Saturday .....and the last "Official" day of the tour...
Jennison and Chippydave peel off for home leaving just me, The Sutcacs and Strugglebrook to meander our way back up north.
The overnight stop was planned for Cowra park where we had the Nationals in 2012.
However..
It was bitterly cold and wet when we left Junee. So we decided to by pass cowra and make a run for Rylstone Caravan Park.
Steady rain and south west winds persisted all morning as we headed through Cootamundra ... where my EH Vans left wiper arm decided to part company with the car. A quick retrieval and refit saw us back on the road.
and then on up to Young.. where the left side wiper rod decided to come out of its ball and socket in the cowl causing the wipers to come together in a "T" formation in the middle of the windscreen.
Another quick stop to untangle the wipers and render the left one safe , then we where underway again.....
I made a quick phone call to John and Pam as I hadn't seen them in the mirrors since leaving Junee..
Co pilot pam reports that they had took a wrong turn and where out towards Temora... she was blaming the GPS ..... Eventually they where back on track and heading in our direction.
I stopped off at a nice little pie shop in Bathurst while the Sutcacs motored on to Rylestone.
After knocking down 2 pies (and giving them a 3 out of 5 Brendo).. I set off again. It was mid arvo and the weather had really started to bung on the cold.
Reports of snow on the hwy between Bathurst and Lithgow had me wandering if the road through Sofala and Ilford was open. No news from The sutcacs so all must be good.
Called in at Sofala pub for a snort of Port...
Very fine sleet was falling when I came out of the pub....and light was fading..although the photos don't show it
"Three lamps above the ridges .. and gourges deep and dark"
Its a long hard slog up the hills out of Sofala and I got stuck behind an oil burning landcruiser towing a double horse float. It was about now I leaned down and bless the 4 speed stick hanging through the floor of the panelvan. If I had been in the other panno with no syncro on first it would have been the end of the gearbox.
Made it to Rylestone just before dark. Sutcacas has set up with the wind and rain driving at their door , so I circled around and made a windbreak with "Old Blue"
With all the wind and rian the camp resembled a scene from "Scott of the Antartica"... Here we are after 9 days in Snow country wearing t shirts and thongs .. noiw reduced to shivering wet campers on the last night of the tour.
Dark fell upon us... No sign of The Strugglebrooks??.. Had the ever reliable HQ wagon expired somewhere back in the mountains??
We went up the main st looking for a feed. Clyde and Barb elected to head back to camp and I spent an hour at the Globe Hotel socializing with the locals... as one does .
I returned to camp and Sutcacs report John and Pam had called in and they where heading Home to Muswellbrook.
Things that go "BUMP" in the night.
I awoke next morning to find Clyde doing what appeared to be a major rebuild on the corner of Old Fugly. Apparently Barb had an interrupted sleep when the bed collapsed . Seems the rutted roads had taken its toll on the folding mech at the front /floor.
A bit of adhesive .. and after scrounging some small slot head screws from various jars in our vans Clyde had effected running repairs good enough to see Fugly makes it home..
The weather improved throughout the morning as we headed up through the beautiful Bilong valley to Sandy Hollow and then on to John and Pams. for a look around the sheds followed by a beautiful lunch and cuppa put on by Pam. Thanks heaps John and Pam for your hospitality. Much appreciated and you have a lovely home.
The whole time we where on the tour John had been mentioning various "Goodies" in his sheds and then as an after comment ... "That Supalite van of yours would look good behind my grey EH sedan Reddo"..
It was at lunch that there became talk of said goodies being on offer in exchange for the Supalite.. It was now that I realized that he knew I had a Cryptonite weakness for Girder forked 1920s motorcycles... of which he has several....!!!!
I could feel myself "Caving in".... More on the outcome of these deliberations elsewhere later on.....
After lunch The Sutcacs and I headed back to the highway .. they went right for QLD .. I went left for Newcastle ...2 hours later I was home safe and sound...
I leaned over and gave the St Christophger .. patron saint of travelers badge on the dash a pat and thanked him for looking after all of us on the tour .
I had a ball.. always good to see happy smiling faces enjoying their vans and cars while travelling around on the tours. We truly are living in "The Lucky Country"
Just like to thank everyone for their generosity on the tour...The bottomless carton of XXXX in my van... the shout for my meal at Howlong Golf Club. The invite to help myself to those beaut camp oven meals and Kris's desert. The beers shouted at the pubs along the way....I'm blessed to have such good vintage van friends.
And.. as stated way back in this story,,, Thank You Mark Taylor for sanctioning this run as a
www.vintagecaravan event
There will be bigger and better runs and tours in the future ,, but this one will stick in our minds for a long time to come.
Reddo
