April 4, 2005 - Van Breaks Down in Nhill

Left Melbourne on our journey towards Adelaide. Our plan was to drive all night (8hr ) and get there in the am. After being on the road several hours, our radio power cut out. Then we stopped for gas and had some electrical problems trying to start the car. We did get it started, but eventually it died on the road. Fortunately, it died at a gas station in a small town called Nhill which was in the middle of nowhere. We were able to use our AAA cards from the USA and within 10 minutes Road Side Assistance arrived. From what it looked like, the alternator had gone bad. We ended up getting the car back to the mechanics garage and slept in his parking lot till morning. They ended up taking the alternator out and testing it. As it turned out, the Alternator was fine and it was just the belt that was loose causing it to slip and not charge. All in all, we only spent $22.00 to change the belt and get back on the road. Our AAA cards from the USA covered 2 hours of labor for us. The mechanic shop was family owned and everyone there was very nice. If you guys from the shop are reading this, thanks for the great service. We made it to Adelaide OK!

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Giant Koala	Giant Koala	Where we slept	Waking up in the am	Dallas fixing the van	Tony chillin
Testing the Alternator	Testing the Alternator	Electrician Shop	Saying Goodbye	Like a Baby in the car	Eddie checking things out
What could it be!	Help has arrived	We got problems	Dallas on it