Cabin Build Pt4: Internal Walls and Deck

Since we couldn’t get the roof sheeting on last week due to poor weather, we returned to complete the task. However the wind speed was too high and just plain unsafe so we confirmed the internal wall placement, sliding door cavities, location of fireplace while Chris continued the mammoth task of completing the deck.

Friday 29th January 2016
We arrived at 9pm to a cold wind but managed to get all our tents up and pegged down. It had rained 22mm earlier in the day but the ground was still firm. The wind soon died down not long after arrival.

Saturday 30th January 2016
A day we won’t forget in a hurry….The day started like any normal day. Woken by sheep in the early hours, multiple coffees, brekky, talk shit and work as usual. It was a very warm morning not unlike previous summer days. Simone and I went for a walk to the dam looking for turtles but found something else.

At around 1230pm Simone and I left the property to get some ice from the service station and some chocolate bars. We turned the first corner and was met with black clouds. We hadn’t received a storm alert on the Weatherzone App but felt we needed to urgently return once we got ice. After our transaction I said to Simone “I think we need to hurry back and beat the storm”, the sky was angry!
On the 3km route, we were met by carnage, huge chunks of hail, storming wind and flying trees. I immediately put my hazard lights on and drove 30km/hr max! I pulled into our unsealed road but decided to park in an open section, the trees were swaying in the wind and were too dangerous to approach. Once the wind died we slowly made our way to our front gate. Huge chunks of hail covered the ground and our valley had been hit quite hard.

We drove down to the campsite where the boys were having drinks. They were ok thankfully and shot off a few target rounds while the storm passed.

Johnny installed my rain water guage on a post for me and we were lucky to be able to test it out almost immediately as another rain cloud passed.

We had our ice creams and chocolate bars and all went back to work. Simone and I had our went back to the Camper trailer for cold drinks and sit down and talk while the boys worked on their different sections of the cabin.

The sky had been looking cranky all afternoon up until about 2pm… when all hell broke loose. Simone and I were taking shelter in the Camper trailer awning constantly pushing large amounts of rain water and hail pooling off the roof. It was a calm storm at this point with just heavy rainfall and mild wind. When all of a sudden one of the annexe sidewalls blew out and was flapping around. The trailer door flung open and was flapping in the breeze, the other annexe wall flew up and I watched the poles turn into deadly spears. I launched myself at the left side wall to stop it blowing away eventually wrapping myself in it but my hat blew off and I started getting hit in the head with hail. Simone ran for help but the rest of the camper was picked up and demolished. I cut my losses and ran, I knew we couldn’t do anything more against this storm. I caught up to Simone and said “lets get under the cabin”. But as we crawled under the wind was howling through so hard the hail was like bullets. Sideways rain and hail! Our heads were protected by the bearers and lucky so because the wind tore pieces of rock off the boulders and flung them in the wind. I could see the boys under the carport which only has overhead protection. They were holding onto the metal sheets on the trailer as they had been unstrapped to install on the roof. As soon as I felt a break in the wind I told Simone we will make a run for the container, and just like that the break came and we bolted. I heard the boys saying something but I just kept running. I had to reef the container door open because the boys had closed it with the impending storm. Simone ran in with the Nail Gun and we were both drenched. Seconds later, Chris appears at the door yelling “first aid, first aid”, one of the steel sheets blew up and came down on Johnnys wrist, he had a purple golf ball injury on his right wrist. We fixed it with a trauma bandage then waited out the storm.

At 220pm we were finally able to leave the container and the sun had appeared down the bottom of the hill. Water was flowing over every surface of the property. Besides Johnnys wrist the only other casualty was our camper trailer…. Picked up and twisted and moved 4ft from its original place. A wheel lock the only mechanism that stopped it going further. The Waeco was wet through, everything had blown over, the bin tipped sending all our rubbish to as far as our gate.
We reset up the camper to find it was completely dry inside. However the main support struts were bent 45 degrees and the poles went through the canvas and flyscreens. We had a torn zipper on the feont window and the electrical junction box was smashed when the tailgate swung. We have been so meticulous with our canvas it was disheartening to see the damage.

Both boys were in the open during the storm and their arms resulted in huge red welts similar to a paintball gun. Chris’ shirt saved some of his skin but Johnny only has a singlet shirt and took the full force.

After fixing everything the best we could, Chris and Johnny went back to work. At about 4pm another gust picked up and blew the awning up over the camper. The ground was far too soft for the pegs to hold anything down, so we made the decision to pack it up and sleep in the Swag.
Dinner was cooked in the container as another storm approached. I was somewhat worried that the Swag wouldn’t hold out the water as it hadn’t been seasoned, so I grabbed out the bedding and threw it in the car. Good decision because water trickled into the swag. Hopefully it has had its first season however I will still be seasoning it again and adding some Scotchguard water repellent.

Chris and I slept in the car. I was surprisingly comfortable but Chris took the front passenger seat and I don’t think he had the best sleep ever.

Sunday 31st January 2016
Up at 730am for Coffees and a beautiful clear day. The storm took out the Optus network tower so we were unable to monitor the weather. Our neighbour who didn’t fare to well in the storm appears to have gone home overnight.

So our weekend progress looked like this:
It was definitely unsafe to be putting any roof sheets on this weekend but always other jobs we can complete.
Internal Walls in place, they will have sliding cavity doors to maximise space. Bedroom dividing wall still needs to be installed.

Chris has nearly finished the deck, he ran short of screws even after we all went for a search in the grass to locate more.

After the weekend, we are considering window protection for the main door and windows. Plus enclosing the deck railings – the original plan was stainless steel but now its looking like wood pickets or the like.

The cabin name: Worldsend, has become more appropriate than ever. I must say, while clinging on for life under the cabin, it did not creak, move or shudder at any point.
The local SES told us that we were hit by a Supercell and they don’t come around too often so hopefully we have seen the worst case scenario weatherwise and can make our changes to suit the conditions.

Driving home we saw the carnage left by the storm. Trees down and the vegetation blown off the hills. The grass had been flattened where the storm passed.

Creeks were full and flowing.

Hills bared of pasture

Cabin Build Pt3: Roof Trusses

Friday 22nd January 2016

So here is poor ol’ Junior loaded up to the hilt at Bunnings Goulburn getting ready to tow another load of wood to the farm. The weather is torrential rain with over 30mm in the 3 days including and prior to today. Pouring rain through Crookwell and slippery through the unsealed roads around Reids Flat and Wyangala.

I got a msg from Chris at 5pm telling me to be super careful on the roads as they were boggy. The boys found themselves with traction issues on the driveway up to our first gate ao I’ve made the decision to head in the long way tomorrow through Boorowa. Sealed roads the whole way!

I spent my Friday night packing my luggage bag and Colin the Colorado. I bought 6 slabs of water on special at Woolies plus Chris bought 2 also. Esky of drinks, 2 Deep Ocean coloured Whirlbirds for the cabin roof plus the plants and shovel for screening.

Saturday 23rd January 2016

I arrived shortly after 9am and the fellas were already up and well into their workload.

Bottlebrush screen planted out and four roof trusses complete. All timbers for trusses cut to size.

Dawsons River Weepers – Callistemon Screening

Chris had his workload cut out for him!

The first truss being assembled

Sunday 24th January 2016

I accidentally left my phone outside the camper with the alarm activated for 5am. So an early morning it was! I made everyone coffees and managed to see the planetary alignment. Couldn’t get a photo as it wouldn’t show on a phone camera but here’s what happened:

During the morning Chris and I went to Bunnings Cowra to get a lot more gang nails, brackets and nails, surprise surprise they didn’t have half of what we wanted! Managed to make do with bits and pieces.

The rest of the day was spent assembling trusses while Chris made a good start on the deck.

Monday 25th January 2016

Monday just wasn’t a great day, no one was feeling it, it was just a hot humid flat day. We were all so flat that when we sat to eat at 3pm, we decided to go for a 4wd tour over to the treacherous side of the property. Turned out to be one of the most fun things we have done yet!

Tuesday 26th January 2016

Happy Australia Day!!

The last of the roof trusses were assembled and erected by 5pm, the weather was coming over dark and we had received a storm warning. Thankfully a very small amount fell but the wind was picking up everytime we wanted to install another truss. We just needed one more day to get the insulation and roof sheeting on but it wasn’t going to be today. Finished installing the trusses but the decking is 1/3 of the way through.

We left during the evening whilst still somewhat light, minimal wildlife on the road this time around.

Saving Patty!

Our last trip saw poor Patty our Patrol loose both Brakes and a Wheel Bearing on 2 separate days; leaving her completely immobile. So after a few hours last weekend; of pulling the entire wheel and numerous parts off Patty, they came home in Johnnys car to be repaired or replaced.
Now here we are on a return trip to get the big girl mobile and to bring her home.
Carrying just the basics for camping and with the camper in tow, we had a swag of parts and tools to replace both wheel bearins on the front Left and Right. Both boys had been shopping all week to get replacement parts.

We arrived at 6pm and had the Camper set up within minutes. Johnny set up his new rifle and the boys fired off a few rounds while I cooked sausages for dinner.
After a couple JD’s and some talking shit we had a relaxing evening in a mild wind and the moon in its half moon phase.

Sunday
Up at 730am for coffees and ready to fix Patty.
The herd of sheep had congregated around our campsite grazing as they passed. Not bothered by our presence.

At about 930 I had Johnnys awesome Bushnell Binoculars and was watching some small birds making their way in and out of a hollow in a tree. I then thought to look for the spotted lizard who lives in a nearby rock crevasse, who we have fondly named Spot, but couldn’t get a clear view of his cavern. I moved closer to where he hides but found another resident in the neighbouring rock that nade me want to run…. An adult Brown Snake, disturbed by me, raised the front half of its body into the air to rush into a large crevasse in the rock. I called “Brown Snake, Brown Snake” but the boys were too far away. Chris saw me waving and came down with a shovel. The snake had already gone but we waited to see if it was coming out the otherside. Lucky for him he was not sighted again. Johnny got his .22 ready in case of an encore appearance. Normally snakes wouldn’t bother me but this one was 5m from our camp and in our common walkway. It is refreshing to know they try to escape before you even see them. If they weren’t the 2nd most deadliest snake in the world, I would go as far to say it was a beautiful majestic creature.

I had intention to take my GoPro out on the quad but the Quad bike didn’t want to play today. The boys played around with it and managed to start the bike. I was over the moon! Refitted my camera and new FOX goggles to my helmet and went for a 15 minute spin. The goggles were amazingly clear and kept out all the dust and sweat. Highly recommended! FOX AIRSPC

My ride lasted 15 minutes but didn’t get up to the otherside entirely. Just testing out the camera positioning to make sure I don’t film 30 minutes of half the side of my helmet like I did last time!
I reviewed the footage on my phone and it didn’t look too bad. Upgraded the camera SD storage to a 16GB card as you can never have enough storage!!

Cooked the boys Bacon and Egg sandwiches for Brunch. Butchers Bacon is the best, tastes like BBQ’d Ham!

Patty Progress
Left side assembled

Right side underway!

We cracked our first beers at 4pm after discovering the brake caliper on the right would need to be replaced. Hairline cracks, evident heat stress and abnormal wear. The brake pads were fitted all the same so it will be a slow trip home.

After a quick pack up we begun to leave just before 9pm. Our neighbour John was on his property and rode to meet us. We went and met the rest of his family who were very friendly. We told them about random shooters coming onto their property late at night and firing off rounds. They must know people have been coming onto their property when absent as they told us we are now locking the gate and offered us a set of keys. We were really happy with this decision!

During the trip home, we had Kangaroos in abundance hopping in front of the car. We had one pod that wouldn’t let us past! They just stayed in front of the cars! One managed to bounce into Johnnys car after he stopped, no harm done to either party except Johnnys light now looked into the sky!

Arrived home after midnight, very tired!!

Cabin Build Pt2: Walls

Friday 8th January 2016

Another morning up early and ready to go. Alarms were set for 330am but the reality of getting up hit at 4am. Quick coffee and we were off. Chris and John spent part of Thursday getting the required timber for the project and boys had the worst experiences at different Bunnings outlets they probably deserve their own post. So to keep this entry positive we will move along!

We have got our camper packing down pat; specific bags of towels, toiletries and luggage pre packed makes life easy and we never seem to forget anything anymore. We can pay better attention to packing good food and being organised in general.

We left our home at 445am through a foggy cool morning, in our area this means the day will be hot! The sky was already turning a light blue with a brilliant remnant of stars.

We arrived at Amaroo about 830am, had a breakfast stop at McDonald’s Goulburn. The sky was clear, the grass slightly green and sheep not as abundant as previous visits.
Unpacked and Camper set up by 9.

The boys worked on the wall timbers while I went for a walk down to the Gorge. The Summer heat has killed off a lot of the thistle but St Johns Wort still covered the far hills like a yellow carpet.
No wildlife spotted but it was just too hot in the sun.

We spotted a man on a motorbike in our neighboring property rounding up a herd of sheep. He approached us later and introduced himself as Anthony, he was a Kiwi. He told us he was removing the sheep back to their paddocks and giving us new sheep and will be here herding up the rest while the sheep owner fixes the fences.
Damien, our neighbor and owner of the sheep, came along later and told us about how he had been fixing our fences for us. He was much appreciative that we permitted him to use our land in exchange for fence repairs and weed spraying. We were just happy the pasture will be grazed to reduce fire hazard. The neighboring property owner who organised the agistment doesn’t have a drop of water in his dam. I really don’t think he knew it will dry out so quickly in the summer. We have 3 springs a creek and a Dam, now the water tanks. We didn’t know we had springs until we got bogged in one and probably ruined the direction of flow.

Damien told us he had spent 2 days fighting a fire just near our boundary. He told us the neighbor had accidentally forgot to completely extinguish his camp fire resulting in the fire escaping and travelling up the hill. Firies were called and an aircraft had to drop fire retardant on it from the air. This fire which we thought was at the other end of our road, was actually just off our boundary! Very scary but marvelous work to the RFS!

So Day 1 looked like this:

One wall assembled and ready to be put up in day 2. All the timbers cut to size. Veranda beam placed in holes.
A lot of ground work today.

Saturday 9th January 2016

Up early to complete the walls. I headed into Cowra to reload on munchies, drinks and to get a birthday cake. On the way back the brakes on the Patrol failed but managed to safely get myself back in one piece.

Managed to go for a Quad ride with my Go Pro. Was testing it out so the footage wasn’t great. Did managed to find some decent new views.

Cooked a campfire feast for Chris and Josh’s birthday today. Poor Man’s Stew. Will try and remember what I put in it but Poor Man’s Stew is generally created from what you have lying around.
Utilized the vented door on the Oz pig, it is designed to have a contained fire with no sparks escaping.

Ozpig never fails!

Saturdays progress went well. 2 walls up and posts for the deck concreted in.
There will be 5 windows and one large sliding glass door.
We finished the night with stew, and a birthday mudcake for the boys!

Sunday 10th January 2015

A very hot morning and struggling with the heat by 9am. The boys were up at it while Josh and I went for a walk downhill. I normally wear a flannelette shirt to protect from the sun but it was just too hot. Shorts and singlet shirt day. I’m staying in the shade!

At about 11am I ventured out in Patty the Patrol to get another few bags of ice. Sure enough the brakes are failing but the gear ratios are low enough to be able to bring the car to a stop with the park brake. As I got out onto the road, more noises started. Long story short, I managed to make it back to the farm with 2 bags of ice, a loaf of bread and a severely bust front wheel bearing steaming and red hot! The steering was shocking and the realization of how serious the incident was happened as I tried to make a turn left down a hill, no brake and no steering and all I saw was the ground falling away and the car not responding to the controls. The Patrol needed a full turn of the steering wheel before anything would register.
This car won’t be going anywhere until it is fixed! Chris was pissed but I was just glad I was safe.
At least we now had cold drinks! Chris wanted a Mars Bar but I forgot it!

The boys worked tirelessly to get all 4 walls up and make the foundations of the deck. It is truly taking shape. Josh set up the shelves in the Container to organise all the bits and pieces we now had stored there. Next steps will be to erect the roof trusses and sheeting, finish the deck, and build the staircase up.

At about 830pm, we pulled the front bearing off the Patrol to take back home and get replacement parts. It was a nightmare! Molten metal and seized parts. We went with Plan B and removed the entire wheel section.

We traveled home in Johnny car Junior, he towed our camper home for us. We left not much before 10pm and were finally having a shower at 145am. I think I slept most of the way but heard much commentary around the wildlife trekking across the road.

Its weekends like these that give you lifelong stories to tell!

GoPro Footage – Cabin

Lido Gas Oven - FREE!

Its pays off to be sharp when looking for bits to build a cabin.
And this week I managed to secure a Lido Oven/Grill/Cooktop for free from a lovely fellow who stripped it from a caravan he is renovating. I have often preferred Caravan ovens as they have the lid that fold down so you don’t lose bench space in small kitchens, plus noone uses their oven in a Caravan! One of the most underused appliances in the caravan world. The oven needs a costmetic clean but otherwise spotless and sparkling. It also came with a small rangehood but thats a whole other story.
Since our shed/cabin is planned for 10a non habitable outbuilding, a kitchen throws it back into the “Habitable” category unless it becomes a kitchenette. Pays to research a little!