Living Our Adventures

Wood Wood and more wood

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Craig

Wow, seems like only a few minutes ago I was writing about Easter and here I am blogging again (yes it was only a few minutes ago!!)

So, if you can remember all the way back to the Easter post (which I’m sure you only just finished reading), we had run into non-stop trouble with the generator going kaput and just no luck with getting a sharp operational chainsaw!

Well, jump forward a few weeks to the 26th of April. In fact, first jump back one weekend cause I spent most of a day out the back trying to fix both my generators and cleaning and sharpening the chains on every chainsaw I own!

My big diesel generator turned out to need a new battery and a good charge. The old battery couldn’t even hold charge overnight, so I think that was the problem. I also manged to fix my smaller 4Kva petrol generator with a new spark plug and battery, so at least if the big one dies again I can use the smaller one as a backup.

For my chainsaws, well I pulled them apart, cleaned all the gunk out of them, refueled then and sharpened or replaced the chains so they were ready to go. I also bought a new 20″ chainsaw for the bigger jobs… can never have too many chainsaws…apparently!!

Anyway, jump back to the 26th, and we took a drive up to Little Duna to spend a day collecting wood. Was really important that we got this done before winter as not only does it get cold without enough wood to burn, but before long the block will be a wet slushy muddy swamp and I wont be able to drive in with the trailer to collect wood.

So, it was on this Sunday morning that we loaded up the generators and chainsaws and headed north. First stop when we arrived was the Café for lunch. While there were no bikers in town today we decided to take our food with us again. As we arrived at Little Duna, the first thing I noticed was the colour green!! Wasn’t much, but you could see that things were turning and the vegetation was starting to grow again. I let Zac drive Fi and the girls up to the shed while I wandered in to have a look at how things have changed… and changed they had!!

The front dam was mind blowing! Remember the picture I took at Easter just 3 weeks earlier, well compare it to this!

Must have had some rain in the last few weeks!!!! Here is the Easter photo so you can remember what it was like.

Anyway, I wandered up to the shed to find an irate family waiting patiently for lunch as I still had the keys in my pocket. We opened up and ate our Chicken and Chips in the shed on our new tables (ex school ones). While eating, Fi spotted a herd of Kangaroos over by the second dam. Was only half a dozen, but was pretty cool to watch.

After a bite to eat, we unloaded the generator and put it back in its house, then loaded up the chainsaws and went in search of wood. There were a few good sized branches that had come down during the summer storms on the way over to the second dam, and the kids and Fi went off to play at the tree bridge while I got to work. Fi took some photos to show just how much the place had changed. We even had water in the creek!!

Some great photos and new PC wallpapers for me in that lot!

Meanwhile I started the cutting. First I would use the 12″ chainsaw to remove all the smaller branches from the end of the tree. As the chain got loose and the branches too big, I would swap to the 16″ chainsaw before pulling out the big bertha 20″ saw to slice up the trunk. Was hard work, but I had plenty of helpers to collect the wood.

Everyone pitched in and it wasn’t long before we had 3 to 4 big trailer loads of wood back at camp. While the picture doesn’t really show it, there is a lot of wood here and should be more than enough to see us through winter.

While cutting, we spotted some monkey’s up a tree, but Fi wouldn’t let me cut them down, so we just took some pictures instead.

Also, just showing how much these kids need to get out more, for some reason Zac and Tara were absolutely amazed to discover that this wood was orange!!! Tara wanted to take a photo.

Was a good days work, and I’m glad we were able to get it done, and return the generator to its rightful home. I’m also glad we got to see the place as it is amazing just how quick the landscape can change. Of course the question I’m sure you all are asking now is how much water is in the tank?

Well, about 7000 litres!

Must have been quite the downpour! Amazingly though the ground was still hard, and there was little water lying around. At lest it was keeping the dust down though!

So that brings me to yesterday. Yep, that’s right we are almost up to date!!!

This weekend was supposed to be a boys weekend. I checked the calendar and the next chance we will get to head to Little Duna will be in July sometime 🙁 So I put the word out but unfortunately everyone was busy!! Anyway, looking for a new set of mates, I’ll be holding auditions in the coming weeks…… just kidding :p

Anyway, last weekend I helped Kate move into her new house. Was so much easier getting the bed and drawers off the balcony than it was pulling them up!! At her new house, there was a huge pile of redgum sleepers that she didn’t want, so I offered to take them off her hands.

With a full trailer that needed to be emptied, I took advantage of a day off to head up to Violet Town for the day. Now as I arrived and was heading down the driveway I noticed a lot of tree litter around the place. We had obviously had some good windy storms in the last few weeks.

As I arrived at the van, I thought Oh my God how lucky are we!! There was a huge branch that had come down from one of the nearby trees narrowly missing landing on the van! In fact if we had left the ends of the van open, I’m not sure it wouldn’t have hit it!

Took me awhile to figure out where it had come from and I was almost thinking someone had put it there when I noticed a break in a tree about 3-4m high and about the same distance away!! Must have been one hell of a wind!!!

Unfortunately I didn’t bring my chainsaw on this trip, so it will have to wait there until we head back next. At least we will have some more wood.

Anyway, I unloaded the trailer, fired up the generator (to make sure it still worked) and had a cup of tea while I waited for the water to get warm. Then I got to work giving the van a good wash down. Was looking a bit worse for wear after spending the summer up here and needed a good clean. As I was stepping around the branch above, I almost stood in a little present that a fox had kindly left just behind the van! A half eaten rabbit!

WARNING: THE NEXT PICTURES MAY BE DISTURBING FOR SOME VIEWERS.

If you don’t think you can hack it, scroll quickly!!

I moved the remains onto one of the larger ant nests so the meat ants can do their job and clean it up. I’m sure it will be well gone by the time we head back up again.

Once the van was clean and looking a little more respectable, I went for a wander around the block and did some practice shooting at the range. I also took a few photos. The place is looking so much more greener now and it won’t be long before mowing becomes an issue again. We got lucky last year, but I’m not sure I will be so lucky again this year!

Well that’s it, we are all up to date! Only thing left to say is there is about 9000 litres in the tank and until next time….

Have fun 🙂

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Little Duna, PC, Violet Town, Wood Wood | 1 Comment

Easter 2015

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Craig

Seems strange to be writing about Easter in May, but I thought it was probably time to give an update. Was a busy weekend with lots of things going wrong, but as always we still managed to have a great time at Little Duna. Better grab a coffee and make yourself comfortable cause this is a long one….

Fiona, Zac, Tara, Jess and I headed up on the Thursday evening, arriving under the cover of darkness around 10pm. As always, Fi and the kids stayed in the car while I got out to open up the van and get some lights on. I entered the van and was having a look around when I heard a scuffle behind me and turned just in time to see a tiny little field mouse who had moved in while we were gone!! I think he got the bigger fright and scuffled off pushing his way through the canvas by our bed and out of the van. Problem is the little shit had left just that all over the van…. little shits!!

Realizing we had no cleaning products on hand, Fi and Zac took a quick trip to the Coles Express in Euroa for some pino-clean wipes while I finished setting up and getting the fire going.

Friday morning I woke early as usual and got straight to work setting up the campsite. The previous week, the school was throwing out a whole bunch of old school desks and chairs as they were getting all new furniture after the renovations. I saw an opportunity and grabbed about 8 tables and a dozen chairs to setup in the shed and use around the campsite. Coupled with my new 9m x 3m pergola and the existing 3m x 3m pergola I was able to set us up a great space to hang out, draw and eat on. What a difference this made!

Tara and jess thought it was awesome and proceeded to claim the “kids” table as a new place to do art… at least I don’t care how much mess they make on them!!

Now while Easter is essentially a good mid-year break, at Little Duna there is always work to be done, and my goal for this weekend was to replenish our stock of wood for the winter. We had burnt through most of our supplies and now were dragging smaller logs back to camp. I really needed to get out on the block with the chainsaw and cut some decent wood. So I hooked up the trailer, loaded up the chainsaw and headed out looking for some good wood… not that it was hard there were plenty of large branches that had fallen during the summer storms.

I found my first fallen tree, selected the 16″ bar chainsaw, ripped it into action and started to cut. After about 10 seconds, I stopped in a smoking mess as the blunt chain was doing little more than give the log a friction burn. Lucky I bought the 12″ chainsaw as well! I switched to my good ol’ trusty smaller saw and….. it did the same!!! Bother chains were blunt and wouldn’t cut butter!!! Too much work at school working bees obviously 🙁

Being Good Friday, the shops were shut so I had no choice but to admit defeat, throw some smaller branches into the trailer for the night and spend the day relaxing. Tomorrow I would head into Shepperton and get two new chains.

So the rest of the day was spent sitting around camp or riding the quad bike while the Kids did art, played totem tennis or just annoyed each other (nothing unusual really). Zac while playing with the video on my phone took a couple of high speed videos of Jess doing something (dunno?) with wool.

So it was about 3pm when the kids got a great surprise, we hadn’t given them any warning when Mark, Matthew, Emma and Clare came rolling up the driveway with the caravan in tow. They were coming up to spend Easter with us again. Was all very exciting.

The girls all headed off to explore the tree bridge while Fiona, Mark, Zac and I sat down for “cheese o’clock”. While we were sitting there, suddenly out of nowhere a huge twister spun the dust in a funnel high into the air. Zac went running over to check it out and I called to him “Jump in it, Jump in it!!” Hey it what I would have done as a kid!

Of course he did the same and came back spluttering about a mouth full of dirt….hehe 😉

Later that arvo we went for an explore around the block. While checking out the ruins, Jess climbed up the broken tree to see what was in the middle. “Cool” she exclaimed, “give me your phone Dad…”

I passed my phone up to her and what does she do? Take the following picture of course….

“Umm… I meant take a picture of what is inside the tree Jess!!!”

Kids these days…. *shakes head*

We continued on our way and ended up in the field behind the block. There was another fallen tree over here that we stopped to climb on. While the kids were climbing, I remembered a nearby hole in the ground and went to explore. Didn’t take me long to find it in the long grass, and as everyone else was still climbing on the fallen tree I turned and yelled “Bye everyone, I’m off to wonderland” as I leapt into the hole and crouched down…. with the long grass around it I was completely hidden!!!

I then made a show of looking like I was crawling out of the depths of the earth as the kids screamed “wow, I want a turn!!” Amazing how we can still find new things to keep us entertained, and this one was so close to camp as well!! Below is a video of Zac who took the elevator to Wonderland…

We returned to camp to cook up a feast on the BBQ, before spending the night cooking marshmallows around the fire and burning most of the remaining wood… really need those new chains tomorrow!!

Late in the arvo, Zac and Matthew discovered the great dust clouds you could create by kicking up the dirt in the driveway. They had a ball as you can see, although both returned a lighter shade of grey and it was straight into the shower for both of them.

So Saturday after a breakfast cookup, we chained up the dogs and headed to Shepp. At Bunnings I found the chains and bought a new 16″ chain and 12″ chain, then we dropped Fi at the supermarket while we went to the Super Cheap Auto next door to get bolts to replace the two missing ones on the Quad bike.

On the way back, the kids asked if we could stop at the Café in Violet Town, and to our surprise as we pulled up out the front, FI exclaimed “Oh my God, look at the pub”

There must have been about 50 to 60 motorcycles lined up out the front and the pub was absolutely brimming!! Seems the Outlaws motorcycle gang had taken over the town!!

With scenes from the Sons of Anarchy fresh in our minds, we decided to get take away and return to Little Duna with our chicken and chips!! While I’m sure we were ok, there was a lot of drinking happening in the pub and it was probably best not to hang around with the kids!

While waiting in thye Café for our food, one member entered with his kids and asked the café owner if he was busy today. “Not really” he replied “I suspect you guys have something to do with that!”

Anyway, we returned to camp to eat, then Mark and I decided to cut some wood while FI went for a walk. I opened the 16″ chain first and…. it didn’t fit!!! Damn Chinese brand chainsaws!! I then picked up the 12″ chain package only to discover I had somehow picked up an 8″ chain!!!! “Oh My God” I screamed “what else could go wrong!!!

Luckily the bolts for the quad bike fit, and we applied some locktight to the rest of them in the hope they don’t rattle loose. (See Paul, I remembered… you can relax now!)

We abandoned any hope of cutting wood this weekend and proceeded to collect as much wood as we could in the trailer. We managed to have a good fire that night and had perfect conditions for watching the blood moon. Fi experimented with her camera and managed to get a couple of great shots.

Was awesome to watch, started with a very bright full moon (was like daylight), then a bite appeared out of the side and the shadow slowly crept across the face of the moon turning a red/pink colour as it continued.

By the time the moon turned fully red and the eclipse was complete the entire block was covered in inky blackness. You couldn’t see a thing beyond the ring of the fire. A great way to end the day.

Sunday of course was Easter 🙂 The only day of the year where you get to eat Chocolate for breakfast!!!

We did actually eat some real food as well, but for the kids I think it was mostly chocolate!

After breakfast, it was time for the great Easter Egg Hunt. As I went to retrieve the huge bag of eggs hidden in the van, we discovered that the scratching noise we heard while sleeping was actually our little mouse friend having his Easter eggs! He had snuck back into the van overnight and chewed through the side of the bag and a good number of the eggs had to be binned 🙁 Was enough for a hunt though, so Mark and I headed over to the ruins and hid a massive number of eggs.

We then returned to the camp to find the kids ready with their collection bags in hand. A few stern words from Uncle Craig and we slowly walked over (together) towards the ruins. As we got to the bridge, Fi went on ahead to take photos before I slowly released the kids in order of age. Clare went on first followed by Jess, then Emma and Tara before I released Matt and Zac who were beside themselves worrying that there would be nothing left!! They didn’t have to worry though and they all had a ball collecting in and around the logs and ground.

After the egg hunt, Mark cleaned his van inside and out before packing up to head home. He is selling his van, so this was the last hurrah. End of another era, but hopefully they can still come camping occasionally. We had a great relaxing time over Easter and as the kids hadn’t seen each other for so long they all had a fantastic time playing so well together. All that was left was a few photos of the wonder girls in their special pose with their special gloves (previously called socks) before they headed off back home again.

The boys were too busy catching lizards

As we said farewell to the Waldron’s, we welcomed Granny Vicki who had come up for the night. After all the hello’s and Happy Easter’s, more chocolate eggs and a cuppa, Fi took Granny for a wander around the block. Feeling a little lazy, I caught up to them on the quad bike and cruised slowly along as they walked.

As we were walking from the second dam to the first, I took off a little faster for a cruise through the field when suddenly there was a bang and the rear suspension snapped….again!! I think it is a design flaw in the way the suspension is mounted as it broke in exactly the same spot as the last few times. Think that is the third or fourth suspension I’ve been through!!! Wasn’t even bouncing that much 🙁

Luckily I was able to stop pretty quickly and we went a lot slower on the way back with the suspension just resting on the broken frame. Seriously what else could go wrong??

Well, it was Fi that noticed it as I put the Quad bike away in the shed. The generator wasn’t running. Strange I thought as we had been running it for up to 10 hours a day since we got here with no problem.

I spent the afternoon trying to fix it and get it going again. by the time I admitted defeat, I was covered in soot and diesel and not very happy at all. “That’s it” I declared “we are going home tomorrow” (originally we were going to stay until Wednesday as both Fi and I had arrange a couple of extra days off). Zac as I’m sure you can guess was devastated (ok that last sentence may not have been what really happened!!)

Seriously now, what else could go wrong!

Well, I spoke too soon as both the tanks in the van were empty and with not power to operate the pump, I had no way to bring water back up to the van 🙁 Luckily I was able to connect 4 power cords together and hook the pump up to the inverter in the van long enough to power the pump and fill the tanks again. At least we would have water, although I’m not sure how long the lights will last. Oh well enough to get us through one more night.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, we had Easter dinner at the pub, which was pretty empty for Easter Sunday, then built a good sized fire to see us through the night. Good thing too as the nights were getting pretty cold! When I woke the next morning, as I drank my coffee, I stirred up the ashes and got the fire going again while I waited for the morning sun to burn away the chill.

Everyone else stayed in bed as long as they could to stay warm! I spent my morning wandering around the block with the dogs and remembered to take a few photos of the dams. Was amazing how low they were. Certainly the lowest I’ve ever seen them!!

In fact everything is still so dry with little to no green showing through. The water tank is sitting at about 3000 litres, so we are in desperate need of some rain. The front dam is so empty that it looks like little more than a puddle. Still, in the middle Ruby is able to find water deep enough to swim in, although she was able to walk through most of the area with her head above water.

Eventually the others braved the cold and got out of bed for breakfast. We had just finished eating when Fi spotted a large black blur bolting along the boundary beyond the second dam. Looked like a big fox chasing some breakfast of it own! I grabbed the .22 and went looking for it while Zac tried to spot from camp with binoculars. What ever it was, it was long gone by the time I got over there.

Tara on the other hand made a sign to warn everyone.

As I returned from my “hunt”, I announced to the kids that it was actually a large feral cat and I had shot it over by the dam. They all raced over to see it which kept them busy for about an hour or so….hehe

After all that excitement, we said our farewells to Ganny Vicki who was heading back early to spend the day with friends.

Granny spoiled the Kids with $10 pocket money before leaving.

We took our time to pack up, loaded the broken generator onto the trailer, locked up the van and headed home in the slow Easter traffic that we had been hoping to miss by staying a few days extra. Such a pain and so much had gone wrong, but somehow we had still managed to have a fantastic time over the days we were there.

So that was Easter, took me a while to write it up but now it is done there is no excuse for not keeping up from here on in. I’ll leave you with a picture of Ruby sporting her new camo-coat. On the first night she was wearing her old one for 10 minutes before running off to bark at something on one of the neighbors properties and returning with a jacket!! I think she just wanted a camouflage one like Kushi’s!!

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Coles Express, Little Duna | 1 Comment

Time for a catch up

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Craig

Wow how time gets away from us. Been too long since I posted up here, and now believe it or not I have four trips that I have to update you on!!!

For the first, I have to take you all the way back to the last weekend of February….

So, as you will (may) remember from the last blog, Paul, Stuart and I had spent a weekend with just the boys in the bush. During this time we had finished off the water tank, and the shed was finally ready for the final inspection by the council. So, upon return, I rang Ranbuild to inform them the water tank was in and we are ready for the council to drop by….

“…did you run the overflow for the tank away from the shed?” they asked…

“Umm…..no” I responded.

“Oh well they won’t sign it off unless you install an overflow” they informed me….. Grr…something they could have told me earlier!!!

So it was on the weekend of the 27th of Feb to the 1st of March, we made a quick trip up to Little Duna to finalise the water tank and install an overflow.

We left Friday night after work as we normally do and arrived under cover of darkness. Everything was so dry, but it was starting to cool off overnight, so my first job as the kids were put to bed was to get a fire going.

*Note* I have to mention that Fi had just completed the course I gave her for Xmas on how to use her new Digital SLR camera, so this weekend was spent practicing what she learnt, and we ended up with lots of photos… I’ll only post a selection up here…

Anyway, I collected a few dry sticks and it wasn’t long before we had a ripper fire going. Fi saw it as an opportunity to take some photos…

Don’t worry Mum, the fire looks worse in the photos than it actually was and it quickly burnt down to a nice and toasty bed of coals.

The next morning I woke early (as I do) and with lots to do I got straight to work. Got to get this water tank finished, but first I had to go for a wander about the block. Important to get an idea of how much water was in the dams and the tank since we were here last, and I know it is the question that everyone always asks!!. Had been a dry hot summer and you could see that the water in the dams was slowly receding.

The front dam was starting to be very low, although the second dam still had a fair bit of water even if it had dropped almost a metre since my last trip.

Good news was we had roughly 3500 litres of water in the tank 🙂

About 9am after killing time, drinking coffee and exploring the land, I headed off to the hardware store in town to get the pipe and fittings I needed to install an overflow. This is where I hit my first country town roadblock…. the hardware store was closed!!!! A new sign in the window informed me that they were now a Monday to Friday store and closed Saturday and Sunday…. crap!

I returned to Little Duna (after sneaking in a latté at the café) and found the rest of the family starting to wake. Fiona was already getting started on a batch of pancakes for the kids. I informed her of the bad luck with the hardware store and said we had no choice but to drive into Benalla before the water tank shop (where I bought the tank) closed as well.

We cooked up breakfast, scoffed it down and jumped in the car. Luckily the water Tank shop was open, and it wasn’t long before we were heading back to Little Duna with the bits I needed.

The rest of my day was spent digging a trench behind the shed and installing the overflow. Ground was as hard as concrete, and the 30 degree plus heat didn’t help either. A good couple of hours later though and we had the overflow installed. Luckily I remember to take a before and after photo to show what I had done.

Job done 🙂

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, riding the quad and a bit of shooting at the practice range with the .22

From time to time Fi would have us pose for a photo as she tried out the different settings to get a good photo. Apparently just using the “auto” function is for amatures (like me) and you get a much better photo if you do it manually adjusting for the light, focus and exposure!!

Not even the dogs were safe, although Ruby was not keen on the camera and ran as soon as Fi tried to photograph her.

As I said, everyone got photographed, except of course Fiona who was always behind the camera… if only someone had managed to get a photo of her to pay her back….

Hehe… caught her Sunday morning cooking breakfast in the van…. I know I know, very amature using the auto shoot function!!!

LOL – Yes I am a dead man now….

Anyway…. The only other thing to mention from that weekend was the weather on the Saturday night, you see the forecast was for a thunderstorm to pass through. We cooked dinner early and got a good fire going so the kids could cook marshmallows, then while the kids retired to bed, Fi and I settled around the fire until the storm arrived.

While waiting, I got a call from Dad to see if we were surviving the wild weather. “Nothing here” I informed him.

“Wow!” he exclaimed, “The storm is fierce back here in Melbourne!”

I checked the radar and you could certainly see that Melbourne was getting smashed with very heavy rains.

Meanwhile Fi and I were sitting outside admiring the stars!! I checked the radar up North and could see the storm was approaching in a long straight line from the west, so we sat back and waited for what was going to be a ripper storm that would fill our water tank and wash off some of the dust.

We are bout half way between Euroa and Benalla on this map.

So it was about 11pm by the time we felt the first drops. We quickly packed up the chairs as the winds picked up. Fi disappeared into the van, but me loving a good storm, I stood outside under the annex to watch it pass.

With a bang it hit… Wind, Rain, Lightning…. all the makings of a good storm!

I think it didn’t even last 10 minutes!!! What a let down. The ground was still dry by the time it had past!

With nothing left to do, I poured water on the fire (yep didn’t even put that out) and retired for an early night. Lucky I was exhausted anyway from my afternoon of digging a trench in rock like ground!

So that our quick weekend up to Little Duna to finish the water tank. As we packed on the Sunday, we realized that the very next weekend was the Labor Day weekend and we had invited Bridget and Stu to come up for the weekend.

You can imagine how excited Zac was that we would be coming back two weekends in a row rather than sitting at home playing computer games…. hehe… at least we didn’t have to pack everything up as we would be back in just a few days. I couldn’t even be bothered winding away my power cords thinking they would be fine for a week…. seems strange I mention that doesn’t it???

So anyway, back at work I once again rang Ranbuild to inform them they could arrange the council inspection.

“They won’t actually need to see inside the shed will they?” I asked

“Yes they will” I was informed

“Umm, but it is locked!!”

After a few swear words muttered under my breath about something they could have mentioned last time we spoke, I replied “Lucky I’m up there next weekend, just arrange the inspection for the following week and I’ll leave the access door closed but unlocked…”

So inspection was booked for Tuesday after the long weekend, but enough of that I have to tell you about Labor Day weekend first.

As I mentioned before, we had invited Bridget and Stu up for the weekend with their son Thomas (aged 4) and Rosie (aged 8 months). Given Bridget had never been to Violet Town before, she was a little apprehensive as to what she was getting herself in for, and they were staying in the chalet (AKA the Brock 07 van) and not sure how the kids would go, so they decided to just come up for the one night on the Saturday.

We on the other hand headed up Friday night after work as usual.

We spent Saturday morning bumming around the place as Tara did her art work, Jess played some totem tennis and well Zac complained about being up here again for the second weekend in a row.

My Saturday morning didn’t start so well.

I may have had a few cans around the fire Friday night and it was well after 2am by the time Fi and I retired. Needless to say I woke before everyone else Saturday morning and all I wanted was a cup of coffee…. Lucky I had the generator running so I could boil the kettle.

I fired up the generator and headed back to the van to put the kettle on. After a few minutes of waiting for the kettle to boil I realized that something was wrong… we had no power in the van.

Must have pulled the plug out of the caravan I thought. So I wandered outside to check the plugs… caravan looked ok, but I removed and replugged it anyway. I returned to the van, but discovered there was still no power.

It was as I was heading out to check the generator connections that I realized the cord was running on the otherside of the path to where I normally run it. As I approached I also realized there was a break in the cord!!! Some animal had chewed through the bloody cable!!!! Wasn’t such a great idea leaving them out for the week after all 🙁

In a panic with exposed wires on the dew wetted ground, I ran over and turned the generator off before realizing I could have just cut the power output and left it running, or maybe even pulled out the cord! Oh well.

Lucky for me I had a spare power cable in the van and I removed the broken one replacing it with a good one. I walked back to the generator and turned the key to fire it up and again and…. it wouldn’t start 🙁

Thinking it was that stupid fuse again I returned to the car to get my tools and pulled the generator out to remove the back cover. Fuse was all good, but by now I was covered in black soot and getting grumpy from lack of caffine. I put it all back together and tried it again before deciding that the battery simply didn’t have enough juice to restart it.

I grabbed the car and attempted to jump start the battery, but after a few goes of nothing working I put the multimeter on the battery and realized it simply wasn’t charging off the car?? Very strange. I figured maybe because the car was cold it simply didn’t yet have enough charge in the car battery. So, I took the car for a drive around the block… now being in the country we have a very large block, so it was about 20 minutes before I returned to try again. The car had had a really good run by now with most of y trip being done at 100kmph, but once again no charge was getting into the battery???

I turned the car off, kicked the dirt and cursed a few times before I thought I would give it one more go… I started the car again and almost immediately was able to get enough charge into the battery to start the generator!!! Cannot explain it, but was about an hour and a half wasted before I got that coffee and as you can imagine it put me in a bad mood to start the day.

While some coffee flowing through my veins certainly helped my mood, things only got worse as I thought I would tighten those bolts on the Quad bike wheels. You may remember from the boys weekend that Paul had noticed we were missing a few bolts, so I was worried I would lose some more and the quaddie would be out of action.

So as Fi started cooking breakfast, I grabbed the tools and tightened the bolts. Was about on the third one that I slipped and my little finger slid up the rim of the wheel removing a good long sized chunk of skin 🙁

I gave up on repairs there and then as I ran to the caravan for a bandaid trying my best to clean the soot and grease from around the cut. Damn did it hurt, and didn’t get much better for the rest of the weekend 🙁 Not a good way to start my day.

There was some good news though as Mike had donated his old BBQ to the block. This means we were able to cook up a feast for breakfast without worrying about a gentle breeze taking all the heat away from the hotplate. Has made cooking so much better…even if my finger was still throbbing and some stupid animal chewed through my cord preventing me from having a much needed coffee….

Anyway… the food helped and I was in a much better mood by the time Bridget and Stu arrived in the early afternoon.

The kids were all glad to have more friends to play with, especially Tara and Jess who were absolutely smitten with little Rosie.

We spent the afternoon having rides on the quadbike and showing Bridget and Stu around the block. Fi, Bridget and the girls decided to take a walk into town, leaving myself Stu and Zac back at Little Duna.

Now in the driveway beyond the shed on the way over to the camp, the dry and dusty conditions had turned a section of the track with no gravel into a very fine powder. Everytime we drove through it we would leave a massive plume of dust hanging in the air. Problem was as we drove through it more and more we were creating ruts that I knew would become an issue once it rained and the powder turned back into hard ground.

Without a grader to smooth it out, Stu and I came up with the idea of dragging one of the large tractor tyres along behind the car to try to smooth it out. Problem was I soon realized that going back and forth created these amazing billowing dust clouds!! I would drive through as fast as I could, then turn around and wait as the car disappeared in a billowing cloud of dust that followed. For a few moments, visibility was almost nothing until the dust had passed.

Was the last time coming through that I turned the car around in front of the shed and waited for the billowing dust that we heard a loud BANG!!!

The rope had come off, sending the tyre rolling straight into the side of the shed….oops!

There was a good sized dent and some black marks where the tyre had hit, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. We used a little petrol to remove the black marks and panel beated the dent out. No harm, no foul but was the end of our fun.

I said to Zac, you had better not tell your mother…. so of course as soon as he saw her coming up the driveway he couldn’t wait to run up and tell her thinking it would get me in trouble… LOL… Fi just shrugged rolled her eyes at me!

Saturday night for dinner, we headed to the pub in town and had a great meal. The waitress offered to take this photo of our table which I think turned out a beauty.

We had a great time and were really glad that Bridget and Stu came up for the weekend. Was relaxing and fun, and I think Rosie had a good time even if she was only able to sit on a rug most of the time.

Thomas on the other hand had a ball running around (barefooted) and I know the girls enjoyed showing him the tree bridge and the dams.

Fi and Bridget kept each other company, and Stu and I entertained ourselves with the auger and some ants nests…. probably best you don’t ask…

Oh and before I forget, I was showing Stu the second dam (hadn’t changed much from the week before) and I said I have no idea how deep it was. I grabbed a stick that was about 2m long, reached out and stuck it in to show the depth and almost lost my balance as most of the stick disappeared into the murky water!!! Still no idea just how deep this thing is, but we estimate it must be close to 4 or 5 meters deep when it is full in winter!!!!

Anyway, it is getting late and has taken me longer than I though to write this blog. I still have to update you on our Easter trip and the trip last weekend to collect wood, but that may have to wait for another post. Will try to get it done in the next few days, so keep an eye out for the next update.

Cheers and sorry it has been so long coming!

PS – We left the shed unlocked and the council inspected it as planned on the Tuesday. We got a final sign off and I received the Certificate of Final Inspection in the mail about a week later. Another job done and done 🙂

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Given Bridget, Labor Day, Little Duna, Meanwhile Fi | 1 Comment

Boys in the Bush

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Craig

For a long time now, Stuart, Paul and I have been saying that we should have a boys weekend up at Little Duna. No kids, No wives, No dogs…just us 🙂

So last weekend after talking about it so long, we finally made it come true and headed up for the weekend. Stuart and I left from my place about 6pm Friday night with the caravan in tow, while Paul having been caught up at work didn’t leave until about 8:30pm and agreed to meet us there.

Stuart and I arrived just before 9pm after stopping for Maccas in Wallen and for Ice in Euroa, and quickly setup the campsite, getting the fire going to welcome Paul who arrived around 11pm(ish).

First night was spent exactly how a boys weekend should be spent, enjoying a drink around the fire until the early hours of the morning…

So Saturday I was the first out of the bed (surprise surprise) and was joined shortly after by Paul, however Stu did not look good at all when he woke…was it a virus or just a bad scotch the night before? I’m not sure, but Stu spent most of the day Saturday asleep in the van with the air-con keeping him cool as the mercury climbed to 38 degrees.

With nothing else to do as we waited for Stu to sleep it off, Paul and I cooked up a feast of Bacon and Eggs on the BBQ, then headed into Violet Town so I could show Paul around town…that took about 10 mins!!! We stopped at the cafe for a “real” coffee and I introduced Paul to their awesome fried chicken…Yum 🙂

Back at camp, Stu hadn’t moved (actually I think he had rolled over), so we decided to have a crack at installing the water pump for the tank. During the week, I had purchased what is my new favourite tool, a petrol powered Auger. Man is this thing worth every cent… no more breaking my shoulders digging holes, I can drop a 1m deep hole in about 10 minutes. Previously I would have given up after about 30cm to worn out to continue!!

We dropped a hole next to the water tank for a post to hold the tap, then installed the pump which I had bolted to a piece of wood back at home.

Next, we added four posts to hold the roof on, and connected up all the plumbing… must remember to take plumbers tape up there next time as some of the fittings still drip… found the tape where I was preparing the pump when I got home… Doh!

Anyway, my original idea for a roof was to simply have another board on a slight angle. Just need to keep the rain off, so it didn’t have to look like much and I was trying to keep it simple. As we were planning how to attach it, Paul made the comment that a sheet of tin would be better… I jumped up in excitement and found a tin sheet left over by the builders on the ground behind the shed…”will this do?”

Perfect!!

Turned out better than I thought it would, I was so proud of our effort. What do you think, looks like a bought one!!

Well almost anyway!!

As we were finishing and admiring our handy work, Stu finally surfaced looking and feeling so much better. As we saw him approaching from the campsite, I quickly setup the realistic rubber snake I had next to the water tank…

Paul and I, trying very hard not to laugh invited Stuart to look at our handy work… “umm” he said “is that a snake???”

“Where?” I replied innocently… “There by the water tank” he said”…is that real, no can’t be, how would you have been working without seeing it… its fake… or is it…”

“Well if that is fake” I said “then pick it up!!”

“Nope” exclaimed Stu stepping back.

“Ok, then I will…. I’ll grab its tail and just flick it and crack its neck” I said leaning slowly and cautiously towards the tail.

“Don’t be stupid” exclaimed Stuart as I reached down, grabbed the tail and flung it in the air towards him!!!

Not sure he thought that was funny at first as Paul and I pissed ourselves laughing, then he saw the funny side and we all had a good laugh. Hehe…wouldn’t be a boys trip without a few practical jokes!! At least I didn’t leave it next to him while he was asleep in the van… that would have been funnier, although Paul convinced me he might throw up!!!!

Anyway, job done we retreated to the cool of the shed (was only 35 degrees in there) for a cool drink before Stuart and Paul took it in turns exploring the block on the quad bike.

We also managed to do a bit of shooting using cans and paper targets on the makeshift range. Must have gone through about 50 bullets by the time we had finished, and the targets were littered with holes.

A hard day done, we freshened up, rang home to check in and then headed into town for a meal and a few well deserved beers at the Violet Town Pub.

Violet town’s best were out on a quiet Saturday night, and we saw a group of 8 very young boys (aged around 16 to 17) sit down on the tables out the front drinking bottles of Jack Daniels and Coke they had bought with them. Didn’t take long before the were chased away by the owner. There were a few curses from the group before he cut them off with a “Hey none of that now… go on, on your way” and they wandered off into the back streets to cause trouble elsewhere. Guess in a small town you can cause too much trouble as everyone knows everyone else!

We also saw another bloke take his top off, swing it around his head showing off to the ladies before throwing it onto the roof of the pub. He then stood there trying to look like he meant it before climbing up the ice machine and across the roof to retrieve it. Not sure how he got away with it either as was only a few minutes later the owner came out the front to collect empty glasses.

As I said, the finest Violet Town has to offer!! LOL never seen that type of behaviour up there before, guess we just got lucky!

Anyway, after dinner we returned to Little Duna, lit the fire and settled into some hard core relaxing. We did really well at it, right up until about midnight when it started to rain!! We packed up the chairs just in case, but it was so slow you didn’t even get wet standing in it!! With not much else to do, we put the fire out (really well due to the total fire ban Sunday) and headed to bed. Heard a little bit of rain overnight, but never more than a sprinkle.

Again Sunday morning I was the first out of bed, and I fired up the generator to put the Air-Con on in the van before grabbing the .22 and heading to the range for a bit more target practice while the boys enjoyed a sleep in. Was only about an hour and a half later before Stuart and Paul surfaced, so I once again cooked up a feast of Bacon and Eggs and we had a very slow start to our final day, no one keen to start packing up.

Was actually a very civilised meal for a camp breakfast!!

As we were sitting there eating, Paul noticed that the back wheel of the quad bike was missing two bolts, with the last two about to fall off as well! We jacked it up using some wood and did a bush mechanics repair job on it, but I might need to get some new bolts for the next trip.

After breakfast and showers, I mentioned that I wouldn’t mind refilling the tanks in the van before we left so they were ready to go for next trip. We estimated there was about 2000 litres in the rainwater tank after the downpours of early January. Only need another 8000 litres to fill it, although that won’t take long through winter!!

I had purchased 100m of drinking water hose for the job. We had talked about it the day before, but after installing the water pump we simply couldn’t be bothered and thought that would be a good job for next trip. However the next thing you know, the three of us were running out the hose from the pump to the van, and installing a water tap.

Was great to have a couple of extra hands helping, even if it was heading back to the shed for the things we had forgotten. Paul was always very happy to ride the quad bike to collect stuff… I think he actually liked it!!

We sunk a shaft about 1m deep, dropped a post in it, installed the tap and an hour later we now have onsite water at the camp site!!

We filled the tanks, then hooked the hose directly to the van and confirmed we can run it as mains connected water…when the generator is powering the pump anyway!!

Pressure was good too 🙂

Job for next time will be to run power up from the generator and install a pole, as well as running it back to the shed for the pump. Really need to sink the hose too as it won’t last long sitting above ground in the sun. Might need to hire a trencher for the next trip 😉

Anyway, fun done and the day heating up, we slowly packed up and headed home. I think the boys had a good time, I know I did and I really appreciated the extra help to get a few jobs done… Can’t wait for the next trip and we will even have to convince them to bring the families up, the kids will have a ball.

Cheers

Categories: Adventures | Tags: BBQ, Little Duna, Violet Town | 3 Comments

Every trip is an adventure

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Craig

Once again we have returned from another few days at Little Duna. As the tittle says, every trip is an adventure, and this time we had an unexpected adventure on the way home no less… but more of that soon.

So, Tuesday afternoon we loaded the car to the brim and once again pointed North up the Hume towards Violet Town. The car was absolutely packed, with no trailer or caravan on the back this time, there was little space to move in the car. I even threw the water bladder on the roof of the car so we could refill the tanks in the van.

Plan for this trip was to spend Wednesday finishing the water tank, adding gutter guard to the shed roof to keep the leaves out and repair the battery in the spare van before heading home with our caravan on the back Thursday. After 3 months at the block, the van was in desperate need of a really good clean!!

We arrived about 7:30pm, and once I had filled the van’s water tanks, I headed off to the shed to get the quad bike and refuel the generator. It was already hot even at this time of night, still 32 degrees with the gentle breeze offering little more relief than a hairdryer!

As I opened the shed I noticed that a new family had moved in… the redbacks! That’s right, about 15 redback spiders had found a new dark place to hang out, and had spread themselves around the bottom of the shed about 1-2 metres apart. Not small ones either!! Each was about the size of a 50 cent piece!

All were females with the signature red stripe along their back, and of those that don’t know they are one of the few spiders in Australia you don’t want to be bitten by… used a good part of a can of fly spray removing them!

By the time I was done, it was almost dark, and it was Zac that first noticed an amazing full moon rising in the east. We tried to capture a good photo of it as it rose, but the photos just don’t do it justice. Fi tried several different setting on her camera, but it was really hard to get a good clear shot. Probably needed a trip-pod and telescopic lens to get a clean photo.

Most of these look more like the sun than the moon!! We did work out by mistake that you can get some cool effects if you move the camera on a long exposure setting…

Almost looks like lightning!!

Anyway, was a hot night in the van only getting down to about 20 degrees, and we slept with the windows open to try to get the breeze moving through.

On Wednesday, I woke early to try to get a few jobs done before the heat of the day. Forecast was for 38 degrees and showers, although we weren’t lucky enough to see any actual rain! Before breakfast, I had managed to blow the leaves out of the back gutter and install the gutter guard to keep any further leaves blowing in. Apart from blocking the rainfall, a gutter full of leaves is not something you want if there is a bushfire nearby.

After breakfast, I installed a new battery into the spare van (Brock ’05), then moved the van back about 3 to 4 metres so that we could at least get some morning sun on the solar panel. While I thought this might be a good time to get the van on some better ground, we realised that it was less about the fall of the ground and more about the twist in the van chassis. While it is nice, straight and level from the inside, it still looks terrible from the outside! I wish I had thought to get a photo. Oh well.

Working in the van was hot work even before I moved it into the sun, and I was a sweaty mess by the time I had finished. I think it would have been cooler if I was working in a sauna!! Man was it hot. I had a quick shower before Zac and I headed into town to get the pipe needed to finish hooking up the water tank.

While in town, we stopped at the cafe so I could get a decent coffee and we snuck in a few of the fried chicken wings we love… shh don’t tell anyone!!

So my afternoon was spent up and down the ladder running a pipe from the front gutter to the water tank and installing gutter guard along the front. It was very hot work and being in direct sunlight, I had to time when the sun went behind a cloud so it wasn’t so hot. Everytime the sun came out I would duck back down the ladder in into the shed until the next cloud came along. All afternoon on Facebook I was getting messages about the wild wet weather in Melbourne and wishing we could get some relief from the stinking 38 degree heat up North!! As I mentioned before even though we had rain forecast we didn’t even see a drop that day 🙁

I did get all my jobs done despite the heat, although I must have drank 15 litres of Powerade, soft drink, water and anything else I could get my hands on to try to stay hydrated!!

Poor Ruby was hot too, so I had to keep taking trips to the dam so she could swim. Dam had dropped about 30cm from the week before after the extreme conditions last weekend.

Kushi just hid under the caravan all day. At one stage feeling sorry for him I filled a powerade bottle and poured it all over him. I think he enjoyed being wet, although as dogs do he immediately ran away and rolled in the dirt… hopeless dog!!

While I was working, Fi finally gave into the nagging kids and agreed to take them into town for a swim.

When they returned, they had obviously been to the cafe as well, and I was thankful to spend a little while eating chips and fried chicken in the cool air-conditioned van.

So Thursday, something amazing happened. We managed to get on the road by 10am!!! That is just unheard of!! I woke about 7:30am to thunder in the distance, so got up and packed up everything outside just in case it rained. Nothing to worry about though as the storm going through Euroa must have missed us by about 1/2 a Kilometre!! No rain for us 🙁

Once everything was packed, I sprayed the last of the red back spiders in the shed and used a surface spray around the walls to make sure they don’t come back. I then locked up and had a shower all done by about 9am.

The family was starting to stir, but I couldn’t motivate them to get out of bed until I mentioned that if we moved, we might make it to breakfast menu at McDonalds!! “Hash Browns and Hotcakes” they cried as they lept from their beds!!

So it was that we left Little Duna at 10am and headed to Euroa for Breakfast.

All good and we were making good time down the freeway, in fact we had just come over the Great Dividing Range and I was thinking to myself how good it would be to be home by lunchtime and that I could spend the afternoon cleaning out the van when it happened…

I was overtaking a truck when suddenly I lost all power?? What the? That’s when I realised that the engine wasn’t running???

I put the hazards on and with some rolling difficulty managed to merge back over the left as impatient people just ignored my hazards and overtook me on the inside lane. Almost hit about 3 cars before it was clear enough to merge! I pulled up on the side of the road just in front of the 1km to Keilor turn off, put the car in park and re-started the car… “How strange” I thought and went to take off again when the car suddenly died. Tried the same again and once again the car died. We were stranded in a very thin emergency lane with cars and trucks whizzing by at 110kph.

So with no other choice, I called for Roadside assist. Was about 45 minutes before he appeared in front of us, and the car was starting to get hot in the 32 degree heat with all the kids and the dogs. I was able to get some small relief by running the car and air conditioner for about 15 to 20 seconds before the engine would conk out again. Roadside assist had a look and diagnosed it as a faulty alternator. Battery wasn’t getting enough juice to keep the engine running. We had no choice but to be towed.

Now, we realised the problem with the level of cover we have on my fleet car. I was told they would tow the car and the caravan (thank god), but we would have to catch and pay for a taxi ourselves!!! We were about 100kms away from home, so that was going to be expensive!!

Luckily, Fi was able to ring Mike and he picked up her car from home and drove out to pick us up. While we were waiting, I was told that I would have to go with the car to sort it out at the other end, leaving Fi, the kids and the dogs on the side of the road until Mike could get to her. Looking at the map, I noticed it was about a 3km walk into Wandong, so I suggested that Fi and the kids walk it out so at least they weren’t stuck on the freeway.

Reluctantly, Fi and the kids grabbed what they needed, put the dogs on their leads and started to walk. Was just as they disappeared around the corner about 100m in front that the tow truck arrived. We had almost finished hooking up the car and caravan when the phone rang… it was Fi. “There is a bridge we have to cross and it is pretty narrow… don’t think we can make it” she said. “Well come on back and you will have to sit” I told her.

They arrived just as we had finished with the car and caravan, and luckily the tow truck driver and his boss felt sorry for them, so Fi and the girls jumped in the back of the boss’s car, I loaded Ruby and Kushi into my car on the back of the tow truck and Zac and I jumped into the truck as they drove us 10km down the road to the Wallen BP.

Luckily Mike arrived just as I was about to take off in the tow truck, so Fi and the kids didn’t have to wait long. They all piled into the Carnival while I jumped in the tow truck for the trip back to Nissan Glen Waverley.

Was an interesting trip to say the least, you see the tow truck driver like to talk, and by liked to talk I mean constantly!!! I think the whole trip, the most I managed to get out was “yea” or “uh-ha” or “mmm”. By the time we arrived at Nissan I felt like I had known this bloke his whole life!!! I got it all, from his broken marriage, to the chooks he had at home, to his recent health scare that ended up being constapation to working as a tow truck driver and the fatalities on the road he had attended.

Was the nicest bloke in the world, but man could he talk!!!!

Anyway, we made it in the end and dropped the car and caravan at Nissan. Luckily they were able to look at it straight away and came to the same conclusion, it was the alternator and I had to leave the car overnight so they could order the part.

As for the caravan, well I didn’t want to leave it in the parking lot at Nissan overnight, so I sent Fi to Super Cheap Auto to buy a hitch coupling lock, then we left it for a few hours until Mark finished work and was able to drive out and rescue it.

What a day!! So much for leaving early, it was 4:30pm by the time I got home, and well after 7pm by the time we got the van!!!

Oh well, at least I was able to finish all my jobs at Little Duna and we did manage to get the caravan home eventually. As I finish writing this, I have just picked up my car from Nissan, so fingers crossed we are all good from here. I think I might look at some additional roadside assistance before the next outing though… at least one that will get us home!!

So now I am just watching the radar and hoping it will rain up north. Could really use some water in the tank given it is all hooked up properly now. There is only about a foot of water in the bottom, so while it should keep the tank down in a wind, it is barley covering the tap!! Not much useable water just yet but… fingers crossed we get some rain this weekend.

Until the next one 😀

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Australia, Little Duna, Poor Ruby, Violet Town | 1 Comment

Happy New Year

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Craig

Ok, ok, ok… I know I should have posted this about a week ago, but I’m on holidays and I’ve been really really busy (out-right lie) and just haven’t possibly had the time to post up here (another out-right lie…I’ve been lazy!!)

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone, let’s see what exciting adventures 2015 will bring.

So, last blog post I left you just before breakfast last Sunday. As promised, Fi cooked up a storm on the BBQ, although we once again had to pull out the annex on the side of the car to give us some cover. Was going to be 32 degrees that day, and it was already hot, especially when in the sun. We also used the car to act as a wind break given the gentle breeze blowing in was taking all the heat from the BBQ plate and driving Fi nuts!

Was just after breakfast as Fi, Zac and I were sitting there that I suddenly heard the wind starting to pick up. It was getting louder and louder and louder… I leapt out of my chair yelling to Zac “Grab the annex…” who in true teenager style answered “Huh?”

Didn’t take him long though as a massive gust of wind raced through the campsite. We managed to keep the annex on the car held down, although I had to leave Zac and Fi holding the poles and race over to grab the annex on the caravan which took off like a sail in the breeze.

The wind was incredible, and very strong, however it only lasted about 20-30 seconds then died away to nothing. Luckily there was no damage and a few minutes later everything was back to normal and like nothing had ever happened. Must have spooked Zac though as he kept talking about it for hours!

The rest of Sunday was spent trying to escape the dry heat of the day. Ruby and I made many trips to the dam so she could swim and cool off while Kushi tried to escape the heat by hiding under the caravan. Poor Ruby cut one of the pads on her paw, which slowed her down a little, although every time I jumped on the quad bike she just had to follow.

By the afternoon, everyone was on edge, so we packed the kids into the car and headed for the public swimming pool in Violet Town. The pool was great and a huge relief to get into the water to cool off. The kids had a ball playing on the tire tubes they had floating around the pool. Also, it wasn’t too packed, so we were able to enjoy the water without a thousand other people!

After a swim, we headed into town for a late lunch at the cafe. Chips with chicken salt and Zac and I just couldn’t resist the fried chicken wings again. They really are good 🙂

While it was a hot day in Violet Town, the night still cooled off and believe it or not we actually need a fire to keep warm!

Of course no fire would be complete without roasting marshmallows and we had found the giant ones at Costco. I should have gotten a photo of them, but lets just say you only need to roast one!!

Before retiring for the night, we covered the fire with dirt and poured 10 litres of water over the top to make sure it was well and truly out. Good thing too as Monday was even hotter than Sunday, 36 degrees and very windy. Perfect fire conditions with everything being so tinder dry!

Not wanting to spend another day in the heat and risk any bushfires, we packed up and headed home. The wind was really gusty and was picking up the dust in some amazing clouds. We took a lot of photos on Fi’s new camera, but I don’t have them here at the moment so I can’t upload them. Will try to remember to look for them later.

Anyway, while not at the block, on Tuesday we took the kids into South Warf to experience the Melbourne Star. While it was expensive at $97 for the family, it was an experience worth doing, although I think if you are considering trying it, go at night as I think the lights would make the experience so much better.

The ride itself took about 30 minutes to go around, and you are in the comfort of an air-conditioned capsule. While you reach a height of about 100m, the ride is going so slow at 1km per hour that it doesn’t even stop. You just step on and off as it was going around.

Was a great day out, and afterwards we drove home along the beach road, stopping to check out a few of the beaches where I used to dive. Unfortunately it was blowing a gale and the water was too rough to even put our toes in.

Wednesday was New Years Eve and we were joined by Bridget and Stu, Kate and Paul (Kate’s new man) and all the kids for a BBQ at our house. Was a great night and we ended up sitting out around the fire. Unfortunately, Bridget and Stu with such young kids had to retire about 11pm, but the rest of us didn’t crash until 3am! Was such a great night and so warm sitting around the fire. A great way to end 2014 and welcome in 2015 🙂

Now we were planning to return to Little Duna on New Years Day, but lets just say we were all a little slow after the night before… not much really happened that day!! Also, Friday and Saturday were stinking hot and would have been well over 40 degrees in Violet Town, with total fire bans and extreme fire danger forecast we decided to not risk it and stayed in Melbourne.

Instead, we spent some time swimming in David’s pool (the Neighbour) who was at Phillip Island for New Years and begged us to not leave the pool just sitting there unused on such a hot day!! Brian and Roxy (other neighbours) and their kids also joined us, and we ended up staying there until almost dark on Friday night having a swim, drink and a chat. The kids all had a ball.

We will need to head up to the block sometime this week, as I would like to bring the van home for a clean up and restock. Problem is it is hard to find a spare few days with so many parties and other engagements to attend to.

Oh well see how we go.

Cheers ’til next time.

Categories: Adventures | Tags: BBQ, Happy New | 2 Comments

Merry Christmas

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Craig

First of all a very Merry Christmas to everyone. Hope you all survived another Xmas with plenty of food, drink and cheer.

Wer had a great Christmas day at home with the Morton’s side for lunch. Fiona really out did herself this year cooking up an awesome feast including Lamb on the spit, Pork Belly and a bit of roast pork with lots of different salad dishes as well. Really enjoying the new found love of cooking 🙂

Was during lunch, I joked to David that as a mechanic he should be able to fix my generator for me… well he took it as a challenge and guess what…. he did!!! Fantastic!!! Turned out it was a poorly designed inline fuse with a wire that was too tight, so it had vibrated away from the fuse. Reconnected the two and ta-da!! The generator was humming away again. Glad I hadn’t paid the $350 it was going to cost me to send it back up to NSW!!

Good thing too, as when we got up here Boxing day, the battery in the van was absolutely Kaput! Would have been a very short trip without the generator!!

Anyway, as you have probably guessed by now (because I just mentioned it) we are back up here at Little Duna.

Was a slow start Boxing Day, thankfully the head wasn’t sore, but I had to go get the trailer from Kim and Anthony’s so we could lug the generator up. Was a pretty full load we had too, as the van was already up here, anything we wanted to bring had to come in the car. In the end we had the trailer full, the roof top bag on the roof rack full of our clothes and bedding, as much food as we could think to take on the floor beneath the kids feet, and the dogs in the back. Took the best part of the day to pack and we were on the road by about 3:30pm.

Was an easy trip up, not that much traffic on the road, and no trucks given it was Boxing day. We took our time and arrived in Violet Town about 5:30pm. Now Fi and the kids hadn’t seen the shed yet, so as I came up the drive I said “Here look at that good looking shed…” then “What the hell???”

One of the roller doors was wide open. I parked the car and leapt out to investigate…. Luckily the quad bike was still exactly where I had left it, and even the rubbish I had left around it hadn’t moved. In fact it looked exactly as it did the day I drove out last time, with a good coat of dust, leaves and cob webs. No idea how long the door had been up, as I was sure I had locked it when I left, but maybe I hadn’t latched it properly and the wild winds were enough to shake it open. The doors are spring loaded, so without the catch they will shoot straight open. Very strange, but not much we can do beyond making really sure they are closed properly before we leave this time.

The good news though is that the kids love the shed. It has already become a place to hang out, and the girls are using it for all the arts and craft they received over Xmas.

The place is tinder dry at the moment, although it does resemble what it looked like when we first saw the place. While the grass is long in the field, it is not too bad and actually looks worse than it is, although I wouldn’t want to be here if a fire came through. What we have seen is an absolute plague of rabbits! They are everywhere, and last night as we were having our dinner, Fi and Zac spotted a fix in the distance. Kush being the tough dog he is went off to investigate, so I had to follow on the quad bike to make sure the fox bolted. Ruby would be ok, but I think little Kushi as tough as he is would end up a tasty meal for a fox!

We caught up with Jan last night and finally met her partner John as they were out watering the plants around the dam. They told us that there was a rabbit plague at the moment and invited me to shoot as many as I can… including on her property!! Unfortunately though Jess wasn’t so keen on the idea, so that might have to be something for a trip without the kids! She also said the fox which I think was the same one I spotted last time was living around her creek bed, and I was welcome to remove him as well!

Anyway, yesterday was spent exploring the block and relaxing. The dams are down even further than last time, but not as empty as I have seen them at the end of summer. In the front dam I found a yabby net. Not sure where it had come from as it wasn’t there earlier, although it did look like it had been sitting in the water for awhile. It has either been so deep we never spotted it before, or maybe one of the locals were trying their luck in the dam? Either way, it is n=mine now 🙂 Might load it up with some meat and give it a go myself, you just never know!

After lunch yesterday, we took a trip into Benalla for some supplies from Coles. While Fi went shopping, I took the kids and dogs for a walk through the Botanical Gardens by the river. Was a lovely walk and we saw lots of different ducks and bird life along the river. Unfortunately, it was as Fi drove away that I realised that the camera was still in the car, so I wasn’t able to get any photos 🙁

Still we had a great time even though it was very hot. The days here are warm with the mercury sitting around 30, although as soon as that sun drops so does the temperature, so we are still lighting a fire for warmth each night (after checking the fire restrictions of course!!). Just need to make sure it is well and truly out before we retire for bed.

Anyway, I feel like I have jumped around all over the place writing this… must be hungry, so I might go and see if I can convince Fi to get out of bed and cook some breakfast again as she did yesterday.

Last minute addition, as I was about to post, Fi sent me some of the photos from her new camera, which I will add below.

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Boxing Day, Fantastic Turned, Little Duna, Pork Belly | 2 Comments

Fire Contained

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Craig

Just checked the CFA website and it appears the fire is contained.

All good until the next one!!

Categories: Adventures | Tags: CFA | Leave a comment

Fire Season is here….

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Craig

Not sure if having the CFA app alerting me to every fire around the block is a good thing or not!!!

One of these is only 2.6km away!!!

My phone is going nuts with all of these just popping up in the last 20 minutes!!! Hope it is not a fire bug lighting them!!!

Not good and hope they can get it under control quickly. There are 7 trucks battling the close one and it is already 0.01 Hectares in size!

All we can do is watch and pray.

Categories: Adventures | Tags: CFA | 4 Comments

The Shed

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Craig

Finally, after months of waiting, mid last week I got an email from Ranbuild with the final payment for the shed. It is done 🙂

Now before I make the final payment, I was pretty keen to lay eyes on the shed and see just what sort of a job they had done, so I took a day of annual leave Friday and headed up the Hume to Violet Town. Weather was fantastic, steadily climbing to 35 degrees as I headed over the great divide, and it was already hot by the time I arrived at Little Duna about 10am.

As I pulled up the drive, there it was, finally we had a shed.

Parking the car near the camp, I headed straight over to have a look at it. Quickly found where the keys were and attempted to open the roller doors… hmm key won’t turn!!

Cursing, I tried every key on the key ring to be sure and inspected the locks from the inside to see if there was a trick. Nope, and the keys all matched the lock, so they must be right. So with nothing else to do, I pulled out a screw driver and proceeded to dismantle the lock. Was once I had it apart that I realised the door was spring loaded and you have to hold them down with your foot before unlocking them… hehe… I felt pretty foolish, but quickly put the lock together again and opened and tested the doors. All good 🙂

Next thing was to fix the quad bike. I had left the replacement shock absorber up here on the last trip, but didn’t feel like trying to fit it in the rain. This time I was able to sit comfortably in my shed and work on the bike. Was so much nicer than sitting in the dirt!!

When I went to remove the bike from under the tarp where it has lived for the past 6 months, a family of about 4 or 5 rabbits came running out. They were only babies, probably no bigger that 10cm! Sorry rabbits you’ll have to find a new home now as the bike is now going to live in the shed 🙂

Took me about an hour to fix the quaddie, then I took the bike for a quick spin around the block for a look. Man is it dry! The dams looked like they had dropped about 30cm since the last time I was up there!!

Anyway, back to the shed where my next job was to tackle the water tank. Now it was a lot heavier than I remembered it, but I was able to push and shove it and get it into place. I had bought a selection of tools with me, but of course was half way up the Hume when I realised I had left my hole saw at home 🙁 So, I took a quick trip into the Violet Town hardware store. I also had a quick look and found a galvanised gutter that looked perfect for redirecting the water from the gutters into the tank. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long enough and I managed to break the join trying to make it fit.

Another trip into the hardware store (this time inspecting every tank I could see on the road) and I got the PVC pipe I needed to make it work. Was very hot going in the blazing sun, but I finally managed to connect all the fittings and install the water tank.

So now we are praying for rain!!! Amazing the difference a couple of months can make!!

Was just sitting in my shed listening to the sounds of the bush when I saw a scuffle in the middle of the block where a number of large black birds are normally grazing. I thought it was strange, but it was too hot to go investigate.

My last job for the day was to empty the trailer of wood that I had bought up with me. I unloaded the wood and carefully stacked it near the campfire…. or rather I just threw it into a pile without a care…. it was just too hot!!!

As I was waling back to the car and the shed a movement through the trees caught my eye and to my amazement I saw a fox bounding through the property!! Guess I know what that scuffle was then!!

I ran back to the car and grabbed the .22

The fox was sitting near the driveway, but as I lined him up, a big truck went past on the road. Once the truck had past, I quickly lined him up and took a shot…. but missed and sent him running off through the neighbours property… Fox got lucky this time!!

My day was done, so I packed my tools away, locked up the vans and the shed. As usual I had to stop at Eurora for fuel, and it was while I was topping up the tank that I suddenly realised that I had left the trailer back at the block!!!!

Grr… drove back down the road to get the trailer, and it was about 7pm by the time I got back on the road and headed home.

I’ll add some photos of the shed to the end of this post.

Cheers