30 June 2009

Rather an Unusual Weekend

What's two days away, which turns into three days away, without a surprise or two? Pretty boring, I'd say.

I had problems with my car when I arrived in Gympie. The gears were "locking", that's the only way I can describe it. I had spent a couple of hours with Peter, catching up and having a laugh or two then made my way back to my brother's at Maroochydore. That was only an hour a way and the drive was uneventful.

I had dinner with my friends on Saturday night, which was a lot of fun, as you'll see in the photos below. I was hoping to get more photos of Maroochydore itself...it has a lovely beach, but I got back too late.

Sunday morning, just before lunch I left to drive back to Brisbane, got about 120 metres, stopped at the traffic lights and the brakes locked this time. Again, here was I blocking one lane of traffic who wanted to turn right. I called my brother and while waiting for him, a young guy in a silver 4AWD with big tyres pulled up, whipped out a towing strap and towed my car off the road into a very convenient carpark.

Again, I called RACQ, this time the tow truck and got him to tow the car to a brake and clutch specialist. Of course, they don't open until Monday, so I was there another night. We had takeaway Chinese for dinner, which was very nice, until the next morning when I woke up with an awful headache and vomiting. Once that was out of my system I felt better and I knew instantly what it was...MSG, and restaurants/cafes or any eatery are not supposed to use it.

Anyway, the next morning, my brother rang the clutch and brake place we'd dropped the car off to and they had me on the road by 1.45 pm, so I was home by 5 pm. There was a small leak in each of the rear brake cylinders and dust and dirt had caused the calliper to grab and it wasn't going to let go. They reamed out the cylinders, cleaned them up, replaced the wheels and I was on the way again.

The clutch had an airlock or something, my mobile mechanic fixed that for me yesterday...all up, the cost was $220. I thought it was going to be a lot worse and was wondering if it was going to be cheaper to buy a new car. But mine's only seven years old and it hasn't been flogged, with only just under 80,000 km on the clock, so it should be okay for a while yet.

That was my weekend. I rang Jane and she fed the cats for me for another night but, oh dear, was I in trouble when I finally arrived home. They were very stand offish for an hour or so. But when I fed them, funny, all was forgiven.


This is Sue...giving her impression of, um, I'm not sure.
A table full of party animals.

Don't ask...


Singing along with the band.



Lorna and Julz getting up close and personal.


Cheers from a couple of clients.

Clint, Julz' significant other looking decidedly the worse for wear.

Sue and Julz after rearranging the table...very artistic.


A surfer hanging from the roof.


Another one, this one was a bit far away and I had to use the zoom, but the flash didn't reach that far.











10 comments:

Mountain Mama said...

Thank goodness the bill for your car repair wasn't worse. I would have expected it too.

Your good time looks like lots of fun for everyone. Those surfers sure look real!

Too bad about the MSG incident. I have a problem with it too and it is used just about everyplace here. I asked at a Chineese cafe if they used it and the chef said no. When I asked what flavor enhancers were used he said he couldn't tell me that. Unfortunately many many of the packaged or bottled ones have a main ingredient of MSG. That darn stuff is like poison to our bodies and should not even be manufactured.

Peter said...

Alls well that ends well they say Robyn so the weekend wasn't a disaster after all.

Peter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hootin Anni said...

Love all the photos! Looks like y'all had a lot of fun.

And ps....I would love to visit Dunny Doo Australia.

Merle said...

Dear Robyn ~~ Well, quite a weekend
but happily the car should go well
now and wasn't TOO expensive. I
didn't know Peter had gout. I do and
have for years, and I don't drink or eat very rich food. I take tablets
for it. Glad you had a nice night out with friends, and got to spend an extra night with your brother.
Take great care, my friend.
Love and Hugs, Merle.

Margaret Cloud said...

Car trouble anyway you look at it is a royal pain. By looking at the photos you all had a good time. Thank you for coming by and have a great 4th of July.

Flossy said...

Well at least it was an eventful weekend! lol

Glad you made it back home safely.

Angelo said...

Looks like a fun time there Robyn! Cheers!

Liz Hinds said...

A celebrity definitely getting out of a car for teh Oscars cermeony. that's whom she looks like.

Rosemount! We get that here.

You certainly know how to enjoy life - even getting btowed off the road by young men in trucks. I'm disappointed there's no photo of his bulging biceps!

TorAa said...

By some reasons,
it seems like we have the same preferences when talking of having great times with friends.
Besides we are the same age.
Something there?
Mieow