Not Happy

This is one unhappy camper.

I often see his ute parked in conspicuous places on the south side of Toowoomba.

The reason for his crankiness is not immediately clear, but he has a facebook page.

You may, out of curiosity, want to check it out. Frankly, I'm not that curious, but good luck to anyone who has the fortitude to take on a corporation.

Roaming in the Gloaming.

The Gloaming is an old English word for dusk or gloom.

The country is beginning to brown up. Photo by Jess.

It's entirely appropriate as a term to describe our MX5 club run last Sunday, as gloomy and dusky it was indeed.

It was murky. Photo by Jess.

This is an NC. Photo by Jess.

It was still great fun, except perhaps for the dash along the Heifer Creek road on the way back to Toowoomba. The tyres on my little beast are old, hard, and on the last 20% of tread life.

This is us. You can't see my white knuckles on the wheel. Photo by Jess.

Tiptoeing along through the rain and mist in convoy was a stern test of concentration, as the convoy leader was on new tyres.

More convoy work. Silver is popular. Photo by Jess.

I discovered that attempting to put the top up whilst waiting at the lights is best avoided. After trying it three times, but running out of red light each time, we continued en plein aire.

Harry and Andrea. Photo by Jess.

This led to another discovery. If you maintain speed above 80kph you stay dry.

The blue one is an NA.

The better photos are taken by Jess with her zoom-equipped Canon.

The magnificient seven. Photo by Jess.

Tops up by now.....

Big Sky Country

It's big sky country out here, and it has different moods at different times of the day.
The early afternoon shot was taken near Victoria Downs.
The evening shot (taken with the sunset behind me) is near Muckadilla.
The broken bridge gives you an idea of how the tranquil creeks can be transformed when it pours with rain.
In this case it's the Warrego River.
I love this country.

Tracking West

It's been a long slog today - 830 kms.

Usually this particular journey takes about 9 hours.

Not today. By the time I got to Quilpie, I'd been 10 plus hours behind the wheel.

Just about every kilometer of road between Yuleba and Roma is being dug up and resurfaced.

If I had a dollar for every sunburnt bod in a high-vis shirt holding a stop-go sign I'd be wealthy.

Snapped a couple of shots near Cooladdi this afternoon.

This whole post (including photos) was done on the iPhone.

May on MX5

I unearthed this road test of an MX5 the other day.

It’s hosted by a younger-looking James May.

The model is the same as mine – 1800cc motor and six speed gearbox. It was promoted in the UK as a special edition, and never sold here. The specifications are the same as the version sold in Australia as the NB.

What he says is right. It is reliable, doesn’t leak, and is fun to drive.

For me, the best feature is its gearbox. My kids can’t drive manuals.

No Comment

I couldn't resist reblogging this from Crikey.

It's a clever use of actual comments on the Amazon website.

The irony of encouraging abusive and racist comments on a bookseller's website, and calling it an exercise in tolerance for free speech is obviously lost on Blot and his sheeple.

Escaping Smoke

Smoking letter

I know about cars.

I know they run on smoke.

That’s because when the smoke escapes, they stop. This happened to me twice.

With Volkswagens. One in 1968, and one in 1969. After that, I didn’t buy any more Volkswagens.

What I didn’t know until today is that sewers run on smoke also.

I bet you didn’t know that. How do I know?

Well, we got this letter from the Council. They’re going to pump smoke through the sewers. If the smoke escapes, they’ll know the sewer is broken.

Well, there you go.

I’m sure this is the only connection between cars and sewers.