The Long Way Euround – Day 3: The Grampians, Goldfields Way and a wrecking yard

Today was the third day of our Classic Mercedes road trip.   Yesterday we finished in Horsham after driving the Silo Art Trail.   Horsham is a great starting point for The Grampians National park, which was our drive for the morning.

It was quite cold and wet as we rolled out of Horsham at 6AM.  For the first part of our drive, we were still in wheat country, but after a while the elevation started to rise and farmland gave way to dense foliage.   Kangaroos and Wallabies were everywhere, and we had to slow right down to ensure I didn’t damage a second car hitting a Kangaroo.

As we ascended into the Grampians, we encountered thick fog and rain, and the roads were windy with steep drop offs on either side.   We had to drive quite slowly due to the conditions. Our first destination was Lake Wartook, which is a man made reservoir at high altitude.   Even with all the fog it was quite an impressive view.

After Lake Wartook, we headed to MacKenzie Falls.  The falls are about 950 meters from the parking lot but due to the dense fog we didn’t walk the trail.  Some people returning told us that you couldn’t see much.   We also went to Reid lookout nearby, and there was nothing but fog from there either.

A drive down a very windy road took us into Halls Gap for breakfast.  The local birds were rather brazen and cockatoos made off with somebody’s apple slice and used somebody’s head as a perch.  Since the local bakery had won an award for their Vanilla Slice, I tried one.  It was pretty good, but I have preferred others.

After breakfast, we drove down the road to Lake Bellfield, where we managed to find a gap in the rain to have a look and take some photos.  It was at that point that the 380SEC, which had been struggling with hot starts, decided enough was enough and refused to start at all.

I had a multimeter in the boot and we soon established that the fuel pump was not getting power.   I had some spare wire, so we started to make a bypass for the fuel pump relay, but one of the guys had something far better.  He had a proper bypass with Mercedes-Benz pins and a fuse.   With the bypass installed, the 380SEC roared into life.

After lake Bellfield, we had a break in the rain, and the road between the lake and Dunkeld at the end of the National Park was really good.  Not only was it great to drive on, but there was some amazing scenery.  The rock escarpment was very impressive, but there wasn’t really a good place to stop to take some photos.

At this point our group split in two.   We planned to visit a Mercedes-Benz wrecker outside Ballarat.  Those of us who didn’t want as much time at the wrecker, split off to visit a metal working shop first.   The other half the group made a quick stop at a cafe outside Ballarat and then went to the wrecker to have a look around.

Driving though this part of Victoria it was very green and lush.   There was a combination of agriculture and sheep farms.   The crop became more and more likely to be canola as we progressed.   Throughout the day we had varying weather, from sunny breaks in the rain, to drizzle to torrential downpours.

At the wrecker, a few of us managed to grab a few useful things they were looking for.   The wrecker was currently in the process of moving premises so the only parts available was those that were already on the cars.   I managed to get a couple of W123 trim bits which was useful.   We got a second hand fuel pump relay for the 380SEC while we were there.

After our visit to the wrecker, the rest of our afternoon was spent driving the Goldfields Way to Bendigo.   You could see some of the impressive buildings from the gold rush still in the towns.   We even stopped to take photos of our cars at Clunes town hall in the rain.   Talbot was still a very small town with some impressive preserved buildings, whereas Maryborough is an interesting combination of turn of the last century banks and more modern buildings.

As well as the impressive public buildings paid for my the gold rush, the road was very good too.   Not quite as good as the road through the Grampians, but still very enjoyable to drive on. After taking the Goldfields way, we arrived at our hotel in Bendigo.  Since the car show is tomorrow, we washed out cars, despite the high likelihood of rain overnight.  They certainly look a lot better.

Throughout the afternoon, the 380SEC still suffered hot starting problems.   I’m not 100% on the cause, but its possible that the relay ais going at the same time as the fuel accumulator.  It totally conked out in the driveway of the hotel.  Wwe managed to get it started again, and washed for the show.   The 500SL had a minor problem with low power steering fluid, which was easily picked up.   My SLC used another litre of oil as compared to yesterday.    I’m a bit surprised given it used to drink a lot les before the the valve stem seals were replaced.

We then went to a nearby pizza place for dinner.   Even with the bad weather, the day was excellent.   Tomorrow is the actual show and it is not supposed to rain as much.   .