Sunday 20 October 2013

2013 esCarpade Day 8 - Heading Home

Sunday morning arrived... the day after the night before.  Damian and Angus headed down to breakfast, to find these crazy people about to undertake a fun run!!  Doesn't seem that fun to Damian!!


Booger Mobile was packed, ready to say good bye to Wollongong!!


After fuelling up, it was time to hit the highway!!


Vroom...


Past some interesting bridges...


Sharky swinging past in the Sydney traffic...


Some serious blasting went on to build this road...


Safety ramp, just in case!!


Past some more nice bridges...


Up, up and away!!


Regular blog readers would remember this sign from last year - where Jason and Damian stopped to find water in the fuel...  Thankfully this year, all was well!!


NSW can't play footy, but they can sure build nice roads!!


Let's  follow the exit to the Botanic Gardens!!


And another funky bridge...


Up the road...


Damian's turn to drive, Angus having a snooze...


Keep driving north!!


700km to go!!


Booger Mobile was going nicely, thank goodness...  Remember this corner from last year?  Sharky does... for all the wrong reasons.


Oh look, another car coming across the highway - at least this one didn't hit an oncoming vehicle!!


Over the bridge...


And on the shiny new bypass road!!


Keep going!!


Angus was having a drive by this time...


Damian's turkey award was checking out the view...


Angus loved driving Booger Mobile - he said it was very easy to drive!!


Behind some tourists...


This tunnel picture turned out better than expected... like going warp speed!!


Past a windmill, as you do.


And through Coffs Harbour...


Past the Big Banana...


And up an empty highway...


More bridges...


This one was pretty interesting...


Close up!!


Time to stop in Ballina for some fuel...


Past the big prawn...


And through the magic of the interwebs, Angus was delivered home, safe and sound!!


Gee whiz, did the boys buy enough fuel on the trip?


Having arrived home safely, the 2013 Camp Quality esCarpade drew to a close for Team Booger Mobile.  Many of the other teams had already arrived home, and some still had a bit of their journey to go, but all arrived home safely to their loved ones.

If you thought the blog looked good, and want to experience the fun yourself, why not get hold of a car that's more than 20 years old and start preparing for the 2014 Camp Quality esCarpade...  Team Booger Mobile will be there... will you?

Saturday 19 October 2013

2013 esCarpade Day 7 - Bathurst - Bowral - Wollongong

Damian woke early in Bathurst... the moon was full, and the smoke had begun to clear.


Damian also noted that there was a Ford painting in the room.  Ironical!!


As the sun rose, Damian managed to get a shot of the iconic Mount Panorama sign from his hotel room balcony.  Did you know that it's actually made up of painted rocks?


And a panoramic view of Mt Panorama...


Track signage towards the end of the chase...


Looking up the track...


Booger Mobile ready to rock and roll, with newly resolved fuel issue, Angus was keen for a drive!!


The sun rose red through the smoky sky...


Breakfast was at the National Motor Racing Museum...  Booger Mobile lined up with 808 and Team Afro.


Damian's turkey award proudly on display!!


The sun rising over the Peter Brock statue...


One of the teams thought that adding a leaf to Booger Mobile's fuel tank was funny...  It was...


Ben giving the driver briefing...


First up, it was time for a couple of laps of Bathurst...


808 and Country Princess having a bit of a race up the hill (while maintaining the 60 km/hr speed limit)


Up... and wondering why they didn't clean the windscreen when they fuelled up the day before...


And back down again...


Down the main straight at the end of lap one...


Coming around for lap 2...


Vroom...


Nice camera work by Damian...


Chasing 54...


Down the main straight for the second time...


And lining up at the chase for a photo opportunity...


Photo the photographers...


Beach party in the sand pit!!


Cars lining up...


The MW's waiting to be told where to park...


Must... keep... road... clear...  it's still a public road (two direction).


Booger Mobile is certainly brightly coloured compared to some of the other cars!!


Damian with the Mount Panorama sign in the background... it was a bit cool there (hence the jacket).


Photos done, it was time to make the 266km trek via the route notes to Bowral for lunch!!


Bitumen to start with...


But quickly onto dirt...


Leaving a gap to the car in front is a great way to get out of the dust...


As was driving on bitumen!!


Back on the dirt, and past a reasonable size dam...


And back on the bitumen again... the windscreen is getting worse as the day progresses!!


Finally, Booger Mobile was performing well... 


Angus was a picture of concentration as per usual...


Damian was navigating, but there's always time for a selfie!!


Back on the bitumen again...


And then back onto the dirt...  This was probably the pick of the days driving...


Holy dooley it was dusty behind the car though!!


More bugs and dust on the windscreen, and the dust in the distance tells Damian they are still on the right track!!


Across a dry causeway...


Over a narrow bridge...


Down more dusty roads...


To the fun stop!!


Out of the fun stop and back onto the dusty roads...


Angus won a lollypop at the fun stop... he loved it!!


Into a tree-lined section...


On and on it went...


With even more dust being kicked up!!


Damian encouraged Angus to splash through a causeway with a bit of water in it!!


Windscreen looks briefly cleaner after washing the splashes off!!


Back onto the dusty roads...


And another small causeway...


And a streaky windscreen...


Onto the bitumen...


Following some tourists for a while...


Booger Mobile wasn't last...


Down some tree-lined streets...


Back out onto the open road...


Then where else, but back onto the dirt!!


This was a first gear, downhill, extremely rough section of road...


Culminating in a rough causeway...


Across go the boys...


Then a steep, low speed, rough climb back out again!!


It never looks that steep in a photo!!


But it had plenty of rocks, bumps and ruts!!


Back onto some smoother dirt roads, it was time to pick up the pace again...


Across another causeway...


Past Team Alex (Madagascar) who had a flat tyre, but didn't require any assistance...


Onto the bitumen...


Across a narrow bridge...


And of course, back onto some more dirt... the windscreen really in need of a clean by this stage!!


Some nice, tree-lined dirt roads...


And a sign... must be close to civilisation!!


Into sunn, downtown Bowral!!


Where the lunch venue was the Bradman Museum!!


Our... Don... Bradman!!


After lunch, it was onto the bitumen for the short drive to Wollongong - around 79km by route note!!


Along some nice, winding roads...


Damian was driving this time...


Through some very tall timber...


Down a very steep, winding road...


That went on...


And on...


And eventually a turn off to a causeway with some water... time for a splash!!


Splash goes Damian!!


Up some roads between paddocks...


And finally into civilisation, and the marshalling point.


After marshalling, it was time to head off in convoy to Wollongong...


Making a heap of noise as the entrants wound their way through the main streets of Wollongong.


How long does this line go for???


Finally the waterfront at Wollongong appeared!!


The finish line was in sight...


Woohoo!!  Made it to the end of the 2013 Camp Quality esCarpade!!


And Damian's sister, her partner and his mother were there to greet them!!


Getting snaps of Booger Mobile...


57 entrant vehicles and 15 official vehicles crammed under WIN Stadium...


Selfie with Damian's family...


Uh oh... 808 wasn't happy about the length of the line up to get in...  In fairness, there were plenty of others that were obviously overheating in the parade!!


Booger Mobile looking dusty, but still in one piece!!


Wollongong...


There was a bar up there - time for a celebratory drink!!


Damian taking a selfie, with his charming sister joining the fun...


After Damian's family had left, and he and Angus found their hotel room (very long story, but not worthy of giving more air time to on the blog), it was time for the final night party!!


Panoramic view from the party room balcony!!


Table near the bar... alright!!


Damian and Angus with their Thanks certificates...


The party room was full... the band was playing, the drinks were flowing!!


And there's always one photo bomber!!


So the 2013 Camp Quality esCarpade draws to a close... Team Booger Mobile raised an impressive $10673.05, and the total raised for esCarapade was in excess of $1.14 MILLION!!

All that remains is to get home again in the morning!!

Update: Video highlights from the morning of day 7 - sadly no video of Mt Panorama...



And finally, rolling in to Wollongong with a grand parade through the streets!!