Reflections of trip to sunshine coast
Trip Start
May 12, 2010
1
8
Trip End
May 20, 2010
Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand
Monday, May 24, 2010
Then the second time was almost inevitable with 30 odd instructions from google, if you just get one wrong... well thats what happened! However I would must say we saw some stuff that way. like Neil steeet in the middle of no where!!
How ever it was googles short cut that was the icing on the cake,the bit before rosedale,where we left the main road and took to the dirt track that seemed to mever end.Are we on the right road? took a while to answer that.And to top it off the mileage given at this point wasnt accurate,as well as some imtersections having changed!!But these unplanned detours were added adventure,and suspence to the journey.Compare with the trip back down the bruce highway,totally lame!! Although got to do 110 km hr speed limit legally!!
We counted kombis as we went and that totaled 17 in the end, all bay window models with only 1 being a ute! (uteris to some poor peeps). Intersting to note no split windows.May be because of the salt air having dealt to them before they became trendy.No doubt there are some survivors that are tucked away.
We were lucky to happen on the Aust nats for body painting while at Emundi.Those models had to stand still all day while being decorated,that would be very dificuilt im sure.
The rental car provided us with great comfort in all areas accept one/ The intermitent /semi perminant substitution of lack of air cond and replacing that with perminent heat on full blast. This was hot enough to melt the ointment in the centre console! When the air cond worked it was great!!! However the other 50% of the time ,well roast turkey springs to mind.
Why didnt we get it repaired? Well the fault was on and off so often no problem , And we tried to contact them once when in Noosa. Couldnt believe the reply though.It was saturday we rang the fuulty car number.You have reached us after hours ,please ring back monday to friday office hours!! Just lucky the re was no engine probs!! So they expect you to remain stranded if ou brake down ,cancel your holiday until monday morning when its convienient for them!!! This is unfortunatley the service that Australians deliver from time to time.Weare feeding this back to Budget as we certianly expected better service than that,even if it is run by Australians.
We covered 1700 kms in our rental . not a bad effort in 8 days!!Gas cost a mere $1.30 a litre (price varied from a low of $1.22 to $1.47 per litre! Used ethanol blend, 94 octaine mostly. Surprised that no recomended fuel type by budget,Or ford for that matter.We consumed $210 of fuel, averaging 9.5 l per 100kms,which is pretty good for a big car with 190 kw engine.threr fuel is much cheaper than ours ($1.85 per litre).
Sone of the wild life was fantastic, but the two most anoying were birds . The Crows are not only ugly but make an awful racket,totaly spoiling a peaceful enviroment.I often wondered why dont thy just shoot them all!!! Although the cookaburra is a interesting creature with its own unique song. Not quite so nice at 6 am evrey morning!!! It was great to see Kangeroos hoping around the houses t Agness water!!No sightings of kowalas or Dingoes in the wild though.Uunfortunatley there was a protest to highlight the plight of the Dingoes at Fraser island,while we were there. Aparentley they are in poor condition due to starvation probabally because of the drought.The peeos are trying to get the government to do something about it.
Utes are evrey where here,the weapon of choice is holden with over 90 % of them being that way enclined!! Also most popular are the tray back type ute,which is cab and chassis with an after market tray on the rear,often used by tradespeeps here, However good for surf boards and motorbikes to ,apparentley.the best one I liked was a Toyota 70 serries with raised springs and a good v8 burble,white with Aluminium trary (flat deck). The dirt bike on the back completed the perfect set up!!
On our return trip to brisbane we noticed a lot af caravans (about 50)being towed up in a northerly direction. We concluded that they may be going to a festival at 1770 for cap. cooks anniversary.
Another comment was repested to us is that May is one of the best times of the year to visit ,as its not to hot or and no Aust holidays to crowd up the coast.We had only one wet day ,however it had been raining more frequently before we arrived.Most days 25 deg with a low of 12 deg over night (celcius).
I must asy that Arrons folcon xr6 turbo was uite the weapon.How nuts to put a turbo on a 4 litre motor.!! Well done ford for that (better late than never). The result is 245kw of accleration like no other!!Although could do with a disc brake skimining there,the only other downside is the rear tyre wear is phoenoninal I bet!!! Not recommended for no smoking areas,thats for sure!!!
Another interesting thing is that on the way home in the jet star plane, the menu read hot meals available on international flights.So what hot meals have you got on this flight? I asked the hostess. Oh none as this is not an international flight she replied. Its trans tasman!!! Which is true but also makes it international, dosent it?? Aparentley not if your Australian,,, lol !!!
