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VIC/ SA - Bridging the border at Halls Gap

Written by Rob Yatomi

Monday, 28 January 2008

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Ok, its 4pm Friday afternoon, the dogs are off to the kennel, car needs packing & fuelling and fellow travellers have co-ordinated a 18:30 departure from Melbourne’s western suburbs.....

Alas none of which went according to plan, so after much running around and re-re-re-re-co-ordinating we were onto the open road @ 20:00. Halls gap here we come, straight into the open arms of the Vic police booze/drug bus, which further held us back but nothing was gonna dampen our enthusiasm

Meanwhile our South Australian counterparts and a few Vic members had settled into their cabins and making themselves quiet comfortable. After a number of concerned phone calls, we arrived 3 hours later! Bleary eyed but happy to meet our fellow Rydaz. Then the fun began, with our feet up we could finally relax and have a chat.

Saturday we arose to a beautiful morning in ready for a relaxing festive affair with a local winery. StiFoz and Veryfewmiles would be driving the service vehicle. Now you would think a mechanics car wouild be in tip top shape … WRONG 500 meters down the road the mighty green commo had a radiator leak. Nothing a bottle of stopleak didn’t fix and we were off again. Finding a few scenic spots enroute we took the chance to snap a few pics, and admire the smelly green coolant fog coming from my car! With only a few episodes of bush mechanic under my belt and some local suppliers I replaced the coolant hose for the turbo. Meanwhile with the gathering of the cars the service station matron blew a gasket of her own not wanting us to park all over the place.

As to be expected the winery put on a great lunch and following some wine tasting we were off again. This time our speed limiter was 'hubble', as his left wheel started its own rendition of "THE HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE". A suspected dead wheel bearing the cause of yet another red forester being sacrificed for a GTrydaz event.

Saturday evening was to be a quiet BBQ and drinks which was disrupted by one of the nastiest thunderstorms most of us have seen in quite a number of years. With torrential rain threatening to wash out the BBQ's and wash away the camping ground it was not enough to deter our Australia day meal, Which was of course Lamb. We then retired for some family friendly fun which ended in most of us crying with laughter. Never will we be able to watch bush mechanics without remembering the green eyed fly again. Steve your stories roll of your tounge as a natural and had us crying once again.

Sunday was to be dedicated to cruising the local bitumen and checking out the many scenic lookouts. Being a long weekend however the roads were busy and getting to the speed limit on these pristine roads was a struggle at the best of times. But with the views and radio chatter in between, it made for a nice day with our Forester's (and some tag along Commodore).

16:30 marked the tee off of the Halls Gap ProAm Adventure golf tournament, and in true GT Rydaz style the score cards were less factual and more creative writing. The cryptic message here is we don’t know who won, but we do know without a doubt fellow member 'Obsessed' lost!

The after dinner entertainment got a little creative and ended with us all on the top tier of the dam doing our best impersonation of Tiger Woods smashing the golf balls, but it was dark, and midnight, and we all awaited a splash that never came.

You know there is no better way to start a day than with the smell of bacon! Side it with some sausages, baked beans and toast and you can call it our last supper for our weekend. With all of us saying "farewell" and "we will have to do this again" we completed our house cleaning and the cars were packed. Off to Stawell! Filling up and to bid 26inch and Sennafummi a farewell and safe trip.

ahhhhh good times.

Pics on the following page. Enjoy..

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