1500 miles through the aussie outback in 26hrs

[220]

Son arrived home for christmas just after lunch today. He is with the Army based at Townsville in North Queensland, close enough to 1500 miles from where we are in Southern New South Wales. He had a offsider that needed a lift so they drove straight through and shared the driving for the first 1300 miles.
As you can imagine a bit of wildlife on the roads of a night, dawn and dusk. His estimate was thousands of kangaroos seen dodged about 300 and hit 8. A big kangaroo can nudge 200lb and stand 7' tall or more you can imagine the damage when struck at over 60mph.
There is a reason the majority of vehicles in the Aussie outback wear what we call bull or roo bars. Sure some fit them just to make their vehicle look tough but they do exactly what they are designed for, protect the front from damage with animal strikes and prevent you being stranded.
Sons bar looks a little worse for wear but only cosmetic damage, a few creases in both front fenders where a couple struck on the corners of the bar whipped around. Needs a good wash to get rid of the blood and guts and realigning where it has moved on the mounting bolts but considering every one would have disabled a car without a bar it has done its job.

[TMB]

My younger brother lived in Australia for some years. He said those were an absolute necessity for travel outside the city.

[JEBar]

hit 8.

amazing .... we see similar bars on many vehicles in Texas .... I've hit deer twice and did considerable damage both times .... hitting 8 on one drive is almost unbelievable

[BrokenolMarine]

That's a serious bully bar. I installed one on the front of several of my trucks here.. We have taken out several large deer, and the last one Tina hit was with the Titan... It was being chased by a pack of dogs, ran out of the woods into the front quarter panel on the side of the truck... A bar wouldn't have helped. Caved in the quarter panel and ripped down the right side of the truck. Didn't miss a single body panel on that side. More than $7,000 in damage.

The deer? A big buck. He jumped up, shook his head, and took off again with the dog pack in hot pursuit. Tina was unharmed, but very angry. Truck was in the shop a month.

Glad your son made it home safely.

[PT7]

That is some wildlife story, 220. And that roo bar is an impressive piece of front-end protection.
Glad your son arrived safely home for Christmas.

PT7

[markiver54]

Not surprised. Some time back, I watched a documentary about the roo problem because of the numbers there.
They showed aerial footage from a helicopter...unbelievable!

[BigAl52]

Man Id love to make that trip. I think it would be fun and great to see. Someday maybe I can see some of the land down under and get me one of those vegamite sandwiches to. Glad your son made it home and enjoy the holidays.

[JEBar]

vegamite sandwiches

no way .... toooooo tough for me

[Mistered]

Hmm..
Kangaroo - might have to try it sometime!

330px-Smoked_kangaroo_jerky_at_a_store_in_Richfield,_Wisconsin,_United_States.jpg (59.72 KiB) Viewed 2607 times

[markiver54]

I will try almost anything, at least once.
Would be nice if it's good because there is an endless supply of it; right 220?

[Mistered]

Rumor once had it McDees burgers were made from Kangaroo before they advertised '100% Beef'

[markiver54]

Rumor once had it McDees burgers were once made from Kangaroo before they advertised '100% Beef'

I would not doubt it!!!

[220]

Certainly no shortage, estimates on numbers are anything up to 50 million although the current drought is having a effect on numbers with tens of thousands dying in the semi desert country.
I seem to average hitting one about every 12 months, daughter had a total driving time of 10 hours before she collected her first.
Im surprised the climate change advocates havent started pushing roo meat as an alternative to beef given their low methane emissions compared to cattle.

[Redthies]

Roo meat is delicious too. I’d eat it regularly if it were more common here. We do have some at our local butcher shop, but only as mince.

I tried but just can’t tell... Holden? Falcon? Just too much bar in front to tell. I’d be in a VDJ76 probably, or maybe a 70 series dual cab with a tray. Wouldn’t be nearly as fast on a long drive like that though!

[220]

Well son is currently doing this trip again, had a call from him just before dawn to say he is making good time. No roos so far but he had just hit a pig at over 70mph. As you can imagine a pig makes quite a impact, somehow blew the fuse on his driving lights and the window washer bottle is beyond repair but other than that no major damage that he can see. The quick picture I saw the splatter along the side would indicate he was doing every bit of 70mph and a wash will certainly be needed.

[220]

This is his current drive, same year model as the previous one and similar sized bar. Might not be quite as straight as it was in the picture. Personally think they still look good for what is now a 20 year old car. Have what I consider the best inline 6 ever made. 4L DOHC 24valve with variable timing around 250hp in stock NA form close to 500hp from some of the turbo versions. In NA form they are virtually indestructible plenty that have done 1 million km without being touched. Even gaining a bit of a following in the USA with modified car crowd as turboed they will make 600hp on virtually stock internals, 1000hp + with mods and still be suitable as a daily driver and well over 2000hp if really pushed.

[markiver54]

What is it? A Ridgeline?
I only ask that because of the sloping rear quarters. Heck of a roo guard!

[BrokenolMarine]

Glad the boy is okay. The pigs here get huge. We've got to break down and put brush bars on the two Nissans. Not only because the deer are getting bigger and thicker, but because we have taken great care of the trucks and I know the full coverage won't come close to replacing them.

[JEBar]

Heck of a roo guard! indeed .... it looks much more beefed up than the ones I've seen on semi trucks around here

[Hatchdog]

What is it? A Ridgeline?
I only ask that because of the sloping rear quarters. Heck of a roo guard!

220 will be back to answer but as I recall he said it was a Falcon. Certainly not the Falcon we all grew up with here in “The States”.