Monday 14th October - Mt. Malloy
18.3 last night and back upto 32.9. I'm so glad we have some shade and didn't sacrifice this for some TV. Looks like I won't be watching Home and Away tonight. Jeff arrives around 8.30 like he said he would. He rang Clive at 7.35am to let him know that he was on his way. Clive's been awake since 6.30 anyway, as he did say that he may be earlier. Well good bye Jeep. Who says that no news is good news? No phone call this morning, so about 3.30pm Clive rings to see if there is any update. Yes they are looking at it, but no news yet. Is it time to start worrying yet? Another traveller has offered to drive Clive down the range to collect the car once it's ready. Other travellers have also offered to drive him into town to get food if necessary. People can be so helpful and they all want updates on the Jeep. We decided last night that we need to get some more food, so Clive will walk into town tomorrow. Our mate, Google, has told us there is a General Store on Main Street, as well as cafes and of course the hotel that Clive saw the other day. It looks like the store is about 300m further up from the hotel. Not much else done today apart from reading and a few business matters. It's been a bit cloudy today, so the batteries have not as charged as they normally are. Only 12.5v, so a bit of TV later and then bed.Sunday 13th October - Mt. Malloy
18.7 last night and back upto 33.9 today. So we are still at Mt. Malloy. We were meant to be going to Mareeba today. Everything was all packed up and then Clive drove forward to move the van off a ramp on the right hand side. All done and packed with last minute checks completed. Then he went to start the car again and no joy. It was all turning over OK, just not firing. We kept trying for about 30 minutes then a call into the RACQ. The RACQ mechanic, Jeff, is based in Mossman so it's about 45 minutes away. Anyway, up he turns in a blue singles, shorts and thongs. Well, he was relaxing at home waiting for the big race to start. He spent a bout 30 minutes trying different things and still no luck. He thinks that it might be the fuel pump. As it's Sunday there are no towies today, as the car will need to go to his workshop. So a tow truck for tomorrow morning around 8.30am. Such fun - NOT. Clive unhitched everything and took out the WDH tow bar. Now, the two issues are power and water. There's a general store in town so we can get more food if required. Clive estimates we have about 50l of water on board, so we'll use the 'stream water' for washing up etc. and our tank water for drinking and cooking. The stove and fridge are running off gas, and we had the spare bottle filled in Cairns, so that's OK. Now for the electricity we have the lights, TV and water pump. Might have to cut down on the TV for a bit if necessary. Clive checked the battery and solar management system and we're around 12.7v. It's normally 13.7v when fully charged. If necessary we'll contact Jeff and arrange for the van to be towed to a van park in Mareeba until the car gets fixed. We'll keep you updated.