GORV - Digital Magazine Issue #34 | Page 54

THE WALLABY TRACK WITH LIONEL MUSSELL MUSTERING THE STRENGTH ON HIS WAY TO A MUSTER, LIONEL TOOK THE SCENIC ROUTE. HIS MOTORHOME, HOWEVER, WAS NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT. When I fed my destination – Omeo, Vic – into my GPS for my visit to the ACC Gippsland Gypsies muster, I didn't really look at the route and it wasn't until I was passing through such delightful towns as Bright and Harrietville that I realised I was heading for the climb up Mt Hotham. It didn't worry me as I had done it a few times before and I was enjoying the scenery. Yemmy had been behaving and hadn't dropped into ‘limp-home mode’ once during the early part of the journey so I wasn't concerned when he decided to go into third gear for the climb – it was what I would have selected anyway. However, when the road flattened out I stopped and turned the engine off expecting a return to normal. Wrong! I repeated the process a number of times but to no avail, so I did the next 60-plus kilometres at a modest 60km/h. It was quite tedious and the ETA changed from arriving by 3.30pm in good time for happy hour, to more like 4.30. (I still made happy hour and the scrumptious barbecue that followed.) Omeo Caravan Park, Vic. I was there at last for what turned out to be an excellent weekend and it was great to catch up with so many friends, particularly my two visiting ACC Lone Trekker friends, Sue and Judy from Adelaide, who offered to take me home on their way back to South Australia. It was an offer I gladly accepted as Yemmy had to be tilt-trucked to my friend Eric's place at Officer, Vic, for attention to his transmission! Little did I know they intended going back over Mt Hotham! See you down the track. + FULL STORY 54 \