Goodbye to Old Faithful, Drinking with The Larrikins and a walk over the Anzac Bridge

Earlier this week I received an email from an old friend back in snowbound Scotland which confirmed something Sandra and I have long suspected – whilst people were meant to read the blog for the pleasure of accompanying us on a virtual trip around Australia, the real pleasure is not from the triumphs but the disasters! Whilst the number of readers remains fairly static when things are going well there is a definite surge in readership when disaster strikes. Tales of being bogged down in remote crocodile country or ears being ripped off (and sewn back on again) have proved to be very popular, whilst with “The Embarrassing Incident in Esperance” readership shot through the roof. Mind you, only Sandra’s sister Gill has openly admitted that looking for disasters and embarrassing incidents are the ONLY reason she reads the blog. “Bad news sells newspapers” and I’m afraid, as the adventure nears its end and we are back in Sydney, blog readership is likely to fall as we are faced once again with the hum drum of city life far removed from the adventures of the bush.

A major milestone was passed this week as the Nissan Patrol, which has been an excellent vehicle and a cornerstone of the adventure, went on the market to be sold, whilst the tent, completely refurbished by the manufacturer, and other camping equipment is likely to be advertised on E-bay shortly. The first photo is Sandra and I saying goodbye to Old Faithful. For anyone considering following in our footsteps (or tyre tracks) the following statistics may be of some interest

Total distance covered - 40,205 kilometres (24,927 miles)
Total diesel used - 5493 litres (1208 gallons)

Litres per 100 kilometres - 13.66
Miles per gallon - 20.66

Highest cost per litre - $2.05 at Mt Barnet and Warburton (£1.34)
Lowest cost per litre - $1.23 at Buladelah (£0.80)
Average cost per litre - $145.6 (£0.95 )

Total cost of diesel for trip - $7,796 (£5,086)

Last week we were out with the Larrikin Hash. Hash House Harriers are groups of like-minded people who enjoy running, socialising and drinking – and not necessarily in that order. It took me back many years to the Hare and Hounds Club, where the hare would lay a trail to be followed by the hounds. In essence things haven’t changed very much and The Larrikins meet every Tuesday night to follow a trail which eventually leads to a big bucket of beer. I must admit Sandra and I didn’t run the course but walked an abbreviated version and managed to rendezvous with the main body of runners at the beer. There followed a number of speeches, peppered with outrageous language, during which willing members were generally abused and hauled up to the front and made to down schooners of beer in a oner. With the average age of the Larrikins being about sixty it struck me that I have seldom met such a bunch of semi-geriatric piss artists in all my life – I felt quite at home! We then made our way to an Indian restaurant for a curry and German beer.

Johann and Stretch’s house is within walking distance of the city centre and the other night Sandra and I took a walk over the Anzac Bridge to view the city at night. The bridge itself is an amazing structure and commemorates the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps originally formed during the First World War. Views of the city at night and particularly the skyline of towers, skyscrapers and the Harbour Bridge are pretty spectacular. The highlight was on the way back we had an amazing view of the full moon rising over the Harbour Bridge – the photograph really does not do it justice.

This will be the last blog before Christmas. We will be having a family Christmas breakfast at the harbour waterfront followed by a (fairly) traditional Christmas Dinner at Johann’s. Later in the evening we hope to have a video link up with Jon, Lisa, Harvey and Oliver back in Eskbank to wish them a Merry Christmas and to check out the damaged ceiling in the bathroom!