were going over to Gordonvale tomorrow 9th and might catch you ,were still kicking R H M AND N

jules47 wrote:

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Enjoy John - and great shopping, mate!!!! As you know, I am banned from op shops at the moment!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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 With good reason I remember the difficult task of getting you to miss one I have just thrown out those sandals you bought for Billeee in Penquin and sold on to me at a profit

John

yep be here about a week ,waiting to get a new gene replaced ROD

Hi Oxley,

I set off without the Coleman Hot water system but found it awkward to elevate the solar bag to use as a shower, I soon decided that I wanted better shower facilities. It is all about what you can afford balanced with what you can do without. I wouldn't set off until I had a cheap Hi Ace set up for a round Australia trip and it took a few months, now have upgraded to a Coaster and done it all on the Old Age Pension. All my steps are duly recorded in the blog from buying the Hi Ace in January 2011 up to now here in Bushy Parker Reserve, I started off a bit late in life (75) in chronological terms but have not let that hold me back, so make your plans and set them in motion.

Saturday morning and had a couple of quiet days, Thursday I walked across the rail lines and behind the service station where I found a 20ltr tin can suitable for cutting down for a fire place. Worked on it with a hack saw, tinsnips, pliers and drill to end up with a fireplace that fits into my new box. The first night I arranged small rocks from the creek into a fireplace and had a big fire cooking up a large potato with cheese butter and onion, steep learning curve here the girls at Boulder creek made it look easy but I struggled. The first inspection had the cheese melted and good but the potato still hard then by the next inspection all was burnt except the middle of the potato. Probably a good idea to boil the potato first anyway next time I will try that approach.

The jaffle was a problem too, banana and honey is a good mix but too much honey tends to run out and burn, never been any good at cooking but will use brown sugar next time. All good just more to experiment with. The next time was last night using my new fireplace in the fire ring from the night before, during the day had cut the previously gathered wood into smaller pieced to fit into the small fireplace using the chain saw again. Didn't need much wood in the small container and I started it early and let it burn down into hot coals then use my jaffle iron again. Not a perfect result but again learning from the experience, the tomato juice from too many beans tends to spill out and again burn.

Went for a round trip yesterday and walked by the swimming area by the big tree with the bank eroded and seemingly balancing on the edge. My footsteps or shadow disturbed a snake which lazily swam out from under the roots it was around 45cms long with a thin 1cm body, it was brown in colour but looked nearly orange in the sunlight. Have no idea what it was but it swam across the river to the opposite bank. I walked along a bush track and ended up near the school so I walked by the shop and then to have a look at the murals again under the highway, returning from the opposite direction. Chris and Roz went on to have a look round Ingham and have a counter lunch, the advantages of towing a car behind and having the ability to retain the camping spot whilst exploring the surrounding area.    John

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Jules, you are travelling well it seems, I posted about Camooweal and enjoyed my stopover there.

Sunday and have already packed up the shower tent having had a good shower and ready for the off tomorrow. Was given a fish last night which I cooked on the gas burner wasn't confident of using the new fireplace except for a jaffle. I thought that I had left a banana and a couple of slices of bread but must have eaten it for breakfast, bummer, so I had to fall back on the previously opened can of beans for the jaffle. Golden brown on both sides, definitely getting the hang of jaffling.

Have been considering how to make the awning more user friendly, it would be easy with a second pair of hands. My neighbour came up with the idea of changing the direction of the arm holders so that the arms can be folded across the front and left bolted in position when the awning was rolled up. I have done that and put some Velcro to hold them in place whilst the awning gets rolled up and then secured behind the clips. So far so good but later when I actually put it away will the success or otherwise be apparent, also not so sure whether or not it will be easier to put up when the arms are dropped to the ground and the tension is pulling the awning back up.

Again in a quandary about my next destination, I had decided on Hull Heads but was told today that a friend had been there recently and the price has risen to $16 per night for an un powered site. Back to the drawing boards I have plans to meet up with Rod and Heather at Babinda but they are held up waiting for a replacement generator so I am again dawdling northwards unsure of my next destination. I have had a great time here just north of Townsville rotating round the 5 free camps taking over 3 weeks to do the lot. Started out with Steve and then Billeee and Jules then Chris and Roz new friends met at Bluewater.    John

Hi Chris intend to check out the wetland area when I get started off.

There are taps here spread out around the camp ground and campers connect them to their vans, I have a mains connection but not enough use so I haven't bought the hose but Chris has used a tap for his stay. He also has all the gear to wash a big motorhome including the collapsible ladder, extension brush, bucket and hose gun. He offered to wash my solar panels and one thing led to another and he ended up washing the entire bus, he wouldn't give up his toys to let me do the job. My beautiful bus is dazzlingly white and has much more effective solar panels. By now I have pulled up the awning and been able to clip the legs in with the awning so I will not have to connect them to erect it.   John