22nd - 31st August

Sunday 24th

Ross and my nephew, Jason, along with a couple of guys from the Landrover club went 4wding at Ormeau. They had a great time and Ross was very pleased with the performance of the Disco with the new diff lock in it. The only problem was that when they came back, Ross thought the Disco had blown a head gasket! Two major problems with that -heaps of money to fix and heaps of time too! We are supposed to be leaving Thursday!

Monday 25th

Ross took the Disco down to the Landrover specialists first thing this morning to see whwther they thought the head gasket was blown or not. Unfortunately there is no easy way to tell, so Ross rang his mate who is a mechanic to see what he could do. Ross took the Disco over to the mechanic shop and I told him to ring me when he was ready and I would come and pick him up. A couple of hours later he turnred up - not in the Disco, but on a moped! Pretty funny sight! It is the mechanic's "loan car". He has left the Disco with the mechanics shop for now and they are going to have a look at it.

They rang this afternoon and they don't think its the head gasket - they think its something to do with the cooling system - phew! They aren't positive mind you, so Ross is going to trundle around on the moped tomorrow to see what he can do to help.

Tuesday 26th

Ross spent most of the day in the workshop but they still haven't figured out exactly what is wrong with it and have sent it off for more tests - should know more in the morning - fingers crossed!

Wednesday 27th

Ross spent the day at the workshop again and the guys still reckon it isn't the head gasket and is something to do with the cooling system, so they have parts coming in in the morning, so Ross will go in then and see if he can get it fixed in time.

Thursday 28th

The parts came in but didn't get in until 1 pm, so he didn't get it all finished - running out of time to get it done by the weekend! Ross talked to the guy who is running the 4wd course on the weekend and he has called it off because there was only 1 other person who was doing it. He also talked to Fred and they are not in a hurry to get going as Jude's dad is visiting so the pressure is off to get it up and going by the weekend.

Friday 29th

Ross got home late in the afternoon with the Disco running, but he still isn't convinced that they have fixed the problem, he still has a suspicion that it is the head gasket, but will take it for a drive tomorrow to see what happens. He has put degreaser through the cooling system to try and get all of the oil out of it.

Also today, Lee's son, Shane came home with a broken arm after a fight at a club in the city and had to be put in hospital to get plates put in his arm - these young uns never learn!!

Saturday 30th

Ross rang Jason to see if he would go with him to take the Disco 4wding to see if they have fixed the problem, but Jason was working today, so they will go first thing in the morning - fingers crossed!!

Sunday 31st

Well, they took the Disco for a good run this morning and it seemed to be fine, though Ross is still worried becasue there seems to be a film in the radiator. Nevertheless, we are taking off tomorrow morning and we will call into the mechanics on the way out to see if they think it is ok. We have to tow the caravan up the Toowoomba range, so if it is going to play up, we will know pretty quickly anyway.

We spent the afternoon packing and will head off sometime tomorrow once we have finished packing - I am not as excited as I thought I would be, mainly because I am still nervous about the Disco, so if it makes it over the Toowomba range tomorrow, I will be REALLY excited!!