Have spent the last two days prepping Henrietta for our big adventure over the Simpson desert. 

Why the washing machine desert ? – well turns out that the Simpson desert was named rather late in the history of European exploration of Australia – late as the 1920’s – and named after Mr Simpson of washing machine fame who footed the bill for an aerial survey over this area as it was being explored.

My partner in this adventure , swagman Paul Sutton , has just finished off securing his last , most important piece of kit . He has this most impressive swag , a sort of tent swag. Paul manufactured some neat hardware to secure the jerry cans to the roof rack for the extra 40 liters of fuel we estimate we will require . He is a consummate engineer held in high repute by those lucky enough to know him and Henrietta has been given a comprehensive survey by Paul to ensure she it fit for the demands ahead. We have a bunch of extra spares , a neat sarca ground anchor for winching ourselves out of the shit and some important kit that allows us to repair tyres in the outback ( a beadbreaker) 

Paul and Greg 

Greg has family connections to Paul ( Lynn’s younger brother )  . Greg trains pilots , among other things , and very kindly took Paul and me out for a great flight in and around Adelaide , Fleurieu Peninsula , Victor Harbour and the mouth of the Murray River. A spectacular flight in fine weather with some turbulence . Tight banking turns to get a close up look at some sights made for a memorable trip 😉 ( pics above of banking turn with a look at the Mouth of the Murray River.)  Our flight took all of 90 minutes so it was certainly a great treat and very generous of Greg.