The Long Way Euround – Day 6: Bombala to Sydney

Today was the final day of our big Classic Mercedes Road trip.   We started at 6:15AM in Bombala where it was 2 degrees outside.    We were down to 9 cars, as one of our drivers had some unexpected work commitments that came up, so had to leave his car in Melbourne.

We stayed in the pub in Bombala.  I generally only book places that have private bathrooms, so I must have missed that it didn’t.   Having said that he rooms were very nice and the food was great.  The bed was the most comfortable of the trip.

As we drove out of Bombala, the sun was rising over the Monaro region.   The sunrise illustrated the high country landscape and the farms along the route.   The road was great and the cars were running well.

Originally we planned to drive to Bredbo, but we decided to refuel in Cooma instead.   This worked out well, as while Bredbo has a pie shop, it does not seem to have a service station.  In Cooma, we filled up all the cars and had breakfast at McDonalds.

After all the troubles I had with my car the day before, it was going very well.  I was getting occasional noise from my rear left wheel when turning, but none of the previous issue.   The noise was also different.  The noise led me to believe that its probably not a wheel bearing issue.   I suspect part of the handbrake mechanism, perhaps that little spring, has come loose.  It is probably moving around as I corner and the ends of the lug nuts are scraping against it.

A few people were very keen to get home by dinner time, and one of our group had a flight to catch, so we had fewer and shorter breaks today to move along.   Everyone was keep to complete the full route then be home for dinner.

We continued north, through the outskirts of Canberra and then up through Gunning and Crookwell.   Crookwell was our lunch stop, at another Bakery.   The lamb pie was the best I’ve had all trip and the Vanilla slice was good, although a little too much icing for my liking.

The road from Crookwell up to Georges Plain was excellent, full of long sweeping curves, elevation changes and great scenery.   The only downside was that there were many caravans on the road, and a Nissan Patrol that couldn’t climb hills.   One of the guys is interested in buying a 280CE, so had a turn of the white car during this section and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was around here that the 380SEC started playing up more.   So far it had only given issues while idling.  However, on multiple occasions it cut out while at road speed.   Most of the time it would restart while coasting in neutral, but not always.  Luckily there was not much traffic on the road.

As we passed through Perthville, we saw a 450SLC for sale by the side of the road.   One of the guys went back to have a look it it, and it was in a sorry state.   Rust in the firewall, chassis rails, holes in the floor and more.   It was a D-Jet car and a sad way for an early 450SLC to go.    I suspect its destiny is a wrecking yard like the one we saw on Saturday.

After a good drive though to Lake Lyell, we all went our separate ways.   A couple of us refueled in Lithgow, and then took Bells Line of road back.   I hate the Great Western Highway with a passion, so Bells line was the obvious choice.  It was very foggy, but the traffic was light and it was a fairly relaxed cruise home the back way.

After I rolled into the garage, I checked my odometer and I had travelled 3,883km in 6 days.  My 450SLC is now almost at 318,000km.   I have a few things to attend to.   Obviously the noise from the wheel, whatever it is.   The A/C, and the starter motor has started playing up, not always engaging.

All the cars and drivers made it back home safely.

Overall, the trip was great and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was a great break from work and we saw a lot of Australia I have never seen before.