Sunday 27 October 2019

2019 esCarpade Day 8 - Echuca to Morayfield

The 2019 Camp Quality esCarpade had come to a close, and the boys had a plan - don't set the alarm, but when they woke up, it was time to hit the road...  Turns out they were both awake at 4am...


It was still dark...


But they were on the road at 4:30am, heading towards Queensland.


Foiled!!  A red light at a roadworks, with not another car in sight...


Woot!  Green means go!!



The sun was starting to rise...







Looked like it was going to be a glorious day, even though the outside temperatured was still hovering around 4C...  Thankfully the heater was working well in Retro Rock-It!








Heading up the Newell Highway...




Damian took the first driving shift...


















Onto dirt... grade 1 caution!






More roadworks, of course...


Into Forbes...







Past the "Spirit of Parkes" train...




Into sunny, downtown Dubbo!!


Again, past the muster point for the parade into town in 2018...


After a fuel stop, it was time for Angus to have a turn behind the wheel!


And straight into more roadworks...



Past some cool sports cars...









Doing the right thing through roadworks, and being rewarded with a happy sign!











Into Coonabarabran...





Into Narrabri for a quick break and a coffee...


Before pushing on...


Wide load!



Another wide load... must have been the day for it!





This crashed/broken taxi on the trailer has a sign on the back that says "Is this taxi your Plan B?"... err... nope... it's not!


Roadworks with an amber light... the boys had now had the full set!



And through Moree...  At this point, the boys noted there was still over three hours before sunset, so they decided to keep going.







Another roadworks, another happy sign!







Past the Wobbly Boot Hotel...



And yet more roadworks, with a VERY happy sign!!



Crossing back into Queensland...





And stopped for a refuel - both of Retro Rock-It and the boys...


Since they were both feeling fine, had shared the driving, had a nice rest and a feed in Goondiwindi and there was still another couple of hours of daylight, they decided to press on for home!



The shadows started getting longer...



Thankfully the sun was behind them!




And then, sunset was upon them... and they were in Milmerran - just a few hours from home.


Damian took the night driving shift..


Delivering Angus safely home...


Before heading to his house, locking Retro Rock-It in the shed and going to see his family... and of course, Merlin (the border collie) who was happiest of all to see Damian!


Time for a well-earned sleep... the trip home had been just on 18 hours, including rest stops and fuel stops.

Stay tuned for a summary of stats in the coming days (because you know you love that kind of thing)!

2 comments:

  1. So thankful for a great run home! I've loved your daily updates of the escarpade!

    ReplyDelete