Overheating Problem Solved!
Well, the old Toyota Estima Lucida had its last ditch chance to prove itself as a holiday vehicle, and the poor thing failed - I could say miserably, but it did a pretty fine job, in a funny kind of way.
We decided to head towards Dover. We had a change of clothes for a day, and even packed a doona and pillow, just in case we got stranded somewhere.
Through the city, past Tower Hill, out through East London, and then down through the Blackwall Tunnel. All was going well. Temperature was sitting right where it should. Lovely.
About 2 mins after turning onto the major motorway heading towards our planned destination, the temperature started to rise - rapidly! Kate did a wonderful job of driving as safely as possible along the motorway, in the emergency lane, at about 10 miles an hour. We managed to get about 5 miles before the lovely local highway police decided to stop and suggest that what we were doing wasn’t the brightest thing in the world. Neither was buying this crappy vehicle! (That’s a whole other story!) They allowed us to continue the remaining 1 mile until the next exit.
We pulled into a driveway in country England, and spoke with the residents who gave us directions to the nearest station, where we could get a train to the city. Luckily, this was only 2 minutes down the road (downhill, thank goodness).
I drove the car to the station, mostly in Neutral, and the temperature was hovering between normal and ARGH! We reached the station, and saw a sign to Sevenoaks. We decided to keep on driving slowly to Sevenoaks, and find a place for dinner. We would then attempt to drive home via non-major routes (i.e. Below 50m/h).
A nice pub meal in Sevenoaks allowed the car to sit in the carpark for an hour or so, and let off some steam. Then, Team Gossy piled back in, and set off for home.
We figured that if it took Anthony and family about 2 - 2.5 hours to get home from Sevenoaks a few months ago, after lunch with Greg and family, it would take us nearly 3 to get home.
What could have been a nightmare trip, turned out to be quite pleasant. We got to drive through small country roads, and saw many things that we would never have seen sitting on a motorway. After 2 hours 15 mins, we arrived home safely in Shepherd’s Bush.
First trip the next day - CarGiant. We looked at quite a few cars, but settled on a Navy Metallic Blue Sep 2004 Volkwagon Golf Estate 1.9 TDi. Goes very nicely, and will take the worry out of taking trips away in the car. Oh, and it doesn’t overheat!
If you know anybody in London who would like a cheap run about car - let me know. The car goes brilliantly for city driving! It has a full year’s Tax! MOT until Feb. CD player that plays MP3s! Is clean and tidy, and otherwise in pretty good shape.
We have now got many ideas for a driving trip - The Lake District, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, maybe France again, and quite a few other places that may take our fancy! Stay tuned!
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