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Tales of the travels, trials and triumphs as we explore Australia in a converted bus

Motorhome Travels - September 2013

01/09/2013

We left Leeman with the little inflatable boat safely stored in the new locker and the outboard on its bracket in the back of the bus. Now all set-up to move north in search of clear water and warm weather our plans were interrupted by some more brake issues.

Over the last month the brakes have been getting worse and they really need some attention. Given that the hand brake was more or less not working at all, I decided that this issue was with the back brakes. These suspicions were confirmed once I got the back hubs apart in Geraldton.

The seal on the left side seems to have been leaking and there was a substantial deposit of diff oil on the brake linings. This is not too difficult to repair and the parts were quickly sourced and the job completed in just a few days. It would have been a little quicker had the weather man not sent us clear skies and even clearer water. Unable to resist near-perfect water conditions, we took a few days off to go spearfishing with the new boat. As you can see from the photos below - this was quite successful.

Fresh fish again! - [Click for a Larger Image]
Fresh fish again!

Our little boat in action - [Click for a Larger Image]
Our little boat in action

Hers is bigger than mine! - [Click for a Larger Image]
Hers is bigger than
mine!

While in Geraldton we stayed with the local cray fisherman (whom we had met some years ago). He was kind enough to allow us to use his yard to undertake the brake repairs. While there I also undertook some computer and electrical work for him in return. He has invited us to join them on their next trip to the Abrolhos Islands towards the end of September. These islands are a spearfishermans dream come true - there are more big fish out there that you can point a sharp stick at and the water is crystal clear. Of course we jumped at the offer.

Now - what are we going to do for the next few weeks? We decided the first thing we should do was to get the diff seal replaced - this has been weeping very slightly for quite some time, and I have had one go at it but was unable to budge the large nut that holds it all together.

Having had enough of smelly diff oil for a while, I decided to take the bus to the local truck repairers and have them replace the seal. They had the seal replaced in just an hour and a half - enough time for us to decide that Cliff Head would be a good place to spend the few weeks before going over to the islands.

Hobohome shelters against the cliff - [Click for a Larger Image]
Hobohome shelters against the cliff

With the bus now (hopefully) leaking less oil, we headed south and arrived at Cliff Head just as a storm hit. We found some shelter up against a cliff and then enjoyed a (slightly damp) campfire with a group of German backpackers.

The following day I stuck my head under the bus to check on the new diff seal - #@$!! oil dripping from everywhere! What a mess. If you want a job done properly ....

So I guess that means we will be heading back to Geraldton sooner than we thought.

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