Grounded in St Kilda

The beauty of travelling is the freedom to go where you want when you want, as and when the opportunity arises. That is, unless you buy a 23 year old campervan with various mechanical faults that need fixing before you can justify venturing into the wild...

Our planned departure on Tuesday was unfortunately postponed when we heard from our mechanic (Adam) that the transmission ideally needed replacing. When we went to collect Autumn from Adam on Wednesday (that's right, Wednesday. Luckily we were able to stay the night at Bea's house while the camper slept a second and impromptu night at the mechanics, rolls eyes), we were informed that it would be in our interest to have the transmission fixed as currently, the van has no second gear and was changing from first directly to third, placing a strain on the engine, third gear, the fan and not to mention, making an awful racket in the process!
This came as no surprise to us as we had asked him to drive it and tell us what he thought the noise was. I wish I could say the same for the price... We were quoted $1,500 to take out the gearbox and send off to the relevant garage to carry out the repairs. Ouch. Fortunately for us, we hadn't yet bought the camper in full so we negotiated the cost of the repairs off the price of the camper. Result: a camper in great condition with $2500 repairs recently carried out, just crying to be driven accross the Aussie outback!

We officially signed the licensing paperwork and dropped Autumn off with Adam yesterday. We hope she will be ready by Tuesday(ish).

Becky, Harry, Luke & I.

Meanwhile, with the good news of Autumn's imminent release and her new roadworthy condition, we checked back in at Habitat and headed into the city for some beer and a bit of fun with a few others from the hostel. We caught up with Becky and Harry, a couple who have recently completed their journey across Aus in a 4X4.

Luke won a free day trip along the great ocean road by impersonating a male koala mating call (Tee hee), so we've booked for Monday (I had to pay, tut!). Should be a good introduction of what to expect when we set off later on next week.
We're headed to the Thermal Springs tomorrow. I have been to thermal springs in the Philippines so am quite excited to have the opportunity to go again.
With the 16km + run/ sightseeing we did this morning, we really have seen a lot that Melbourne has to offer over the last 2 & 1/2 weeks. The Botanic Gardens were a real treat this morning in the sunshine and the Melbourne Memorial Shrine was an emotional and educational experience... I know I sound like a full hippie convert here but, seriously, I have never truly stopped and contemplated on the lives lost in war or even how it must have been for my grandfather. Lest we forget.

On a lighter note - there's free fresh bread and cakes one of the girls has brought back from work so we're off to partake in the madness ...
My blogs are usually cut short when faced with the prospect of food. You can clearly see where my (mostly Luke's) priorities lie...