They parked beside a green police car... not as green as Booger Mobile though!!
Breakfast at the Griffith Community Gardens...
Cars lined up in the morning light...
Driver briefing - nothing too exciting had changed on the route notes!!
Elmo found Booger Mobile and put a sticker on there... Damian had already put a Team Booger Mobile sticker on the back of Elmo!!
Jason kicked off the driving in the morning... heading out of Griffith...
On the bitumen for the first little while...
But it wasn't too long before they were on the dirt!!
Kicking up dust...
Jason - a picture of concentration...
Someone was burning off on their property... early on, the boys were wondering if perhaps someone had come to grief, but it was nothing so sinister!!
The driving continued on the dirt...
Damian kicked back in the navigator's position...
Across plenty of canals...
More dirt...
And more canals!!
Back on the bitumen for a while...
Heading towards Leeton...
Palm trees on one side...
Followed by gum trees on the other side!!
Rolling, rolling, rolling!!
Past orange groves...
Driving behind the Clowns for a while...
And for something completely different, some dirt!!
And some more...
Back on the bitumen, passing a huge oversized tractor!!
Continuing on the bitumen for a while...
Lots of flat, open country out there!!
Then back on the dirt...
The boys from 73 stopped to fix a tyre...
They didn't need any assistance from Team Booger Mobile...
Past a huge excavator...
Followed by a tractor towing a scarifier... apparently!!
Back on the bitumen...
Sneaking up behind 47... they lost a flag during the morning stage...
Overtaking 47...
Nice trails in the sky from passing passenger jets.
Elmo with the bonnet up...
This is where the morning fun stop was held...
Booger Mobile parked ready for fun!!
Damian had a crack at badminton...
Whoop there it is!!
Jason had some phone calls to return, so he stayed at the car...
Back on the road again... well, the dirt!!
Which way?
Ah, past the tractor!!
Not to be a stick in the mud, but this is indeed a large stick in the mud!!
Oh look, a bend in the road!! So uncommon today, it was worthy of a photo!!
And back on the bitumen!! Do you see a pattern forming yet?
Heading towards Jerilderie...
Lunch - Jerilderie Sports Club.
Ford parking.
Post-lunch driver briefing.
Heading off for a school visit...
The High Rollers stealthed a sticker onto the wing mirror... cheeky little monkies!!
The kids were all excited to see the esCarpadians...
Some of the cars that were attending...
Mario found a computer keyboard that suited him perfectly!!
Jason watching his first puppet performance from the door...
Puppeteers doing their thing...
Other esCarpadians watching intently...
Kylie (puppet) and Shannon (puppeteer), with Deano peeking from behind the banner.
Deano, Amy, Kylie and Shannon (left to right).
Kylie's dramatic reenactment of spewing on her kitty after a bout of chemotherapy...
Damian sneaking a self portait...
After lunch (and the school visit), it was Damian's turn to drive...
And onto the dirt they went!!
More dirt...
This team was in need of some assistance... Booger Mobile to the rescue!!
Damian grabbed out his bucket of spare bolts, and immediately found one the right size and type - shortly afterwards, MW1 (Mechanical Workshop 1) turned up and provided assistance...
Meanwhile, Damian hit the road again!!
And back onto tarmac...
Self portrait, while looking very serious!!
More dirt...
Bitumen...
Dirt...
There was a very narrow track at this point of the stage, with a couple of sneaky potholes hiding in it...
Someone had defaced this street sign... childish, but funny!!
The Volvos were on the side of the road... they didn't require assistance though!!
Continuing on the tarmac...
Into Rand...
And back onto the dirt!!
Lots of long, straight roads in this section!!
Nice trees...
Oh look, a decision to make!!
And more trees...
Back on the bitumen...
Cruising...
Into downtown somewhere or other...
And 73's back on the side of the road again...
At the afternoon fun stop, Damian tried his hand at the closest to the pin (chipping) competition...
Action shot!!
When the boys got to the fun stop, Jason closed his door to hear the unmistakable sound of a metal bracket or similar disappearing on the inside of the door...
The window had fallen out of it's track...
Not to be deterred, the boys hit the road again, but there's always time for a brotherly self portrait!!
Back on the dirt, past some silos...
Bitumen again...
Booger's shadow...
High Rollers following Booger Mobile into Wagga Wagga...
Yep, that's them...
Look out Wagga Wagga...
High Roller hijinx!!
Urana Street... Go on... say it out loud!!
A prison van... At least they got to see Booger Mobile before going to the big house!!
Some random church in Wagga Wagga...
Booger Mobile looking resplendant!
111 was having a bit of grief too... There seemed to be a bit of that getting around!!
After finding their motel, it was time to pull the door trim off and hopefully, fix the window winder!!
This photo makes Jason look like he has a bald patch, but it's actually just a round relfection of light from the side mirror!!
Another job (much easier to resolve) was the temperature sender wire... it had broken!!
New end on it and away it went!!
Door trim removed...
Turns out the part hadn't just fallen apart, but was actually a broken weld... Damian phoned Reg in OKA to see if he could weld it up, but he wasn't available to help until the morning...
At the same motel that the boys are staying at, Jason noticed a lot of work utes, and popped around to the front to make some new friends... who then called another friend of theirs and asked them to bring a welder!! A short time later, voila... one welder!!
Damian lined it up...
And the welder dude welded it with a little help from Jason!!
Afterwards, the boys both had a crack at getting it put back together again...
Eventually it was done, and the door trim etc was all replaced... A huge thanks goes to John (pictured below) for organising a welder for the boys...
What a day... around 450km driven, a school visit, the boys missed dinner (while working on the car), made some new friends and got the window fixed enough to get to the end of esCarpade if they are careful with it!!
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