Any Birdsville ExplorOz members?

Submitted: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 08:26

ThreadID: 143689 Views:5058 Replies:6 FollowUps:12

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Member - John

Good morning, just wondering if there are any ExplorOz members or readers of the forum in Birdsville that I may prevail upon?
Reason, planning a Simpson crossing trip in early September, coming from Melbourne, but wish to do some touring up to Cairns, Lawn Hill etc, before the crossing. I will be using 6 plastic jerry cans on the roof rack for water during the crossing and rather than cart the empty jerry cans all around Queensland was wondering if I could store them in Birdsville prior to my Queens land touring? I already have the jerry can's, so don't really want to buy new ones in Mt Isa or some where on the way back to Birdsville. Hope the above makes sense? Thanks in advance.

John and Jan

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Reply By: Member - Jim S1 - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 09:03

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 09:03

Why don’t you do a nice big fill of fuel at a Birdsville station, and then ask them if they had a bit of space you could rent ?

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Jim

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Follow Up By: Member - John - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 09:16

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 09:16

Jim, I did think of that, but thought I would seek an ExplorOz member first, I imagine the servos may get a lot of requests for storage etc. Cheers, John

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Follow Up By: Member - McLaren3030 - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 09:36

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 09:36

Hi Guys,

FYI, to my knowledge, there are only two servos in Birdsville, the big one opposite the Caravan Park, and one near the pub. You could also enquire at the Caravan Park, as I know they store caravans for people who are making a double desert crossing.

Macca.

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Follow Up By: Member - John - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 09:53

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 09:53

Macca, I will be storing van at the park when I do the crossing, will give them a ring and check about storing jerry cans prior. Cheers. John

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Reply By: Member - Duncan2H - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 10:02

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 10:02

120L of water?

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Follow Up By: Member - John - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 10:32

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 10:32

That is the washing/ablution water, I will be carrying extra drinking water in the box bladder from supermarkets. Cheers

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Follow Up By: Member - Duncan2H - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 11:10

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 11:10

It seems like a great deal of water, I carry so much less than that on bigger trips. Maybe there's a lot of kids or something though.

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Follow Up By: Member - John - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 14:57

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 14:57

Duncan, we are spending a few days off the track during our crossing, so I think 120lt plus some drinking water is about right. Cheers.

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Reply By: ExplorOz Team - Michelle - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 17:20

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 17:20

Hi John, nice thought but Birdsville and surrounds only has a population of around 100 people and they are station workers etc. No need for them to be Members as they aren't "travellers" as such. We do have a long history with many of the Birdsville business owners and local families however as residents they don't need the services of ExplorOz to do their jobs. At one time about 12 years ago, the previous caravan park owner (Ruth) had listed on ExplorOz as a "business member" for advertising benefit but we don't offer that these days because all the ads come from Google.

I do agree with some other comments here that 120L of washing/ablution water is a lot to carry, and especially on a roofrack for a desert crossing. It is common to scrimp on water usage in remote locations to avoid the need to have an increased weight load. 10L total water usage per adult per day including drinking, cooking and washing should be the aim. That's not a lot so most people will relax the "washing" requirement to reuse as much water as possible and not fill up tubs/sinks and use wet wipes or use a wet facecloth for a quick AP&C wash of the body at morning and night. Also - most roof racks are not rated to carry above 100kg and there's centre of gravity issues to consider, as well as the increase on fuel consumption. The "problems" that can arise from overloading your vehicle with water are concerning...

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Follow Up By: Member - John - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 17:51

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 17:51

Michelle, Thanks for the reply, I thought I may as well ask the question as one never knows.

As to the amount of water carried, we are going to spend a couple days of days at Kuderee Waterhole, so all up our crossing maybe 8-9 days, about twice the length of the average crossing. 10lts per day x 2 persons x 8/9 days = 160/180lts so 120lts is a fair way under the recommended requirements, with nothing for contingencies.

We do use wet wipes etc and are fairly water use conscious. I also know about roof rack limits etc, but as a "one off" see no other option. The plan was to head off from Birdsville with two of the jerry cans inside the vehicle and as soon as practicable, transfer a full one inside, so all up 80kg on the roof rack for a limited time, which I don't see as a serious problem. The comment about 6 jerry cans on the roof rack was only while transiting, so they will be empty. Cheers.

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Follow Up By: Member - John - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 17:54

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 17:54

Michelle, just reread my original post and it does read 6 jerry can's on the roof rack for the crossing, my error.

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Reply By: Member - Wildmax - Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 22:07

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 22:07

Hope your rack and roof is rated for 120kg - that's a lot to have up on top !!

Wildmax
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Follow Up By: Member - John - Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 06:52

Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 06:52

Wildmax, only carrying 6 empty jerry cans on roof rack, when full, two will be inside vehicle, so only 80kg on roof rack and it will be removed as soon as possible.

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Follow Up By: Member - McLaren3030 - Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 09:42

Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 09:42

Hi John,

Other than the Jerry Cans of water, what else are you putting on the roof rack? Be careful with just how much weight you put up there. Have you done a Simpson Desert crossing before? Some of the bumps and holes can be pretty severe, which increases the forces applied to things like roof racks.

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Follow Up By: Member - John - Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 13:23

Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 13:23

Macca, only the jerry cans and any firewood we collect. I have done a Simpson Crossing before, but many years ago. Cheers.

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Reply By: Member - John - Sunday, May 15, 2022 at 08:13

Sunday, May 15, 2022 at 08:13

Thanks to all replies, sorted, Birdsville Caravan park can store for me.

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Reply By: Pepper - Sunday, May 15, 2022 at 09:42

Sunday, May 15, 2022 at 09:42

Many vehicles have two seperate safe load ratings for roof racks..

One for on road ,my old discovery was rated at 100kg on road ..

And off road it was rated at 30 kg.....(that included the weight of the roof rack..)

Have you checked yours..??

Lots of roof top tents part company with their vehiclesdue to bulk and weight..

Have a great trip.

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Follow Up By: Member - McLaren3030 - Monday, May 16, 2022 at 08:49

Monday, May 16, 2022 at 08:49

I often wonder about roof top tents and the load rating of the roof. If you have two adults of say 80 kgs each, that is 160 kgs without the weight of the roof rack or the roof top tent itself. Certainly the latest 300 Series Landcruiser does not have the roof load rating to support this weight.

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