Report April 20
By  Trudy

After the farewell in Traralgon we head for Adelaide. In Toorading we are met and we can go after Robbie Dalton’s Model T-Ford.

meeting in Tooradin

there we go to

That is easy, then I do not have to look at the map.

following 1

A beautiful route, you can see that it is autumn here.

autumn colours

On the way we meet more people with A and T-Ford.

meeting 1

meeting 2

It is good that there is under the T-Ford looked, because there is a bolt broken.

broken bolt

inspection

Dirk repairs it and we continue.

following 2

on the road

We go to Point Lonsdale with the ferry. He is waiting for us. We quickly say goodbye and drive the ferry.

ferry

We have a cheerful captain.

captain Coby

It is only 3 o’clock, so we drive on to a campsite in Lorne. Along the way we see a forest fire, but fortunately it is under control.

fire

Report April 19
By Sjaak and Trudy

An early surprise. Last night we had met Ivon. Her father Frans was born in the Netherlands and she baked speculaas for us.

present

Today we will spend a day at Warwick and Paula, working on the T-Ford, LandRover and website.

maintenance

Dirk has another wonderful place to work.

workshop

The visitors come in the afternoon. Paul, Chris and Fiona have taken the new tires for us. They are from the Veteran Car Club and the Model T Ford Club or Victoria.

visitors Model T Club

We got pictures of Andrew and Frances McDougall. Dirk drove into the T-Ford in Edam and Andrew saw him there. It was in 2006. Andrew then went with Dirk for a ride and Frances took pictures of it. Now in 2018 in Australia we meet them during our Model T World Tour. That is very special!

foto’s Edam

The Model T-Ford is being seriously looked at.

looking

Model T 1

Model T 2

We have a delicious barbecue and then Dirk tells us about the Model T World Tour with photos and film.

presentation

Calvin plays for his new guitar for our Country Road.

song

Report April 17 and 18
By Sjaak en Trudy

Tuesday, April 17th

After a delicious breakfast Peter brings us out of town.

breakfast

We are on our way to Suggan Buggan. It started on a paved road with on the other side many cows and sheep, which turned into a gravel road. A ramble road through a fairytale landscape.

gravel 2

gravel 3

gravel 4

Many beautiful trees.

tree

Along meadows with large boulders in the country.

stone

We go so high that we reach the mountains.

mountain

Just before dark we arrive at the Jacobs River campsite.

campsite

Wednesday, April 18

After a quiet dark night it was a bit cold this morning and it turned out that it was freezing!
There was ice on the cover of the T-Ford.

ice

We go along the Jacobs River and up the mountain again.

on the road 1

on the road 2

on the road 3

Many animals live in the Koschiuszko Park, wild horses and we also saw kangaroos and emu’s.

wildlife

In Victoria there are also many winding roads.

victoria

winding road

Trudy sees what lies along the road and it is a license plate. A nice souvenir.

souvernier

The distance from the campsite to Traralgon was long. We drive into Rosedale, it is already dark and we are happily welcomed by Warwick. He brings us to his house.

arrived

Report 16 april
By Sjaak and Trudy

From Sydney to Canberra we cross the highway with lots of wind and a lot of traffic.

highway 1

highway 2

highway 3

During our coffee stop we see beautiful birds and Sjaak confirms the flag of Australia on the LandRover.

stop 1

stop 2

stop 3

We travel quickly on the highway and we arrive at the agreed location and are warmly welcomed.

welcome 1

welcome 2

welcome 3

Together we are now going to Canberra.

on the road

They took us to the house of Peter Leemhuis, where we are welcomed by Darell.

arrived

Peter and Darell show us how Canberra is built from Mount Ainslie. We have beautiful views of the parliament building.

Canberra

After that we go to dinner with the Veteran and Vintage Car Club ACT.

diner

Report 13 April
By Sjaak and Trudy

From Singleton we drove through a beautiful mountainous route through the wine region of Hunter Valley to Sydney.

mountains

wine yards

Along the route where there are few houses we suddenly see a row of mailboxes, so there are people living there!

many houses

When we waited at the Hawkens River Brigde on Ken and Steve we met a man who had information about the Model T World Tour in his club magazine.

meeting by the Hawkens River bridge

Ken and Steve arrive in the beautiful Model A-Ford from 1931.

Dirk, Ken and Steve

After the introduction a beautiful, exciting ride started behind the Model A-Ford to and through Sydney.

through Sydney 1

through Sydney 2

through Sydney 3

through Sydney 4

through Sydney 5

We arrive at the Harbor Bridge and have a photo session and television recording there.

Harbour Bridge 1

Harbour Bridge 2

Harbour Bridge 3

Then we go to our accommodation at Ken Warburton.

Saturday, April 14
On our day off we make a city tour with our guides Ken and Steve. We take the train and arrive at the Harbor Brigde and the Opera House.

in the train 1

in the train 1

We walk through the city and go with a ferrie to Manly Island with its beautiful beaches and from the ferrie we have a nice view of the sky-line of Sydney.

city tour 1

city tour 2

city tour 3

city tour 4

city tour 5

city tour 6

Sunday, April 15

The Pre.WWII Vintage Car and Bike Show in Cronulla.
We were invited to this event by Ken Warburton.

Ken and Dirk

It was a well-attended show and many people had also seen the TV broadcast last night which was told about the Model T World Tour. It has been a succesful day.

carshow 1

carshow 2

carshow 3

Report 12 April
By Trudy

For the workshop of Mitch we slept under the awning in the roof tent. Luxury camping spot and this morning Dirk could easily tinker there.

work in the morning

We say goodbye to Mitch and go on our way.

saying goodbye

First back to Gloucester, do some shopping and then take the road to Sydney.

road work

The country we drive through is beautiful again. I’ve written that before, but we drive a lot of miles in a day and we see so much. It is enjoyment in this great Australia.

landscape 1

landscape 2

The weather is still beautiful, but in the Model T it is very hot. A cool drink refreshes the driver.

hot day

We hurried up and the LandRover follows bravely.

Landrover

About half the distance to Sydney (in Singleton) we stop at a Caravan Park where they also rent cabins. Coby and Sjaak take a cabin and we go into the roof tent.

Coby’s cabin

Report 11 April
By Dirk

Today we are on our way to Taree where we were invited by our Model T friend Mitch Tailor.
On the way we make delicious hot dogs according to the recipe we learned from Ralf Challenger yesterday.

hotdog 1

ohotdog 2

hotdog 4

hotdog 5

openingsfoto

hotdog 7

They taste delicious.
After a beautiful ride of more than 280 km. we arrive at the fuell station where we have a meeting with Mitch.

Mitch 1

Mitch 2

When we arrived at Mitch house, the television crew was ready for an interview.

interview

In the evening we are invited to the Taree Historic Motor Club.
Dirk gives a presentation of our travel adventures there.

presentation 1

presentation 2

After this successful evening, the Model T will be admired in the evening light.

after the presentation

Again a beautiful day on our tour in Australia.

Mitch made a video of our visit at Taree.

Report 10 April
By Dirk

This morning early again because we have a nice trip for more than 300 kilometers to Armidale.
Before we leave Dirk thinks that the right front tire is pretty worn, so he assembles a new one.

new front tire

Ralf is also up early because he has to go back to Brisbane.
But before we say goodbye to Ralf, he teaches us how to make a hot dog in an empty milk carton.

hot dog

Then we say goodbye to Ralf and leave.

say goodbye to Ralf

After an hour’s drive we arrive in the town of Stanthorpe where we are met by Ian Smith in his Model T coupé.

Ian and Trudy

He invites us for a cup of coffee at the local café.
On the wall are all names of visitors and Dirk puts our names there.

drawing 1

drawing 2

On the road it is not busy but there are occasionally very large trucks.

big trucks 1

big trucks 2

The road is sometimes pretty steep and we have to cross a very special mountain: the Bolivia hill. And we know that the mountains in Bolivia can be quite steep.

Bolivia hill

During a coffee break Dirk wants to check the oil of the gearbox.

oil check

Around four o’clock and well before it gets dark, we arrive at our motel in Armidale.

Motel Armidale

The second travel day in Australia has also gone smoothly.

Keep it like that!!

Report 9 April
By Dirk

Today is the big day for us that we start the journey through Australia.
We leave early to the Pelican Park in Redcliffe, where our friends are already waiting with their old timers.
We say goodbye to Merv and Margareth Kroll who helped us in the last two weeks in Brisbane with the preparations for our trip.

saying goodbye Merv and Margareth

At exactly 9 o’clock we are flagged up by the Dutch Honorary Consul in Brisbane:
Rear-Admiral Dr Karel de Laat.

flagg off

Then we leave under the escort of a number of old timers to The Centanary Lakes in Caboolture for a quick “rittle to the tin”.
From here we start for our long journey of 250 km. to Warwick.
On the way in the town of Gatton, we are treated to a delicious lunch.

lunch at Gatton

We are escorted to Warwick by Tony Howard in his T-Ford touring and Ralf Challenger in his T-Ford Pick up.

Tony Howard

Ralf’s Pick up

It’s a beautiful tour and sometimes very hilly.

up hill

Before dark, we arrive at our motel in Warwick.
Tony goes to sleep with his brother and Ralf stays with us in the motel.
We have a nice dinner together and look back on a successful first day of our Australia adventure.

diner in Warwick

Report 8 April
By Dirk

 Got up early this morning to pick up our new follow-up team, Sjaak and Coby, from the Brisbane airport.

arrival Sjaak & Coby

They are our tracking team for the first part of our Australia adventure from Brisbane to Perth.
The rest of the day we use to prepare the cars for the departure of tomorrow morning.

prepairing cars

In the afternoon Merv and Margareth Kroll will have a coffee to discuss the last details of our departure tomorrow.

Merv & Margareth drinking tea

Then comes the important moment of the key transfer and their names stick on the bumper of the Landrover.

getting the keys

two brothers

We are ready to start our Australia adventure tomorrow.
We are look forwards for our tour.