Mercury is NOT in Retrograde on Earth, but maybe in Australia??

You would think that Mars was in Retrograde with the holiday we just had at Kangaroo Island....and the journey begins Thanksgiving morning at 5:45am when pack up our belongings and hop into Grace. Grace is our new previously owned white 1991 Mazda. We had her for four days before the breakdown. In order to get to KI, one must drive for approximately 2 hours and then catch the Sealink, a ferry, over to KI. The ferry is a 45 minute journey and then another 45 minute drive to our lodging.

The first hour of the trip was great. I had a hot coffee, radio cranked up to the GoGos singing "Vacation", a full tank of case and my husband snoozing off and on beside me. He awoke only long enough to remind me to stay on the left hand side of the road, which really only happened twice. Surely, you don't need assistance with staying on the left hand side of the road as all of the other drivers coming toward me were constantly reminding me.

We were driving through some of the most amazing hills. Every now and again you could get a glimpse of the most breath taking view of the sea. Really gorgeous scenery. We actually saw our first set of wild grey kangaroos in a pasture. All of the sudden, for no reason at all, I just glanced down at the temperature gauge. It was sitting on a big, fat, RED "H"....actually slightly past it. I kept driving as we were in the middle of nowhere. About four minutes later, we spotted a BP gas station and pulled in as the steam poured out of the side of the hood.

The engine cooled and Tony pulled off radiator cap and the system flushed itself completely out. Perfect. I went inside and bought two more gallon jugs of coolant and we began refilling the tanks. After about 15 minutes of staring, praying, and grumbling about the situation, we loaded back up and hit the road again. Less than 5 minutes away the car began heating up. We stopped, let it cool, and started driving again. This scenario went on for about 30 more mniutes or about 5 or 6 more stop and refills. We were in very hilly country at this point when Tony got a brilliant idea. He decided to drive the car to the top of a hill, put it in neutral, turn off the car and the coast down the hill. It worked perfectly. The car would start to over heat, but by this time we were already in neutral coasting downhill while the motor cooled. This crazy tactic went on for over 100 kilometers. I laughed so hard the entire way, I was almost choking. It was truly hysterically outrageous.

The last hill we climbed the steam was pouring out of the engine and I was certain the engine would blow at any moment. Sure enough, we made it to the top of the final, but huge hill and coasted all the way down right into the ferry boarding area. Unbelievable.

Grace got a 45 minute break as we crossed from Cape Jervis to Kangaroo Island (KI). We arrived and took off down the road to a mechanic who was expecting us. I thought the mechanic was a few minutes away. Turns out he was 45 minutes away. The car began to over heat almost immediately. Luckily we have RAA. It is America's equivalent to AAA. What a huge blessing. After waiting 45 minutes, over looking a gorgeous Cape, and being swarmed ravenously by flies, our tow truck arrived.

The tow truck driver took on look and said something awful. Something horribly dreadful. He said, "Head gasket". These are not the two words a new car owner on holiday ever wants to hear. He advised us to get back on ferry and get towed immediately back to Adelaide. We would have nothing of the kind. SO, he drove us to another mechanic who was nice enough to let us borrow one of his old jalopies to use while he was checking out our car. I only cried twice.

This whole auto drama went on for four days. Turns out we need to get it back to the dealer so they can fix it and we can go from there. We do have a warranty, but apparently it only covers the most ridiculously rare mechanical issues as detailed in two sentences in the warranty guide.

We left poor Grace at KI. Flew out Sunday at 2:50pm back to Adelaide. Turns out I need to fly back tomorrow, pick her up, get to the ferry, cross the river, call RAA, get her towed back to Adelaide, catch bus home, and wait for the dealer to call me with a time frame and cost for her to be driveable again. I am exhausted just thinking about it.

The upside you ask? I get to go back to KI. It is like no other big, little island that I have ever been too. Koalas are suppose to have become pests over there. This seems odd. The only ones I saw were in a wildlife park.