Mad rush this morning. Was supposed to be in Beaudesert by 7.30am to meet the Barnes'.
At 6.50am William was sitting in the car screaming "I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go!"
At 7.20am, we are stuck out the front of Dan & Kloe's house with the park brake stuck on. After a phone call to Steven, our mechanic/sponsor, we were informed we had to jack the back wheel and rock the car to release the park brake due to the weight of the trailer pushing on the car.
At 7.50am we were finally on our way. After a fuel stop in Beaudesert we all headed off together.
Kelley commented to Neil that once we reached Boonah, we would be right. Tamara had sent a message to people saying we had made it to the Boonah turnoff so we were right.
As Steven & Tamara turned the corner Tamara noticed smoke coming off the rear wheel of the car. On later inspection Steven discovered the exhaust had melted the left hand air shock. So David to the rescue! He bought a standard set of shocks and some helper springs. After an hour and a half and a lovely picnic on a dirt road, we were on our way again at 10.30am.
The Car was running beautifully at 55mph until we hit Cunningham’s Gap. After climbing at a speed of 30mph in 2nd gear, once we made it to the top, coming down the other side, it didn't want to jump into top gear until we reached the bottom. Once in top gear it didn't want to sit on anything less than 60mph. We must have broken the new engine in.
Coming into Warwick, Will coughed (from his croup) and threw up. He also had a green ant bite on his foot that wasn't looking the best. We decided we needed to get to a chemist. We made it to the main street and pulled up about 12.15pm. As Kelley ran in looking for a chemist, Neil pulled the keys out of the ignition to get into the boot, and when he tried to put the key back in the ignition, it wouldn't go back in.. Kelley had to run up the road to the only chemist left open on a Sunday and informed Steven of Neil's troubles on the way. Our mechanic/sponsor walks down to Neil while Kelley bought Phenergan for Will. Once again. Steven fixed up the problem with primitive tools (a key ring) and we were on our way.
By this stage, we are unable to lock the car doors (due to an issue with the door locks discovered on Saturday) and have to leave a key in the ignition for fear of it happening again!
Kelley took over the driving, after having lunch in the park, and we headed to Goondiwindi.
About 10 mins out of the Goondiwindi bypass BP, we noticed Steven & Tamara weren't behind us. We decided to turn around and go looking. On completion of the U-turn, with cough and a splutter we worked out why Steven & Tamara weren't behind us. We had both run out of petrol. While Neil was putting extra fuel in from a Jerry Can, Steven and Tamara pulled up next to us. Laughing.
We got to the BP at 4pm and decided enough was enough and to call it a day.
We are staying in the Rivergum Caravan Park in Goondiwindi town. David & Jean arrived safely about 45 mins later (they had left Beaudesert at 1pm!) Not the best caravan park but we are all happy to have a shower and a good laugh about our day. Looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully more adventuring and less hassles!
Neil & Kelley x