surferboys nats diary

[surferboy]

Day 6

We are staying in a cave



and I found I get optus coverage if I sit out on the verandah but not inside the cave. So I'm sitting out here watching the beautiful sunset while I send my Diary



AAAAARRRGGHH 

Change of plans
The sun has set and ALL the creepy crawlies are attracted to the laptops screen

I will post photos tommorrow from the Butcher shop in Port Pirie


Goodnight
Fred & Wilma

[lucky_gwen]

Love reading your diary.
I am in Canberra and are having seconds thoughts whether to drive the FC to Orange or not. This is the first old car I have driven and to me it feels like the old thing is going to fall apart. Not sure if thats how it is supposed to feel like. I didn't enter my car but would like to go and see everyone elses.

Cheers
Janette

[surferboy]

Hi Janette

3 rolls    Gaffa Tape
1 roll     Fencing Wire
1 roll     Green gardening wire
Asstd     Cable Ties
1          Tube Glue
2          Screwdrivers
1          Adjustable Spanner
1          Hammer

My toolkit for 3 trips acoss the Nullabor

 

[surferboy]

Day 6 contd

The said sunset



Had more trouble
Cattle grids every 5 kilometres on a 500+km trip
and the tailgate started popping open on every one

so I fixed it better



Went digging for opals  (we found there is absolutely nothing else to do in Coober Pedy)



while "Wilma" did some housework



After dinner


I needed a good lie down


Some rusty stuff




No fuel today   

Because I had second thoughts about driving to Ooooddnnaddatttttta



  & Cathy

[surferboy]

Day 7

Coober Pedy
Been there...Done that.
and if Cathy has her way,  we will never do it again !

It's DIFFERENT 
Its OK if you don't mind driving the 550km to sleep in a hole in a hill in an OUTBACK town with lots (and lots and LOTS) of flies,avoiding the drunks wandering the streets and being ripped off by opal sellers(we are tourists so we expect this).

( I would do it again  . But we all know I'm a nutter )

I'm sending this post on day 8 from the laundromat in Port Pirie while Cathy catches up on some of the mundane tasks of our Outback Adventure.  It's not ALL driving
The dryer has just stopped so it's time to go driving and sightseeing again
I will post pics this evening


  & Cathy

[surferboy]

Day 7 (still  I think  .......Time zones, daylight saving and too many hours on the road )

Left Coober Pedy about 8.00am (Yes we slept in again)
Cathy looked like this 

The road out of town looks like this


and the TomTom looked like this for most of the day


It was overcast for most of the drive which made it much more comfortable than the drive into C.P.
Saw lots of wildlife,

Most of it dead on the side of the road
Being eaten by wedgetails
 

Stopped at Pimba,  Spuds Roadhouse, for lunch

Where you get to autograph the beer barrel if you manage to drink it dry


The rain started falling as we approached Port Augusta.
This time I remembered

to remove the gaffa tape BEFORE I turned the wipers on 

Arrived in Port Pirie around 3.15pm
and checked into our accomodation at the butcher shop



end day 7


116 Ltrs   $176.20    total 535.5Ltrs  and (allowing for day 5 corrections  10 cents of fuel  ) $826.85


  & Cathy

[surferboy]

and back to day 8
(or is it still 7,or have we got to day 9    Buggered if I can figure it out  )

Arrived yesterday ( ? or was it today ? or do we arrive here tommorow ? ) in Port Pirie.
Was a little bit worried when driving into town
It SMELLS a lot like Kwinana back home
and the first page of the tourism brochure is all about the towns challenge to get blood LEAD levels DOWN to World Health Organisation Standards. 

but the wind has been blowing in the right direction
and it's a nice town
AND we have chosen TERRIFIC accommodation. ( I always worry about descriptions on internet sites)

Staying at Sampsons Cottage,
a heritage Trust building that was a butchers shop back in 1887 and has been renovated and converted to a Bed & Breakfast with lots of Olde Worlde Charm












Theres no mod cons, such as radios
So you have to provide your own music




I LIED

there are some modern touches




Nice relaxing day
did laundry,
wandered around town,
went for a short drive around the countryside (and got lost  )

today 28.5 ltrs of fuel  $37.55          totals so far  564Ltrs of fuel  cost $864.30


  & Cathy

[JB]

Hey Surferboy,

Great to see the progress story and shots!!!

Had a mate tell me yesterday he averaged 170kph across the nullabor, my mind instantly thought of your journey across.

What does the old girl sit on across there??

Number of ways this can be taken of course... But the average speed would be the one I am after 

Cant wait to do it in 2012... hmmm 2012

Cheers
JB

[graham_fuller]

Great following yours and Cathy's diary. I don't need to go to all these places you have done it for us, and the best way to in an old Holden.
Cheers,
Graham

[Martin]

Hey Surferboy & Cathy,

I'm curious:

Saw lots of wildlife,  Most of it dead on the side of the road

How can it be wildLIFE if it's dead.  I guess it can be wild even if its dead:  I'd be pretty wild if I got hit by a bloody big roadtrain.

Great reading.

See you in Orange.

Martin

[EffCee]

Surferboy and Cathy,

Your diary makes great reading, Can't wait to see you in Orange

Keith

[surferboy]

Day 9
(the edited version....because my daft laptop shut down AGAIN and lost the 1 hour of work I just did)

Left Port Pirie before the sun came up



Book that was in cottage


Pics from the road trip



Thought we had arrived in Bathurst 


our first roadkill after leaving Mildura

Then it got worse before we got to Hay



Afte 750km, arrived in Hay. Stayed in a Bank tonight

97ltrs  $139.00   totals   671 ltrs   $1023.30

  & Cathy

[Maco]

Not too far now, enjoy the rest of the trip, see you tomorrow.

Cheers
John

[surferboy]

Day 10

an easy cruisey day down the highway and ino Canberra

The road looks a lot like THIS


Cathy looks like this 



We took the (everybody sing along now) "THE ROAD TO GUNDAGAI"



except you have to take THIS exit to get to Gundagai






Another new line on my map 


and I managed to post an update 

ORANGE TOMORROW 

  & Cathy

[surferboy]

Day 10

62Ltrs of fuel   $89.50        Totals     733Ltrs     $1112.80

 

[surferboy]

Day 17 

We are in Broken Hill tonight (So are all  the locusts)
We were way too busy having a GREAT time in Orange to find time to update the diary
and then the Optus problem stopped me.

So without further ado
I shall attempt to post some pics before the laptop hits the meltdown point 

  & the future Mrs

[GMH-O57(FLASH BACK 57)]

congrats on the engagement mate

[surferboy]

Day Eleven (lets do the timewarp again)

Cruised into my mate Kevins place to give him some advice on how to do his job better

Whats the bet he didnt listen to any of my words of wisdom 

Then we drove around ( & around & around & around)town trying to find our way here

( why doesn't Canberra have straight streets ?....if I had gone through that Edinburgh x Marcus Clarke intersection one more time I would have given up and drove home ! )
The Telstra tower
only to find they rip you off to get in.....dont they get enough out of me with my phone bill 
and then your camera battery dies when you get to the top and you've left the spare down in the car 

Caught up with the ACT guys

where they found out why you always carry a roll of gaffa tape



To cruise


TO ORANGE   



 

Some of the West Aussies got together for dinner



  & the future Mrs

[surferboy]

Day 12

DAY ONE OF THE NATS    

Its the day some people wash and polish

 

and some people




add lines to maps 

and we all joined a line


I thought it was one of the traditional Nats lines for a feed


But it wasn't 

It was registration
Before we cruised to the lake for a picnic


If your springs are soft and your front end sags

perhaps you need one of these 


We didn't need to q for Friday night Fish & Chips


and day 1 of our Nats weekend comes to a close

  & the future Mrs

[surferboy]

NATS DAY TWO
or day 13 of our diary

SHOW AND SHINE DAY


We all Q'd up ready to cruise along part of the GnooBlas track to the park


Which looked something like this




I'll let all the other guys post pics of the shiny cars

I liked this




I chose Anzac biscuits to go with my cup of coffee 

Somebody asked if he could see the motor that got us across the Nullabor

So somebody kindly showed me how to open the bonnet (and he didn't charge me $90 like my mechanic does  )






Sat Night had us ALL up and dancing to the band


except Dina the Super Hero (who saved Damiens car from damage)

(I'm not sure if this is joy because her vodoo doctor doll is working...or a grimace of pain because I just kicked her in the shin ?)

Had a terrific night
then went back to the motel to change the clock forward (or backward for daylight saving ...or did we drive through another timezone  so we wouldn't be late for Sundays cruise (or was it so we wouldn't be an hour early....?   I'm TOTALLY confused )

  & the future Mrs