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!
Showing posts with label BMW X5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BMW X5. Show all posts
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Beemer is in hospital
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't supposed to move!
The only thing to do was to replace the $700 after-market special with a $1200 genuine BMW part. Problem solved. Russell is yet to have deep and meaningful discussions with the original supplier.
Meanwhile Tony, the other partner in Advanced Tech Auto determined that the engine mounts (two at the from and one at the transfer case at the rear) needed replacing as well as they appeared to have collapsed. The front ones were done the next day, the rear one had to wait until the day before we left as it had to come from Singapore. They have certainly changed the characteristics of the car, it's much quieter and smoother, an underlying grumble and vibration has gone.
Now, I spent my life troubleshooting problems, the more obscure the better and I ask myself, and Russell and Tony, the question as to why I have destroyed a new harmonic balancer in such a short time. I'm happy that the original ones last about 180-200k and it's a know problem, but the replacement only had about 50k on it. Just a 'bad' part? They tell me that they have replaced heaps of them and this is the first one to breakdown. It occurred to me that perhaps if the rear engine mount allowed the gearbox/engine to actually sit on the chassis, that might be enough to cause the vibration/harmonics in the engine to all be focussed out through the front of the engine, i.e. right out through that harmonic balancer. Who knows? Anyhow, I'm very grateful for all the work and care that Advanced Tech Automotive have taken with my car.
The only thing to do was to replace the $700 after-market special with a $1200 genuine BMW part. Problem solved. Russell is yet to have deep and meaningful discussions with the original supplier.
Meanwhile Tony, the other partner in Advanced Tech Auto determined that the engine mounts (two at the from and one at the transfer case at the rear) needed replacing as well as they appeared to have collapsed. The front ones were done the next day, the rear one had to wait until the day before we left as it had to come from Singapore. They have certainly changed the characteristics of the car, it's much quieter and smoother, an underlying grumble and vibration has gone.
Now, I spent my life troubleshooting problems, the more obscure the better and I ask myself, and Russell and Tony, the question as to why I have destroyed a new harmonic balancer in such a short time. I'm happy that the original ones last about 180-200k and it's a know problem, but the replacement only had about 50k on it. Just a 'bad' part? They tell me that they have replaced heaps of them and this is the first one to breakdown. It occurred to me that perhaps if the rear engine mount allowed the gearbox/engine to actually sit on the chassis, that might be enough to cause the vibration/harmonics in the engine to all be focussed out through the front of the engine, i.e. right out through that harmonic balancer. Who knows? Anyhow, I'm very grateful for all the work and care that Advanced Tech Automotive have taken with my car.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Off to the Nova Hospital
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 Hume highway, and its just full on noise. Did I mention the train line that runs next to the road? It’s just as busy, with horns blaring as they approach town and engine rumbling up and down the line.
Day 2
We didn’t expect to find ourselves back here quite so soon! Having left at 7am for the run down to Melbourne, we arrived at Nova Caravans right on 10. Steve was very thorough and appears to be quite knowledgable regarding the types of problems we have experienced and gave the impression that none of them were too big or overly difficult for him to repair. The bad news was that they weren’t going to be able to take the van in until well after Christmas, so we were faced with the prospect of having to turn around and tow it back home.
As it turns out, we left it there for an hour while we went to a dodgy looking car yard down in Essendon to pick up the send hand X5 turbo I had bought on e-buy. The fellow was the ultimate representative from the white-shoe brigade and his story was that he had been forced to buy a new turbo for a car he had sold a few years ago with only 88,000kms on the clock, but it turned out that there was nothing wrong with the old one after all and after having the turbo loafing about the office for 3 years he had decided to get rid of it. Never mind, at $99 it’s cheap enough to send off and get reconditioned. It all sounded pretty lame to me!
Fed and watered, we left Melbourne about 1230 and it was soon apparent that Wangaratta was as going to be as good a place to stop as any, so here we are. Having spend 8 hours and 510k in the car, we were both happy with the choice.
We had a very nice pizza at Cafe Martini, which is the dining hall for a pub in town, filled up with diesel and went back to get a good nights sleep. Funny how you don't hear the road noise if you're tired enough!
Day 3
I was up early at 6am and hit the pool again for 1/2 an hour. The lovely warm water of Sunday was fading fast due to the all-day clouds and the rain. Took our time to get some breakfast in one of the cafes in town before hitting the road at about 830. Easy run up to Gundagai, where we turned our back on the less than salubrious Shell eatery and the even worse 'dog-on-a-box' offering, and headed into the main street of town itself. It's a really nice town and we all should go in there more often. Had a coffee and a scone as it was too early for lunch and headed home, which is where we are now.
So until next time (Melbourne again, soon I hope) see you later.
We had a very nice pizza at Cafe Martini, which is the dining hall for a pub in town, filled up with diesel and went back to get a good nights sleep. Funny how you don't hear the road noise if you're tired enough!
Day 3
I was up early at 6am and hit the pool again for 1/2 an hour. The lovely warm water of Sunday was fading fast due to the all-day clouds and the rain. Took our time to get some breakfast in one of the cafes in town before hitting the road at about 830. Easy run up to Gundagai, where we turned our back on the less than salubrious Shell eatery and the even worse 'dog-on-a-box' offering, and headed into the main street of town itself. It's a really nice town and we all should go in there more often. Had a coffee and a scone as it was too early for lunch and headed home, which is where we are now.
So until next time (Melbourne again, soon I hope) see you later.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Broome, WA
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 Indian Ocean
On our way back, busting for a swim
in the pool, I couldn’t resist it, had Judy drive the car down and onto the
actual beach for the obligatory snap.
 | |
| Beemer on the Beach - Cable beach, WA - which is a little way up the road from Canberra |
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Wellington NSW, May 2013
Wellington NSW, May 2013
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 other had stuff stolen out of their car the last night. Talk about cheery start to the trip - puts you right off. Mind you, you do have to take sensible security precautions.
Wellington looks half-dead, apparently everyone drives the 50k to Dubbo to buy anything they want, and of course Coles, Woolies and Macdonalds have sent everyone else out of business. Mind you, we went to the Calf&Cow, a remodelled or 'gastro' pub, for dinner, took one look at the menu and the price tag and walked right out again. Unbelievable. Went into the RSL expecting a bistro; found a Chinese upmarket restaurant with Chinese girls in costume, chintzy red lanterns and everything, including weird oriental music. We looked around, we were the only ones there. Bolted for the door, finally found a pub and had bangers and veg and cutlets and veg at a sensible price.
OK Ok, here's your snap:
Friday, May 17, 2013
Good news, not-so-good news
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 used to be, but had been replaced by a brand new Metal Shop. They took one look and said they could not only supply the metal but weld it al up as well. Too good to be true, so I gave them money and left the parts and instructions. Wow, what a circus. The welder left the next day, they got someone else, they welded it up back-to-front, they remade it, they got another welder in and on and on and on. Finally after about 5 weeks it was actually finished. They had lost the two caravan wheel nuts, but I was able to replace them cheaply from Lloyds Caravans in Kembla Street Fyshwick, so all ended well.
Put the new tyres on the car, had it serviced and now we are ready to roll. Talk about being all dressed up and nowhere to go!
Ah well, wont be long now and we'll be away. We'll have to cut our stops a bit short to make up for the delay and still get to Broome on time. We've booked tours out of Broome and on the way back a tour of the Bungles so there's no turning back this time.
We've also decided that we can get into El Questro. We were put off by the Pentacost River crossing you hear all about, but it turns out that its the main one down the Gibb River road a bit. The actual crossing into El Questro is only ankle deep.
Can't wait.
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 used to be, but had been replaced by a brand new Metal Shop. They took one look and said they could not only supply the metal but weld it al up as well. Too good to be true, so I gave them money and left the parts and instructions. Wow, what a circus. The welder left the next day, they got someone else, they welded it up back-to-front, they remade it, they got another welder in and on and on and on. Finally after about 5 weeks it was actually finished. They had lost the two caravan wheel nuts, but I was able to replace them cheaply from Lloyds Caravans in Kembla Street Fyshwick, so all ended well.
Put the new tyres on the car, had it serviced and now we are ready to roll. Talk about being all dressed up and nowhere to go!
Ah well, wont be long now and we'll be away. We'll have to cut our stops a bit short to make up for the delay and still get to Broome on time. We've booked tours out of Broome and on the way back a tour of the Bungles so there's no turning back this time.
We've also decided that we can get into El Questro. We were put off by the Pentacost River crossing you hear all about, but it turns out that its the main one down the Gibb River road a bit. The actual crossing into El Questro is only ankle deep.
Can't wait.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Melbourne - Last days
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.
Well that's it for the moment, next planned departure is 27th May for another 1/2 'lap' up through the top-end
Brian & Judy
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.
Well that's it for the moment, next planned departure is 27th May for another 1/2 'lap' up through the top-end
Brian & Judy
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Melbourne Cont. 'At Leisure'
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 place - would have taken a snap except there was someone sitting in a car in the driveway.
Tuesday : We decided that we really had to catch the vehicular ferry from Sorrento to Queenscliff, which are the two towns on the opposite sides of the mouth to Port Phillip Bay. Wow, it's two hours or so down to Sorrento, but a really pretty place. We decided to have lunch up in the town itself and catch the 3 o'clock ferry. Judy had the fish and chips, brought to the table neatly wrapped in a bag made of newspaper held together with a clothes peg! (see snaps) The ride across is pleasant, but you could see how the waves and swell could blow up anytime. Came straight back through Geelong in about an hour and a half, roads starting to get real busy as Melbourne empties out for the day.
The cafe, Just Fine Food, also boasted 'famous vanilla slices', which is a challenge. Judy declared after dinner that the slice in question really wasn't that good (i noticed it all got eaten though) and certainly not up to her benchmark, which is still the one found at the Beechworth Bakery, even the outlet in Echuca, if your going that way.
Snap d'jour:
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 place - would have taken a snap except there was someone sitting in a car in the driveway.
Tuesday : We decided that we really had to catch the vehicular ferry from Sorrento to Queenscliff, which are the two towns on the opposite sides of the mouth to Port Phillip Bay. Wow, it's two hours or so down to Sorrento, but a really pretty place. We decided to have lunch up in the town itself and catch the 3 o'clock ferry. Judy had the fish and chips, brought to the table neatly wrapped in a bag made of newspaper held together with a clothes peg! (see snaps) The ride across is pleasant, but you could see how the waves and swell could blow up anytime. Came straight back through Geelong in about an hour and a half, roads starting to get real busy as Melbourne empties out for the day.
The cafe, Just Fine Food, also boasted 'famous vanilla slices', which is a challenge. Judy declared after dinner that the slice in question really wasn't that good (i noticed it all got eaten though) and certainly not up to her benchmark, which is still the one found at the Beechworth Bakery, even the outlet in Echuca, if your going that way.
Snap d'jour:
Monday, March 18, 2013
Melbourne Cont. F1 Sunday
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. More mechanics, tool chests, engine starting guns, jacks and wheel nut rattle guns appear. Finally the cars are allowed out of pit-lane and do a single circuit, coming to rest at the back of the grid, where they are then pushed all the way up and into place. The National Anthem is sung. The grid starts to clear, led by the bimbos, leaving mostly just the mechanics who all shrink back to the safety walls. The cars blast off on their warm-up lap. The mechanics then run en-mass and choke the single exit. They have one minute and twenty seconds to clear the grid. Vettel appears, weaving back and forth, warming tyres and wasting time getting to his spot while everyone else closed in behind him. There they were, all settled into positions on the grid - and then they were gone - i must have blinked as i nearly missed it. The rest of the race is history as they say.
Took us two hours to get back to Coburg today having had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
Dont forget to see all the snaps from the little box on the right----->
Daily snaps to prove it's all true:
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. More mechanics, tool chests, engine starting guns, jacks and wheel nut rattle guns appear. Finally the cars are allowed out of pit-lane and do a single circuit, coming to rest at the back of the grid, where they are then pushed all the way up and into place. The National Anthem is sung. The grid starts to clear, led by the bimbos, leaving mostly just the mechanics who all shrink back to the safety walls. The cars blast off on their warm-up lap. The mechanics then run en-mass and choke the single exit. They have one minute and twenty seconds to clear the grid. Vettel appears, weaving back and forth, warming tyres and wasting time getting to his spot while everyone else closed in behind him. There they were, all settled into positions on the grid - and then they were gone - i must have blinked as i nearly missed it. The rest of the race is history as they say.
Took us two hours to get back to Coburg today having had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
Dont forget to see all the snaps from the little box on the right----->
Daily snaps to prove it's all true:
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Melbourne F1 Cont. Saturday
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 hat to Melbourne and the organisers - half a million (well maybe a few thousand or so) people, all wet and cold and annoyed headed for the tram stop at the same time. We didn't queue, we just ambled up onto the platform and onto a tram and away off up into the city where once again we waited less than a minute for the good old 112 to show up and take us home.
Pizza and wine sounded as good as the warm shower and so it was. We had missed nothing as the Q2 and Q1 sessions were postponed till Sunday 11 am. Good luck with that.
A snap? One is all you're going to get:
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 hat to Melbourne and the organisers - half a million (well maybe a few thousand or so) people, all wet and cold and annoyed headed for the tram stop at the same time. We didn't queue, we just ambled up onto the platform and onto a tram and away off up into the city where once again we waited less than a minute for the good old 112 to show up and take us home.
Pizza and wine sounded as good as the warm shower and so it was. We had missed nothing as the Q2 and Q1 sessions were postponed till Sunday 11 am. Good luck with that.
A snap? One is all you're going to get:
Friday, March 15, 2013
Melbourne cont. Friday
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 seems to be on some time delay - what you see has already happened and gone.
Boo Hiss F1.
Took the Canon and Roman's 400 mm lens but from where we are they are of no use whatever.
Bought a $20 ear phone radio - fell apart before we got back to the stand. Fortunately i found the pieces on the grass and i was at least able to hear some commentary.
Not really a happy camper i must say.
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 seems to be on some time delay - what you see has already happened and gone.
Boo Hiss F1.
Took the Canon and Roman's 400 mm lens but from where we are they are of no use whatever.
Bought a $20 ear phone radio - fell apart before we got back to the stand. Fortunately i found the pieces on the grass and i was at least able to hear some commentary.
Not really a happy camper i must say.
Melbourne cont. Thursday
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:
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:
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Melbourne cont.
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
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
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Melbourne Trip March 2013
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.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
It lives! Long live the Beemer
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,
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,
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Rats! More car trouble
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 coloured bird that caused all the trouble...
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 coloured bird that caused all the trouble...
 |
| Coloured bird. (aka King Parrot) |
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Preparing the BMW X5
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 and I wonder how safe they are from either working loose and falling off, or disappearing in the night and going to someone else's home.
I'm keeping my options open on this. I could probably fit a second spare to the rear bar of the van, but I'm already concerned about overloading - start early with the worry, cull anything that isn't necessary. The car is registered to tow 2700kg, the van has a tare of 1660kg and 450kg load making 2110kg total, and I'd be comfortable with that.
Anyone have any comments regarding wheels / tyres?
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 and I wonder how safe they are from either working loose and falling off, or disappearing in the night and going to someone else's home.
I'm keeping my options open on this. I could probably fit a second spare to the rear bar of the van, but I'm already concerned about overloading - start early with the worry, cull anything that isn't necessary. The car is registered to tow 2700kg, the van has a tare of 1660kg and 450kg load making 2110kg total, and I'd be comfortable with that.
Anyone have any comments regarding wheels / tyres?
Sunday, September 4, 2011
In the beginning...
 |
| Us and our 3yo Nova Caravan |
... and then we bought a vehicle to tow the thing.
.jpeg) |
| 2006 BMW X5 3.0 Diesel |
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 said "... or offer". The little man ummed and arhed at my offer. He counter-offered. I told him to sharpen his pencil and pointed at the sign which clearly said "or offer". You'd think I was cutting his arm off - if they don't want to take less, then don't suggest that you can make an offer - it's that easy. We negotiated and the deal was struck. We only had one tiny problem, we didn't have a vehicle to tow the thing with, our trusty V8 Fairlane certainly wasn't going to be up to it. The van for those so inclined, is 17'6" (actually its 18'6" as we discovered later) and its Tare is 1660 kilograms. They agreed to park it out back and mind it for us for a few weeks.
We had been looking for a BMW X5 Diesel for a few months, and were on a promise from a member of the white-shoe brigade. In the interim, my brother kindly lent me his Land Rover Discovery II, 2.5 litre 5 cylinder, manual, diesel and off we went to bring it home. We are very thankful for the use of the vehicle, but it showed me one thing - we'd need something bigger than the Disco to tow it comfortably.
Eventually an X5 that suited my needs came up on one of the car sales web sites: a 2004 3litre diesel, auto. One owner, low miles. I flew from Canberra to Adelaide to check it out and again, a deal was struck. The attraction of the 2004 X5 was: its a 3 litre six diesel, it's a six speed auto, it was the first of the 'update' series, and being 5 years old, was a semi-sensible price. Also, it's a mid-range truck, not a baby toy nor a goliath. Rated to tow 2700kg and with 400 Nm of torque, it sounded perfect. Oh, and it's a BMW, which I happen to fancy as we've had a few over the years and they have all been solid, comfortable and reliable.
My first surprise was that i filled it up in Adelaide, all 90litres, and drove it right home to Canberra on the one tank. Having been used to the Fairlane needing refreshments every hour, i was suitably impressed.
Now we have covered 17,000 kilometres, up and down the east coast and Tasmania, in all kinds of weather, all kinds of terrain, and i'm still delighted with it. We get 9 l/100k around town without the van and 14.5 litres towing at all kinds of speed. The sheer pulling power has never ceased to amaze me. We're in Canberra, so the coast for us includes the notorious Clyde Mountain. No drama here, but had to dip into 2nd gear once coming up. The whole rig is so stable I ditched the Hayman Reese weight distribution hitch as too much trouble.
So there we are, all set to take on the big one.
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