Our Touring Past

Well, after months of mucking about with the bondwood there is only two sleeps before we set off to the Vintage Caravan Nationals in Broken Hill. The post on the van will get updated in time, it just seems I've done nothing else from daylight till dark, nearly every day. So much so that the house and garden have gone to wrack and ruin and it's going to take weeks to get it sorted out when I get back, so the van will be sitting in the corner and not getting touched! There still seems to be so much to do to finish it off, but first priority if we decide to keep it might be a new tow car with a BIG engine, it is certainly an ask of the poor old Velox and I reckon if it makes this trip without finishing the motor (I've all the bits of a new one on the garage floor waiting to put together) or turning it into a stretch limmo then nothing ever will
This is what the end result looks like although there is a little surprise, but you have to see it in the flesh for the moment to know what it is Give us a wave if you happen to see us heading south, I'm going down the Hume, more importantly if you see us on the side of the road, stop and lend a hand

Cheers

George & Barbara

Well Dad and I headed to Forbes on Monday and there was no sign of George and Barbara on the side of the road, so it looks as though they must be well on their way to Broken Hill.

Yeeha, we made it, there and back to Broken Hill without incident, and a bloody long drive it was, so there will be a few installments to cover it all. Oddly I didn’t take a photo of the car and van at Broken Hill for some reason.

The photo above was taken at my brother’s place at Belimbla Park near the Oaks on the first and only test drive a week before we left. I loaded the van with anything heavy I could find as there are a couple of good hills on the way, and there was no point in kidding myself by towing it empty. Back to first gear on the steepest for about the last third didn’t impress me though, but all seemed well.. The next week new tyres were fitted on the van, and I tried to fit the extractors on the Velox, only to find they just don’t fit, so the only attention the Velox got was an oil change and check of tyre pressures before we set off. I tried to fix the throttle, again, which had been sticking on a high idle and annoying me. I’ve been playing with it for 12 months, sorting out different springs with little success but in the end it seemed ok.

We set off on Easter Sunday about 8.45am, hoping to make Albury, but in the end stayed the night at Holbrook, just 60km short. It seems Richard uses this stop too, the owner had several OTP calendars to show me when she saw the van. On the way down I realised I had actually set off a day ahead of my proposed itinerary so we had an extra day up our sleeve. We had a good run on the Hume Highway with hardly any trucks and light traffic all the way. There was some intermittent swaying with the van which found me moving the spare tyre and annex position inside the van and eventually it seemed to be under control.

Lunch stop was at the Coolac rest area, a very nice spot and this photo will show the surprise mentioned regarding the van. It is only ¾ finished, the offside is still as I got it, and will remain that way for sometime yet as I sort out other, more important things at home.

Holbrook proved to be extremely cold overnight for our first ever night in the van and we shivered even with our blanket and two sleeping bags over us. I think it turned out to be only 4 degrees, their coldest night since last winter, thanks for the welcome. A lazy morning was spent in town checking out the bakery, museum and Lady Gail’s Book Shop and Curios where I spent a lot of time rummaging through piles of crockery looking for bits to fit out crockery rack, and with some success too.

We moved onto Albury for lunch and set up then headed off to the shops to get an electric blanket which provided a much more comfortable night, and was used almost every night of the trip after that I might add. The next day we left the van and took a trip to Bright with a stop at Beechworth Bakery for morning tea and a look about. That Beechworth Bakery has some nice things too. Onto Bright for a look at the autumn colours, but we were a bit disappointed on that score, maybe a few weeks too early. Lunch was had at the Mountain View Hotel at Wandiligong (try saying it after a few beers) a little village about 10 minutes out of Bright, more affectionately known as the Wandi Pub. On the way back we stopped at a property offering collectibles for sale near Myrtleford, mainly because I saw an old bondwood in the shed on the way down. The owner was setting up Millard with awning for display and sale when we arrived and it turns out he ‘gathers’ old vans from around the area for resale and had several bondwoods and alli vans in sheds and around the yard that are for sale. An interesting alli van was a Wayfarer with an original built in shower. Photos and his details will follow; they are all for sale and the bondwoods are all quite complete and saveable.

From there we headed back to Albury via Yackandandah, somewhere I’d never been but knew of through the old ‘Ned and His Neddy’ cartoons published every week in the Australasian Post magazine years ago. A lovely old town, but to my surprise not a single rendition of Ned to be seen anywhere in town. Back to Albury, it was nice motoring without the van, the Velox was travelling nicely, except the sticking throttle had returned, and with only 8km to go the lying petrol gauge meant I ran out of fuel! The 10l in the boot soon sorted that and we settled down for a Chinese and an early night.

Looking at my itinerary again I realised I had somehow allowed an extra day to get from Albury to Mildura, so we had plenty of time to stop and smell some roses along the way. I rang the son of the van’s owner in Echuca to see if we could catch up the following afternoon instead of the previous arrangement and all was sweet so off we set from Albury at our steady 80kph for another day on the road.

To be continued.

George

Hi George and Barbara.
Glad you made it back safely, and it sounds as though yo had a great time.
Ill look forward to the following instalments of your memorable trip.
Cheers.
Richard.

Tuesday morning we headed off across the border towards Rutherglen and some easy driving. I quickly became concerned by the driving of the locals though. A woman tried to overtake us at one spot and realising she wouldn’t make it dove onto the verge on the wrong side of the road to avoid the oncoming car which had just about stopped in the middle of the road. Not long after a Neverfail Water truck charged past, regardless of the oncoming car and forced it off the road. Fortunately they were the only incidents on the entire trip. We arrived in Echuca mid afternoon and went straight to the new home of the son of Arthur Murphy who bought the van in 1952. After a cuppa and a bit of a chat Joe and Eileen had a look at the van and when I opened the door he said, “Just the same as it was in 1952.” Joe had sent me a couple of photos he had found just before we left on the trip, including one of Eileen and their daughter at the table so I took one of them both at the table where they shared many a meal in the early days of their married life while living in the van. They couldn’t really give me much more information about the van, Eileen said the repainted side was as it was when they lived in it and Joe was able to tell me the two stainless steel plates between the front windows was where the radio aerial mounted, a truck type as he described it with two Bakelite posts. I know the type and have one for one of my cars; it might find a home on the van until the car is ready. No further info as to who built it, but he was positive it wasn’t local; his dad had gone to ‘the south’ to pick it up, so I guess it could be Melbourne or beyond. Barbara was not happy that our crockery is a mixed lot and would prefer a matching set, but the chances of finding one that would fit all the plate types seem pretty slim. Eileen said that it originally had a matching set in it and that her daughter now has the only couple of plates remaining from the set. She said also that it was only recently while packing up for their house move that she gave away the set of glasses that used to grace the holders on the end of the cupboard!! So after a few photos we headed off to the Echuca Big 4 for the night. It was chockers, and the dearest park we stayed in to boot.

With no rush next morning we spent some time in Echuca, parking the van at the end of town, behind of all things a big Carapark van. Echuca has a Beechworth Bakery and a couple of coupons from the caravan park got us a free coffee, and I had to have another of their Aussie Eccies. By the time we got back to the car the Carapark had left and through the rest of the day we hedge hopped it to Lake Boga, but each time we stopped together we never saw the owners. Of course I thought it was going to Broken Hill too but as it turned out Lake Boga was the last we saw of it.

Lake Boga is an interesting spot, for me anyway, housing a Catalina flying boat from WWII in a purpose built museum, along with lots of memorabilia from the base that serviced them and other flying boats there during the war. Well worth a visit if you are in the area. It was then up the road to Swan Hill to find a caravan park and of all things we ran across a vintage van, nothing unusual about that given the reason we were there, but this one wasn’t going to Broken Hill either. It turned out to be Retro 1, an early VC.com moderator and his wife Chris. He was towing their Castle with a big Buick and was simply on holidays, but they live the life with Chris dressing the part. We had seen the car earlier in the day while having lunch and wished it had been our tow car as a good steady 80 kph was our speed, even on the relative flat of the Murray Valley Highway.

ANZAC Day saw us on the move heading to Mildura to meet up with the Mexican Tour for the assault on the last leg to Broken Hill the next day. At last we saw some vintage vans that were heading our way. The Apex Park caravan park at Mildura was a really nice quiet spot, especially after the Big 4 at Echuca. The majority of the group headed off to the local golf club for dinner and with some basic instructions on the map, left at the tee, right etc, we left the park after most, got thoroughly lost, stopped and told Tom Tom to take us and still couldn’t find it. The only consolation was that when we did arrive it was before quite a few who had left before us. It was no better when we left; after driving for miles I finished up with a vineyard in front of me and a distinct lack of street lights. Tom Tom to the rescue once again.

I spent some time ciphering my fuel consumption in readiness for the next day and was of two minds whether I could make the 292km on a tank and 10 litres reserve if Coombah service station wasn’t open. The consumption worked out at 19.4l/100km which while not an environmentally friendly number, I didn’t think was too bad given the Velox’s 2.6l was hauling the best part of 1.5 tonnes. A restless night ensued, as it did for others I'm sure with the same concerns..

TBC.

George

Saturday 3rd May, packed up and ready to roll to Broken Hill, our moment of truth, so far it had been good, petrol might be the only stumbling block. The various vintage vanners headed off as it suited and we got away by about 8.45am, with a stop at Wentworth about 25km up the road for a splash of petrol just to be sure. We pretty much had the road to ourselves as we motored towards Coombah, it was overcast and a good day to travel. As pit stop time approached we found a rest area with a loo, of sorts, and stopped for some relief and a cuppa. It was a bit of a goat track to get into it, but a pleasant enough place and we were soon joined by two other vanners from the group, while a couple we had passed at another stop motored by. The flies were particularly abundant and friendly, and it was impossible to get in the van or the car without quite a few getting in too. As time went by though I got quite adept at swatting the little buggers hitch hiking in the car, I find them particularly annoying for some reason when I’m driving. Back on the road refreshed it was about another ½ - ¾ hour before we reached Coombah, and breathed a sigh of relief that it was open. All the doom and gloom reported about the place and its supposed irregular hours and cantankerous operator appeared to be totally unfounded, the new management appearing to be pleasant and cooperative. We availed ourselves of a ‘real’ coffee and a pie, and I could only admire the owners for taking on such a place where they are it. No other houses and an hour and a half drive in either direction to do or see anything or anyone. While hardly isolated by Australian standards, the problems arise when you need something. On the return trip the ladies toilets had been vandalised and the owners were not happy, if for nothing else they have to pay 2hrs travelling time for 2 men, each way, before anything gets fixed.

With a full tank and stomach, and empty bladder it was back on the road for Broken Hill, but the tedium of the drive was setting in. The countryside was not as I expected flat, red sand, instead it was quite green and the colours were quite amazing, various shades of green with silver greys. It was quite flat and at times there was small mallee gums, but a noticeable absence of wildlife. Despite the apparent flatness the Velox was still constantly working, there never seemed to be an area you could ease off the throttle. I expected to see great flocks of cockatoos, galahs and kangaroos, but during the whole trip never saw more than half a dozen birds, a couple of emus and not a single kangaroo, a live one anyway. Life in general was seemed absent; I only saw one or two mail boxes and only one farm house in the distance. There were a few goats, not sure if wild or farmed and a few sheep, but really very little sign of life, despite signs informing us livestock may be on the road. Side roads were few and almost always dirt, with signposts indicating considerable distances to wherever they were going. As we progressed it seemed to get flatter and the road longer and straighter in the distance, a great place to try out something with a few horsepower, there was no sign of any police either. As the BH posts showed an ever diminishing distance to go some undulating country appeared, with some noticeable bumps on the skyline, some man made, so we were almost there. I was surprised that there were a couple of reasonable rises as we neared the city, again not what I expected.

And there we were, on the outskirts of Broken Hill. We followed the main road in, past what appeared to be an unused mine complex, a row of derelict diesel locomotives with what I would learn is the Line of Load, a large bare hill, behind them on our right, and a new Coles supermarket and houses on the left. We had a drive around the main street and took in the sights, there was hardly any traffic to bother with, and then we headed for the caravan park to take up residence for the next week. We had even jagged a spot on the grass, and while that might not seem anything special, there was only one area of grass in the place, big enough for about 20 vans I guess. The van was unhitched and there was some afternoon sun to welcome us at the end of a long days drive. It was lovely to know I had a week or so of driving without that weight on the back of the car, but the throttle was still sticking, despite constant tinkering each evening to try and fix it. We set off to the shops for some provisions and I invested in a small can of WD40 with which I subsequently dosed the linkage on the carby body, and there hasn’t been a problem since! Why didn’t I do that months ago, because Vauxhall’s manuals always say not to lubricate the linkages, I’m over that!

George

Ah George, loving the trip report so far.
It reminds me of a trip I did to Broken Hill about 20 years ago in my FJ ute and van in tow.
We left Cobar early in the morning heading for Broken Hill, and had to dodge the dead kangaroos from the road carnage the night before, then by about 10.30am it was that hot that the fuel was vaporising in the lines before it had a chance to get to the carby.
I too know the relief of arriving at Broken Hill.
AHHH the memories.
Cheers.
Richard.

Thanks Richard, at least it was the right time of year to travel there, I don’t think the temp gauge on the Velox even raised a sweat, despite the hard work; it actually did the trip without even needing a top up! Not so for the fuel though, certainly no vapourisation or anything else was preventing copious quantities of fuel arriving at the carby!!

And. so to the reason for the trip, caravans, cars and sight seeing. Firstly, the cars, The day after our arrival we had a bit of a look around the park but there weren’t a lot of vans in place, but the local car club was paying us a visit so we stuck about for a look at the cars. The pictures can do the talking, and of course I was pleased to see a lovely little H model Vauxhall Caleche among the club cars. And a few tow cars and vans. Later in the week Austin 125 arranged a visit to one of the local members shed to view projects and his collection. I don’t recall the gents name but he has been involved for years in the car industry, and has a fantastic collection of restored or original cars that would make a great museum. He has quite a few years on the clock himself, but is still actively restoring several projects, a La Salle tourer and a Chrysler Town and County being the most obvious. He has plenty of stuff to keep him going until he is a hundred, and I envy him his enthusiasm and ability. Unfortunately time there was limited and I only got a few photos, I think for most of us it would have been like being let loose in the candy store if left to our own devices. I think the only reason I’d go back to BH would be to have a better look at this collection. Vans next time.

George

Hi George....
Sounds like the old Vauxhall put in a sterling effort (so far).

That stretch of road from Coombah to BH is a real test for any vehicle towing a van, especially if you are punching into a head wind.
My son Joel and I came home from Morgan S.A back in 2006 towing a 13ft fairway bondwood van with 1986 turbo diesel landcruiser AUTO
We cooked the trans fluid on the stretch from wentworth to Coombah.... But limped on for a while then simply run off the road into the scrub and camped the night away from the highway.
Limped the last 80k into BH the next day in 2nd gear... a slow trip. NRMA set things right and we motored home to Newcastle no problems.
Reason the fluid got hot was because there is no rest for the autos on flat going. They are constantly under load. No down hill runs to allow the fluid to cool off.

Anyway mate.... loving the story so far. Keep the story and pictures coming... It might not have seemed like it at the time but.... the road trip to and from a venue is sometimes more interesting than the final destination

Regards
Reddo

Hi Reddo,

I think we were lucky with the wind, no noticeable problem either direction. For me though the interesting bit is that it’s not flat, you are actually climbing all the way from Coombah. I did a bit of ‘Googling’ before I left to check elevations of places along the way out of interest. Leaving from Campbelltown at 75m above sea level the highest spot on our travels was Goulburn at 700m and only 100km from home, a good climb I’ve done many times. From there it was ‘downhill’ to Albury at 165m dropping further to Mildura at 51m and still dropping to Coombah, the lowest point on the trip at just 47m. And blow me down if you didn’t have to climb from there to Broken Hill at 315m, no wonder I couldn’t get up enough pace to use overdrive! Despite that ‘downhill’ run from Goulburn it was not reflected in petrol consumption figures or the ability to get into overdrive. The only ‘flat’ section I got to use a bit of overdrive was between Swan Hill and Mildura, and all that did was increase my fuel consumption!

It was nice driving and there was lots to see at least, and I think you are right about the journey rather than the destination being the interest. And, for me, one of the most interesting vans wasn’t part of the event, just one we crossed paths with on the way home, stay tuned for that one.

Here’s a few of the vans from Broken Hill. I had great intentions of making notes of types and owners and in the end barely photographed about a third of them I think. A couple of days of rain didn’t help, and when I did go walkabout people were out seeing the sights and before I knew it vans were leaving or I was talking. There were several Sunliners and Olympics (no Debonairs), a couple of Caraparks and Dons and quite a few Viscounts, but only one Propert. Sorry I don't know what all these vans are or who owns them, someone might be able to add that info. Some of the photos I'll add to the appropriate history thread in due course

Maybe some of the sights before the next lot of vans.

George