December 16
Well today was an interesting day, and let me start with that. It started by Chris and I navigating back from the edge of the river to the main road in Redclifs. And that is where the "stuff" comes in. Well we hit the road after 5 minutes off roading, and pulled over beside a cashew field, due to the fact that I was hearing weird noises from the car, we popped the hood and discovered that......the fan belt had jumped off of the main drive, I was trying to figure out how to best fix it when a guy in a Yute stopped by and asked if we needed any help, luckily I said yes. It turns out this guy, Mick, is a mechanic, and he was able to diagnose the problem, it was the harmonic balancer that went, throwing the main drive pulley for the fan belt out of alignment, making the belt jump off. Once we got it back to his shop, and had a closer look at the balancer we found out that the seal to the crank case went covered the rubber balancer with oil, (which would explain why we went through 4 liters of oil in 4,00km) causing the pulley on it to slip. Mick had to run for parts for another car he was working on, in the meantime he pointed to the tools on the bench and said whatever we wanted to do ourselves would be fine, and everything else he would finish. He pointed to his house and told us we were welcome to use the tv room and have a shower if we got to oiled and stuff. If you have ever worked on a car like mine, you would know that we have to do some major work, with respect to the fact that we needed to get as far in as pulling the timing belt, which was handy, because I wanted to replace that anyway. So while Mick went for parts Chris and I attacked the car, we pulled the radiator, the air conditioner, the fan, the skid plate, and finally the timing belt cover finally came off. With the help of Mick, we pulled the balancer off, and ran into our fist big snag, there was a gear on the timing belt between us and the busted seal, that we couldn't get off, we also found out that the balancer and the timing belt had to be ordered in and wouldn't be in until 10:00 the next morning. So since we couldn't do anything more we sat down and cooked some supper on his BBQ. He then said we could sleep in his 2 empty rooms that night, so that we didn't need to set up the tent. We talked for a while, had a couple of drinks, watched a movie before we hit the sack. The next morning we ran into Mildura and picked up the balancer, a timing belt, and a couple other things we were going to need. We came back, and Mick pulled the bottom gear off the timing belt (Long story involved with this, only mechanics would understand, will skip for now, just say not easy), replaced the seal in behind, and started to put our littleist hobo back together, though I an not tempted to call our car Humpty Dumpty. The car was finished and running by about 4:00, which was a relief, in total we must have put about 12 hours each into fixing the car, and Mick was there for about 7 of them. Since it was late that day Mick offered us the use of his house for another night. We cooked supper for him that night as I thought he was being more than generous. In the end Mick only wanted 150 bucks for the use of his tools, 7 hours of labour, letting us stay at his place for 2 days, running us to town to go get parts, feeding us a couple of meals, and giving us a few beer. You know if we had broken down anywhere else, this would have been a disaster and a nightmare, but because we broke down beside an almond field 3 minutes from Mick's house, because he just so happened to be driving by getting parts for another job while I was leaning into our engine compartment, and because Mick is such a wonderful cool guy, this turned out to be a major highlight of my trip so far. I originally believed it was unfortunate that our car broke down, but in the end I believe it was actually fortunate that we did, and that it did so in Cliffside, rather than anywhere else in the country, or else we never would have met Mick. If we had of brought it to a garage, it would have coasted us well over 1200 including parts. I am planning on doing something special for him to say thanks from the bottom of my heart, I am going to send this story to the CBC's Vynal Cafe and nominate him for an Arthur award, for a magnificent act of Kindness to a pair of strangers that goes so beyond what most people would have believed possible. Not just for helping us with the car, but for inviting a pair of strangers to stay at his house after only meeting them 10 minutes before. Sometimes you wonder which is in control of the Universe fate chance, or luck? I remember John saying not to worry about things, that the universe will present a solution to a problem as long as you think positively, well if you are reading this, I think you can site this as an example to all of your friends, because it seems to work. It felt good to be knee deep in grease and oil, I haven't had that much fun since I got on the plane.
Adam
Well we are just about completely across the Nulabore. We are only 100 km from Newport and the end of the strait, boring, flat drive across the Nulabore plain. It is over 2700km from Adelaide to Perth, over 1500 of that is flat empty plain/scrub/light bush. In fact today I drove the longest flat, strait section of highway in Australia, 150km without a corner, as we were only doing 80-90km/h in order to save on fuel (fuel price across the plain is 1.65/liter, saving on fuel costs is a big thing) it took almost 2 hours. On a side note the steering is in very good alignment. Many people say this is the most boring thing in the world, but I like it. It can be boring, but the nothingness can be rather comfortable. I loved the part where we stood on a slight rise and saw nothing for miles, no trees, rocks, animals, anything. 
just you and 2 complaining passengers. It was humbling seeing nothing but horizon, reminded me of Saskatchewan. I saw some wonderful stars that night, clear skies, no bugs, no clouds, just me and a brightly coloured sky. I won't pretend that the drive was a breeze, it was long, incredibly long. But I will admit that as we drove across the plain, I turned off the music coming from the I-pod (to much dismay from my passengers), put my arm on the window sill, and listened to pur of the engine as the hot wind blew past my hair. I drove like that for over 2 hours before my passengers 
called an end to our drive that night. Apparently they need music in their lives, how music would ruin a moment like that, they couldn't understand what there was that appealed to me about listening to the wind or the workings of the car. I do it all the time at home, that is one thing that bugs me about Chris, he always has to have his music on in the car, I would rather listen to the radio, especially since we are in a different land where the culture is different. I didn't just come here to see the land, I came to meet the people, to get a better understanding of the culture. And what better way than to listen to local radio. The music on the I-pod never changes, the people in the towns we drive through do. Anyway, nulabore plains, long, and yet...I like it. By the way the second passenger I mentioned is a guy by the name of Ki, German of course, who is catching a ride with us across the plain to Perth.
We came in on the 23 day of December, and left on the 26th day, something I might one day regret, I am wondering if we shouldn't have stayed longer, but I wanted to be in Perth by new years, so we must leave. Anyway we walked into this little hostel that only holds about 60 people, aptly called "My Place". 
The first night we stayed there, we were over run by Germans, meaning English felt like a foreign language, I didn't hear much of it until later in the night. Anyway I spent much of the night talking to a group of backpackers which included a French Canadian named Aundre who spent the last 2 years living and skiing in Whistler, an English guy by the name of Scott who actually worked at the hostel 8 years before, 2 Dutch guys named Paul and Derick (Paul was just traveling in Australia for 3 weeks before hitting Thailand, Dereck left the next day for Brisbane so unfortunately I didn't get to know him as well) and a couple of German girls, who's names I cannot pronounce or spell. We didn't party, there wasn't loud music, it was just conversation, which was just nice. At 2am everyone else packed it in, I filmed and edited a movie that I hoped to get up the next day, as you have seen from my last blog, that did not pan out. Anyway, next day was spent in the state library using their internet. Anyway that night we came back to the hostel and joined the BBQ and drinks that was put on by the Hostel. Everyone had to where a hat as part of the Christmas spirit. I got a santa hat, Chris got a funky wig. 
We met a guy named Tom from Milwaukee who was wearing a red cape and a purple Victorian hat, by the end of the night we were calling him King Tom. We also started talking to a pair of Germans who didn't want to talk their native language. (This last comment might need some explanation. Because over half of the hostel were from Germany, they had kind of split themselves into a group that could not be joined by anyone who did not speak German, which kind of segregated them. The pair said that they came to Australia to meet new people not just ones from Germany. It should also be noted that everywhere we go in Australia we run into Germans by the ton, they jokingly said that they were preparing to launch a surprise attack on the capital shortly. There is enough of them down here they probably could.) Anyway we hit 2 bars that night meeting lots of cool people and having a very good time before we returned to the hostel around 1:00, where we found part of the group we lost earlier that night and once again picked up the conversation where we left off. At 3 only 6 people remained awake chatting on the balcony, King Tom, a Dutch girl, Scott, a very Drunk German Girl, me and Beyonka. Now Beyonka was by far the must interesting person I met this Christmas, and here is why. Beyonka is originally from Brazil, but she moved to Florida with her parents when she was a Teenager. But she never liked America, she was to Brazilian, America was it was to materialistic, so when she was 22 she moved back to Brazil, but she didn't like Brazil anymore, she was to American, it didn't feel like home anymore, so a couple of years later she moved to Prague for 2 years, but she didn't like the feel of that either. So she went and saw her family back in Florida for a month before joining an old friend to go to Australia. For the last 3 weeks she has been traveling Australia with 5 other people in a Ford Falcon station wagon. They have been traveling, sleeping, and living in that thing for the last month. Me and Chris are only 2 in a frigin SUV, and sometimes even that feel crowded. She talked a lot about that, and how it was really driving her nuts. She was at the hostel because she needed some room from them, and especially from her old friend who is kind of a control freak. He was at a mates house with everyone else from the car except Tom (It turns out King Tom also needed some time away from the crowd). She simply said, she needed some time alone, which I could totally understand. I have needed some time apart from my traveling co-part, I usually go for a short wander in the evenings, usually around the same time that he picks up his guitar. We are still individuals, and we are most definitely different in ways that only 2 months together in the same car will bring out. The next night I asked Beyonka a question, I asked her, then do you actually have a place you call home? She said no, not really. She has been traveling so long, she felt like the main character in the book the Alchemist. This guy traveled all over the world looking for something, he wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he didn't find it out in the world, he found it when he returned home. I was curious because I have always had a home, it has never changed, it has always been there, and I was curious what her thoughts on home were. Beyonka actually fascinated me, she was a riddle wrapped up in an enigma, and I think she understood that, because she felt that way about herself. Of all the people I met this Christmas, Beyonka is one that I will always remember, in her I saw a leaf on the wind, and the stone on the ocean floor. On Christmas Day Chris, Paul, and I went to the beach in Glenalg 
where we met some of the other people from the hostel. The ocean was warm and comforting, the sun wasn't, as I came back slightly resembling a lobster. In honor of Christmas a couple of us carved a replica snowman out of sand, though in the end he looked more like Buda, but it was the thought that counts. That night at the hostel there was more mingling and good conversation. Of all the hostels we could have stayed at, I think we picked the best one. It is strange I will remember Adelaide not for it's city skyline, or it's parks, but for Christmas and the people I spent it with, I still missed everyone at home, but I will say that I had a wonderful time with everyone I met, and I am so glad that all the stars aligned just right so that I could have met them all.
they even have the boiler and that exposed so you can see how it runs, really cool. We also crossed into Southern Australia where they have perminent fruit fly check quarentine. Which meant at the border we had to dispose of all our fruit, which was a full box of oranges we got from Micks neighbour, shucks hu? It turns out you are not allowed to carry fruit through state borders, so that fruit fly's don't spread. Yet when we went to the supper markets here the fruit on the shelves came from Victoria, Adam made a comment that it was a lot of B.S. Anyway in Swan Reach we watched a documentary on the Murray river and how it has been changed by humans, and all the problems that now face the river. One thing I personally learned was that this water comes from as far away as Northern Queensland, in NE Australia, it goes a really long ways. Anyway tonight we camping on river again beside Swan Reach, we had to cross the river on a Ferry to get here. 
Anyway, goodinght.
which is a resort town surrounding the edge of a lake with the same name. It has everything a lakeside resort town need, lawn bowling pitches, motels, campground, beaches, boat launch, dock, and a yaught club including clubhouse. It is only missing one thing, 
water. 8 years ago it was a lake filled to capacity, today it is a flat, dry, dirt basin. Not a single drop of water, the docks stretch out into open air, the boat launches are covered in dirt and grass, the beaches overgrown, and the yaught club sits abandoned. This was a big lake, and today I walked into the middle of it, across broken glass bottles, old tin cans tossed out before I was born
and other waste of humanity that litter the bottom of all resort lakes. Makes me wonder what I would find if Pigeon Lake or Red Dear Lake went dry. Farther in I found the half buried skeletons the animals who died as the water dried up,
how I pity their last moments, the dirt that coveres them were from the dust storms that rage through the region, mother nature burying her dead. On the way out of town we passed a sign well over 10 years old, saying "Goodbye Boga Lake" it was meant as a parting wave to travelers, I wonder now if it is more for the residents who watched the lake turn dry. This area is changing, and maybe that is why I seem so interested in this area, it makes me feel like I just walked into the dirty 30's. I think I am now understanding what Grandpa went through.
Matilda, our new mascot. I thought that since the voting was so close between Matilda and the Littlest Hobo, we would call our mascot Matilda. Anyway Matilda will be joining us for the trip, and appearing in some special locations.
We start heading off to Adelaide tomorrow, and Perth after that. Well, that is all for now, hope everyone is well.