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April 2013
03 April 2013
Not a lot has happened since our last entry except work and of course Easter. We have been working the afternoon shift, starting at 1130 am and finishing around 8pm.
The site closed over most of Easter and so we went for a days exploring the area around Murphy's Creek and Grantham where the catastrophic floods came through in 2011. It was strange to see and then drive under the 3.7m rail bridge that was the scene of two rescues, one of which was a woman jumping off the roof of her car into the the arms of people on the top of the rail bridge as the deluge went through. You can see where the floods came through and where houses and shops were but there is nothing but empty lots, a park and electric BBQ there now. Many of the townspeople have moved to a new location up on a hill where they no doubt feel a lot safer.
As the day wore on we passed through the very flat farming areas with its dark brown soil, eventually finding our way to a free camp at Heifer Creek about 20 km out of Heildon which is a small secluded and nicely treed campsite next to the creek. It also has a monument to the Thiess Brothers Pty Ltd (and family) who have constructed much of Queensland with their first job being the Heifer Creek Cutting (below) which is 7 kilometers from the campground and monument.
The next day we went up to see our friends John and Shirley (aka Home and Away) who live not far from Gatton. We spent Easter Saturday tripping around the local area with them checking out the flood areas including the Somerset and Wivenhoe Dams from where the water came from when Brisbane was flooded.
Heading back to Jondaryan on Sunday we stopped overnight next to the hall in town and it rained for most of the afternoon and evening leaving almost an inch of rain on the ground. The rain also stopped work on Monday and so we missed out on added pay for working Easter Monday, but that is the way it goes with seasonal and harvest work.
Back at work this week and on day shift. Starting at 6.30am and finishing at 2.30 or 3pm depending on what is happening. The bulk of the first crop is done now with only about 1,000 tonnes per day coming in, so we are doing odd jobs and preparing the site for the second crop to come in as well as out loading via the silo's onto the train which is due each Friday. Joanne is still working at her silo and I have been sealing bunkers, cleaning up spills, preparing ventilation pipes, tractor driving and even whipper snipping around the place.
The weather has been tropical during the day and cool overnight with fog in the morning until the sun burns it off to reveal a pleasant sunny 25-30 deg C. Most afternoons are quite muggy and the clouds are building up again for what will no doubt be more rain at some stage. This morning was a very heavy dew and of course the fog was there with the sun peaking through as we drove to work.
A foggy start to the day.
05 April 2013
A new set of skills are the highlight of today. During the week Joanne had been filling the silo's that sit above her head with Sorghum and today the train came to take it away, and not only did we get to see it in operation but we got to get up close and personal with it.
The first job was to learn how to open and close the rooftop doors on the carriages, the second was how to operate the panel to fill them and the third was to close them again. The train that came in had 38 carriages and so with the press of two buttons on each carriage the doors opened.
The trains comes in under the silo.
Open and ready for grain.
The fill begins with the first nozzle is used to fill as much as possible and the second tops it off. Each nozzle is operated from a panel with two joysticks and it is just a case of controlling the flow and the direction with them to ensure each carriage is filled to the top and level. It takes a little practice to remember which joystick does what and there is little room for error as the train continues to move without stopping for mistakes, which I am happy to say that I didn't make.
Inside as the fill begins. The joystick operator has a side on view but this one would have been better.
I wish I had had thought to get a shot of the carriages filled as they moved away but I didn't.
15 April 2013
The job at Jondaryan came to an end with the end of the first Sorghum crop and with the second and third crops some time off we managed to get seconded to a new site by the name of Talwood for a few weeks. So after a lunch provided as a farewell we spent Friday afternoon cleaning up and getting ready to move on the next day.
Talwood is only 300 kilometers from Jondaryan so we decided to take it easy and to take the whole weekend to get there. Our first stop was Goondiwindi where we camped behind the Caltex Truck Stop in the very large gravel pit where the truckies come to sleep overnight.
The next morning we drove down the the McIntyre River where we enjoyed a BBQ breakfast next to the river, the old metal bridge and the memorial to another of Australia's equine hero's Gunsynd the Goondiwindi Grey.
Eggs and Bacon for Breakfast
The McIntyre River
The old bridge
The memorial to Gunsynd and a list of its races
Late Sunday morning saw us arrive at the small town of Talwood which is about 90 kilometers West of Goondiwindi. A pub and trading post being the only commercial establishments, a Police Station (shed), school and a couple of dozen houses are what make up the town. 20 kilometers to the South is the river and the border between Queensland and NSW and St George is 111 kilometers West.
We have taken up a spot at the town's free camp (power by donation to the trading post when leaving) which has power, water, hot showers, toilets and Bungee, the self appointed caretaker who drives through every now and then and cleans the place up a bit. The only thing wrong with the place is the lack of TV reception but that is no bother because when we get back from work it is time to shower, eat and go to bed anyway. So with no space at the pub to stay we will come back here each night and camp, power or no power and will give them a donation each week equal to the cost of staying at the pub for a week.
Work for us is 5 kilometers away towards St George and right next to the Barwon Highway where we can see the caravans and motorhome's driving past which is a bit of a tease. General cleaning, loading trucks with wheat, tractor driving and whatever else needs doing has been our daily toil. The weather has been humid with thunderheads building up around us and the flies have seen us trying to bathe in anything that will keep the sticky little buggers out of our faces (will have to find our fly nests to go over our safety helmets).
21 April 2013
We're back at Talwood after a quick trip to Toowoomba to get the motorhome service done which we managed to have done on Saturday morning.
Leaving work around 3pm we drove as far as Millmerran where we camped next to a small park and a nice mural on the town water tank and spent a very peaceful night as the mercury dropped into single digits.
The Millmerran Watertank Mural
The next morning we awoke to see around a dozen motorhome's and caravans parked about 500m from us on a grassed area that turns out is a 72hr RV rest area. Driving on to Toowoomba we got the service done, stopped into a shopping centre to get some food and wine shopping done and then we headed off towards Goondiwindi.
Arriving in Goondiwindi late in the afternoon we stopped into the Caltex Truck Stop to top up with fuel and to see if we could stop overnight down the back where the truckies park up and sleep. "no problems" was the reply from the counter attendant so we found ourselves a spot on the edge and settled in for the rest of the night, waking to around a dozen trucks parked near us.
The truck stop has a truck wash bay so we took advantage of that to give AJ a wash and spruce up before heading into town to pick up some information from the tourist centre before heading back out to Talwood to prepare for work tomorrow.
Heading back we passed through some of the areas Cotton crops which made for a sea of white as we drove past.
Cotton as far as the eye can see.
Cotton almost ready for the harvester
A wayward cotton plant on the side of the road.
Arriving back at the free camp we found we had it to ourselves and so picked a nice spot, plugged into the power and set into small tasks.
Just before sunset a huge racket from near the gate meant a walk down there with the camera to investigate was in order. There was a couple of hundred crazy Galah's feeding on the grass, in the trees and honing their trapeze skills on the power lines. Interestingly the local magpies were sat on the fence watching it all.
Heading back from the Galah's I managed to get a couple of shots of our campsite.
Left to Right. Old Police Lockup, Old Railway Station (now a sports pavilion) and the Toilet and Shower block.
The Sunset
The power sockets are all along the rear wall of the amenities block.
25 April 2013
Anzac Day 2013.
Apart from Anzac Day, today was just another day except we were not at work because of the public holiday. We spent the day catching up with a few things.
As the day wore on there we could hear a PA system being prepared for the town's afternoon Anzac Day service, then near 5pm Joanne called out to me to come and see what was happening. The town of Talwood and numerous others were all marching behind three WW2 Army Jeep's to the Anzac Memorial here at the oval. Watching the service was interesting and special and even the odd out of place note from the bugle during the last post made it even more special.
Arriving at the Anzac Day Service
The Talwood Anzac Day Service.
26 April 2013
12 months ago Joanne and I drove away from the so called "normality" (a good job and a nice place to live) towards a new and uncertain horizon.
12 months ago we had a few dollars in the bank and an ideal in our heads of leaving the rat race behind to see parts of Australia we had not seen before, and to visit a few that we had.
12 months ago our loose plan was that we would roam the countryside as our whim (or chance or circumstances etc) dictated and then when we felt we needed to, we would get a stress-less, all care, no responsibility, leave your brain at the door type job, preferably where we could work together.
12 months down the track one interesting observation we have made (in hindsight) is that when we started we had no idea of what we were really going to do, or how we were going to do it but we have found that this year has morfed into touring as we work, rather than just touring after we work to pay for it. It is a slight difference but a difference just the same.
We are working (and enjoying it more than ever) and will (when the seasonal work runs out) take some time to just tour and explore but for the meantime we are happy to work and see where it takes us.
12 months down the track we are happy to report that we have:
survived away from the safe harbour of "normal" life,
travelled over 26,000 kilometers,
worked for 26 weeks (in the past 12 months),
enjoyed all of the jobs we have had and the places we have worked at,
learn 't some new skills,
brought in enough money to live and travel for the past 12 months,
on our first anniversary on the road the same bank balance as we did on day one,
worked together on all of the jobs,
spent just about all of the last 12 months together,
managed to give back to the community through volunteer work,
managed not to collect too much stuff and have maintained a minimalistic lifestyle,
mastered the art of living in a 7m x 3m x 3.5m box on wheels,
managed to visit all of our family in Australia,
met so many nice people,
seen so many nice places,
had so many nice campsites,
witnessed so many stars in the night sky,
learn 't new skills with the camera,
decided that our plan is working, and
decided to keep doing what we are doing.
So while we will at some stage in the coming year drop into where we started we will be sailing again away from the safe harbour to keep the wind in our sails to explore, dream and discover some more. It's a tough job but someone has to do it :)
So on the way to work this morning I saw the opportunity to get some photos which are below.
The sun bathing everything as it came through the trees when we pulled out of the campsite was too good a shot not to get.
Roadside waterhole first thing in the morning. We have passed and commented on this waterhole everyday and keep meaning to stop and get a shot, so this morning, which we thought was our last day working here, we did just that. Little did we know however that we would be asked to stay for another week and that means more mornings looking at this as we drive to work.
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