Whilst the family was enjoying a couple of weeks on the Sunshine Coast with their grandparents, I had been doing a couple of odd jobs at home. My main job was to deliver Rocky and Matilda to the family, ready in all respects for a new camping adventure. Sadly things started to go off the rails not long after departure.
I had decided to get on the road as soon as I woke up. Thankfully I checked my clock, and decided that 12.30am was too early, so I rolled over and next thing I knew it was 4.15am. Fifteen minutes later I was on the road, but it soon became apparent that all was not well. The car was lacking power - more so than I expected. Could it have been the new tyres being a slightly bigger size? So many thoughts were running through my mind, but when I was unable to hold sixth gear going downhill, I knew I had to stop and investigate.
The camper's right hub was hot, really really hot. But it was still full of grease, and Yass was not far away. I decided to push on to Yass, and utilise a quiet street and a street light for further investigation. As I pulled up, I was just a little nervous. It was the Saturday morning of the long weekend, and if I didn't have the parts to fix it, I could be in for a long wait.
It turned out the brake shoes were binding (could it have been that hard stomp on the brakes for the kangaroo earlier?). The bearings were fine - the grease hadn't cooked off entirely, so I repacked the bearings, re-adjusted the brakes and crossed my fingers. I might have grumbled a little about the mechanic who supposedly checked the brakes and bearings when fitting the new tyres a couple of months ago...
If I knew what was coming, I should have turned around and gone home.
After repacking the wheel bearings, I was on my way and making good time. I couldn't find the Rugby World Cup test on the radio, but was thrilled to hear the Wallabies thumped the Poms. It sounded like a cracker of a game.
Radio reception aside, this is one of my favourite drives, north through Boorowa, Cowra, Wellington, Coolah, Tamworth and then Armidale. The rich productive farmland was looking glorious (although the further north I drove the drier it became). I stopped just south of Dunedoo near a magnificent Kurrajong tree in a stand of Cypress pine.
I paused again near Spring Ridge, somewhere near where a huge open cut coal mine is planned. As I pulled over, a grain train slowly moved to the Preema silo's. Whilst broadacre agriculture might not be the most sustainable way to feed us - it sure has to be better than permanently ruining the land for a fossil fuel like coal.
Somewhere on the journey I wound the windows up and turned on the air conditioning. Nothing happened. It seemed for the second time, our mighty Amarok's air conditioning compressor's clutch had failed. I looked like it was going to be a long trip to Mackay once I picked the kids up, but it wasn't a show stopper. Part of me reminisced about summer road trips of old, stuck to vinyl seats, wearing a brand from the red hot seat belt buckle. Windows down, unable to hear the static filled AM radio from the back seat. Ah, kids have it so easy these days.
It was only when I got to my parent's place that I noticed the air conditioning was the least of my concerns. A unhealthy swathe of grease was spread under the right front guard. It looked like it was from a CV joint boot splitting, or worse, front diff oil seal. Whilst it is drivable for short distances, it certainly wasn't up for another 1500km journey to Mackay.
It was time to call VW assist. I explained that I wasn't sure how serious it was, but last time I had been recommended to drive it to the nearest dealer, we had blown the engine up. VW assist sent out a mechanic and a flatbed. The verdict was that the car really should be towed to the nearest dealer. So I settled down to watch the NRL grand final whilst formulating a plan of what to do from here.
With Rocky being towed to Tamworth the following morning, all plans were thrown into disarray. I had many different options - and many kind friends offering all kids of support / loans of cars / beds to stay, the hardest part was choosing which kind offer to accept!
Ultimately I was desperately keen to see Jo and the kids. We also were very keen to see my brother and his beautiful family in Mackay. So we decided that the best option was to leave the camper with my parents, and accept their kind offer to continue the journey in their second car. Once we had seen my brother, we would return to Armidale (and a repaired Rocky) before resuming our camping part of the holiday.
Ironically this car was one we bought way back in 2008. We swapped it with my parents for their Terracan, way back when we started preparing for our trip around the country. It only had one problem - the rear shock absorbers needed replacing. Thankfully SuperCheap Auto Armidale was open on the Public Holiday Monday - and had a pair of shock absorbers in stock. Phew - a short change and I was back on the road!!!
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