Thread: 1974 Series 3 SWB

That looks like an amp meter not a volt meter.

Cheers Rod

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I said this was going to be slow....

Hobart to Strahan

Part 2 - Derwent Bridge to Queenstown

Blissfully ignorant of the fact that the alternator in the Landy was not charging, yet still slightly troubled that the charge light was on, we left Derwent Bridge on route for Strahan.

Having looked at the map before departure, I could see that Strahan was only 120km away, and as the Landy started without any difficulty, I was confident we would make Strahan, as even at Landy speeds, we should of only been about 3 hours from our destination (or an hour or so to the next town, being Queenstown).

As we left Derwent Bridge, the scrub lining the road began to get thicker and it seemed like the road was descending. As the road kept dropping, the bush got thicker and darker. It got so dense and so dark that I needed to turn the Landy's lights on. As I flicked the switch to the first tab, the parkers, the Landy misfired, which was a first. Troubled, but not having completely registered the reason for the misfire, I flicked the switch to the next tab, parkers to lights. On this flick, the Landy spluttered again. At this point, the penny dropped - the charge light means the alternator is not charging.

So as not to raise concern (read: alert my wife to the fact that a break down was imminent), I quickly turned the lights off. Luckily, as we found out, it is fairly well downhill from Derwent Bridge to Queenstown.

I began frantically counting how many kilometres we had to try and cover, all whilst my wife was unaware we would soon be backpackers. At one stage, I was myself distracted by the scenery along the way, there were many bee hives that lined the highway and the scenery looked like something from middle earth or lord of the rings.

After a few more coughs from the Landy, I calmly asked my wife - "Any phone reception", "No", was the response. I began to wonder how long it would take me to find a family lawyer...

As the spluttering from the 202 continued, we began to climb, and it was at this point that I thought the end was imminent. However, after a short time, we rounded what was to be the final uphill pinch and the bare hills of Queenstown appeared. Maybe we were going to make it?

We were not.

It happened. We lost power. Gravity was all that was providing momentum from that point forward. Not key starting, nor clutch starting (...nor wishful thinking) would bring the 202 back to life. Our journey would end as soon as gravity had had its way with us. It was at this point that my wife became aware of the situation.

Personally, I was happy with the outcome. If I had to choose between stopping in the dense bush somewhere in the middle of Derwent Bridge and Queenstown and pulling up in front of a house on the outskirts of Queenstown, it wouldn't be much of a choice.

Feeling victorious, I noticed there was a large shed on a property to our right which had various utes and other heavy duty machinery. I was about to go for a wonder over to get the lay of the land when my wife, who had already been on google, advised there was both a coffee shop and mechanic about 900 metres from where we had come to rest. Surprisingly, she was quite upbeat about the situation. Maybe she would give me shared custody of the dog...

After a brief stint on the foot falcon, we located both the coffee shop and the local mechanic. The coffee shop was in fact the 'Tracks Cafe' inside the Queenstown Train Station (where the historical Westcoast Wilderness Railway terminates) and is where my wife perched herself (she recommends the scones!) whilst I went to deal with our mechanically challenged Landy.

The local mechanical workshop is Dilgers Central Garage. I experienced small town hospitality at its best, from the moment I stepped foot in their workshop. After explaining our predicament, I was greeted by Pete and within minutes, we were off in the workshop ute (with a new battery) to collect the Landy from its resting place.

With a fully charged battery in the Landy, the 202 fired into life and it was back to the workshop for a full examination. Unsurprisingly, Pete and John (Dilger), the workshop owner, took little time to diagnose that the alternator wasn't charging and that the reason for this fault was the regulator - it was cactus. Unfortunately, John didn't have any spares in his workshop and the part would need to be ordered in overnight from either Hobart or Burnie.

Not to worry, luckily for us, we had reciprocal rights with RACT through our RACQ cover. This meant we were put up for the night for the parts to be delivered. We took this opportunity to check out Queenstown, unfortunately, we missed the wilderness train tour to Strahan, but learnt a lot about the rich mining history of the town at the Eric Thomas Galley Museum. After a few beers at the Empire Hotel we turned in for the night.

In the morning, we walked briskly down to the workshop, excited to finally be on our way to Strahan. The spring was quickly taken out of our step when we were informed that the parts did not arrive in the overnight run. It was at this point that a voice asked, "Is that a Holden motor? I might see what I have in the shed". The voice belonged to an older local man named Dave, who had been loitering around the workshop and generally interacting with the staff and customers as if he was part of the scenery. He was. Over the past two days, I think I had seen him stick his head under the bonnet of most of the cars in and around the workshop.

Dave disappeared in the workshop ute and returned a short time later with an alternator. The regulator on the back was a match. Spanners began spinning and 10 minutes later the Landy roared into life and we were once again ready to take off to Strahan. We agreed that we would come back through Queenstown after our time in Strahan to collect the parts that were ordered for us and return Dave's regulator (...and some beers for his troubles).

How good is country hospitality?!

Pictures

Maybe we are going to make it....


Queenstown


There are worse places to break down




At one stage this was the only way we were going to get to Strahan..