22 -25 November 2002 Mossman - Noosa Heads

Finally in Brisbane

The title is not quite true, we are in Noosa Heads where we are currently visiting the Citroen dealer in the area Kelvin Easter from John Cant Motors. Kelvin has made us most welcome and I am currently sitting in a corner of his showroom surrounded by beautiful shining new Citroens.

We left Mosman, north of Cairns on Saturday afternoon after (of course) a number of dramas.

When Tom was fixing the carburettor he managed to do one or two other little jobs one of which was to rescue the magneto which had again lost a bolt and was giving yours truly a bit of a shock every time I got close to it. The original bolt was lost somewhere on the journey and so he had to cut a bolt to fit. Unfortunately the length was slightly out and the magneto was damaged in the process. I had visions of us sitting in Mosman awaiting a magneto but in true form Tom worked all of his day off and fixed the problem. Saturday morning he made a few final adjustments and we were off about 12 noon.

The drive to Tully was uneventful and we spent a very enjoyable evening with our friends eating curry and drinking pinacoladas made with fresh pineapple and coconut milk.

Next morning it was a very early rise and we were off at about 6am. Arriving in Townsville we met an old friend of Toms and then met Phil and Karen Hird, fellow car enthusiasts who have followed our travels on the web. We had a lovely time with Phil and Karen and set off refreshed for the long drive south. Driving has become very pleasant in the more populated areas and the time passed quickly with no real dramas. We slept out under the stars again Sunday night. We really don’t do it well when it comes to picking camping spots and the time proved to be no different. When we awoke we found we were about 20metres from the Bruce Highway and as exposed as could be. Very quickly we rolled up our bed and set off. The day was long but uneventful and we finally arrived in Rockhampton at about 8pm Monday evening.

With one more big day in front of us we were up and off early. The first part of the day was uneventful but about thirty kilometres from Gympie we struck a bit of problem. The car had developed a real chugging and Tom decided to investigate (always a dangerous thing to do). Valve problems! What to do? After much head popping under bonnets and legs under cars he decided that he would protect the valve and we would limp into Noosa on three cylinders (now where have you heard that before?). Can you imagine poor little Matilda loaded to the hilt struggling up the hills from Gympie to Noosa? It was no easy task especially with the high density of traffic on the Bruce Highway.

Tom made the trip especially relaxing for me by saying, "Lois you saw how that valve was puffing out fumes etc and I’ve put a dummy plug on the lead?" Of course I nodded although it meant not a lot.

He continued "Well if the engine should catch fire you have to jump out really quickly and grab the water bag and put it out".

A comforting though indeed!

Before we made the final leg to Noosa we made a short detour at Gympie to stop and meet Les and Peter from Gayndah. They have a fantastic collection of 26 Citroens including Jim Reddiex’s Bubsie 2 which did our trip in 1975. We were all very sorry that time did not allow a visit to Gayndah itself to check out the collection for ourselves however we have made an appointment for a later date.

Back on the road to Noosa and the traffic again. Lucky for us we fit nicely on the hard shoulder most of the time and we slowly went on towards our destination. We were within minutes of my cousin’s house when we approached a long stretch of roadworks. There was nowhere to move over so we just drove ahead and then….stopped. Right in the middle of the roadworks we ran out of petrol. Hearts pounding and limbs shaking we jumped out of the car, grabbed the spare can and filled the tank. Miraculously in the time we were stopped the traffic disappeared and only reappeared (would you believe six trucks immediately appeared) when we started moving again. Ten minutes later we were driving into my cousins house for a late tea and a glass of wine. A proper bed (mind you not until nearly 1am, we were far too busy talking to think about sleep) and a good nights sleep.

Up this morning at 6 and more chat and catch up. Suddenly Tom decided it was time to go and we were off. Or at least we tried to go off but the car just could not manage to drive up the drive. I was out pushing again (joined by my cousin Michael) was Tom revved the engine and we pulled out onto the road. It was just about at this point that Tom discovered that he had left the hand brake on!!!!