Trip away in the 34

[Lawrie]

Had a great day at Clermont ,catching up with good friends there, out for dinner both nights and a lovely relaxing time.
Monday morning packed the car and headed off to Mackay, only a short drive at 290klm.
As this is the heart of the Queensland coal mining area, there are lots of wide loads, this one, we had the pilot car first ,then a police car, then a B double full of stuff, we talked that surely they didn't need all the pilot and police car just for this, then a big gap and finally another police car who made sure we were right off the road, then the wide load.
it was making heavy work up the rise.
Further on we came to one of the many coal mines out here, the haul trucks were continuous up and down the haul road.
At a rest area down the road away, having,what else , but a lovely lunch made fresh every morning,(thanks to my good friend Cheryl)and coffee, you can see how well fed we are,
Some cars went past ,one of them must have been speeding as a police 4WD coming the other way put his lights and siren on and did a high speed u turn at took off after the car,A bit of excitement .
Driving at Nebo for a fuel stop and ice cream the servo was under repair so had no fuel, so had to fill up at the other one down the road a bit.
Arriving back at Mackay around 3 pm.
Monday morning I headed back home to Gladstone.
Stoping at a rest area for a break, I was about to leave when a woman came over and asked if I had any tools, she tells me her 8yr old Toyota would not start, after she spoke to the dealer by phone ,he told her she would have to reset the cars computer, by disconnecting the battery for 1 min then reconnecting it, she had no tools, I tell her I have no metric spanners as my car is only imperial so will have to us a shifter, after doing the job on the battery it fires straight up, she tells me it was because she left the gas tank cap open??.while putting my shifter back she came over and commented how simple the 34 was, commenting that its nearly 100yrs old.
On the trip from Mackay to Gladstone on the main hi way I mostly travelled at 55mph which seems a nice comfortable speed.but fuel usage was up a tad.
Im back home now, after 3013 miles 712 litres of fuel at an aver cost of $1.85/ltr.
engine used about 1 ltr oil.
Some jobs to do on the 34, adjust the play from the steering box, adjust brakes, good wash and clean, plus a full grease and oil change, a few things inside the cab, make a better drink bottle holder, fit a UHF radio, fix door and rear window rattles, lube door locks, and fix oil pressure gauge.
As it will be heading for the V8 nationals in Victor Harbour in SA in April, a 2800 klm trip each way.
Not too bad for a 91 yr old vehicle.
Lawrie