Roadtrip in Australia: A Comedy (Act III)

Pictures Part 1:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26890&l=bc719&id=523210814

Pictures Part 2:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26902&l=ca7e3&id=523210814

We left our friends on Fraser Island, were they overcame many obstacles, such as random pieces of wood and wild dogs...

Act III, Scene 1, Day 22: How another branch got stuck under the 4WD.
Nina and Kaat have left the island. Egon is behind the wheel of the 4WD, Yaisa, Mir and Iris are enjoying the bumpy ride.
Yaisa: Oh, watch out, branch on the road!
Egon: It’s ok, I think I missed it…
Mir: Haha, you never know Egon, you managed NOT to miss it the first time…
Iris: I’m smelling something… are you smelling something?
Mir: Smells like burned rubber…
Yais: Yep, I’m smelling it to… let me check!
Egon: OK, I’ll pull over…
Yais: Well done Egon, it’s a branch, stuck in exactly the same spot!!
Mir & Iris: Oh no!!! EGON!!!!
Yais: Oh my god, it’s really stuck… It doesn’t budge an inch and it’s been scraping along the tyre! There is no way we can drive on like this… I’ll start digging!
(While Egon and Yaisa try to dig, pull, push and break the branch, Mir starts looking for her pocket knife, with which Yaisa hopes to saw through the branch. 30 minutes later, she and Egon have managed to cut through 1/3 of the branch and by driving back and forth very carefully, the branch is finally removed. Cheers by all, and the party drives on, they are now in a hurry to make it to the last barge of the day to get back to the mainland)
Egon: Oh oh… the engine just died on me… let me start the car again…
Iris: Oh my god, there’s lots of black smoke coming out of the exhaust!
Egon: I’ll try switching to the spare tank…
Mirjam: Still lot’s of black smoke…
Egon: Shit, the engine died again…
(Egon manages to get the car another mile or so further, but then, it’s really over)
Iris: I think it’s because of the branch, we must have damaged something…
Yaisa: Maybe… but the black smoke coming out of the exhaust cannot come from this branch, nothing seemed to be damaged!
Mir: Maybe the tank was empty and someone filled the spare tank with petrol instead of diesel…
(While the four deliberate on what next, several cars stop to ask if they need help. As there is absolutely no mobile phone reception in the middle of the island, the friends decide that waiting by the car is of no use. It’s decided that Mir & Yais hitch a ride to the barge with a friendly Aussie family in a car with very bad suspension and from there hopefully contact the 4WD company to ask for help. Iris & Egon are left behind, waiting for another ride).
Mir: Well, at least the two of us made it to the barge… let’s call Kaat and the 4WD company… oh oh… I just found the key of the 4WD in my bag…
Yais (on the phone to the 4WD rental): Euh, well, the car broke down in the middle of the island, we left two of our friends with the car, but I have the key…
Rental company: No worries, we’ll sort it out!
(Yais & Mir make it across to the mainland)
Yais (on the phone to Kaat): We’re by the car park, where are you?
Kaat: I’m also by the car park, with the camper, but I can’t see you? Where are you?
Yais: By the barge landing at River Heads… you?
Kaat: By the barge landing in Hervey Bay… That's 30 mins away! OK… I’ll start driving, don't move!!!
Yaisa (thinks): Where would we go anyway...
(30 mins later Kaat arrives at the spot where Mir & Yais landed and tells her story about how it took her the whole bloody day to get a new battery for the camper, as it wouldn’t start… The three girls decide to sleep in a hostel instead of the camper. So on Boxing day, the girls go to bed for a good night sleep after a day full of adventures and emotions.)
How much car trouble can you have in one holiday?

Act III, Scene 2, Day 25: How the girls managed to bust yet another vehicle...
Mir, Kaat and Yaisa are happy campers. They are driving along the Gold Coast towards Sydney, enjoying the scenery. Iris & Egon are a few hundred km ahead of them. Yaisa is behind the wheel of the Crazy Camper Van, going at the incredible speed of 100km...
Yaisa: Hmmm, strange, I hear some rattling whenever I press the accelerator...
Mir: Yep, I can hear it too...
Yaisa: Oh my god, I see black smoke coming out of the exhaust!
Kaat: Yep, I can see it too...
Yais: OK, better pull over... Ah, here's a small side road, that's lucky... Oh dear, no more power steering... Aaah, almost missed the corner... Oh dear... no more breaks!... Pfew, thank god the handbreak still more... OK, we're good, we're safe... Well, the engine just died on us...
Mir: Oops, there's smoke coming out of the aircon...
Kaat: Eeeh, let's not start the car again OK? Not feeling to good about this smoke...
Yais: So... do we know how to pop the hood?
Mir: Eeeh... well, the campervan man told me, but I can't remember really...
(45 mins later, the emergency service man shows up)
James: Well, you ain't going anywhere with this car anymore! Busted head gasket (koppakking)! Nothing you could have helped...
Kaat: OK, it's Saturday evening, no rental cars available, all accommodation in the area is fully booked because of the holidays and we HAVE to be in Sydney for New Year's eve!!! I'm going to take care of this, girls!
(120 mins and a very expensive phone bill later, Kaat has arranged a taxi to the nearest large town, a room in a dorm of a youth hostel, plane tickets to Sydney and all is well. The girls go to bed after another day full of adventures and a whole lot of waiting...)
It's not embarrassing if you don't know how to pop the hood if it's a busted head gasket which you can't fix anyway....

To be continued but pictures available now!