Burnt Custard and Computer Socks
Sydney, 22nd to 24th January 2002
After last night's events we were hoping for a nice lie in, but
unfortunately, I needed to get up early to move the van. Between 8am
and 10pm, you can only stay in the space we had parked in for 1
hour. So I had to get out by 9am to move the van around the corner.
Luckily on the first day we found a car park that charged a flat
rate of $10 to park all day. If we hadn't of found it we would have
had to either park in the city (expensive) or move the car every
hour (ridiculous!) Good find!
After the time we spent under the hot sun in Canberra, Sydney was
quite a contrast. The streets were much more of a maze, like in
London, so it's much harder to drive around. Also, for our first 3
full days in Sydney, it was cloudy with regular bursts of heavy
rain. If it wasn't for the fact it was so hot (no sun though) I
might of thought we were back home!
We decided to leave visiting the Opera house until a sunny day. We
didnt't want to take photos of Sydney in the rain, but we do want to
make people back home jealous! So photos will only be taken at sunny
times! Most of our time was spent exploring the city and dodging the
showers. A lot of our time was spent in China town, our favourite
area. Nat & I love the culture and think the food is fantastic. The
others tried the food, but weren't too sure!
We visited the art gallery (yes another one) and it was HUGE, it's
one of the largest we've been to. They had a really interesting
buddha exhibition on. The Buddhist artefacts and art are amazing.
Looking at the statues of Buddhist Gods started getting us excited
about our travels to Asia. We couldn't wait!
It seemed like lots of Ozzies like to wear their socks pulled up
high. (A big fashion mistake in the UK). When we visited the
Powerhouse Museum, we found an amusing invention called 'Computer
Socks'. They didn't involve computers in any way & they weren't even
designed on computers. The name was chosen to make them sound
modern, futuristic & amazing. In fact, they were just socks that
could stay pulled up no matter how much you jumped around! (Normal
socks fall down too easily apparently!)
While visiting a pub one evening and discovered the other Ozzie Pub
size of drinking. We'd already seen the 'Pot' (1/2 pint), well, the
Ozzie equivalent of a pint is called a 'Schooner' (It's actually a
little less than a pint, but close enough). Weird stuff!
On the night of the 24th, Nat & I hopped in the van to drive it from
the car park to the hostel for the night, but it started messing
around. It kept stalling, and every time I tried to drive out of the
car park, it spluttered & stalled. Great. Then suddenly we heard the
sound of a ping!. Worried, we stopped and parked the car again (we'd
managed to move a few feet). I tried to start it again, but it just
kept dying. I didn't want to push it anymore, it'd been getting
worse for a couple of days now. It was officially broken down. We
left it there for the night & walked back to the hostel.
The next morning, I flicked through the Yellow Pages, found a
mechanics, and called them. They said they'd be with us between 10am
and 12 noon. We waited by the car, and at 11:15am, he arrived. After
running a few tests, he'd found the problem, a duff ignition module.
He also noticed a few other problems that, although they wouldn't
stop the car running now, could cause problems later. He quoted us
about A$1200. Great!! We were on the spot, we couldn't say maybe,
just a yes or no. Say no, we pay him A$90 for his time, he goes and
we're stuck. Say yes and we risk being ripped off. So we decided to
get just the module fixed. Then we could drive around and get other
quotes for the other parts.
An hour and a half and A$530 later, the part was replaced and the
van ran fantastically. Custard moved better & more smoothly than
every before! However, there was still the other problems the
mechanic mentioned. As we could now drive, I made a note of his
suggestions and estimated costs, so I could compare them with other
mechanics tomorrow.
Later in the day we took Custard for a drive over the Sydney Harbour
Bridge. It seemed superb at lower speeds, but on some hill starts,
it still felt as though the engine might cut out. Also, at higher
speeds, it sounded like it was struggling...
After a short drive round & back to the hostel, seeing some great
views of the Opera House, I could feel the heat from the engine
(which is under the front seats) radiating intensely from between my
legs. That's it. Custard needs a tune up and the parts looked at
before we do any long distance driving.
Well, we were planning to leave Sydney tomorrow afternoon after
checking out the Opera House, rain or shine. Photos in the rain are
better than none at all! But looks like Custard will need a tune up!
Let's see how the repairs go...
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