3 June 2014

Had a wander around the City proper and around to New Acton and the London Circuit/Marcus Clarke street area today, all very interesting and so much development it's amazing, buildings have sprung up everywhere and some old hovels that looked like that should be demolished when I lived here some years back have become a refurbished new hotel. Times change I guess and property becomes worth so much that they just have to develop it.

Just a few random shots from the day.

The Academy of Science Building

Is this what you call POP art? It's all popcorn!

Modern Man statue at New Acton

What a shop front awning! New Acton again

I fairly much limited the day to that area and unfortunately didn't get many good photos as the sky was terrible, though at least it didn't rain! YAH! The New Acton area is certainly worth a walk around and there is quite a bit packed into such a small area worth looking at. I went there specifically looking to have breakfast at Mocan and Green Grout as I have heard good things about it, though it was packed with suits at 0930 (what does no one actually work in this town, or perhaps it was a "working Breakfast") as it is only a small space. It is funny you know, I am happy to drive around the country at 80 kilometres and hour, but expect me to wait to get a seat at a cafe and you can just forget it, nowhere is that good that there isn't another place around the corner.

I also want over to the National Film and Sound Archive, wow it has changed there is a huge extension out the back of the building, but the actual display space is about less than half what it was 12 years ago and to say that the whole thing was rather dated and low budget primary school kids excursion spot would be an understatement. Really it used to be quite something special, I guess that times and expectations change and probably more telling so do budgets, you can only do what is able to be paid for when your annual budget is slashed. They must have so much information and objects in storage there, it is just a shame that more people can't get to see it.

Anyway we're hanging with the rich and infamous tomorrow, Yarralumla around all the Embassies and the Parliamentary triangle, lunching at the yacht club and then old and new Parliament houses, followed by a quick drive along the lake edge before crossing over and heading to the War Memorial to see the latest changes since my last visit. Should be a good day, supposed to be fog then sunny! Woo Hoo! 

2 June 2014 - Day Two

Well this morning was wet, not just tiresome drizzle, it was chucking it down and to be honest everything in the car was wet or damp, really have to locate the leak in the boot! Anyway hit the road and it was really very uneventful, along the Sturt Highway to the Hume Highway and then through Gundagai to Yass and the Barton Highway to Canberra. It was a really good run through and the car just cruised along brilliantly, mind you can tell when you're getting close to Canberra as the air temp is just right for the car to really respond and it really just loves the crispness of it. The rain finally started to drop out just before getting to Canberra and then kicked back in for a huge downpour, luckily I was able to find a undercover car park at the shops to meet up with some good friends for lunch and then this afternoon has been rain free, YAH, I just hope it stay that way long enough to dry the car out!

Arriving into the ACT, been here before

I'm back in town for a few days now, hopefully the car will get a chance to dry out and I have family and friends to see, and hopefully some photos to take, so it will be a bit of a break before we're off back inland heading for Bourke

1 June 2014 - First day travelling

Set out about 0800 into a raining morning and that rain has stayed all day, car leaked through the windscreen seal as expected, which is very frustrating. Echuca wasn't terribly thrilling, some interesting bits and reasonably nice, but nothing really attention grabbing, though perhaps the weather had a lot to do with that. It was a bit Daylesford with less eateries and a big muddy river. Actually went to the Beechworth Bakery for a spot of lunch and there would have been about twenty people working there and only one of them actually serving customers rather than just standing there looking at everyone, interesting business model.

Deniliquin was just another quiet country town, looking a bit down on its luck in some places and again the banks have a lot to answer for in relation to awful buildings stuck into what would otherwise be quite a nice "heritage" streetscape. It looks like some work is being done in areas of the town, but there are quite a few empty shops and the only places open were the the $2 / bargain basement shop, over all though it is a quite nice and tidy looking town. The site for the ute muster is certainly substantial and not far out of town, it is just beyond imagining that the whole area is filled to capacity with utes and all if the existing infrastructure out there is all just for one weekend a year, quite amazing.

Jerilderie (is that how you spell it?) is really quite an attractive looking small town and surely must be an official Tidy Towns entrant because it just looks so clean and well kept. Admittedly I only really saw the main strip but it really was impressive. It is another "Ned Kelly" town, the gang raised merry hell in the town, from and officials point of view, but mainly went there to have his manifesto printed, known as the Jerilderie Letter. I am sure that the next town along would have been quite something as well, Lockhart "the veranda town" as they call it, certainly seemed to have a very nice heritage streetscape with whole rows of very wide shop awnings, though by this time it was really getting dark, so was hard to really tell.

The trip up was really quite relaxed and there were sections along the way where I was quite literally the only car for miles around, very quiet roads and mostly in quite good shape. The car has just ticked along brilliantly , though a bit damp, with no problems whatsoever which is great. A nice steady 80-82 kilometers per hour seems to make it feel quite happy so there it is going to stay. That speed makes for a much longer day of driving, but you do get to see a lot more too.

Staying the night in Wagga Wagga, well actually outside of there in a sub town called Gumly Gumly (they like using words twice around here when naming things obviously). It's certainly no thrill and actually I have decided that driving through the day is great, you see so much, but once night hits forget it, There is no fun in it and it becomes a chore, so unless absolutely necessary no more early evening driving on this trip (famous last words I bet).
Canberra tomorrow and hopefully much better weather!

The Murray River at Echuca

 The Count finds a friend at Echuca

 And in really beautiful condition (bet it wasn't leaking in the rain)

 What else would you do with a Holden Ute?

Ok, so The Count isn't a ute, but really, closing the gates is just a tad unfriendly

29 May 2014

Nearly ready to go, just two days left.

We're just about ready...

23 May 2014

Right well time is certainly ticking along and now there is only 9 days left before departure, it sure has been a long and expensive lead up to this trip, but hopefully that will mean that there is not much left that could give any problems so all will be good along the way.

Mind that said all of the brakes have been replaced and now we seem to have developed a "rubbing" of the brakes on the left front drum. Just as you start off you can hear them, though I probably would never have heard it if I hadn't been pushing the car out of the garage before starting it. Not pushing it out of the garage because there is any problem mind, it is just that given the nature of unleaded fuel to burn with a filthy black residue starting it in the garage results in anything behind the car being covered in wet black grime, spraying from the exhaust until it warms up and evaporates the moisture in there. Anyway the brakes, ignorance is bliss, as well i know from driving down from Queensland with cracks in the chassis rails (as per previous posts), but as I have heard this now I need to whip the wheel and drum off and see what is happening. The guys that rep[laced the chassis rails and king pins mentioned that the brakes would need to "bed in" but it seems odd that they are doing this when they were perfectly fine after I installed them before driving down to Melbourne in the first place. Maybe something has just moved about since they refitted them at the workshop. Time will tell I guess.

Other than that I think the only other thing left to really do is drop the oil and the sump and to replace the sump gaskets to try and stem the steady flow of oil dripping from the back of the engine. It was fine to start with though it has been getting steadily worse over the last few weeks. I guess the cork sealing gasket at the back has degraded and to be honest I have no idea when it was last changed and when I got the engine I only changed the head gasket and installed the unit, so it's probably about time for an inspection and change. The good part is that the engine still pulls like a train and doesn't burn any oil at all.

So a couple of things to do on the last full weekend before the trip commences, guess I also need to start sorting through a few spare hoses and such and start stacking them carefully into the boot so I can ensure there is enough room to put the tent and all the associated stuff into the boot too.

Not long now....

12 May 2014

Howdy there all

Well it turns out that both the battery and the alternator were less then satisfactory, guess sitting about for 12 odd years isn't necessarily a good thing for car parts, so a new battery is in and just awaiting a new alternator, which should hopefully arrive this week, and more hopefully it will fit and plug straight in and work with no problems, hopefully...

Oh and here is a week vid from the go pro from the drive from Gympie to Melbourne just from bits of footage captured at intervals during the drive. Not very exciting, but gee it was running well.

Not long now till the off, only 20 days and I'm away, guess I will need to start thinking about what I need to be taking along, though plenty of time for that I am sure...

May 2014

Well here we are only 29 days left until departure. Not panic stations time yet, but still doing some things here and there to the car, mostly just small jobs that should make the car somewhat more comfortable for the trip. We've drained the radiator again and and turned the heater tap 180 degrees so that the heater pipe no longer rubs against the engine steady brace, which is due to having to relocate all the pipes to accommodate the new heater tap and the new radiator (new rad doesn't have a lower outlet or tap or anything which is a bit tiresome), the good part is that the coolant is no longer a delightful shade of mud, despite only being in there for about a month, and seems to be maintaining a much more respectable bright green colour. We've also made some new plywood trays for the lower parcel tray, they are in two pieces as the Mini heater that I installed some time ago would preclude the single piece board item it is supposed to have. The two half panels fit well and securely and no doubt will come in quite handy.

The only real concern I still have is if the alternator is working correctly, it seems to be able to keep the battery charged as long as the headlights are not turned on, turning the headlights on seems to then start draining the battery. It is weird the alternator can charge the battery while the lights are off but can't produce enough charge to do so when the headlights are on, anyway I think just to make sure that I don't end up on the roadside somewhere in the middle of nowhere it would be best if the Count drops by a auto electrician for a wee visit, just to make sure there is enough power to keep everything ticking along.

Oh and of all things the air cleaner element on the pancake air filter I fitted many years ago is really quite tired and dirty so we've been to all the usual suspects and trawled the internet looking for a replacement element and, you guessed it, no one has anything that will come close to the size of the element. Given that it has been so difficult to source a filter element I decided that it was time to replace the whole thing and have bought a RAMFLO air cleaner for a Mini, noting I have a 1.5" Mini SU and inlet manifold fitted to the car,and while I am definitely going to get a lot of induction noise though probably not much more than I already do with the pancake one currently fitted, the RAMFLO has the advantage of having a foam element that I am easily able to clean and if the going gets dusty I can always oil it as well for extra filtering power. Well that and the fact that they have been making them exactly the same for a very long time now, so there should be no problem getting parts for it if necessary.

29 and counting....