Colin fiddles with the gear on top of his Certified Discovery. Thanks to Hannibal, everything on our roof is secure and easy to access.

Journal by Colin McAuliffe, Photo by Neil Dana

Mmmm, hot dogs. OK, well, usually I don’t particularly look forward to hot dogs, but this day is different. We are on the road, on the Gun Barrel Highway, a barren stretch of dirt road that cuts directly through the center of Australia. Food is scarce here, and it is up to us to provide it for ourselves. This is why on this day, a Friday, we are cooking hot dogs, and since we haven’t eaten hot food in days, they are in fact very yummy.

The funny thing about these hot dogs is not what they are, or where we are, or why or how or with whom we are eating them, the funny thing about these hot dogs is the way in which we cooked them. Previously, I had thought that the method we used was reserved for red necks and wierdos, but now I see the err of my former ways. The way with which we cooked these wieners is ingenious, and I would like to send a hearty thanks to whatever redneck or weirdo thought the method up.

The method of course, is engine-manifold cooking. Simple, easy, and extremely convenient when on the road. The way one completes said task is basic. Take food, wrap aforementioned food in tin foil, place food on engine, drive for an hour or so, enjoy food. And that’s all. Now, our engines don’t actually get very hot in the area that we place the foil package, so we are relegated to the foods that will not kill you if they do not reach a certain degree of heat. Hence the weenies. However, after seeing master chefs Nick and Chanda Baggarly at work, I have decided to mimic them, and my next engine meal will be burritos, and I think they will out yum the yummiest of hot dogs.

Logbook for May 7th, Day 189
Start: Yulara, Australia
Time: 8:30 a.m.
S: 25*14.336
E: 131*03.381
Finish: Lasseter’s Cave, Australia
Time: 9:45 p.m.
S: 25* 01.163
W: 129* 23.839
Mileage: 127
Notes: We had a morning of logistical challenges as we readied team and vehicles for the long stretches of desolation we will encounter along the next leg of our journey: The Gunbarrel Highway. The “highway” is a wide, washboarded, long, straight road through central Australia, with hazards that include roaming camels, cattle, kangaroos, lizards, and road trains. The biggest hazard for us is the long stretches between petrol stations. Even with gerry cans, we don’t have the range needed to take us from one petrol station to the next. There is a problem in Australia with Aboriginal miscreants sniffing unleaded gas to get high, and the fuel has been outlawed in the Outback near the Aboriginal communities. The native Australians have problems similar to the ones we face in the U.S. with bored young people seeking escape through various drugs and vices. So, we don’t have petrol available, and we can’t get it, and we are left with AVGAS (aviation fuel containing lead) as our last resort. We’ve spoken to the Land Rover mechanics, and we should be alright. We’ll see! We left Uluru after finalizing preps for transiting the Gunbarrel, and we had fun bumping down the red, washboard roads after watching the sunset at Kata Tjuta (big rocks near Ayer’s Rock). The lead vehicles spotted six camels in the road on the way to Lasseter Cave in the Petermann Ranges, where we camped for the night. (N.O.)

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.