On the road again.

It took some doing but we are back on the road.

After buying the car in Melbourne at Lillydale we drove to Preston to pick up the mattress we ordered for the new to make bed in the van. That all went really well and way before the heavy traffic started we drove out of the big city.A short stop along the highway to have a drink and an other drive for a couple of hours took us to Charlton were we found a nice motel for the night and a lovely old pub the have a meal and sink some cold drinks. In the morning we woke up refreshed and Carl and Marja went for an early swim before we hit the road again. The plan was to get to Mildura early in the afternoon so we could start preparing the van or do some shopping . The car was running great the aircon nice and cool and the road almost empty. We stopped for al lunch at Ouyen at the bakery, just in time because they wanted to close early because of the heat. After lunch the car refused to start, plenty of power in the battery but not a sound at all only the light on the dash where on. So I walked around to find a mechanic and to my surprise I found a Station of the racv who wanted to help me but told me to ring my insurance and road assist first. Now that took time like you don’t want to know, but in the end they decided to ring someone to come help. Just for fun I tried to start the car again and surprisingly it started to run without any problem just as the mechanic from the racv arrived. So with a big smile, easy money for him and no delay for us, we said goodbye. He thought it might have been the starter engine who got too hot in this weather and the long drive, advice “get it fixed in Mildura” . The rest of the trip was easy as. When we got to Mildura I drove straight to the garage were we been before, but it was so busy just outside there we drove on to the hotel to check in and bring the stuff up while Els stayed in the car with the engine running and aircon on, it was 50 outside. When Carl and me returned and Els went in the hotel the car stalled and all went blank.

The mechanic tried to get it going again without any luck. Next day our friend John towed the car to the garage to be fixed, and about 2 hours later we got the call that it was running again. Reason, some had taken out an alcohol lock and messed up the wiring all the way to the fuse box. In the mean time the dealer reacted to my calls and emails, with a lot of apologies and the promise to pay the cost we had to make to get it fixed.

Straightaway a service and total check-up arranged, so we could go with a good feeling on the road again. When we picked it up , he had more then 100 points checked and there was nothing wrong at all, we where good to go.

In the mean time we went swimming, shopping and caravan preparing so on Saturday morning we packed everything and hit the road shortly after 14.30 hours for Broken Hill. Were we arrived at 18.00 hours without a single hick-up.

More about Broken Hill in the next story.