more wrecks than you can shake a broken draw-bar at.

 Alan Hancox, President - Friends of the Simpson Desert Parks.  

·         I have heard the Kimberley Karavan is the only off-road van allowed into Bungle Bungles. Colin  

·         Re Trailers in the Bungles We have taken off road and ordinary camper trailers and our Aussieswag into the Bungle Bungles many times without any problems. Driving sensibly and engaging 4 wheel drive is all that is necessary. Wayne & Libby  

·         Yes there has been some relaxation of the regulations about what trailers/caravans can be taken into the Bungle Bungles. In addition to some Off Road Campers, from the 1st May this year, single axle genuine off road caravans were permitted into the Bungles. Two Trakmaster Sturts (13' x 6'6") made the "maiden voyage" into the Bungles without any difficulties. There were a few raised eyebrows from fellow travellers who were not aware of the change in official position. Barry  

·         Having recently returned from the Kimberley & Bungle Bungles nowhere did I see anything about any particular brand of Camper Trailer being allowed/not allowed into any particular area. In fact I would think anyone stating that would be liable for legal action by those precluded. Most camper trailers seen in WA were Pioneer as they are made there. Hardly a Kimberley seen but a few TVans. Ron  

·         We went into the above in 2006 with our Heaslip and I would have thought that all manner of types were in there, also. A VERY easy road in & out!

If a Kimberly could make it, a Heaslip will do it more easily! We recently crossed the Anne Beadell from Coober Pedy to Laverton and the Heaslip "ate it"! Our Heaslip has now crossed Australia 4 times and back - the original wheel bearings are still in and the wheel nuts cannot be tightened any further than at new. The check-up prior to the recent Anne Beadell crossing couldn't tightened the nuts on the springs much at all, indicating that only the original paint on the springs had deteriorated in its 5 years and 3 crossings up till then.

Also, have you heard of the 4WD which tipped its Heaslip onto one side at 80 Km/H, it then rolled over to the other side then onto the first side again, snapping the tow bar? When taken back to the maker's factory, the "box-shape" of the Heaslip was still geometrically "square"/in shape! That's the Heaslip! This is not hearsay and not our trailer, but I have spoken first hand to workers at both the Heaslip factory and where the 4WD was inspected following the incredible mishap. John  

·         I have seen on Kimberley Campers brochures that they are the only ones with official approval to go into some areas but I can't remember which state or territory it was. Ross  

·         We tented it when we went into the Bungles several years ago but there were several camper trailers in there.  I don’t recall there being an issue, but it’s a little time ago.  I find it difficult to believe that a government department would have enough expertise to pick which brands of camper trailer could enter the Bungles anyway – not that that would necessarily stop them. Tony  

·         We visited Purnululu a few months ago (May 09) and, after we'd left our Trakmaster 'vans behind at Warmun (Turkey Creek), were told that park policy had just been changed, but no notices were yet updated.  Van's & trailers (like ours) were then allowed into the park if

·         They were towed by 4WD vehicle    (You'd be crazy to use anything else on the corrugated, sometimes very rough track!)

·         They were single-axle trailers or vans

·         They were suitable for very rough off-road travel (That's your own judgement!)

·         You proceed directly to a campground and leave the van or trailer there till you leave the park.  No other travel with the trailer/van in the park is permitted.

I cannot see any relevant info on the Park's website, and no written info was available from the rangers at that time, so a phone call to check that the above information is current would be a good idea when planning any trip. Jim

 

Information Wanted – Frewena, Wonarah, Barry Caves  

  ·        Years ago I worked up in the Northern Territory and visited 3 sites many times, unfortunately in this era, we seem to destroy and completely remove sites from the landscape which would be an interest to others. The 3 sites that I’m interested in are the Frewena Roadhouse, the telephone repeater site at Wonarah and the Barry Caves Roadhouse. These sites are between 3Ways and the Mount Isa. If anyone has any gps locations or pictures when they were in their original state of repair I would be very interested. The Frewena site is now just a roadside stop and what’s left doesn’t really convey what was originally there. Grant  

This email was printed in the Friday Five more than 12 months ago. Ken sent through some photos of Frewena in the early 1960s he unearthed recently – but we only keep email addresses for three months. So Grant, please let me know your email address and I will forward the photos to you.  

Website wanted

·         I’ve been endeavouring to locate a website that gives the current information regarding the water level at the causeway at Innamincka.  Department of Transport just states the road condition e.g. “closed due to rain”.  Bureau of Meteorology Qld Rivers Report finishes for Cooper Creek at Nappa Merrie and SA doesn’t mention Cooper Creek . Any advice would be appreciated. Bruce

Satellite Phone Query – from last week  

·         On the subject of satellite phones and remote emergencies, a mobile phone can be used anywhere in Australia to call 000. You don't need mobile phone coverage to do this; the link is made via satellite and maintained to that number for as long as necessary. Mal  

This is different to the information we were given during Fire Brigade training. We were told something like ‘a 000 mobile phone call will access all phone towers within range, not just the tower of the network that you are connected to. This gives more coverage to the 000 caller but doesn’t work where there is no mobile coverage at all’. It is a couple of years since I did my training and things may have changed. Can anyone give us the official information on this?

·         Here is some text regarding satphones from a letter I wrote to “On the Road”. 

 “Buy a satphone and just activate it for the duration of your trip.  A mob called Satpac based in Brisbane charges by the month with an access fee of $27.50 per month (last time we did it in 2008) and you pay for calls.  We were fortunate to pick up a secondhand phone from a government department, but you’d probably pick one up on EBay for much less than the new price.  Apart from anything else, I would prefer to have a satphone so I could talk to someone in an emergency, rather than relying on an EPIRB.  We use our satphone for emergencies only, and keep a listening watch for an hour or so at drink time.”

 The full text of this letter is in the August ’09 issue of OTR. 

I would add that Satpac uses the Iridium network and we have never had any trouble making calls.  You just ring them on (07) 5519 9100 and they send you a SIM card and charge you by the month until you tell them to stop.  And, no, I’m not on commission, but I’ve always found them good to deal with! Tony 

 

Friday Funnies  

·         In disturbing medical news, a new study of 1,000 people found that obesity has gotten so bad that there actually were, upon closer scrutiny, only 600 people involved in the study.  

·         A Well-Planned Retirement from The London Times:
Outside the Bristol Zoo, in England , there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 coaches, or buses. It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars £1 (about $1.40) and coaches £5 (about $7). This parking attendant worked there solid for all of 25 years.
Then, one day, he just didn't turn up for work. "Oh well", said Bristol Zoo Management - "We'd better phone up the City Council and get them to send a new parking attendant..."
"Err ... no", said the Council, "that parking lot is your responsibility."
"Err ... no", said Bristol Zoo Management, "the attendant was employed by the City Council, wasn't he?"
"Err ... NO!" insisted the Council.
Sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain , is a bloke who had been taking the parking lot fees, estimated at £400 (about $620) per day at Bristol Zoo for the last 25 years. Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over £3.6 million ($7.6 million)!
And no one even knows his name.  

·         Doug asks, "I know you're crazy about that little daughter of yours, Bill. What are you going to do when she starts to date?"

Bill says, "I figure I'll take the first young man aside, put my arm around his shoulder, and pull him close to me so that only he can hear. Then I'll say, "Do you see that sweet, little young lady? She's my only daughter, and I love her very much. If you were thinking about touching, kissing, or being physically affectionate to her in any way, just remember...I don't mind going back to prison."  

·         Food For Thought "I think the worst time to have a heart attack is during a game of charades." 

 

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Cheers for now,

Jo

 

 

 

 

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