mission accomplished

17.6.2011
BUILDING NEWS

We now have chimneys. Next step is to move the internal scaffolding and core fill the sidewalls. Geoff still thinks we should render the parapet before we add the solar buffer zone. One problem. It is still raining; this is far from ideal for the tasks just mentioned.

Al and I have discussed covering the whole top of the building with a tarp or plastic so that work can continue inside before the water proofing is done. The waterproofing needs to be put on a perfectly dry surface and the chance of getting one in the near future looks depressingly dim. If we were able to put the glass in the windows and a lid on we could be totally weather proof fairly soon. This would add extra expense but we would get a house to live in sooner which is rapidly becoming a priority.

OTHER NEWS

Edd and I got home plus tables and chairs on Wednesday evening after an easy drive home. We made a dash up to Kippa Ring (north of Brisbane) using mostly the Newel Hwy. The journey took us two whole days because it was dark about 5pm and we stopped for the night just before 8pm so that we could get an evening meal and settle into a motel.

Everywhere was pretty booked out in Kippa Ring because it was the Queens birthday weekend. Strangely lots of the restaurants were closed for the same reason. Strange policy for tourism. We found a berth in Scarborough beside the sea in a sort of automatic building. Edd collected a key and then we had to try and work our own way in through a series of locked system that would have done a top security prison proud. We totally failed to get our car into the park the first night but next day we were more awake and began to work out the systems.

On Sunday we rang up the people we were buying the furniture from and went to see them to arrange a pick up. Luckily they were friendly and helpful and the chairs were even more like the ones that I lost than they looked on the photo. I felt extremely happy about this. Edd was very impressed with the table, which was amazingly unmarked after 25 years of family use.

We then went to Bunnings to buy packing material and collect cardboard after that it was time to explore. We walked by the sea and found the most beautiful fig tree, it was enormous and many branched. I suppose as we were by Deception bay, which is part of Morton Bay that it was a Morton Bay fig. We ate Middle Eastern food at lunch and found a fascinating place serving Indian Street food for an evening meal.

By night we had decided that we had done enough in Kippa Ring area and that our best bet was to pick up the table and chairs in the morning and set off home. We brought maps and considered taking a different route back but in the end the option we chose was to take almost the same route back but do the journey in three days. This way we would get the best chance of shedding rather than gaining stress. This turned out to be wise because floods closed the coastal high way.

Our first day of travelling was beautiful with sun shine and mountains, There was a slight delay due to road works on the mountain that were repairing massive rain damage but we were going in the right direction and the biggest traffic jam was on the other side of the road. We got to Goonwindi in good time and found a fabulous Chinese restaurant and a good motel.

For me the best bit of the holiday was not having to cook in a tiny space, in fact, not cooking at all, and having bathrooms with mirrors and space. Our motel rooms had heaters and comfortable beds. We found the best deal at West Wyalong on the second night at The May Fair motel. This was by far the cheapest, but also the most spacious and best equipped of every place we stayed. It had rained all day so we chose this place because it had under cover parking and the rest was a surprise.

Our final day of travel was in sunshine again and we stopped for lunch at Rutherglen in a winery. There was a courtyard with a fountain and good food. It was also the warmest place we had visited so we relaxed with a glass of wine and tried to forget about the fact we would be home in a few hours.

Back at home we found everything in order. Bo and Josh had made sure our donga was clean and all the animals were well. The goat, Melissa had been sick and Bo had got a vet out who could not find exactly what was wrong but gave her medicine and she recovered. Bo has not dared to tell me what the bill is yet so I suspect the worse. Usually if we call a vet we get several hundreds of dollars in billing and a dead animal so I cannot really complain.