VSCCA 60th Anniversary Around Ausralia Tour

VSCCA 60^th Anniversary Around Australia Rally” October 2004

Long distance, veteran motoring in the sun though fascinating scenery in a country at peace – the trip of a lifetime.

The VSCCA celebrated its 60^th Anniversary in many ways. One of the events was a “mother of all rallies”. The route for this mega-marathon rally was chosen to maximise the distance traveled in Australia. It closely followed the coast of this great continent with the instruction “Keep the sea on your right hand side and get back in 60 days”. Planning started in April 2004 which allowed enough time for sponsors to be signed up and cars to be prepared.

Heading off from the 60th Anniversary Luncheon at the Horse and Jockey Menangle

Noel and Rob were confident, perhaps the wives weren't so sure.

When the President waved away the field at the Club’s 60^th Anniversary Luncheon on 15^th September, 2004 there was only one entrant, a 1913 Vauxhall D Type driven by Noel McIntosh and Rob Everett.The car looked like it was out of the early motoring era with three tyres roped to the side and a canvas water bag dangling from spare spring blades bolted across the front dumb irons. The personnel were dressed in dust coats, period hats and round goggles.

Two engines were rebuilt for the trip. We didn't want to fail!

The 91 year old car needed a complete overhaul before the start of the run. This took four months and involved rebuilding two engines. The gear box and clutch, steering and electrical system. Many spares were prepared as well as 8 good beaded edge tyres.

Queensland likes the big ....

Our 2 re-treaded tyres blew out within 1000kms and both on the same day.

The first 3000km, the northern section: Up the beautiful East Coast of Australia, from Sydney to Cairns is everything one expects in Australia.Blue sea, white waves breaking on white beaches with evocative names like Diamond Beach, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Cairns . The motorists enjoyed sophisticated living in good hotels and motels, trendy cafes, fine dining and wine all the while looking out to sea.

The drive up the "Australian verandah" was a motoring challenge, running in the new motor, changing the oil pump, the blowout of two tyres in 20 minutes and a smoking water pump. They did a major service in Brisbane helped by a number of local Vauxhall enthusiast. They enjoyed a BBQ at the VCCQ club house and attended their meeting.

Rob and Noel shared the driving and relaxed in the front seat which is like a mobile button-upholstered leather seat with armrest. They established a celebration which consisted of eating a boiled sweet whenever the odometer clicked over another 1000km. Yes it was a very frugal journey! Porridge was taken every morning and beer restricted to the evenings. Rob made tea from his big flask twice a day and sometimes offered biscuits if things were going well.

Noel has a lot of faith in his car. In the past 15 years he has driven this veteran Vauxhall over the whole route of the 1908 Great Race - across America, Japan, Russia and Europe. It has also done the Darwin, Adelaide Canberra route and crossed South Africa.

Air memorial in Cairns

Croydon - our first night in tents.

The second leg, driving east for 4200km: The newly opened Savannah Way, from Cairns to Broome, enabled the entrants to enjoy some real pioneering motoring in the spirit of the veteran era. It started with a 17 km steep haul up the 800 m Atherton Highlands, followed by a cool drive through rainforests which covered the plateau before farming. Then it all changed – the roads narrowed, the price of petrol jumped to $1.40 and the towns evaporated in the hot, arid landscape. The track is 50km below the Gulf of Carpentaria but only the most hardy trees and grass survive the Big Dry and the frequent uncontrolled fires. The bitumen ran out at Normanton and they were on the wide, sand roads which are rocky and corrugated, (so deep the stockmen drive the cows in at night to keep them out of the wind). It is covered in talc-like fine red bull dust which catches and slingshots the back wheels in invisible deep holes and channels. The beaded edge tyres, pumped to 65psi, gave no further trouble.

Many rivers and creeks cross the road on their way to the Gulf. The locals warned to them to “walk the river beds” as cars get stranded on high submerged rocks. Rob read the croc warnings at each river bank but bravely walked into the water covered by Noel with a video camera. On occasions, Rob walked back to get the camera so he could film the dangerous drive across the flowing river.

Some days they would see 5 or 6 cars but this was because they were travelling during the school holiday traffic. Accommodation was easily found as they camped or stayed in converted shipping containers. They drank beer, ate barramundi and discussed the details of the car with the local Aboriginals who were fascinated by the car.

The engine ran a big end bearing outside Katherine which made for a slow trip up to Darwin. Fortunately this was confined to one bearing, caused by a mistake made 10 years ago but never tested in severe heat. A spare conrod was machined and flown up from Sydney within 48 hours. The local TV station and newspaper heard about this frenetic activity involving a museum car in their city and featured it on the evening news.

We gently ran a big end bearing and had this group of helpers in the pre-war II aircraft hanger in Darwin

The damage big-end which was replaced within 48 hours after getting a spare machined in Sydney and courier to Darwin

Border of NT and WA

Near Burketown

The big miners equipment

Rob and Noel drove back down the Sturt Highway and turned West to Kununurra, Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. The temperature rose to 42º, the engine boiled happily and the motorists cooked in their open car. They stopped at air-conditioned watering holes for 4 hours every day during the hottest part of the day then drove into the cool night, avoiding the ever present roos and cattle.

The Indian Ocean at Broome was a great refresher and they relaxed in higher spirits especially as they were back on schedule. The town is a luxurious, spirited place with a lot of history.

The third leg, driving South from Broome: The 3,500km started in a hot, strong wind blowing off the desert. By this time they had learned of the merits of covering their faces with a bandana, looking like Howard’s bogus terrorists. This and the strong suntan lotion protected them in the open air.

The dusty iron shipping ports up north are redeemed by a backdrop of the turquoise ocean.. Port Hedland, Karatha and Carnarvon were all a relief from the inland driving which is punctuated by lonely roadhouses/petrol stations. They felt the need to keep going as quickly as possible without risking heat exhaustion.

South of Geraldton they started to see the first cultivated crops after 6000kms of driving, such is the poor dry soil of the outback.

The car was running quite well but tested the alertness of the crew when the main oil pipe blew a union. The magneto leads broke off from fatigue, as did the generator wire and the exhaust manifold loosened periodically. Graphite was put in the clutch and the grease cups re-filled every few days.

The crew swapped the car for a glass-bottomed boat for quick inspection of the beautiful coral reef at Coral Bay, the French Riviera of the outback. Further South, members of the Perth Vauxhall Club Australia met the car outside the city and they all swapped long distance motoring experiences.

A day of rest in the city enabled them to change the sump rear oil seal to check the excessive oil leak. A major service was done and brake linings checked. The crew enjoyed Rob’s brother’s hospitality and spent many hours talking to local Vauxhall owners.

Bunbury, Rob’s birth place, is a small pretty town on the coast and the home of a VSCCA member, John Rudd, who put his camera crew onto the case which then made the car famous in the West.

A much anticipated stop was made at the vineyards of Margaret River. It is one of the most beautiful parts of this vast continent and a great place to top up the levels.

Perth

Settling in for a good night before setting we start on the Nullabor

On the Nullabor

The rail trains make us look insignificant

The fourth leg, driving 4000km East, started on the 31^st day. The forests, flowers and seascapes in the South West, around Albany and Esperance are spectacular and yet not on the tourist’s map. The road meanders through a number of huge state forests of tall gums wet by the frequent coastal rains. A driving pleasure after the long straight roads of the Outback.

The famous Nullarbor, from Norseman to Ceduna, seems to divide Australia but in reality it is only a few days drive. The lack of towns is the bogey, not the distance. The flat road is sleep inducing but it has a variety of vegetation and a most beautiful ragged coast line along the Bight. We twice camped out in the bush and enjoyed the silence and stars. Petrol prices rocketed up to $1.40s again as 4 out of 5 of the roadhouses are owned by one company.

Their route passed through Port Lincoln on the wheat covered Eyre Peninsular. Another attractive city which deserves more attention and a bigger population to enjoy the food and fish. The Iron city of Whyalla and Port Augusta deserve a visit but only for a moment as the other much anticipated place, the Clare Valley lay ahead. They crossed the Flinders Range and quickly found themselves in the greenest, most tranquil setting of wheat fields dotted with trees greenest, most tranquil setting of wheat fields dotted with trees and vineyards stretching from horizon to horizon. The levels were corrected at and a good bottle purchased for the 70^th anniversary. A visit to the National Motor Museum ensured they did not stray too far from their motoring mania. The Barossa wine area was in the way but it didn’t stop them reaching Adelaide in fine spirits.

The city of churches, Adelaide, is also the city of vintage Vauxhalls. Gary Rainsford’s Chateau Moteur gave them access to their Porsche workshop so that they could put the car on a hoist and do an easy, complete service. John Ellis invited a very pleasant group to join Noel and Rob for dinner in a private dining where Vauxhall owners could exaggerate without fear of contradiction. They fixed a "missing" problem in the engine which turned out to be another broken spark plug lead. The car was running quite well but some problems could be expected after 14,000kms!

Day 39 was a great scenic day for the motorists which started in the hills of Adelaide, continued through the Padthaway and the Coonawarra wine areas. A stop at Wynns winery to ensure the quality is being maintained and then on to Mt Gambia and the Blue Lake crater in the town. This is a special lake, not just because it of its amazing colour, but because someone drove his blue 30/98 Vauxhall into the lake. It was later recovered and henceforth the lake was called the Blue Lake.

The Great Ocean Road is reasonably one of Australia’s premier sights and it can be best appreciated in sunny weather seated high in an open veteran car.. They drove into Lorne at dusk along the road at the very edge of the sea which is the longest stretch of “keeping the sea in sight on the right side”.

Melbourne welcomed us in sunlight and at a BBQ at the Latreille’s place with an eclectic group of car enthusiasts. A days rest had been planned but by this time the drivers were beginning to think of home in 1200kms.

Wynns in the Coonawarra to top up the levels.

A quick visit to the Vic house of parliament in Melbourne.

We survived a terrible storm out of Melbourne and put up the hood for the first time in 6 weeks.

The homeward leg, driving 1200km north to Sydney started in Melbourne very early in a very severe wind and rain storm. Trees were blown down on the road and the temperature dropped to less than a third of that in Port Hedland. This necessitated the closing of the car roof for the first time in 42 days which is surely a record of some sort. Car was running well, at last, after they took the shorting sparkplug leads out of their conduit. They did 640kms to reach the comfort of a family home north of Eden and the warmth of a glass of red.

The South Coast of NSW is another Australia icon because of the clear greenish water and deserted white beaches. They took their time and enjoyed many small town coastal delights as well as the twisting hilly roads.

On day 44, after 38 driving days, they drove into Sydney at noon. It all felt so natural to be driving in Sydney, their home town; they had to remind themselves that they had taken the long way around to get home! They drove over the Harbour Bridge to a big welcome home party under the Bridge, with the Opera House in the background. Their families and friends had organised cocktails and drinks to celebrate their safe return from the “trip of a lifetime”.

Welcome home under Sydney icons.

Noel summed it up when he said:

“We owe a great deal to our wives who supported us unselfishly for the better part of a year and especially when we were on the journey.

.The highlights of our fantastic adventure were:

The thrill of driving and maintaining a museum motor car on such a long and challenging journey.
Seeing a magnificent country at peace with itself, with honest and honourable people.
Seeing hugely diverse scenery.
Enjoying the company of fellow old car enthusiast in so many places.
Overcoming the many and varied daily challenges encountered on the journey.
Meeting other travelling adventurers (in cars, on motorcycles and bicycles) and discussing the motivations and rewards of going out alone.
Receiving donations for cancer relief from trusting people, some of whom could hardly afford to make a contribution. In total over $11,000 was collected around the country.
Seeing the pleasure our museum car gave to the public and enjoying their goodwill.