Monkey wrenches and close calls

So, we've run into a bunch of minor setbacks recently that have delayed our course to the outback by two days.  To start:

I guess bad luck first struck when we arrived at Brisbane in the airport.   Jon was marked for death the instant the airport security dog jumped up onto his backpack.  He was flagged for both drugs and explosives ("Are you sure your research doesn't involving mining with explosives?"), so the customs officials had to search through all of his bags.  Obviously, they didn't find anything (though they were quite interested in the scatterings of dirt that fell out of Jon's backpack after fifteen rigorous shakes), but the whole ordeal had taken a while and now we only had thirty minutes to transfer to the domestic terminal and catch our flight to Adelaide.  Luckily, with our sprightliness and perhaps one guiltily cut line, we made it just as the attendants were making the final boarding call—phew.

It was noon when we arrived in Adelaide, and we immediately set out to complete our errands of 1) buying foodstuffs to feed us for the next 2 to 3 weeks, 2) grabbing camping gear from a nearby friend's place, and 3) picking up 'the Beast' from the repair shop.  By this time tomorrow, we would be driving up to the northern Flinders Ranges to begin the field season—if everything went according to plan.

Haha.

So Task 1 sounded easy enough, except it was the Queen's birthday (Happy Belated! I know you're reading) which meant almost everything was closed—a small monkey wrench.  Adelaide was like a ghost town in some places.  After asking around, we found a rebel, non-abiding grocery store that had mostly everything we needed.  Nothing terrible, and no one died, so we were still good.

But now Jon's credit card wasn't working.  This in spite of the fact that he called the credit card company ahead of time to tell them about Australia. No worries though—my credit card was working fine.  And dude, that was the longest receipt I've ever received in my life (don't worry parents, I'll be reimbursed).


The rest of the afternoon was met with both success and disappointment.  Jon unwittingly bargained down a $2,000+ generator by 25% by thinking aloud and a rancher he finally made contact with made an unconvincing excuse for us not to go onto his land, where the most beautiful paleocanyon exposure of the Wonoka is conveniently located—darn.  We picked up 'the Beast', a 1981 Land Cruiser named so because of its sheer monstrosity and awesomeness (more on that later), and things were looking good.  We even found out that we had just narrowly missed the ash cloud from the Chilean volcano, which was now causing a bunch of flight cancelations—close call.  

Unfortunately, because of the holiday, we couldn't get some critically important items like a level, screwdriver, and golden raisins.  We also still had to sort out some phone business, so we decided to stay an extra day in Adelaide to complete our errands instead of rushing it all early the next morning.  Disappointing, but hey, no one died so we were still good.

The next day was pretty chill; we finished all our tasks before darkness settled in (the sun sets at 5:30 pm, being winter here), and everything was fine until Jon received a call from the repair shop saying that they forgot to fix the brakes on the truck.  

So we were like: All right, well, at least they told us before we left for the Flinders.  Unhappy brakes would be a real killer.  And hey, even though we've been driving the truck around all day, no one died, so we're still good.  So they'll mend it up in 2 hours, and we'll be in tip-top shape to move out at the crack of down tomorrow.  No big deal.

Except an hour into the wait at the car shop, the repair guy walked out and told us that an important safety mechanism near the rear wheels had just broken.  Apparently the thing was already cracked, and when they were fiddling around with it, the whole thing crumbled to pieces.  They've chalked it up to the truck being really, really old (which it is). Now they'll have to send out a request for a new part to be made and wait for that to come in before truck can be fixed; the Beast wouldn't be ready until tomorrow evening.

So with the disappointment of another day's delay in our minds (and the shocking realization that we were this close to meeting an untimely demise by in all probability driving off a cliff face or something—but hey, no one died, so we're still good!), we took a bus back to the hotel and slept in.  

So now, after a day of meandering around Adelaide, visiting the local natural history museum and playing hacky sack, as well as a good night's rest, we're finally ready to leave at last!  The truth is, there's more of a hazard to our lives within the city than outside it—we'll be safe and sound in the Australian outback (more-or-less).

Jon checking out the stromatolites at the local museum of natural history.