What's New What's Old What's New - February 16, 2001 What's New - February 18, 2001 What's New - February 19, 2001 What's New - February 23, 2001 E-MAIL to NORTHERN THUNDER Home Page  
WHAT'S NEW

in the world of drag racing

Fast Mouse Fast Mouse

Cheapa Auto Spares Speedzone Magazine Surfers Paradise 
Drag Racing Association

To go to earlier editions of "What's New" go to  What's Old



The latest update as of February 17, 2001

So where were we??? Off on another wonderful adventure in the land downunder... or taking that final step off the abyss into oblivion?... Time well tell. Since I've planned to write a "Dragster Diary" of this trip, we may as well start now and see where it leads:

NOON:   Let's see now... the plane leaves at 7:30, check-in time is 5:30, the taxi will be here at 4:00, and what's still left to do before then? Find some suitcases, buy some new jeans, pick up a bunch of braided hose and fittings, etc. No worries, there's lots of time.

3:00 PM:   An hour to go and now it's time to get down to business. Shower, shave, get dressed. Forgotten anything? Like packing 100 lbs. of auto parts, including two pairs of front tires into two suitcases.

4:00 PM:   Success. Both suitcases packed and under the load limit. Carry-on and camera bag ready. Taxi waiting at the front door. Oh, oh... the tires!!! No room left in the suitcases (not to mention that the tires are too big to fit in them anyway). Bad news....

4:15 PM:   Success! I remembered the old cardboard suitcase purchased in a similar panic at the Melbourne airport on my first trip back from Australia in '97. The tires fit... just barely... and the latch closes.... barely. No worries; a few wraps of duct tape and we're airworthy.

4:30 PM:   We're on the way to the airport, with only one stop scheduled at Mopac Auto Supply for some Aeroquip hose and fittings. The parts are ready and waiting, the credit card works (good omen for this trip) and we're back on the road to the airport.

5:30 PM:   Ten minutes in the queue and $150 later (for the extra suitcase full of tires), we're checked in and ready for an hour of chain-smoking outside before boarding. Then it's on with the nicotine patch until Hawaii, at least.

8:00 PM:   The booze cart comes rolling down the aisle and I discover that the Russians seated in front of me know at least one word of English. Rum! "And what would you like what that, mates?" Rum! And on and on it went. Within half an hour their voices had risen enough to nearly drown out the crying babies in front of and behind me. Only five more hours to Honolulu....

1:00 AM:   The lights of downtown Honolulu are glowing through the portholes and we're coming down to the end of the first leg of the journey. A ninety minute break for refueling and then we'll start the next leg to Sydney (9.5 hours). Bad news. No smoking in the terminal. Good news. You can step outside to the parking lot for a puff. And I finally (on my seventh stop in Honolulu) see a small bit of Hawaii... a few palm trees and hundreds of parked cars. Six smokes later and we're back on the big bird and airborne once more.

It's now well into Sunday morning and that signals the end of today's report. Go to What's Old for the next installment of the "Dragster Diary."





Black Bar
More news as it happens, and if you wish to provide us with any news or information to upgrade or correct any errors at this site:

E-MAIL to NORTHERN THUNDER