Judy & Brian Tour Oz

Today the car was due at Stillwell Ford for it's 15,000km service. We turned up about 930, left the car  for their attention and took advantage of the courtesy car into town. We walked up and down Rundle Mall, checking out some of the large and glossy department stores before walking down King William Street to Victoria Square and thence into the Central Markets. One thing for sure, the howling wind was glacial and we both froze our chops off before gratefully turning into the marketplace itself. These markets are quite similar to the Vic Markets in Melbourne but with more emphasis on fresh food and goodies and almost none of the tat that makes up a lot of the Vic. We took coffee and a yummy Portuguese Tart and a Lemon Flan at Lucia's, not the only coffee shop there but probably the best that we saw. After marching up and down all the aisles and back and forth across all the rows, we  went back up toward Rundle Mall looking for lunch and perhaps a visit to the SA Museum. ...

Well, here it is then - the new hack! Finally managed to find a few minutes to actually hook the van up and sort out the hitch before taking it for a spin around the block. First thing that struck me was that the safety chains are now way too long - I can't imagine why this is so, perhaps it is that the ball is 5cm lower, but I've had to let the last 3 links dangle free to get anything like a setup that would stop the van from hitting the ground. Then there's the holes for the 'D' shackles - I was in the habit of poking one leg up through the hole and then fitting the bolt. This can't happen here because the hole is just too small (but stronger I tell myself). You end up having to put the bolt through the hole but the end of it jams on the hitch holding bolt/pin and it's just plain awkward. Took and age to sort out something that is OK to go. Next was the beloved breakaway link. I have to say that I'm not that impressed with this now mandatory ...

Sorry, couldn't help the pun. Yes, it's true. After 240,000km the time had come for the BMW X5 to be given a rest. We've grabbed a brand new Ford Territory, a Titanium no less, and had it fitted out with the Ford heavy duty tow bar, a Tekonsha P3 brake controller, a Redarc BCDC charger to keep the caravan batteries alive and had the faithful ICOM 440 two way radio reinstalled. The only other bits we went for were floor mats (can you believe that they sell you a new car and it comes with 1 floor mat on the drivers side? So you have to buy the pack of 3 to fix it up), a mat for the cargo space and a set of lock nuts to keep the wheels on the car. Apart from the niggle that at $55000 for a new top of the line car these things should be included, they then tell you that you have to put them in / on yourself or book it in and for a fee they will do it for you. Talk about 'memorable customer experience'. They have no idea. What would it cost them to supply the car f...