2010 Bash Diary
Lunch Day 1 - Bigga
We departed Sydney Markets around 9:30am and headed south along the M5 toward Mittagong. We turned off the major highway and headed toward Bigga. The scenery is absolutely spectacular and route would make a great day trip or outing from Sydney. The roads were all tar and Bigga is about 45km northwest of Goulburn over the Abercrombie Mountains.
Dinner Day 1 - Temora
We hit the dirt roads after Bigga and headed to Temora which is 418km south west of Sydney. This is definitely sheep country and the Valiant handled the dirt roads without issue. Accommodation was a little scarce here but we managed to stay in a local hotel (pub). It was definitely very basic but certainly an experience! Make sure you shower before everyone else because the solar hot water runs out fast in this particular pub!!!
Breakfast Day 2 - Temora
We were fed and watered by 160 kids from Temora West Public School. Today's "theme" was "white day". You can imagine the contrast between us and Men in Black and the majority of other Bashers dressed in white! After the presentations and donations/gifts to the school, we headed off to the Temora Aviation Museum - home of Australia's two flying Spitfires! The museum is dedicated to aircraft and pilots that defended Australia during WWII and was established by David Lowy (Westfield Shopping Centres). The 117 cars were split into 4 teams - Police, Navy, Army & Airforce and we played some "competitive" games for the morning.
Day 2 Lunch - Lake Cargelligo
Dirt all the way from Temora to Lake Cargelligo! We were welcomed by 212 kids at the local public school, we were treated to an awesome lunch. Lake Cargelligo has a total population of 1146 people (2006 census). After many years of drought, the lake had run dry for the first time since 1902.
Day 2 Dinner - Cobar
After leaving lake Cargelligo, we hit the dirt and headed off to Cobar. On the way, we discovered a fantastic pub at Mt Hope called the Royal Hotel. The Royal is located on bitumen and a great little stop if you're ever driving by. Needless to say, just about every car stopped for refreshments!
Situated 712km northwest of Sydney, Cobar has a population of about 5000 people. We had dinner at the bowls club and the food was great!
Our accommodation was at the Occidental Hotel in Cobar and this was one of the highlights of the Bash for Car 2214! We decided to have a nightcap and a coffee in the lounge area of the pub. We were joined by Car 800- the Spartans, Car 333 - the Three Pigs, the owner of the pub, the barmaid, and 3 guys that were stuck in Cobar because their vehicle broke down and were waiting for it to be repaired! Andrew made the Greek coffees for everyone and we shared some Ouzo and Glenmorangie Single Malt which was ever so kindly gifted to us by Craig McLaren from McLaren Traffic Engineering. It was a great night with great company and lots of laughs! If you're ever in Cobar and looking for a great pub stay - go to the Occidental - it has to be the friendliest pub I've seen!
Day 3 Breakfast - Cobar
Cobar Public School made us very welcome. "The Far West Children's Health Scheme" was actually started here in Cobar by the Drummond family.
We here to be heading off to Louth on this particular morning for lunch where the five - YES FIVE students from Louth Public School were to join us BUT due to the recent heavy rainfall, Louth was inaccessible. We did manage to organise gifts and Super Hubert to fly in to entertain the kids on the day while we drove to Nyngan for lunch.
On the way to Nyngan, we had another of the many "Party Stops". This one was in the middle of nowhere and included a cricket match as well as coffee provided by K9 and refreshments provided by the Coopers vehicle!
Day 3 Lunch - Nyngan
Of course, the lunch stop was totally unplanned and Nyngan High (with their catering course) were told the night before that they would be catering for 450 Bashers, and 300 students from the public and high schools at Nyngan - 750 people all up. Yes, they scrambled to do it, called in help from everywhere and by the time we got there for lunch everything was done and you would never have guessed that it was totally unplanned! Well done Nyngan!!!
NOW.... if you are ever travelling this way and are anywhere near a tiny town called Byrock, the you MUST STOP at the Mulga Creek Hotel. It is a fantastic Aussie pub in the middle of nowhere with an amazing charm and quirkiness! We had a beer or two and listened to John Williamson sing a number of his old tunes. A GREAT Aussie moment in the Outback!
Day 3 Dinner - Bourke
Our accommodation in Bourke was old shearers quarters 38km outside Bourke located in the middle of nowhere. These quarters were recently refurbished and made up as an "Outback Stay". The beds were comfortable. There are 5 units with shared kitchen and shower facilities. The place is called "The Mount Oxley Huts". An absolutely fantastic stay and I would recommend this to anyone looking for something different to just a motel stay - especially if travelling with friends.
Day 4 Breakfast - Bourke
Fresh produce at Bourke Public School made for a great breakfast! We headed off to Walgettt again on muddy tracks via the Culgoa Community Sports Centre and Oval. The Oval does not have a single blade of grass on it! But we stopped there for morning tea and played cricket. This is where the offical car &
crew photos were taken for the Bash. This is also where wis discovered a problem with our car's cooling system! We had a faulty radiator cap - fortunately, the Spartans were carrying a spare which they lent to us - problem solved.
Day 4 Lunch - Walgett
111 Students from Walgett Public School greeted us and put on lunch. A fantastic run to Walgett with lots of beautiful Aussie scenery.
We departed Walget and headed to Moree - again on dirt roads. Soon after leaving Walgett however, we hit the Black Soil mud which really sticks to everything! It stuck to our sump guard and built up to the point of pushing the rubber transmission cooler hoses to the exhaust system. One of our hoses melted and we leaked transmission fluid along the track. We noticed it due to the amount of smoke we were producing!!! We pulled over and found the problem immediately. We soon got to repairing the issue with a little help from one of the 5 mobile workshops that follow us along on the Bash. Peter repaired the problem and we then diverted the hoses away from the exhaust system and filled the transmission again. We also discovered that we were "stuck in Drive" and could not change gears in the transmission! Not to worry- we only want to go forwards anyway!!! We also "bypassed the isolation switch" so we could start the car in any gear (rather than just "P" or "N" - since could not select them), and we were off again. The auto transmission changed gears automatically - no problem! The problem was the cable that connected the gear lever to the "box" was ceased internally.
40 minutes later - and a bit muddier, we were on our way to Moree again! We continued on our way to Moree on dirt - stuck in forward gears only!
Day 4 Dinner - Moree
Great accommodation with a pool that was heated from the many natural hot artesian mineral springs in the area. There were quite a number of Bash cars staying at this motel and NZ1 put on a wine tasting evening with wine provided by Bimbadgen Estate.
One thing to note... the Valiant always had a tiny exhast manifold leak but over the course of the 4 days, the leak was getting worse and rather noisy.
It was decided to call Repco and arrange for a couple of exhast manifold gaskets to be shipped up to Toowoomba where we could do the repair on the way. The gaskets were picked up by Andrew's old school buddy - Jerry maroulis who lived in Toowoomba and It was arranged to use the workshed of another of Andrew's friends - Steve Ring from Ring Surveys to do the repair.
Tonight's dinner had a Mexican theme seeing as we were "just south of the border".
Day 5 Breakfast - Moree
Peter and I headed out early to pick up some parts for the car. The local Subaru dealer lent us the use of one of their car service hoists so we could get under the car to remove the gear selector cable and "free it up". We did this and fitted the cable back again. We also replaced the switch for the amber lights (which had broken) and we got to Moree Public School for a late breakfast. Just about all the other Bash cars had left Moree by the time we finished breakfast - but at least we could change gears! We then took the Valiant for a car wash before heading to the "secret location".
Day 5 Lunch - Moree
We arrived at Weebollabolla Shorthorn Beef Station for lunch - and boy what a lunch this was! Ever had a steak sandwich with a one inch thick steak? WOW! Absolutely fresh tender beef from this farm! We had the "Triples Olympics" at the destination. The triples being all the cars with triple numbers who combine to put on a fun stop of mixed and interesting activities.
Day 5 Dinner - Moree
Held at the Moree Showgrounds in the Hobson Pavillion. We had a great meal followed by an absolutely spectacular fireworks display and then some great entertainment from John Williamson. A great night of entertainment for the crews of the Bash cars.
Day 6 Breakfast - Midkin
A most unusual breakfast location.... out at the Austcott Cotton Gin. Breakfast was prepared by the parents of Garah Public School - which has a total of 26 students! A cotton gin (short for cotton engines) is a machine used to separate the cotton fibres from the seeds. We were give a tour of the facility and I must say it was absolutely fascinating. We soon headed off to Croppa Creek for our lunch stop.
On a side note - the exhaust noise was worsening!
Day 6 Lunch- Croppa Creek
A short visit to Croppa Creek Public School for lunch. Croppa is an agricultural community with grain being the major commodity.
Leaving Croppa, we headed to Goondiwindi. There was a lot of rain here recently and the dirt roads covered in water and were very soft mud. Some stretches were actually under water and had to be traversed very carefully!
There were some deep causeways to cross and soon after going through one of them, we noticed a slight noise coming from the front driver's side wheel. We thought that it could have been the brakes. The noise soon disappeared and we stopped worrying about it.
However, the gear selector cable had ceased yet again and once more we were stuck in "Drive".
Day 6 Dinner - Goondiwindi
Home of the "Goondiwindi Grey" - Melbourne Cup winner - Gunsynd. We got to "Gundy" as it's referred to and enjoyed a well earned rest from the heavy going that afternoon. We disconnected the gear selector cable that evening so we could at least pop the bonnet and change gear by hand when we needed to!
Day 7 Breakfast - Goondiwindi
Put on by the Goondiwindi High School in the Town Park. We headed off to Tara where the Country Women's Association prepared lunch for us. We had a lot of distance to cover and were making great time when about half way, we came to a T-intersection where we had to turn right off the dirt and onto a main highway. Andrew was behind the wheel and when he hit the brakes to slow down, he discovered that there were no brakes!!! We sailed straight through the T-intersection at around 65 km/h over a gully (yes, the Valiant was airborne) and into a paddock. We spun the car around to avoid a fence and then again to avoid a tree. At this point in time we then hit the accelerator to get out of the paddock, over the gully (yes, we got "air" again) and back onto the road where we rolled to a stop. The problem was a popped seal on the slave cylinder on the rear passenger wheel.
Now - to put things into perspective.... we were initially doing 100 km/h when we discovered we had no brakes. We could not change gears to slow down (gear lever is stuck - remember) and due to the design of the handbrake, it failed to stop the car because it relies on an "intact" slave cylinder - and ours was not!
Anyway, we took the wheel off and soon after the Spartans and a mobile workshop arrived. We fixed the slave cylinder, refilled the system with brake fluid and bled the brakes. The Valiant was on the road again withing about 35 mins!
Day 7 Lunch - Tara
We arrived at Tara for lunch spread. However we decided to leave early and take the bitumen highway to Toowoomba in order to get there early, pick up the spares and effect the repairs ASAP.
Day 7 Dinner - Toowoomba
We got into Toowoomba and headed straight for Repco where we picked up some spares plus a front wheel bearing (we figured out what the front driver side wheel noise was!) We then met Jerry at our motel where he gave us our manifold gaskets. We headed off to Steve's place where we washed the car and then went to work.
Peter
replaced the manifold gaskets
Steve removed and repaired the gear selector cable
And I removed the old wheel bearing and fitted the new one.
The car was done by 7:30pm and we were at the Irish Pub in Toowoomba for dinner by 8:30pm where we were joined by Jerry. We had a great night with a few laughs. We finished with a nightcap and Greek coffee back at the motel around midnight.
Day 8 Breakfast - Toowoomba
Provided by Downlands College that has 510 day students and 240 boarding students. We had the Bash photo taken on the school grandstand with every Basher appearing in the photo. We left Toowoomba and headed to Killarney. A very pleasant and picturesque drive - on dirt of course! We did go through a small township where we (as usual) stopped for a morning refreshment at the local hotel prior to arriving at Killarney.
Day 8 Lunch - Killarney
We made it to the public school where we had lunch put on. Super Hubert entertained the kids and it was the first show I had seen Super Hubert perform. He had the kids all excited and interacting in the show. It was a great laugh and watching the kids get all excited was a real high.
We departed the school a bit late as the officials wanted to check the track to make sure it was passable with all the recent rain. we got going around 2pm and were soon in the mud and on our way to Lismore. We knew we had some serious creek crossings but did not realise how deep some were and that there were 16 of them!!!
We came across the Spartans after the 3rd creek crossing and they looked a little unhappy. The last creek they crossed sucked the fan blade forward and it chewed into their radiator. They lost all their coolant and overheated. We had to leave them while they waited for a tow back to the nearest town for repairs.
The Valiant continued along some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen and we made it through all 16 creek crossings. there were quite a number of casualties that could not make it through. We thenpowered on over the mountain range with many kilometers of steep climbing. Of course, what goes up must come down and as a result we sat in second gear doing around 20 kph down the range. We had to stop half way as the brakes were smoking badly! We continued and made it to the bottom where we discovered a party stop and decided that both the car and ourseleves could do with a break.
15 minutes later, we were back on the road. We still had 100km of the original 175km. Soon night fell and we discovered that our 43 year old headlighting system was totally inadequate for any night driving on dirt roads. As a result we travelled at no more than about 50km per hour at best.
We arrived into Lismore around 7pm and checked into the motel.
Day 8 Dinner - Lismore.
Once we arrived, we discovered that two vehicles had rolled and some had to abandon the drive and drive to Lismore on bitumen.
Also to our surprise, we discovered that the mobile workshops (bless them) took the Spartans radiator out, crimped the first core of their 3 core radiator, put it back in the car and filled it with creek water. A bit of pepper was put into the radiator to stop any leaks and the Spartans were able to make it to Lismore (all 175km) without any issues - however, they did have to do it on bitumen.
Dinner was at the RSL club and we all sat around and chatted about the afternoon's adventure.
Day 9 Breakfast - Lismore
After a well deserved nights sleep we headed off to Mullumbimby Public School where we had morning tea. From there we headed off to Nimbin - the "weed" capital of NSW and had one of the best party stops there! Variety took over the town - albeit for maybe 30 mins. The Hippies had gone ahead of us and arrived at Nimbin to get the party started.
After Nimbin, we headed to Byron Bay oval where we congrugated prior to then travelling the last 3-4 km to Byron Bay for a procession through town and the completion of the Bash.
Day 9 Lunch - Byron Bay and the end of the 2010 Bash
We left the oval soon after midday and headed in single file to Byron Bay where we all congrugated in the main street opposite the beach. Over 110 cars finished in Byron and took up the entire main street and stopping any access for normal traffic. As soon as the last car passed the finish arch, the biggest party stop of the Bash began!
Food and drinks flowed from all the cars, there were hundreds of Bashers, tourists and locals that joined the party. We were there for over 3 hours enjoying the moment and celebrating the fact that we made it through our first Bash ever.
No longer Bash Virgins, Car 2214 is now a true Bash vehicle that has passed the "trial by fire"!
And now we wait for the next Bash in 2011 - which is rumored to be a big one - 12 days from start to finish!
Car 2214 - post mortem:
We did discover some items that need addressing in the car itself.
1/ There is a persistent exhaust leak from the exhaust manifold
2/ The car is certainly underpowered - especially on long hills
3/ The brakes need to be modernised and the braking system split so if we lose either the front or the rear brakes due to a leak, we at least have the other to back us up.
4/ The front lights are inadequate and need to be boosted
5/ The gear selector cable needs replacing
6/ The exhaust system "bottoms out" on deeply rutted roads
7/ We could do with a bit more height at the front end of the car to also stop bottoming out.
8/ Though the red bench seats look great, they are not practical for Bashing and bucket seats are really preferred to stop sliding around.
The proposed fixes prior the next Bash:
(i) The car is having extractors fitted along with a new manifold and a 2 barrel Holley Carburettor. These have addressed Issues 1/ & 2/
DONE
(ii) The exhaust system will be rerouted at the low point thus addressing Issue 6/
DONE
(iii) We hope to fit a dual master cylinder system to address Issue 3/
DONE
(iv) Driving lights will be mounted onn the roof keeping them safe from stone chips and fixing issue 4/
DONE
(v) We will look at winding up the front torsion bar suspension to gain more height which will fix issues 6/ & 7/
DONE
(vi) A brand new cable has been made up and fitted and has fixed issue 5/
DONE
(vii) Though it is not a priority for the 2011 Bash, Bucket seats will be fitted sometime within the next 18 months to tackle the final issue 8/
DONE
Car 2214 - Raising money for special needs children
through the 2012 Variety NSW B to B
Bash