December

Getting close to Christmas and there are very few people coming through the facility. The days are mostly hot  (up to 40o) but with dips to 23o rain threatens often gut produces very little most of the time.
Had a dust storm a couple of days ago but lucky for us the wind changed and blew it north so we only got the edge of it . Still put a layer of red talcum powder all over and inside the bus.

Don't know how I missed telling you about our new puppy.Before we found Mollie, we had previously looked at a litter of thoroughbred  Staffordshire Terriers and had seen one that Maureen really liked, but had rejected it due to cost. However, a few weeks after we lost her, the kennel owner rang us saying that we could have the dog at a fraction of the price. We had decided to wait until February when we returned from Hong Kong but it was too good to pass up. So now we are proud parents to a very lively staffie pup named ............Mollie.
A couple of long term volunteers by name of Colin and Moira are getting ready to leave next week and we will really miss them as they have been really good company.
Thankfully I still have "JD" to hang out with. He's an old Kiwi with a glint in his eye and a story for every occasion.

November / December

During the last 2 months we have had an epidemic of bushfires mostly caused by hoons with firecrackers and "black lightning" although a few were ligitimate lightning strikes. Fortunately most of the country is low grass and scrub so the fires though bad enough, weren't as destructive as in heavily timbered country but the fires were huge in scope, some were on a 35km front. Last summers' heavy rain had made the grass grow much more than usual and it had died off. In the end they brought in firefighters from interstate and some of the culprits were caught and punished so the problem seems to have gone away.
It is with much sadness that I must report that the little dog whbich wormed its way into our hearts is no more. She got into my medication and died.
I was asked to be the tour guide for Hall of Fame. I have met so many interesting people people and I have learnt so much about trucks. Most of the tours are from Ghan train  passengers together with tourists staying at hotels and schoolchildren both local and remote.
Had some trouble walking and the Doctor recommended a podiatrist who fitted me with orthotics for my shoes. Left foot has been great but right one is almost crippling! Had about 6 lots of acupuncture but doesn't seem to work.
Life here is still great, we both love it
Maureen got a bee in her bonnet about going to Hong Kong and  once she got a glimmer of agreement from me she was like a dog with a bone.... I didn't know she was this tenacious. Think I will hire her out  as an event organiser.
We leave in early February.

October / November

Most of the other volunteers have left  as the temperature has risen sharply to average round the mid to high thirties. The pace of life slows here so it isn't so tough.
Rocky arrived yesterday in his old Leyland with his dog "Ned." Ned has to be the biggest dog I have ever seen! He weighs over 80 kg and is under 2 years old. He's  a huge  gangley slobbering mutt. When I went to pat him he put his mouth over my arm (which worried me a bit)
Last week the papers reported an incident where police stopped A car being driven by a 13 year old towing a dead donkey. On the back seat they found A .22 rifle, a shotgun and a high powered .243 rifle.
He must have been taking the donkey home for the tribe to eat.

Alice Springs - September / October

Have settled into "Alice" and seen a lot of the natural sights like Palm Valley,Trephena Gorge, Simpsons Gap , Standley Chasm, The Macdonnell Ranges, Desert Park.
Were lucky enough to be here when the annual "Henley-on Todd" dry river races were on. What a spectacle!

The yearly reunion at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame has happened and 84 veterans of the  road transport industry were inducted

We have had to endure 10 weeks of idyllic daytime temperatures between 21o- 30o with such low humidity it's very nice.
Have just taken delivery of the newest member of our family.

World ........Meet Mollie

Since we arrived here on the 14th June I dont believe we have had a day without bushfires (a legacy of the prolific growth of low foliage from last years heavy rains) Mostly started by lightening, black lightening and young idiots

The smoke has been so thick for the last few days that Maureen has had trouble sleeping.

This is because of a large blaze to the west of Alice which is tonight on top of the West Macdonnell range.  As the town is in a depression, today it was filled with thick acrid smoke and the hospital has been kept busy with patienrts with breathing difficuilties.

We are about 10 km sou/sou/east from it and the wind is blowing it towards us. Every time the gusts of wind pick up, we can see the flames dance high into the air. 

Will set the alarm for 2am to check on it.

 

Alice Springs June - July

After camping one night at "the rock" turnoff, some 200km back, and about a million mice, we set sail for "The Alice"
It was about this time that I stepped on my computer. This is why my blog is so far behind.
The weather is very much on the improve with near zero mornings but 20oC days
On the way into town we went straight to the truck museum, where, as we had been told, we could stay for at least a month for only the cost of our electricity use as long as we worked 10 hours a week eack
We had just finished makin enquiries and had turned to go to the bus and Maureen tripped and fell on a raised paver in the path. As she went down her head hit the bricks and her glasses cut through her eyebrow causing a nasty gash which required 5 stitches.

Since I last wrote, We had camera trouble, I stood on the laptop, breaking the screen, rending it useless and I had motivation problems, so this pretty much brought my blog writing to a standstill.
It wasn't until I bought a new computer and  received a severe phone castigation from Alan T. that I managed to pick up the thread.
On arrival at "The Alice" we went straight to The Road Transport Hall of Fame about 8 km south of town just off the highway where we understood that in exchange for 20 hours volunteer work per week and paying our own electricity, we could camp on the grounds.
This facility is really huge. It incorporates the Ghan Museum which details the history of the old train that used to run to Alice.
The truck section contains pretty much every truck ever made in one form or another
The original first road train in the world(an Australian invention)
A pavillion containing only Kenworths
A shed of Macks
Ford model "T"s
Heaps of rare vehicles and engines
plus 8 rooms of "walls of fame"
We had met John and Suzanne at Port Augusta  and they arrived the same time we did.
Teamed up with them to explore East and West Macdonnell Ranges.
We were in awe of the landscape all round the town.
visiting such places as Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, Herrmansberg, Palm Valley, Emily Gap, Jessie Gap is all I can think of just now
The town itself is about 30,000 people,very prosperous and has a high cost of living. It has most of the large stores and good facilities.
There is a big number of aborigines here and to us it may appear that they look pretty hopeless. The alcohol problem is bad as it is the cause of a lot of domestic violence. 4 litre wine casks are banned from sale and there are a lot of other regulations covering sale of alcohol.
Maureen is set up with clerical work and manning the front desk, while I have been making ladders for top bunks for sleeper car carriages which were converted into B&Bs
Since our arrival, we have been treated to visits from Noel and Beverly, Ian and Sue, Steph and Duff and Daryl and Coleen who stayed 3 days.
I would like to give rave reviews on the local bakery as their stuff looked sensational but at $4 each, there was no way I was going near their vanilla slices.
Can't download pix from camera to new computer yet . Think it's lacking software but I promise to try to remedy that Alan.

the Olgas



Millions of years ago The Olgas may have been shaped like Uluru but as the stone is much softer, it has broken into pieces and looks like a giant hand slung things everywhere.
I feel that they are  visually much more stunning than the rock and I undertook the 7.8km walk through them, much to my sorrow as it was for the most part a grueling trek, but I wouldn't have missed it.

Ayres Rock

Maureen was worried about the border quarantine inspection as we had lost so much fruit and vegetables going into S.A.  and we had been warned about how ruthless the inspectors were, so she was meticulous about having nothing that could be confiscated, however there was noone to inspect us when we went through the check point.
Arrived at a rest area 30 km short of "TheRock" on Tuesday afternoon where we hooked up with Don and Pat, Jean and tony plus Stan and Noela, whom we had met at Port Augusta together with John and Suzanne. Noel and Bev were parked about 100km back at Clinton Springs (where diesel was $2.20 a litre)  and joined us next day
We camped 30km short of the rock at a rest area where there is a hill which is a good vantage point to see it.

It had been raining all the way from Coober Pedy but eased in the afternoon and we were having happy hour when Don mentioned that it was raining in the national park. Maureen immediately wanted to see water on the rock so we set out post haste and sure enough there were streams cascading down it.

Have seen many pictures of the rock but there is no substitute for looking at it.
The huge monolith towers over you dominating and almost threatening. everyone agreed it was a bit eery.
Looked at the climb track and decided it was not for us so we drove round it.

Coober Pedy

It's a red letter day when we leave at 7.30am. but never the less thats what happened.

After an hour we stopped at Lake Hart as we could see the lake in the distance. Decided to walk down to the water. It was a magnificant expereience. We walked on the salt flats and saw a mountain of salt piled up from an old saltworks, Emu prints in the ground, reflections in the water and watched trains on the Adelaide - Darwin rail line.

Arrived in Coober Pedy mid afternoon and booked into a caravan park which pretty much resembled an ants nest. It certainly wasn't designed with vehicles like "Moonshine" in mind. The entrance was very narrow and I staked the wall of a tyre on a garden bordered with sleepers. The power point didn't work so the owner plugged us into the next  site. The bloke next door came back, found his lead unplugged  and wanted to punch me in the nose.

Changed the tyre next morning and got out of there.
Looked for a tyre in town and all I was offered was one for over $600!! So decided to take the risk without a spare until we get to Alice Springs.
  Noel and Bev whom we had met at Wauchope NSW and also at Port Augusta. were in a a public parking area and they told us about a cheap campsite on the edge of town so we followed him down there and got secure parking with power and water for 12 bucks a night.
The Breakaways is a long, low, broken range of low, weathered mountains of incredible colours 35kms from town, so we spent Saturday afternoon out there. Stopped at the "dogfence"on the way back. At about 6000km its the longest fence in the world and was built to keep dingoes from stock. It runs from Surfers Paradise to west of the Eyre Peninsula on the Nullarbor.
On Sunday we looked at 4 underground churches round town.
Monday it was a private home, a lookout, an underground hotel and a motel and tried our hand at "noodling" late in the afternoon.

Maureen at the salt pile



remains of the salt racks

Goods train from Darwin



Emu footprint



Pimba

Travelled north on the Stuart Highway just short of 200km we passed Lake Gairdner (which Malcolm Campbell had driven his bluebird on in an attempt at the world speed record) ,one of the lake eyre family to Pimba, which pretty much consists of a roadhouse with a campground attached There's toilets and paid showers so it's a fairly neat place.
took the bus to Woomera. Looked at all the rockets and other things that were developed there in static outside dispalys.
We visited the 2 museums in the township and spent about half a day there ( could have spent much longer as the exhibits were excellent and reminded us of things we knew growing up)
should have gone back to Pimba but pushed on to Roxby Downs and  opal mining town of Andamooka.
Unfortunately, it was too late when we got there and returned under cover of darkness. The other unfortunate thing about it was that the fuel economy was calculated at 1.6km/l !!

Port Augusta 2

After 2 weeks at the Port Augusta sports club camp ground it's time to move on.
After a fortnight of indecision we have finally firmly decided to go up to Darwin ( for now ) and then across to Queensland
Sorry to be leaving the French Hot Bread shop  as their produce was superb as was the pricing. As usual it is Asian owned (as are most of them) I guess it is the French influence in Viet Nam.

Port Pirie

Had the computer looked at whilst in Broken Hill and the "fixer"omitted to put the antivirus software back on so I ran into a fistfull of viruses, didn't I? Hence the reason for no posts for so long.
Headed up through Port Wakefield after Easter and then over to Wallaroo where we camped at the old wheat truck marshelling area just on the edge of town. Then to Moonta, staying at the Port Hughes boat ramp.
From there down to Minlaton  and onto Warooka, taking sidetrips to check out Innes national park and Corny point (well named)
Then back up through Ardrossen to Port Pirie.
Found the peninsula generally fairly uninteresting bar some of the history and the huge expances of cereal crops. Pirie on the other hand is a thriving, go-ahead city.
Watched a ship dock at the smelter wharf today. It had to negotiate the long channel off The Spencer Gulf and turn around with the aid of 2 tugs

Creeping up the Channel

Full Astern!

Pushing...

Turning...

Turning...

Lining up

Pushing....

Pushing.....

Docking

e parked at a local council gravel dump which is well situated, level, dry and quiet. However anyone looking for a parking spot should try asking the locals where "the bridge to nowhere" is and pick your spot anywhere over the other side of that.
Last night we tried "Barnacle Bill's" seafood restaurant which is something of a local icon. Seafood was great without being pricy and so was the salad bar.
Stayed an extra day to do a tour of the smelter. Unfortunately it was from the windows of a small bus and photos weren't allowed,but we got the general idea. the process is so complex and on a huge scale. It's the biggest smelter in the world. The smokestack is over 200 metres tall.
In the old days Port Pirie was a really dirty place but the smelter owners have cleaned up their act and now it's very clean.

Port Augusta

Moved up to the head of Spencer gulf at Port Augusta on on Friday and headed straight for the sporting club at the edge of town where Barry and Jill whom we had first met at Port Macquarie had been camped for a week on their way to Darwin
It's a good setup where the club controls the ground for self-contained vehicles at nominal rental.
There are a lot of vehicles coming and going every day.
Port Augusta is a junction of north,south,east and west. The traffic to Darwin and Perth must all pass through.
Everyone had dinner in the club Friday night. Huge meals really cheap.
Great weather for the first few days but it closed in on Saturday evening and began to rain with the wind  gusting heavily.
The take-up rate in this campground is huge. Every night it is packed to capacity and once it got to the stage where 4 motorhomes were in the carpark and another 3 on the broad verge outside the fence.
Had a great time with Barry and Jill so were sad when they moved on after a week heading north..

Barry and Jill

Much of our time here was spent working on the bus with little jobs.

Had met a couple at the Port Macquarie Rally who were selling led lamps and when they turned up here we bought some and fitted them.They were really needed in the engine bay.
A couple named Ian and Susan camped next to us. We shared a barbq and card games with them which was totally enjoyable. This ground has a great spirit with a level of friendliness not always experienced in other places.

Port Parham

"Camps" book showed a rest area at Port Parham, 10 km off the northern highway. It's a great spot, the local council has done a lot of work here,top dressing the site, erecting fences, toilets, shelter shed, electric barbqs with water laid on and ample garbage disposal bins. Decided to stay over Easter.

Passing out easter eggs on Easter Sunday

This is on the shore of the Gulf of St Vincent. There is no sand on the beach, just a deep layer of dead seaweed and the edge is very shallow out to about 200 metres,  so the water recedes right back at low tide.
Many of the locals have built machines they call a "jinker".( it is a local invention) This is a chassis that have a front and rear suspension attached. On top of it there are four uprights about 2m. high  and another chassis  with a motor and gearbox, seat, steering wheel and controls. Behind and below the driver is a tailshaft connected to a diff with the axles positioned vertically.  On the top end there is a disc brake to stop the vehicle and the bottom side has another tailshaft which feeds another upward looking diff driving the wheels. These are used for towing and launching  the runabout fishing boats. 
The bus ran great up the highway and  it was a real novelty not having to fill it with oil.
The only commercial venture  in this village is a social and sporting club which is completely staffed by local volunteer labour. A lot of the campers including Maureen and I went there for dinner last night. All had a great time and the food was sensational. They offer $2.00 schooners at happy hour on Wednesdays
Tomorrow we will go to the dawn service held there, followed by a community breakfast.

Mt.Barker

On arrival at Dry Creek, Bruce the mechanic surveyed the engine and declared that we could probably do all the travelling we wanted without intervention and that I could buy a lot of oil for the price of a reco job. When I remarked that if I once forgot to check it I could have a cooked engine, he countered with "thats what the oil light is for". But it was eventually decided  to go ahead with the job so he replaced rings, bearings, pistons, liners, some hoses  and various other things.
It was found that the rings were seized, worn to witness marks and ring ends were in alignment ( all allowing oil through) also electrolysis had eaten halfway through the walls of the cylinder liners plus the big end bearings were worn out as well as other minor things like leaky hoses and adjustment of tappets and fuel rack
The standard of knowledge, workmanship, ethics and kindly treatment was unsurpassable and a breath of fresh air after previous treatment and if anyone is interested in having  Bruce do work for them, I would be only too happy to put them in touch with him.
We were there for a total of 10 days while he worked between mine and other jobs.
We were advised to take a trip to Murray Bridge and back, about 75 km south/southeast of Adelaide as it included a gradient climb of 1 in 9 rise for 27 km and other sharp pulls through the Adelaide Hills, to bed the engine in. But we only got half way at Mt. Barker when we liked the look of the countryside, found a bus parking area beside a park and  and decided to camp here.
Today we took a close look at Hahndorf, a neighbouring town about 8 km away.
It has a single main street about 1km long and is filled with the yuppiest stuff you could cram into it. Everything from german sausage to Lladro.
In 1839 a group of religously persecuted  german refugees arrived here with the help of the Captain Hahn a dane, and master of the ship in which they travelled Wtih his assistance they set up a community in what would become the Adelaide Hills and in gratitude they named it after him -hence Hahndorf

Adelaide#2

I guess the highlight for our time in Adelaide was the "Obahn". This is a set of concrete tracks on which buses run out to the suburb of Tee Tree Junction. The driver doesn't need to hold the steering wheel and buses travel at 100k/h!! It only stops at a couple of interchanges where feeder buses radiate out to various destinations
I am sure that we could do with something like this in Sydney.

On the Obahn

were told about a place called DeVili's cafe which adjoins Vili's pie and cake factory in an Adelaide suburb so we drove over there for dinner. Their produce was excellent though some a bit on the small side and none too cheap.

The factory runs 20 hours a day with around 40 staff on duty at any one time turning out cakes and pastries  for the city.
The cafe never closes and serves simple quick meals and the locals love it.

Adelaide #1

Left "the Hill" on Sunday down the Barrier Highway and stayed at the small town of Yunta.
morning teatime on Tuesday saw us in Jamestown so we called into the local  bakery where they had vanilla slices that you couldn't jump over. I remarked on the size, but chose an apple scroll which was beautiful. We were halfway through it when the proprietess presented us with a vanilla slice in a container. WHAT A SPIRIT!!
Then onto Peterborough, a nice little town which is really RV friendly.
In the afternoon we went on a guided tour of  Steamtown, which has grown out of former major railway facility. We returned that evening for a sound and light show which was really excellent
On Tuesday we pressed on to our destination which was Dry Creek, an inner northern industrial suburb of  Adelaide where the mechanic is situated. Just opposite is a former transport co. yard where we are now camped. It's really convenient having the railway 2 minutes walk away and this afternoon we took the 20 minute ride into the city and rode round on a free sightseeing bus
Can't believe all the parks, gardens and layout of Adelaide and we are looking forward to beginning to look more closely
But first tomorrow, Bruce, (the mechanic) will assess the bus and decide whether to do something with it or leave well enough alone.

Broken Hill

Whilst on our motorhome trip to Alaska just on 2 years ago it was decide among our fellow travellers that we should have a reunion in 2 years time. After some bandying around it eventually fell to me to organise said event. Silverton, a mining ghost town some 20km west of Broken Hill  was chosen as the venue in a camp ground named Penrose Park.
We arrived on 16th March after a 3 day trip from Goulburn.

Alone at Penrose Park

Although the country was very flat, I was still amazed that we that recorded fuel economy of 4 km /litre!!( thanks to a new turbo and removing the muffler)
Were on our own for nearly 2 weeks organising a bit and looking at things we knew we wouldn't get a chance to see once the others got there. Also we wanted to take pix of the full moon at it's largest but that didn't happen thanks to a continouos layer of cloud for 4 days.

Bruce's moon

I eventually got a pic at 3.30am 3 days later!
The mob arrived in dribs and drabs.
First to show was Ken and Wendy followed by Pam and Milton. The next day it was Merv and Maureen, Jill and Keith, Bob and Louise. The following day it was Rudy and Leslie, Jim Glenda and Jeannie and on Sunday Rod and Trudy arrived. Finally, Bob and Alidia got there on Tuesday morning.
 A couple of strays,  Russell and Kerry joined us for most of the duration.

Sunset over the Mundi Mundi plains

The first night's happy hour was a veeerrry long event with most of the participants finally falling into bed without dinner. After that a tea break was called followed by nightly sessions round the fire.

On Sunday we all retired to the Silverton Hotel to listen to Kerry who had a singing gig there.

"Alaska Mob" outside Silverton pub

Night out at Silverton Cafe

I had booked the local cafe for a dinner on Monday night and we began the evening with hors-d'oeuvres and drinkies. The meal was the krack and then we had a fine session conducted by Ken and assisted by B1 which saw everyone in stitches. The balance of the fines was presented to Royal Flying Doctor Service. That was a night to remember!!!!

Russell and Maureen's Pantomime

Little did we realise that that we would be spending it just a couple of days later when Merv was admitted to hospital with stomach pains from a gallstone in his bile duct. He was flown to Adelaide hospital where he had a gastoscopy to remove it.
We were joined by a million mice and everyone had their share of little visitors, but the prize went to Maureen who caught 2 simultaneously.

Maureen's Mice

The "mob" dissipated much as they had arrived and by April fools day only Keith and Jill, Milton and Pam, Maureen and us were left.
Spent most of Wednesday fitting a double water filter to  a new tap on the kitchen sink. What a bloody headache! everything that could go wrong did go wrong. But I got it done. After my recent experience with tank water it sure is a load off our mind given that we pick up water from all over the place
Keith drove Merv's bus into Broken Hill racecourse where we are staying this weekend and Maureen has just left to pick him up from the airport.
Whilst in town we took some time to look at the local scenery, architecture etc.
The Trades Hall was typical of the beautiful constructions peppered round town. Built around 1910 by volunteer labour, it stands as a reminder to the determination and purpose of the people who laboured at "the Hill" at that time.

Broken Hill Trades Hall

Oak Staircase

Union Mail Boxes

Trades Hall Ballroom

There are many abandoned mines in the area, some filled in and forgotten, some left as a permanent reminder of a bygone era.

Head frame of The "Brown shaft" Mine

Sitting atop the slagheap there is a restaurant and also a memorial to the nearly 1,000 workers who have died in the mines

Slag heap

Memorial

Reckon we will move off on Saturday morning to S.A.
Thanks to Merv suggesting Air scoops into each side of the engine bay. I found a sheet metal shop (Boltons) in Broken Hill where prices were very reasonable and the service was good.
I had been long thinking about locks for both fuel openings and Tim (at Boltons was able to supply locks and fittings quickly and cheaply.

Crookwell

We left Pejar last Friday for Crookwell where I got a new tyre on the bus. 
On Saturday we towed the Leyland with the Denning and a short rigid bar between for about fifteen kilometres over dips, gullies and along bush tracks to where it will sit whilst it being repaired.
Towing that bus was an experience that I will never forget!!!!!  My thanks to Alan for steering the old bus.  At least I could see where I was going.
This was the first opportunity for us to test our new batteries and solar panels.  The whole thing works splendidly.
At this time we also bought a 3kva generator which has already proved its worth in that we don't have to turn everything else off to run the air conditioner.
I can't believe how much better the bus runs with the new turbo.  We are probably looking at a 50% increase in fuel economy, and about one and a half gears better in power.
Ordered a flat white at the Gunning Cafe where we were presented with 25% froth, whereupon, Maureen took them back, and when they were remade were exactly the same (don't some people get it!).  The coffee beans were burnt too.
We stayed at the truck stop at Gundagai, and when I went to the back of the car the next morning I found that the cylinder head from the Leyland was still.  So we had a quick trip back to Bannister to put it in the bus.  A round trip of 350 kilometers.
We stopped overnight at Narrandera and tried their bakery where a customer recommended the 'bee sting', they were filled with custard and apple which was sensational, but their choux pastry was stale.
Because of the flat countryside the trip to Silverton was a doddle and we arrived Wednesday lunchtime

Back at Pejar

This Turbo hangs over my head like a thundercloud! We took "Moonshine" from St Ives to Marulan upon a recommendation about a Detroit mechanic, but after talking to him for a while, the "beware" signs flashed and We travelled on to "Pine Ridge", a beautiful propety 20 km north/west of Goulburn which is managed by my friends and sometimes travelling companions Darryl And Colleen.
There I took the turbo out and took it to Sydney for a reco. It arrived back today and I hope to fit it tomorrow. In the interim I have had the chance to do other stuff to the motor which is allgood
Went to the flicks few days ago and saw 127 hours .................. go see it
Its good  to see the dams full and the Hills green again.  That claypan that Kim Beasley stood on is now under 30 metres of water - lapping the spillway.
Unfortunately, the bus has eaten up a lot of our time,. so we have to take the most direct route to Broken Hill  for although the official date is not until the 28th,  we have set a deadline of the 15th March to be in Silverton ( to be ready for the full moon on the 20th)
If we get away by Friday we can still look around Bathurst and Dubbo and a few other places.
We are gettting quite excited at the prospect of the reunion.
I might have to get a job on the way over to pay for the diesel the way prices are going ............or better still, send Maureen out ot work.
Seeyas later

St Ives

Sorry to be leaving St Ives showground  tomorrow morning, an idyllic situation amongst the gum trees ... but all good things must come to an end and and so it's on to Marulan.
thankfully Big al came to my rescue and recommended a repairer to look at "moonshines" engine so hopefully in a few days we will sail through Taralga toward Bathurst
We had the delightful pleasure of Milton and Pam's  company while we were here and they were surrounded with all their "pets" and the more bromide they fed them the more they visited them. I must say that we felt very left out  and discriminated against that they had all that company and we had none.
Today, in anticipation of of higher temperatures in "the outback", we purchased a 3 kw generator to run  the air connditioner

St Ives

Its a cloudy Friday morning and yesterday I started dismantling the turbo from the motor but when I saw that the oil was coming from the manifold and not the turbo, it knocked the stuffing out of me as we had spent so much time and money fixing and examining the motor at LBJ tours. Looks like a broken ring on the left cylinder bank I guess it comes down to the old addage..."pay peanuts and you get monkeys"
We are at St Ives showground, just north of Sydney and I was surprised just how close to the city it is.
The showground is a huge complex with about 5 or 6 arenas  for all different activities . It is all tree covered and camping is very spread out. They have just finshed filming a segment of "Rescue Special Ops" here which will go to air in about 16 weeks. It has to do with a van park that has been hit a cyclone and birth of a baby by a woman trapped under an overturned caravan. ( And yes, they used a real baby)
Think we will stay until early next weekafter both Queen Elizabeth II and queen Mary II have been and gone... must have a look at them.
After that it's probably off to Richmond and then Bathurst
Both Maureen and I have recieved just about 100% clearance from our doctors, and have been declared fit.

Still More Bellambi

Wednesday night finds us at youngest sons' place for the night while Maureen undertakes a sleep test.
Last night we had dinner at the Hellanic club with Jim & Glenda & Alan & Dawn. Tuesday night is a pasta or lamb shanks night. I think we embarrassed the others when we both refused  to drive home. Eventually a compromise was reached by Alan and Dawn delivering us safely out of the tenticles of the law .
No.1 daughter came to the rescue to retrieve the car this morning.
We moved the bus to a slightly safer location (we hope) while we are away tonight and I am loathe to return to the boatramp due to the degredation caused by the salt which is now becoming apparent, however I have an appointment there with an auto electrician on friday morning to sort out the house betteries which I am sure need replacing.
Hopefully, next week will see us in  a new location.

more Bellambi

Went to Sydney this morning where Both Swmbo and I had business with the heart specialist. I got a clean bill of health and Maureen has to go back a few more times.
Must admit to being a bit preoccupied with the antiocs of the local youth. Late last night they busted open a storage container which is nearby the bus then checked out our car to see if there was anything of interest in it.
On Saturday morning at 1.30am the same little darlings ( I reckon ) set alight to a Water Board workmans hut and trashed the worksite
As a consequence, we haven't slept much and this afternoon, busied ourselves trying to find another campsite.
Went to the Mall in Campsie and came across a Chinese bakery where they have all their produce in boxes lined up in rows ( couldn't help wondering if the got them from a pet shop) with sliding plastic doors. You just pick out what you want, put it in  a bag and pay at the counter
They have an enormous array of things, particularly buns ....all types of buns and all sweet. Buns with a sav in them, buns with ham in them ...too many to list. Must say they all looked very inviting .
My gold standard for a good Bakery  is custard tarts, which must be well filled well above the pastry and not sagging in the centre. The custard needs to be of good colour and firm, whilst the pastry is crisp and well formed
Must say theirs looked as good as any I have seen.
They also had fruit salad tarts in the same size cases with slices of kiwifruit, strawberry, and other things stand decoratively above the pastry.
Had an enjoyable time at dinner with Alan and Dawn this evening.

Bellambi

Since early December we have been parked at the Bellambi boat ramp. What a vista!!!  Every day we look out on the ocean north of Wollongong. Every night we are lulled to sleep by the waves rolling up the beaches.
Yesterday we happened on a small hot bread shop in Corrinmal Mall called "Baker Mall" .....No it's not run by  Vietnamese, they are Cambodian.

The shop is scrupulously clean as are the staff. Their goods are finished to the highest standard and all scream "buy me"!
All this and I can't believe their prices.
Yesterday, we were at Macdonalds Fairymeadow and someone got hold of my wallet so today I spent going round and cancelling everything.
Got a call from police today.....It was handed in this afternoon, minus the ten bucks.   
Next week I will show you some photos from this area and relate some of our adventures during the last 2 months

My name is Bruce Boa and I travel with my wife Maureen  in a converted Denning bus called "Moonshine"
We are retired and have given over to permenant  grey nomad status
We previously lived at Crookwell near Goulburn in NSW
The dual purpose of this blog is to establish a journal of our travels while providing a critique of any bakery/patisserie/ cake shop/ pie shop which maybe lucky (or not) enough for us to enter.