Today was the day that we were to cross the border into Canada. It turned out to be a day of avoidable misadventures, from which, fortunately we were able to recover. Most of us were up and about early, and Lloyd decided he'd try to fit the belt for his A/C system again before breakfast. To gain access, he disconnected the wiring from his alternator. Unfortunately, the belt proved to be too tight to fit. David decided to fit a new set of distributor points to his car, as the old set were so worn he could no longer gap them correctly. With both cars roadworthy again, we went to breakfast. On returning to the Motel to pack up prior to leaving, Lloyd discovered his alternator was not charging his battery. There followed what has now become a tradition on the Oil Leak tours: team diagnosis and repair of faults...
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| How many old geezers does it take to fix an alternator? Eight. One to do the job, and seven to stand around and watch |
After removing the alternator, discovering a suspect set of brushes, cannibalizing Norman's failed alternator for a good set, and replacing the alternator in the car, we prepared to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. Not! The alternator still did not charge... There followed much scratching of heads, referencing of workshop manuals, and diagnostic testing with a multimeter. Finally, it was realized that the cables had been wrongly connected to the alternator all along, since being removed to work on the A/C. When the cables were correctly connected, the alternator was charging once again!
Finally, we were able to set off in convoy for Canada about 90 minutes late. However, we didn't get far. After about 5 miles David's car started to misfire and came to rest in the middle of the road. It was rapidly pushed off to the side, where David discovered that he had failed to connect the coil LT wire to the new set of points, and that it was a fluke the car had got that far! It was therefore close to two hours later than planned that we reached the Canadian border.
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| Lined up to enter Canada |
Fortunately, there was no line at the border post, and we all got through without incident. We were soon on our way westwards parallel with the US border on Hwy-3.
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| Seven E-Types, a Boxster and a Camry head west on Hwy-3 |
We had arranged to meet up with a group of E-Type owners in Osoyoos. Our delays in leaving the US meant that the plans had to be adapted a little, but fortunately they were able to hang around until we arrived. Osoyoos is set on "the warmest freshwater lake in Canada" in a valley with mountains on both sides. We descended into Osoyoos on Hwy-3 in a dramatic series of switchbacks at a very slow pace due to a couple of 30-wheel trucks ahead of us.
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| Descending into Osoyoos |
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| Rounding one of the many bends on Hwy-3 into Osoyoos |
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| View of the town of Osoyoos around the narrowing of the lake |
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| Meeting up with the four E-Type owners in Osoyoos |
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| Three more of the E-Types in Osoyoos |
After introducing ourselves, we moved onto a local pub for a late lunch. There we were able to get to know each other over an enjoyable meal. We really appreciated the fact that they had hung around in Osoyoos for much of the day waiting for us to arrive. They were Brian Mellis, Mike and Paul Banwell, Brian Hughes, and John Letchford.
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| Lunch in Osoyoos at the Owl Pub |
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| View from the Owl Pub across the lake to the switchback we used to come into town |
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| Another view including the petunias for the benefit of my wife, Debbie! |
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| Mike and Paul Banwell, Brian Hughes, and John Letchford |
After lunch it was time to move on, and enjoy the run to Princeton accompanied by the four local E-Types.
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| Westwards on Hwy-3 towards Princeton |
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| Following the open road through the mountains |
At Princeton we stopped for gas and a photo opp with the 11 E-Types lined up. It took us a while to organize ourselves, but with the cooperation of some folks who moved their cars for us, we were able to line up the cars together and take some photos. We were joined by Ian Cameron who lives in Victoria and will be travelling the rest of the route with us as Lloyd's passenger.
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| Watch the guy in white - how did I do this? |
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| Inevitably the bonnets opened up for inspection. Paul drove this fuel injected E-Type which made a wonderful sound |
After an hour or so, we had to leave our new friends and head for our hotel in Manning Park. The route continued on Hwy-3 for 40 miles or so.
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| Spectacular views in the gathering dusk |
Our destination was the Manning Park Resort which is a more luxurious hotel than most on the trip so far. After arriving we rushed to the restaurant (which was about to close) for dinner. There we relaxed and enjoyed the evening, before retiring for the night. We have an early start tomorrow to make the ferry to Victoria.
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| At the luxurious Manning Park Resort, Tully had a whole bed to himself.... |
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