Great plans almost met

Friday, 4th June 2021. We always new the morning would be manic. Dog to the kennel, last minute pick ups, jab in the backside at the doctor, final packing and last minute checks.

The aspirational set off time of 10.30 was just that. 11 came and went. 20 past the hour seemed just right.

Puma turned right out of the drive and headed for adventure accompanied by her new partner Gstring. The adventures of Puma and Gstring were about to begin. Begin they did.

Arriving in Eumundi, all of 20km away, we noted that Puma was performing admirably with a full head of steam. We were mighty proud and just a little impressed. As we pulled over to cram a bit more air into the airbags to make the ride a bit nicer, Puma let us know she indeed did have a full head of steam.

The steam billowed out from under the bonnet in what resembled a new borns first magnificent vomit. Following the steam was a grizzly green fluid spewing onto the tarmac below. The incredible sight was only eclipsed by Peter’s utterings at peak volume. His beautiful girl had let him down again!

But no. Puma had simply, in the most indignant way, let Peter know that he had over filled the radiator fluid earlier and she needed to rid her full belly of the excess. We headed off north to Gympie for our first stop to get a new radiator tank cap; just in case. We didn’t need it, however the warm feeling of assurance is now present. Who knows, we may be able to help a stricken Toyota owner out with our spare part.

Wondai came and went with nought but a quick wee to spark our interest. We turned west at Tingoora and set sail for Chinchilla. We were now far later than anticipated so had to drive Puma a bit harder than normal to make up a bit of time.

Through the ever rotten rolling hills Puma truly felt the weight of her new boy. When Peter asked her to give a bit more she was reluctant. She simply stood with a bemused look on her face and said “have you ever tried to pull a fully loaded Gstring up a long hot bitumen hill?” Peter had to admit that he had not a good deal of experience in that endeavour, hence a truce was called and we toddled on at Puma’s happy pace.

Late afternoon we arrived at Chinchilla Weir prepared for all the beauty the iconic stop over promised. If two broken down old Pelicans, a pathetic puddle and a huge slab of concrete is your heart pounding thing, this place delivers in spades. For the rest of us, it was a passible place to camp, but thats about it.

As usual G delivered a truly splendid dinner of special rissoles and exquisite mixed vegetables that went down a treat. Internet fighting was the entertainment of the evening. We fought with Telstra for a full 12 rounds before finally getting a sceptical points win and a hint of a signal. The epic battle weakened us extensively, so bed looked the goods with sleep being a fitting reward for a long day.