No bleeding hose

[Northern Bongolow]

thats brill news mate,glad you got the result,great team effort by all.
i think we all learnt something on this one

keep us posted, and happy bongoing.

[haydn callow]

Well all good the results are good, after finally getting me mate to help me bleed Bertie last Sunday, I did a quick trip to Reefton our nearest town which is 70 km's return and sorted out the water level which needed a quick top up. I've done a few trips between home and Westport, that's a 100 km return through the Lower Buller Gorge and all good so far, so last Thursday I ventured over to Christchurch, two mountain passes, one 720 metres above sea level and the other 940 metres ASL plus return, and Bertie Bongo didn't use a drop of water let alone any oil so I am pretty damn happy with the end result of the bleeding.
Both heaters work absolutely fine, keep me lovely and warm as it was about 2 degrees over the mountain passes.
I arrived home from Christchurch on the Friday so am quite pleased with the Bongo now.
Thank you very much everyone especially ADY for your wonderful advise, but now I can add my two cents worth and say, just add a bleeding hose into the Bongo, I'll ask Steve to add the pic and mum's the word.
Cheers and Thank you.
Now I had better get around to joining up financially eh!

Does that road to Christchurch take you past Hammner Springs ??
We did the South Island by Maui Motor home 2 years ago...Fantastic place....wrote the Motor home off (4,500 Ks on the clock) on the Haast Pass....not our fault it was a China man on his honeymoon coming the other way. China man turned his vehicle over and as it's fairly remote 90 mins for rescue services to arrive. All o.k in the end and a new motor home within 18 hours.
Happy Days

[widdowson2008]

'Tis indeed good to hear when things work out OK.
mrdeano asked me to post these pics for him of the finished job.

[helen&tony]

Hi
Nice one Mr D. I'll be interested to hear how it works out!
Cheers
Helen

[scanner]

If it's managed a round trip on the 73 through Arthur's Pass and Porter's Pass without any probs, there can't be much wrong with it.

[mrdeano]

I traveled via the Rahu saddle ( 720 metres above sea level) and Lewis passes (940 ~ I think ~ above sea level) on this occasion, but there are some pretty good climbs over these two passes all the same.
This route does go pass the Hanmer Springs turn off.
Previous to bleeding, I came back over the Porters Pass which is about 920 above sea level,and Arthurs Pass, the climb to both is rather steep, and I have to recommend the Arthurs route due to the engineering feats with the viaduct plus the way they have placed abutments from a cliff face and built the road on these, not to mention the water and rock fall that goes over the top of the road.
The old Zig Zag route was really challenging. The gradient for the viaduct is quite steep, one in sixteen? can't remember exactly, but years ago transport/trucking firms used to have an extra tractor unit to help pull their company trucks up the steep gradient.
Type "Otira Viaduct" into a search engine, I use Google, and you will see some really good info plus pics on the Otira Viaduct. I actually used to live in a small town called Cass, 1970 feet above sea level in the late 1970's pre the viaduct days, and it was a 19 mile distance, which translated into a 1 hour drive from Cass to Otira township.
Bertie Bongo seems quite happy now.
Any one who wants any info from around these parts or the South Island re travel, feel free to ask as I used to be a long distance lorry driver, both the South Island and inter Island travel. If I can answer your questions I will.

PS The round trip to Christchurch is 566 km's return. It takes about 4.5 hours each way.

[scanner]

Otira is up for sale ----
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... 5-000.html

The viaduct


The rock and water chutes over the road

[mrdeano]

The first photo is looking West (downhill) from the old look o ut on the Zig Zag road.
The second, if you can have a look at the road and how it sits on the side of the hill from the water fall/spill to the rock protection cover over the highway. It sits on cantilevered pieces of pre-stressed concrete that is bolted/cemented onto the side of the hill. Previously it was a one way road originally for the use of Cobb and Co stage coaches. In the hill underneath all this is another engineering feat, a eight kilometre rail tunnel, that used to have three electric engines doing all the hard graft, now they use three diesel electric locos, couple to another two electric diesel loco's pulling 1500 ton of coal (30 wagons weighing 65 tons all up, including 50 tons of coal) on a a one in five gradient. The tunnel is fitted with extractor fans plus curtains at each end which open close when the train approaches.
Before the viaduct was constructed,no one has ever survived a crash from a vehicle on the Otira Zig Zag route. Incidently one lie was lost during the construction of the viaduct.

[widdowson2008]

Just got the following from Deano so I thought I'd post it.

Steve, don't know if you've been following the hose saga, but here are some pics from the Otira lookout of a native parrot, called the Kea.
They love rubber, but you can see the mountains in the back round.
Thanks for the posting of the other pics.What a great little community the Bongo Fury one is.
Cheers
Deano

Cute eh?
Hills quite impressive too

[helen&tony]

Hi
I think I've met that parrot at Autoglass
Seriously...keep those pictures coming in off-message, international section or somewhere....I love the scenery, but no way on earth can I drive over a high bridge
I have a smashing story of how I drove from our friend's house in Switzerland over the mountain with my eyes closed ( a notorious pass):shock: ...SERIOUSLY I worked the throttle/ gears / brakes, and Tony steered...our friend's daughter sat in the back howling with laughter, and mother son and guest were in the car in front......and all because we wanted a REAL pizza (which was a real pizza....only ever had ONE in the UK)
Needless to say we came back via the Gottard Tunnel....NICE.....
Cheers
Helen

[mrdeano]

Hi
I think I've met that parrot at Autoglass
Seriously...keep those pictures coming in off-message, international section or somewhere....I love the scenery, but no way on earth can I drive over a high bridge
I have a smashing story of how I drove from our friend's house in Switzerland over the mountain with my eyes closed ( a notorious pass):shock: ...SERIOUSLY I worked the throttle/ gears / brakes, and Tony steered...our friend's daughter sat in the back howling with laughter, and mother son and guest were in the car in front......and all because we wanted a REAL pizza (which was a real pizza....only ever had ONE in the UK)
Needless to say we came back via the Gottard Tunnel....NICE.....
Cheers
Helen

Watch this space then Helen, I'll coerce with Steve and see if we can get a scenic thread up, maybe all the places I visit with Bertie the Bongo and some places that I visit without. I'll get some pics of Bertie along the way too.

[scanner]

Before the viaduct was constructed,no one has ever survived a crash from a vehicle on the Otira Zig Zag route. Incidently one life was lost during the construction of the viaduct.

On the subject of lives lost during construction projects how about the Hoover Dam?

As can be expected, many lives were lost trying to dam the Colorado river. The first man to die was a surveyor, J.G. Tierney who drowned while trying to locate the optimum site for the dam. On February 6, 1935, thirteen years later (to the day), another life was lost as a man named Patrick Tierney fell from an intake tower and drowned. Patrick was J.G. Tierney's son.

From
http://www.cmdrmark.com/hooverdam.html


SPOOKY

[helen&tony]

Hi
Good ol'Panama Canal did a fair share, too...along with the Malaria
Cheers
Helen

[scanner]

Hi
Good ol'Panama Canal did a fair share, too...along with the Malaria
Cheers
Helen

What killed workers on the Hoover Dam? never realised that.

Seriously - It was the coincidence I was on about.

[mrdeano]

http://www.pukekura.co.nz/bushmans_centre/index.htm

now here is a sandfly (located hanging from the loft)
Have been there, gone for a walk in the shop, the pub on the opposite side of the road with sawdust floor, wasn't open on that day
also have a look at
http://www.pukekura.co.nz/puke_pub/bar.htm

I understand that it is (the whole town,0 which includes the pub and the bushmans, population two,(not included) is for sale along with another West Coast town Otira
see http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3 ... ng-the-pub
And yep, didn't ake photos but have been in both places, actually used to live in a small village named Cass, and Otira was the nearest pub,