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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
Utilized the vented door on the Oz pig, it is designed to have a contained fire with no sparks escaping.
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!
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!
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!
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