Showing posts with label anti-highlights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anti-highlights. Show all posts

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Day 203- Victor Harbor to Adelaide

A bit sunnier this morning so we had an easy packup with no rain. We were not in a rush this morning cos we only had about 80km to travel so we had a few stops planned on the way to check out more of the Fleurieu Coast.

First stop though was back to Basham Beach to see the whales again. Darcy was asleep last time so we made sure he stayed awake to see them this morning. Jordy was more interested in picking the flowers.
There were about eight whales in the bay that we could see. A few in nice and close. But there were no rolls or fin-flaps for us today. We watched the mother whale and her calf for a while before heading off along the scenic route north.
Mum and Dad had seen some seals at Second Valley yesterday and we had heard from other travellers we were chatting to a few days back that the whole area around Second Valley was lovely so that's where we figured we'd head to for morning tea.

The truck had other ideas. About 20km past Victor Harbor there was a big whooosing noise and then a pfuuf pfuuf pfuuf hissing noise that sounded like it was not good news. We pulled over and Tim had a look at the engine bits and the hose from the intercooler into the turbo had come off (please ignore any technical jargon! i might be giving things the wrong names so if you actually care about the mechanical side of things please talk to someone other than me!!!!). Much cursing and headshaking and Tim stuck a couple of cable ties around to keep it on and we crossed our fingers for a town or service station.
We got a few km along through more winding hills and she went again. So we pulled over the only place we could which was right on the bend of the road amongst the rolling hills and green green farmland. We called the AAT guys (NRMA sort of people) and then we sat and had apple pie and a cup of tea while the boys played in the grass. It was actually a lovely spot on the side of the road as far as side of the road spots go, and the kids fed millipedes, poked at snails, and chased ladybugs for the best part of an hour before they decided they wanted a blankie to go nigh-nights in the grass :) The car-guy turned up and didn't actually do a whole lot. Tim had told them on the phone what we needed (a clamp thing) and he turned up without one, poked around in the engine for a bit, said he could not guarantee that his jury-rig would work but there was a spare parts shop and a servo about 20 or 30km away. Thanks....



So off we went with fingers still crossed. Got about 5km this time before it blew again. hhhmmmm.... made it to Yankalilla, had lunch while Tim bought some hose clamps and fixed the connection. Decided to bypass Second Valley and just head to Adelaide cos it was getting late and had taken us four hours to do 40km, even though the scenery was incredibly beautiful.

But the saga does not end there. I have no idea how much further we got... maybe another 10km but the hose blow off again but in a different spot so there was obviously a pressure problem somewhere and it was more than just a loose hose clamp. This time we were on the main road so nowhere safe for the kids to play while we waited for someone to sort shit out. Two unhappy kids, a heap of phone calls, and waiting around and in the end Mum and Dad drove down to meet us from Adelaide. They towed the van for us and Tim just had to drive the truck to a repair shop cos it was impossible to arrange a tow. Got there right on close time (Friday Beer O'Clock) but they had a look, patched things up for now and we can take it in on Monday.

We were glad the day was over when we arrived at the van park. Really nice park. Great amenities. Ordered pizza cos we could not be half-arsed to cook. Jordy and Darcy made friends with some other boys that were about 8 and 10 and they threw glow-sticks, kicked a ball, and ran around in the dark playing hide and seek until late. No idea where their parents were. The eldest boy said they were "just cruisin" which i guess means hanging out. But they came into the van to watch tv for a bit and i was hoping their parents had some idea where they were! ???

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Day 195- Uluru to Marla

BIG drive. Did about 525km which is just totally freakin amazing for the kids. Jordy still sick so he is not travelling well but we really just wanted to push through as far as we could. Stopped at a roadhouse van park for the night. Nothing at all interesting today except we left the NT and are now in SA.
Strangely enough the north of South Australia looks remarkably like the south of north Australia! LOL! Dry desert country with nothing at all for miles and miles. The road out here is soooooo incredibly boring.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day 51- Mataranka

For me this morning was rather uneventful; just a tidy up and some catching up on some forums and blogs etc and the kids watched a few nursery rhymes and Sesame Street songs on Utube.

For Tim the day was not quite as boring... he and Dad got up early to head down to the boat ramp and do some fishing in the main Roper River. Easy enough. They probably could have taken it as a warning to head back home and go back to sleep when they hit a wallaby. But i guess truck v's wallaby you can guess who is going to win so they kept going.

Now i don't have too many details cos people had the shits and it was not worth prying for information but i think the winch to get the boat off the truck had broken at some stage so they had to get it off by hand which is a bit of an effort. Dad ended up pulling a muscle or bruising his ribs or something (and this afternoon it is still very sore and he had a nap so it must have hurt). But they got the thing into the water. I have no idea how far they went but i think they got some fishing in and as expected caught nothing and had no bites and it's entirely possible that Tim (though i love him dearly) is the world's worse fisherman.

Anyway, in the river that is all nice and open and pretty much 6M deep right off the bank they managed to find the one submerged rock in the whole bloody river and put a hole in the gear box and stuffed the motor. From what Tim says the whole boat is stuffed and he's going to get rid of it.... Dad said we can get it fixed easy enough and these things happen. I'm guessing the truth is in between and we probably can fix it but it won't be cheap and i have no idea if the boat will appear on ebay sometime next week!

Oh, and they had taken the paddles out of the boat for some reason and i did not ask how they managed to get back to shore. I have created a whole new blog tag - the anti-highlights - in memory of today. Things did not get any worse but they did not get a whole lot better. A box that we have kept our shoes in on the truck must have gotten water in it at some stage and all the shoes have gone mouldy. That will require a bit of work to salvage the important pairs.

The kids had a good day though! How much fun is a sprinkler...





After lunch we gave the geocaching another go. I looked all over but Tim managed to find our very first cache. Signed the log, took a photo (that has to remain a secret) and put it back. Happy with the find we decided to try for another cache that is bigger and has swaps and trackables in it. So all in the truck and off we go. We searched in long grass in the heat getting scratched and sunburnt and covered in prickles for about 45min before we decided this geocaching is a fool's game and came back home.

Blog updates and dinner prepped. We are sooooo low on food! LOL! Sausages, mashed potato, and steamed carrots tonight. First thing we'll have to do in Katherine is grab some fresh fruit and vege and restock the basics.

After dinner Jordy wandered over to Grandpa to tell him that his eyes don't work in the dark and he needed a torch so he could go kill cane toads.