Another rally blog

During the rally, we hooked up with Sheldon and his Dad Rex from Scuderia Shitbox. They are a seriously awesome couple of blokes. Sheldon has a blog too - http://hoonanism.com/. Check it out for his take on the rally as he updates it over the next couple of weeks.

Day 7 - The last leg.

Day 7 – the last day of the rally, and it was an early start. But, man was it worth it. After the traditional high fiber, low fat breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausages and toast, we boarded a ferry for a cruise along Katherine Gorge, seriously unbelievable. There was even some Aboriginal rock art to be taken in. After this it was a quick trip into Katherine to fill up with petrol, then cruise on up to Jabiru before heading on into Darwin……..or so we thought. The Alfa decided that it had gone far enough, with the front wheel bearings objecting to being alive and wanted to be euthanaised. So, an appropriate car park opposite a park was selected, and the bearings were re-packed over the next hour and a half. While this was happening, Dan took the radiator out of the ‘rona, reversed flushed it, and re-installed it. This was in the hope that the overheating issues would be sorted out. During this time EVERYBODY else in the rally took off, except for Mexican with Anchovies, whose timing gear in there 1979 HQ Holden crapped itself. What a bloody pity, to make it so far, then to have it crap itself 350 km from Darwin. A team in the rally owned the workshop that it was being worked on in Katherine. These boys drove a disabled taxi from Katherine to Brisbane back to Darwin, and they were the first to pitch in, try and find some timing gear, and attempt to get it going. This pretty much sums up the spirit that 90% of the people on the rally. Brilliant.

Katherine Gorge

Again - magnificant

Aboriginal rock art - 40,000 year old painting of an extinct rock wallaroo

Running repairs on the Alfa

After getting the cars going again we took off for Darwin. As we were so late, we had no choice but head straight there. On the way we stopped at Pine Creek for lunch, and Adelaide River as the ‘rona, the Dolly and the Eloise all overheated and needed a rest. It was a very boring drive up to Darwin with not a lot to see.

The assembly point in Darwin was the show grounds, and the three of us were the first ones there, despite the postings on Facebook that the ‘rona and the Alfa were out. Who would have thought, the oldest car in the field, and two cars renowned for being unreliable and temperamental, would make 3800 km along some seriously hard roads. What an amazing feeling, and what an incredible journey.

Once all the cars assembled, in the carpark, and several beers were drunk, all the remaining shitboxes travelled in a convoy into the hotel. 100 cars with their headlights on in a row going through the middle of Darwin was brilliant, and it was even more brilliant to be a part of it. It is fair to say that we all had a generous dollop of happy emotion. After several more beers, the auctions started. The Dolly went for $200, sold to the auctioneer, the ‘rona for $250 and sold to one of the Mexican with Anchovies, and the Alfa for $500 to……somebody.

The 'rona at the finish line

The Shitbox Angles - these girls rock!

Cheers to that!

Made it - and I'm seriously wrapped

Team America celebrating

Scuderia Shitbox celebrating

The ninja spirit!!

The cars ready for auction  - $25000 came from this

I want to say now thanks to everybody that has donated to this, helped out in anyway, and supported us in our endeavors. I feel very lucky to have been able to have this experience. I also want to say it has great meeting Sheldon and Rex – New Zealand’s version of Kramer – the Shitbox Angels, the blokes from support 2, and random other people along the way.

I especially want to thank my wife – she is the most amazing person and I am truly lucky that I was the one she thought she could spend the rest of her life with.

Finally, for me, this was done to honour the memory of my mum. She died on the 15^th of January 1989 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She was 40 years old. Wherever her soul is – I hope she is proud of what we have achieved.

Some final stats:

Total kilometers travelled: 3800 km

Total time on the road: 7 days

Cost of petrol consumed by the ‘rona: $567

Cost of petrol consumed by the Dolly: more than the ‘rona

Total liters of coolant used: 1234567890987654321 L

Total amount of beer drunk by 5 blokes: 99999999999999999 stubbies

Total amount of girly drinks drunk by Eloise: 9999999999

Total road kill seen: 766876876876 bodies

Total road kill by the Dolly: 6

Number of spark plugs: 200

Number of air filters: 2

Sticks of silver seal used: 2

Amount of WD40 used: 972235899235 cans

Number of dead shitboxes: 7

Total amount raise: $647000

Total raised by The Knack: $5118

Total raised by Team America: $4507

Total amount of breakdowns by the three cars: somewhere between 18 and 20000

Number of amazing experiences: infinite

Day 6 - A relaxing day was had on GPSL day 3

Day 6 was the run up from the Heartbreak hotel to Katherine, and it was what was needed after the previous days hard slog. It was a gentle start to the morning with another big feed of bacon, eggs, snags, mushrooms, tomatoes and toast. After that, we were away. It was a really uneventful 200 km drive from the hotel to Daly Waters, were we stopped for lunch. It is an awesome little place, with a very cool pub. We sat in the back of it, had a nice schooner of Coopers Pale, and chowed down on a magnificent barramundi burger. Eloise and Stu picked up some Team America bling for home, a map of Australia made out of wood with Team America imprinted on it. Noice!!

The cars ready for day 6

Eloise - ready to rock!

Hole crap - we are in the middle of nowhere, and Stu has a highway named after him.

Another interesting fact about Daly Waters is that Stu’s parents (when Stu was an ankle biter) lived there for a while, in the house diagonally across from the pub. I think that may well explain his love of a quite beer or 20. The cars were behaving themselves reasonably well, although the ‘rona was still running a little too hot. From Daly Waters we sprinted up to Mataraka, and went to the thermal springs. During this run the ‘rona really objected, and had to sit on the side of the road for around 30 min while it cooled down. The fluid in the overflow bottle was boiling! Amazingly, the Dolly continued to behave itself (the glares that Eloise gave it when it misbehaved were enough to cool it down). So too did the Alfa, much to the delight of Sheldon. I guess the issues with the respective eclectics the previous day bought both cars some karma.

Daly waters hotel

The main drag of Daly Waters

A dirty Alfa

The springs at Mataranka are bloody wonderful. Eloise, Rex and Dan went for a swim, while the rest of us had a squizz around. A few more pales at the pub were consumed. It was great to stop in there as my Great Aunt lives there with her son Steve (the owner). We had a good chat about everybody and everything, and Eloise and I got a real close first hand experience with a joey and adult agile wallaby, a wollaroo, and a baby goat.

Far too much time was spent at this little oasis, which put us massively behind time. We were 70 min from Katherine, and by the time we left had to be there within 15 min. And with the ‘rona running bloody hot all day, we had to easy it off on the way up to Katherine. Consequently, we had to set our camp gear up (again) in the dark before heading out for dinner at the Katherine Country Club (yep – you read correctly, the Katherine Country Club!!!!). Another bbq dinner (bloody fantastic as well) was had by us all, but it was a relatively early night. We have a river cruise to get to, which meant a 5:15am wake up. What a great last day to my GPSL residential.

Dan drinking.....with a couple of panda's

The reason for doing this.

Kilometers travelled: 460 km

Total time on the road: 10 h

Road kill:  <1

Road kill by the Dolly: 0

Coolant consumed by the Dolly: 60 L

Coolant used by the ‘rona: 285000 L

Number of stubby’s drank by the 5 blokes: 587

Number of girly drinks drunk by Eloise: 0

Number of pissed Panda’s at the bar: 2

Day 5 - A most brutal day (GPSL Day 2)

Day 5 was the longest, most difficult, most challenging and most rewarding day of driving I have ever had. The day started early from Hellsgate Roadhouse, and it took about half an hour before the first of 7 serious river crossings. There was a bit of queue that we joined, right next to a grass fire. Nice, at least there was a river near by. 

Grass fire near our first crossing

Our first river crossing

A volvo powers through the river

The Dolly full of water

In what seemed like a bad omen for the day the Dolly stalled crossing the first one – and took 25 mins to get started again. Most impressively the foot wells of the Dolly started to fill up with water. It took some time to bucket the water out. At the second crossing it happened again, and took half an hour to get going again.  It was a serious struggle to get her going, but some cunning bush mechanic work from the Red dirt Roosters, Stu and Sheldon got her up and barking again. The Alfa and ‘rona seemed to handle the second crossing quite ok. But after the Dolly got up and going the Alfa wouldn’t start. It took 25 min to get the Alfa going. The ‘rona stalled across this water crossing, but again was able to be started and came out of it under her own steam. Then the third one came. And the warning went out, “Don’t get out of your cars to take photo’s as there is a croc about!”. Strewth! Happily for Eloise and Stu the Dolly made it through no problems at all. So did the Alfa and the ‘rona………...apparently. On closer inspection the ‘rona had a hole in the radiator, courtesy of an argument with the radiator fan. Bugger! 2 cans of silver seal, and god knows how much Angel dust from the Shitbox Angels and the ‘rona was ready to go.

Big paddocks up here!

A hole in the 'rona's radiator

The road was seriously rough, dusty and rocky, and it was seriously slow going. We averaged 30 km/h for the first 6 hrs. There was no stopping for lunch as we just didn’t have time. It was just a slow hard grind. Then came the last of the river crossings. This one was a corker. There was no option to be had but to be towed across it by a four-wheel drive. This did the ‘rona and the Dolly no harm at all, and aside from a little water from the river in the cars, all was good. However the Alfa again got all-Italian on us and refused to start. The three other teams we were travelling with (Shitbox Angles, Rad Team Awesome and Deutschland Downunder) left us as they need to get going to try and make it before dusk. It took 40 min to get the car going again, but some determination from Stu and Sheldon got the fiery Italian going again and we were away.

A dead shitbox at the last river crossing

The 'rona scores a nice steering wheel cover

After about 250 km and about 8 hrs on the road, it began to improve. The potholes and gravel turned into a plain old red dust road, and away we went. It was magical belting along this road at dust, about 100 m between cars, and watching the plumes of dust at sunset. I was lucky to be piloting the ‘rona at the time, and it was awesome.

At dusk (about 6:30 NT time) we still had 2 h of driving to go. Dan drove the rest of the way to the Heartbreak Hotel at Cape Crawford. The reception we got at the hotel when we arrived was fantastic as 150 people gave us a massive cheer. This is great – but the beer was even better. So was the second, so was the seventh!
No matter how tough today was - I wasn't at GPSL.

The best beer of all.

Kilometers travelled: 560 km

Total time on the road: 13 h

Road kill:  <10

Road kill by the Dolly: 1 roo, 1 owl and another miscellaneous bird

Coolant consumed by the Dolly: 200 L

Coolant used by the ‘rona: 285 L

Sticks of silver seal used by ‘rona: 2

Amount of WD40 used: 600 L

Number of steering wheel covers facility shared: 1.

Number of spark plugs changed: 24

Number of broken down Hilux’s in the middle of nowhere: 1 (and that was only 5 years old).

Number of random grass fires driven through: 2

Number of dead shitboxes: 5

Number of resurrected shitboxes: 3

Amount of awesome sunset dust driving at 100 km/h: 170 km (and everyone was brilliant)

Day 4 - a cruise down the Savannh Way (GPSL Day 1)

Day 4 was a very short and very enjoyable day. We left Gregory Downs and headed onto the Savannah Way. The paved road run out after about 35 km, and we dirt, and gravel, and water. In total there must have been 7 water crossings, although only two had water. It really has been an uneventful day. Some lovely scenery again, and the water crossings with water were special. At lunch we stopped at the second water crossing, went for a wonder and stumbled across a waterfall. While the river was not really flowing it look great. We arrived at around 2:30, set up camp and spent the afternoon talking bollocks. An interesting stat came out from Rex today (co-pilot of the Scuderia Shitbox) when we informed all and sundry that over a lifetime a male will ejaculate 20 L of fluid. Wow.

A great start to my Canberra residential of GPSL.

The Gregory River near the hotel

Hawks flying around the river

The fork in the road! On our way to Hells Gate

A waterfall on our way to Hells Gate

A dusty trip

The front of Hells Gate Roadhouse

Sunset at Hells Gate

Some stats for Day 3:

Kilometers travelled: 246 km

Road kill – 5 roos and a pig

Coolant consumed by the Dolly: 20 L

Coolant used by the ‘rona: 5 L

Number of burnt out wrecks: 500

Number of dead shitbox: 0

Number of great songs that I played: 10000000000000000000000000000

Day 3 - a long long day!

Day 3 saw us travel up from Longreach to Gregory Downs. This was a long, long, long day. In total we travelled 860 km. Breakfast was the standard bacon and eggs – tough but I’m finding a way to deal with it. This was the day the ‘rona started to argue! Basically the old girl ran hot all day, with the occasional objection followed by a large burp of coolant out of the radiator overflow. This happened basically the whole day. When we stopped at the Walkabout Creek Hotel, 3 L of fluid went into the radiator! So, the second half of the day was spent with the heater on.

The Alfa

The 'rona

The Dolly

Sheldon weaving his magic

Dan trying to pick up hoola girl at the Walkabout Creek Hotel

The 'ronas out the front of the Walkabout Creek Hotel

The Dolly is getting better as the rally goes on. It still runs hot when it gets stuck in traffic – but at 110 km/h it just loves life. Just typical of the bloody British.  They occasionally needed to turn the heater on, but all in all it is running quite ok. Stu told me last night that a Shitbox rally voted put it in the top 10 cars voted most likely not to make it.

Our dashboard collection

A convoy of shitboxes

While it was a long and stressful drive some of the countryside was truly spectacular. Driving into Cloncurry traveling through mountains and woodland was amazing. But it got better. After stopping at Burke and Wills Roadhouse for petrol etc, we drove into a setting sun. While not the greatest thing to do, the sunset was something else. But it still got better – the night sky! I have seen nothing like it ever. You here of all these metaphors to describe it, but they just don’t do it justice. And them all together, multiply by 10000, and you are still not there. Singularly the most amazing natural thing I have ever seen.

Long, challenging, exhausting, amazing.

Sunset on the road to Gregory Downs

Some stats for Day 3:

Kilometers travelled: 860 km

Road kill – 2500 dead kangaroos

Coolant consumed by the Dolly: 200 L

Collant used by the ‘rona: 467 L

Female boob flashing encounters: 0 pair (thank god for that!)

Emus: none

Number of dead shitbox: 0

Number of overtaking moves by the ‘rona: 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Number of overtaking moves performed on the ‘rona: 98367540154

Number of crap songs that Neumann played: 10000000000000000000000000000

Day 2 - A cruise to Qantas country

Day 2 greeted us far to early, due to a magnificently zealous RSL crew whipping up bacon, eggs, sausages, porridge and toast, at 5:30 am. After the morning brief from James we were away, and greeted by a flock of emu’s on the side of the road.

Today we left in our “buddy teams”, and it did look fantastic looking behind and seeing a convoy of shitboxes with their headlights on. 

Filling up for petrol in Mitchell

Filling up with petrol somewhere

The Dolly provided it’s usual excitement, needing to be constantly kept moving, or given the occasional rest along the trip. Still, the journey to lunch was pretty uneventful. After lunch however there was some excitement. We left the rest of the group behind after Blackall as we wanted to go and stop at Barcaldine and see the Knowledge Tree – or more what is left of it as it is dead. On the road to Barcaldine there were heaps of emu’s (and road kill!!). As we were slowing down admiring one, we noticed a shitbox catching up to us. Suddenly there was a massive cloud of blue smoke. We doubled back to help them. However their shitbox – Ted Dancing with Wolves – was terminally damaged as the conrod decided it no longer wanted to be with the rest of the engine and filed for divorce. Game over man game over. As more help arrived we left them and took off to see the tree of knowledge.

A random emu

A bottle tree - cool

The dead Knowledge Tree

We then caught up with the Dolly, which was in its usual position on the side of the road with the bonnet up. The Mario Speedwagon caught up with us, and, with the rest of our buddy group further up the road, we cruised on into Longreach.

Our dash board friends

Just out of Longreach we noticed a cat urine smell in the car that went away after a couple of minutes. An inspection at the campsite at the end of the day identified the problem. Coolant belched out of the radiator cap (!!!!!) and went all over the engine bay. So, the cat pee smell was actually coolant. Spewing, I thought we had goosed a cat!

The source of the cat urine smell

That night it was pre-dinner drinks at the Qantas Founders Centre, followed by roast beef.

The dudes from the Red Dirt Roosters joined us for dinner and entertained us with the high jinks – see the video below.

Some stats for Day 2:

Kilometers travelled: 613 km

Road kill – 7000 dead kangaroos

Coolant consumed by the Dolly: 300 L

Female boob flashing encounters: 1 pair

Emus: Lots

Number of dead shitbox: 1

Number of overtaking moves by the ‘rona: 0

Number of overtaking moves performed on the ‘rona: 6 x 10²³