FRIDAY 30 OCTOBER     ATHERTON

We had to get up really early for our trip to Cairns, and left at 6.45am. Got Truck to Trinity Motors by 8.15am. Then we had the whole day to fill in – and without wheels.

We walked to the GPO, by which time it was open. Posted John’s big letters – cost $10.

More walking, to pick up my photos. Then we just wandered about for a while. Sat and had a coffee – a fairly rare treat for us. Eventually had lunch at the Cairns Central food hall, buying Chinese style food. In the very humid heat of the day in Cairns, the air conditioned shopping centre was an appealing place.

John takes any chance he can to go to the cinema, so we occupied the afternoon seeing “Armageddon”. I found it too far-fetched, and a bit ho-hum.

Truck was ready when we went back to the service centre at 5.30pm. They have replaced the shock absorbers and also done quite a bit of work on the suspension and wheel areas. It did not surprise us that this work needed doing, after the Cape trip! But it was very nice to have it done for free!

We purchased an Extended Warranty on Truck. This cost us nearly $700, but will cover us for another 50,000kms. Given our plans, this seems a prudent investment.

We have a few popped spot welds on the roof of Truck – from the stresses and strains of the Cape, we suspect. Maybe aluminum panels allow this to happen? These must be inspected by a man from Brisbane before Landrover will cover the repairs. We will organize that when we are closer to Brisbane, whenever that may be.

Trinity Motors do a good job, but they can’t seem to find the phantom leak we’ve always had – that sometimes drips onto my feet when it rains.

We got back to Atherton about 7.30pm. It is a very attractive drive back up from Cairns, through the forest of the Range, and then the farmlands of the Tablelands.

Fish and chips for tea.