Advertisement
Blog 19 - …. And back to the Central Coast again!
We had been gearing up for a busy time over Easter at Top of The Town Tourist Park. When we received news that Peter’s mum was slipping away fast, we decided to pack up and head back “home”.
We finished our shifts at the park on Sunday 3rd April, had a farewell drink with friends, and left the park on Monday morning, planning to stop off at Tamworth for a cup of tea with friends, before continuing further south. However, our fate was to prove otherwise. Some of you have had a detailed encounter of the events of the following 2 days, some of you have been spared all the gory details, and some of you have absolutely NO idea of what is about to be revealed.
As we hooked up the car behind the motorhome, Peter noticed that the Exhaust Brakes were not gaining the required pressure to operate correctly. A quick phone call to the mechanic in Tenterfield had him expecting us to arrive in about an hour. He took an hour to correct the problem but for quite some time he was baffled about
The 3 hour wait was over
It took about one more hour to get us hooked up securely the cause of the problem and was about to give up!
On our way again, happily listening to the exciting description of the Quiddage World Cup Game in Harry Potter, when a horrible clunking and shuddering noise rocked the van. Wendy looked up to notice that our vehicle was on the INCORRECT side of the New England Highway! Peter announced that we must have blown a tyre. Thanks goodness the brakes had been rectified and worked perfectly, allowing us to stop on the right-hand verge of the road. It would have been very messy had we gone over the slight embankment to our right. Peter had been right! We had blown a tyre (there was almost nothing left). There was no space for the jack to go under the axle, so we called Roadside Assist. We had to wait 3 hours for the heavy tow truck to come collect us. To fill in time we unhooked the car, moved it and the van sightly to the right (off the road a bit further), had lunch, and said a few silent prayers of thanks. You see, the whole time we were waiting for the tow truck, there was a constant
Hissss
The deformed metal plate had punctured the new tyre stream of cars, semi-trailers and B-Doubles, “flying” past our van within a few meters, causing a gentle rocking motion! As we were crossing to the wrong side of the road, there had been no traffic in sight!
We were taken to Glen Innes just on 5pm, meaning that the repair could not be done until the morning. We were happy to be locked in the tow-truck/ bus depot yard for the night. In the middle of the night we received the inevitable phone call, telling us that Peter’s Mum had passed away. Peter promised his sister that he would get back to the coast as soon as humanly possible. We expected that that would mean “tomorrow”.
The “Towie” arrived at 7:30 the next day to take us the Beaurepaire workshop. As he dragged the van out of the yard, the plumbing underneath the back of the van was ripped off, spewing “grey water” all up the streets of Glen Innes. Not Happy Jan!!!
Running repairs on the plumbing, a new tyre on the front of the truck, assurances that the metal plate that had been bent out of shape by the blow-out, would NOT interfere with the new tyre,
Not-so-smiley face
The windscreen damage - Peter suggested it resembles a big smiley face. a 10:30 breakfast, and we were on the road again. OK, all is well.
Only another 50 km down the road and we both tuned into an eerie clunking sound. You guessed it! The damaged metal plate in the wheel arch was making contact with our brand new tyre. We had to get safely off the road – not much room where we had stopped. We limped onto the driveway of a service station at Llangothlin, a little settlement just north of Guyra. The mechanic came out with a crow-bar to move the metal plate away from the tyre which was hissing with air escaping from it. Once the weight of the vehicle was not pressing down on the tyre, the leak stopped. We relocated the van to a safer spot, unhooked the car again and waited for the man from Beaurepairs to arrive with another new tyre. Plenty of time for lunch again! To ensure the metal plate would cause no further problems, he used a 20 tonne jack to bend the plate back away from the tyre!!! 20 Tonnes!! The 5 tonne attempt only pushed it back while the pressure was on, then it popped back within range to be a nuisance again. OK, all is well. Wendy bought some Guyra tomatoes from the servo/ Post Office and we were on our way again. OK, at this rate it looks like we should stay with our friends in Tamworth tonight, yes, that would be a really good idea. We can’t take any more stress, worry, anxiety etc. Of course, while all our travelling dramas were unfolding, Peter was speaking his brother and sisters, and beginning to make the necessary arrangements. We drove straight through Guyra, zoomed along the Armidale by-pass, and starting to feel …… dunno really! Coming into Uralla, passing some oncoming traffic and BANG! A rock was thrown up to the windscreen. Peter had seen it coming and ducked. It did not penetrate the windscreen, but by golly it was loud, and it sure would have made a mess, had it come through. Peter was thumping the steering wheel in anger, fright and disbelief (and saying a few choice words) when we passed a random breath test unit. It was lucky for the officers on duty that they were on the other side of the road. Had Peter been pulled up, one can only wonder at what might have happened next.
We were both quite shell-shocked now, and all we wanted to do was get to Tamworth, stop the motor, and be safe.
However, the Moonbi Range was between us and our destination. We had driven this road several times during our visit to Tamworth 12 months ago, so we knew what was ahead of us. It’s a very steep road up and down. Here goes! Silence, silent tears and silent fears, imaginary disasters and intent listening and holding on tight.
We made it!
We arrived in North Tamworth just in time to call into Capital Caravans, in order for measurements to be taken for the plumbing repairs. We arrived at our friends’ house on sunset and heaved a huge sigh of relief as we drove through the palm trees at their front gate. It had taken us 2 whole days to travel 356 km.
We stayed 2 nights with Carol and Ernie and then left the van with Capital Caravans for repairs, returning to the coast in our little Suzuki. The first half hour or so of the trip was silent, hoping and praying that our bad fortune was now over, and not transferred to this next stage of our trip.
We made it to Jilliby safely and without incident on Thursday 7th April.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.056s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 13; qc: 30; dbt: 0.0295s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb