may the road rise up to meet you
may the wind be always at your back
may the sun shine softly upon your face.....
all the best Joe,
max, brent, theo, kev, 
That's got to be a very selfless man right there! The craziest thing is, I would do it too, if I could.
Good luck Joe! Take lots of pictures and come home safe.
Kaona
Hi all, thanks for the kind words. Am at port Agusta at the moment. Have unearthed people to leave my car and trailer with, and am prepering for the kick off on friday from here. have been camping out aclimatizing to the local [feeble] winds at the moment . This country has recieved a generouse dumping of rain that has caused a bit of constenation, there is some more expected thurs and fri [hope not too much] that would spoil the first section and cause a rethink about dirt roads.
Slipped up to WOOMERA LAST FRIDAY AND SATURDAY FOR A LOOK AROUND MY OLD HOME TOWN OF THE 50'S. INTERESTING and a visitTO lEN BEDEALLS GRAVE SITE {GOOGLE}. my real lif hero.
Do my final shop tomorrow and pack, had the stitches removed from my neck this morning. its all go.
been getting a fair amount of ukulele practice time. catch you all another day from i dont know where.
Gibba bought 15 teddy bears to give away on the trek. He writes, "The 15 teddy bears were all taken by the Georgetown local school and they were thrilled. The head mistress and staff may send photos of whatever they do with them."
Gibba has slowed down and got back in touch with the earth, even though it has been freezing, raining and no breeze.....its a great place....just love it.?
Hi, still poking along, at Birdsville at the moment, a great destination in Australia, google it, i have only been driving so far transporting to start point. Time is taken up having to wait for pay every fortnight then can fill the tanks and do another 500k dash to the next way point. That;s the way it is!....205 cents a litre, unleaded
Tripped on the main street and went down like a dunny sack of off squid , did a fair amount of damage to my right side from the head to the ankle and right hand. A local stopped and re-errected me and drove me to the medical clinic where nurse Madelain mended the ugly bits. Had been having real troubel with my lower back and thought i may never recover, but , next day tuesday i was as brite as a babbys bum and as bouncy except for the treated bits.
Last night in the caravan park, that has 30 4x4, and caravans a day entering and leaving a bloke from Alice Springs turned up, we chatted till late, and had many things in common and lots of known aquaintances. He runs a pilot service for heavy truck loads Australia wide, Talbots Pilot Services, this a.m. when he left we shook hands and he passed over $100, sponsorship he said....the world works in strange ways, but thanks.
stick with us the fun hasnt started yet in real time but the book has much already.
P.S. Saltylips, would you like to tell us the real [full] story of your Birdsville dash, i am picking up much inland rumours that need some detail............?
So have reached the next waypoint Boulia and the next sit and wait, last one to kick off at Djarrah. wind has been too much out here 15-20 kph since i arrived. Great little town of far west Queensland, very green, very flat but still stony here , river clay flats kick in north of here and that's what i came for. The country changed north of Eyre creek and it is rich cattle country when not in drought as it is a present, they havent had the monsoonal rains from the wet season. a lot of cattle are trucked here for fattening up from poorer breeding areas.
Discovered a steering fault on the L/Y which i am having fixed while here, my king pins [home made] had worn a bit egg shaped allowing some unwanted movement, so am putting in some new ones, that will fix it good, was my fault put wrong diameter bolts, had 6 should have been 8 so now will be ten and that will straighten it all up.
all over my fall and infection has been antibiotic-ed away, till next time
New friends, beef for dinner, looks like the trip is a winner!
Thanks for the update 
Wow the artwork on those sails looks awesome.
I am getting my eldest daughter to do some artwork on my mini once it gets a make-over, I struggle drawing stick figures
Good to see your 'motoring' along well Joe, love the mini banjo
waiting to hear from TP1 with something along the lines of beefing up the front end
Hi all, tec problem with axle wheel locator pin, trning into a lathe and removing such pin. Did a mod of a spacer, but alas no good stil
chewing away. I thought it would be substancial enough, but not so.
Have put LY on trailer and returned to home for workshop changes, back again next year with any luck.
got home yesterday sunday, 2 flats and a blowout comming down the Birdsville track.
as a comment i need bigger rolling diamiter wheels to allow traverse of rough grounds, need bigger supplies [food stuffs], need off sider to participate [move car etc].
When going well it was brilliant, up to 60kph with 150kg payload plus my weight 130kg in winds up tp 20kph. was able to start with all weight under own steam, plenty of sail.
Biggest winner of trip was me own weight. Started out at 139kg, weighed myself this morning on Dr scales.....123kg.
not a defeat only a set back...gibba
Good on you Gibba, great to hear you are home safe and sound, a wise move to plan a re-try with the new knowledge of needed modifications. Had to postpone my own visit to Shark Bay after only a few weeks there as I had an urgent call from a very sick wife. Ho-Hum that's how it goes at times. I did get in a gentle sail while there and then had to walk the thing back about 3 km to the car when the wind died totally. Still don't know if it will self-destruct in a decent blow. Got a good feed of Blue Manna crabs the next day so all not lost. Did you stay still long enough to devour the rest of that bbq'd beast?? Cheers...wok
Select to expand quoteledzephyrlin said..
Wow the artwork on those sails looks awesome.
I am getting my eldest daughter to do some artwork on my mini once it gets a make-over, I struggle drawing stick figures
Good to see your 'motoring' along well Joe, love the mini banjo
waiting to hear from TP1 with something along the lines of beefing up the front end
You mean something along the lines of "watch you dont steak those tyres?"
well, i'm going to stub axles with rubberised suspension and standby 16" wheels, and a braking system as next part of rebuilding,
totally heavy i know....but it will be much faster between points , so much less will have to be carried and i need a suitable person to accompany me
drive the support vehicle etc, start may1 2015 for two months camping/share costs ....apply here. so virtually turning from a camel to a slick quick dingo.
this time gonna beat the hoodoo!
And I hope you beat the HooDoo too Joe, the great outdoors will be patiently waiting for you. All the best for the coming knee job too...wok
Hi to all interested.....am redoing rear axle, should be finished next week and then some trials. making correctional engineering to existing system, am convinced it will work well, just poor procedure.
Also am developing rubber suspension in half car spare wheels, the modern just get your car home spare a bit heavy but better rolling diameter for corrugations. Will be able to interchange when needed.....all's well if one dosn't give up. Expect to go back next year or the following, that will make me 70, cause to celebrate.....
meanwhile am now instructioning in basic UKULELE at Gawler community house two days a week, recon i getting great there...wink, wink....special Hi to Wok......
Good luck to you Joe. Please bring your cart down to Kingston SE next year for a test. We'd all love to have you there! Perfect testing grounds too
HI ALL.... HAVE MY MODIFICATION TO THE REAR AXLE DONE AND SOON WILL BE ROLLING CHASSIS AGAIN, HOPEFULLY TO BE OUT
AND AROUND SOON. [stuffed that up a bit , sorry]
'Was at the kensington hotel in adelaide wednesday and met a father and daughter whom have landyachts, and seen to be
starting on the scene over here with beachballs mob they said, that was great, but better still or equally as good the daughter
[year ten] was involved at school on a project to make a UKULELE and showed me i-paddy photos of the build. heaps of
congratulations needed here, absolute best of two worlds.
Now i didn't have name recall going [age related] so if you read this
and it is you please PM me with a contact phone number......life's good ...gibba 
wippet OK got it will call you soon few days, unless you come to Old spot birthday [Nukes] tomorrow tuesday 14 ...gibba
hey joe if u r around the place on Australia day long weekend in January come down to Kingston SE we're getting together for a sailing weekend. ..
don't know where i will be Australia day weekend, but i wish to make a new very radical landyacht which i have been designing,
so my present unit with all spares etc with 7x5 hd trailer are on the market. Offers above the reserve will be negotiated.
This is not a fire sale, and the machine is not everyone's cup of tea, In these forums there is enough written for interested
people to digest. Its situated in Gawler SA tow away as is. .......seasons greetings to all....happy sailing
