Judy & Brian Tour Oz

Slid out of town today and wandered off down to Bright in the Buchan Valley at the foot of the 'Alps'. OK so the hills are bigger than most others but 'Alps' is a bit of a stretch. Took lunch at Holbrook Bakery (where else?) and then down to Chiltern and across to Bright. Seem to have lucked into a really good spot, even if it isn't overlooking the Ovens River. This is the X5's swan song, watch the space, as they say!

That annoying crashing sound that we first heard coming up the mountains up in North Queensland failed to get better by itself, so off to Advanced Tech Automotive in Philip in Canberra it went. You may recall we bought a turbo charger in Melbourne last trip as that was their first suggestion. Alas, it was not to be. The noise persisted. Russell was almost convinced that it had to be a broken vane in the torque converter, but if you pull the gearbox out, you can't mount the starter motor and hence you can't start the engine and listen for noises. But wait, the cunning sod dreamt up a way to disconnect the torque converter from the engine and leave the gearbox in place. The noise persisted. They disconnected the belts and pulleys and things from the front of the engine. Still noisy. In desperation, someone stuck a screwdriver behind the harmonic balancer (remember that? we had it replaced in 2012 at the end of our first big trip) and lo and behold, it moved in a way it wasn'...

Day 1 Finally we had our opportunity to take the van down to Nova in Melbourne. Left home about 9am and had a leisurely run down the Hume. We went into Holbrook for lunch and got into Wangaratta about 3pm. It’s 31C or so, so we wanted a swim but no swimmers… We drove into town to Kmart (despite our little caravan park man assuring us that ‘town’ was closed on Sunday afternoons) and Judy bought yet-another-pair of swimmers, I was happy with wearing my undies, after all there is only about 3 people in the entire place. Back to the caravan park's pool and in for a dip, very pleasant, perhaps bordering on a tad too warm from the solar heating. Read the papers and played with the pewter for a hour or so, then off to The Vine Hotel for dinner and a glass of wine. Not having had quite enough to eat, we nipped back into town for an ice-cream from big-Ms. This is a nice, clean well kept older park, only complaint is that it’s right on the main road between town and the ...

OMG! We made it! Who’d have thought, just took 17 days and 5250 kilometres , but we is here, in Broome in Western Australia. Found our van park, the Palm Grove Holiday Resort, right up near the world famous Cable Beach.   Pretty nice actually, even if it looks like more than a few are here for the Perth winter. Funny thing though, we’ve come all this way and seen 2 BMWs on the way, an X3 and a 1 series. Right here in this park there are now 3 BMW X5’s within 5 vans of each other. (Good, I thinks to myself, maybe I can borrow some bits to get my headlights working again!)  Drove into ‘town’, and bought a few supplies and had a poke about. You have to laugh at this, there are signs all over the place that pedestrians must give way to cars, yet they still have pedestrian crossings. Why bother? Who knows or cares. We’ve booked a cruise for our anniversary, out and up the coast on an old pearling lugger to drink wine and eat canapés while watching the sunset over the I...

Wellington NSW, May 2013 Monday 26th became Friday 31st then miraculously became Wednesday 29th. Hey that's today! Not hanging around to be asked twice, we bolted, heading for Wellington in the west of NSW. Seemed to take an age to pack the van this time, I'm sure it's bulging at the seams, but hey, who cares, we is gone at last. Stopped for a rest and a cuppa at Boorowa, then pressed on to Cudal where we had a hamburger at a cafe that looked more closed than open, but which was really good. Wandered into Wellington about 3:30pm and found a spot at the Riverside Caravan Park. Sign on the door read: 'Find a site, back in 10 minutes', so we grabbed a riverside spot between two others. People on one side were rabbiting on about all the platypusses in the river. I wandered down with the camera and took some snaps up close, they are water rats! Had a wander about and then settled down for afternoon tea. The other neighbours then jumped on us telling us how someone or...

The good news is that we are still going, albeit a few days later than expected. When I say 'not-so-good', I mean that its good that the Basil Cell Carcinoma on my nose can be removed quickly and cleanly, it bad that I left it so long to get a proper opinion about it and the consequence is that we have to wait until Friday week to get the Doc's clearance. On the same good/almost good news front, we finally have our spare wheel carrier completed and installed. On the back of the Nova we have the normal sort of bumper bar, which held the bike rack and the caravan spare wheel. As we are planning to go a bit feral this time, poking right up into the gulf and other places, I thought it might be a good idea to carry a second spare for the car. The plan was to mount it on the caravan bumper alongside the caravan spare. So I took the original spare wheel bracket off, measured it up and went looking for some metal to make another one. The first place I went wasn't the shop it...

We had originally planned on leaving on Friday but the weather turned nasty overnight with a howling gale and threatening storms. We hi-tailed it for home, but the conditions on the highway, towing a biggish van, were pretty terrible. We were only doing 90 most of the time and after taking an hour to cover 75k I called for a pit stop at a tiny place called Avenel. Took coffee and raisin toast, and suitably relaxed, rejoined the fray. Finally made it into Holbrook and called it quits for the day even though it was only 2pm. The rain caught up to us as well, but by the looks of the news reports, we were better off than most of north east Victoria. During a break from the rain we checked out the 'Last Post Bookshop' and bought a handful of well used tomes. Forsook the Riverina Hotel that evening for the RSL Club. Only noticeable difference is that the wine is about half price to that of the hotel! Wandered off about 10am the next day and wandered into Canberra about 1:30 or so....

Monday : Today was mother-of-the-bride dress buying day. Judy had sussed out the most likely place whch turned out to be a little shop in Waverley Road East Malvern. Fortunately they had one that was just right for the occasion and so that was one down and only the shoes and handbag to match to go. Chadstone is just down the road from Malvern and boasts the 'largest shopping mall in the southern hemisphere'.  Naturally we went straight there and went in through the 'Paris' end but sadly(?) nothing there for us. Not to mch further down the scale we found a Ferrari shop (Diana not Enzo) and he shoes and handbag were secured quick-smart. While we were in the area, I wanted to have a quick look for my uncle's old house, in Ramona Avenue, Malvern . Found it easily with Tom's help and it looks just the same as it did last time I saw it, about 45 years ago. The trees have grown huge and the freeway seems a lot closer than it did then, but unmistakeably the same pla...

Sunday - the big day. Raining and raining and raining. Stayed at the van and watched Q2 and Q1 on Teev, finally the sun struggled through so we took ourselves to the big shops again and bought a small FM radio, and some lunch. Caught the tram back down town and ensconced ourselves in our seat in the stand by 3:30. The RAAF Roulettes provided their aerobatic show in the bright red and white Pilatus PC9s, followed a little later by a QANTAS A380 doing some really low and slow flyovers. The 'ancients', led by Alan Jones, son of the one of the original racing driver from 1953, Stan Jones, did a parade lap in cars from the era. They went the 'wrong way' as that's the way it was done in 1953. Finally, the ubiquitous bimbos march out carrying a grid place flag each and take their positions. Then the first wave of mechanics roll out trolleys loaded with sets of tyres. The Toro Rosso in front of us had no fewer than three complete sets of tyres waiting on the grid. M...

Today. What a day. It's raining. Qualifying isnt on till 5pm so why rush out there to sit in the open for hours? Went to the medium sized shops instead and drank coffee. Had some lunch. Took the tram back down town and went looking for a mother-of-the-bride-dress for a while. Still raining only worse. We were kinda prepared for the wet so took our seats after drying them off a bit and putting down the plastic cushions to lift us up out of the pants-puddle. Five came and went. It rained and rained. Ten minute delay - twenty minutes. At five-three-o they came roaring out and Q3 had started. It was on for rookies and vets alike. Button swapped to inters just as the sun popped out and he set them on their ear. A few others did likewise and ended up on the top of the table led by Kiki. The rest stayed in the sheds and stayed dry and warm. Then it rained and rained and Q2 set for 6pm became ten -ast and then half past and we took a hike toward the tram stop. I have to take off me h...

Quiet day to day. Took the old rattler down to the city and another across to Albert Park, Gate 1. Found our seat and were immediately disappointed with the lack of any real view. The problem is that from where we are you can't see any of the lead up or going away track and the bit in front of us is obscured by a huge steel mesh fence. Worse than that the cars are tending to drift over to our side of the track so that they are almost totally hidden. Second huge disappointment is that the hand held TVs we had in Monza are no longer available due to F1 Management and FanVision not coming to terms. Surely there must be some consideration given to the fans who contribute huge amounts of cash to keep these mandarins in the comforts they have become used to. I for one will have to rethink another F1 attendance, you get a better view and can at least hear the commentary on your tv at home. Even the big screen opposite our stand is short of expectations, it's actually quite small and ...

Main task today was to get the F1 tickets from a hotel on St Kilda Road near the track. Went down about 10 and lucked into a 2 hour meter out the front, right next to Gate 8. Of course we couldn't help but 'just have a look' and before we know it, I've been back to the meter 3 times and fed a small King's ransom into it and its 4:30. Had a really pleasant day wandering about looking at all the support cars such as Sports cars, historic etc in their pits. The Red Arrows paid a visit doing all kinds of aerobatic tricks and keeping the swelling crowd amused. Highlight of the day was a pit-walk for those with tickets (us!) and we got to wander down the V8 pit lane and then shuffle down past the F1 pits. The crowd was pretty full on but a great little experience. Here's your snap:

We decided after consulting all the tram and bus and train guides, that the best thing for s to do this afternoon would be to drive clear across town and out to St Kilda for a cup of coffee. Great plan. Thank heavens for Tom and his mate Tom. It's great, just tell it where you want to go and follow blindly. Worked a treat, even considering it was peak several hours, we got there with no dramas and only one missed turn - you know : turn left, charge over 4 packed lanes and turn right! Had a lovely stroll around St Kilda's coffee strip and finally succumbed to the fabulous looking cakes and pastries in every other window. Tomx2 brough us home a completely different way and in half the time Might have a go at the trams tomorrow

Well finally we get to take ourselves and the trusty rig out on the road once again. It's been too long. Funny how you get back from a trip and swear to go out again at least once a month, even just to the coast, but how it never happens and before you know it, 6 months have slipped by. Anyhow, we left home about 2 and made an uneventful run down to Holbrook to our favourite van park. Had dinner at the Riverina Hotel. Gotten a bit expensive though, probably due to all the workers living in town while they build a bypass – you’d need a by-pass if you ate there too often! Great to get away again and blow the cobwebs of the van, and our caravanning skills.   We'll tackle the Melbourne leg tomorrow.

It true. The car was shipped on Thursday from Ulladulla to Canberra to Advanced Tech Automotive by the NRMA. Advanced Tech Automotive ordered the part Thursday morning based on the NRMA roadside assistance diagnosis. Now get this - Advanced Tech Automotive called me on Friday at 12 noon to say the car was fixed and ready to go, now that is service. It really doesn't get much better than that in the car repair business. My special thanks to NRMA whose Platinum Coverage service has been truly outstanding. Well done to them and especially "Chris" who took my intial call and handled it with efficiency and top level professionalism. Now that we know how the coverage works, we wont hesitate to take off again next year and head outback again. Far out, as they say,

Yes, that's right, the fabulous X5 has packed it in again. Not happy, Jan! This time we were coming back down the narrow dirt road from Pointers Hill and stopped to take a snap of some coloured birds in a tree and Bam! , a dreadful smell of burnt brakes or rubber or something and then the steering got all heavy like it had a flat tyre. Limped into Ulladulla, parked behind the NRMA shop and called roadside assistance. Turns out that the big pulley (harmonic balancer) on the bottom of the engine has collapsed. Game Over - tow it back to Canberra for repairs is the only really useful option. Now as it happens I am a platinum member of NRMA with top level cover - and they have been fabulous so far : organised the car to be taken to Canberra, organised a hire car for us for the next week, and will, when asked , have the van transported back to canberra as well. Cost? Nothing. Doesnt get better than that. Some snaps of Lake Conjola So i suppose i should post the snap of that col...

What, I ask myself, should i be doing to this car in preparation for this trip? Tyres I know it needs new tyres, I've been putting it of as long as possible so that they will be as fresh as possible when we set off. What tyres will I get? When we bought the X5 it was running Michelin tyres. I had to replace two due to an unrepairable puncture of one (isn't that always the way) and I bought Bridgestones. The Bridgestones are all but worn out, the Michelins are still hanging on - I estimate that the Michelins have done 90k, the Bridgestones 40K. We are not planning on too many dirt roads, maybe ones out to the big attractions, well used, frequently travelled type ones, so highway tyres should be good. So, I'm going to buy a new set of Michelins I'd reckon. Spare Wheel/Tyre Do we need to carry more that the one spare for either the car or the van (duel axle)? I have spare rims and tyres and could take them, but they would have to travel on a roof rack / basket an...

Getting started was simple enough, we had a rush of blood to the brain and bought a van... Us and our 3yo Nova Caravan ... and then we bought a vehicle to tow the thing.   2006 BMW X5 3.0 Diesel We took a few small steps getting to grips with the concept of caravanning, then we took some bigger ones, up to six weeks at a time. The van was found in Shepparton, where we had gone to look at a used Jayco, which was 'orrible. On our way out we stopped at the Tourist Info Centre and asked about caravan sales yards, of which there are two. We opted for the one north of town and found a big old shed with a few vans parked out the front. On closer inspection three of them were locked, one was a huge off road setup and then we came to this. Basically it was 'love' at first sight. It had nothing we thought we needed such as the full size stove, separate freezer or toilet and shower, but one look was enough to convince us that what this van had, was what we wanted. The sign sa...