Day 15 - Wed. October 22, 2008 – SNOW!

Martin Boothman contemplates the snow situation in his 1927 12/50 TG

We awoke this morning to find every Alvis covered with snow!

A short morning’s drive down the mountain to Omeo, which was just as well as patches of The Great Alpine Road were covered in ice.

Today was a multi-media weather event, starting with snow, changing to cloudy with rays of sun to hail then rain, and back to overcast, and very cold all day. The top on the Boothman 12/50 went up and down a few times. In our 15 days driving so far, today was the first with rain.

One of the best day’s drive so far, although every day is exceptional and varied. To those used to driving in the U.K., or more populated areas of the USA, these deserted and desolate roads are heaven. Except when we stop for a tea/coffee/meal break, or for petrol/gas, we rarely see another vehicle, Alvis or otherwise.

Mechanically, the day did not start well for a few cars. Most, if not all, of the cars have no anti-freeze, and the unexpected overnight chill, though not severe, was enough to freeze some water in the cooling systems. The previously mentioned East then Woodburn driven, Nicholl owned, 1928 14.75 tourer sheared a pin in the frozen water pump drive upon starting, relegating it to a flatbed and apparently out for the rest of the tour. Two other cars boiled in the freezing weather descending down the mountain. How does this happen? The frozen water in part of the radiator, and further frozen by the wind-chill factor in the freezing temperatures, prevents all water circulation and thus leads to boiling in the block and cylinder head. That’s a new one to me, but you lives and learns.

Later in the day, the Holmes 1948 TA14 Woody began misfiring and this was diagnosed as distributor related - points, condenser, or? After concerted efforts, it also was relegated to a flatbed to be taken to an auto electrician in nearby Bairnsdale. The oldest car on the tour, the Lunsmann 1923 12/40 (side-valve) Tourer had magneto problems (sounds familiar!). An old replacement was installed and lasted about 20 kilometers (12 miles). It has limped into the hotel, but requires magneto triage before continuing.

One of our tasks today was to participate in a Limerick writing competition, the first given line of which was:

There was a young lady from Bright (a township we passed by on Tuesday)

Gorgo, if you are reading, I’m reminded of our days on the racing circuit in 1971 and the hundreds of Limericks we created on the road.

Total miles for the day: 118

Cumulative miles on the tour so far: 1508