Friday 28 December 2012

2012 was fun... time to plan for 2013...

Team Booger Mobile would like to thank their 2012 sponsors for all the help they provided, along with everyone else who came along to work on Booger Mobile, supported fundraising events, donated money or simply kept Team Booger Mobile in their thoughts.  The boys couldn't have done it without you.

The final fundraising total for 2012 was $8247.64.

Didn't quite crack the $10K mark, but gave it a red hot go!!

Many thanks to the following sponsors:

Platinum Sponsors
Cadist Consulting - Computing, Application Development, Information Systems and Training
Gold Sponsors
Kumho Tyres - One of Australia's leading tyre brands
Jason Sheather Plumbing - Commercial and Shop Plumbing
Wadnot Joinery
Silver Sponsors
Special K from WA
Advanced Polymer Technology for Vibration Control
Elite Venue Operations - Security Specialists
Olsta Designs - Websites, logos and promotional designs
Bronze Sponsors
 Nil in 2012

Monday 26 November 2012

esCarpade 2013 Start and End Points Announced!!

With 2012 done and dusted, the Camp Quality esCarpade crew wasted no time in announcing the 2013 esCarpade start and end points, as well as dates...

Buckle up everyone - the 2013 Camp Quality esCarpade will be held from October 12 to 19, and will be starting in Bundaberg and heading to Wollongong via the Great Dividing Range!!

Stay tuned for the full route all in good time...

Sunday 25 November 2012

2012 Camp Quality South Qld Christmas Party

The 2012 Camp Quality South Qld Christmas Party is a time for Camp Quality families, volunteers and staff to get together and share the highs and lows of the year, celebrate the joy of christmas and generally have an awesome time - all supported massively by Lions and Lioness Clubs.
 
Damian rocked in with his beautiful wife Tricia, who seemed to have found a slushy machine!!

 

The family having fun on the train with Vivien, another Camp Quality volunteer and supporter of Team Booger Mobile...


The Police are always a big hit...


As was the climbing wall and jumping castle!!


Of course, the highlight of the day is always the water fight with the Firies, who always seem to win!!  It's pretty much a unidirectional fight!!
 

Some tall bloke in a green shirt did an awesome job as MC once again, shown here with John from the Wallum Action Group who once again made a sizeable donation to Camp Quality, and Heather, the boss of Camp Quality South Qld.


What Christmas Party would be complete without Damian getting to sit on Santa's knee?


2012 was a massive year, and 2013 is shaping up to be pretty awesome also...  stay tuned for the announcement of the 2013 route!!

Sunday 18 November 2012

2012 Camp Quality Middle Camp

Camp Quality Middle Camp rolled around again, and Damian was the Activity Leader... It was an action packed three day camp for 8-13 year old campers and siblings.  This year's camp theme - Jungle Fever!!
 

First stop - Wet'n'Wild... the kids got wet and went wild!!  Some of the adults did too!!


After a huge day in the sun (being sun safe of course), it was time for a giant inflatable outdoor cinema!!  Awesome!!


After some morning activities outdoors (rock climbing and archery), the heavens opened up, just as it was time for the undercover reptile show to take place... Here's Damian holding a rather large olive python!!


After lunch (and quiet time), the rain stopped and the sun came back out again - just in time for an enormous slip'n'slide...  the kids had a blast, and the arvo degenerated into a massive water fight... good times!!


Damian's costume for the disco... he went as a Tourist who was captured by some natives and made the special guest for dinner... little did he realise that the flames underneath him meant he WAS the dinner!!


The last day rolled around too quickly, and the morning was spent at Paradise Country...


The sheep herding, boomerang throwing and whip cracking was popular!!


After a BBQ lunch, it was time to board the buses and head home, exhausted.  This is why Team Booger Mobile fundraise... to send kids along to awesome camps like this one!!

(Sadly Camp Quality rules prevent the posting of any pictures of kids, so you'll just have to take Damian's word for it that they all had an awesome time!!)

Friday 2 November 2012

Sorting out the rear suspension, once and for all!!

So, post esCarpade 2012, what was going on at Team Booger Mobile?  First cab off the rank was to remove Booger's head, followed by resolving the rear suspension debacle.

First, remove Booger's head...


Voila!!


Then, remove the spring-saver's and see where it's sitting...  sitting not too bad on the concrete, but remember on esCarpade, those top holes in the wheel were barely visible...


Passenger side...


After heading to the suspension shop, Damian was told he would need to take Booger Mobile to the actual company who made the springs...  of course, if Damian had known it was an actual suspension place, he would have cut out the middle man and gone there himself in the first place!!

Booger Mobile was booked in for spring resolution...


At the place - slowly sinking back down after a bit of driving...


Passenger side...


Post adding two leaves onto the springs - back to full height!!  It will probably settle a little from this height, but the new springs feel awesome - Damian took Booger Mobile there with the boot full, so the only things missing from the car were their bags, 10kg of lollies, Booger's head and the 20L jerry can of fuel from the roof... oh, and of course Jason!!


Passenger side sits a little lower for some reason - nothing to worry about in a 48 year old car!!


The best part is, the car is resolved... now Damian can get onto some of the other issues...  The earthing issue on the driver's side of the car has flared up again... the tailshaft universal joints need replacing (this was a scrutineering note from this year - to replace them for 2013), and the driver's side front wheel bearings need tightening up - this has been an ongoing maintenance issue since losing the cap in 2010 and replacing the wheel bearings ready for 2011.  Oh, and of course, getting the chip in the windscreen fixed before it turns into a full-blown crack!!

There are a number of other things on the list for 2013, but for now, it's rest time from Booger Mobile.  Blog posts will be sporadic for the next month or two, but rest assured that Team Booger Mobile will be back in 2013!!

Saturday 20 October 2012

esCarpade 2012 - Driving Home

Morning arrived far too quickly after the gala dinner the night before...  Booger Mobile looked resplendant (albeit very dusty) in the morning light - it had been a great esCarpade, with no major mechanical issues to speak of...


The boys got up, and headed through Canberra to have a quick breakfast before saying their good-byes and hitting the road back towards Brisbane.


The sun was starting to make it's presence felt - it was going to be a warm day driving home.


Heading out of Canberra, Damian broke his own rule and instead of filling up with BP Ultimate (1st choice) or Caltex Vortex Premium (2nd choice), he filled up Booger Mobile at a lesser known independent brand, fuelling up with what they referred to as their Premium 100 E10 fuel...


Damian was dubious, but they started heading for Brisbane and Booger Mobile was going strong.


Making good progress...


Seeing one of the esCarpade cars on the side of the road, Damian stopped, jumped on the radio and found that they had run out of fuel and the NRMA were on their way, so he kept going... and that's when the trouble began.


Attempting to take off up the hill, Damian found Booger Mobile struggling to find power...  Once over the other side, it seemed all fine again, so they kept going, past some nice looking restored cars.


There were quite a number of these old Hudsons around - there must have been a car show on.


Booger Mobile continued to go great downhill, and struggle on the uphill runs...


Jason would be driving later in the day, so he took the opportunity to have some sleep.


By the time Booger Mobile had gotten through the tank of horrid fuel, it was barely running, and starting to experience sudden and rapid loss of power (symptomatic of fuel/carby issues).


The boys took a detour to find a BP, fuelling up with BP Ultimate, and throwing in a container of fuel/carby cleaner for good measure.  They also checked the air cleaner, to find that it was pretty damn dirty.  This was also cleaned.


Back on the road, and the boys thought their problems were over...


They thought wrong.  Booger Mobile experienced such a loss of power that they were barely able to get it over to the emergency stopping lane/hard shoulder without being plowed by other vehicles...

They took the next exit from the highway, only to find themselves face to face with the only shop there - Mt White Mechanical Repairs!!


The boys were in luck...  There was someone there waiting for the manager of the repair shop, and when the manager arrived, he offered some expert guidance on what to check for.  In fairness, it was exactly what Jason had already suggested checking.

They removed the fuel filter and drained the fuel from it into a container, to find a significant amount of water in the fuel!!

After draining the carby bowl and cleaning the fuel filter, it was all reassembled.  The manager had to leave but was going to return later to give the boys a hand.  After waiting 1/2 hour for him to return (and a successful test drive of Booger Mobile), the boys decided that it was best just to hit the road and see how it goes.  If it was you who helped the boys out - they offer a huge thank you, and apologise for not being able to wait any longer for your return!!


Booger Mobile seemed to be going a little better...  However as the boys got to the end of that tank of fuel (the first one since the bad fuel), the problems returned, bigger and better than ever.


Crawling into Newcastle, the boys located a BP servo, fuelled up with another tank full of Ultimate, threw in another container of mystery substance to help out, and set about rebuilding the carby in the carpark out the back.


The top of the carby was removed, as was the float.  The needle and seat was removed and cleaned, the various holes blown out (highly technical description that), the fuel bowl drained and rinsed, and the carby reassembled.

Damian also grabbed his spare (new) fuel filter from the boot, and installed that.  After having some lunch, and with a large amount of trepidation, it was time to hit the road again.

Booger Mobile played leapfrog with this car for a while...


Then cruised like there was no tomorrow.


Booger Mobile was going better than it had all week - freshly cleaned air cleaner and a new fuel filter seemed like just what the doctor ordered...  By the time the second full tank of BP Ultimate had been consumed (since the dodgy fuel), all problems were ironed out.


Happy days on the way home from then on!!


The boys dipped their hats in a mark of respect to the late, great Shark Mobile.  RIP Shark Mobile.


The boys kept driving, and the sun began to set.


Making good time...


Passing a lot of the same things they saw on the way down, only they saw them from the opposite direction!!


Twilight...  Keeping an eye out for vampires.


Much later, the boys passed through the tunnel that would take them back into the sunny state of Queensland!!

 
 
So, the adventure concluded with the boys arriving home shortly after midnight Queensland time.  Funnily enough the most trouble they had with Booger Mobile all week was on the way home, and the cause was squarely at the feet of the dodgy fuel they purchased...  Moral to the story - if you have a plan, stick to it!!
 
Time for Booger Mobile to have a rest for a while, then Damian will be back into it, getting ready for the 2013 Camp Quality esCarpade!!  There are a few minor things on the todo list from this trip, a couple left over from 2011, and some surprises in store!!
 
The blog will be a bit quieter for the next little while, with only sporadic posts.  Stay tuned though, because Booger Mobile will be back in 2013, and a little birdie told Damian that the esCarpade might actually start in...