I don't remember seeing wings on the Pajero's options list... The silence was deafening as the big four-wheel-drive left the road, holding an orbit a good three feet above it.
The camera floated off my co-pilot's lap, the car fridge in the rear undertook a closer inspection of the roof lining, and the over-revving engine broke through as road noise disappeared.
Then we re-acquainted ourselves with the road in an almighty cacophony as gear and car crashed noisily around. Slowly we pulled over to the side of the road to take stock. Turns out we flew close to twenty-five feet, and emerged unscathed, though the potential for carnage was huge.
Might take the next rolling crest a bit slower than the last one, eh?
ENTER AT OWN RISK
Outback horror stories litter the airwaves from time to time; stark tales of travellers stranded by mechanical failure, hundreds of kilometres from civilisation and with a water supply rapidly dwindling under the onslaught of the harsh Australian sun. Inevitably, the news story details death by dehydration as one unwary traveller strikes off on foot in search of salvation for all.
As warnings to potential adventurers go, these tales strike fear deep into the soul. Deep enough to make you question your own motives.
But how tough is the Australian Outback these days? Is it as much a test of man and machine today as it was fifty -- or even twenty -- years ago? Does anyone who journeys beyond the Black Stump really risk their life in doing so? Is an adventure into the spectacularly beautiful Australian Outback still a do or die disaster waiting to happen?
Are we the next woeful public warning in the making?
BLOODY LUXURY!
There's no denying the Aussie Outback is a challenge not to be taken lightly. The unprepared explorer is simply inviting danger on a monstrous scale. But with careful preparation and forethought, you could be touring the country in relative luxury.
The same kind of luxury that CarPoint and The Car Show enjoyed when it threw the Territory into Australia's most unforgiving territory, and brought along four rivals to keep it honest.
It's fair to say we wanted for little while Out the Back. Plenty of food -- from massive steaks to campfire marshmallows -- a rather large reserve of the wet stuff both for humans and vehicles, and an astounding array of homey comforts. Tents, swags, fridges, hampers and even a barbeque hotplate ensured we could cope with any condition.
Except rain.
WHAT WATER SHORTAGE?
It takes very little rain to turn rock-hard outback roads into tyre-sucking quagmires with less grip than a bowl of lukewarm porridge. Roads that, in the dry, would present little difficulty to a Holden Camira can thwart hard core four-wheel-drives when rain has fallen. Tootling along at highway speeds becomes a far-off dream as even the Toyota Prado struggles to maintain directional stability and four-wheel traction.
So it was with trailer-loads of trepidation that we kept a weather eye out even before we'd left the relatively safe confines of suburban Melbourne. Weather reports from Broken Hill, Tibooburra and Innamincka told of intermittent rain, daily showers and even the odd thunderstorm -- so much so that all roads beyond Tibooburra were closed to traffic when we finally made Broken Hill on day one.
A second day dedicated to filming for The Car Show gave the roads enough time to dry out and we reached Tib to the good news that all roads were open. But the bad news was that more rain was expected in the following days.
We launched into the 'real' Outback on day three, trekking through Tibooburra and hoping to make the Merty Merty campground west of Cameron Corner and just short of the Strzelecki Track by nightfall. But, like all the best-laid plans, nature had other ideas.
As our pictures show, the usually dry clay pan through which the Cameron Corner track runs was not only wet, but the water spread for hundreds of feet either side. One of our drivers took the plunge sans-shoes into the new lake, and even though the water was less than a foot deep, the surface beneath provided little grip even for walking.
And so, our camp site was chosen. Tents were set up, a camp fire built and steaks thrown onto the hotplate. Oh, and cracked the top off the odd cold one...
BOURKE STREET OUT THE BACK O' BOURKE
The next morning, in the middle of nowhere, we had a visitor. He was a sweep car for a 200-strong variety bash field that would be driving right past our campsite. His suggestion that we delay our departure for a couple of hours to let the field go through was a good one. So, with nothing for it, we enjoyed a long, slow brekkie and settled in for the show.
Once underway, we made a beeline for the Strzelecki Track and our next campsite at the Strzelecki Creek's dry riverbed 150km away. A short day's drive by normal standards, but throw in a moody Outback sky prone to scattered showers, a roller coaster ride up and down tightly packed sand dunes, and the inevitable need to stop for photography and filming, and it was near dark when we pulled wearily into camp.
This day, more than any other, highlighted the incredible diversity of the Aussie Outback, and all in just 150km. From scrub covered sand dunes to red dirt, the barren rocky plains of the desert and lush tree-filled river crossings, we saw more variety than any other day.
We also saw a smattering of wildlife, though not in the quantities we expected. A few dingoes, the odd wallaby and kangaroo, thousands of cockatoos and galahs, lizards and rabbits -- they all came out to cheer us on.
DUNE BUSTING
Half way through the day we spotted a track off to the right, heading straight up and over a 60ft-high sand dune. It was steep, with deep tyre ruts and very loosely packed. Walking up it was hard work because for every three steps up, you slid one down. A perfect visual test of these vehicles' four-wheel-drive systems.
Could any of them reach the top? How much better is Prado's 'real' four-wheel drive system than Territory's? Would Adventra's ground clearance handicap its V8 power advantage? To make it fair, all cars came off the same 20ft run-up and with two people onboard. The results were surprising.
For the record, the Toyota Prado got closer to the top than any other vehicle. With diff locks on and in low range it gained almost 50ft before bogging down, a good 10ft more than the Pajero. To be fair, Pajero's non-switchable traction control system killed the power just when you needed it most.
Holden's V8 Adventra actually got further up the dune than Toyota Kluger, and Ford's Territory performed poorest, but to be fair all three were closely packed around the 40ft mark. The Adventra's power won the day, while Territory's comparably poor acceleration hurt it even before it hit the dune.
What really surprised us was the Ford RTV ute support vehicle which, with six spare tyres, 160litres of spare fuel and three swags in the tray, out-performed all three soft-roaders. But it was the only vehicle unable to reverse down without human intervention. Put simply, it got bogged.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
A poor rendition of Willie Nelson's classic was a regular call-to-arms across our car-to-car CB radios every time we hit the road, and both cars and drivers were keen to see the end of the journey. But we had to cover 550km that day to reach our overnight stop in the opal-mining town of Andamooka, 30km outside Roxby Downs.
An hour-long diversion up the dry, rock-strewn Taylor Creek, 80km short of Lyndhurst, tested the cars' ground clearance and rock-hopping abilities. The odd, lingering mud-hole also tested the four-wheel drive systems again -- but after sliding inexorably sideways towards a large tree in the Prado, supposedly the most capable, we abandoned our intention to put every car through the mud. Lucky the tyres gripped and dragged the Prado clear with barely a metre to spare.
The Territory and Adventra both needed extra fuel from our back-up stash to cover the longest fuel-less leg on our journey -- just under 430km. So it was no surprise that we added more than $500 to the Lyndhurst petrol stations takings when we filled all seven vehicles that afternoon.
Those who tackle the Strzelecki Track will know Lyndhurst because it is where the bitumen begins again, heading south to Port Augusta. It's also the end of the Oodnadatta Track, and so we turned north, back onto the dirt, and headed for Marree. A quick stop at the Farina roadside ruins, for more filming with a dramatic Outback sunset, and it was time to pack the cameras for the day and haul ass for Andamooka, still 260km away.
Night driving is a nightmare in the Outback, especially with sub-standard headlights. Even the LandCruiser Prado's high beams were no match for the impenetrable darkness and we were forced to slow dramatically. In hindsight, we'd have been better off putting an Aussie vehicle in the lead because Australian-developed headlights are generally better than Japanese ones, but bed was the only thing on our minds.
We found the Bore Road turnoff and headed south for Roxby Downs, only to discover recent rains had left impromptu bog holes across the road, usually in dips just over blind crests. We sighted one with barely enough time to jam the brakes before ploughing headlong into the water, which splashed up mightily, totally obscuring the windscreen and obliterating any view we had of the road.
The car totally lost traction, sliding luridly front and rear as I tried to counteract. With no visual pointers to our slide, I had to feel the car's attitude and correct it, all the while trying to hit the wipers, brake the car to a stop and warn the following convoy on the CB.
The wipers swept into action, clearing the mud from the screen, but the darkness remained impenetrable and the road unseeable. It took a moment to register that the headlights had also been covered by mud and there was nothing to do but stop. Still, I had to drive far enough up the road and out of the bog that the next vehicle -- probably struggling with similar difficulties -- didn't plough into us.
Finally everything stopped moving. I got out of the car and nervously heaved a sigh of relief. We were on dry ground 60ft from the bog, at 45 degrees to the road, pointing straight into another temporary waterhole. Too much excitement for this little black duck at the end of a long day's drive and still a 100km from home.
Thankfully, the rest of the drive was boring by comparison. Apart from suicidal rabbits crossing the road metres in front of our vehicle, there was little report as the distance fell away under our tyres. We reached Andamooka and fell heavily into bed, thankful that our journey was nearly over and that no major damage had been sustained by cars or people.
We were still more than 1400km and two days away from Melbourne and the real chequered flag. But the dirt was over, civilisation had been reached and the challenge endured. Let you in on a little secret: nothing feels as good as that first shower after days in the bush. Bet the co-pilot appreciated my attention to cleanliness just as much as I did!
To read the comparison of the five cars in our outback trek: Click Here.