MORE TRAVELS WITH BOB

On the previous page we saw all the preparations for shipping the race car to Australia in early April. Now we'll move ahead to our arrival in Brisbane in May. For the first weekend, we booked a suite in a high-rise right on the beach at Surfers Paradise. Aside from the rather dodgy weather (intermittent rain all weekend), and the flying cockroaches (I kid you not -- giant flying cockroaches!), Tom's (Mohan - my crew chief) first impressions of Australia are best described as awe-struck.

All too soon, unfortunately, it was time to get down to the serious business of getting the race car prepared -- the reason for our trip. Hold on mate, isn't the car still in a container and enroute? Yes and no. The chassis and most of the engine parts were, but our suitcases carried two pairs of cylinder heads and porting tools. After all, we now had only a month to be ready to race at the Winternationals. So, while Tom got busy at the porting bench, I set to work on my internet  Dragster Diary.

Aside from the work on the cylinder heads and website, our immediate needs were transportation and accomodation. No, the budget didn't allow for an extended stay in a Surfers Paradise hi-rise or for a fancy rental car. We managed to find some very reasonable accomodation with Ken Lowe's employee, Dave, but the rental car (mine) just seemed to hang around forever. Let's face it, the Falcon was a lot more comfortable to drive than the Subaru that Tom got.

We moved into the two spare bedrooms of Dave's townhouse in Gaven Heights on the Monday following our arrival in Brisbane. It turned out to be first-class accomodation and a bargain too: $50 a week, each. Although it was less than a mile from Ken's shop, through the bush, the daily drive to the shop covered nearly seven miles on the highway, through a constantly changing construction zone. "Whoooops... where did the exit go? .... Heck, where did the road go?"

Leaving the highway (usually) at the Oxenford exit, we climbed up the Kopps Road hill to Ken's shop. The scenery was a peaceful change from the chaos of the road-works and as we entered Ken's driveway each morning, there was always the chance of a meeting with the resident Wallabie family.

Every time we arrived at Ken's we never knew what to expect. Each day brought its own surprises; no two ever alike. Getting bored with the same old - same old routine was never an option. Here's some pics of a typical day in the shop: Dave at the lathe, Tom out in the back working on the heads, Darren taking pics, Bob hiding in the trailer, Ken moving so fast that the camera couldn't catch him and Dippy keeping an eye on all the action. Hey Dippy, where'd those Magpies come from? Skeet 'em, dawg!

Come back tomorrow and see what the shop looks like and some of the things we get up to in our (all too rare) spare time. It's worth the visit.