Bushtracker Brakes

The Showgrounds Caravan Park check out time is a generous 11am, while most parks are strictly 10am. Just our luck we had to leave by 8.30 to drive to Adelaide Brakes and Mechanical by 9. The business owner John showed us where to drop the van and listened to the brake noise as we parked. He had the van until 3.30pm so we had a lot of hours to fill with two little critters on board.

First stop was breakfast so we headed for the nearest beach suburb which was Semaphore. We were lucky to find a car park in full shade so left Tilly in the Toyota despite her urgings that she be allowed to come with us. Breakfast was good but I had enough spinach on my plate to keep Popeye going for a week.

There was no shade near the beach so we just paused to look at the view. We decided to do a couple of jobs that were outstanding so printed some documents at Officeworks, then posted the signed documents at a post office. I picked up a couple of items at a major shopping centre, after parking 20m from the entrance - impossible at major shopping centres in bigger cities.

For our lunch stop Anita remembered seeing signs to Retro Shops and Cafes so we found shade for Tilly in Queen St Croydon. I had wonderful French toast topped by a whole grilled pear, while Anita settled for a rhubarb muffin - at the Queen St Cafe.  The only downside to our lunch was the girlish squeals coming from three women at the next table. We picked up a couple of Italian pastries from another shop, then drove around the corner to a fenced park. Dogs are allowed in the park but the only occupants were human.

After I checked that the fence was secure and all gates were shut, Blue had a run off his lead.  He comes when called but gets overly excited and keeps running between me and Anita. If I sit down he stops beside me. More traing required. Tilly had a walk around the park on her lead while I kept a lookout for other dogs that might come into the park.


We drove back towards the brake mechanic and found a nearby park. It was so near I could see over the fence that the Bushtracker was still in the workshop up on a hoist. By now the afternoon traffic was building, but there was no shade so we kept driving to keep the critters cool. Fortunately John soon rang and told us the job was finished. We hooked up and paid his very reasonable bill given the extent of the work he did - machined the brake drums, replaced a backing plate, and repacked all of the wheel bearings. 

We drove to Mclaren Vale Lakeside Park in stop/go traffic until we reached the motorway where there were no delays. We quickly set up then fed Tilly and Blue and left them in the van while we had dinner at the local pub. The little ones had slept so were full of energy when we returned hoping to sleep. They eventually settled down and played their mouthing game.







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