Car Car

When I picked up the campervan in Brisbane I was less than impressed. Although I had been upgraded to the next size the unit I was given was a bit of a dump. But for $40 a day I figured you get what you pay for.

A week or so into the trip I was on my way up a valley to view a waterfall. Unfortunately the temp gauge was also on the way up. Luckily I noticed it before it got into the red zone and was able to stop quickly. Nonetheless the thing was hot. After all cooled down I added a couple liters of water. A little while later I started up the engine, temp was in the normal range so I headed back down the valley. Got to the nearest town and bought a jug of coolant. Added nearly another liter and proceeded back to my campground. Next morning I called “Juicy” and told them what occurred. They advised me to swing into Cairns, only an 1.5 hour drive.

They guys there could not see anything wrong. Didn’t seemed perturbed that the rad level would be down 3 liters over about 1,000 miles. They thought it might even had left Brisbane that way. OK… But, they changed the radiator cap for good measure. And I was off again.

This time heading north. Found another steep hill to climb. And, so too did the temp gauge. Turned around immediately and started down the hill and the gauge followed suit. Called Juicy. Advised to head to cairns to exchange vehicles. OK, back to cairns…

(Very nice folks at Juicy cairns. They ended up crediting me for 2 days ($80) and said I could return the vehicle with an “empty” fuel tank.)

Picked up new campervan. Same model as the first. But much cleaner and in much better shape. Headed north again. All well temp-wise. But fuel consumption seemed worse. I had been getting 21-24 mpg, but that seemed to have decreased. Still, hadn’t fueled up so I wasn’t sure.

Stopped the next morning, a Sunday, to get petrol. Popped the fuel hatch only to discover the reason for the decrease in mpg—no fuel cap!

Luckily the station sold little plastic “emergency” fuel caps. Bought one of those and some duct tape in case I had to McGyver the thing.

Called Juicy. Asked them to let cairns know I’d be back later in the week and would be in need of a gas cap. The gal I spoke to from Juicy didn’t understand “gas cap”, probably there is some British/Aussie term for it. She said, “You mean the screwy thing?” “Yep”, says I, “The screwy thing.”