The next hour or so of driving became a bit of a game of leapfrog between the distance remaining and indicated remaining fuel range...
It even got to the point that I backed off the speed to ~95kph to try and reduce fuel consumption! Needless to say I was beginning to regret my choice a bit...
After a nerve wracking last 40km I pulled into the servo forecourt with an indicated remaining range 11km, Oops... cut that a little close!
As it turns out I needn't have worried, it took just over 36L to fill the tank to the brim, which equates to a buffer of ~10L or nearly a quarter of the tank's 45L capacity... Seems a little excessive but I understand modern high pressure fuel systems needed for direct injection really don't like being run dry.
After parking the car I wandered into the large foodcourt for a late lunch and despaired a little at the selection which comprised of all the standard mass market, keep the kids happy, generic food(TM) traders. There was very little of nutritional value to be seen so I ended up settling for some of the Colonel's finest Chicken* (Alleged) products, with chips, it was actually a little difficult to tell them apart...
With the day's required food poisoning complete it was time to hit the road again. I do the drive regularly between Sydney and Taree for work so knew how long the rest of the journey would take and was pleased it would get me there at just the time I had hoped.
I work in long distance logistics and part of my training is being able to recognise the onset of fatigue. I don't know if it was early puppy powered wake up call, the mind-numbing boredom of highway driving or a big greasy meal settling in, but after an hour and half's driving I was really feeling drowsy. The most important lesson we were taught during the training course was it doesn't matter what you do, loud music, opening the window, caffine, water on the face.... YOU WILL NOT WIN when it comes to fatigue. I was really unfond of the idea microsleeping my new car into the scenery so I needed to find somewhere to pull over, pronto!
Mercifully a roadside rest area appeared in short order and I pulled in to a quiet corner in the shade, shut the car down, pulled my hat down over my eyes and almost immediately fell asleep. I would have reclined the seat too but... MX5... So a serious slouch would have to suffice.
Almost exactly 20 minutes later I woke up, strangely that's all that's required to combat fatigue, and the fact I'm so well practiced at it shows I've been doing my job for far too long now. After a bit of a stretch and walk around the rest area it was back on the move again. The fuel gauge hadn't even budged so it appeared the gauge had as big a 'blind' zone at the top as at the bottom...
The rest of the journey home was mercifully uneventful, traffic I suppose being relatively light due to Covid. I'm still amazed I managed to snag just about the window during the pandemic where the borders between NSW & Queensland were actually open for this trip. In the late evening I pulled into my driveway, the tank still showing more than half full despite having just travelled ~330km. You can't complain about the ND's fuel economy!
The next day I had to be asleep early in the afternoon as I was on duty for an 11 hour shift at around 10:30pm. So the first order of business, after a respectable sleep in that is, was to give the car a thorough clean (ceramic coats make this so easy!) and stash it away in the garage. Unfortunately the unregistered vehicle permit expired on my arrival home and there could be no further driving until I got it registered. This was going to have to wait as I was rostered for the next 7 days straight...
After a ambush shopping run I had a meal around the time of a late lunch and headed to bed to begin the now far too familiar process of turning my body-clock inside out and on it's head. Sleep for these long overnight shifts is critical but unfortunately this wasn't going to be my day...
About two hours after falling asleep I was woken by a message on my phone...
It was from the previous owner...
She had changed her mind and wanted the car back...
. I got 330,000kms out of it before it developed transmission and engine issues, got $100 from the wreckers, and then someone stole it from them and dumped it in the bush - couldn't kill it!
