Pagoda SL Group
Off Topic => Other cars => Topic started by: Garry on June 08, 2013, 07:01:18
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Kate and I are heading out tomorrow for a bit of a drive in the 1974 VW Kombi. 8) 8) Hope to cover 14,000km in two months of driving. :o Half of it will be with the Kombi loaded on back of a passenger train for two legs of the journey, firstly from Adelaide to Darwin and again from Perth to Adelaide. Driving part, Melbourne to Adelaide (900km), Darwin to Perth (at least 5,000km,) and Adelaide to Melbourne (another 900km) at the end. Glad I am not doing the whole country, I would need 6 months.
Hopefully the Kombi is well prepped for the trip, have been working on it a year getting it reliable. Had to lower it 2" to meet height restrictions for the train so that it clears tunnels on the rail part of trip. After we loaded it up today, it did a further self levelling of 2" :D
Looking forward to warmer weather, following winds and an uneventful trip.
Cheers
Garry
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Fantastic....
sometimes..... I wish I had moved to your country
Enjoy
Paul
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Hi Garry,
what a great trip! Will you be able to post pix or a blog or something while on your way, so we can enjoy it vicariously with you?
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Garry:
Looks like you are truly loaded for bear.
Same color as the "family truckster."
Don't forget the Vegemite.....
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What a great trip. I once spent a year driving around Aus. great times! (except the smell of dead roo!)
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We want lots of updates and piccies. Hope the Kombi treats you well
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I will post more as I get going. Today only achieved 300km as we head toward Adelaide and from there we head north inland to the outback.
I will start posting some pix as things get interesting. Meanwhile the Kombi performed well. I have lowered it 2" to get it on the train on Wednesday next. That makes for fairly short suspension travel and fairly rough. Once I get it off the train in Darwin I have arranged for it to be raised again for the long drive down the west coast of Australia. I fitted an adjustable front beam. That can be fairly easily adjusted up or down in about an hour for both front and rear.
More to follow.
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This is how the Kombi Travels. Heading out of Adelaide toward the north with Kombi up front of Train.. It gets there before we do :D :D
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In Southern California, they would describe your Kombi as a Lowrider! :D
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Have a great trip Garry and safe travels ... Love your country spend 3 months there in the mid 80s saw the Americas Cup in Perth (my customer took me there). Did some work for BHP north of Adelaide at the steel mill. Of all the places I've been I liked Adelaide the best (the city, the ocean, Adelaide hills and the Bourassa wine valley). Great folks down under!
Post plenty of pictures if you have a chance, sounds like a great trip! :)
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You know you are going to have some difficulty when you have to pass a truck this big. In a Kombi it only happens when they are stopper on the side of the road.
Picture taken somewhere in the Northern Territory near Darwin, Australia this morning.
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Funny.... there was a thing on TV the other night about the Ghan line - the original - from Adelaide to Darwin. Chap drove to Alice and got the train (missed the passenger one and ended up on the freight one) up to Darwin.
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Hi,
The Volkswagen transporter based on VW t-platform was named "Bulli" in Germany. Is the name "Kombi" usual in Angol-American-Australian context?
A "Kombi" in German is a station wagon.
...WRe
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That quite a truck! "Road Train" on the front bumper is an appropriate description.
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Yep they run big trucks here with four + trailers on the back. Quite scary in a Kombi when they pass you when you are doing 90kph and they want to go up toward the 130 speed limit.
Given the speed limit, the poor Kombi cannot even get to that speed. Bit of a laugh.
The term VW Kombi was used for the rest of the world other than Germany I believe. I also understand that the term Bread Tin is a term used in some places in Europe!
The Kombi has been running well even though it is quite hot here in daytime. We did about 450 km today before stopping as the day got hot.
Here are a couple of photos along the way. Note the Pagoda University T shirt in the last photo :o
Garry
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The Great Ocean Road is quite a sight. I did it in the mid '80s also. It was beautiful. Say "hi" to the Twelve Apostles for me!
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Bill,
Glad you enjoyed the Great Ocean road - sadly I think there are now only eleven as I have at the back of my mind that one fell over a couple of years ago. Gary can probably confirm..........
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There are now only 7 left. London Bridge fell down about five years ago and one of the apostles fell a year or so ago.
They are about 4,000km from where I am at the moment in the north of Western Australia where it is 3-400km between towns and petrol stations.
A photo of the Kombi on the road, One of Kate driving in the middle of nowhere and where I am now doing my internet blogging
Garry
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Driving around the far north west of Australia where there is a boom in mining going on I met with a small dump truck ;D ;D
Keep running into things that are really big!
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Great story and great pics. Love the airco system that Kate enjoys. Do you sleep in the camper or is it too hot?
We just had a camper holiday in Norway with a modern Hymer, slightly bigger, but on account of the rain my wife probably would kill me if all the space we had was a Kombi...
Peter
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Looks like the only shade for miles around!
Great adventure, enjoying each instalment,
all the best :)
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We are sleeping in the Kombi. Promised Kate that we would go to a top hotel if she had need of some decent accommodation. Her comment. She's enjoying the Kombi. Just love it.
Couple of more of Kombi and camp site over the last week or so.
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Are there any ahem hairy spiders or nasty bitey things out there on those rather remote campsites?
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Hi Garry ,
Enjoying your story and travel reports ... what part of the country so far is your most favourite spot?
Take plenty of photos .... and .... Continued safe travels !
PS. I spend some time in your country in 1984 on business up in Whyalla, South Australia (when I was in Perth my Customer took me to show me the America Cup you fellows won for the first time in 1983 then he took me to show me the yacht Australia II ). I was fortunate during my stay to see some part of your wonderful country (Sidney, Melbourne, Whyalla, Adelaide and Perth). I very much enjoyed the city of Adelaide and surrounding area the most I have to say. Perhaps it was the different areas (the city, the ocean, the Adelaide Hills Wineries, then Perth was also a great spot to be. Loved the houses by the ocean massive glass and verandas on them houses.
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There are lots of things that bite and want to eat you and want to kill you but if you hit them with a big stick or a big knife, they dont get to take too much out of you :D :D :D
Some of the outback gorges have been really beautiful and so have some of the very very remote beaches. It is all so different that I could not put one before the other as they are so different.
What does strike you is the massive distances between some civilisation, often 300km plus between Roadhouses for petrol and 600 between very small towns with populations of only a 100 or two.
The other thing that we are seeing is the massive works being taken for the iron ore mining and gas production and the billions of dollars being spent. The mining camp we went to yesterday probably had 200 workers that are FIFO, that is flown in flown out on a two weekly rotation from Perth and stay in the mining camp. Earning a lot of money. The ore truck drivers alone earn around $200,000 plus. There is a rail line that is taking the ore from the mine inland to the coast (300km) that is driverless, and is operated from Adelaide, South Australia, 3500km away. One of the mines did not even have drivers for the big dump trucks, they are also driven from down south remotely.
All very large scale and a bit of an eye opener.
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We have moved down the west coast of Western Australia without too many problems with the kombi. Weather has been great and blue skies for weeks now.
towns stayed at include Exmouth, an old US Navy Submarine Base now just a tracking station, Ningaloo Coral Reef, Coral Bay and then on to Carnarvon where there was the US Satellite Tracking Station now de-commissioned.
Still about 1,000 km north of Perth but on the home stretch so if it breaks down it is not too far to get it towed to Perth. Taken the Kombi to places that I would never consider in the Pagoda :o
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It's a little bit crowded at that last beach... couldn't you have found something a little more secluded and private?
Peter
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Well there were two of us on the beach, thats a crowd here.
Meanwhile Kombi spluttered to a stop 600km from Perth and I have it trucked the last 600km. Problem not too troublesome but we are going to go home for a couple of weeks whilst it gets fixed and then start again to get it from West to east. Short trip of only 4000km or so.
Story to continue in a couple of weeks.
Garry
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Have arrived back home after getting the Indian Pacific train from Perth to Adelaide and then a hire car from there to home, a trip of just on 4000km. The Royal Auto Club paid for the towing (600km) and accommodation for a few days in Perth. I already had a rail ticket so used that with an empty space for the car at the back of the train. They also paidfor the hire car for three days and a return air ticket in three weeks to go back to pick up the Kombi from the repair shop. I will then drive it the 4000km back over a couple of weeks and finish the trip started at the beginning of June.
At least I was able to drive it onto the flatbed so not too embarrassing for the poor Kimbi
So far has been a great trip and even though It broke down, something was expected in such a long trip and it all went well with the support of the RAA.
Last pic of the Kombi sadly on the tow truck that also gave us a lift 600km to Perth.
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So what's wrong with the old type 2? Water pump gone? ;) :D
I guess you'll double check the repair once you get home... ;D
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Well we travelled back to Perth and picked up the Kombi after its break down and drove back across the country over the last seven days.
It was a great trip in total 10,000km (6000 miles) over more than two months with some adventures as you can imaging in a 40 year old car.
Now its back to working on the Pagoda and looking at finishing off the interior for summer.
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Garry,
good to hear that you made it safely home and congratulations on completing this amazing trip. Looks like one of the most pleasant life's experience...
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Nice to see you all safely back home, what an amazing trip, what memories in years to come. Thanks for sharing it with us Garry (http://www.m3post.com/forums/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif)
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Loved reading your posts Garry, look forward to catching up with you (and hopefully Richard) soon ..
Best wishes from Joe
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Garry
I thought that for a VW Kombi lover, landowner of a new summer house, you should consider investing in an accessory like the one featured on the photo below
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Have seen one of these and they are pretty cool and would look great in the shed/garage. Should design one in a Pagoda likeness ;D ;D
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and then have a place in our TechnicalManual describing "how to make one..." for the sake of the Membership
Only imagine: a fridge type 230 with more chromes, 250 with a larger engine and 280 with maybe a different handle, and the very late model with the defrost option, each matching the color of your car... then...
some cooled liquid of your choice... priceless experience ;D
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Or do what my brother does and put a keg inside the fridge and then a tap into the front door for nice cold beer. He keeps it on the veranda so he can get himself a cold beer on a hot day whilst out in the garden working. :D