Month: August 2021

Tuesday, 31st August 2021.

Up early to do yesterdays blog. Raining continuously.

P**sing down. Nothing like packing up a van in the rain.

Yes. You can sweat when it is cool and raining.

Cane train.

On to Ken and Liz’s friends at Wonga, Jack and Lorraine. Ain’t it funny how good people find and befriend other good people. ‘Birds of a feather …’

That’s the entrance.

Here’s the park spot.

The private area is getting a little crowded with two extra vans and 4WD’s.

The three boys, VERY mature boys by the way, take an hour or two to deliver furniture to ‘free-bee- recipients. The ladies are productive in our absence.

We go on to shower and rendezvous for evening meal BBQ. Good night. Early. Jack and Lorraine are off for a few days tomorrow and we four are security in their absence but really, we are to be servants to Billy (poodle) and Coco (Pomeranian) Not a bad job great little pups.

Good barbie night

Sleep …

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz         zzzzzzzzzzzz         zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

 

Monday, 30th August 2021.

Up at 6.35am to do yesterdays blog, uninterrupted. Anne gets up at 6.45am There goes that plan. I complete the blog while performing other domestic tasks.

All is good. Today we go to Cape Tribulation. On the back of the toilet door. ‘In emergency, break glass.’ Ho Ha. It is to laugh. Is this what they mean by toilet humour.

Stair way to heaven? No. To the toilet and they are high and steep if you are in a hurry.

Cassowary statue. (Tilt head to right.)

The ferry waiting line.

The ferry approaches.

A cement truck approaches.

Just plain beautiful and so tropical.

Ditto

Ditto

No, not evidence of an animal, this is fungus on a piece of dead tree.

Beware the Cassowary. Should say, the illusive cassowary. Didn’t see one all day.

Dinosaur country. This guy actually moves a bit … sort of.

A fabulous icecream place in the middle of nowhere. Lots of flavours and all the fruit grown here by themselves.

I think this may be evidence of Cassowaries. I don’t think this one was very well.

A young couple at the lookout. They carry there own little stuffed rodent to place in shots. How very fake and shallow. My photo above has GENUINE Cassowary faeces! No fakes here.

An unreadable sign declaring the type of tree. I wonder what it was.

Tilt head to right. A chocolate … or cocoa tree?

The native bees are tiny and harmless. they look more like flies.

More trees and labels.

Sorry. On a tight schedule and haven’t got time to correct photo direction.

Hills in the clouds.

A serious ramp for a serious set of toilets.

Scenery just goes on and on.

a shady walk and climb down to the rock pool …

… with fish.

We return to the cafe where our EMU burgers are ready.

Yes. We have now eaten out Coat of Arms.

Yes. Dark meat.

Photo with island.

Tilt head. Stinger warning.

Us again. Self adoration.

We head home.

Home. New happy campers.

An excellent BBQ  meal. All of us had a good time but half of us didn’t see the importance of staying to finish the bottle. We were dedicated.

Shower. Tried to do blog. Fell asleep in the sitting position. Woken up by moderately angry wife in the whee hours, tipped over small glass of port cleaned up by extremely angry wife  (the same one. Just category has changed)

To bed, to prepare for morning lecture, plus we are moving in the morning.

zzzzzzzz      zzzzzz       zzzzzzz

 

 

Sunday 29th August 2021.

Up at 6.15am.  I have had 8 hours and 45 minute sleep. Unheard of.  Little bit overcast with a little sun sneaking through. Anne has risen and while I punish the computer, she goes for a walk with  her camera.

Anne returns from her walk and I download her camera.

Morning clouds.

Some streetscape with photographer shadow at bottom

Obviously some locals are already up.

Beware the cassowary. This statue is a reasonable depiction of the real thing except the colour. See generic photo below.

Notice the large  ‘bump’ on it’s head? N.B. All three cassowary species have a casque, also called a helmet, that starts to develop on top of their head at one to two years of age. The casque is made of a sponge-like material and covered with a thick layer of keratin, the same thing our fingernails are made of.

Even though not noted officially the public are warned not to disturb cassowaries. Apparently they can charge you with their heads down so as to ‘lead’ with their ‘casque’ and it is not pleasant to experience.  Or … give it a go. It was be good to know just how much damage they can do.  If it happens, let me know if you are able.

Guard dog at dawn.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFlower.

The front of our park reception.

That Berry tree again.

Berries on the tree again.

Anne returns.

The Park wakes. The neighbours on the other side are departing. That is the chap with the Guinness cap. His name is Steve and it turns out  his brother was in East Timor. Ben Kinny as in Kinny Tint. Yes of course we know him.  Small world.

We have coffees with Ken and Liz. We talk till we realise it’s time for another coffee and we plot and plan  the remainder of the day. Lunch will be independently made sandwiches. We will depart 2.30pm (Also known in the UK as Chinese Dentist …. Think about it) and we will head for Mossman Bowls Club. It has 21 meat raffles and cheap drinks today.

I make a pertinent point which is quickly forgotten.

In the mean time lets sit and talk.

A bathroom visit gives us an opportunity to look at nothing in particular. Anne inspects a window, very, very carefully. You can never be TOO careful when inspecting windows.

The top of our van. Not a lot of space left after, three hatches, the fridge vent, the air conditioner, TV antenna, four solar panels and auto sat dish.

A big butterfly. The damn thing was so mobile, getting this shot was a miracle.

Away at 2.38pm. Motor bike with less than clever driver.

Barra Farm, where you can fish in a captive Barra audience. I think it would be better if they got you to run out say 50 metres of line then put the hook in the fish’s mouth and see if you can pull it in.

I don’t know what this is.

Exchange Hotel, Mossman.

My ‘selfie’ attempt with we four and friend Moira.

Anne inadvertently displays her Pfizer jab location.

Us again but utilising independent with no service charge person to take the pic. I reckon my Selfie is better. Notice raffle tickets. We sweat off to very near the end, but appear to be cursed.

Curse broken. Liz gets the $50 meat tray which ironically is about what we jointly chipped in. Still, a win’s a win.

Liz and Ken bathe in the moment of glory.

We are returning and yet another cane train.

Home. Liz does a salad. Anne does her Italian herb potato, Ken cooks two of the won steaks, so big that they can be cut in two. I provide just a little physical but more psychological support. It was very taxing on me.

Good meal. Red wine and some Port . More talk. Pressure from some to turn in.

Showers, a little TV Too tired to do blog. Tomorrow morning.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzzzz          zzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Saturday, 28th August 2021

I wake to STILL plenty of drive through space. (Twats)

My plan worked (a few serious drinks last night) and today is another day and I further expect it to be a pleasant one. It was raining a little when I was getting up, but it has stopped. There is a little sun and the birds are singing, literally.  In fact they could shut up a bit if they wanted. Bloody nature. Another shot of the non existent drive through park.

We call a couple of auto electricians and get to leave a message. So the plug will not be done today. We are due in Daintree to rendezvous with Ken and Liz.  say ‘half an hour at Woolworths and half an hour to drive there. A fair thing. We park in a side street within walking distance and opposite the Mossman Lawn Bowls Club. (Pertinent) Exhibit ‘A’ Woolworths.

While shopping, an auto elec. ‘John’ returns my call and is coming back from Daintree and will be available for a street fixit in 15 minutes. He visits! So we tell him where the van is and we hurry the shopping. We would have made it back to the van on time if it wasn’t for the drinks. Alcohol must, to a certain degree be ‘pondered. ‘ I ponder quickly and make a few snap decisions. ‘How come these two bottles are so tall?’ asks I. The logical response was, ‘Because they are litre bottles, sir’ Well there you go. what’s better than a 750ml bottle of red. A litre bottle.

‘Mr Sparkie’ is waiting and gets straight into it. I show him the Narva 12 pin plugs I have bought. He says they are crap (my words) and he shows me some superior metal ones he has and they only cost 50% more that what I have already paid for the others. I know they are better, so we use his and I have a spare set of crap ones.

He is into it, but it’s a hot late morning so in an attempt to score brownie points on the humanity scale I rig up a sun screen.

The place is a veritable highway and inside of half an hour, someone else is passing on his ‘Gopher’ or more accurately mobility scooter. I pass comment on his hat which pulls on the brakes and we discuss various things including his Gopher battery capacity. He says he has been 20km to Port Douglas and back without recharging.  Anyway, I sadly didn’t get his name but he was on his way after 5 minutes of chit chat.

N.B. on a serious note, I wasn’t looking for more brownie points.  I will just ask you  dear reader, how often would guys like this with, in this case legs missing have strangers stop them and have a friendly chat. Just five minutes out of my life and maybe it made his day. Think about that when you see someone less lucky than you, because at the end of the day, most of life is down to luck. It’s just his wasn’t as good as ours. Besides, I know how far a gopher can go now, and who knows, that may be pertinent in my future, and that may again be decided by how lucky I am.

Anyway, he is on his way.

My master waits patiently in the shade.

Job done. $120 for the plugs and $120 labour and we repair to the Mossman Bowls Club, Exhibit ‘B’ for a bathroom break.

The half hour drive to Mossman was over quickly (about 30 minutes?) and Ken has been pre-warned and is waiting up the top to take us to the sites at the bottom. He has secured the park next door to them. We set up and have a pleasant afternoon with Ken and Liz. Later, they have an engagement so we take a wander through the fabulous memorabilia.

N.B. Re Exhibit ‘B’. Ken tells us he is a member of the Mossman Bowls Club and we will go there for lunch or dinner. $10 membership and cheap drinks. I should join as well?

In the men’s toilet is the  probably well know Irish dog carrying frame ….

… and it gets better with this old Ford ute

….. official price board …

…. unknown berries that will not be tasted, by me anyway …

Motor bike(s) _

…and another Ford, amongst other things. N.B. This one is for sale but no price tag. Usually if the price isn’t displayed, there is a reason.

A chance to view the van on the top, but not very good. I will see if I can get a better shot.

Down to the river landing.

Three shots very similar. It’s not self adoration (this time) . I was trying to get the river more.

Two bits of Trivia. First, a chap camping on the other side of us from Ken and Liz has the same Guinness cap. Also, secondly, looking at me, I think my head’s getting fatter. I guess it stands to reason it would go on all over.

In the end I just gave up and took the river by itself.

Showers, steak and veg, some TV (sat dish) and a very early ‘to bed’ of 9.30pm.

What will tomorrow bring? Probably more like the afternoon just gone. Who cares. It’s all good.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz            zzzzzzzzzzzzzz            zzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Origin of town name DAINTREE and information on the Daintree Rainforest.

N.B. 1 Gold miners, explorers, timber-cutters and farmers have all made their mark on the area. In 1873 George Elphinstone Dalrymple led the first exploration deep into the Daintree River valley, naming the river after Richard Daintree, a prominent geologist and friend.

N.B. 2 The region referred to as the ‘Daintree Rainforest‘ covers an area of approximately 1200 square kilometres and extends from the Daintree River, north of Cooktown and west to the Great Divide. It is the oldest intact lowland tropical rainforest in the world, thought to be around 180 million years old. (27 Jan 2020)

 

 

 

 

Friday 27th August 2021.      (version 2)

Time to move on. We are going to Mossman. We will contact friends in between, but that is our destiny for now.

So ….. You know how you can have a crap day sometimes? You know, … like a  truly crap day! When absolutely everything you touch turns to crap? Well that was today.

I am not going to dwell on it, but there are limited details of today because we just want the day OVER.

We had already had a series of problems by the time we got to Mossman. The ‘Pool and Caravan Park’ had said when we booked ‘there are no drive through’s’ or sites where we could stay connected. We wanted one because we discovered the hard way, that we have crappy wiring between car and van and every time we disconnect, we run the risk of pulling out the fridge and the emergency brake wires in the 12 pin plug.

So here is where we must park because there are no drive through’s or non disconnect sites. I even tried to park on the slab as that gave us more space. However, not enough AND I pulled a mud flap off in the attempt. Then while fixing the mud flap, Anne points out the hot water system is leaking out the over flow excessively, etc etc etc. (photo just prior to disconnect)

I looked around and saw lots of space where we could have remained connected, but I had to assume it was all booked with other people coming in soon. Why else would they put us on perhaps the smallest site in the park. No one else came in.

Here is the drive through spot that didn’t exist. A damn drive through. Plus that would have still left enough  space in the same stretch of park to house another van. There would have been no loss to the park. The park is either run by thoughtless people or TWATS who don’t know their own park.

YEH! … Crap day from start to finish. However, I will drink too much tonight and tomorrow it will all be OK!

Have you heard the old joke? ‘Beer and wine are not the answer, but neither is water or milk. Have a few wines at the end of a tough day and let ‘Mr Clean’ have his glass of milk. Let’s see who relaxes first.

There is another old saying. Never trust a person who doesn’t drink. A bit harsh maybe? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It is generally agreed that there was wine at the last supper. Perhaps it’s even sacrilege to not drink it. Food (and wine) for thought.

 

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz            zzzzzzzzzz            zzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Town name origin:  It is amusing that Mossman was named after a man named Mosman but changed because of confusion with the suburb of that name in Sydney. It was named by the explorer George Dalrymple in 1873 after Hugh Mosman whose main claim to fame is that he found gold at Charters Towers in 1872.

 

Thursday, 26th August 2021.

It RAINED last night! Did you hear me? RAINED. Drizzly but rain never the less. I get up to finish yesterdays blog. It is dark and overcast. An idea. I have felt a bit shagged for a few days. How about we extend and have an ‘off day’ here?

Done. We will stay today and do between nothing and bugger all, except unless we want to.

So our potential day effort is a walk. We walk to the cafe 300 metres away. We are pre-warned, ‘food is slow to come out’. Also price for eat in is about 80% loading so we get take away. However we do get two coffees to amuse us while we wait.

Look at this sign. ‘Under 18 … You can’t enter this area unless supervised by a responsible adult.’ This area is where some of the tables and chairs are. As I see it, it does not include the balcony where we are or inside where you are served. That can be interpreted as OK. So a seventeen year old with a job and a car cannot sit in the inside dining area. Surely this has to be alcohol related. It doesn’t make sense if it is not, but it refers to an area only and no mention of alcohol.

N.B. I didn’t even notice if they had any alcohol. It’s basically a food and coffee place. However, let’s say they do. I did google Legal Aid Queensland and I found this. I trimmed it but the gist is ..

If you’re under 18 it’s generally against the law for you to enter licensed premises. This includes (but isn’t limited to): a pub a bar a football club an RSL club. There are some exceptions depending on your situation—including: if you’re eating a meal on the premises, but not if it’s after 5pm and the premises are being used for cabaret entertainment.

Do they know what they mean (?) and do they know how much money is walking away from them? That is if anyone is paying attention to it. Bloody stupid sign. OK. It’s a long wait and I was bored.

Ocean view very close.

Here’s the cafe.

Old person on phone. (Just turned 70 actually)

We stuck to our word and did bugger all, most of the day, except the walk and we watched movies.

We sat for a while flicking between TV and the movie ‘Paul’ paused for easy continuing.

We bath/shower. Now a big change. I have a G & T instead of beer. In fact I  used the last of the Japanese Toku gin. Red grape juice, chips & fish left over from lunch and some salad. We watch the end of Paul. It is decided to put on the movie ‘Mr Right’ and watch it in bed. I vaguely recall the first 5 minutes.

May peace be with you.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz         zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz            zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Oh, by the way, name origins. Flying Fish Point:  The northern point of the Johnstone River mouth. Named by G. E. Dalrymple in 1873 after one of the cutters used in his expedition.

Other names of places around Innisfail, follow the link:  http://www.users.on.net/~davidcleslie/innisfail/innisplaces.htm

 

Wednesday, 25th August 2021

We will look at Cardwell this morning and we WILL have crab sandwiches.

There we are in the van park on the far right.

We fill the car and Anne shows how to clean the front window without actually climbing up the Bull Bar and standing on the bonnet.

This is what we are looking for.

A great spot to sit and eat crab.

Said crab sandwiches. One each at a little over $13 per sanger. We agree the cost is not so much the crab meat but the labour to get enough to fill a sandwich. Hard work. I always liked crab but never order it because it’s a lot of work for a little return.

Tastes GOOOOD though.

Truer words were never spoken.

The jetty we remember from January 1996.

Of course.

The information centre with brilliant displays.

Coffees at the foreshore pool. $3 a day come and go to use the Olympic sized pool. What a good town this is.

The vicious guard dog.

We shared a piece of fish, the driver had a coffee to stay alert and we are off to Tully. Now apparently there was an on going punch up between Tully and Innisfail as to who has the highest rainfall. I assume it is still ‘on’?

Train.

Now just before we go into the town proper, we (with great difficulty I might add) pull into the Ford dealership because our damn Blue Tooth connection has stopped working so we can’t accept calls ‘a la’ steering wheel and hands free. Nice chap fixes it for us.

Tully.

In the main square, fab big trees but they have ferns and other ‘stuff’ growing on them.

Now that’s a big boot. I think I picked up it is the same height as the biggest flood they had. What’s than stuck on the right side of it?

‘Tis a frog.

Anne at the top of the boot and concerned I have not had any water for five minutes.

Main street. Old but impressive buildings.

A ‘cane train.’ Try saying that fast, five times after three drinks, or visa versa.

Road and cane.

All that sugar cane and now we come to bananas. All the bunches are individually bagged/wrapped.

We get to Innisfail and drive through as our GPS is locked on The Flying Fish Tourist Park. This park is recommended by the irrepressible ‘Ken’. That is irrepressible  to all but wife ‘Liz’ . She has repression capabilities with regard to said Ken.

The road narrows. The GPS stitches us up a treat, yet again by taking us past the entrance and onto the park exit. No entry of course. A bit of manoeuvring, some bad language, plans for a new GPS and a rather unsavoury end for the current ‘bloody mongrel thing’ (that was the nice bit) and we arrive at this VERY compact park.

We are steered in by the boss. This is our patch.

You can’t quite see it but there is an Indonesian flag flying just below and left of the Australian one. My stab is correct. The lady half of the bosses is indeed Indonesian.

My lady boss and self cross the road and are almost immediately on the beach. Great spot.

We find out this is Wednesday. Well, we knew that but didn’t know it was Happy Hour Wednesday at the park. Bring own drinks and ‘nibbles’ provided. Wow! There were  at least 30 (to 40) park occupants there and the boss had been fishing. There was enough crumbed fish to satisfy all present. Anne and I would have had around six portions each and there was no discussion even, of evening meal when we got back to the van. Nice people, lots of chatter, lots of wine. I got the bad bottle again with the hole in the bottom. I always get the faulty one.

Showers. Watched ‘The Money Pit’ again. Always a laugh. Maybe we should stay another day? We shall see.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz             zzzzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Tuesday, 24th August 2021.

Early up to finish yesterdays blog 5.15am. Yes. I didn’t finish it last night. Just too damn tired. Anyway it’s done. Pack up. Off to Garbutt Auto Repairs. We have to arrive by 8am. We have done the run before but we didn’t count on the morning traffic. Got there 10 minutes late and we now know where the van is going to fit in. It isn’t. It was done on the lawn out the front and at the same time as some council work digging up pipes.

Brakes and bearings.

On the lawn out the front. Doesn’t matter where it is done, as long as it’s done.

Experience talking, you could go a step further and say, ‘Don’t even think about them.’

Nice guy Graeme (boss) didn’t put this to the test. His credit card machine didn’t work and he trusted us to do a transfer later on. We shall. Nice to know there are still decent people around with a bit of trust.

Inevitable garage displays.

Graeme in action.

This is them. Best shot I could get. Margaret is a nice lady as well.

There’s always a dog around, even if it’s from next door. Dear old girl.

Scorpion metal work …

… and wind charm as well.

On the road heading north. Ingham first stop. But we have a whee problem. The fridge won’t come off gas and onto 12 volt. We decide we will give it a few km’s to snap into gear.

But first. that is a dinosaur, isn’t it?

The truck says , Flintstones. (?)

Now this is supposed to be two cars having a prang, I guess.  However, check it out. Doesn’t it look more like a couple of sleepy lizards having either a fight or a really sloppy kiss?

What’s that just whizzed past?

LTD? my mate DPM has one. Very cool.

What is that?

Still don’t know. The top is confusing. Looks like a strawberry top but it’s yellow. I give up.

Now we are getting into sugar cane country and it is becoming lush and green.

These three (?) trucks  passed us with a little help from me.

More cane.

Lush

Ingham.

A horse and a man on the roof of a pub.

Apparently it’s Slim Dusty’s Pub with no Beer.

Mitches Cafe. Savoury mince in a toasted bun. Yum!

Anne with a giant tree growing out of her head.

Anne would love this. I can just imagine her ‘hooning’ around in it. It would be great.

Another big tree.

Bad news. Van fridge is still stuck on gas. NOT 12 volt.

Mean time, lush, plus we see these big ‘things coming.

As they pass, they are big animal floats. This one is a Kookaburra. Later on I see them in a segment in the news but missed the start. Bummer.

About the only thing I remember of Cardwell 25 years ago is the jetty. Back then it was crystal clear and the water was like glass. Don’t remember the town this big either. That bloody PROGRESS again. (?)

To fix the fridge problem I need 240V so we book into I think The Cardwell Caravan Park. We read reports that say the sites are tight but the boss is magic at steering vans in. Colin is the boss and he has earned his reputation. Damn good. Also nice guy.

I am suspicious of the 12 pin plug because the pins keep pulling out the bakelite base by about 3mm when I disconnect. So I get the wiring diagram and pull the plug. Uncover and low and behold the small pink and also the black wires have pulled out of their terminals. The pink is the signal wire that comes from the car ignition to the car fridge to let it know the ignition is off SO there is no 12V available. Se with the wire disconnected, the fridge will not go to 12V. Also, the black wire is the emergency brake, so it was a double fix. Well done Leith. HOWEVER, they will continue to get un-necessary pressure on them so they should get a new plug. Put it on the list.

Curlews all over the park.

N.B.   Bush Stone-curlew  – Burhinus grallarius
Burhinidae

Anne whips up a quick and easy but tasty meal. Salad chips, sausages and lamb chops.

Showers Juice a pleasant surprise call from the Deegs Duo bit of TV.

The Fridge is fixed. A good way to go to sleep.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz            zzzzzzzzzzzzz          zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

 

 

 

Monday, 23rd August 2021.

The 12 weeks between 1st and 2nd AstraZeneca for me ends on 14th September. So 23 days to go. That’s good down from 84. Pain in the rectum to wait so long.

Partly cloudy but mainly sunny day.

First thing today, cancel car wheel rotation. As I said there will be too much happening. The van goes in at 8am and then the car at 8.30? if they strike a problem with the van, we can’t get back to it easily. Or a problem with the car and we cant pick up the van. No. We will just do the van and when we are booked in somewhere with car detached, we will put the car in.

Second, chase up alternative van service place.

Third go to van place where booked and check out their facilities. I just couldn’t see how they would be able to do it when we went past the other day.

Fourth, aluminium can return.

Fifth, last minute shopping.

6th. Fill up with diesel.

But first, the washing … and on the way Anne spots this guy.

Have a closer look. There he is.

So we cancel the car rotation, try to get someone else to do the van. A couple of them laughed. One suggested who we were with but thought perhaps his premised were too small. So when all else fails, tell the truth. I call him up and say we have been past his place and it looks too small. He says they have a fork lift (with a tow ball) and they will manage.. OK. So we stay with them.

Next can recycle. A quick $7.20.

Next, we squeeze in an extra. One headlight has blown so it’s Super Cheap Auto for a Super Expensive globe. I fit it in the car park and also visit the auto teller for that stuff they have just started reusing again. You know the stuff. It folds in the middle when you carry it in your wallet. Err.. Munny.

While all this is going on, this little honey rolls up.

After a serious ‘perve’ on the car, we spot another at the other end of the scale.

Shopping, diesel and we are done. Back to the park.

Mick has his hands full with a water heater problem. Caravan hotwater systems are designed by sadists with manic tendencies. They should be made to work on their own designs. The Beer O’clock sort of started here. Sort of because we had beer but it was without ‘pleasure.’

Well, tomorrow we pull out at 7.30am-ish to get to the van place well before eight. So, we move the Beer O’clock to under the awning with the ladies. Good chat but must get going. Showers, steaks with mash, carrots and bok choy.

Movie, bed

zzzzzzz       zzzzzzzzzzz         zzzzzzzzzzzzz

P.S.  Here’s one (two) …..

 

Says it all. Now think of the current so called ‘Freedom Protesters.’ Twats.

Sunday, 22nd August 2021.

Overcast again and maybe around 22degrees right now, but up to about 31 later.

It’s a maintenance day. Lots to do. But first breakie and a treat. Ham and cheese croissants with strawberries on the side.

Then work.

First take all eight of the pressure sensors off of all eight wheels.

Second, get the compressor out and pump up all tyres. At around 25 degrees C, front car 38psi, rear of car 44psi and all van 44psi.

Third, pull all eight sensors apart and put new batteries in them. Th is is because we have started getting fault signals with temperatures and pressures correct. It can only be bad signal due to low battery.

Important. Stop for lunch. Pizza’s and SPOT on. Real good ones.

Back to work.

Fourth, put sensors back on car only and just cap the van. I am going to cancel the car tyre rotation for tomorrow because we will be too much happening with the van.

Fifth and hardest. Fix the diesel heater. When trying to start it the fan runs slowly for 10 to 15 seconds then stops and gives a ‘E-06’ error reading. I checked the brochure and the fault is check polarity and ‘hall unit’?? The next door neighbour says he has fitted 6 of these over the years and to check the exhaust fan as it has a magnet which operates the pump and by the way, I had not heard the pump operating at all. It makes a ‘click .. click ..click’ sound. He (Charlie) said if the fan is rubbing move it just a little along the shaft.

By the way, I have contacted Matt, the guy who installed it in Adelaide and he said, if it doesn’t work, send a photo of it to I.D. and he will send me a new one for free. Hell! Not bad 2.5 years after sale service.

So I try the thing again and same result. I see and am reminded I have screwed a partition next to the unit to allow use of half of the under seat area for storage. However I put the petition over two fixing screws and it will be a mongrel of a job to get it out in order to get to the fan.

So here I resort to a technique many people have adopted. Some successfully and some not so. I give it a serious bash with my fist. Something makes a clanging sound so I gave it another bash with said fist. It went ‘clang!’ again. So I pushed the start button and it worked! I went through the start-run up-running-turn off-run down-stop cycle four times and I reckon it’s fixed. Readers ….NEVER, EVER over look the exercise of giving the non functioning object a good ‘boof!’

Now as per usual I was so intent on the work that I took not one photo, so at least I saved you from that. However, I didn’t download Anne’s camera yesterday when we went for a drive through town so I now include some of her shots. Ah ha! Anne took one shot of me on the tyres.

 

Now Anne’s shots …  and understand it was a dull day and most of them were when moving.

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Anne spotted the Trans Am as well

OK. More shots of Townsville. Done. Maybe I was a little harsh but at this stage I stand with my ‘Townsville is soul-less’ statement.

Next. Yes, you guessed it. Beer O’clock, showers, Nasi Goreng, grape juice. early night as tomorrow will be just a little busy. A few jobs.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz              zzzzzzzzzzzz            zzzzzzzzzzzz

Nah. Can’t just close without a giggle. Let’s have a funny. (or three)

Bon nuit.