THE KOMBI KONNECTION

The archeress · Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:05 pm Post subject: Kels bedtime stories..PART 3

Annual christmas holidays..the year is is 1979....picture it..On February 2nd Sid Vicious, the famous bass player of the Sex Pistols, dies of a heroin overdose. On February 18 - The Sahara Desert experiences snow for 30 minutes. October 9 - Peter Brock wins the Bathurst 1000 by a record 6 laps, with a lap record on the last lap and on May 25 - Jonny Wilkinson, British rugby union player was born and a young kelly experienced the nose bleed of the century in record temperatures in S.A and the nullabor.

As usual my Ma ,Pa and myself began our annual holidays in mid December and that year decided on Perth as the way to go…A big trip really for my dad as he had never driven that far in the kombi. I don’t think it was a holiday for him. In early January we had made it to Port Augusta in S.A. and this is where we holed up for about 2 days. It was damn hot..not sure of the temperature but not long after we arrived in Port Augusta so my nose begins to bleed….and bleed….and bleeeed…
We had pulled over in the main street and waited for my nose to quit…it didn’t..2 hours or so later…still bleeding..Mum and dad took me to the hospital where we waited about another 2 hours to be seen…still bleeding. Finally the doctor came out and took me to his surgery. He examined my nasal orifice and declared that a blood vessel or whatever had ruptured and could need cauterising. In the meantime I recall him trying something else first. He prepared a very long thin string of cotton wool. It must have been a couple of feet long and then he proceeded to pack my nose centremeter by centremeter with tweezers. It was crazy just how much he shoved up my nose. Anyway, off we went and found a motel. Just in case my nose bled in the night I was made to sleep on the floor with a pillow and a sheet. Woke up in the morning laying in a pool of blood and this tiny wad of red cotton wool on the carpet. I had bled some of the night but mercifully it had stopped by morning. Mum and dad were relieved but mightily embarrassed by the blood but I do recall them talking to the manager and they sorted out payment for the carpeting.
I don’t remember how long it took us to get to Mundrabilla in W.A. but I do recall that on January 13th it hit a record high temperature there of 49 degrees. Before we left Melbourne my dad had had installed a new whiz bang overhead aircon system..back in those days this cost $1100 to buy and install. During the nullabor trip and Mundrabilla at 49 degrees we had the air con on full bore and it didn’t miss a beat. Neither did the kombi. We stopped at a servo there and when i got out my thongs were starting to melt underneath and there were dead birds on the ground. A group of locals sitting underneath a shady tree didn’t seem to mind the weather though…Mum just about passed out and told dad to “keep going Reg…were not stopping here”…Sorry I cannot tell you about Perth as the nose bleed and the temperature was all I can recall………..sleep well all…
Cheers kel

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'74 BAY...BONNIEBELLE