Have been roughly sketching out the Oodnadatta Track trip that I will be undertaking with my daughter next month.
This is not set in stone. The only definite bit, the point of the trip is the bit between Marree and Marla.
It is a remarkably fickle trip. I have tried three or four times to travel the Oodnadatta Track but on each occasion it has rained a few days before and the track is closed for a week or more.
This was my last attempt about 10 years ago just before I turned back to give you some idea of the road. We actually won’t be travelling on this section.
When we started, we bought everything low amps because we thought you had to, the kettle took yonks to boil, we now use standard stuff, not overloaded a 16amp supply yet.
Just this weekend, we used the small camping toaster, the wife toasted a fruit teacake, the toaster was so small, the sliced pieces got stuck in there and refused to come out so Mrs Spitty threw it in the bin, she is not famed for patience
I carry a couple of stoves one is butane as in the video, the other petrol. Butane doesn’t work so well when it gets cold, the petrol stove works under any conditions - works on the same principle as those blowlamps every household used to have, involves pumping and the scary lighting of petrol.
My daughter uses an LPG two burner stove but she cooks better and more than me.
The Moho has two 6.5kg propane bottles which were loaded in, in Jan 2024 we haven’t emptied the first one yet, because we always hook up, there is no need to run the heating on gas because the leccy is free and, there are such a variety of electric cooking appliances now, you can roast, bake and fry just about anything on electric.
I can live off grid quite happily almost indefinitely in my camper, daughter always does but I like to stay in a caravan park occasionally if only for a decent shower. Showering on the road is a bit too frugal to do for more than a couple of days at a time for my liking.
My TV can run off the 12volts supply or mains but the microwave is mains only however i carry pots and pans that I can heat on butane or petrol but in practice I rarely cook. I tend to go to the roadhouse or local club to eat if there is one available.
My fridge is in the back of my car that runs off 12v or mains but I have found in practice that the solar on the roof can keep the aux battery charged indefinitely so I never need to run the engine. Of course if I am on the move the engine charges the battery anyway. I have a smaller fridge which I had intended to use as a freezer but other than to carry ice cream I rarely use it so it stays at home.
Originally I did try to plan a route home via Queensland but there are time constraints for my daughter (she has a job) and while it was just possible there was just too little time for rest and relaxation and too much time driving. Hence the more leisurely trip afterwards to Kangaroo Island (I think the ferry is about $220 return) followed by Mt Gambier and its sink holes.
The only fly in the ointment is the cost of fuel, diesel is about $2.50 a litre in civilisation so it will be well over $3 in remote parts, perhaps even $4. Thank you Trump!
