Bay to Birdwood – Day 5 – Birdwood to Loxton

After leaving the Finish Festival, we still had a few hours of driving to reach our destination for the evening.   We managed to leave around 1400, which gave us a bit of extra time for the drive and to reach our destination.

As we went to leave, I had a small issue with my car.  As I went to start it, it didn’t catch first time and then all the electrics in the car were dead.   This had happened twice before our trip, and once the day before.  Before the trip, I had assumed it was probably the ignition switch and replaced it as a precaution.  Normally I would prefer to investigate issues further, but it seemed prudent to change it.

When this happens, the key does nothing and none of the warning lights in the dash come on.  Eventually If I leave the car alone for a few minutes, all is well.   Since its not the ignition switch, I suspect something to do with the starter solenoid.  I don’t have the wiring diagram with me, but I seem to recall the main positive feed on the cars from this era goes through the solenoid.  I will need to check this when I return.   In any case, the car fired right up after waiting and we were able to leave.

There were obviously a lot of classics driving around the area as we left, so we continued to spot interesting cars as we drove.  Our first waypoint was Murray Bridge.   The road that took us over the final part of the Adelaide Hills was really good.   After that we emerged through green farmlands before reaching the town of Murray Bridge.   We crossed the bridge and headed north.

Our next section skirted the south bank of the Murray River.   The scenery was really good and the road quite twisty.    We passed through Cowirra and Five Miles, before taking some photos at a boat ramp.   Eventually we reached the small town of Swan Reach for a quick break.

After swan reach, we drove up onto an elevated plateau with longer straighter roads that took us into Loxton.  Including the Bay to Birdwood, we had covered 336km and 2,306km since we left Sydney.

We refuelled the cars and checked into our hotel.  Check in took a while as a group of golfers were unhappy with the rate they got from the hotel.    Dinner was at the hotel and we all reflected on what a great day it had been attending the Bay to Birdwood and how we would all be very happy to attend again in a few years.