Oh Lord stuck in Lodi (Forbes) again

More rain coming!

February 27- March 4   Oh Lord stuck in Forbes (Lodi) again

We got up early and picked up Sabrina at 6:30 for breakfast at the bakery.  After leaving her at the bus stop we finished loading the Jackaroo and started out at 7:30 for Manilla. 

About 100K into the trip the coolant temperature gage started cycling between normal and hot.  After 200K we stopped and let things cool down.  I added a half liter of coolant to top off the radiator. 

Max and his assistant dig for the thermostat

 

We ended up in Forbes NSW and after a series of shops we found Max Buttriss Farm and Auto repairs.  He’s a friendly guy started working on changing the thermostat.  Once he got to it he found out that the thermostat had been removed.  Then after further study he discovered the thermostat was in a different position.  Now I’m really starting to feel confident.  Ugh.

 

They drove us into town and to a motel for the night.   The Adrian Motel is very close to McDonalds  so breakfast  and Mary Beth’s desire for Lattes are easily met. Unfortunately we forgot to bring our electrical adapters so we soon ran out of power and internet access.

 

Tuesday February 28

Calling Max the next morning he advised the replacement thermostat had not arrived.  He expected it Wednesday morning have it installed and we would soon be on our way.   I hiked around and  after 3 different stores found a plug adapter for our computers.  Now we can surf and do E-mail. 

We discovered some very good counter meals at the Forbes Inn.  $17 for grilled Baramundi and $22 dollars for a nice bottle of Chardonnay to wash it down.   $56 for dinner for two.  Not too bad.

 

Wednesday February 29

Wednesday morning Max called and told us that the new thermostat was not enough to fix the problem.  Coolant is leaking.  His final diagnosis was either a blown head gasket or cracked cylinder head.  Seems to have been an all to common problem on Holden Jackaroos with the V6 gas engine.  He called Traveler’s Auto Barn and they agreed to provide a replacement car-- but not till Friday. 

Wednesday afternoon Max picked me up and I drove the Jackaroo back to the hotel.  Another night in Forbes and another dinner at the Forbes Inn.

Paragliding is not on the list

Thursday March 1, 2012

Thursday we hiked a couple of kilometers to the McFeeters Auto Museum just on the edge of town.  It’s a great museum for its size.  The owner’s wife gave us a tour.  We were surprised to find a 1962 Plymouth Valiant.  It was white just like my dad bought way back when but with right hand drive.  It’s the car I took to college and the car I was driving when I first gave Mary Beth a ride back to school in.   Lots of memories with the car including painting it metallic green and installing a custom turn signal that made everyone riding in it with me go nuts.  The wife of the owner gave us the tour.  She even was worried about Mary Beth with her cane getting caught in the rain so she arranged for transport back to the town hall.

I had one of these--just not right hand drive

 

There was an Art exhibition at the town hall.  It reminded me of the time when Mary Beth and I collected water colors.  Some really great oil paintings.  Unfortunately he things we liked all cost $2000 or more.

The downtown area in Forbes is really interesting.  Lots of buildings left over from the gold rush era and kept up nicely.  They used Forbes for the scenes in “The Dish” if you remember that movie even though the actual dish is ear Parkes about 20K north of Forbes.

Post office and town hall

 We broke tradition Thursday night and just had something from the local Subway shop.  Don't get the Tuna salad there.  Mary Beth was sick the whole next day.

Friday March2, 2012

Friday we were all packed up and ready to go when we got a phone call from Traveler’s auto barn.  The truck bringing our Ford Explorer could not get to Forbes due to the rain and flooding.  They were stuck waiting for the roads to open.  Could be Saturday or Sunday or Monday.  Oh Boy!

 

The guy at the motel loves us. With all the rain and this time of year he doesn’t have many customers.  He seemed open when I told him we might need a weekly rate.  We checked in Monday and already we have been her four days with potentially three more to go. Well at least I’ll have time to update my blog.

Train station/visitors ceter

We went to the motel restaurant for diner just to be nice and because of the rain.  $92 for a dinner that was much more expensive than and not nearly as good as what we had at the Forbes in.  Did I mention it’s been raining?  Ugh!

Saturday March 3, 2012

Saturday morning the rain subsided and I walked to the grocery store.  We’ll save a little money using the microwave and eating lunch and breakfast in the room.  I spent the morning looking at road conditions and weather.  The primary road to Manilla is currently closed so even if they got the car to me I guess we wouldn’t be going anywhere today.  

In the afternoon I installed a new application for the PC.  With “hidemyass”  Amazon Prime and Netflix think I am in the USA and don’t block content.  Mary Beth and I now are watching season 3 of 24 so the rain and no fly days will give us some last resort activities to  pursue.

I made some adjustments to the speed system on my harness.  Now  I should be able to get full acceleration.  I shortened the leg straps on the harness as well in hopes it would enable me to step into it more easily.  If it doesn’t work it’s going to REALLY constrain my private parts until I get in to the thing.  Finally I adjusted the length of my brake lines so that when I hold both handles in one hand I won’t be applying brakes.

 

Funny thing happened when I opened up my emergency kit to use the matches packed with my emergency whistle to sear the end of the trimmed brake lines.  The matches would not light. That would have been great to have happen in an emergency landing somewhere.  Now I will have a trusty BiC lighter in the pack as well.

The rain has stopped and we even saw a few rays of sunshine.  We had a very pleasant walk to the Forbes inn for the usual dinner.  Hoping the replacement car will be delivered on Sunday.  Now how many episodes of 24 can we watch before we fall asleep?   

Sunday March 4, 2012  -Last day in Forbes

It’s raining this morning.  NSW roads look good but I can’t reach the Traveler’s Auto Barn guy to see if they will be bringing the replacement car today.  However, just after 10 in the morning the driver bringing the car called and gave us his ETA.     We paid the motel for the last three nights.  He gave us a “long term” discount.Now its on to Manilla!