My 1 week holiday has started, and I am currently visiting my grandmother in Timboon. The drive to get here was 1100 km and it took me 14 hours. I left Sydney at around 2:45 pm on Friday and got to Albury at 9:50 pm, totally exhausted. I am driving a loan car because of a saga with our car. Basically, it went in about 3 weeks ago for a service…we’d only had it for 2 months at that stage. They told us that a clutch and flywheel needed to be replaced, so it was booked in the next week for that work to be done. We picked up the car late on the Friday before the long weekend, only to find that there was a loud whining noise in second gear, and before we’d driven it 10 km a loud grinding noise started up. So the car was towed. The following Tuesday we were told that the gear selector hadn’t been put back properly, so that was fixed and we were told all was well. However, the whine in second gear was still there and Andrew has spent the last 2 weeks trying to get someone to have a look and see if anything is wrong with the car. Finally they’ve agreed, just as my holiday was starting, so I was given a loan car to take to Victoria. So this is why I’m driving a Forrester instead of our lovely, comfortable Outback, and why I am concerned that not everything I’m picking up in Melbourne will fit in the car.
Anyway, back to the story, I left work, drove home to pick up my laptop and Andrew’s camera gear, and then started the long drive south. I got about 50 km down the road when I was able to start using the cruise control. I set it and a few minutes later it did something weird, seemed to be breaking quite hard for no reason. I tapped the accellerator to keep the speed up, and then I noticed that the engine light was on and the cruise control light was flashing. I found somewhere to pull over and stopped and started the engine a few times to see if that would make the warning lights go away, but it didn’t. So I called Andrew and asked him to call Subaru and find out what I should do….I didn’t want to drive on and damage their car, but I also didn’t want to have to turn back if I didn’t have to, as it had taken me an hour of driving to get to the outter edge of Sydney.
Subaru said it was ok to drive the car, but since the cruise control wasn’t working, I had 2 options. To turn around and get them to fix it, or to go to a Subaru dealer when I got to Melbourne and ask them to fix it. The downside of the latter option was that I’d have to drive some 1500 km without cruise control, as it wasn’t working. I decided to keep driving, otherwise I was never going to make Albury for the night.
The drive to Albury was uneventful. I made several stops along the way and ate horrid food from fast food places at the side of the freeway. The motel I had booked left my room key in the door because they knew I was arriving late, though it didn’t end up being as late as I had thought it might be. I collapsed into bed, woke up the next morning, booked out of the motel and started driving again.
It was another 7 hour drive, but it was more pleasant for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I wasn’t tired, and secondly it was daylight. I took the freeway and then detoured across to Nagambie, and then down through Daylesford, Ballarat, Camperdown and finally made it to Timboon. It was nice to drive on the country roads instead of the freeways and highways, but it did make the travel time just a little longer. Near Daylesford there was a little family of ducks that were trying to cross the road, and it really looked like they were standing there and waiting for the traffic to die down before they went across. I stopped to try to take a photo of them, so I saw them cross when there was no traffic. There were about 10 little ducklings, and they were all so cute! I obviously got too close when trying to take the photo, and one of the adult ducks came at me with wings outstretched and neck rigid, and it went onto the road just as 2 cars were driving past. I was so worried it would get hit, but both cars managed to avoid it. By this time I had moved away, so the little family was safe and back together again. Also on the road, I saw a hawk of some sort sitting on a fence post. It was a lovely bird, but I didn’t stop for photos.
Thisafternoon I’ll be driving to Melbourne. It’s only about 300 km, so it’s not too far. But I’d love to take a look at the Great Ocean Road, so I might take a slightly longer route. I guess we’ll see how I go and what time I leave my grandmother’s house.
duckies!