Mike Lenz took responsibility for preparation of the boats and motors.  In conjunction with Cliff Hills (who was a last-minute withdrawal from the expedition) Andres Foss (a commercial boat-builder) and Phil Hargrave, he put in many hours work to get four boats ready.  Phil was also busy preparing his 4WD Toyota Troop Carrier that was going to be used as the refuelling vehicle.

Meanwhile Kim was organising the preparation and repair of The Bus.  Kim Thorson and Scott Overstone repaired the roof rack.  John Haynes and Kim Epton modified locker doors and repaired the fuel pump.  John also made a hot water heater that was to be trialled during the expedition.  Lists were made, gear was collected, equipment was serviced, packed and stowed, and then re-packed, more equipment was collected, checks were made, phone calls were made, arrangements were confirmed, food and other stores were purchased and at last the expedition was ready to go.

The day before departure information was received from Gascoyne Junction that the water levels had dropped too far.  Kim made urgent phone calls to pastoral stations along the upper reaches of the Murchison River and plans were modified to travel Western Australia’s second longest river.  The Great Gascoyne Dash became the Murchison River Expedition.  Flexibility is paramount in tackling the ephemeral rivers of the North (preliminary planning some weeks earlier by Kim also enabled the last minute switch to be made).

Eventually eleven power dinghy expeditioners, with three boats, set off on Thursday 10 March 1994 to drive throughout the night to Milly Milly Station, 800 kilometres north of Perth.  The driving duties were shared in two hour shifts.

The roos and dust were bad on the trip to Milly Milly.  The 4WD refuelling vehicle had to keep well back.  One inquisitive roo nearly jumped in the open door of The Bus in its blinded state of confusion.  The Mullewa-Gascoyne Junction Road was rough. During the night those sleeping in the bunks became airborne as the bus went over some particularly vicious bumps.  When The Bus crew returned along this road the next morning to the planned overnight camp they could hardly believe that a steady 80 kmh had been maintained the night before.

The convoy reached Milly Milly Station just as the sun rose on Friday morning.  There was only barely enough water (300-400mm over the crossing) but after travelling that far from Perth the crew were not to be deterred.  The plan was to travel 500 kilometres to the river mouth over the next three days and then drive back to Perth on Monday.