surferboys nats diary

[surferboy]

Nats day 3
Diary day 14

We all cruised into town
The traffic lights stay red for a long time
and the traffic gets a bit backed up


 

So we took the opportunity to visit the local market
Where I saved $80.00  .....unless you listen to Cathy who says I wasted $10.00 on my Singer sewing machine 

Then we CROOOOOOOZED     



I think these guys should win the "Bad Luck" award
I don't think they noticed that somebody stole thier car while they were changing the flat tyres


The girls ran around with eggs and spoons

(thats because girls are used to working with eggs & spoons cos they spend lots of time in the kitchen     )

and this is what a carpark looks like
FEs & FCs as far as the eye can see


Sunday night found us at the Function Centre where lots of people were happy getting well deserved trophys for the quality of thier vehicles

Congratulations to everybody

and lots of people were happy because we got







CAKE 



Oh yea....I nearly forgot 
Somebody proposed marriage
But I was busy at the time and couldn't take any photos 


  & the future Mrs

PS YES it is real

[surferboy]

NATS DAY 4  (the extra bonus day)
Diary Day 15

We CROOOOOOZED  again   

To Bathurst to do some bog laps of Mount Panorama
(and as usual you could only see HOLDENS going across the finish line.....Not a f##d to be seen  )

The track


The carpark(before we did our laps)


And then we hit the track 




and then the batteries died on the camera so I don't have one photo 

hoping Tailshaft Tim & customFC can post some of thier pics (because there pics have my wagon on them    )

Tailshaft was running over ripple strips cutting corners to make it more realistic

I suggested to the future Mrs we could make it seem more realistic by crashing into the wall on the cutting.......she wasn't impressed !

It's at this point most people started heading home in different directions and it was time to say goodbye to lots of friends as the 13th Nats wound to an end

Time to start planning for the 14th Nats in 2012

  & the future Mrs

[surferboy]

Diary Day 16

The TRIP HOME starts today 

Orange to Cobar, a nice easy 440kms

It rained  (yes I remembered to take the gaffa tape of the wipers  )


Stopped at Nyngan to take this photo for our Great Outback Adventure


and realized it must of been really raining....when I stepped out of the wagon onto what I thought was damp red gravel
and found it was 6"deep red MUD !

Stopped at Dubbo for lunch.( Note to self for future trips......DO NOT stop at Dubbo for lunch !) (long story)


The map looks like this at the end of day 16



I decided to add the extra bit
(PS its NOT to scale)

  & the future Mrs

[smithy]

once again mate cracking story.
ive been following you travels with great enjoyment, you ever thought of going into travel brochure writing 

hope you both have a safe trip home.


dean

how are you going to top this in 2012, maybe circumnavigate the whole country before ending up at the nats?

[RET]

Dead right, you're gonna have a hard time topping this next time around!

Great work.

cheers
RET

[surferboy]

Day 17

Cobar to Broken Hill 450km

The road looks a lot like this


and the TomTom looks a lot like this





The previous days of rain caused this

and then the fine weather today

Brought the LOCUSTS out AGAIN


Hit a wall of locusts 50km out of Wilcannia. Temp started to rise as we pulled in for fuel. No hose available to clear radiator and no hardware store to get screen. Brushed of squashed gooey bugs by hand and then continued trip to Broken Hill
(note to self for future trips ...DON'T STOP at Wilcannia)
50 more Kms of locusts and we pulled over to clear radiator (preventative medicine)
Made a stiff bristle brush to scrape dead bugs away by Gaffa taping a bundle of cable ties together    (I knew this stuff would all be useful)

The wagon looked like this by Broken Hill

 




Then after lugging all our luggage up the stairs ( I haven't seen it but I'm sure the kitchen sink is in there somewhere)

(note to self...don't book hotels with stairs )

I WASHED  the wagon and put some screen on the front as the locals were expecting the locusts to get WORSE 




and






they were right












         


the map



YES the gaffa tape is back on the tailgate
(it's just not sealing tight and we were getting fumes...gaffa tape was easier and quicker than trying to get the lock adjustment perfect )





  & the future Mrs

[surferboy]

Diary Days 18 & 19

Two lazy days in Broken Hill

We visited Broken Hill on the Trip to Mt Gambier in 2008 so theres not a lot for us to do. Its a good rest before we do some long distances and long days of travelling to get us home.

Visited Silverton (Thier claim to fame is its where they filmed Mad Max.....just like Coober Pedy and half the country towns across Australia)
BUT...Silverton does have




The Pub  (with a black f##d poorly imitating mad maxs car parked out the front)

It improved greatley with a Classic Aussie Holden parked out the front 



and the locusts were worse out here...and the flies were worse than the locusts !

It rained most of the day today(Friday) so we wandered aimlessley around the shops
and then came back to the hotel and spent all afternoon catching up on the diary
(I'm not very good at this computery stuff...as anybody who saw my presentation at the Nats would know  )


  & the future Mrs

[fe-ambo]

Bet the locals couldnt believe their eyes when an old Holden with a surf board strapped to the roof pulled up in the middle of nowhere. 

I have really enjoyed the photos and comments on your travels. The next Nationals wont be the same without the diary but I am hopeing someone will take the task on.

Safe travels for the rest of your journey.

Cheers
Paul

[JB]

Imagine all of these spots with 40 - 50 Fe/Fc's standing out in front, maybe even more!!

[customFC]

Hey Surferboy.
We can't have holes in this fantastic journey, so let me try to fill in the blanks with a pic or 2.

First up, congrats on a truely surprising proposal.


Now for your journey around this place.


The start of the lap, and it's up Mountain Straight.


Through the Quarry and headed into the cutting.


Through Reid Park.


Entering McPhillamy Park at the top of the mountain.


Across Skyline.



The decent into the Esses and the Dipper.


Headed into Forrest's Elbow.


The hump in Conrod Straight.


The end of Conrod, just before The Chase.


A bit of traffic in The Chase.


Murrays Corner, (the final corner) with the entry to the Pits on your left.


Onto the start finish straight.


Looking forward to your next installment.
Regards
Alex

[TTV6FC]

Nice work Alex.That 2nd photo hit me as being an absolute cracker!How often would you get a photo with such significance?Well done also Suferboy for another inspiring installment to your Nats diary. Jamie.

[EffCee]

I too concur with Jamie, that 2nd photo is a brilliant shot. Well done Alex. Also well done to Surferboy's proposal, loved that way Surferboy feigned computer illiteracy, went to the old method of butchers paper, with Cathy as his assistant holding up said butchers paper, used the old style mouse (Pen) dropped it, and of course, while down on one knee came out with the ring.... Well done

Congratulations to you both

[surferboy]

Day 20

Broken Hill to Wudinna  670km

Leaving Broken Hill where the streets are paved with gold iron



LOCUSTS
We were chatting with a couple over brekky at the B&B and we all agreed a locust plague was much better than a mouse plague

Stopped for a toilet break at Yunta
and found Gaffa tape can't fix everything 


Sam (?) a Broken Hill local (S.A. club member) was on his way south for GM Owners Day in his really nice original sedan
The motor had a horrible knocking sound and it was spitting oil out of the exhaust.
We left as he was organizing a tow truck to get it home 



Some people might find it boring
but I love the changing landscapes and colours
( the photos don't do the landscapes justice)(especially as most are taken at 110kmph)

Got to Wudinna and found a notice in the motel room asking us to report any problems caused by the current seasonal plague of .... MICE 


  & the future Mrs

[surferboy]

Thanks for posting the Bathurst pics Alex. There's a couple there I'd love to have in my collection on the "office"wall.
Cathy likes the first pic 

and I forgot this
(my mind is frazzelled from all the hours and time zones and different locations)



Day 21
The 700km+ drive back across the Nullabor
(note to self.....stop planning 700km+ days !)

Left Wudinna early  (wasn't that a suprise:o ) at 7.50am
It's a long drive....made a little longer when you get behind one of these

 

overtaking adds a bit of excitment to the journey when you have to put two wheels in the gravel at 110+km/h




This is the Eyre Hwy across the Nullabor
Most people seem to think you are a million miles from civilization in the middle of an endless desert
But you are only about 20km from the coast for most of the trip.With ocean views as you approach Eucla. and there are roadhouses every couple of hundred of Kms and LOTS & Lots of passing traffic.
AND yes it's ALL bitumen

end of a long day arriving at Eucla at 4.15pm




  & the future Mrs

[RET]

Looks like you could stop and give that surfboard some action in those last pics.

Great story, as always.

cheers
RET

[surferboy]

Diary day 22

We're back in Western Aust.
Which means we're nearly home.
Which means our holiday is nearly over 
Which means it's nearly time to go back to w**k   

890Kms today so not much time for photos
Here's one of the TomTom (it doesn't have to work very hard on these trips  )


The landscape starts to change as you approach Madora
it's a beautiful change of scenery as you rise through Madora Pass

and then.........
you know you're nearly there when you pass the
shoe tree,   & and the cap tree,   & the bra tree,   & the odds and sods tree

and with kettles, colanders, sandwichmakers, caps, aprons, telephones, tomato sauce bottles, etc, etc....
this must be the kitchen tree 



Note to 2012 Nats attendees.....don't forget to bring a tree decoration 

We lost valuable time as we got stuck for a while at Madora Roadhouse because the fuel bowser wasn"t working.
But this guy seems to have been waiting a little bit longer




So we enjoyed another game of golf
the Par 1,234,567,890 hole on the Nullabor golf course


After leaving Eucla before 7.00am we eventually arrived in Kalgoorlie after 4.00pm
about 10 hours ( or 9hours or 11hours  )on the road  (after +ing or is it -ing    for time zones)
Note to self.... Definately DO NOT plan 890Km days !

end of day 22




  & the future Mrs

[surferboy]

Day 23

Anything NOT to get home
because getting home means going back to w##k
because we didn't win $30million in lotto in South Aust ......or NSW....or Vic......or ACT     

So we booked an extra day in our ***** luxury
and relaxed in the spa all day today



NO Kms
NO map

thats all for today

  & the future Mrs

[surferboy]

EXCLUSIVE    EXCLUSIVE    EXCLUSIVE

MYSTERY NATIONALS ATTENDEE SEEN LEAVING KALGOORLIE BROTHELS

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES




A mystery figure was captured by an eagle eyed photographer
leaving a number of Kalgoorlie brothels

His attire leads us to believe he was a recent attendee at
The 13th FE-FC Holden Nationals in Orange











Super Dooper EXCLUSIVE pics show him entering his favourite room








and our SUPER Super Dooper pic shows
the most comfortable back seat in Aust





A "friend" of the mystery person was quoted as saying "He was only asking for directions".

[surferboy]

Yes that's Peter Brocks signature on the boot
with the message "Enjoy life"

No photos are allowed inside Langtrees
but you can be suprised what you get when you cruise up in an Aussie classic   

I bet the Hot Rodders in thier american cars didn't get what I got 

 

[surferboy]

Day 24

THE FINAL DAY                    



just love the colours of the Aussie Outback



Thought I must have taken a wrong turn and ended up in Queensland





AND
THE FINAL MAP




Thank you
to everybody who made our trip so enjoyable

  & Cathy (the future Mrs )






2012 will be a VERY short diary
We live 30minutes from the Nats HQ !

So I expect to be reading 40 diaries from all our Eastern States friends