<VV> Day 3 + 4 - Now in Melbourne - Only a very little bit Corvair - but some

[Sethracer at aol.com]

Day Three and Four have come and gone. We are in Melbourne, awaiting the 
start of the Formula 1 weekend. It was pouring rain (and 83 degrees) in Cairns as 
we left this morning. On Tuesday, we took a Big Catamaran tour out to Green 
Island (I think the boat was the “Edmund Fitzgerald” or something like that), 
intending to do some snorkeling, and take a glass bottom boat and a 
semi-submersible boat dive. The 25 mph winds tossed the Big Cat around a lot during the 
hour trip to the island, but we checked out our snorkeling gear and headed for 
the beach. We waded out to our knees and there, the waves gently lapped at our 
ears. Too rough for us novices, not to mention how cloudy the water was due 
to the weather. So we walked/toured the Green Island National Park and 
completed both small boat excursions. After returning to Cairn, we spent a quiet 
evening packing for today’s trip. Melbourne is like almost any large American city. 
We are staying downtown and it could pass for San Francisco easily – you can 
look out of a 7-11 and see another one a half a block away. On our trip in 
from the Airport, I spotted my first bonafide American Car. It was a 1970 
Plymouth Barracuda 440, bright yellow - on a flatbed truck. (oh well!) I have seen 
Ford Falcons and Futuras – nameplates dead in America, but living on here. The 
ones that really catch my eye are the Ute’s, the living embodiment of the El 
Camino, available from all of the manufacturers. I guess the utility of these – 
the coolest one is the Holden SS - basically a GTO pickup truck- is the big 
selling point in the less-than-fully-tamed land. You know the last GTO had a 
crappy back seat and trunk anyway, at least as imported. The Ute version would be 
an improvement! Still no Corvairs seen, but I have a couple of leads and I 
have exchanged E-mails with one Australian Corvair owner. He is, of course a 
ways away – on the other side of Australia! Tomorrow is a wine tour and some wild 
life sightings, and then we settle in for three racing days. A final 
traveling note: After returning from the Performance Workshop in “cool” Dayton, Ohio, 
I warned my daughter about the weather concerns, since she was traveling to 
Cleveland for a Video shoot and to visit some friends. I told her to rent a 4WD 
just in case. (She is a California native and resident – and the 1994 and 
1997 Ladies Street-Mod Corsa champ.) At the end of the shoot last week snow had 
postponed her aircraft departure for a couple of days and she was the toast of 
the crew as they slogged their way around in her 4wd – she learned a lot about 
snow driving. She got home then back to work only a little late – but safe! –
 Seth Emerson – touring down under no snow near me!  



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