The expedition started from Perth late afternoon Friday 4 June 1993. The party started as soon as I put The Bus into gear.
Tony was driving the Triton.
Drama at Bakers Hill. A loud bang directly underneath me, in the vicinity of the gearbox caused me to pull up. I thought that gearbox had blown up but when I pressed the accelerator there was still drive.
Some of the crew ran back up the highway and found the remains of a shattered handbrake. On return to Perth after the expedition Mark Hall and Craig Tulley from Kenwick Motors confirmed that this was a common occurrence. It was apparent after a short time that nothing else was amiss so I pressed on to Northam.
We met with Gerry Post and Jim Smith from the Avon Descent, and a journalist from the local newspaper. We did some interviews, accepted a carton of Emu cans and headed east. Just out of Northam we connected the Triton to The Bus by the A Frame. A short trial run proved okay and the long haul started. By daylight we were east of Norseman.
At Caiguna, 1100 kilometres east of Perth, it was decided that the Triton was slowing down The Bus too much and it was unhitched. Those crew without a B Class licence now had to earn their passage.
The journey to Albury passed without incident but was slower than expected. We arrived at the Spillway Caravan Park at 0100 Monday 7 June – about five hours later than planned. The temperature was zero.