[Donunder]

Good to hear from you again Box.

The new Val was obviously in good nick but there's always a degree of "wing and a prayer" about taking a car out of its comfortable suburban environment and embarking on a long trip. Glad the cooling system didn't have a spit out in the middle of the desert.

My daughter and family left Brisbane heading north nearly four months ago on an around Australia trip. They left Esperance this morning, facebooked from Norseman at lunch time and are headed home across the Nullarbor as I write.

As Mike says, you can't beat a good road trip, even when they're enlivened by friendly Volvo drivers!