Hi Folks, am currently sat in Maryborough Victoria with an hour or two to spare.
Dave and Pam suggested when we parted at end of OBC to keep you lot informed of my travels, so here goes.
On collecting my 110 from the port in Sydney after it had cleared customs, was on way to my brothers about 15 miles away, when 5 miles into the drive I got smoke coming from under bonnet. The electric fan wiring was alight! Good job I carry extinguishers. Since I had a week at big bros, got an auto sparky to check everything out and replace fan.
Bought an ussie sat nav and off to Broken Hill, it sent me via Waggawagga, Hays and Ivanhoe. An interesting routre but certainly not the shortest or quickest route! On way I notice my auxilary driving lights were not working and hand brake sensor playing up. I presume all to courtsey of the kind people with high pressure washers employed by Aussie immigration!
Lots of piccies have already been posted on OBC so I will skip that.
After OBC went to Adelaide to fly out to Singapore to meet up with Barbara. It was good to be out of the S,S & F for a while.
Anyway back to Adelaide, orgainised fitting of UHF and HF radios. CB's are a waste of space out here. These will be fitted next week. 110 refused to start in Adelaide. A bit of head scratching. Engine turned over ok. Had just refuelled from nearly empty. Air lock, crud, bad fuel??? Manually pumped lift pump, on third attempt it fired up. Got spare lift pump, considered replacing it. So far it has worked ok since. Why did it decide to play up??
Off to Melbourne to deliver 3 Mud Consoles to a fellow 110 owner via the Prince Highway (Limestone coast) and the Great Ocean Road (Shipwreck coast) The National parks out here have a differenrt attitude to 4WD and give out maps etc. Responsible 4WD is encouranged! Lots of beach/sand dune driving. Engine compressor is great. Have no worries about lowering tyre pressure to 15 psi as can have all 4 wheels back up to road pressure in 7 minutes
Great Ocean road is claimed by Aussies as most scenic road in world. It is very impressive. No beach driving here as sheer cliffs abound, but can drive the headlands ok.
After the LR courier service had delivered goods to Melbourne , headded off to Grampians. Lots of 4WD tracks here. Some have been closed for seasonal reasons, all clearly marked. Did track called Hines track. Steep rocky uphill, with clay dams to prevent water erosion. Got some wheel spin close to top so stopped to consider options. realised about to get dark soon so decided to turn round and go back. By time turned round it was DARK. Night falls quickly here.
Anyway followed my tracks back and hit the sealed roads to Halls Gap. Just before Halls Gap a series of hairpin bends with an advisory 35 kph. With roos eating at side of road went into bends slowly. Good job as lost all side and head lights!! Lucas had struck. Drove into HG on top lights and hazards. First building was local cop shop! Gratefully they were all busy drinking cocoa!
Had internet access but no mobile access. Problem was light switch. Brian off Four + sent me part number. Michael (Mud Console guy) in Melbourne has sourced me the part and is bringing it out to Maryborough for me. Hopefully 110 will be up and running properly soon. No matter what spares you have you always need something else!
From here, will doi Little Desert, Big Desert and Border Track on way back to Adelaide
Will post some photos later
Regards
Brendan