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Samford, Qld

S 27°22'16" E 152°49'10"

Wed 28 Mar - Mon 2 Apr 2007


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photo of ross at his birthday picnic
Wednesday 28th Mar

We had to leave Wyllie Park because we had used up our 48 hours. I dumped the wastewater and filled up the fresh water tank (it took about 40 litres). I realised that we had cheated by staying there twice within a period of 30 days but we weren't pinged by the ranger.

We drove to Samford Showground and settled into a site by the creek. I met young fellow who was working on a power box near where we wanted to stop. He was an ex-motorhomer so we chatted a bit and he was very helpful.

It was quite hot so I fired up the airconditioner. Jean had had a bad night's sleep so she took a pre-lunch nap. I just veged out. The caretaker came to see us and asked us to move to the other side of the arena to avoid getting involved with the rodeo on Saturday night. We suggested that we would leave on Saturday morning and return on Sunday so she allowed us to stay in the spot we had selected.

Thursday 29th Mar

We had to get out early to go to Patricks Rd to look after Kelly who was still off school with a bad cold. Both Sarah and Max had to go to work so we needed to be there by half past eight.

When we got to Patricks Rd, I discovered that I had left some tools and my wallet in the Motley so I had to go back to the showground.

I put our laundry in the washing machine and started work on the moving the GPO from the living room into the kitchen (only a matter of putting it on the other side of the wall.

I finished the work on the new documents for the CMCA and sent them off. I also rang Peter Anderson to explain the background to our changes.

Friday 30th Mar

I moved the Motley to the site the caretaker wanted us to occupy during the rodeo on Saturday night. We went to Brookside to do a bit of shopping and have a coffee.

We went to Patricks Rd to address another repair job. There had been a report of a "dodgy" [power point in the kitchen which tripped the circuit breaker when an appliance was plugged in and switched on. I switched off all the electrical appliances in the house and all the power and tested the wiring for insulation defects. The test proved that all the wiring is in good order. I replaced the "dodgy" power point and tested it by using it to boil a jug of water. The reported symptoms did not recur so I drew the conclusion that if there is any future problem, it almost certainly arises from the appliance rather than the house wiring.

We returned to the Motley, stopping at the Thai takeaway in Samford Village for some supper.

Saturday 31st Mar

We went to Spotlight in Everton Park to buy some stuff and we went to Aspley to have coffee with Al.

The showground caretaker had said that the rodeo action started early in the afternoon so we decided to get back there for lunch to ensure that we didn't get to pay to go to the rodeo. We spent the afternoon vegging out in the Motley. In the evening the rodeo got going in earnest and we heard the PA system in the background but it didn't disturb us. We didn't have any of the trouble predicted with drunken rodeo people which was a relief.

We both had an early night.

Sunday 1st Apr

We had a date to celebrate Ross's birthday at the Bunya State Forest Park. We ate sausages and cake, talked a lot and played many games. We went back to Patricks Rd for afternoon tea and back to the Motley for supper.

Monday 2nd Apr

We both had appointments at the optician at Brookside at nine o'clock so we had an early start. We didn't get away from the optician until 11 o'clock. We had forgotten some stuff we needed so we went back to the Motley for lunch.

In the afternoon we took Jean's present for the Woodhouse's baby, a birth record cross stitch and a knitted jacket, to the Post Office. then we went to Patricks road to baby sit the kids and give Ross his birthday present.

After supper, I found that we had run out of fresh water so I had to go out in the dark and rig the electric bucket to put the water from the reserve jerry cans into the tank.

We must have been a bit careless with water as it had only been six days since we filled up and we are supposed to be able to survive 12 days. Perhaps the filling up was less the 100%.

It had been quite a while since I had used the electric bucket and I had a lot of trouble. The 12V lead blew a fuse and I had to do a fair bit of work getting rid of the fault. While I was doing this I lost my hearing aid out of my ear and couldn't find it in the grass. When I got the 12V supply working, I found that the pump was seized up so I had to fix that too. Eventually I got the 40 litres of Barraba rain water into the tank. When I got back into the Motley in desperate need of a rest, I found my hearing aid in my shirt pocket so something had gone right.


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Created: 27/3/07 and last revised 3/4/07
Author: Robin Chalmers Copyright in all the material on this site is asserted by the author
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