Toodyay To The Rescue

So the Mystery bus had been diagnosed with a worn EGR valve and thankfully a chap in Toodyay could help fix the issue.
We booked into the local campsite and arranged for the Coaster to go in the following morning. The problem we had was where was we going to wait , we asked the caravan park if they had a dog friendly cabin but turned us down because a while ago they let a lady in with a dog as they were struderling with the heat but apparently the person after sued the caravan park because they could smell dog so they don’t let people with dogs anymore in the cabins.It became apparent very quickly no one around Toodyay would rent a room out to us because we had Billy!

The heat here starts around mid day , a very hot dry heat ,direct sun so the plan was to drop off the Coaster at 7am and that we set up a picnic area within the bush down from the pitch we were on under the tree’s , lots of water , wet towels , table and chairs and Billy’s bed with all three of the Maktia fans. The work on the Coaster was going to take approximately 4 hrs so we should have the Coaster back by 11.00am well that was the plan! But it didn’t take 4hrs!

So Billy and I set up camp and Paul went and took the Coaster for 7am, straight away I discover that suddenly I couldn’t get a signal , nothing but SOS even on Telstra , apparently Telstra was down because they were doing some work in the the exchange in Toodyay! So that ment Paul could phone me etc.
Billy and I was fine up to about 11.30am but then the heat really started to kicked in, Billy was getting agitated with the files thinking everything was biting him , I coved him with wet towels , we drank litres and litres of water but it was starting to get very uncomfortable, every so often if I held the phone up to the trees I’d get a bar , Paul managed to send me a text saying Telstra has gone down and I’m sorting something out , What? Is the Coaster ready? Nothing , no signal! “Trying to call you” nothing no signal, it was getting hotter and hotter then just as it reached mid day he arrived in a borrowed ute! We basically packed up and jumped into the air con ute and drove away from the picnic! It turns out that Paul had been scouring the streets of Toodyay trying to find a room for us to rent , asking people in the streets, hotel’s until at one point he saw a guy behind a glass door of the Toodyay manor and rushed over asking for help , explains Billy and I was in the bush and the coaster was taking longer and no one would rent us out a room and thankfully the guy rented out the suite for $200!Yes I know but when your at a point of “this is starting to go horribly wrong!?…
Paul had walked km’s to find this room ,he must of walked 7km in the heat and as he went back into M&M mechanical he passed out! After being revived by tip tops and water they lent him their Ute and told him to go get us! And so he did just in time!

The Toodyay manor was an absolute god send.

Toodyay Manor, has a rich history dating back to 1862. Initially built as the Newcastle Hotel, the property was constructed for Joseph T. Monger on Pensioner Guard lots S8 and S10, which were originally allocated to guards Hackett and Smith. Monger built a hotel and a steam mill on the site, with the hotel being licensed in 1863 as the Newcastle Hotel.
In 1870, Monger transferred the hotel’s license to J.G. Findell, who was succeeded by Ebenezer Martin in 1872. Martin was replaced by Thomas Donegan in 1874, who held the license for only a year before passing it on to W.G. Leeder. Leeder became the owner of the property in 1877. The site saw further development in the late 1890s with the construction of a pair of parapeted fronted shops abutting the hotel at 84 Stirling Terrace.
The mill ceased operations in 1908 and was later converted into a skating rink for the townspeople and used as a picture theatre. In 1921, architect G. Pickering of Perth undertook some restoration of the hotel. Since then, the building has undergone several renovations in 1920, 1921, 1947, 2014, and 2020. The property has been known by various names over the years, including Newcastle Hotel, Newcastle Tavern, Lavender Cafe, and Toodyay Tavern, before settling on its current name, Toodyay Manor.Read more