I awoke to a wet and misty morning. Would today be the day the belt arrived.

At eleven o'clock a white ute with "Nullabor Postie" on the side pulled in. After he took a bag from the back, into the shop, he was back and away very quickly. I waited a while and went in only to be told that the bag can only be opened by an authorised person. Guess what? The authorised person wasn't there. He was off somewhere on his motorbike.

Back to the seat and more waiting. Nearly an hour later the young fellow from the roadhouse came out with an envelope. My missing belt. After undoing the bolt to loosen the pump I tried to get the belt on. However the air conditioning compressor stopped the free movement and I wasn't able to get the pulleys close enough together to fit the belt.

I decided to remove the plate covering the belts, the compressor belt and the adjustable arm on the hydraulic pump. This allowed me to close the gap but I still had a very tight fit. After some effort, hampered by my power saw mangled fingers, I managed to get it moving on the pulleys. I refitted the adjustment arm and tightened it. Into the car, turned the key and cranked the engine into life. After a few minutes the car begab to rise. I placed the lever into the high setting and waited as the car rose.

I now packed the tools away, got out the hand cleaner and then went to say goodbye. On my return the car was still sitting proudly in the air.

Approaching the Madura Pass.

The last light of day and I'm within an hour of Norseman.