Australia History

After nearly 18 months of planning and preparation, today I have at last got a firm sailing date for my little Lotus Elise to be shipped from Brisbane to Los Angeles - ETD 5th January, ETA 21st February.  This is the real start of our adventure, and at this stage I have an equal mix of apprehension and excitement flowing through me.  What started as just a vague (and many said crazy) idea 18 months ago is now finally about to start.

2010 saw my car used primarily for racing, and in that year I finally accomplished many of my motor sport goals - I won the Queensland Hill Climb Championship for my class, I set a new class record at Mt Cotton, I won my class in the Tighe Cams Hill Climb series and also came 3rd outright, and I set new class records at both the Noosa Hill Climb and also the Rockhampton Street Sprints. It was time to try something different, but what ?  (Some more photos of my motor racing can be found here if you are interested 

https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/2010Racing?authkey=Gv1sRgCN-GwNyIxJSqmwE#

Due to my oilfield life, I had always wanted to go to Alaska, but the thought of going on a cruise ship with hundreds of other people was just too awful to consider.  I have always liked to do things differently.   And then I read of another Australian who had taken his Lotus Elise from Denmark (where he lived)  to the Arctic Circle in Norway, and that started me thinking.  Maybe I could kill two birds with one stone - Visit Alaska AND have an adventure of a lifetime in Elsie !!  I then realised that January 2012 would also be 5 years since my diagnosis with throat cancer, and my official "cure" - What better way to celebrate !

So the target was set to be the first Lotus Elise to cross the Arctic Circle in Alaska !!








The last 12 months have been spent almost completely rebuilding my car in preparation. Many of the parts were already on my shelf, while others needed to be purchased.   In summary I have done the following :-

• New radiator, hoses, water pump.
• New ball joints, suspension bushes, and bearings.
• Engine overhauled with new clutch, head gasket, belts, spark plugs etc
• New tyres fitted - Advan Neova AD08's
• A thin rubber sheet glued onto exposed fibreglass inside all wheel arches, plus additional mud flaps fitted
• Perspex headlamp covers fitted
• Lockable passenger footrest / locker fitted for security 
• New iPod compatible radio and speakers fitted
• Alloy boot box fabricated to fit onto existing boot rack to provide additional storage
• Car tuned on dyno for optimum fuel consumption
• Sheepskin seat covers fitted with additional padding for comfort.

( Some more photos of the work done on my car can be seen here  https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/PreparingCar?authkey=Gv1sRgCO2ai-G22vrGjAE#)

So now, as we enter the last 3 weeks before the car is to be delivered to the docks, last minute additions and adjustments are being made.  Having done most of the work on the car myself, I am now reasonably confident that despite my limited mechanical knowledge, I will be capable of fixing most things that might possible go wrong during the trip.  And if there is something I can't fix, then we will just have to deal with that if and when it happens !!

That is the basic history of the trip.  Over the coming days I will lay out my intended routes and schedule so that by the time Elise and I leave Los Angeles at the start of the trip, everything is documented on here and we can concentrate on enjoying the trip itself.