Indulgence

Possibly the main advantage of being a grandparent, is come the end of the day you can sleep soundly knowing that night time bottles, nappy changes, tantrums and other disturbances can be left to the parents.  Conversely, grandparents are permitted to buy entirely inappropriate presents, over-excite the little ones just before bedtime and produce sweets and treats whenever they feel like it.  Mind you, they know the problems of parenthood – they were the parents a generation ago.  Is it that they are getting they own back?

Kim and Mike don’t see their grandchildren too often.  It’s sixteen or so hours flying time and a huge time difference so Skype generally provides a poor substitute.  But now they are in Milwaukee, they make the most of their time with Leilani, age 3 and George, eight months.  Within hours of them arriving George had started to crawl and Kim lost no time in joining him on the floor

Leilani likes to help and soon showed her prowess with the broom clearing up after George’s dinner time.

Speaking of meals, George enjoys leading the fashion in wearing his meals almost as much as he does eating them.  At eight months the whole concept of eating is taken very seriously.

Easter Sunday and about 300 small children under 4 arrived for the Easter egg hunt.  Actually there were only about eight of them but it seemed like 300!  Industrial quantities of small plastic eggs had been scattered around the garden and with whoops of delight the toddlers set off with their baskets to retrieve their fair share of the hoard.  Not all eggs contained chocolate.  In the interest of parent sanity some were filled with small bags of sweets that could be rationed as appropriate while others contained small toys, possibly to divert attention from the chocolate. 

For the parents, lunch and drinks provided a welcome diversion before supervising of the younger ones and their food.  How the kids managed to eat anything after all that chocolate was nothing short of amazing.  Hopefully all of them retained their input!

To avoid confusion, Kim is known as Nye Nye, which is Chinese for Grandma, a spurious link to the past – Kim and Mike were married on Hong Kong.  Mum Anna and Dad John both have demanding careers and as Easter week is a holiday at kindy, Granddad and Nye Nye were left in charge for Monday and Tuesday.  Granddad aged visibly!

Tomorrow we’re all away to Indiana to spend a few days on a farm.  How we get on will be the subject of the next blog.  Until then, this is a tired but happy Granddad signing off.

The Empire Builder

An Amtrak train known as the Empire Builder starts in Seattle, progresses north towards the Canadian border then turns east before gently edging south finishing in Chicago.  The journey of some 2,000 miles takes two days and two nights, passing through six States and three time zones. 

We’ve travelled by train across America twice before and enjoy this relaxed form of transportation.  Views from the window can be spectacular, especially when crossing the mountain range that follows the western seaboard.  Slowly climbing upwards through the dense pine forests amongst snow covered mountain peaks in Washington State, the railroad tracks cling to cuttings blasted from rock, cross icy cold melt water streams tumbling over rocks, traverse iron trellis bridges and pass through pitch black tunnels. 

It’s difficult to tear one’s gaze from the window but breakfast is announced and the first decision of the new day is what to eat for breakfast in the dining car.  Over breakfast we cross the border into Idaho but apart from a small sign there’s little else to distinguish the change.

We pass through the tiny settlement (one hotel and a few houses) of Essex in Montana before descending to undulating countryside to make a late morning stop at Havre, where we briefly depart the warmth of the train for some fresh air. 

On we travel through the seemingly endless farmland of North Dakota and Minnesota.  The train rumbles on, the scenery changes little and we are lulled into a state of sleepy euphoria until it’s time for dinner.  The dining car serves up an excellent steak and despite our claimed good intentions we both succumb to strawberry shortcake desert.  Then it’s back to our cabin for another rest before turning in for the night.

Next morning, as we cross the border into Wisconsin, the landscape becomes greener and dairy cattle are spotted from the windows.  The train stops at Milwaukee which is a bonus for us as we can ‘detrain’ as we are informed by the conductor, rather than going the entire way to Chicago.  Anna and new grandson George are there to meet us and suddenly the journey is done and we are delighted to arrive. 

Later, Granddaughter Leilani is collected from Kindy and there’s quite a bit of excitement about presents brought from Australia.  We’re here for a month and plan to enjoy it.

Across the Pacific

I’d not planned on writing a blog for this trip.  For a start we’re not in Vin Rouge our Land Rover and secondly, we’re not in Australia.  But I received a number of requests about writing one even before we left so here we go with the unintended blog.

Everything was going according to plan.  We were packed ready on time (probably for the first time ever), the taxi picked us up with no delay, check in went smoothly, we had time for checking out the duty free shop at Brisbane International and even for a leisurely coffee before the flight was called.  The flight to Los Angeles left on time and apart from the lack of legroom in QANTAS cattle class, we happily settled in to watching some movies and tried to doze for the next thirteen hours.  Our noise cancelling headphones, although not completely effective, do reduce considerably the background noise from the four engines that propel the 747 along at a ground speed approaching 500 kph.  We were happy to disembark at LAX and collect our luggage from the carousel ready for border protection checks and the onward domestic flight to Seattle.  Another three hours of flying and almost 30 hours without sleep and we again waited at another carousel for our baggage.  And it didn’t appear.  Only then did we discover that QANTAS had not provided us with the baggage check numbers.  Twenty four hours and a great many telephone calls later, we were once again reunited with the missing bags that had taken a side trip to San Francisco.  Ah, the joys of international travel.

A good night’s sleep and our bodily time clocks were some way towards catching up, or should that be falling behind.  Crossing the International Date Line means that one flies into the night, to greet the morning of the previous day.  In fact, arriving four hours in advance of leaving time.  I’m beginning to agree with the old Flanders and Swann opinion that ‘if God had meant us to fly, he would never have given us the railways!’ 

We wanted to make as much use of the time available to us in Seattle so after a quick check in at the hotel, it was hot foot to the Chihuly Glass and Garden museum.  Kim was keen to see the extraordinary and colourful artistic structures of glass, some under cover, many outside in the gardens.  We even saw a blob of molten glass moulded and blown into a delicate and elegant ribbed tumbler shape.

The displays was impressive to say the least.  Most were head height, some were three or even four times that size.  It was difficult to believe that they were actually made of coloured glass.

With just sufficient time before night fell, we made it to the top of the Space Needle, built for the 1962 World Fair.  At that time it was the tallest structure around.  Now it’s a bit dwarfed by tower blocks, but the view from the top is great.

Reasonably bright and early next morning found us at the Boeing factory where the larger jets are built.  These start off costing from $280 million and go up to about $350 million.  We couldn’t make up our minds which to go for so didn’t place an order. 

The building is huge, the largest by volume in the world.  Seeing a row of jumbo jets under construction looking like overgrown toys is rather mind blowing.  The scale of everything is staggering.

Our day finished with a trip underground.  In its early days Seattle was flooded regularly by high tides mixed with, let’s be polite and call it ‘waste’.  Finally the city father decided to raise the whole place some 30 feet which has left some parts accessible.  Early history of course is fascinating and brings to life tales of the ‘wild west’.  Mostly our guide seemed to be concerned with toilets and brothels.  Educating.

Knackered, we hit the sack.

Wednesday we mostly walked, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the Pike Place Markets and harbour.  Interesting.  They do seem to have their own names for some vegetables.

Late afternoon and we should have boarded the train.  However, a mud slip had closed the track and so the first part of the journey took place on a bus.  It’s now late evening.  Our cabin on the train has been converted for sleeping and so I’ll finish here.  G’night all.

Vin Rouge is getting some TLC

Have you ever tried to replace the ball joint at the bottom of the steering drop arm?  It seems easy enough.  Clean off the gunk, drop out the old, pop in the new.  Job done.  Except that it doesn’t work like that.  The steering on Vin Rouge was getting a bit iffy on the last leg of our trip and, as usual after extended travelling, I made up a list of those jobs that needed doing together with modifications and improvements I thought might be a good idea.

Top of the list was the front end, all to be done together.  The bumper came off easily enough, as did the spotlights, ‘A’ bar, steering guard, radiator and all the pipes.  It was then that it became obvious that the steering damper was not in the best of health and the ball joint was playing host to quite a large amount of the Northern Territory. 

Replacing the damper took a mere ten minutes.  Two coffees were required to consider how to break out the steering joint and the combined efforts of wedge, hammer and blowlamp did the trick.  Cleaning up was messy, but necessary, which naturally moved on to fitting the new ball joint.  Popping in the ball and loosely connecting it to the drop arm was simple.  That left the small matter of the spring and a circular plate, held in place by a circlip.  Now I’m sure that Land Rover sell a special (probably very expensive) tool for the job but I didn’t have one.  Attempt one using a couple of G cramps resulted in failure and flying springs.  Attempt two with a single G cramp and a couple of metal tubes met with similar results.  I thought I’d try a different approach with attempt three and used a jack.  All that happened was the Land Rover was raised.  That’s a seriously powerful spring in there!  Attempt four was delayed whilst more coffee was consumed.  A couple of metal plates together with a couple of bolts that should compress the spring was the general idea.  Wrong.  The makeshift tool simply bent.  However, the idea did seem to have some merit so the makeshift tool was remade using thicker metal reinforced with pieces of Australian Ironwood.

Attempt five - success.  With everything clamped up nicely the circlip slipped into place with ease.  Shame it took nearly all day.  Happily the new radiator with all its attachments, and the new front bumper with all its attachments went together easily.  The next job is to cut off the whole rear end of the chassis and weld in a new piece.  Seems easy enough . . . .

With the front looking respectable and the inside now more or less free of red dust it’s time to tackle the back end.  Vin Rouge spent its early years in the UK and suffered from the salting of roads during the British winters.  The result was an infestation of rust worm in the back end of the chassis.

Early one morning the delivery courier arrived struggling with an ungainly and heavy chunk of steel that masquerades as a heavy duty rear cross member.  In theory this is easy to fit as it comes with all the attachments.  All that’s needed is to cut the two longitudinal chassis rails and weld in the new piece.  Of course it doesn’t work quite like that.  But first it’s the application of two coats of RustGuard for added protection and leave it in the sun for a couple of days to harden off. 

Preparation started with the application of liberal quantities of WD40 to every nut and bolt.  After a week of this twice daily treatment nearly all of the bolts could be loosened and so the long-range fuel tank was drained and removed, the spare wheel carrier and towing gear taken off, the batteries disconnected, all the cables pulled back out of the way and the rear wheels removed to provide working space.  Day one passed reasonably uneventfully.

Fortunately, youngest son Alex has a friend who owns and is extremely competent using his plasma cutter and MIG welder, so come the weekend we got to work.  The last few bolts came out and the plasma cutter was employed to cut though the first chassis rail.  No problems.  Must be time for coffee.  The second rail has the added complexity that the main cable harness runs inside it (how do they build the thing like that?) and so it was necessary to cut the chassis rail behind the harness, then insert some heat protection before cutting the second rail to match the first.

After some rough trimming and cleaning of the exposed metal we were in a position to trial-fit the new part, except that it didn’t fit.  Land Rover’s precision to the nearest quarter inch was clearly in vogues and so various bits had to be removed from the new piece before we could finally get it into place.  Cue break for more coffee and some sandwiches.

Our very own pyrotechnic display soon had the back end looking tidy and the new rear cross member was bolted into place and spot welded.  That cable harness was giving some cause for concern as it would be hidden behind the place where the welding would take place.  We’d used a couple of rolls of electrical tape as sacrificial protection so far but felt that a something a little more substantial would be needed – just in case.  The solution was found in a length of bamboo cut and split lengthways then taped around the cable harness.  It worked!  Celebrate with more coffee.

Welding took time.  First a section on one side of the chassis was welded and while that cooled a section on the other side was done.  After that it was a matter of welding back the bits we had to cut off to make everything fit.  Come the end of the day, the chassis was whole again.  Cue for beer – we’d had enough coffee.

Next morning a trial-fit of the fuel tank revealed that it didn’t, so modifications were required to the fixing brackets and that completed the cutting and welding. 

Three coats of RustGuard later and the underside was beginning to look as it should.  It was time to reinstall the fuel tank.  It did go back – eventually – after a lot of pushing and shoving, accompanied by a steady stream of invectives.  Cables were connected and much to my amazement, everything worked.

Several coats of protective wax/oil stuff was sprayed inside and outside the chassis, after which the wheels went back on, new mudflaps were fitted and the job was done. 

Waking up the following morning I had rather en empty feeling.  There was nothing more to do on Vin Rouge.  At least until the next time.

The wrap up

We’ve done it!  We’ve driven more or less all the way around the Australian continent, had an amazing time, met some super people, seen a lot of extraordinary sights and have enjoyed every minute.

I suppose it’s almost compulsory to add in the facts and figures, so here goes:

• Distance travelled - 24,035 kilometres (14,945 miles)
• Fuel used - 2,595 litres (685 gallons)
• Average fuel consumption - 10.79 litres per 100 kilometres (26.17 miles per gallon)
• Breakdowns - Nothing serious.  Stone guards on both rear wheels were shaken off by corrugations, second battery failed and was replaced, and power assisted brakes failed temporarily
• Tyres - No punctures, although we’ve worn about 3 mm of rubber, mainly on rough tracks in the Limmen National Park and on the Gibb River Road.

Oh yes, Kim took some photos - 11,500 of them!

That’s it.  Time for a rest.  I’m probably too old now for any more long trips, but I’ve not yet given up on the shorter runs. 

Watch this space.  In the meantime it’s goodbye from me, goodbye from Kim and goodbye from Vin Rouge.

The Last Leg

The Mitchell Highway from Orange to Sydney via Bathhurst and the Blue Mountains could do with some serious maintenance.  Bumpy, patched and rough, it chicaned through undulating and pretty countryside, passed through small towns, arable farmland and orchards.  We bumped along, stopped in Narromine to look at the statue dedicated to the cricketer Glen McGrath and again in Bilpin, to buy some locally grown apples.

We climbed up one side of the Great Dividing Range, passed through low cloud and the morning chill to descend into the flatter land that took us around the northern suburbs of that great urban sprawl known as Sydney.  We spotted the stately Warratah, the official floral emblem of NSW blooming alongside the road.  Naturally Kim had to stop and take photos and of course with no power assisted brakes, stopping took a lot of heavy footwork on the pedal.

For the first time in weeks we stepped into a real house!  Jillian, who lived next door to us in Brisbane a couple of years ago, had moved to Sydney and we enjoyed catching up with her news over a pleasant and relaxed lunch.  Then it was on to Peter and Katherine, our very good friends from Hong Kong days where we would enjoy not only a traditional G&T or several, but the pleasures of sleeping in a genuine bed.  Luxury! 

Thanks to a loan of Peter’s pressure washer it was time for Vin Rouge to have a thorough wash down and remove the insect cemetery from the front of the vehicle.  It must have made poor old Vin Rouge feel better because the power assisted brakes started to work again shortly after setting off north.  Katherine is a potter.  Her work is well known and she was exhibiting at Artisans in the Gardens.  Judging by the crowds, it was a popular exhibition.  So while Katherine talked to visitors about pottery, we wandered around the Botanic Gardens, stopping to watch the harbour whilst enjoying ice creams.  It made a pleasant change to be tourist for a while.

And of course, Kim found some flowers.

We spent a lovely evening in Tamworth with Lisa, a friend of Kim’s from way back.  Next day we decided to make it back to Brisbane in one hop, arriving as day became night.  We’d stopped to help a chap who’s vehicle had spun off the road but apart from that had a fast run all the way.

Now it’s over.  It’s been an amazing adventure.

To Nullarbor and Beyond!

The Eyre Highway, or Nullarbor does go on for a very long way.  Even at the checkpoints there seems to be a lot further to go.  At Kimba, which according to its signpost is ‘Halfway across Australia’ Vin Rouge was almost, but not quite squashed by a big galah!

We crossed the border into South Australia where time gets just plain silly.  In three days we changed time zones three times, moving not in solid hours, such as any normal country, but firstly 45 minutes, then another, and then 30 minutes.  Kim complained that she was suffering ‘Land Rover lag’ using this as an excuse to sleep in late.  One difficulty associated with the Nullarbor is the head wind.  Yes, we had it all the way across, not only a head wind but sometimes a head gale.  At times Vin Rouge, which is as aerodynamic as a brick, really struggled to make any headway above 70kph. 

At last we were through, 1,300 fairly tedious kilometres in three days.  The town of Ceduna, although well inside the South Australia border, is where the quarantine station is located.  Its purpose is to ensure that fruit flies on fresh fruit and vegetables are not brought into fruit growing areas and we were thoroughly checked to ensure compliance.  Carrying on to the small town of Winnulla, we camped overnight close to some giant grain silos.  The whole area is one vast wheat field, crops as far as the eye can see.  It’s farming on a grand scale.  The crops are harvested, stored in massive grain hoppers and silos, transferred to mile-long trains then transported to the docks for export in bulk tankers.

No self respecting Land Rover owner passes near to Wilmington without stopping at the Toy Museum.  True to form we dropped by to be greeted by David Christie and his son Adrian who informed us that a blue Land Rover towing a large boat had been through a few hours earlier and all was well.  The driver had left a message in case we called by.  Somehow both the car and the trailer had been fixed and he’d completed more than 700 kilometres without problem.  That news made our day.  Adrian showed us his latest project, a hybrid of various LR parts.  Although not quite complete, Mike had a drive and found it a lot of fun - very fast, amazing cornering and brakes that would stop a road train.

Over the border, into New South Wales and yet another time zone.  Broken Hill, known for its silver mine was our stopover point.  We weren’t too taken with the place.  It’s dominated by a massive slag heap and although there’s a few attractive buildings, they’re almost lost amongst the mass of ‘practical but ugly’ constructions.  However, at Bells Milk Bar, a throwback to the 1950’s, we had enormous milk shakes and enjoyed the nostalgic surroundings. 

Pro Hart is a well known Australian artist who started his working life as a miner before making a name for himself as a painter.  His work, some of it graphic, other work conceptual and yet more critical of mining avarice, we found challenging but moving.  He’d even painted one of his Rolls Royce cars in commemoration of Australia and the millennium.  We wondered; shouldn’t that have been a Holden?

Now Vin Rouge has been on its best behaviour for weeks.  With only a couple of minor issues through the remote and rough tracks we’ve been driving, the car has decided that it’s time to go home.  It probably heard us talking about it and so the vacuum pump (needed for power assisted braking) failed.  I can hear it thinking ‘let’s get home asap, no need to slow down’.  As it would take a couple of days to get a new pump flown in at extortionate cost, we elected to drive back to Brisbane and ship in a new pump from the UK at a quarter of the cost.  However, it’s Sydney first to catch up with some friends before the last leg north to Brisbane and home.