Mundaring Motorkhana

The Mundaring Motorkhana will be on April 21. If you want to play you need to register by April 8th. It is run by the Sports Car Builders Club of WA if you want some more information. If nothing else I reckon it'll be a load of fun to go and watch as there aren't enough of them around anymore.

Fuji-san

So today I joined a tour group to go and see Mt Fuji. This was an excursion I was really looking forward to and I have to admit, Mt Fuji is certainly something to experience.
Boarded the tour bus mid morning, a time designed I assume so the tourists could sleep in and the weekday tours avoid some of the traffic. Our guide/announcer has a name that means Spring and she was quite well versed with not just English, but keeping the group entertained. During some of the travel legs her humor had the bus laughing and the constant repeating to make sure she was understood lead to a few snickers down the back of the bus as well.
So on to Fuji. The first stop at the Mt Fuji visitor centre about 90 minutes after leaving Tokyo had four bus loads of tourists jostling for space to take a photo of the mountain partially obscured by the bare winter trees. So many chose to see the rest of the centre, browse the gift shop, or stand and chat before finding some space to try some photography again.

Back on the bus.
As winter has just ended much of the mountain is still snow bound. As a result it had been deemed to dangerous by the park to have the road open beyond Step 4. No worries, we made it to here instead of another 300m altitude to Step 5 for another photo opportunity. This time the aim wasn't for pictures of Mt Fuji, we were to far up to really photograph the summit. Instead the view was back to the mountain range to the north with its snow capped ridge.

Back on the bus.
And away from Mt Fuji. That's ok, we were now on our way to Hakone which is in an old caldera at about 900m elevation. On our way up to gain entrance into the caldera, there were some amazing full mountain views of Fuji-san from the bus. If only we had stopped and been allowed out for a minute to take advantage of this. But into the caldera and a late lunch at what appeared to be a hotel. As the only tourist bus it was a surprise that some people were still waiting for their food 40 minutes after arriving. Not so surprising was the sub standard quality of the food. Having eaten nothing but good food between back alleys and higher end locations, to remember that a tourist destination will always cater to a lower common denominator was a shame.

So I didn't get enough photos of the mountain (and I like taking photos), and the food wasn't so good, and at half past two in the afternoon I'm beginning to get a little disappointed at wasting my money and vowing to do it properly with my own transport next time.
Now after lunch the bus load of people joins a massive line to board a pirate styled boat for half an hour on the central caldera lake, Lake Ashi. There is nothing like some fresh air to cheer the soul. Finding a spot on the boat in the cool air made for a relaxing half hour. Watching the local fishermen cast either wading from shore or from little boats, the scenery, a swooping hawk. And all on a clear cool day just helped immensely.

Back on the bus.
This time back to a gondola ride which would take us up near the rim of the caldera to active steam vents. The air became sulphurous and out into the wind we went. The area itself is famous for the cooking of eggs in the boiling water at the vents. This gives them a black shell due to the sulphur and iron in the water.

But a decent engineering project is also underway as a large landslide a few decades back moved a lot of dirt down the hill. So they are trying to make sure the existing infrastructure, tourism and most importantly people remain in place for a long time to come.

Back on the bus.
And the bus ride back down the outside of the caldera rim to Odawara where we boarded the bullet train back to Tokyo. The half hour trip certainly beat taking another 2-3 hours on the bus back to Tokyo at the end of the day.
Next time it will need to be a summer trip when the hiking trails are opened allowing for summit hikes. And hopefully the opportunity to also take a full mountain photo :)

So, eating out in Tokyo, Japan? Well I hope you like seafood. It is good and fresh and they certainly know how to cook it, or at least present it nicely if you're in the mood for sushi and sashimi.

Before first thing in the morning the markets are well and truly active. If you're looking for freshly de-boated fish, vegetables and flowers then the Tokyo fish market is where to source your product. Not only for the wholesalers and wholesale buyers, but an extended market industry has placed itself around this location so the common and not so common can purchase second hand as well. The amount.of different species of swimming and growing entities is mind boggling.

The smells of the fresh food cooking and the squabble of bartering in the market along with the sights fills the senses. In the wholesalers auctions take place over the aquatic product in a sing song way that is very melodic to the ear. Preceded by the bells and followed by more bells for the next specimens to go under the proverbial hammer.

Move away from the market places and take a step each side of the tracks. It really is a division in the Ginza area of Tokyo. To the north side of the railway is the high end shopping district with cafes and restaurants to match. And all the name brand stores, Mont Blanc, Prada, Louis Vuitton to name a few.

South side and it becomes the worker district, even more neon just on a smaller and messier scale. But the alleys become narrow, the stores small and noisy, the food cheaper but no less for it.

The quality of the ingredients is exchanged for a different experience, where shoulders rub and the tables are worn. But most importantly the taste doesn't suffer. You still choose noodles or rice as a base or as the bowl of food to accompany your main meal, plus miso soup and some pickles or similar to help round out the flavor. Both sides have people lined up outside the doors for the places offering good value and good fare. The restaurant serving coal grilled fish in the back alley or the high spending place where the dress is sharper and the people more well defined. They all have a reason for waiting and it's called good food.

The chances are you are still being served fish, chicken or pork. Though beef is almost common and lamb not so much. Likely soy on the table, a serving of green tea provided, and the mastery of chopsticks is required. But a few meals in and the hand knows what to do.

It makes for an enjoyable experience eating in Tokyo. Choosing where will always leave the palette happy, its the remainder of the dining experience that changes with the location of the time. I for one certainly can't complain.

Bolwell Nagari - Mk 10, for sale

 The new Bolwell Nagari is for sale. It lives in Victoria at the moment and the best way to find out some more information on it is at http://www.bolwellcarcompany.com/

Bond Drives Again

I know, guys don't give their cars guys names, but this time I have an excuse. When you car has a vin code ending in 007 I think it gets a little lee-way. So Bond it is.
The story begins back in 1967 when the car was first purchased and continues through 45 years later with my purchase of the vehicle. John White was the first owner of the Bolwell Mk 7 as pictured in the black and whites.

Ric Kemp was the next owner of the car and proceeded to use it as it was supposed to. A little bit of track work at club level in Victoria including sprints and hill climbs, and he also proved that a Mark 7 could work in a paddock. Unfortunately he's no the only one to have driven a Bollie in a paddock, but at least he didn't drive it in to the Swan River.

Graeme Muir was the next owner of the car and he took it as a challenge to upgrade the car. This resulted in a hatched rear, sunroof and bonnet bulge being added. The reason for the bonnet modification was to ensure that the Nissan turbo 6 he put in it would have enough space. This is where some of the subsequent chassis modifications came into play later in the story. Around this time the car made its way over to Perth for one of the national Bolwell Easter Meetings.

Graeme Jenkins then got hold of the car and swapped the turbo back to an original type Holden red motor with a 5 speed supra gear box. These were the days of the car living in Bendigo.

 Then one fine day I received the car and have been enjoying it (when I can) since.

In February of 2012, Bond came across from Bendigo Victoria and was greeted with much enthusiasm and excitement in a loading yard in Welshpool. There was a low slung red car in the middle of slightly more modern and mundane commodores, falcons and camrys. A few pictures and a pre-inspection later and the car was on the road in Perth. Temporary permit wise anyway. After a weekend at home fumbling through some electrics with dad to try and get all the lights working properly and installing a window washer, it was off to the inspection centre in Midland with the thought that I would be driving the next weekend in a licensed classic Aussie car.

Nope.
Turns out that a couple of bits of the car weren't valid when trying to register a car in WA for the first time. There were 5 inspectors looking at, under and through the car at one time. But at least they were friendly. A bit of chassis rust and a notch in the frame weren't looked kindly upon. No worries there as for future safety sake these were good to be picked up and repaired. Thanks to Phil for sorting these for me.

The car was sitting 20mm too low, so some new springs in the rear end resolved this and also results in a slightly less firm ride and the tyre size matching between front and back wasn't legal for WA either. The after market fuel tank and the repairs made to the chassis needed an authorised engineering sign off and then a couple of minor bits and pieces around the engine and flywheel needed some attention. These were eventually all attended to over the next few months around work, laziness and schedules.
Around this there were temporary movements involving the odd Bolwell Car Club of WA meeting as well. Sometimes these even coincided with a nice day in the Swan Valley or a wet hockey game in Fremantle.

So, off for inspection number two. Back at Midland and this time only one person going over the car. At least the list of things to amend was shorter this time and nothing a repeat of what was on the first list. Because the seats were not the originals they needed another engineering sign off. As did the roll cage which had been in their since the car was built and the seat belt mounts due to them not being original either. The car also has a sliding drivers seat and a light to show the handbrake is on. And because it's a 1967 model, the dash is wired to mph. But the dash isn't original so the speedo says kph and he didn't like that either.
So it didn't pass try number two.

These got fixed and nearly 4 months later (after a few more club meetings, hockey games and days in the valley) bring on inspection number three. This time abandoning Midland for the new inspection centre in Ellenbrook armed with lots of engineering checklists and sign offs, lists of reported and fixed defects and a little bit of hope.

An hour later and the news is good.
YAY!!!
Down past Midland licensing centre to finalise the paperwork and receive the license plates and happy to know I'm now driving a road legal car and don't have to worry about a temporary movement permit again. At least not for Bond anyway.

Improving Perth Traffic Congestion

It seems like a great idea. The government and opposition both start promising a lot of love a few months ahead of time and start cancelling a few months past time. That said, the northern and southern corridors certainly get a bit more follow through on ideas and promises. It was only four years ago that Ellenbrook was going to have a train line installed within a few years. Here we are again and the train line is history, so we were going to get express buses which was too hard, so its still a restricted timetable using public transport between a city regional centre and the city. We are getting some traffic lights though which makes traffic even slower with the population of the area continuing to grow. Im sure the northern suburbs understand that, but hey, at least you have two lanes on a lot of your roads.
Maybe multiple lane roads with a shoulder wide enough for cyclists, some buses (preferably with some coordinated drivers) and presto, traffic congestion eases a little. Or is that all too much to ask?

Old Coast Rd Brewery with BCCWA

On Sunday the Bolwell Car Club of WA decided it was worth a trundle a little further south than usual in a bid to see some of our more southerly members. This involved the first location of grouping to be the Mundijong Rd car park just off the freeway. This wasn't too bad an idea, but with schoolies taking place the road was anything but free. So a little late our group set out from the car park to continue south to the Old Coast Rd Brewery for lunch and a catch up.

The brewery was in full flight on a glorious spring afternoon. Pretty much every table was in use, kids were playing out on the grass, and a random was playing guitar and singing, or something like that. And with 20 Bolwell associated people arriving , it made for a well talked out and relaxing afternoon. Besides which the food was pretty good and the beer certainly earns its pass marks. The only downside was knowing it was a two hour drive back home so only one drink was to be drunk. Who puts a pub in the middle of nowhere?

The three Bolwells that parked up were (in receding age) a Nagari (bottom), a Mark 7 (top) and a Mark 4 (middle). For some reason they drew a little bit of attention from the crowd, and even a relation of the founding Bolwell men themselves. But it was a good day to catch up, talk over those little projects that the cars need working on (there's an Easter meeting coming up you know) and relax. Then all that was left was the drive home, with not so many schoolies thankfully.