Day 85 Woodford Friday 31st August 2012

Hi folks,

We had a short shower of thundery rain last night at about 2am. Big drops. I should have known this would happen since for the first time in ages I had the battery charger and the 240 volt leads out. By the time I had them packed away the rain had stopped.

Today I cut tiles for the bathroom and toilet and Susan glued them on until we ran out of glue. I am mastering the tile cutter although every now and then they don't snap as they should with pieces flying everywhere. We also nailed up some cover strips under the front verandah. This involved moving the mobile scaffold and then using the nail gun. The cover strips were hardwood and bowed and the battens holding the sheets were not close enough to the edge to nail to in some instances. Anyway they are up and I have no hesitation in giving myself the striped apron award.

This afternoon after going to Woodford to buy essentials, expresso, nurofen and chocolate I went fishing. The yabby nets contained ample sprats for bait and a decent size blue claw. The fishing hole contained a lot of water and no fish.

That is the news of the day. The pictures were taken on my way back from fishing!

night folks

Simon.

Blue moon moonrise by Simon

Moonrise over Mount Beerwah

I wonder if Neil Armstrong had a hand in this moon rise!

Sunset by Susan

Day 84 Woodford Thursday 30th August 2012

Hi folks,

This morning I did a bit of light woodwork to stop the new 2nd hand replacement oven falling out of the kitchen cupboard space in the house. A couple of wood blocks, a bracing beam and a 40 mm off the cupboard door above it and it is in. It does jut out a fair bit though. Susan was working all on her lonesome in the house laying tiles on the bathroom floor. When I finally got down there I did a flurry of cutting so we could get a bit more of the kitchen finished.

We said farewell to Ian this morning. he is heading to Brisbane then Melbourne then back to the UK next week.

The kitchen (flash pictures taken after sunset)

The bathroom

This afternoon I spent considerable time fiddling with the solar which I didn't feel was performing as it should. A lot of measurements and alterations but no conclusions. Since the car 2nd battery was a bit depleted (running the fridge in the warm weather and not much driving) I hauled out the battery charger and used the 240 to charge it. It's now topping up the camper battery which wasn't too bad.

It was warm today around 27 I think. It was still in the 20's at 8pm. I was feeling a bit warm although I am unsure if it is the weather or I may be contracting the rampaging virus. Time will tell.

Us old people are feeling the effects of our labours as evidenced by the fact we have run out (nearly) of Nurofen. The joys of the advancing years.

Two of the ponies that Susan has taken a liking to

Nikki and Hannah with "Reef"

The tame magpie which shows up every couple of days

No fishing report today as I ran out of time!

night folks

Simon

Day 83 Woodford Wednesday 29th August 2012

Hi Folks,
this week is zooming by. Susan and I worked on the tiling today, with the focus being on the walls. The non working tile cutter was located and despite never having used one before (always used a cut off wheel) it worked for me. Made things a lot easier. I measured and cut, Susan glued. To be continued tomorrow.

Tiles!

Tile cutter !

Ian working on the railing

Ian again

Grey fantail on a branch over the snag filled hell hole

After returning from town for a beer run I toodled down fishing stopping to retrieve some sprats from my shrimp trap to tempt the elusive cod. The once fertile idyllic fishing hole has now transformed to a snag filled hell hole. Well not quite but I think it has been drained of fish. Not a bite in nearly two hours. Tomorrow i shall fish the other hole using the same techniques hopefully with better results

Ian departs tomorrow. His industrious carpentry skills will be missed. We had a roast vegetable and chicken dinner tonight to celebrate followed by dessert.

The weather continues fine and sunny. There is mention of this dry spell on the news. Last rain in Brisbane was around 50 days ago! Long may it continue.

Night folks

Simon

Day 82 Woodford Tuesday 28th August 2012

Evening all,
Not much to report today.
Susan spent the morning tiling the kitchen. My contribution was wrestling with the "tile cutter" while at the same time fitting the cover strips around the back of the shelves in the pantry. I had to clean up the wood first in the thicknesser which made a lot of shavings.

Cover strips - exciting huh?

Susan's tiling - good visual impact!

Tile cutter - red tote bin contains water

The tiling turned out pretty well. There is a fair bit of cutting to do tomorrow to finish off. One thing when you travel it pays to take your own PPE (personal protective equipment). I carry gloves, goggles and ear muffs (also handy when I use my chain saw) and safety boots. With the wide range of jobs we have to do it's better safe than sorry.

Some maximum magnification photos on the Nikon

A bit closer

We had a lazy afternoon and headed down to the river with Nickey for some platyus spotting. The dog came with us and did its best to scare the inhaibtants. However after a patient wait Nickey got to see and photograph a platypus. I took the opportunity to move my yabby pots. Should be a good supply of sprats for live bait tomorrow afternoon.

That's it for now!

Simon

Day 81 Woodford Monday 27th August 2012

Hi folks,

Today - I finished filling some gaps in the shelves, took over some painting when Susan's shoulder was sore and nailed down the fibre board in the kitchen on to which Susan and I will lay the tiles. Susan finished her painting and started laying down some tiles in the planning phase of the tiling.

After lunch I drained the water tank on the trailer since I put some dam water in there the other day. I didn't know dam water was coming from that tap. Seeing as the dam looks a bit manky and is full of bird life I thought it would be a good idea to empty it. I dosed the tank with some Milton this morning before I did so.

We have new neighbours adjacent our tent. Nicky and her daughter Hannah who have come from NZ. They are in a Jayco camper borrowed from her brother who lives on the Gold Coast. He drove them and it up here. The camper shades the area where I have my solar panels so I will investigate moving them to the paddock out the front. As long as I have enough cable it should be fine.

Susan went into town to post a letter this afternoon and took Nicky and Hannah with her, while I went fishing. The fish are definitely learning. I only had one medium catfish and an under size callop that looked suspiciously like the one I caught the other day. I was cursing that I did not take my camera. As soon  I arrived I would have had a great shot of an azure kingfisher and then some great platypus shots. One came past me to the next pool and on it's way back stopped on a log and had a good scratch. It then proceeded to swim straight past me about a metre from my feet! Sitting on the sloping sand bank on a bend in the river was quite idyllic. It was calm enough to see the bubbles rising from the submerged playtypus. Very relaxing.

Tea tonight was spagbol which was tasty followed by meringues, strawberries, cream and chocolate flakes.

Tomorrow the tiling, hopefully with out trauma.

Night folks

Simon

PS We have finally finished the 60 hours plus of the Bryce Courtenay talking book trilogy, Potato Factory, Tommo & Hawk and Solomon's Song. The story of the Solomon family over 3 generations set against the early history of Australia from Transportation from England to Tasmania, from whaling to the New Zealand Maori wars, the Gold rush and through to Gallipoli and the war in Europe. Very detailed and an enjoyable listen. We shall miss the saga.

Day 80 Woodford Sunday 26th August 2012

Evening folks,
I have a headache so tonight's blog will be circumspect.
After breakfast we headed into Woodford. Funny when we first drove through it it looked surprisingly large. Heading back today it looked much smaller. The brain is a funny thing and mine is funnier than most.

We retraced our steps northward from Woodford intending to go to Maleny. However the turn off signpost wasn't specific enough so we ended up at Kilcoy where we had coffee and morning tea. We retraced our steps once again and turned down the correct road although we did by pass Maleny and travelled across the Bruce Highway towards Caloundra and hence up towards Maroochydore. This road is one large shopping strip that goes for kilometres. We invoked he mercy rule before Maroochydore turning around and heading back up the road. I stopped at Tackle World to replenish my hook and line stocks. I also stopped at the Australian Offroad Campers factory to peer longingly through the fence at the Quantum. Back to reality we crossed back over the highway and had a Subway lunch.

Exhibit at the war memorial in Woodford

You can't see them but there are rubber pads fitted to the tracks for onroad use i guess.

It was then on to Maleny. We had an ice cream at the cafe suggested by Des. The queue indicated that the ice creams were good and they were. We wandered up and down the shops with the highlight for us being the David Linton furniture and timber works. Some magnificent pieces.
On our way back to the car one of those strange coincidences of life occurred. We bumped into Angela whom we knew in Nubeena from our time at the Motel. She had moved to Queensland while we were there.  What are the odds of us all being in the same place at the same time. Contact details were exchanged and we will see if we can catch up while we are in the area.

We returned to base. Tea was the fish I caught the other day. I am pleased to report the catfish was good and the bass better.

night folks
Simon

Day 79 Woodford Saturday 25th August 2012

Evening folks,

Another warm sunny day in SE Queensland. Susan mislead me about our working arrangements. We do have tomorrow off but actually had to work extra today to make up for it!

Susan spent most of the day painting under the eaves or should I say repainting,. She used the undercoat yesterday but was supposed to not have painted them at all since they had already been painted. It wasn't her fault, she was lead astray by Des and corrected today by Irene. The rest of the time she was painting the steel under the house with primer and a nice blue topcoat from a tin I think that was used by Noah.
I was nominated to build some shelves in the pantry with some fairly non specific requirements. The shelving material was reclaimed laminex shelving supported by some home grown, sawn and planed timber. I spent all day on this and it is not quite finished. The shelves weren't big enough for the space and the space was not plumb being deeper at the top. Of course the support timber was bowed as well. However I proceeded in good humour and it turned out pretty reasonable. Some no more gaps and a coat of paint and it will be passable. I also used a nail gun for the first time.

The happy painter

Caught her using a large pipe wrench to bash the lid on

Shelves! the curved uprights are actually an artifact from the camera lens

Note the joins in the shelves

I think this cow had been munch senna pods, nasty!

The late finish meant no fishing for me which means I don't have to wrestle with filleting catfish tonight. The yabby traps have been unproductive apart from some small sprat fish.

Tomorrow we will take a tour around the area so there should be some good pictures around the Glasshouse Mountains tomorrow night.

night folks

Simon

Day 78 Woodford Friday 24th August 2012

Hi readers,

Last nights winds gave way to a fairly calm mild day. With cloud that dispersed as the day went on.

I managed one "blue claw" the traditional yabby as seen in SA. They also have Red Claw here a crayfish but a different a different cherax species which i don't think occurs this far down. I chucked it back in in the net to retrieve later.

Task wise, I was allocated to help Katy with the gyprock cornice installation she and Chris started the other day. The first piece we (she) cut had the cornices all wrong and she admitted she hadn't really been paying attention the day before. I always have to concentrate with mitre joints and with curved cornice I have to concentrate even harder. Anyway I worked it out and marked the cut positions on the mitre box jig and it went very smoothly with all the cornices we could cut being mounted on nails ready to be glued. Susan after some earlier cleaning of the work area hopped into under coating firstly under the eaves and then the metal work below the floor.

Fishing after lunch was delayed by the moving of a fairly large fibreglass water tank on the little tray top truck to the new house. It was all hands on deck to lift it on a task that was made easier when Susan suggested tilting it on its bottom edge and reversing the truck up and levering it on over the edge.
Des tied a rope around it. I suggested if the tank was to move it might be better untied since it would fall of the truck, tied on the truck might tip over with it. Anyway it never looked like falling off.

On to the fishing. On my return to the nets the yabby had escaped but I did have some very small bait fish and a small cod in the traps. The cod was liberated to the main steam since the oxbow lakes are drying up.

Catfish! I think a beard trim is in order (for me not the fish)
Species is  Tandanus tandanus which is the same catfish from the  Murray in SA

Fishing around the tree snags was  bit of a trauma with breaking of lines and lost hooks. Another first today. The first river dweller I caught was a tortoise and he was not happy! Fortunately only just nicked by the hook so released without drama. Then followed a medium catfish also released. I messed around with a float rig to drift a few little live baits past the trees. It got branched and broken off even though only set 60 cm deep. Susan was sceptical about me getting the float back by casting a heavier line with a split shot and a hook on it on the big rod. After about 5 casts I hooked it and yanked it free. I still have the touch. As dusk approached I cast into a different portion of the stream since I worked out it was deeper than the snaggy bit. The result was the catfish in the photo. I am guessing in excess of 2 kgs. I chucked it in the bucket and the skinned fillets now reside in the fridge. The worst part of the fishing is returning on dusk and having to clean fish in the dark. The yabby pots are now in a different hole. Only one bait size one so far. I am still itching to catch a Mary River Cod!

Weather report is excellent for the weekend plus i believe we have some time off.

night folks

Simon

Day 77 Woodford Thursday 23rd August 2012

Howdee folks,

From a very breezy canvas hut. Looks like we are copping the northern end of what you folks down south have been having. However it is still quite mild so far.

Today's tasks, Simon completed the last step tread, installed some cover stripping in a built in pantry shell, and started nailing in some framing above a door. One of the drawbacks of making your own wood is that the thickness can be quite variable and if it is not properly seasoned it splits. Both these conspired to make the tasks harder than they could have been. I shall remove the split noggin tomorrow and try again. Susan did more painting this time undercoating under the verandah roof with a roller. She now has a recurrence of "sheet folders shoulder" Nurofen, massage and sympathy are called for.

Hey ho, hey ho, it's off to ........

The shrinking river, in flood it fills this channel easily

The master fisher in action, oh wait it's only me 

A fairly hefty catfish and a gooby hat

Nice pan size Australian Bass

After lunch I adjourned to the Stanley River after showering since time seems to vanish in the late afternoon and there has been a funny smell following me around. Susan popped back to recoat the inside of the pantry, showered and then joined me down by the river. She showed good style netting a large catfish. The fish tally today was one bass and 3 or 4 catfish, 2 of them fairly hefty. I chucked the catties back although based on today's lunch they seem quite edible, Think of them as an Australian version of basa. I managed to also hook a large number of tree branches in the cod catching hole including one with another expensive lure. I am going to have to rethink, the unweighted line, letting the bait drift around in the current, scenario in this area. I am determined to catch a cod while we are here. It may be my best opportunity to do so ever. We also saw a playpus paddling around about 30 minutes before sunset. Susan shot a video of the spreading water ripples after it had dived under.

After tea I baited up the yabby nets and walked across the paddocks in the dark to a cut off oxbow lake. I checked this afternoon and there were yabby holes around the edge. Wisdom is it is too cold for yabbies at the moment. I am hoping the shallowness of the water may counteract this. I will check them in the morning before breakfast. Hopefully no eels !

night folks

Simon

Day 76 Woodford Wednesday 22nd August 2012

Hi Folks,
The weather was a bit weird overnight. Could hear plopping noises which was fog condensing on the tree above us and falling as drops. The fog eventually burnt off by 9.

We started our HelpX proper today. We are working on a house being built at the front of the property.
Susan was painting steelwork under the house and later the treads for the steps. I was assembling the treads onto the steel support brackets. We were up at 630 for an early breakfast and started work at 730. Work ceased just after 1130 for lunch and the rest of the day was ours.

Stairway to heaven

ET phone home

Painting , painting,  painting

Ttelephoto of Mount Beerwah while walking down to fish

Small callop

A foot and a half of catfish

Australian Bass

Looking downstream

Productive hole

I took the opportunity to haul out my fishing gear and go dig some worms from the vegetable patch. While Susan read her book and dozed in the sun I adjourned to the bottom of the property to the Stanley River. The main catch was around 10 catfish all of which were returned to the water, a small callop and the highlight a nice pan sized bass. The first I have ever caught. Susan strolled down later in the afternoon and we returned to the house about 5 after the bait supply was exhausted. Will have to dig more tomorrow! I am feeling lucky and hoping to bag a cod! The only downside today was losing an expensive Rapala lure. I cast it across the stream hit tree branches and miraculously jerked it free only to  do the same thing next cast getting it well and truly stuck. I did start to cross the river over a fallen tree trunk but common sense prevailed and I snapped it off. Bass fillets for breakfast in the morning.

All in all an excellent day at the office.

night folks

cheers Simon

Day 75 Woodford Tuesday 21st August 2012

Evening folks,
from our next locality Woodford. We packed and departed with reasonable efficiency this morning aided by the lightest of dews. We left at 1040 after saying our goodbyes and paused for expresso on the way.

The trip was uneventful apart from some excitement when trying to avoid the toll road. I was in the wrong lane and despite the opinion of the passenger that the sign-age was clear, it wasn't. We went through the airport tunnel a toll road. However the neon sign declared it was toll free until August 22nd so we dodged a minor bullet there.

"Heading down the highway"

Brisbane - Just passing

This appeared to be some sort of nautical themed bridge over the road

The pointy thing is Mount Beerwah  a volcanic plug in the Glasshouse Mountains

After travelling around 160km we arrived at our new host and met the principals Des and Irene. There are several other people here so I have a lot of names to remember, Ron, Marion, Ian, Chris and Katy. The block the property is on is narrow compared to it's one kilometre depth which ends at the Stanley River. It has been flooded nearly 20 times by the river in the past 2 years. Thankfully it is fairly dry and the river low at the moment. The livestock consists of horses,cows and geese.

We wandered down to the Stanley River with Irene to see how Chris was going with the fishing. He caught a catfish while we were there and several bass while we weren't. On the weekend he caught a 5kg cod and was broken off by a larger one today. I shall be digging worms after work tomorrow and breaking out my rods and landing net!
Speaking of work it starts at 730 so we have the alarm set for 630 for breakfast so it now being 930 it is bedtime!

Night folks

Simon

Day 74 Nerang Monday 20th August 2012

Evening folks,
Another short post tonight.
Pleasant surprise this morning. The porridge was already made. Michelle cooks it for the kids so she made extra! Just the right amount for me.
After some pottering and listening to the bobcat guy smooth out the gravel he delivered yesterday the 4 of us toodled down to Michelles's Shop in Southport. We spent some time chatting and perusing before hopping back in the car. I drove around Surfers Paradise for a while before we headed back to Nerang. I am not going to comment on Surfers, it is what it is. Couldn't see my self living there though.

Unknown red flower in the garden

Emerald Waters on the Nerang - Broadbeach road

Surfers, where else?

What the?

After lunch Susan and I popped down to the post office and had an expresso before returning to Nerang. Susan snoozed in the camper while I attacked the door hinges on the car with some non sticky lubricant and spent the best part of an hour removing road grime and some Fraser Island scratches from one door on the Pajero. A slow tedious process with a clay bar and polishing paste.

That's it for the day. Tomorrow we head NW of Brisbane to Woodforde for a HelpX. Should not be a dew tonight so all things being equal we might get away early, well before 11 maybe!