Classic Outback Trial 2022
Day 4 - March 33, 2022
Canobolas State Forest
I had intended to be in position in Canobolas State Forest well before the first car went through, giving me time to walk in to where I knew there was a very good spot for photos. However! When I was about one kilometre from the turnoff into the forest the engine on my car stopped working. That was the bad news. The good news was that I was only doing 40 kilometres per hour at the time because I was in a convoy being led through roadworks. This meant that there was no traffic coming the other way and I was able to use the momentum of the car to turn into a wide driveway on the other side of the road. With no power steering or brake boost, of course. The good luck continued when it only took the NRMA serviceman about 30 minutes to get to me (despite the despatcher sending him to the wrong location) and a bit of detective work revealed that the fuse for the fuel pump wasn't letting any electricity through. There was no visible burning or melting in the fuse so we assume it had a very fine crack, probably caused by hitting a pothole while coming out of the forest in the morning. Replacement fuse fitted and I was on my way. (I bought some spare fuses on the way home.)
If I had been doing 100km/h (the usual speed limit at that point on the road) I probably wouldn't be here typing this and even if I wasn't injured I'm sure the car would have been. If the fuel pump not working had been a faulty pump I would have been up for having the car transported 100 kilometres to my mechanic and a big bill. (The last time I had a fuel pump replaced it was about $30 for the pump and several hundred dollars in labour to get to it. I hate the engineer who first thought of putting the pump inside the tank.)
By the time I got to the rally route it was too late to walk to a sunny spot so I was in semi-darkness with a limited choice of of where I could point the camera. But I persisted anyway.
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