Big Red

Wyaralong Dam

2012-01-06T13:51:00.000-08:00

I had passed the dam during construction and had a quick look while passing one day and thought it could make for some interesting photos at sunset/sunrise.
I noticed that there was free camping, clean toilets and a couple of nice flat grassy campsites with the best one [refered to by the ranger as the penthouse suite] being up close to the road at the end of the small camping area.

I was working at Toowoomba on friday so decided to camp at the dam after work and invited Jo and Ron along to share.
>

The dam is only 14kms from Beaudesert and has excellent phone coverage.

Link to larger map:
http://www.seqwater.com.au/public/sites/default/files/userfiles/file/pdfs/WD_RecreationalFacilities__Trail_Network_Overview_110606.pdf

Straight after work i headed directly to the site and was lucky enough to grab the Penthouse suite...

Jo and Ron arrived soon after and we set up our swags on the short green grass.

My swag was a brand new one so it was to be its maiden voyage [I had lost my custom Red one on 30-12-11 up in the Victorian High Country]
The Darche AWOL has a full length cover and mesh so it can be opened right up.

After setting up Ron and I walked down a bit closer to the wall for a look.

Looking back over the camping area was not a very welcome sight ...

We headed back to batten down the hatches as the first of the very large drops started to hit ... then it bucketed down ...

The swags were drenched in seconds ... for mine it was getting a good seasoning as it had not been wetted down as yet...

The sun was soon out again and the swags were dry a short time later...

It wasn't looking good for sunset shots as the the next lot of showers headed our way

We had a couple of instances of colour as the sun went down but mainly it was just grey.

We spent most of the evening in the shelter of the BBQ shed with our cheese, meats and biccies just chatting before retiring to the swags ...
I was pretty happy that mine seemed nice and dry inside.

After testing it out overnight i found it very comfortable and easy to use.
I came from a Custom Built Swag so this swag has a lot to live up to.

Being extremely picky i found a few niggling things that are not really a problem but more a product of the design and are more a compromise that a problem.

.The mesh is very tightly woven and restricts air flow. keeps everything out though.

.The cover and mesh will touch your shoulder if you lay on your side, mossies might bite through it.

The head piece is hard to velcro shut to the top cover unless the mesh is zipped shut and the rope is loosened up ... may not be a problem from the inside though but i didn't test it from that side.

All in all it seems like a great swag that doesn't pool even with the huge downpour we had.
Price was excellent at $239:00 including High Density mattress and a free swag bag.

Next Morning Ron found a Green Tree Frog when he opened up the back door of the Prado ...

After brekkie we wander down to the base of the dam and noticed hundreds of birds lining the wall ...

I moved in for a closer view ...

As we headed back to the cars all the birds took off at one creating a unique spectacle...

Then it was time to head for home.
Even with the rain it was a great night away from the hustle and bustle :)

Pic a Day 2012

2012-01-01T01:27:00.000-08:00

Pic a Day 2012
I thought i would try and do another Pic a Day.

1-1-12
Grafton double decker bridge ...

2-1-12
Redmaker ...

3-1-12
Standout ...

4-1-12
Medieval ...

5-1-12
Back to nature ...

6-1-12
Red Balloons ...

7-1-12
Attack of the Birds ...

8-1-12
Nachos ...

9-1-12
mates ...

10-1-12
tubes ...

11-1-12
poles ...

12-1-12
Palms ...

13-1-12
Hinze Dam ...

14-1-12
Rescue ...

15-1-12
Window ...

16-1-12
Waves ...

17-1-12
Paddle wheel ...

18-1-12
Canefields ...

19-1-12
Anchored ...

20-1-12
Pond ...

21-1-12
horizon ...

22-1-12
nearly ...

23-1-12
flags ...

24-1-12
Torrential downpour on my ute ...

25-1-12
Results of all the rain ...

26-1-12
Floodacide ...

27-1-12
Ipswich ...

28-1-12
beach ...

29-1-12
Wet n Wild ...

Xmas Road Trip 2011 part three

2011-12-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

It was time to head for home but i thought i might go via Wonnongatta Station in the high country because i had not been there before and had heard it was a hard drive in.

On a side note ... after yesterdays effort and last nights sleep i'm in a world of hurt ...
Can hardly move but its just aching, no intense pain.
takes five minutes to get out of the Ute ... LOL

Thursday 29-12-11 I started heading towards the High Country and saw these in the distance so thought i would go have a look ...

sure are big buggers

and thats one of the small ones ..

but at least i didn't have to walk far ... LOL

I saw a sign for Agnes Falls so went and had a look at them ... apparently they are the highest falls in Victoria sure don't look very big!

some nice views on the way back down to the highway ...

Following along the coast i spotted this old Pier ...

sure goes out a long way ...

Last night was the first chance i've had to have an actual campfire
Also found a big hand held spotlight someone had left behind
found a little side track near Licola ...

Devils Elbow ...

Topped up with Diesel at Licola ...

Heading towards the Pinnacles i passed lots of dead trees from the fires ...

I walked in to Moroko Hut crossing a little wooden bridge ...

Moroko Hut ...

Next up i passed Horseyard Flat Hut ...

Currently having a look at The Pinnacles and posting as there is a good signal up here ...

Not a bad view from up here ...

The Ranger on fire lookout ...

Looks like i'm heading down this way ... sounds interesting apparently!

Leaving the Pinnacles i turned left into Billy Goats Bluff track passing a couple of cars just before the down hill started ...
the track follows the ridge line down down down ... i was in first low with the brakes on for a lot of the track ... man its steep ... and a bloody long way ... a bit shorter if you fall over the side though ... LOL

This is up near the top and your heading to the flats at the bottom on the right of the pic...

Off i headed ...

About two thirds of the way down you come to a bare Knob where the track turns sharp right ...

You can see the Pinnacles up to the top left ...

The track you follow down is very steep, rough and rocky so traction was pretty good ... i had to keep it slow though as the leaf springs tend to start dancing across the top and it pick up speed in a hurry

Sadly ... somewhere after this i lost my swag ...
You can see that the swag has slipped out of the ropes and turned to the side but i didn't notice it until i got to Wonnongatta ruins a few hour later.

While looking for the Eaglevale Track i spotted an old swing bridge that leads to Dungeys Hut ...

Just downstream is a River crossing so i took that and was soon climbing the range to Cynthia Range Track where i turned left and followed it to Wombat Spur track and was soon at the ruins of the old Wonnangatta Station ruins...
not much left of the old homestead now ...

There is a hut there though ...

And the "Friends of Wonnangatta" mob make sure the Cemetery is well kept ...

It was about now that I discovered my missing swag and a quick look back through my pics showed it was still on the roof way back at the Helipad on Billy Goat Bluff so i headed back.

When I crossed the river at the swing bridge a couple of campers reckoned there was nothing on the roofrack when I crossed so I kept going all the way back to the Helipad with no sign of it

Bugger, no where to sleep now and the ranger at the Pinnacles said it was 10 degrees the night before so i took the track towards Dargo then down to Beaconsfield to refuel body and Ute ... I had intended on driving a fair way overnight but got sleepy so made my bed on a pile of grass clippings someone had dumped at a roadside stop.

Next morning had me thinking "no bed sucks" so I set the Nav for home and headed towards Cann River passing some fog filled valleys ...

I turned left at Cann River passing an old Post office ...

Driving along i saw a shortcut towards Jindabyne and thought "Kosciuszsko ... never been there, ain't gunna make it home before bed time anyway, how hard can it be?" LOL

so I turned left passing an old Railway siding at Jincumbilly ...

I passed through Dalgetty crossing the Snowy River...

I stopped and paid my entrance fee [$16.00] at the park entrance then hit the winding road up into the mountains as far as i could drive to Charlottes Pass where i had a bit of trouble finding room to park in amongst all the other tourists

I watched as a group of superfit Ladies limbered up all dressed in their special hiking boots, lycra pants, moisture wicking shirts, lightweight daypacks and impressive walking sticks ...

I set off on the walk, 9 Km to the top but the scenery is pretty impressive and the walking was on a "management only" road.

A couple of Kms later i thought "bugger the knees, i can pass them" so i picked up the pace and a couple of K's later finally passed them with a cheery hello ... pfft ... who says a seriously unfit 55 year old bloke in steel cap work boots, king gee work pants, a Papa Smurf tee shirt and one of the kids old school bags can't outpace a bunch of ladies who obviously do this sort of thing quite often
[OK, the youngest was about 80 LOL ]

Then, off in the distance, i could see a group of mid 20's hikers with well used but good quality gear walking like they do in the Olympic walking races so i set my sights on passing them too
I picked up the pace and as i got closer the knees were giving me hell as i climbed steadily but i held my back straight and plowed on giving them a smug nod as i passed them [ on their downhill walking the other way LOL ]

I was surprised that it was only a series of rolling hills and although i could not see the summit yet it did look like there was some snow around.

At the half way point you cross over the Snowy River ..

There is Seamans Hut on the next ridge ...

With only 2 Kms to go you could see lots of people on top of the summit

They have built an underground structure at Rawson Pass which includes public toilets ...

From here the track gets a bit steeper and they use that stupid plastic mesh which would be ok if they kept it full but it sticks up an inch or so waking it easy to trip on and when you step on it it folds over ...

Then it changes to paving with flat rocks and even a small section of steel mesh grid

As i neared the top several hundred Crows flew noisily over head as if to trumpet in the victorious lone hiker's momentous achievement ...

or maybe they just like being part of the crowd

I waited for a gap in the crowd but there were never less than a hundred or so people milling around so had no chance of a nudie pic

It was hard enough just getting to one of the four sides of the marker

Any way ... i had reached the highest point in Australia at 2228 Metres

[I wonder when they're gonna rename it? ]

Well you know what they say ... "It's all downhill from here"

The right knee was playing up a bit but not too bad so i headed off back down the track and it wasn't long before the left knee gave way and i had to put all the pressure on the right knee
I was trying not to have my knees straight which was a huge strain on my calf muscles and before i got back to Rawsons Pass my left Hip started killing me ... this was not looking good.

I stopped at some snow for a pic ...

The streams start off very small up here ...

The weather was looking a bit darker as i passed by Seamans Hut again...

And by the time i reached the Snowy River it was looking a bit ominous ...

4 Km from the very start of the 500 Km long Snowy River and there are lots of small fish in it ...

The track was a lot gentler now so i just kept plodding along stopping at every opportunity for a picie break

A layered rock ...

Alpine bush and flowers ...

Then with 2 Km to go the Ranger came up behind me in her Hilux so i gingerly moved off the track onto the slope which made me limp even worse so as she pulled up beside me she asked "do you want ..." and finished with "a lift" as i sat down in the passenger seat ... LOL

She dropped me at the carpark above the Charlottes Pass lodge
and i hobbled back to the Ute and a welcoming coffee

I hit the road for home passing ... errm ... this thing in the middle of nowhere ???

Luckily it was pretty quiet traffic as i passed through Sydney on New Years Eve and pulled up just after Midnight ...
let me tell ya, sleeping on gravel is no where near as comfortable as grass clippings

Next day I stopped for a piccie break at the double decker bridge at Grafton

Then it was just a boring run up the Highway to home.

In a week i had seen
.The Most Eastern Point of Australia.
.The Highest Waterfall in New South Wales.
.The Most Southern Point of Australia.
.The Highest Waterfall in Victoria.
.The Highest Point in Australia.

I had also spent Christmas with the family
Not a bad week at all :)

Xmas Road Trip 2011 part two

2011-12-27T00:28:00.000-08:00

My Plan was to walk out to the Southernmost Point of Australia since i was down this way.
Tuesday 27 dec 2011. This morning i hit the road again and when i got to melb the navigator said to turn right on the metropolitan ring road ... but the sign says it goes left ... so i went left and ended up zig zagging all over the place ... *rolls eyes*

whats with this eastlink mob ... 7 tolls in about 7 Kms

I then hit Doncaster, has so many lights and you have to stop at each of them but they are only 100 metres apart ... *roll*
strewth, and ya reckon Queensland roads are bad

anyway ... finally got out of the city only to have the Navigator keep saying turn left when the road goes right gave up on it and just followed my nose.
Tell ya what, Victorias number plates should read state of confusion, this Navigator can't make head nor tail of the roads ...

came out of a dead end road to a T intersection after looking at a waterfall and the nav said turn right so i did ... then it said make a U turn ... so i did ... then after passing the dead end road it said make a U turn again ...

I gave up and just use it as a map now !!

Not sure but i think this sign points to a retirement village for old farts or something ... LOL

Not long after the mighty MK had its first and only breakdown when i lost most of my accelerator pedal travel ...
felt like a broken throttle cable but it had just fallen out of its bracket.

I finally made it down to Tidal River and made camp not far from the beach, this is as far South as you can drive in Australia.

Went for a walk and spotted a Wombat ... i froze and it didn't seem to see me so i grabbed a few pics ...

There was another one hanging around camp with eartags that just didn't seem to care if you were in its way ... it just barged through

A couple of guys ran out of water depth and had to carry their boat back to camp ...

Then after dinner i headed back down the beach for some sunset shots ...
nice place Tidal River [apart from all the people] ...

About 4 am Wednesday as the first light hit the sky i was up and packed my swag then fired the old girl up [a fact i'm sure was appreciated by the surrounding campers] and moved her into the Tidal River day carpark as you have to be off your site by 11:00.

I disconnected the Aux battery to keep the main battery full and packed some gear then hit the beach by about 4:45 am for the walk out to South Point.

Its a pity the Telegraph Saddle carpark had been closed off as it added about 12 Kms to the trek due to having to walk via Oberon Bay, the longest walk i've ever done was about 25 kms ... but ... i didn't drive 2000 Kms to be stopped by this little fact.

Along the way to little Oberon Bay i spotted another friendly Victorian ...

Some pretty impressive rocks around here ...

The March flooding rains have certainly done some damage but it was easy to walk around the missing bits of track.

The coastal views were pretty nice ...

Some of the Victorians are not so nice ... as i stepped through the thick scrub out into a small clearing this little fella reared up to have a go but i stepped back out of range pretty quick and only managed one quick pic before he scooted off ...

Had to cross a creek at Oberon Bay ...

I had a bit of trouble finding the track that leads off inland from here but by climbing a dune i spotted a round metal thing in the thick scrub so i forced my way through to it and found it was the top of the vent pipe to the dunnies and a road was leading inland from that so i was back on track.

one of the friendly Victorians eating some leaves ...

It was about this time i had done 8 Kms and my right knee had blown out so i thought i would hobble on another 3 kms to the Telegraph Track [reminiscence of Cape York] and i could turn left to get back to the Telegraph Saddle carpark and walk back down the road to the car.

When i got to the intersection on the right i saw a sign to Halfway Hut 1.3 Km and since the knee was no worse i thought i may as well hobble up for a look ...

The fireplace has been bricked up ??? good if you get caught out in cold wet weather

One of the burnt Telegraph Poles ...

Weird little plant ...

There was a sign saying Roaring Meg a further 4.6Km ... ah what the hell !!

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, the road was all uphill for the next couple of Kms ...

Had some nice views over the valley though...

Roaring Meg eh! couldn't hear a waterfall or anything, there were some big rocks down in the gully but i was too sore to go for a look and it was only 3.7 Kms of track to get to South Point so ....

This area has been closed since march so the track was not going to be easy ... yes theres a track in there somewhere ... cmon, its only another 3.7 Km to your destination !!

Along the track the knee go so bad i couldn't hobble anymore so i had to find a sturdy stick to use as a crutch ... xxxx it was bad

I struggled on and made it to a big assed rock outcrop with some awesome views ... i think there is a lighthouse on the other side of that ridge ...

Then finally ... a sign in the distance ...

We'd made it ...

Just in front of the sign is a slightly lower area of rocks that the water could possibly cover on high tide and large seas but the GPS says i could go a bit further so i went another 50 metres or so to a large rock with a sheer drop down to some lower rocks that are obviously covered at high tide.

This looked more like the high water mark to me ...

Yep, i reckon i'd made it to the arse end of Australia LOL

Reality really hit home about now ... i had walked 22 Kms to get here but now i had to get back
I sat there for a while hoping a boat would show up but i knew deep down that i was totally on my own out here ... no one else would be along so i had no choice but to start back for the Ute at Tidal River.

On Flat ground i could walk nearly normal but in a fair bit of pain but on the slightest uphill or down hill i had to shuffle sideways using the stick ... it was going to be a long way home !!

I shuffled off back up the hill thinking ... its only 3.7 Kms to roaring Meg ... if i can just make that ...

Along the way i had to pass through the split rock again ...

Then i got passed by an Echidna ...

Wish i could steal his wings ...

I made it back to Roaring Meg then thought "If I can just make it back to Halfway Hut I can sleep there and it has some water as the heavy exertion was really making me sweat" ... its only 4.6Km

The views helped keep my mind off the pain ...

Favouring the right knee had put a lot of stress on the left knee so now it had blown out as well but the pain had been so constant that i was getting used to it ...
I was never so glad to see a Hut ...

I had signal so Rang NannaJo to let her know where i was ... just in case i didn't make it back out.
I noticed that when ever i stopped the pain was really intense until i got moving so thought if i stayed the night at the hut i may not be able to move again ...
I polished off the rest of my food and refilled the water container and set off again.

It was fairly flat going across the valley floor so i was getting along ok until any slight uphills slowed me up ... I crossed over where i had come out of Oberon Bay so the track was all new to me from now on ...
I figured staying on the Road was going to be easier that following the overgrown bushy track in the dark.

I crossed over Growler Creek bridge ...

When i saw this i thought "If thats the road i'm just gunna lay down and die at the bottom of the hill ... they can pick up my body next year"

Luckily it was just a water damage scar and the road veered round in the next valley going past this cascade of jumbled rocks and sand swept down by the march floods...

It was about here that things got realy bad ...
The road started heading uphill but i though i may have done about 5 Kms of the 7.4 Kms from the hut ... in reality i had only done about 3 but what i didn't know was the next 4 odd Kms was all uphill.
This was one of half a dozen or so washed out corners on the way up...

I struggled on for a while having to stop and lay down every now and then and it was so demoralising to turn a corner and see the road continuing up to another corner ... I wasn't game to look at the GPS to see how far i had come as the hope that i would reach the top around the next corner kept me going ...

A close up view of what i thought was a road ... man that water did some damage ...

It was getting dark by now so i put the camera away after this pic of Mt Oberon ...

On and on I went shuffling sideways up the steepest bits but the pain was so intense i kept collapsing and had to use every bit of will power to get back up again.

The thought that this would be the last corner kept me struggling on and despite the freezing cold wind i was sweating like a pig ... i felt for sure that i had already passed that 7.5Km mark but still the road kept going up and up ... I was past feeling the pain but just could not get my knees to bend under load so my hips were aching, my calf and upper leg muscles were burning and my arm muscles were killing me from lifting myself forward with the stick.

Shuffle shuffle, shuffle shuffle, one foot after another till i almost walked past a set of steps that led to the Telegraph carpark ... I had made it to the top and promptly collapsed on the bitumen.

After a bit of a rest i knew i had to get going again as i had no idea how far it was back to the ute but at least it was down hill.

Problem was i couldn't get up !

There was a pile of old pallets nearby so i dragged myself over to that and levered my way upright ... after a bit of wobbling i headed down the road in the dark.

The roadway had been damaged severely all the way down the hill but at least it was a fairly flat surface and the pain wasn't affecting me as i'd gone through the wall.

The gradient wasn't too bad and i could walk in a straight line rather than shuffle so i was making good time and after 3 Kms made it to the closed gates at the bottom of the hill.

All i wanted was my bed and i was hoping it wasn't too far on the flat ground back to the car so i doggedly kept plodding along for another 2 Kms until i finally hauled my sad and sorry arse back into the Ute at around 10 Pm.

A big group of teenagers were blueing near the ute and half a dozen Rangers and the local cop was there so i thought i had better move on ... i drove out of the park and pulled up on the side of the road and slept Like a baby.

It had been 42 Kms ... isn't that a Marathon distance? ... it was sure a marathon to me !!

*Continued in part three*

Xmas Road Trip 2011 part one

2011-12-23T04:08:00.000-08:00

Xmas 2011 Road Trip

After knocking off friday arvo i had the Ute packed already so it was just a matter of hitting the road south... yeh right, so did everyone else ...

Over an hour and a half later i made it as far as Mudgeeraba and gave up so called in to NannaJo's for a coffee

I hit the road again for another go but the traffic was bumper to bumper all the way to the south side of Tweed Heads where it finally opened up as i hit the highway south .

I called in to Byron Bay to enjoy the view along with some random bird ...

As i walked up to the Lighthouse i noticed they were mowing the lawn ...

Very sure footed these mowers ...

The Cape Byron Light House ...

While i was taking pics a young couple asked me to take some pics of them and email them to them ... so i did and they appreciated the effort.

I trotted off to the sign for a few more pics ...

and one of OP ...

looking out to the point ...

Looking back at the Lighthouse ...

It was starting to get dark so i headed back down to the carpark ...

I grabbed the Ute and snuck back up for a quick pic ...

I had lots of distance to over so was all too soon heading south again.

Friday night i pulled up at Ebor Falls ... the no camping sign was wrong by the way as there was someone camping there *wink*

Before the sun came up i headed to the top falls for a look ...

Then headed down to the bottom falls for a pic ...

The fog was filling the valleys ...

Another random bird enjoy a good spot for a view ...

By then the sun had started to peek over the gorge so i headed back up to the top falls again before once more heading south...

Next stop was Wollomombi falls [to the left] and chandler falls [to the right], i couldn't really get a decent view of Chandler falls due to the mists in the valley.

Wollomombi Falls, east of Armidale in New South Wales, has a height of 220 metres and includes a single drop of 100 metres. It's sometimes quoted as Australia's tallest waterfall – but this is only true if measurement starts where the water does not truly fall, but instead flows against the rock due to the gentler gradient...

I walked out to another spot down a set of ricketty stairs to get a different view ...

Another view not far away looks over the valley below the falls ...

Once again i hit the road south where I pulled up at Captain Thunderbolts rocks for a look ...

A pretty old advertisement ... wonder how it would fare these days? .

Some size perspective ...

It was about this time I thought I should head for the nearest servo ... so i sped up to get there before i ran out ... LOL

With 65 litres of BP's finest distillate on board i headed south again ...
the tank is supposed to hold 75 but i don't know how much of that is usable ... but 65 litres is far short of the 230 litres in the GU so i'll have to get used to that.

Next stop was Hickeys Falls but as i swerved in to the offramp i noticed a spill of diesel as i had forgotten to put the cap back on ... lucky it fell in to the tray and didn't slide off the box over the edge.

Anyway ... not as embarrassing as the fully dressed bloke who slipped off the rocks trying to take a pic of the falls. [no i didn't get a pic of him, his cranky missus would have shot me]

By the time i was passing Dubbo Zoo i had passed half way with only 700 odd K's to go

I had a nice sunset with the storm clouds in the distance ...

As the sun set i kept on driving into the night ...

And straight into a huge electrical storm ... not good when your following a fuel tanker so i stopped for some pics ... LOL

Late in the evening I made camp just across the river from my parents house as i wanted to surprise them at Christmas lunch...

I whiled away a few hours until 11:00 ... the rest of the family should be there by now so its time me and the dog made a SURPRISE visit ... Merry Christmas everyone !!

I turned up at Mum and Dads which was a nice surprise for everyone ... as usual there was more than enough food to feed an army which was lucky as i hadn't eaten for about 24 hrs ... most shops were shut xmas eve.

Guess who got a new bike for Christmas ... LOL

The family ... and no, Corey [Hayleys boyfriend] is not tall, the rest of us are all shortarses !!

I had a very pleasant day chatting and eating and wearing out Mums new cappacino machine.

Boxing day was spent eating and relaxing again so i thought i should go for a walk and see how the knee holds up [its been playing up a bit], perhaps i should have taken a bus ... but i didn't have $13000.00 on me...

An interesting letterbox ...

The miniature trains were running ...

Walkway to the train Platform ...

Then it was time to repack the Ute ready to leave tomorrow morning.
Had to find room for the 4 chrome wheels i bought on Ebay the other day ... plenty of spares now LOL.

*Continued in part two*

Easter 2011

2011-04-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

With a 5 day easter holiday, 3 days of holidays and may day holiday weekend all together i had 11 days off work so decided to head down to Menindee to get a sunset pic of the dead trees in the lakes near there.

I had just registered the old MK so it was a good chance to give it a first test drive to see how it goes.

I left thursday night after work and was surprised that "Little Red" managed to drive up Cunninghams Gap in top gear ... my GU ute and my GQ wagon would have no hope in doing that!
I drove on through the night stopping in a parking bay and rolling out the swag about 2AM for a sleep.
About 5AM it started to rain so i rolled up the swag and hit the road again with the sun coming up not long after.

When i passed through Moree the sun was just over the horizon and i stopped to get some pics of "The Big Plane" parked in/through a hotel.

on the way out of town is an old flour mill

the trains are long out this way

I stopped for a break beside the river at Nyngan

Nearby in the tourist park is a couple of Camels

LOL at the sign

On the road again and the lack of room in the footwell and the cramped driving position was making things pretty uncomfortable ... I'm only a short arse and the seat does not move back far enough for me ... stuff knowns how a 6 foot bloke would even fit in the cab!

I passed a "Shoe Tree"

A big load

When i got near Wilcannia i found the first road to Menindee closed

I drove into town and found the second road down to Menindee closed as well so i had to head to Broken Hill and take the Bitumen road south from there.

Oh well ... it was a nice night for a drive

About 10PM, after 1700.03 Km, I finally arrived at the site where Bourke and Wills had their base camp for their crossing of Australia and rolled out the swag between Mum n Dads caravan and my Brother in laws camper.

The next morning i took a pic of our campsite.
on the Left is another couple, Jeff and Annette,who were camped there, then there is Mum and Dads caravan, my swag, Graeme and my sister Deb in the Rodeo and on the right is Mum n Dads friend Kevin

The birds were flying around the outflow pipes doing a spot of fishing but there were thousands of dead carp left over as the floods receded from the camp grounds

I walked over and had a look at the signs and blazed trees

Dad was trying out his new "ex Telecom" GU Ute on its first big drive towing the Caravan

That evening i headed over to Menindee Lake for the sunset and the shot i had driven down for ... the sun was setting in the wrong spot and the floods meant i was too far away from the trees to get the shot i wanted so this was the best of the shots i took.

On Sunday we all headed to Menindee for a look around the Maiden Hotel where Bourke and Will hung out a bit ... there were dozens of bikes and trikes lining the street

We then headed out to Kinchiga for a look around the historic sheep station

Note the wooden wheels ... "wood" have been a rough ride LOL

The yards now only have dragons

Back to the Woolsheds

We then headed over to Copi Hollow where Broken Hill Water Ski club has an awesome set up beside the water.

That evening i headed to Lake Pamamaroo to try for the dead tree shot again but the sunset was still in the wrong position

Back at camp Dad had his fire cranking

On Monday Deb and Graeme along with most of the campers headed back to whence they came and the boys collected some more wood for the next few days.

Birds were wading in the carp filled shallows taking their pick

I headed up to the block dam for a look, the road was well under.

The block dam was stopping the fish going upstream and the birds were having a feild day

That afternoon i went in to Menindee for a look around the old cantilever railway bridge

Then had a look around the nearby railway station

I had a look to see if the closed roads were open yet ... nup

On Tuesday i threw the swag on the back of the Ute and headed towards home and passed a strange sight in the flooded paddocks beside a pub ... Shark !!

Funny looking cloud

Not often you see mailboxes in a petrol station

Along the way to White Cliffs i passed an old bridge ... yep :)

Some of the old mining equipment at White Cliffs

The old Solar Array at White Cliffs

I headed North on the dirt road to test Little Red out on some corrugations

I'm not saying the old Patrol is slow .... its just that Emu's are faster in a drag race !

The old bridge near Bourke

Did i take a wrong turn somewhere ???

Dropped in to Lightning Ridge to have a hot soak to ease the aches and pains

One for the tourists

Had a look around the gardens

Some bloke is building a Castle

Some trees carved by Aboriginals have been cut down and moved into protective custody

I passed the Wobbly Boot Hotel and later that night arrived back home in beautiful downtown Jacobs Well.

Little Red went well with no extra problems occuring, the weather was great, the company good and i had a good holiday ... what more could you ask !!

Pic A Day 2011

2011-01-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

Its been a few years since i did the last Pic A Day, then I tried Pic A Week although I found it easier to do pic a day than pic a week as i kept forgetting.
http://bigred4x4.blogspot.com/2007/12/pic-day-2007.html
http://bigred4x4.blogspot.com/2008/01/pic-week-2008.html

Anyway ... its time to do it all again.
Its hard but rewarding to complete the full year

1-1-11 Pentax Kx and DAL 18-55/4-5.6
I started the year off by painting my Nissan MK Patrol Ute RED !!...

2-1-11 Pentax K5 and DA 12-24/4
Just after midnight i went for a wander around MUDGEERABA taking night pics.
I was questioned by the Police and offered to show them my pics but they declined and accepted my explanation.
The old Mudgeeraba Post Ofice ...

3-1-11 Pentax K5 and DA 12-24/4
An old bridge slowly being destroyed ...

4-1-11 Pentax Kx and DAL 18-55/4-5.6
A few ribs from the wreck of the HMS Gayundah stick out of the ocean at low tide ...

5-1-11 Pentax Kr and FA50/1.4
Mt Coot-tha botanical gardens glasshouse ...

6-1-11 Pentax K7 and DAL 18-55/4-5.6
Left behind or abducted by aliens ?

‎7-1-11 Pentax KX and Pentax DA* 50-135/2.8
The view of Brisbane from Mt Coot-tha was pretty dull on a rainy day.

8-1-11 Pentax KR and DAL 18-55/4-5.6
Hand held shot while driving through the Clem 7 Tunnel...

‎9-1-11 Pentax K7 and Pentax FA 100/2.8 Macro
Oliver...

‎10-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
old conveyor stands ...

‎11-1-11 Pentax K10D and Pentax F 50/1.4
Getting prepared for the floods???

12-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
The Logan River floods. You can launch your boat from the boat ramp carpark now ...

13-1-11 Pentax K20D and Pentax FA 43/1.9 Limited
Keep Left ...

14-1-11 Pentax K20D and Pentax FA 100/2.8 Macro
Lamps ...

15-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
Little Red out for its first drive...

16-1-11 Pentax *istDs and Pentax M135/3.5
this was taken with my first Digital SLR and an old manual lens, the minimum focusing distance was nearly 2 metres so i had to crop this a lot ... reckon it does pretty good for an old combo :)
Dragonfly ...

‎17-1-11 Pentax *istDs and Pentax K135/2.5
flower sweat ...

‎18-1-11 Pentax K20D and Pentax FA 100/2.8 Macro
Weight a While ...

19-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
flood debris ... 3 stories up !!
[teddy bear on the roof of Goodna RSL]

20-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
Cane bins...

21-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
The Lions share ...

22-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 50-135/2.8
Savannah...

23-1-11 Pentax K100D and Pentax F 70-210/4-5.6
These are growing in the roof gutter ... might be time to clean it out ... as soon as the sweetcorn beside it ripens LOL

24-1-11 Pentax K100D and Pentax F 35-70/3.5-4.5
dragon...

25-1-11 Pentax K5 and Tamron SP AF Di 90/2.8 Macro
Monaro...

26-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA* 300/4.5
obscure...

27-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax A* 200/4 Macro
out of the blue...

28-1-11 Pentax K10D and Pentax F 35-105/4-5.6
Wall ...

29-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA 80-320/4.5-5.6
saloon...

30-1-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
seen better days ...

31-1-11 Pentax K5 and Zenitar 16/2.8 fisheye
Roundaboat ...

Might try using a different lens each day starting with the old "K" lenses..........................

1-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 24/3.5
all aboard ...

2-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 28/3.5
smokin...

3-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 30/2.8
After the brisbane floods,life returns to the park as the mud shrinks ...

4-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 35/2
relic ...

5-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 50/1.2
gecko ...

6-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 50/1.2
stepping out...

7-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 50/1.4
duck ...

8-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 50/4 Macro
Lighthouse ...

9-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 55/1.8
pier...

10-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 55/2
racing...

11-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 85/1.8
windmill...

12-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 135/2.5
spider in a funnel web...

13-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax M 135/3.5 [oops, thought it was a K lens]
ripped off...

14-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 200/4
boats in chains...

15-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 300/4
butterfly...

16-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 45-125/4
clouds ...

17-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax K 85-210/4.5
Aliens ...

Time to start on the old "M" lenses..................

18-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax M 40/2.8
WW2 bunker...

19-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax M50/1.4
petals...

20-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax M50/1.7
Paddlesteamer...

21-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax M50/2
beetles...

22-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax M28-50/3.5-4.5
jagged...

23-2-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax M35-70/2.8-3.5
washed away...

Now I'm starting on the really old Takumar screw mount lenses from the 60's and 70's.

24-2-11 Pentax K5 and Takumar 17/4 fisheye
Pink bits ...

25-2-11 Pentax K5 and Takumar 50/1.4
bridged...

26-2-11 Pentax K5 and Takumar 50/4 Macro [preset]
wings ...

27-2-11 Pentax K5 and Takumar 200/5.6 [preset]
let there be light...

28-2-11 Pentax K5 and Takumar 200/3.5 [preset]
bird ...

Time to try the old Super-Multi-Coated Takumars.

01-3-11 Pentax K5 and Super-Multi Coated Takumar 28/3.5
bent...

02-3-11 Pentax K5 and Super-Multi Coated MACRO Takumar 50/4
twisted...

Now its time to start on the Super Takumars !

03-3-11 Pentax K5 and Super Takumar 35/3.5
cane...

04-3-11 Pentax K5 and Super Takumar 50/1.4
Talc Alfs "Australia" ...

05-3-11 Pentax K5 and Super Takumar 135/3.5
water lillies...

06-3-11 Pentax K5 and Super Takumar 150/4
Coffee time ... 8>)

and an old non Pentax screw mount lens

07-3-11 Pentax K5 and RMC Tokina 75-260/4.5
jetty...

Now its time to start on the "A" lenses.

08-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax A 28-80/3.5-4.5
Brisbane city views...

09-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax A 35-70/3.5-4.5
for the fairies...

10-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax A 35-70/4
looks very much like my daughter when she was a kid...

11-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax A 35-80/4-5.6
hate these things, everywhere at this time of year :(

12-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax A 70-210/4
spider...

‎13-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax A 50/1.4
Jacobs Well Bait and Tackle ...

14-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax A 50/1.7
totem ...

15-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax A* 200/4 Macro
tiny fly on a 20mm flower...

16-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax A* 600/5.6
wallaby ...

Time to start on the AF lenses ... this won't take long as there is only one of them ... LOL
It was Pentaxes first Auto Focus lens with batteries in the lens.
It seems to have seized up as i could not turn the focus ring so i had to find a scene that suited where it was prefocused ... the luck of the Irish eh!! LOL

17-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax AF 35-70/2.8
green lake with little pied cormorant taking off.

Time to start on the F lenses.

18-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax F 50/1.4
Derelict ...

19-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax F 50/1.4
cruiser park ...

20-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax F 50/1.4
Oneputt Waterhole ...

21-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax F 35-70/3.5-4.5
homely...

22-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax F 35-105/4-5.6
morning ...

23-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax F 70-210/4-5.6
look, up in the sky, its a bird, its a plane, nope, its just a bloody balloon...

Time to bring out the FA lenses ...

24-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA 43/1.9 Limited
morning dew ...

25-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA 50/1.4
morning sun ...

26-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA 50/1.7
waterfall ...

27-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA 100/2.8 Macro
bad weather beach ...

28-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA* 300/4.5
mating ...

29-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA 28-70/4
factory lighting ...

30-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA 28-80/3.5-4.7
going going gone ...

31-3-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA 35-80/4-5.6
Brissie ...

1-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax FA 80-320/4.5-5.6
power line...

Time to start on the DA lenses

2-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
waterways ...

3-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
where will we go to next? ...

4-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 18-55/3.5-5.6
dragon ...

5-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 50-135/2.8
old Logan River bridge, hard to believe this was a two way bridge between Brisbane and the Gold Coast on the Pacific Highway ...

6-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DAL 18-55/3.5-5.6 [white]
spinning ...

7-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DAL 50-200/4-5.6 [white]
Big Red Gun ...

8-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DAL 18-55/3.5-5.6 [ Red ]
moth ...

Now its time for the "non Pentax" lenses

9-4-11 Pentax K5 and Zenitar 16/2.8 fisheye
jungle house [abandoned]...

10-4-11 Pentax K5 and Sigma 18-125/3.5-5.6
fired ...

11-4-11 Pentax K5 and Tamron 90/2.8 Macro
tightrope walker ...

12-4-11 Pentax K5 and Centon 500/8 mirror lens
city backdrop...

13-4-11 Pentax K5 and Tokina 28/2.8
Behm Creek ...

14-4-11 Pentax K5 and Tamron adaptall 70-210/3.8-4
palm ...

15-4-11 Pentax K5 and Tamron adaptall 80-210/3.8-4
Arlec ...

16-4-11 Pentax K5 and Makinon 80-200/4.5
Jacobs Well International Airport ... LOL

I've finished using all my lenses now so its back to using whatever i like.

17-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
floral fireworks ...

18-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
Lutheran ...

19-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
seagull parade ...

20-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
washed up ...

21-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
winter closing in ...

22-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
big load ...

23-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
Menindee ...

24-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
woolshed ...

25-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
Menindee railway water tanks...

26-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
SHARK !!
Floods beside Old Topar Roadhouse...

27-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
White Cliffs mine ...

28-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
Lightning Ridge castle ...

29-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
Jimna Fire Tower ...

30-4-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 50-135/2.8
Myles ...

1-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 50-135/2.8
Kevy ...

2-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
campfire ...

3-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
Cement Barrel ...

4-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
just another brick in the wall ...

5-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
cluster ...

6-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
windshaped...

7-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
the big match ...

8-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
tangles...

9-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
watching ...

10-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA 12-24/4
rainbow...

11-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
birdpane...

12-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
rectangles...

13-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
big tinnie...

14-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
promise of things to come?

15-5-11 Pentax K5 and Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8
button mushrooms fried in butter ... mmmmmmmmmm

rainy days in Mudgeeraba

2010-12-26T19:12:00.000-08:00

The rain has been constant for the last few days with 101mm overnight an indication of what we were getting ...
I was getting pretty bored and the dog was moping around as well.

After having a look at BOM i could see the constant rain was going to split and go round either side of Mudgeeraba for a short while so i took the opportunity to releive the cabin fever by taking the dog for a quick walk.

The overflow from the lake had settled down enough to cross and i noticed a bird leave the nest as i approached...

This looked like a good way to go ...

The water had obviously gone down ...

But you could see evidence of people trying their luck ...

Looks like cricket is cancelled for the time being ...

The creek was well up ...

This whirlpool indicated a drain under the water ...

The path was well under but this family waded through with their pushbikes.

As it was a bit deep for the dog we turned for home and got back before the rain started again ... was good to get out for a little while!!

Not long after we got home it bucketed down !!

I had to actually open the side wire gate to let the water past fast enough to not flood the house.

Kirra Kite Festival

2010-11-21T02:35:00.000-08:00

The inaugral Kirra Kite Festival was held on Kirra beach today so Ron and I wandered down for a look.

There was a myriad of kites in all shapes and sizes...

They even had Camel Rides ...

And Henna Tattoos ...

And colourful sails ... and people ...

On the way back to the car I noticed this "no standing" sign ... LOL

Kyogle road trip

2010-11-13T18:01:00.000-08:00

I had to attend a presentation night at Goomburra on saturday night so thought i would travel down a different way.
Normally the trip from the Gold Coast through Beaudesert and Aratula takes about 2 hours and i have done it several times lately.

I shortened the trip by staying with friends at Mudgeerabe on Friday night and left about 11 AM saturday morning via Currumbin Valley.

While i was in the area i took a slight detour to Currumbin Rock Pool...

on the way back to my route i passed a Wizard ...

then stopped at a lookout to see the view ...

down the hill a bit the view gets a bit better ...

Climbing further into the range the views are pretty good ...

As i dropped down into Murwillumbah i could see Mt Warning to the south west of me ...

I grabbed some lunch and relaxed by the lake in town to eat it...

I took a 1Km detour up to Clarrie Hall Dam for a look...

looks a bit Alien ...

I wandered down to the base for a look...

I hit the road for Kyogle again with Mt Warning now to the north of me ...

As i was traveling just past a small town [Mt Burrel i think] i spotted a small waterfall on the Tweed River and stopped for a look.

The rock is in huge square blocks at this spot...

As i continued on Mt Warning was now to the east of me...

Mt Lindsay now came into view ...

By null at 2010-11-13

I crossed over the range and stopped in at Woodenbong for an Iced Coffee ... this place must take the cake for the worst sealed roads in Australia !!

anyway ... as i was heading for Legume a straddled a long necked tortoise/turtle [seems to be named both] who was wandering up the middle of the road so i stopped and picked it up before it got run over.
i dropped it back in a nearby pond.

At Emu Vale there were a number of old trucks on the side of the road so i stopped for a look ...

I decided to try out Cooper Gully road that headed up Mt Sturt but it wasn't on my map so had no idea if it went anywhere ... at the top was an old shack with a great view ...

the dirt road did eventually come out near the highway after passing through some more farmland.

Then it was a quick jaunt up to Janowen 4WD park arriving at 5:30 PM.

not a bad Sunday drive for a Saturday :)

Mudgeeraba Show

2010-06-27T01:29:00.000-07:00

Had a gentle stroll around the Mudgeeraba Show on Sunday.

Went down with Jo and Ron and only had one sprinkle of rain so it was a pretty good day.

These things looked a bit stunned with all the attention ...

This bloke was left this home made farm vehicle which has a wooden chassis and is powered by a 1929 600cc motorcycle engine.
The brake is only on one rear wheel so it would be interesting trying to stop it.

An old Hudson ...

An old Dodge ...

The Fire Brigade was showing one of their vehicles...

A few young blokes were showing off their bike skills...

An old Ford ...

They had Camel rides ...

A nice Ford ute ...

Kids were enjoying the rides after they got some generators going [ A mains Transformer blew up when Helium Balloons hit it]

Lots of kids were getting their faces painted ...

One of the Entertainers ...

Jo takes cover from the rain ...

There were horse competitions happening throughout the day...

The Woodchopping was quite interesting to watch...

One of the favorites was the Piglet racing but there was always a crowd when it was running.

All in all it was a good day :)

R.I.P. Oneputt

2010-05-31T04:28:00.000-07:00

My mate John "Oneputt" Daniels passed away on 31 May 2010 and i've gone back through some pics taken over the years.

I respected John more than any other person I have ever met ... I sure will miss him!

R.I.P. John Daniels 1944-2010

Below are all the pics i could find over several years and 100,000 pics.
Some are good, some are bad, but they are all good memories.

On a trip along Condamine Gorge

On a trip to Spicers Gap

On a trip to the Hay River Track in 2006

On a trip to the Hay Valley Track in 2008

At my 50th Birthday Party

At a DigitalSLR forum photoshoot

Up at Landcruiser Mountain Park

On a trip to Janowen Hills 4WD Park

On a trip to Woollool Woolloolini and Basket Swamp Falls

At some of the Tough Track 4X4 Challenge competitions

On a photoshoot in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley

John's beloved Nikon :)

Up at the secret Mt Buggery campsite [near Imbil] and around the town of Imbil

On a photoshoot at Caloundra

On a photoshoot in Brisbane

On a photoshoot on the Gold Coast

On a photoshoot to Mt Barney

On a photoshoot to Nimbin

on a trip to Levuka 4WD Park

Farewell John, see you on the other side.

Brisbane sights

2010-05-07T03:50:00.000-07:00

Jo and I caught the train up to Brisbane and went for a walk around the city until Ron finished work and caught up with us for some sunset shots.

Some panel work...

Balls in the square...

We walked through the botanical gardens past this statue...

The owner of this boat [or is it now a ship] will not be happy when he returns...

Brisbane's stonehenge? ...

We crossed under the Captain Cook Bridge and over the Goodwill Bridge to South Bank ...

As we reached the other side we passed the old Lightship "Carpentaria" in the Maritime Museum dry dock ...

Carpentaria Light Ship:
Lighthouses and navigational beacons are built on solid ground, even those in shipping channels. The Light Ship evolved from the need for a beacon to be located on the edge of shoal waters where it was impossible to construct a permanent structure. Two such vessels were located off the Queensland coast, one off Sandy Cape, on the northern tip of Fraser Island, and the other in the western approaches to Torres Strait.

CLS 2 Carpentaria was one of 4 identical vessels, designed by Messrs D & C Stevenson of Edinburgh, Scotland and built at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney in 1917 for the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service (later the Federal Department of Transport). The vessels were used in pairs; while one was on station, the other was in port under maintenance. Each year, the replacement would be towed to position and the one that had been on station would be towed back to port for refit. The vessels on location were also checked 4 times a year. The Carpentarias operated out of Cairns.

The flashing light was powered by a six month supply of acetylene gas, carried in four A-300 size acetylene cylinders. The flow of gas, which was ignited by a pilot flame, was controlled by an automatic mechanism to produce the characteristic code of flashes. A "sun valve" turned the light off during daylight hours and on again at dusk. Nominal range of the light was 10 nautical miles. A warning bell tolled with the rolling of the ship.

CLS 2 (together with CLS 4) spent much of its time in the Gulf of Carpentaria, hence the name CARPENTARIA emblazoned along the side, but was last stationed in the Bass Strait oilfields serving as a traffic separator. The Light Ship was retired from service in 1985. Later in the decade it became part of the collection at the Queensland Maritime Museum, where it is on display and accessible with Diamantina in the Dry Dock.

Specifications
Length (overall) 72ft (21.94m)
Length (waterline) 70ft 7" (21.51m)
Beam 25ft 8" (7.82m)
Draft 9ft (2.74m)
Displacement 164 tonnes
Candlepower 1 500
Range of Light 10 nautical miles (18.5 km)

We walked up past the Wheel of Brisbane ...

As the Sun went down we met with Ron and adjourned to the new Kurilpa Bridge to get some city shots in the upcoming dusk.

We then headed back into the city for dinner and got some shots of the Casino...

Thanks Jo and Ron for the great day and evening :)

Confluence

2010-04-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Definition
A confluence is defined as a flowing together; a meeting place (often of rivers).
In this case a degree confluence is the exact spot where an integer degree of latitude and an integer degree of longitude meet, such as 28°00'00"S 153°00'00"E. The project uses the WGS84 datum to define the confluence location.

There is a Project and Website dedicated to visiting them all world wide
http://confluence.org

In Queensland there are 153 Confluences in total so i'll start there.

http://confluence.org/visitor.php?id=19074

28°00'000"S 153°00'000"E

23-Apr-2010:
Leaving the Gold Coast and heading to a 4WD competition at Goomburra i had to pass through the Township of Beaudesert and thought i would have a crack at finding my first Confluence. I punched in the Co-ordinates as i came into town then turned right for Kerry and it wasn't long before i found the mark was behind a row of houses and appeared to be in a recently slashed paddock. At the town end of the row of houses was a gate leading into the paddock so I headed off on the short walk to the mark. As i got closer i was concentrating on working out how to operate the GPSR while I zig-zagged across the paddock and felt someone watching me ... turned out to be about a dozen or so cows! It must have looked a bit strange to see a bloke leading a mob of cows around in ever diminishing circles in the middle of a paddock !! Anyway, I found the spot and noticed a wooden stake lying on the ground at the spot which may heve been run over by the slasher? I took a few pics and then headed back to the car. No Cows were hurt in the making of this post although a few may be slightly dizzy :)

North View

East View

South View

West View

27°00'000"S 153°00'000"E

30-Apr-10:
I was on my way up to visit a crook mate on my way through to another 4WD competition and was passing close to this convergence and thought i would drop in quickly and grab it ...turned out not so easy.
I found the general area but the GPSR would not point to the convergence so i had to circle around to get the spot.

The general area:

The forest had been cleared and recent rain made it very swampy so after nearly bogging the 4WD a couple of times i parked it and navigated my way through the maze of water and mud on foot to find the spot.

The muddy tracks:

I found the spot and took the required pics.

North View:

East View:

South View:

West View:

26°00'000"S 153°00'000"E

30-May-2010:
After an early morning viewing of the Dolphins at Tin Can Bay i wandered over to the confluence area. The heavey dew had me soaked within a few metres as it is about 150 metres of fairly heavy scrub to walk through from the road. Plenty of small spiders webs were shining brightly with their layers of dew clinging to the strands. I was soon finished and on my way again.

Looking across the road at the direction of the confluence 150 metres away...

The confluence...

The View North...

The view East...

The view South...

The view West...

Tsunami

2010-02-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

The BOM website had details that i read last night ... high tide here is at 9:44 am ... could make a difference .
------------------------------------------------------------------

IDY68027

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology

MEDIA:
No use of the Standard Emergency Warning Signal [SEWS]
TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE AND FREQUENT BROADCAST
********************************************************************************
TSUNAMI WARNING NUMBER 12 FOR QUEENSLAND
Issued by the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre [JATWC] at
6:49 AM EST on Sunday 28 February 2010
********************************************************************************

TSUNAMI THREAT TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

********************************************************************************
SUMMARY:
Tsunami warning for the marine environment for QUEENSLAND.

Threatened areas extend from Point Danger to St Lawrence, including
Moreton Bay and Hervey Bay.

Possibility of dangerous waves, strong ocean currents and foreshore flooding
throughout the day from 08:15 am [EST] Sunday.

Sea level observations HAVE confirmed a tsunami has been generated.

For further details visit the Bureau web site www.bom.gov.au.

Next update due by 8:19 AM EST on Sunday 28 February 2010
********************************************************************************
DETAILS:
Tsunami waves are more powerful than the same size beach waves, with the first
wave not always the largest. First tsunami effects are expected as follows:

Coolangatta from 08:15 am [EST] Sunday
Maroochydore from 09:00 am [EST] Sunday
Brisbane from 09:15 am [EST] Sunday
Hervey Bay from 09:45 am [EST] Sunday
Bargara from 10:00 am [EST] Sunday
Agnes Waters from 10:00 am [EST] Sunday
Gladstone from 11:15 am [EST] Sunday
Rosslyn Bay from 11:30 am [EST] Sunday

Check that your neighbours have received this advice.

Boats in harbours, estuaries or shallow coastal water should return to shore.
Secure your boat and move away from the waterfront. Vessels already at sea
should stay offshore in deep water until further advised.

Do not go to the coast to watch the tsunami, as there is the possibility of
dangerous, localised flooding of the immediate foreshore.

For emergency assistance, call EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT QUEENSLAND on 132 500

Maps showing the affected areas are on the Bureau web site
www.bom.gov.au/tsunami. For a repeat of this warning call 1300 TSUNAMI [1300
878 6264].
********************************************************************************
TSUNAMI SOURCE:
An undersea earthquake of magnitude 8.8 occurred at 4:34 PM EST on Saturday 27
February 2010 near THE COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE [latitude 35.320S longitude
72.930W ]
********************************************************************************
The JATWC is operated by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience
Australia
********************************************************************************
==========================================================
==========================================================

9:19 am 28 feb 2010
I just received a Tsunami Warning text on my mobile and a recorded message on the house phone [ring tone was different] a couple of minutes later.

Naturally I headed down for a look ... the water wasn't this high on the King tides last month.

The bait shop was nearly an island...

The boat ramp was a bit waterlogged...

Lucky there was no waves or wind or I would have wet feet standing on the jetty...

Some of the waterfront properties were getting close to a flood...

I went out to the Southern bridge and found it had gone under...

Luckily it doesn't look like too much happened around here!

DSLRusers model shoot

2010-02-20T02:08:00.000-08:00

Sue organised a model shoot and organised three models for the forum members to practise on.

We met at the Riverside centre and used the surrounding areas to shoot from.

Half of us took Lani down to the Old Customs House to shoot her.
This was my first model shoot and I used the Pentax K7, FA50/1.7 and AF540FGZ flash used wirelessly ... all handheld.

I made a hell of a lot of mistakes and ruined a lot of better shots but picked up some good tips for next time.

Lani

About half way through the afternoon we went back to the Riverside centre and shot Kat with the pink hair and Sheri with the tattoos.

I had a great day with some great people and great models ... thanks guys !!

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

2010-01-26T02:46:00.000-08:00

Jo and i wandered up to Fig Tree Pocket in Brisbane to check out this small park ... i'v never seen a place with so many Koalas and is a good place to show some Australian Animals to Overseas visitors.
Like most places i wish the netting had a large enough hole in it to poke the camera lens through.
Had a great day and got up close to a heap of Aussie Animals.

Barking Owl...

Barn Owl...

White Breasted Sea Eagle...

Eastern Grey Kangaroo...

Large Joey still feeding from mum...

They were pretty blase about the people...

Red Kangaroo...

Emu...

Eastern Water Dragon...

Bush Stone-Curlew...

Tasmanian Devil...

Koala...

Wedge Tailed Eagle...

Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat sleeping in a hollow log...

Johnson Crocodile ...

Green Tree Frog

Eastern Brown Snake...

Black Headed Python...

and last but not least ... the most poisonest snake in the world ... the Inland Taipan ...

My Vehicles

2010-01-01T04:20:00.000-08:00

Had to trawl through my old photo albums to find these so the old pics are just scans of faded photographs, some I just had to google to find a similar pic to my vehicle.

My first vehicle was bought when i was about 12 with a few mates for about $10.00
Every time we tried to slide sideways it fell over and caught fire ... after a couple of dozen times we couldn't put the fire out and we lost it.
Similar 1950 Ford Prefect Ute...

A couple of mates and I bought this for $25.00 in perfect condition ... the distributor cap cracked and it wouldn't run so we left it there on the side of a private road.
similar 1950 Jowett Javelin...

A couple of mates and I bought this bike ... the clutch lever was missing and it had two gears operated by a lawn mower throttle type lever.
To start it one of us jumped on and the others pushed it down hill to start it then when it came time to change riders the second one jumped on and the first jumped off while it was still driving ... we couldn't get it started one day so we left it.
similar 650 BSA...

I bought this bike as it was bigger than my mates 70's but never really liked two strokes after that.
Suzuki TS90... Me with my sister on the back...

This is the first time i drove at 100MPH ... it was a scary experience ... half a turn of steering lock, bald tyres, no brakes, no rego and no licence on a narrow bumpy one lane strip of bitumen leading to a T intersection.
similar 1959 Ford Zephyr

I bought this bike as i had gotten my Learners Permits and needed a registered bike ... i blew the motor up within a week or so.
similar Honda SL 100

I traded the SL 100 in on my first brand new Bike.
Honda XL 100 ... my mum sitting on it and my dog Kelly in front.

My Dad gave me his Panel Van when i got my car licence but i broke it in half the first day doing a jump.
similar 1961 Holden EK Panel Van

I bought this HR from the local car yard even though HR's were selling cheaper in Melbourne ...
What the car yard didn't realise is that it was a very rare 186S powered 4 speed HRS with Disc Brakes and standard interior.
There was lots of things different to most HR's, 186S's and X2's like bearings, brackets and other driveline bits ... had a lot of trouble getting spare parts for it,a lot of the stuff was the same part numbers as the later 327 Bathurst Monaros so it may have been a "designed for racing" model?
I picked it up saturday lunch time and my mates and I drove to Sydney and back on saturday night for a hamburger and i dropped it back in on monday morning for its free 1500 mile service.
1967 Holden HRS...

Bought this SL70 and restored it for something to do...

Can't remember what happened with this one.
1958 Holden FC Panel Van...

Restored this one and sold it straight after.
1966 Holden HR...

Bought this as an unfinished project with a dismantled motor sitting in the back.
rebuilt it but had trouble registering it as they couldn't find what a VP3100x--- motor was ... turned out to be a special 186 from one of holdens Bathurst XU1 toranas with extremely thick liners and other bits different to stock.
when i bored it to a 192 the borer said it still had more liner thickness than a standard 179 HP block.
Over several years i replaced just about every panel with brand new stuff and it was in better nick than a brand new one but was a pig to drive under 60MPH but would cruise at 90MPH all day long.
lost interest and traded it in on a V8 ute.
1964 Holden EH Panel Van...

Bought this to do up but it wasn't up to my standards so i ended up making a trailer out of it to match my Panel Van.
1964 Holden EH Ute...

Bought this brand new on my birthday when i couln't start my old 750 honda
Suzuki GSX1100EZ... [my caravan in the background]

Xmas 2009

2009-12-22T21:26:00.000-08:00

This Xmas I'm heading down to my parents place at Elmore in Victoria and will be dropping in to Southpoint on the way so I've packed the Wagon and heading off shortly.

I headed up and over Cunninghams Gap to the Darling Downs ...

Travelling down past Mingoola i headed towards the Southernmost point of Qld.

Firstly i headed towards the spot where the Dumarsqe river hits its Southernmost point and took some GPS readings of the southern bank and the northern bank and worked out where the border point was.

Half way between the two is the border so its 219 metres from the water in the river.

The light rain made the black clay soil very very slippery and i slipped down one bank and straight through a barbed wire fence...

Next i headed a few Kms to the East to the other bend in the river.

I arrived at the marker post beside the road and scouted round through the long grass for an hour without any luck in finding a peg or marker within a 10 metre circle... still not sure what its for but it marks a good spot to leave the car and walk over to the River.

I took the readings of the southern bank and northern bank and worked out that the border is in the water so this spot is the Southpoint and hammered in a marker post on the banks edge...

With that out of the way i headed west to Watsons Crossing but found the gates closed so kept going ... and going ... and going until i found a spot to cross the river at the Bonshaw Weir ...

I continued on to Bonshaw and refueled and checked to see i was getting 14.89L/100km.

I headed down through Ashford

I continued on through Inverell then up over the mountains to the site of the Myall Creek Massacre... it was dark so i used a torch to read the memorials on the walk.

Keep a lookout when you go to the dunny there though!

I travelled on for a while longer then rolled out the swag for the night near the Sawn Rocks north east of Narrabri.
Next Morning I walked up to the Sawn Rocks in Kaputar National Park before the sun was up which was lucky as the sun rises over the rocks and the camera would have been pointing straight into the sun ... will have to go back one afternoon to get some better pics.

I refueled at Coonabarabran using 14.52L/100km then stopped at Dubbo when i saw this plane ... it wasn't there when i passed last Xmas.
notice the clear dome on the wing tip.

That's an old Lockheed P-2 Neptune (minus it's radar dome) it was one of the first aircraft to be fitted in operational service with both piston and jet engines. The underwing pod beside the propeller engine is the jet assist take-off (JATO) and the bubble on the wing tip is the searchlight for night time maritime work and is 70 million candlepower.

I stopped at an old bridge at Tocumwal for a look...

I did a bit of a test on fuel consumption from Coonabarabran to West Wylong getting 14.21L/100km with the Air con off ... then turned the Aircon on and drove to Shepparton using 14.21L/100km again ...
surprised me as i thought it would use heaps more.

Anyway ...
I took one last pic before reaching Elmore and my parents place where i will spend Xmas.

Christas day day arrived and the tree was looking pretty good ...

The weather was great so we had Chrismas lunch out under the pergola ...

Elmore is a fairly small town but there is a fair bit to see around the place.

There is the Miniature Railway ...

The Rural Discovery Centre ...

Some great relics of yesteryear

the old Railway station...

the old water tower...

and even some pretty special mailboxes.

Outside of town is some great rural icons such as this old Windmill

original Sunshine Harvesters...

and that great Aussie sense of humour...

After several enjoyable days it was time to head for home so i decided that since the weather forecast was showing fine and 34 C i would head up through Lake Mungo.

On New Years day i headed off stopping at Echuca for a look around.

The Old Paddle Steamers now spend their days chugging up and down the Murray with a load of tourists on board ...

The water tower and mural...

and the Palace of my dreams ... :)

Leaving Echuca i headed up the highway past some wetlands ...

then called in at Lake Boga finding some really huge old Irrigation Pumps

The Lake was completely dry ... not good for the local Yacht Club ...

I continued on crossing the 143 Meridian

then turned at Mildura and headed North past some wind turbines

and eventually arrived at the Woolshed at Lake Mungo.

The Dunny with a View ...

After a short sharp shower of rain i headed out towards the "Walls of China" ... so much for the weather forecast !!

the road was littered with animals drinking from the puddles before they soaked away

even the water on the boardwalks was being licked up by the Roo's

As the sun slipped beneath the horizon the storm put on an awesome lightning show which had me spellbound for a couple of hours.

As the storm died down i thought i had better get out of the area before it rained and headed North up through a string of dry lakes on a dirt road raised a little above the surrounding plains.

It didn't rain ... it bucketed down !!

Starting about half an hour after i left the heavens opened with almost non stop lightning flashes lighting up the surrounding dry lake which were now rapidly filling and narrowing the already slim strip of dirt to only a couple of metres of slippery dirt holding its precarious head above water.

With nowhere to stop and the sides of the road under water i battled on for the next couple of hours as the road itself finally went under water slowing me to a crawl...

Eventually i found myself in the small town of Ivanhoe and rolled the swag out under the awning of an old abandoned service station and had a couple of hours sleep as the rain eased and finally stopped.

The sun rose to a beautiful day as the clouds disappeared ...

As i needed fuel i had a look around town while waiting for something to open.

I love this sign outside the pub ... LOL

About 5 hours after waking up the cafe opened and had some fuel available so i filled up and headed north on the drying road north ...

A few hours later i left the dirt roads behind and pulled into the Copper mining town of Cobar [named after the local Aboriginals attempt to say "copper"] for a look around...

Along the highway i pulled into a rest stop but the recent floods had washed just about everything away wiping the area clear ...

It didn't seem to worry the this baby water dragon as it searched through the debris for a meal...

Continueing North i passed the Siding Spring Observatory sitting up on top of the distant range...

As i neared Cunninhams Gap the mist shrouded mountains welcomed me back to South East Queensland and the end of my trip.

Overlander Forum Trip 2009

2009-12-19T23:29:00.000-08:00

The Overlander Forum held its annual Xmas trip at Landcruiser Mountain Park over the weekend of 19-20 December.

We set up camp at The Gums.

on saturday afternoon i went hunting for a geocache near this cliff

Oliver, our youngest member this weekend

On Sunday mid morning With about half the members already packed up and gone it decided to pour with rain ... naturally we sat under Michaels tarp and watched Leon pack his campsite up ... LOL ...

The rain was filling the roadways so we headed off home before the creek crossings flooded.

Once again we had a fantastic weekend with a great bunch of people. :)

Little Nerang Dam

2009-12-04T01:02:00.000-08:00

Went out to Little Nerang Dam out the back of Mudgeeraba for a look.

Looking down the wall...

Looking out from the wall...

The steel sections are able to be raised to dam more water...

The water level is down a little bit...

As i walked along the shore i spotted this old chain buried amonst the rock fill...

A distant view of the dam wall...

The path on top of the wall...

As there is no longer any access to the base of the dam wall we had to cut short the photoshoot and instead used the shaded park above the dam to relax and have some lunch.
One of the shade trees is a huge Fig tree that was in fruit...

The shrubs were on the last of their flowers ...

A Pied Butcherbird kept us company until it was time to head for home.

Natural Arch

2009-12-03T00:17:00.000-08:00

While walking down to Natural Arch i passed this shadow spotlighted on the footpath by the sun through the trees...

I took several shots from the inside of the cave...

Then took a few pics from the outside looking in...

And a couple of shots from above ...

Then it was time to head for home.

The most Southerly point of Qld .

2009-11-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes all you need is an excuse to get away for the weekend and this one came to me while looking through some photos of the places I've been in Queensland.

I have been to the most Northerly point at Cape York, the most Easterly point at Point Danger, the most South Westerly points at Cameron Corner, Haddon Corner and Poepel Corner but haven't been to the Northwest point or the most Southerly point and since the South point is close enough for a weekend trip I started doing some research.

Nothing! ... I could find absolutely nothing about it so started checking out some maps and found two possible points with a variance of only ten metres or so according to the water in the Dumaresq River, further research found that the actual border between Queensland and New South Wales falls half way between the banks so it really depends on how far apart the two banks were at the two different places.

Setting out from Brisbane in a bit of a heatwave I headed Southwest where after crossing Cunninghams Gap I passed some Bushfires just to the South.

The 250Km of bitumen to Sundown National Park seems to take forever in the hot weather with no aircon.

After spending a night in Sundown I headed the 35Km to Tenterfield where I turned right for Mingoola about 70Kms away.
8Km past Mingoola I needed to turn right over the Hynes Bridge to cross the Dumaresq river back into Queensland and started checking how far south I was, It wasn't long before I found the area close to the Eastern possibility and walked across to the nearby River to check it out.

The Eastern possibility is quite easy to work out as the Southern bank is about 5 metres and the Northern bank is about 4 metres above the water level.

While traversing back and forwards along the river banks I finally found the most southerly point of the Southern bank and discovered a U shaped piece of metal hammered into the ground straight north of it on the northern bank at
S 29.10.652 E 151.23.635

Could this be the point I was looking for?

The sun was getting low as I walked back across the paddock to the 4WD.

As I drove to the top of a hill I realised I would not have time to find the Western possibility that day.

I needed to find a campsite quickly and headed off towards the Western possibility.

Luckily the river runs close to the road giving access to the river bed and a great campsite only 750 Metres from my goal.

I had set the swag up in mossie mode as the temp was still 38C at 10.30 that night and I needed all the breeze I could get.

I packed up camp and started getting ready for a walk to the point in the far distance down the river.

As I scouted along the bank i disturbed a Goanna.

As I walked towards the Western possibility it became clear that this would not be so easy as there appeared to be a few banks on the Northern side, starting from the river opposite the most Southerly part of the South bank, there is a 2 metre high bank of mostly sandy material covered in trees and bushes then the land drops a metre or so and starts a gradual rise in a Northwards direction towards another 2 metre bank at the fence line about 300 metres away, this area is mostly grass covered small stones and sand and would only go under water in rare floods, according to one old timer I met the last big change happened in the 1974 floods.

The river passes a tree on a small island just on the other side of the bank.

It looks like i will need some clarification on which bank to use.

Then it was time to head back to the 4WD and headed for home.
[via the southern end of Sundown National Park]

I did some more checking with various Govt departments and old papers as well as getting a copy of
"Redefining the Queensland-New South Wales Border: Guidelines for surveyors"

I found a little snippet of information that the position of the border is based on the position of the banks in 1859 and property boundries have remained unchanged.

"The bank must be defined in accordance with common law principles that were in affect at the date of the letters patent in 1859"

So looks like another trip down is in order !!

22-12-09:

Once again i headed up over Cunninghams Gap on the way to Mingoola ...

Arriving at the Western possibility i headed out to the spot where the Dumaresq river reaches its most Southerly point and waded across the river to the Southern bank.

I found the most Southern bank and took a measurement S29.10.782 E151.20.325
I then walked the 438 mtres to the Northern bank at S29.10.545 E151.20.325
Then i found the boundary at S29.10.663 E151.20.325

On the way back to the car along the riverbank i nearly jumped on a black snake as i climbed up on a stump to make jumping over the fence easier ... luckily it took off for the waters edge and the long grass.

Next up i headed back to the eastern possibility a few Kilometres away.

I found the marker post at S29.10.349 E151.23.561 and parked the car...

I crossed the paddock and then waded across the river to find the most southerly point of the south bank at S29.10.725 E151.23.575

As the river turns very sharply to the North the closest Northern bank is to the northeast so i found the most southerly part of the Northern bank at S29.10.653 E151.23.634 which makes this spot the Southernmost point of Queensland.

[Just for interest sake the northern bank directly north of the southernmost bank is located at S29.10.614 E151.23.575]

The Border point is located in the water at S29.10.689 E151.23.605

I hammered in a marker post at the Southernmost point to mark the occasion then backtracked to the car and headed off to Victoria for Xmas.

Sundown National Park

2009-11-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

Sundown National Park is around 250Km southwest of Brisbane and comprises two sections, the North Eastern section is for 4WD's only while the South Western section is suitable for 2WD's.

Leaving Brisbane I travelled up over Cunninghams Gap and onto the Darling Downs passing several bushfires along the way.

The main highway leads you to Ballendean where you make the turn for Sundown

The road wanders through private property before coming to the gate leading into Sundown National Park

I drove up to Red Rock Gorge and walked down to the lookout

I was treated to a magnificent red sunset over the gorge.

The small dam at the camping area was alive with several different frogs

The camping area has a toilet but no fences ... great spot to spend the night :)

Next morning i packed and after a bit of a walk around the place, headed out.
The track leads past the old Beacroft Mine which has been fenced off but allows a close up view of the shaft as it drops into the depths.

The cleared areas allow a fantastic view of the surrounding hills

This Prickly Pear was actually growing out of the top of an old fence post

I took the right fork and headed down the hill, the area used to host cattle so there are quite a few old yard left around

The track stops at Reedy Waterhole and with the hot day and lukewarm water i couldn't resist a swim although the rocks are very very slippery.

I backtracked then turned right and headed for Burrows Waterhole where i again jumped in for a swim.

There are some nice shaded campsites along here right next to the Severn River.

When i tried to climb the steep rutted hill towards Hell Hole i broke an engine mount and shorted out the fridge wiring so had to disconnect the battery and carefully reverse off the hill.

I crossed towards Rats castle and found a shady spot to make some repairs.

A ratchett strap around the chassis held the engine down as i had a fairly rough climb coming up as i neared Burrows Waterhole.

We made it back up the hill and i stopped at the old yards on top of the hill to check over everything and have a look around.

This Old Roo was not about to be moved along easily from his shady spot under the old watertank.

On the way out of the park i took the "Lower Track" back to the park entrance, this track is much more interesting than the main "Upper Track"

Sundown is a place where it is very cold in winter and very hot in summer but its good fun for a weekends camping and exploring.

The 2WD section:

After a day down at Southpoint i decided to check out the 2WD section at the south west end of Sundown National Park.

There is and old homestead and some old equipment just opposite the Ranger Station at the entrance to the park.

Not far away is the Broadwater Camping area and end of the track, I'm afraid the fenced in area doesn't really do it for me :(

I decided to take a walk and have a bit of a look around, the track followed the fence for quite a while.

There was no water at all in Ooline Creek.

Permanent Waterhole on the Severn River still had plenty of water so i took the opportunity to have another swim.

Back at the campsite there is an old Donkey Boiler.
To operate you fill it to the top with water and light the fire under it then when its hot you pour some more water in the funnel and it flows out into the metal bucket which you then carry to the shower cubical and fill the shower head, then just hoist it up and your away. :)

I passed the old homestead again on the way out.

The campsite are all right beside the road so you would be getting pretty dusty so i would much prefer the 4WD section.
Still ... anywhere is better than sitting at home :)

4WD section:

2WD section:

Bellthorpe

2009-11-08T03:45:00.000-08:00

Woodford to Jimna … the back way.

Owning a 4WD is not simply owning a vehicle, it is owning a way of life!
When you get sick of mixing it with the rest of the traffic you can simply and safely take that “short cut” from A to B and enjoy the drive for a change.

While this drive only takes half a day to complete it can easily be combined with an overnight camp at Peach Trees near the tiny village of Jimna.

The drive itself is suitable for soft roaders but should be avoided in wet conditions as some of the track climbs hills comprised of red clay and the gullies are shrouded in dense green foliage holding the moisture, fallen trees are also a common occurrence.

While on my way up to Mud Bulls and Music at Landcruiser Mountain Park I decided to grab a taste of fresh mountain air and a little bit of serenity by taking the right turn into Stoney Creek Road 6.9Km Kilometres west of the water tower at Woodford in the hills north west of Brisbane and following the track through Bellthorpe State Forest to the Jimna Fire Tower just past the Jimna Township.

About 3 Km in I Turned into Fletchers road and drove up to Stoney Creek day use area for a look, the BBQ’s and table sit beside a small boulder strewn creek and is a pleasant spot for a lunch stop surrounded but lush green palms and towering gums.

Those who want to cool off can take the wide flat track past the Toilet Block [disabled access] to a grassy patch beside a large Rockhole suitable for swimming.

The Water is not one of those freezing cold mountain creeks but refreshing none the less, the kids will love the rope swing on the other side but check for submerged logs first before taking the plunge.

Back tracking to Stoney Creek road I turned right and it was long before I hit the dirt, by following the main track it wasn’t long before I arrived at the remains of an old sawmilling operation at Bellthorpe near the Research centre.

The overhead gantry has been cut down but the winching shed is still there to view.

The remains of a large pivot on top of a concrete block is also still there but the sawmilling buildings have collapsed on top of the old Bedford “Grant Timber” timber truck and is slowly but surely being covered up by dense bushes.

The petrol bowser at a small disintegrating shed is calibrated for Gallons indicating it has been there for a very long time.

Back on the track and just past this clearing is the Left turn towards Jimna where the track narrows and deteriorates as it climbs allowing some great views from the ridges.

Make sure to veer right at the unmarked Y intersection 0.8 Kms later.

One of the views showed me some dark forbidding clouds heading my way so I didn’t stop for too long at any of the interesting bits along the way.

A confusing sign at a Y intersection only points to the left so make sure you Veer left for Jimna, the track descending into some lush green rainforest is a red clay base so getting caught in here in the wet is not a good idea, there is two bridges to cross as you traverse this area with the second one allowing some room to park if you want to stop for a break.

A small overgrown track on the left takes you to Yednia Lookout but is hard to find as the sign was damaged in a bushfire a while back and now lays on the ground, the view from the lookout over the valley was quite spectacular for me as I watched the Lightning show from the approaching storm and the bushfire glow on the small mountain range behind the remains of another long gone Sawmill in the valley below.

I backtracked to Bellthorpe road and turned left for Jimna passing an old set of yards but the dark clouds had meant an early nightfall so I kept going until I hit the bitumen and turned right for Jimna.

Driving past the Jimna and Peach Trees turn offs it wasn’t long before I came to the end of my trip at the Jimna Fire Tower, This 47 metre tall wooden Fire Tower was opened for business in 1977 but has recently been condemned, there has been a concerted effort to get the tower restored to all its former glory.

The tower deck sits on top of 3 locally sourced Ironbark legs comprising three logs spliced to form the 44 metre legs and is recognised as the tallest man made wooden fire tower in the Southern Hemisphere.

You can register your support and read more about it at www.jimna@bravehost.com

If you want to make a weekend of it you can camp at the nearby Peach Trees national park or continue on for another 16 Kms to Landcruiser Mountain Park to try out some of their much tougher tracks and camp the night there.

Straight across the road from the Landcruiser Mountain Park turn off is the road through Mt Buggery to Imbil if you decide to take another scenic route back to Brisbane.

The Jimna area has a plethora of tracks and roads to explore so you will get plenty of opportunities to be glad you own that 4WD!

. Shane Gerrish

0.00 Start at Caboolture Matilda Service Station.
25.6 Woodford water tower
32.5 Turn right into Stoney Creek road
35.5 Turn Right into Fletchers road
38.9 Stoney Creek day use area
Return to Stoney Creek road
42.3 Turn right back onto Stoney Creek road
44.3 road turns to dirt
56.9 Research Station and old timber mill relics
57.1 Turn left towards Jimna
57.9 Veer right
68.8 Veer left for Jimna
79.5 Veer right for Jimna
79.7 Turn right
89.2 Veer right
91.1 Veer left for Yednia Lookout [sign on ground]
93.5 Yednia Lookout
Return to Bellthorpe road
95.5 Veer left
95.6 Turn left back on to Bellthorpe road
98.9 Old Yards on left
101.8 Veer right for Jimna [or veer left to go to Kilcoy and Brisbane]
102.2 Turn right on to bitumen road for Jimna
108.3 Right turn leads to Jimna but proceed straight ahead
109.7 Right turn leads to Peach Trees camping area but proceed straight ahead
109.9 Jimna Fire Tower and end of trip.

Levuka

2009-11-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

Video by Brett :)

Tabulam

2009-09-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Headed down to Emu Creek Extreme Retreat on the weekend to watch the Tough Tracks 4x4 Challenge and while i was there i checked out the local town of Tabulam.

Stayed on the banks of the Clarence river and awoke to a thick mist on the river next morning...

A very long single lane bridge crosses the river...

There were a few Fairy Wrens flitting about...

I wandered around town and passed a small church ...

Across the road was a memorial to the Australian Light Horse...

The Cemetery had a few unusual graves ...

Not sure what this "S" symbol means ...

The river valley spreads pretty wide...

On the way back home i stopped in at Bean Creek Falls for a look ...

The water has carved some interesting shapes in the rock slab above the falls ...

One of the pools held more than water ...

Then as it was getting darks i headed for home.

Mt Tamborine

2009-09-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

Met up with Geoff, Karen, John and Jason from the DigitalSLR forum for a Photoshoot at Cedar Falls ... the weather wasn't looking too good when i left home...

By the time i got to Cedar Falls it had cleared up into a nice day...

We then headed up to the Botanic Gardens for a look...

small Eastern Sedgefrog and a large thorny tree...

a heap of flowers...

Jason had to leave us and we followed Geoff on the Triumph Rocket III 2.3 Litre 3 cylinder bike up to a coffee shop for a well needed Cappucino...

After Coffee we headed to Curtis Falls passing this strangely rooted tree...

The hole in the Log looks like a man doing "star jumps" ...

It gets dark and cool down at ground level...

Curtis Falls...

we headed off down the creek following the loop track, you can see Curtis Falls in the distance ...

Fan

John helps Karen across the creek...

A small waterfall ...

Then the weather started getting dark again and we all headed for home ... thanks for the great day out guys :)

Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads

2009-08-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Jo and I headed south to see what we could photograph.

First stop was Brunswick Heads...

The local Library is very colourful...

We crossed a long walking bridge to the beach park...

We had a walk around the park and came across this strange plant...

Then crossed back via the road bridge...

We had a wander around town...

Saw a Bee...

Next up we headed down to 7 Mile Beach ...

There were the remains of some concrete work on the cliff face at Jews Point...

We drove up to the Light house at Byron Bay...

A short walk takes you out to the most Easterly Point of mainland Australia...

Then it was time to Jump back in the Mav and head for home...

Thanks for a great day out Jo !

The Great Walk- Gold Coast Hinterland

2009-08-19T02:43:00.000-07:00

"The great walk" runs from O'Reilly's on Lamington Plateau to "The Settlement" at Springbrook, a total of 54 Kms

Check out the link for more info:
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests/parks/gold_coast_hinterland_great_walk.html

==========================================================
:Green Mountains (O'Reilly) to Binna Burra - 21.4km (7 hours) Class 4 (Moderate)
Begin your walk from Green Mountains section of Lamington National Park along the well-known 21.4km Border Track, which links Green Mountains section of the national park to the Binna Burra section.

The Border Track traverses some of the highest remaining basalt lavas from the Tweed Volcano. With increasing elevation it passes from warm and cool subtropical rainforests into warm and cool temperate rainforests . Lookouts along the Border Track are on the rim of the Tweed Valley erosion caldera and on a clear day you can see Mount Warning, the distant Nightcap Range, the Lamington wilderness area and the Tweed Range.

:Binna Burra to temporary Woonoongoora walkers' camp - 19.5km (4-5 hours) Class 4 (Moderate)
Begin at the Ships Stern track and Lower Bellbird circuit entrance, below the Binna Burra campground. Follow the clearly marked Ships Stern circuit for 3.7km, descending through cliff lines of rhyolite and tuff (volcanic ash), before branching left on to the Lower Bellbird circuit track, which follows the base of the spectacular rhyolite cliff for 3km before turning right at the Great Walk track junction.

The track heads east into Kurraragin Valley where the track takes you past fine stands of piccabeen palm, large red cedar and majestic flooded gum.

The track follows Egg Rock Creek for 2.5km before branching left along Nixon Creek. Watch as the intrusive plug of Egg Rock (Kurraragin, meaning "very tall") seems to rise sharply through the trees. The track then heads north-east for a further 2.4km through selectively cleared woodland before traversing a dirt road to emerge 4.5km south of Numinbah on the Nerang-Murwillumbah Road in Numinbah Valley.

Parts of this section of track follow an unfenced easement through a private grazing property and the Numinbah Correctional Centre's boundary. This is private property - do not enter! Please stay on the track and observe all signs.

The Great Walk follows the Nerang-Murwillumbah Road for 4.8km. This can be a busy road - please observe road signs, cross where totem signs indicate and maintain a safe distance from the road. You can continue to the temporary Woonoongoora walkers' camp or end your walk here. Please organise transport before you leave Lamington National Park, as there is no public transport from this point.

A steep incline begins shortly after leaving Numinbah. The temporary Woonoongoora walkers' camp, shaded by eucalypts, nestles in the eastern side of Numinbah Valley and 4.3km from the township.

:Temporary Woonoongoora walkers' camp to The Settlement campground - 13km (5-6 hours) Class 4 (Moderate)
From your campsite continue uphill for 6km to Apple Tree Park located on the Springbrook plateau. The walk begins by descending into Waterfall Creek valley - a great amphitheatre walled by spectacular white cliffs. The cliffs are the result of a thick rhyolite flow from the ancient volcano. The following section of the track, up the rhyolite cliff line, is steep and arduous with over 900 steps to negotiate before reaching the plateau. The track climbs through a grove of cycads that cling to the steep slopes of the ridge. These are an ancient plant form with fossil records indicating they existed almost 300 million years ago. Despite the very high rainfall, the summit of the plateau supports only tall eucalypt forest primarily because of the poorer rhyolite soils.

From Apple Tree Park cross the Springbrook Road where Great Walk markers indicate, and drop down into the catchment of the Little Nerang Dam. This section of the track can be wet and slippery. Care should be taken when crossing Little Nerang Creek. The track then follows the west branch of Little Nerang Creek, up the side of a narrow gorge with pools and cascades cut into older rocks from beneath the volcano. After a kilometre, the track emerges at a basalt slab above Warringa Pool - a great place to stop and take in the sounds of the rainforest.

The track continues to Purling Brook Falls, where a massive cliff of cream-coloured rhyolite, 100m high, looms over a deep gorge of black basalt. After passing behind the falls, a steady climb brings you back to the top of the plateau. Just before crossing the top of Purling Brook, the track branches left to The Settlement campground.

Caution: The Warringa Pool section may be closed during floods or extreme fire danger.

=======================================================

19-08-09 7.5Km 3.5hrs The Settlement to Apple Tree Park.

We had decided to tackle the "Great Walk" in sections as my main interest is in the photographic opportunities afforded and not in the actual walking for walkings sake.

It may have a side benefit of getting a bit of excercise and perhaps making me a bit fitter but if i could drive it i certainly would be doing it that way instead !!

As i'm not an experienced bushwalker and i've got a bung knee i thought it advisable to do a short section first up to test things out.
By looking at the map the easiest section appeared to be from The Settlement campground in Springbrook National Park to Apple Tree park a distance of around 7Kms with most of it being downhill with few stairs ... well ... it didn't quite work out like that !!

We Headed up the winding mountain road from Mudgeeraba passing the old horse trough which had a pretty strong flow of water for a change, this is the most water i've seen flowing through it in many years.

We dropped my Maverick off at Apple Tree Park and Drove Ron and Jo's Jackaroo up to The Settlement Day use area and prepared for the walk.

We Walked off towards the top of Purlingbrook Falls but soon struck our first setback ... they had closed the track !

A couple of workers headed off down the track but we headed off along the other way ... the long way ...and as we passed the next lookout we could see the workers had already arrived at the bottom of the falls but we had yet to tackle the 450 steps down on this route!

While still walking along the top of the cliffs we spotted a Goanna up a tree...

Then after getting to the base of the cliffs we started the walk back towards the base of the waterfall and spied another Goanna ripping a Carpet Snake to bits...

We finally got to the base of Purlingbrook Falls...

We turned left and headed down the creekside track to Warringa Pool, a very tranquil and beautiful spot beside the waterfall.

We crossed over the top of the falls and entered the dense green foilage on the other side and followed the track down stream past rocky gorges and idyllic scenery ...

We came to a set of extremely steep stairs that were almost like a circular staircase as the 91 steps wound their way down to the creek.

No mention had been made of these steps in the maps or track descriptions but worse was to come as we then started the 3.5Km climb back up to Apple Tree park ... with another 532 steps !!

Did I mention I hate steps !!

The climb was pretty relentless but eventually we came out on a Powerline track and followed that for a while past some of the old tree felling remains with their distinctive rectangular slots.

Eventually after 3.5 hours and 1073 steps we arrived back at my car and made a welcome cup of coffee which we drank while watching a segment being filmed for "The Great South East" Tv show with Laurel Edwards hosting.

After our late lunch we picked up the Jackaroo and headed back down the mountain for home ... next time might be the downhill section from Apple Tree park to Numinbah Valley but this time we have read there is over 900 stairs ... i hate stairs !!

29-08-09 10.6 Km [as far as I can work out] 4.25 hours Apple Tree Park to Numinbah Prison.

Jo dropped us off at Apple Tree Park, Ron and I then headed off across the top of the Plateau towards the cliff line...

This sign gives you some idea of what we are about to tackle...

The track then Zig Zags down the side of the mountain useing a heap of steps and even utilising a hollow log for a path...
We talked to a local going down who reckons they ferried in the steps with helicopters, still would have been a heap of work though!

We passed through Grass Trees and Elkhorns up in the tres were in touching distance from the track...

The track leveled out a bit after a Km or so and we came out at Woonoongoora walkers camp [...which has a fancy eco dunny but your not allowed to camp there or have a campfire ...] which sits at the top of cleared paddocks high up the valley...
This camp is marked on the maps but a sign says the camp is 4 Kms away ???

We kept going down hill crossing one small creek and came to a second wider creek crossing with views up the valley to the cliffs in the distance...

As we passed a Farm, the noise of the frogs were making in a small pond was almost deafening, these could be the endangered Fleay's Barred Frog [according to another sign].

We followed the driveway out and then followed Chesters Road for a while where I spotted a Bar-Sided Forest-Skink...

The track dived off the road to the left and we soon passed a temporary walkers camp [where you are allowed to camp]and came out on Murwillumbah Road near the coffee shop after 960 steps, 3.5 hours and roughly 7.3 Kms.

We were a bit earlier than we thought so Jo drove us up to a park for lunch...

the patterns on this tree beside the creek were interesting...

Since we were now out of National Parks and had finished early we decided to take the dog for a walk along the section beside the road from Numinbah Prison Farm back to the coffee shop...

Jo dropped us off and we followed the Path ... while one particular horse followed us until it couldn't follow any more...

We passed this gate and were soon back at the coffee shop after 3.3km and 3/4 hour.

The distances quoted on the National Parks don't seem to work out and i only had a pedometer so its pretty hard to give accurate distances for this section IE: the Literature shows 10.3 kms from Apple Tree Park to Numinbah and 4.8 kms from Numinbah to the Prison farm and Rons GPS lost satellite coverage a lot of the time.

Oh well... at least thats another couple of sections done. :)

03-12-09: 6Km 2.5 hrs Numinbah to Lower bellbird Circuit near Binna Burra.

As noted in the next bit i did this lower section after doing the upper section... I parked the car at Numinbah Prison and walked up to Binna Burra and back down to the car again.

Arriving at Numinbah Correctional Centre at 5.00 AM i parked the car across the creek from the prison and while getting my gear out of the car was approached by a prison guard who asked me what i was doing, when i answered "walking up to Binna Burra and back" he then said "that will take you a couple of days then?" ... i answered i would be back later that day, he was obviously just checking that i did know what i was about to do and wasn't just leaving the car there for some other purpose!!

Setting off i walked across the creek and past the front of the Prison Farm following the road...

I turned right at the edge of the prison and headed into the bush and across a barbed wire fence...

The Prison lies nestled beneath a soaring backdrop of tall cliffs with Egg Rock further up the valley...

It wasn't long before the first of the 350 step appeared as the track climbed up above the Prison Boundary and crossed into the National Park...

I caught the occasional glimps of Egg Rock through the trees before the track decended down to the crystal clear Nixon Creek ...

The creek had a lot of the Blue Quandong fruits floating in its waters...

leaving the creek i climbed the bank and found a road on the other side of the bank..

The road followed the creek for a bit then started to climb steeply ... it kept on and on and on for about 4Km to the Lower Bellbird Circuit intersection...

Because of the thick trees it was impossible to see much apart from the odd butterfly and distant bird ... saw about 3 of these birds in the distance which i think were Brown Cuckoo-Doves ... large crop to get the bird pic.

I came to a clearing where the track joined the Lower Bellbird Circuit ...

This spot was where i would turn around and head back as i had already walked the Lower Bellbird Circuit section a few days previously.
While having a rest I spotted a Tick crawling along my leg ... then a March Fly started biting so i decided it was time to head back down to the car...

The Brown Cuckoo-Dove was still in the tree so i slowly edged closer through the bush but it wasn't long before it flew away and i headed off down the track until i spotted Egg Rock in a gap through the trees caused by a cliff line, i walked across to the top of the cliff for a better view...

Egg Rock overlooking the prison farm...

As i got back to the creek i thought i might just follow the road to see if i could get a better view of Egg Rock through the ferns and trees ...

As i came to a creek crossing Egg Rock became hidden behind a smaller peak that rose straight out of the water...

There was lots of Damselflies flitting around.
Saphire Rockmaster...

Not sure what this is ...

A crop of the two ...

I continued down the road until I came to the prison boundary then turned to follow the fence line up through the bush, the fence went straight up the side of the hill and I ended up cut and scratched from forcing my way up through the scrub ... I was very tempted to jump the fence into the cleared area but thought better of it.

With one last look over the fence at Egg Rock i made my way back to the car happy that another section was complete.

30-11-09: 9.3Km 3 hrs Binna Burra to great walk turn off on Lower Belbird Circuit.

Well, i skipped a section and did this upper section before the lower section of the Numinbah to Binna Burra section as there is 60km by road between the two ends so its a bit hard to get back to the car ... will do it later.
Since i was by myself I decided to do the 9.3 km section from Binna Burra by doing the 12km loop from Binna Burra via the bellbird creek loop and back to Binna Burra. skipping the bit down to Numinbah for now.

Saw this Tawny Frogmouth before first light...

Leaving the Info centre carpark at 4.30AM I headed up the hill towards Binna Burra passing the view down into Numinbah Valley...

there was a little wallaby grazing beside the sign who hadn't noticed me approaching...

I carefully snuck a little closer but he spotted me then took off...

As the sun rose i stepped back into the dark of the rainforest and started the Lower Bellbird circuit stopping at Koolanbiba Lookout for another view of Egg Rock...

i heard some rustling in the leaves and spotted these two lizards...

The rock at Yangahla Lookout looks like it was flowing like a wave then stopped as it was about to crash over ...

The path slips between two large slabs of rock...

These two fruits sitting on a moss covered rock look almost like an animal...

A tree sits in the middle of a creek below a waterfall...

I spotted a Lamington Spiny Crayfish which is only found on the Lamington Plateau ...

The creek tumbles down through small round pools ...

This thin sheet of rock sticks out of the ground like a wall...

The path is quite easy to follow...

The path quite often has a very steep drop on one side...

The path passes a few waterfalls...

Tall cliffs are quite common...

When i arrived at a clearing the "great walk track" branched off down through an old dairy farm but i turned to the left and walked back up the hill to the Info Centre car park arriving at 8.15 am after 12 Km and 3 3/4 hrs.

This section has been the easiest walk so far.

26-06-10: 22Km 8 hours, Binna Burra to O'Reilly's

Jo and Ron picked me up from O'Reillys where i had parked my car before first light and we all headed over to Binna Burra arriving at sunrise.

It was around 10 degrees when Ron and I left the carpark at about 10 to 7, Jo drove back home in the heated comfort of the Jackaroo.

Ron and I headed off on the Border Track into the rainforest...

The sun and the mist created circular rainbows...

We crossed over several moss covered creeks along the track...

Day was still very cloudy making it pretty dark in the forest..

Fungi really loves the dark dampness...

We finally reached the cliff line and were rewarded with a view of Mt Warning in the far distance from a side track to a lookout ...

The Mt Marino lookout was an overhang and was quite disconcerting looking over the edge straight down to the rocks around a hundred metres below ...

Ron's not real comfortable with unfenced heights ...

We had a lunch break a few metres back from the edge amongst the Artic Beech Trees in a nice little spot, we had been walking for around 3 hours and were ravenous so the wraps Jo had made up for us went down a real treat :)

After lunch we headed off back down the narrow track to join the Border Track ...

More lookout views from the Mt Marino track...

The Border tracks follows the cliff line occasionally affording more views over the Valley ...

The track gets quite wet and rocky around the creeks ...

The track again goes close to the cliff edge ...

The Border Track then turns away from the cliffs and follows the ridge line back towards O'Reilly's passing a water point where the water comes straight out of the rocks into a small rock pool...

A small tree has grown straight through some fungi ...

We passed some slimy white fungi ...

There was not a great deal to see on the last few K's into O'Reilly's and we were getting a bit sore and tired so it was good to down a cup of coffee to celebrate the finish of The Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk

We jumped into my car and headed back to Jo and Rons and a luxurious hot Bath to soak away the tired muscles.

Its taken a few weekends but has been well worth the effort to check out the scenery of the Green behind the Gold

:)

Brisbane Ferry trip part 2

2009-08-12T04:32:00.000-07:00

The show day holiday seemed like a good opportunity to head back into brisbane and catch the City Cat to do the up river section to the University of Queensland and back.
While Ron did a few hours work Jo and i explored the river upstream from the CBD.

This is what we have been travelling on...

This is a very interesting building but i accentuated the colours ...

This skinny wedge of building reaches for the sky...

The river is a popular spot for all sorts of water craft ...

there was a lot less to see on this section of the river so we got off at the Uni for a look around.

"if i stretch a little bit more i think i can see out" ...

"OI !! ... this holes already taken" ...

"AND DON'T COME BACK EITHER !!" ...

"pssst, wanna know a secret?"...

The Eleanor Schonell bridge is the limit of the city cat service ...

A statue of Vladimir the great ...

We walked across the bridge ... to get to the other side?? ...

interesting bike rack ...

Coming back into the CBD we passed a few new bridges being built ...

After a Coffee we dropped in to city Hall for a look around ...

Then we headed up to Rons work to catch a lift home,
Thanks for another great day out Guys :)

springbrook

2009-08-08T22:25:00.000-07:00

Ron wanted to head up to springbrook for a look so we grabbed the camera gear and headed up early.

we walked down beside the towering cliffs...

and past the ferns lit up by the early morning light ...

past twin falls which was really dark and on to the next set of falls

we walked behind the falls to the other side ...

the heavy shadow spoiled the photo opportunities though...

the track follows the base of the cliffs ...

between the towering cliffs and the tall trees reaching for the sunlight...

occasionaly the track zig zags to gain or lose height and i grabbed a shot of Jo passing some of the stonework used to make the track...

Ron protects the camera as he walks behind Blackfellow Falls ...

We spotted a Satin Bower Birds nest on our way back to the car...

we waited patiently and he came back to make some adjustments to the nest ...

Thanks for another great day :)

Brisbane Ferry Trip

2009-08-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

Jo and i took a trip on the City Cat downstream from Brisbane CBD and back up while Ron did a few hours work on Saturday morning before meeting up with us.

i accentuated the colours on this building...

from the walkway under the highway...

SLOW DOWN !! yeh right :-)

The "Forceful" at the maritime museum ...

church on the hill...

Girls always seem to like hanging around the Bouys ...

A bit of skywriting was happening ... [Roar V GC]

a B&W of the city ...

a large pink building on the southern shore ...

the old Brisbane Power House ...

this Welcome Swallow perched on the front of the Cat for a free ride ...

heading up towards the Story Bridge ...

some walkers were admiring the view from the top as we passed beneath ...

we passed beneath the Welcome Bridge ...

we passed the Southbank district with the big wheel ...

Ron met us at the ferry terminal and we headed into the city past the casino ...

get your free Tibet here !!

a couple of girls with a heart shaped balloon ...

the back of a big TV screen ...

a colourful shop ...

some colourful shop names ...

a colourful shopkeeper ...

and a colourful character ...

a street scene ...

and lastly some workers dismantling a crane ...

Thanks for the great day out Jo and Ron :-)

My old homes

2009-07-30T04:28:00.000-07:00

Google maps have allowed me a peek at the homes i used to reside in.

20 Short Street Moe

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Woods point Road Warburton

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Warburton-Woods Point road Matlock

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Herbert Ave East Warburton

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Riverside Drive East Warburton

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27 Cavanaugh Road Millgrove Vic

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Balaclava

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88 Wellington Street Windsor

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5 Hume Street Huntingdale

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6-241 Nicholson St Abbotsford

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6 Bielby Street Tugun

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Brisbane Road Labrador

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14 Kardella Street Ashmore

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Hansford road Coombabah

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55 Hansford Road Coombabah

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35 Wongawallan Drive Upper Coomera

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11 Seaton Court Nerang

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55 Pimpama Road Jacobs Well

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Condamine Gorge

2009-07-26T23:38:00.000-07:00

At the start of the longest continuous river system in Australia, the Condamine River has carved its way from Mt Superbus through the towering peaks of the Main Range National Park in the Great Dividing Range on its 3000 odd Kilometre journey to become the Balonne, Darling and Murrey Rivers before emptying itself into the Ocean at Coorong in South Australia.

The Bicentennial National Trail cuts through the Condamine Gorge between Killarney and Moogerah, we chose to follow this track from Killarney to the Head then turn sharp right and follow Spring Creek road back to Queen Mary Falls before ending back near Killarney.

At only around 50 Km long, this loop can be done in a day or weekend depending on how much exploring you do of the numerous attractions along the way, there are a number of Bed and Breakfasts, Caravan Parks and Motels in the area but we chose to camp opposite the old hut part way in before starting the main drive the next morning.

With the river meandering past a few metres away, the area was a nice place to camp although there are no facilities of any sort and the stinging nettles are prolific, care should be taken with young children or you may end up with a ruined weekend.

With over a dozen river crossings the Condamine Gorge track is very dependant on water levels and rainfall and is suitable for soft roaders with the deepest crossing being around 300mm when we went through, if you get through the first one you should be fine for all the rest as they were only around 100mm deeper.

Leaving Killarney we headed towards Legume for about 3 Kms then turned left into Brosnans road where the bitumen turned to dirt as the gap between the hills became evident, the first river crossing was soon upon us as we started to criss cross the river due the steep sides of the hills crowding in on the track.

After a few crossings we spied an old hut on the right and pulled up to make camp on the banks of the river straight opposite while we had enough light to collect some wood to guard against the evening chill.

A tree had fallen over but continued to grow making a fairly unique back drop to the existing campfire so we cleaned up the area a little and settled down to enjoy the tranquillity with the only noise being the crackling of the campfire and the rustle of the birds as they searched for their evening meal.

The steep sided gorge prevents the morning sun hitting the campsite until late but it was nice to lay in the swag watching the suns rays light up the cliffs behind the old hut.

When underway again, the Rocky crossing near the campsite was taken slowly as the bottom is rough unless you take the correct line.

The towering cliffs come into uninterrupted view as you turn the corner and are soon hidden again as you plunge into the trees on yet another crossing.

When we arrived at the deepest crossing of them all, we took the opportunity to wash the sand and salt from the previous weekends beach run with a quicker run over the smooth gravel base.

Just after you pass the distinctive gate with its tree trunk posts on the right hand side you get another clear view of the cliffs before you round the corner to a wet section of track which has been repaired using corduroy, the laying of logs side by side to make a solid foundation.

It isn't long until we exit the gorge and reach "The Head" where we turn hard right on to Spring Creek Road and head nearly back the way we came with views back down over the Gorge from higher up.

As we climb, the road turns back to bitumen and passes a section of the 5614 kilometre long Wild Dog Fence, the fence originally built to keep rabbits out of South Australia, the fence is now maintained to prevent Dingoes entering sheep grazing areas and runs from Jimbour in Queensland to the Great Australian Bight in South Australia.

The road travels past several great views of the valleys and hills until it reaches the 40 metre high Queen Mary Falls.

You can cross Spring creek to get to the lookout on the other side and a walking track also winds its way down to the base of the falls before winding its way back to the top again.

The picnic area at the top of the falls is a popular place with disabled toilets available and a shop and caravan park across the road.

Further down the creek is Daggs Falls with a lookout from beside the road but no walking trails.

As you reach the bottom of the hills another picnic area at Browns Falls give access to the rugged walk along the creek to the spectacular Browns Falls, This scramble over slippery rocks is not suitable for anyone but the able bodied as there is no formed tracks at all but is well worth the struggle to get there.

A few kilometres later you are back near Killarney again only 1 kilometre from where you started having passed through some rugged spectacular gorges and cool rainforest with magnificent views from both beneath and above towering cliffs.

Spicers Gap

2009-07-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

Only two hours south west of Brisbane lies the rugged Main Range National Park and its steep and torturous highway climbing up through Cunninghams Gap just east of the small village of Aratula.
This Highway was not the original route to the Darling Downs though, the earlier route was discovered by stockman Henry Alphen in 1847 and the subsequent road up through Spicer Gap was built in the late 1850’s, its here we get the chance to get the wheels a little dirty and take in some of the serenity and fantastic scenery of the area.

National Parks have closed the central portion of the road to vehicles but access is still available to both ends and you can walk the closed section.
A day use area and Campground is available opposite the site of the old tavern.

To access the Spicers Gap section head east on the highway from Aratula for 5 Km and turn left then after a further 5.7 Km turn right and follow this road for 3 Km until the road turns to gravel, it is suitable for all vehicle types although the steep gravel section could be a problem in a front wheel drive and 4wd would be needed in wet weather.

2.6 Km later an unmarked lookout on the right is worth stopping for a look as it affords a view over grasstrees to the hills in the distance.

The park boundary comes up a short time later and 1.4 Kms after the lookout we turn left into the picnic area just after the campground entrance.

Although Fires are not allowed in the campground they supply wood fired BBQ’s in the picnic area next door, seems a little strange!
A disabled access toilet sits between the two.

A short walk leads to the memorial of the 13 unmarked graves in the unmarked cemetery, the writing seems to have been done by what appears to be carpet tacks or similar imbedded in the concrete.

We noticed something white on a hollow tree not far away but upon investigation turned out to be a sign saying “no Geocacheing allowed” … I think I would prefer to “not” see a Geocache hidden in the hollow of a tree than a big national parks sign saying this is where it used to be until it was removed.

Across the road an orchard has been built on the site of the old tavern but we could not see any old relics from the roadway so we had a look around the campground instead, it does not look well used so should be a fairly quiet and tranquil spot to make camp although the usual National Park bollards make it hard for vehicle based camping.

Mount Mathieson is spelt three different ways by National Parks on signs and pamphlets , Mount Matherson, Mount Matheson and Mount Mathieson but as there is a Mount Matheson in Nightcap national park we can probably discount that one.
The Chief Commissioner of railways was a man named John Mathieson and the nearby peak was apparently named after him so that is the most likely spelling.
The Mount Mathieson Walking track heads past the orchard opposite the campground finishing at the western end of the closed section of road.
The eastern end of the closed road at Governors chair is only 2 Kms away by gravel road.

We drove on crossing a deep puddle and stopped for a look at Moss’s Well, a round concrete ring full of fresh water supplied by a nearby spring.

We continued on and it wasn’t long before we reached the carpark and picnic table at Governors Chair where we walked the 150 metres up the stairs to the lookout with spectacular views over the surrounding countryside.
“Governors Rock” as it was first called was named after Governor-General Sir Charles Fitzroy in 1854, perhaps the U shaped rock inspired the name change to Governors Chair?

The 1.6 Km closed off section of road begins across the other side of the carpark and has interpretive signs dotted along the way explaining some of the roads construction methods such as Corduroy and Stone Pitching.

The diversionary embankments used to divert water across the road probably get their name from the term “Whoaboy” used by the bullock drivers when approaching these banks.

After our walk we decided to explore the western end of the Spicers Gap road and made our way back to the Cunningham Highway where we turned left and drove up the range over Cunninghams Gap, we passed the Pacific Petroleum servo and about 1Km later turned left off the highway on an unmarked road that is very hard to spot so keep an eye on your mirror and your speed down as the turn is just after a bend and traffic is all high speed on a downhill highway.

This section of road is suitable for 4WD only but high clearance soft roaders should be OK in dry conditions.
The road passes through private property for about 7Kms and crosses a couple of swampy sections and a creek on its way, just veer right at the Y intersection and go straight ahead at the cross road to get to the carpark at the western end of the closed section of road.

From the carpark it is a 1.1 Km walk to an old Timber Jinker on the Mount Mathieson trail.

Spicers Gap makes a great day out or weekend destination and with such awesome panoramic views and spectacular scenery is well worth the effort to get there.

.Shane Gerrish

Sunshine Coast Weekend

2009-07-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

A few Photographers had planned an early pre dawn photoshoot at Point Cartright on Sunday Morning but since i'm not good at driving before dawn i thought i'd go up a little early.

Leaving home on Saturday morning on a cool clear crisp day i thought i'd take advantage of the lack of haze and stop in at Wild Horse Mountain to photograph the Glass House Mountains ... just my luck, there was a fire and guess where the smoke was blowing to :roll:

i cleaned it up in photoshop as much as i could.

next stop Shelley Beach to scoff my lunch and have a bit of a wander around in.
its quite interesting wandering around the rocks and rockpools.

speaking of birds...
I tried to sneak up on this bird but all i had was the 100mm macro and it took off as soon as i got to within 50 metres of it

spotted these two interesting Plaques just to the south.

some people were just content to just kick back and enjoy the view...

I don't think i've ever seen a pic of the SS Dickey in broad daylights so i headed down there to grab one...

Out at Point Cartright i found a couple of Blue Tongue Lizards ...

and a fishergirl ...

the sun was setting over the harbour ...

as twilight fell the clouds lit up ...

Then as i was walking back to the car i took one last pic ... and got swamped by a rouge wave ... head to toe, camera, lens, tripod ... the lot!!

had to strip off and run the heater in the car to dry everything out

Lucky its a Pentax K7 and its weather proof
that whitish blur in a semi circle across the bottom of the pic is the wave going past ... i was trying to hold the camera and tripod still so i'd at least get the pic

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I was awoken at about 4:15 am by dozens of boats leaving the harbour ... complete with foghorns , after meeting with the rest of the crew, I headed out on the breakwater to get a shot of the sunrise ...

We then headed over to Mooloolaba for brekky before loading the non 4Wdrivers into our 4WD's and driving to Lake MacDonald for some macro shots and to meet up with some of the others who had skipped the early morning part.

These Hover Fly's are tiny ... about half the size of a normal bee... and the shot is quite a big crop ...

With all the participants now with us we headed out to Cooloola way and slipped into the forest for a bit of 4WDrings to the "Secret Spot".
While the others took photo's i walked down through the next few bogholes to check the depth and with everything looking OK we pushed on through to dry ground...
James was having a test run with his new Middy ...

Mark had his new Pajero along ...

We exited the forest and headed to Rainbow beach for a late lunch.

After lunch we backtracked to the Freshwater track and made our way to the beach.
Doug had his new Rodeo out for the run...

We stopped at Red Canyon for a look...

It was getting real close to high tide and James was having overheating problems in the thick soft sand so we stopped on a wide patch to lets some more air out...
Mark helps out...

there was not much room left by the time we got to the end but i only had to drive through salt water in the wheel track once.

The Sun was setting as we aired up and took the ferry across ...
was a great day out and a good test for Mavered.

Thanks to all the rest for a good time

then it was just a matter of headed back to the lights of the Gold Coast ...

Mini Red [The Maverick]

2009-07-05T02:47:00.000-07:00

05-07-09
Picked up a 12/1990 Red Maverick as a daily driver/tourer to use so i can take the ute off the road for some long winded repairs, seems pretty good for 4 grand ... they even threw in some dents, scratches and cracks so i feel right at home ;-)

As Bought

4.2L petrol 5 speed manual
Uniden UHF
Hella spotties
Tinted windows
Hayman Reece
colour coded steel bullbar
colour coded fibreglass flares
apart from that she's stock as a rock.
no dents or scrathes underneath and no rust or cracks in the chassis.
only has one small 20mm long crack on the firewall and none in the inner guards, no sign of cracks in the diff housings which were all problems on my last early model GQ.

FUEL ECONOMY report from the Petrol 4.2 Litre 6 over a few tanks:
usually sit on the speed limit 100 or 110 where applicable.

When i first got it, stock standard everything:
31 x 10.5 x 15 Nankang Super Trippers front and Wide Conquerers rear
-mostly highway 13.8 L/100Km
-bit of city driving and some freeway work 14.13 L/100km
- an hour and a halfs idleing, some offroad low range and a high tide beach run 20.13 L/100km
-some highway and some offroad tracks 15.98 L/100Km

Fitted 2" lift, console, dual batteries,LR tank.

-mostly highway and some city 14.50 L/100Km
-mostly highway 14.48 L/100Km
-mostly highway some dirt road and city 14.51 L/100Km
-highway, dirt road and 4wdriving 16.32 L/100km
-Mountain roads towing a tandem trailer 19.48 L/100km
-Mountain roads towing a tandem trailer 20.78 L/100km

Fitted 33 x 12.5 x 15 Maxxis Bighorns

-half highway and half city 16.03 L/100Km
-mostly highway and some city 15.65 L/100km
-mostly highway,dirt road and some 4wd 16.32 L/100km
-half highway and half city 16.56 L/100Km
-country roads and a small amount of 4WD 14.98 L/100km

Dented rear quarter panel...

paint scratched off by dogs claws...

flare cracked in half and red sticky tape holding it together...

08-07-09
sparing no expense, i've fitted a set of $30.00 fake acrylic seat covers to hide the dodgy seat repair ;-) ...

10-07-09
Apart from replacing the headlights with sealed beams [i hate filling the headlights with water], zip tying the grill in tightly, re fibreglassing the broken flare and a quick spray to hide the bare patches on the dent, i needed to replace the number plates as they were faded peeling and unroadworthy ...
the new plates arrived today and i only ordered them three days ago...

My Parents are up here visiting at the moment and Mum got a sticker for me, must know me well !!

12-07-09
One of the first things i did on the weekend was to tidy up the Hayman Reece towbar and remove the hitch to clean it up and check it could be removed easily etc.

The Nissan loop is only rated for something like 2000Kg and not safe to snatch with so i fitted a Piranha Shackle Receiver Adapter [tow hitch receiver] to make sure i can pull others out safely ;-)

At the front i fitted two Just Straps tow hooks so i can recover from an angle without damaging the strap.
In Competition you have to paint the recovery points red so i painted them before fitting them just in case.
There was already holes punched in the uprights which are one piece back to the chassis so they should be safe enough for snatching.

The bonnet rubber bump stop was missing and the bonnet was jumping up and down a bit so i slipped a couple of 3/4 chair leg rubber tips over the adjusting bolts which fixed that little problem, you can trim them to height if need be.

I've had this Piranha DBM3 dual battery volt gauge for a while intending on fitting it to the Ute but there was a nice spot for it at the bottom of the dash so i siliconed it in place ... now all i need is a dual Battery system !!

18-07-09
The petrol Mav only has a small tray available for the dual battery.
I could modify the air inlet ducting and fit a 4.2 Diesel one but i might see if a 2.8 Diesel one will fit as they both take the larger battery.

The Petrol GQ only takes an 8" aux battery but i found an old aux tray out of a 2.8 diesel GQ ...
just had to move the coil and that ceramic block thing, bend the 6mm metal line out a bit and bend the aircon line a smidge then drill 4 new holes [the 2.8 picks up 2 existing threaded mounts] and it fitted in OK allowing a N70 battery ... so the ute is down a battery now... also stole a winch motor cable off the ute and wired the batteries together then chucked the fridge wiring into the wagon and moved the wagons original battery and plastic liner to the auxillary tray

while the battery was out i cleaned up the corrosion and repainted the original tray with some killrust ... luckily the plastic liner helps minimise rust so i chucked the liner from the ute in place before fitting the new battery out of the ute.

When i get time i might try fitting another alternator to the wagon to run the Aux battery as a completely separate system.

19-07-09
Took the Mav for a run up the beach as a test to see how it goes, while i had no problems with a run down the beach at high tide in soft sand i know i'll have to put some bigger tyres on and rip the side steps off to stop it dragging its guts everywhere we go.

Another problem found on the weekend was my tall passenger had her knee jammed up against the UHF hanging under the dash ... plus the UHF would not transmit and the receiving volume got softer and softer as the day went on making me believe the aerial was a problem...

21-07-09
I dug around the shed until i found the old home made console and the aerial from my old white GQ and with a bit of a scrub up they were installed to fix both problems as the console still had the GME4200 in it same as what was in the Ute when i bought it.

21-07-09
The Radiator overflow bottle was pretty brittle and you could easily poke a hole in it... i didn't have one so i finally had to dig in my pocket for a $30.00 Ebay replacement

So apart from the original purchase price and the number plates i have now spent $60.00 on it.

22-07-09
Mavred passed the 350,000 Km mark on the weekend so it was time to treat the old girl to some fresh oil and grease.

when i removed the oil filter i found it was the wrong one ... the Z145A is a fair bit smaller and is supposed to go on the 3.0 L petrol not the 4.2 L.

just been doing some checking on oil filters, these all have the same thread but different diameters and lengths
model-seal dia-dia-length
Z9-70-94-142=ford
z145a-63-82-102=3.0 petrol
z503-70-94-127=one of the 4.2TD filters
z170-70-94-99=4.2 petrol carby GQ
z115-70-94-142=4.2 diesel GQ

so looks like i can use a Z9 on my 4.2TD and my 4.2P.

26-07-09
Took the Mav for a run to spicers Gap and the Condamine Gorge, went great.

03-08-09
I've had my Fathers old roof top tent sitting here since xmas and a heap of old steel out back of the shed so i spent a fair bit of time cleaning the rust off the steel to make it usable. [probably way more time cleaning it than making the frame ... and that includes grinding back my dodgy welds on the frame]

Spent all weekend grinding, wire brushing, cutting, welding, drilling, painting, glueing, screwing, making a frame and mounting the roof top tent on to the trailer...
finally opened it up ... and its stuffed ... holes everywhere!!

The frame slots into the top of the trailer...

The tent base even hinges up ... what will i use them for? stuffed if i know but they were already on there...

Wasn't sure whether to leave it low and cut the skirts off the vertical walls
or mount the tent higher so i made up some extensions for the frame ...
might leave them on for now just in case i have to live in it sometime ;-)

Now i Know what the hinges are for ...
its so you can get to the top of the frame to paint it ...

07-08-09
I dragged the old GQ subtank out from under the junk in the shed and checked it out ...
looks a bit rusty and dented but it still had diesel in it so shouldn't be too bad on the inside.
A bit of grinding and a lick of paint and it came up OK.

When i checked under the Mav i realised that the rear trailing arm bolt would not be able to be removed without taking the sub tank back out as it is quite long and removes into the space where the tank will fit so i thought i would simply turn it round before fitting the tank.

Naturally enough for me ... its not that simple as the side steps are in the way ... soooo .... time for a 3" lift ...
... well not really but removing the steps gives me 3" more clearance so they are staying off ;)

11-08-09
I've fitted the tank itself but found the filler hose has a split in it so it not connected to anything at the moment.

I had intended to just wack it in place and mark the holes to drill then remove it again but it was such a hard job sitting it in place that i drilled the holes and mounted it while it was up there.

The 70 Litre tank hangs about 35 mm below the chassis.

15-08-09
Had a dig through the shed and found a few springs to pick from but only 1 set of original shocks and a single Koni ... thought i had more than that :(

Anyway,
original GU ute shocks are 290-480 front, 380-605 rear
original GU ute springs are 15 x 392-393 front and 19 x 425-435 rear ... done 40,000 kms
original GQ wagon shocks are the same as GU
original GQ wagon springs are 15 x 387-390 front and 15-17 tapered 455-456 ... done 350,000 kms though.

The Koni 2" rear shock is 405-660

The bright yellow [used to be red so they could be Rancho springs] set measure 17 x 385-400 front and 19 x 448-458 rear and i thinks were a comfort set to suit a bullbar, i bought them used for the rancho in cab kit that came with the rancho shocks in the set.

The dull yellow set [kings springs] measure 18 x 385-395 front [KDFR42-HD], and 20 x 460-462 rear [KDRR43-HD]

The other two are Wizard 7" fronts

Looks like the Kings Springs will get the nod :)

will have to check the shocks on the Mav as they are not original rears but have genuine nissans [made by KYB] on the front so i will have to save up for some shocks.

The rear shocks are new Ultima gas shocks and are 405 to 665 so they will work OK with the raised springs but i'll need new front shocks although it drives allright with original shocks on the front.

the bump stops at the front have copped a hammering though and need to be replaced.

The test drive was a bit of a surprise ... the steering is lighter but the ride remained the same even with the extra heavy duty springs !!

I thought it would be a lot harsher but it appears that the springs don't have a lot to do with the ride quality so some new Koni's should make it ride very nice indeed.

The lift is very noticable from the old sagged springs and although its not on level ground or has an even load in it the lift is.
Front left 60mm
Front right 70mm
Rear left 75mm
Rear right 90mm
before and after...

just checking to see what it would look like with red wheels.

16-08-09
Good news !! ... i found the set of 4 Koni shocks i thought i had so i fitted them this morning and now have my perfect touring suspension set up.

The old Ultima rear shocks had spacers fitted to clear the Bump stop landing plates so i've left them in place... also fitted a front brake line spacer for extra brake line clearance.

30-08-09
Took the Mav for a run down to Byron bay...

15-09-09
I couldn't help myself and stole the mags off the Ute to put on the wagon but will have to change the tyres to 33 x 12.5 x 15.

the spare fits on the mount OK but with a brand new tyre on it i suspect it will just touch the rear tail light when the door is opened wide...

When i fitted the wheel to the rear and drove the front up on a car ramp the tyre hit the flare ...

So it was out with the grinder and i removed a bit off each rear section of the flares ...

16-09-09
Had to cut the front flares as well but i may also have to move the front diff forward to clear the mudflaps on cornering when the suspension is pushed up.

17-09-09
After driving the Mavrick at night with those Hella 160's on it convinced me that i needed to pinch the Vision X's off the ute.

Thought i would quickly fit them up but you should know my luck by now ...

Firstly they wouldn't fit between the top of the bar and the front of the car to get them down to the mounts ... found a way to get them in though ... then they hit the grill so i had to drill new holes to mount them.

i decided to run new wiring so i can take the lights off and leave the Hella's on when i know i'll be leaving the car parked somewhere sus.

i had a Vision X wiring loom but after fitting it i found the plugs are different so i had to cut the wires and solder in two different plugs
[and left the new style ones on there as well just in case i fit new lights at some stage]

Then the relay wouldn't work so i had to replace it after checking over all my work again to make sure i had the right polarity etc.

Finally they are on and working and i'm now so late leaving i'll probably need them tonight !!

22-09-09
Fitted the mags and 33 x 12.5 x 15 Maxxix Bighorns to the Mav today...

06-10-09
fitted in a shelving unit to replace the centre seats.
the top bits are removable and the unit allows room to strap a couple of jerry cans between it and the front seats.

01-11-09
Put the first couple of dents in it on the weekend.
playing at Levuka we drove down a double drop off over tree roots then back up again ... did these going down as it dropped off the edge of the tree roots.

23-03-10
Continueing with the cheap theme i decided to fit a dual battery system and picked up a 200 amp solenoid and a cable from supercheap then screwed them onto the firewall after moving the fuse holder i had previously fitted.

I fitted a switch so i could isolate the control wire for the solenoid
>

I wired the control from the blue wire at the wiper motor which switches off when starting or with the key out but switches on while running or on accessories.

It does the job but i have a couple of problems.
1: It stays on when the key is on accessories [i can switch it off with the switch though]
2: There is a difference of 0.6V while charging which must be due to the solenoid contacts as the wires are certainly big enough.
I will get around to changing the solenoid to a Ingram brand which has silver contacts and has worked well on my GU
3: The charging system would not be as good as a proper dual battery system but the batteries seem to equalise pretty well due to the large cables and i have had no problem using this system for the last ten years or so on my GU.

It cost me $25.00 for the solenoid and $7.00 for the cable and works so i can't complain.

I should use the oil pressure switch as the trigger wire for the solenoid then it will only be active whilst the motor is running... must get around to changing it one day.

10-04-10
A mate gave me a couple of bits [thanks Allan] to repair a couple of things on Mini Red ...

The Transfer case selector had rusted out and broken the rose joint down the bottom of the lever a month or so ago ...
had to cut the old one off with the grinder so it took a few hours but i don't have to reach under it to get 4WD low now :)

Also tested and found the fuel sender was faulty so chucked another sender in ... WOOHOO, i now have a working fuel gauge :)

29-5-10
I have had to use Mini Red for my new job for a few weeks until the new work van is bought and fitted out so i needed some roofracks ...
problem was i had no money at all but luckily had an old set of racks under the house.

When i dragged them out they were way too high as the mounts were 250 high so i cut a section out of the middle and moved the top bit down and welded it into the the inside of the bottom bit.
Also drilled some holes in the mount to use with locks, ocky straps or ratchet straps.

Mounted them up and they worked out well and cost nothing but time :)

10-06-10
I was given a small roof basket [Thanks Jo and Ron ] so now that i dont have to use MiniRed for work i fitted the basket and moved the racks to the rear to make it easy to load some firewood.
also fitted a bit of sailtrack so i can fit a small awning to the rear.
came in handy for a frosty weekend

10-07-10
Swapped the Heavy duty racks for a set of Rhino Racks and cut them shorter so they don't stick out so far and catch on trees and things then refitted the cage back on.

Easter 2009

2009-04-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

With the usual camping spots overcrowded at Easter we decided to go to our secret spot near Mt Buggery for the 4 days even though it looked like being a wet weekend.

I arrived about midnight on thursday night after a good late night run up the highway avoiding the holiday traffic chaos and set up the tent in the light rain, Joffs Family and John had already gone to bed and I was soon settled in for the night.

Friday morning i drove out to the main track to put up a sign and Joe and Karen arrived so i followed them back to camp and joined the others around the campfire.

A few of us took advantage of a break in the rain and wandered off to see what we could photograph.

On Saturday i headed off up the steep clay hills of Mt Buggery for a drive to recharge the batteries

On top of the hills is a Deer farm

The Blackbuck Antelopes were on the hill a fair distance away so I decided to give the A*600/5.6 Lens a try out with the A-1.4xL Teleconverter on it making it an 840mm F8.0 lens and shoot from the truck as i drove otherwise they would take off if you got out.

This Bull was pretty close but i was safe inside my truck

I only saw this bird through the lens as it was too far away to see with my naked eye. Its a 100% crop of the bird out of the Pic.

Joff caught up to me while i was shooting the Roos so i packed the A*600 away and we headed back towards camp.

We headed back over Mt Buggery past the sign [just to prove its a real place in Queensland]

We stopped at an old set of cattle yards for a look before heading back to camp.

Sunday Morning after a breakfast of easter eggs we headed in to Imbil for a coffee
and to wait for the Steam Train to come in.

Joff and i wandered down the track to the railway bridge to ambush the train
we waited ... and waited ... and waited ...

and a Diesel arrived instead !!

Afterwards we left Angie, Tim and the kids along with Chad and Mollie his faithfull hound and headed back to camp along the road through the rolling hills with the weather no better.

Back at camp we found a small frog to photograph

The weather stayed wet so on Monday Morning we packed up in the rain and headed back to Imbil for a last coffee then headed off our separate ways.

It was really good to meet up with Greg,Sonya,Jessica and Connor on their trip aound OZ ... but Queensland did not put out a very warm welcome for them :-)

Minyon Falls

2009-01-23T17:51:00.000-08:00

John and I met up on Friday and drove down to Minyon Falls for a look around before meeting up with Jo and Ron on Saturday Morning.

On Friday night we found this Perons Tree Frog.

Sat morning we could see the falls in the morning light ...

when Jo and the Ron arrived we started the trek to the base of the falls while Oneputt secured base camp.

not sure what Ron was trying to capture here ...

I reckon it was a conspiracy that they got me to take the lead just before i walked into this little fella...

It didn't seem to want to move off the track ...

When i grabbed its tail it spun around and was clearly not impressed but slowly sauntered off the track...

After a fair bit of scrambling over large boulders to get there i had to climb up to the left to try and get the whole falls in the pic...

to give you an idea of the scale, the arrow points to Ron in the pic...

and another pic taken from down the valley a bit ...

We then endured the extremely high humidity and high temps on the climb back up out of the lush green valley...

I took the lead again for a short time and STOOD on this dark brown slender looking snake ... didn't get a real good look at it but could have been a Dwarf Crowned snake or Marsh snake? ... i still reckon it was a conspiracy !!

After jauntily ... err ... umm ... crawling the last few agonizing metres to the top we then started to get rid of the excess weight we had carried up from the valley floor ...
This one had at least 10KG of my blood in it !!

Lace Monitor didn't seem worried by us at all...

Leaving Minyon Falls we drove to Rummery Park then Rocky Creek dam and walked up to Protesters Falls for a look around the area...

as the day was wearing on we had to find a campspot and headed up Wallaces road ... on and on we climbed, up into the mist shrouded rainforest to an old log dump...

not sure what this is ... perhaps a fuel drum something or other ...

On Sunday morning we needed our fix and headed off to Nimbin ...
for a coffee.
We were not sure whether to use QLD time or NSW time ... but needless to say it didn't matter anyway...

its certainly a strange place...

We headed up to Main Range National Park and stopped fot lunch near some Arctic Beech Trees ...

we stopped to have a look at an old railway bridge and were lucky enough to see a train cross it...

Just after that Jo and the Ron departed for home while John and i started looking for somewhere to camp.

we headed up to Mount May but it was packed so we took a couple of pics of the falls and headed off again...

we ended up finding a camp beside a small dam up near O'Reillys and found this Great Barred Frog changeling,it was about 50 to 60 mm long and is the biggest tadpole i've ever seen ...

this noisy little Bibrons Toadlet was calling out from beside my swag so we grabbed a few pics of it then put it back ...

its only about 18mm long but makes a big racket ...
It got me back for the photo session by keeping up the noise all bloody night

On Monday Morning we drove up to O'Reillys but the rain and mist set in so i just grabbed a pic of a Potaroo and we headed for home...

great weekend, thanks Guys

Kelly Koala [for kids]

2009-01-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Kelly Koala lives in an old shack near a small seaside village named Jacobs Well, her best friend is Percy Penguin and they have lots of adventures.

A big storm caused lots and lots of rain, Kelly found the back yard was completely flooded so when the rain stopped she grabbed her best friend Percy and attempted to row across the back yard ... oops! forgot the paddles :-(

Kelly thought she wanted to be a singer like Cher so she climbed up on a big cannon and started singing ... woops! she forgot to hang on.

Xmas road trip 2008

2008-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

With Xmas almost upon me and ten days off i decided to head down from Brisbane to Bendigo as a surprise for Mum and Dad but things were not looking real good in the mechanical stakes as heaps of things started to break as soon as i had made the decision.

First, one of the batteries decided to short out when it was nearly fully charged but worked fine at part charge so it was hard to figure out what was wrong, replaced the battery and all is now well.

Next the wheel studs broke off the front hub which damaged the free wheel hub and put holes through the alloy mag ... had to buy a new Mag and replaced the front hub but i repaired the FWH.

Next the fuel transfer pump [aftermarket] died completely and i had to replace that.

I was beginning to think the Ute did not want to go down to Victoria by this stage

It was not done yet as the plunger assembly [aftermarket] on the lift pump died and i had to fit a new CAV assembly.

The weekend before the planned trip i had a test run up to the Overlander Forum Xmas trip where i broke an engine mount which allowed the motor to move and broke the inlet spout off the radiator.

I was unable to get a new top tank or radiator in time so i had to do a bodgy repair so i can drive to Bendigo.

I cut the top brass connection of a datsun radiator and cleaned it all up then glued it inside the broken plastic GU radiator inlet.
I built up the epoxy around the brass spigot to the same diameter at the inlet using duct tape as a mould.
So now i have around 25mm to connect to instead of 5mm

The big test will be when i go up Cunninghams Gap ... if it doesn't blow then i should be right.

Straight after work on wednesday i hit the road south from Brisbane as i wanted to be there next day to spend Xmas with the Family.

Just as i was coming in to Aratula it bucketed down but i was happy with that as it meant a cool run up the range to Cunninghams Gap.

Naturally enough the rain stopped at Aratula so i had a hot and steamy run up the range and it started to rain again as i went over the top :rolls eyes:

I had cleaned the radiator inside and out so this run was the coolest it had ever run up the range and my repair held so all was looking good for the Run to Victoria.

After a couple of hours of boring bitumen i came across a very appropriate sign

To break the boredom i stopped and grabbed a pic of some silos.

Around 1AM i hit the swag as it had been a late one the previous night and i was up early.

Slept in a roadside stop just north of Dubbo but the mossies were horrendous ... just the noise of them kept me awake for hours.

Finally at about 4AM i had enough and hit the road again.

Funny what you see at that hour of the morning ...

Luckily they had the Ray Gun at Parkes warmed up and got rid of the pesky little fella.

later on xmas day i spotted Santa .... must be running late as he had traded in the reindeer for a JohnDeere...

heres another shot of the dish at Parkes

fosters next door, holden beside it, a table and chair on the front verandah to swig your long neck from while listening to the races on the radio .... what more could a _ _ _ _ _ need!

An old DC3...

Saw these two and came to a screaming halt in a cloud of dust, grabbed a couple of pics through the window ... but as soon as i got out of the truck to try for a better pic ....

they flew off !!

cropped a fair bit to get these two pics...

still pretty dry out on the plains...

Finally, after a long and hot trip i arrived at Bendigo... The poor old ute had made it down no probs and i have nothing [extra] to fix.
The look on my parents faces when i walked in made the last 24 hours on the road all worth while!!

Just missed lunch but got to see my nieces kids open their pressies ... and watch them with my nieces partner's new pup ...

cop this ...

and just like me ... plum tuckered out ...

After 4 days of visiting rellies and relaxing whilst getting plenty of Mums home cooking it was time to think about heading for home again.
Fired up the ute to go and fuel up and grabbed a few pics from around Bendigo during the last arvo ...

My Neice manages the Bendigo Ice Skating Rink .. the difference in lighting from the flouro inside the shop to the big lights over the rink is quite pronounced...

home made ice studded tyres on the Zamboni machine...

saw this joint driving past, so stopped for a look, the Central Deborah Gold Mine...

this church is huge and really stands out...

and just down the road is the fountain... but they turned the water off before i got to take a pic...

While i was looking at the Queen of Queens statue [Queen Victoria] ...

I saw a Tram trundling past...

there is some interesting looking old buildings in the centre of town...

there were a few Foo Dogs in the chinese section...

and the gate framed the Tram as it passed...

then it was time to head back to pack for the next stage of my trip.

After spending the previous day visiting and getting the trailer ready for towing to Qld i was all set for an early start on monday morning...

I left about 10:00 *rolls eyes*

Dad gave me his old Offroad trailer and his old rooftop tent as he has no use for them anymore and when they move he will have no room for them, the tent fitted inside the trailer and so after a bit of travelling i stopped to check things over, its all good.

when i got to Shepparton i was thinking these guys are pretty clever with their Cow Breeding skills...

Heres one for poultry...

heres one for fishing...

heres one for hunting...

but then i started to worry about these blokes ;-)...

I continued on and saw this Transformer so had to stop for a look ... powered by a V8 and with gas bottles for flames it is supposed to be a horse that transforms into a windmill...

this is the only windmill of its type still working...

looks like Ned is getting into the spirit of things...

This display was pretty big but looks like it has not been open for a while ...

this fighter jet is a De Havilland Vampire...

some of the small towns have some impressive buildings...

it was getting late but i snuck into Parkes Radio Telescope for a pic...

then headed to Dubbo to camp so i could be up early.

I turned up at the gate of Dubbo Zoo at 5.45am but they didn't have the early tour on this day ... so i came back at 8.00 and joined the que to get in...

Lemur?...

Wombat...

Meercat...

Rhino...

Hippo...

Sumatran Tiger...

Elephant...

Cheeta Cub...

Giraffe...

Deer...

one horned Rhino...
[this one has rubbed his off on trees and fences etc]

Small Clawed Otter...

I finally ran out of time at the Zoo and headed north looking for something to interest me and saw a sign to Siding Springs so i headed off in that direction until i could see the observatory on top of a hill in the distance...

With the ute overheating trying to drag the trailer up to the top i was sort of glad that the area was closed when i got there as there is no room to park a trailer ... the bad thing is you are not allowed to get any closer than this...

I made my way back down the mountain and turned left passing a caravan parking area then saw this unique letter box on the side of the road...

Coming into Boggabilla i noticed a lot of broken trees and bent signs...

Honest officer, i wasn't going fast, what makes you thing that?...
[a huge storm had gone through the area the day before]

And to end this trip report ... how could i resist!!

Then it was just a short sprint home exactly a week after i left.

.Shane

Jimna weekend

2008-11-09T15:04:00.000-08:00

John and I decided on a camping and photography weekend in the Jimna area and so on Friday night i headed the ute northwards under threatening skies.

Our meeting place was on the Kingaham road where i had discovered a nice little campsite several months ago and we intended to check it out.
The area is an unused camping reserve on a cattle studded creek flat just at the bottom of the very steep drive and beside a creek crossing, very easy to find if your looking but easy to miss if your not.

I had timed it perfectly as by the time i arrived John had collected the wood and had the campfire going; as a bonus the skies had cleared with not a cloud to be seen.

The next morning had clouded over completely as we headed up to the top of the camping area to check out the two small lakes.

some water lilies...

a small fly...

a Thistle...

We checked out the cattle yard before deciding to follow the road at the base of the range but were stopped by a big new gate so headed up the Range and along the way passed these old cattle yards...

we drove through the Deer farm but they were miles away from the fence so didn't get a pic although i did get one of some Roos bounding away...

We tried one of the side roads further on but found it blocked off for a car rally so headed to Jimna finding most of the side roads blocked, with out plans thwarted we decided to head back to the first blockade to take some pics but when we arrived they were turning some spectators away so i parked the ute under a tree, grabbed the camera and sauntered up to the officials saying "we are the photographers, when's the first car arriving?" ... my bluff worked and we had full access to the corner :-)

We headed off towards Goomeri for a look around with the odd bit of rain starting to show itself...

the doghouse...

We turned south and found a nice campspot beside Kinbombi Falls but after walking all the way to the bottom found the pools even greener than this Water Dragon and no water falling...

The skies were not looking kind so i rigged a tarp off the truck just in case and we settled down before the campfire to cook dinner, i had only heated a can of soup before the rain snuck up behind us so we adjourned to the tarp and sat on the Swags to eat.

There was no sign of it easing so as dark fell we retired to the warmth and comfort of our swags.

First light next morning found 2 1/2" of rain had fallen and although the falls were flowing it was only inside the large crack in the rock.

We packed up and followed a few state forest tracks passing Gallangowan fire tower on our way back towards Jimna...

The track across to Imbil had some very wet clay on the steep section and i thought it prudent to wack it in 4WD for the long steep downhill just before our Friday night campsite, once on the valley floor we had a nice easy run to Imbil where we had a very nice coffee and cheesecake...

after finding out the Steeam train would arrive in another 2 hours ... we had another coffee and cheesecake !!

We wandered around the market and checked out some of the shops ...
John is gunna kill me for this pic :-)

Finally the Mary Valley Rattler arrived so we grabbed our pic and headed for home.

Big Red for President :-)

2008-10-22T01:40:00.000-07:00

Vote 1 Big Red ...
http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=46832&altf=cjh&altl=sfe

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Cheers,

Big Red :-)