Logging Off

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No sooner have we arrived back in town, it’s a new year, it is still summer, we still have plenty of things to do and places to go. This weekend we are heading out to a friend’s property in the Brindabella’s as there is a lengthy training session on how to use a chain saw. As we own one and sometimes take it on trips, we both felt that it was a good idea to know how to use it safely, so our training officer had organised a professional company to come in and give all those who were interested some proffessional chain saw training nd the course was called Cahinsaw maintenance and cross cutting techniques.

I have arranged to head off early to get Gypsy ready and then Andy can join me as soon as he finishes work.

A friend of mine has lent me a car until I get one sorted out, although it has seen better days, I am grateful that it easily gets me around Canberra and to be honest with you - it is great being able to drive into and park in the multi-story car parks which we have not been able to do since we got the new truck.

Unfortunately the air conditioning does not work, and today happens to be one of the hottest January days ever recorded in Canberra, at a stifling 42 °C (official reading taken at the airport), beating the previous record of 41.4 on 31January 1968.

With roughly a 25 minute drive from home, by the time I arrived with Gypsy I was melting, there was no respite from the heat, even with the windows open the air was hot. It was way too hot to do anything, but I needed to get the trailer ready.

Andy rocks up looking cool in the truck and wondered why I looked hot and flustered? He has not suffered in the same way as he stepped out of his air conditioned office into the air conditioned truck!

We finish up, and hit the road, we have a deadline to meet up with some other club members for the trip into the Brindabella’s, although we have been there several times, once you are off the main track, it is a tricky route in, a few people have got lost before now.

I slip into the truck and the refreshing relief of the air con gradually takes over me, it is a while before I cool down, but what a relief! It makes me think back to the pioneering days and wonder what they did without air conditioning.

We arrive at the meeting point, there is no one there, we missed the first group and have arrived ahead of the meeting time for the second group. It was not long before the others arrive and the four vehicles set off on this dusty journey into the Brindabella’s

As usual as soon as we are on the dirt, we reduce the tyre pressures and engage 4 high, to allow more control of the vehicle on this terrain, especially important when towing and this would be Gypsy’s first proper 4 wheel drive outing.

When we are off the main track and heading into our friends property we are guided down by the lead vehicle, he lets us know the conditions of the track and in particular when we need to engage 4 low. All four vehicles were towing trailers.

I am not sure if I mentioned before but I have downloaded the Hema Maps App to my Ipad and use that for my navigational aid, which is great because you can set way points to plot a route or even set a breadcrumb trail which is what I am doing for this particular track, so next time we head out this way, we won’t have to rely on grouping up to find our way.

I would be lying if I didn’t say “I was nervous” of taking this track, Gypsy is still new and although I knew that she should be capable, this was a good test.

We took it slowly, calculating our move down the track, with only one corner being tricky, which we had to manoeuvre a couple of times to get round, but that was more to do with the turning circle on the truck than the limitations of the trailer.

Even as a passenger I could feel the weight of the trailer pushing the truck from behind, but Andy is fully in control and we arrive at the bottom of the valley with no bother, for Gypsy’s first real off road experience, she handled it beautifully (I won’t say gracefully though). Gypsy has been designed and built for extreme off road tracks and that is exactly why we bought her (took us long enough to decide), where we go, she follows!

We arrive on the bank of the Goodradigbee, the terrain has changed since our last visit, John and Cheryl’s property suffered in one of the floods, fortunately the house was built a far distance from the bank and the water did not reach it, but as for the rest of it, the fences were down, there were trees missing, some washed away and others had fallen straight across the river.

The first group were already set up, they looked very settled and floated around in the river drinking a cool beer. They had been there for less than an hour but looked very at home.

There was only one thing that we could do, join them. So Gypsy was all set in five minutes. I transferred everything from the cool bag to the fridge (I didn't have time when we picked up Gypsy), we were changed and bobbing around in the river with everyone else!

An hour later we got out to get ready for dinner, it was just still light. I poured a glass of wine - it had been in the fridge since we arrived, but amazingly it was hot, not lukewarm, but actually hot! Oh well it was wine and I could not pour it back so I drank it.

The milk was hot too! Everything was hot, but I am not surprised. Even the evening temperature was hot. Before we left town, I heard from Helen and it was 44 degrees with them so it stood a fair chance that the temperature was similar here.

While we were bobbing around in the river, we discussed the fires that had been happening in the region and if it was worth still coming out for the weekend being that it was high risk.

We were a little nervous of the fires, a lot of New South Wales has been burning for the last 2 weeks, so we made a little plan for ourselves should the inevitable happen and being that we were camping on a friends property, they would have a fire plan too. This has been well advertised recently, especially if you live in a high risk area, you must have a fire plan.

My first thought is easy, if we are advised to leave, then let’s face it, I am not hanging around, the only two things that would be important are me and Andy.

If a fire occurred, we had a plan and an increasing number of club members are getting satellite phones, so whatever happens at least we are able to call for help. We are camped on the edge of the river and the worst case scenario was that is where we would all be heading.

The night was hot, in some way it would have been better to sleep outside of Gypsy in the hope of some cool air, but the only thing I could do was to wet a flannel and keep it in the fridge, periodically I pulled it out to help cool me down.

Ah, Saturday morning, Andy is up early and the kettle is on, I need to stir as Andy will shortly be heading off to do his chainsaw training for the day. Our 4wd club has put on the training as an increasing number of club members have chain saws and although there are many restrictions to consider when on the road, there is that occasion when a chainsaw may come in handy and to know that you are operating it safely is the key.

A quick bacon and egg sandwich, the washing up is done and Andy is gone, I am left to my own devices, I have some work to do so I get the laptop out and try to get on with it. I succeed for a while, but I soon give in to the temptation of sitting around drinking tea and chatting with the other girls. It is a man thing that all the guys have gone to do the chainsaw training. You won’t catch me using a chain saw, I am too accident prone to even think about it.

After a cloudy start to the day, we sit in the shade, but it is still too cool to go into the river for a swim (I cannot believe I am saying that after it was so hot yesterday!). We see the guys for a tea break and then lunch, but the afternoon sees them disappear altogether.

The afternoon is getting hotter, thankfully not as hot as yesterday! Now it is warm enough to slip into the river, I hate cold water but the temptation here is too good and the water is not as cold as some rivers that we have swum in.

I am not the last in, but I soon swim up to join the others and we all swim down river as far as we can go. We swim and climb over the fallen trees into each section of the river, amazingly this water is warm, the sun is right on the water in places. Eventually we all swim back to the top where a ladder awaits us. It is harder to swim up river, but the exercise feels good!

One by one we all climb out and the day is now so warm, that you don’t even have that familiar shiver of getting out of the water before you dry yourself off.

Eventually all the guys start to return and one by one they hit the river, they all look hot and tired, they have had a busy day and I feel slightly guilty for having an easy one (only slightly!). Wine o’clock arrives and the snacks come out, but as the afternoon starts to give way to the evening we all disperse for dinner and tonight ours is steak and “tiny taters”.

The evening is getting colder, the breeze is now a cool wind so for the first time in ages I find myself wearing a fleece. We join the group up at the house and for a change there is no large camp fire burning as there is a fire ban right across the region.

The night is a bit more comfortable a nice respite, but of course Sunday morning brings the heat back with it.

Whilst it is at its coolest, I start to pack up the trailer, but it is already hot, I go as far as I can and help a few of the others unload wood from a trailer that appears every now and again, the guys are on the saws all day and we can tell that they are busy. After each load, we all crash out in the shade for a cool drink and messages come back with the guy who is driving the wood trailer that bottles of water are required.



Andy had said that the first breifing they had on the second day was a snake waring as it was pointed out that working on such a big wood pile is was most likley they would see a snake and if bitten by one, what everyone had to do, when Andy got back he was most disppointed that he did not see any.

Eventually the guy’s head off for a final briefing and their exam, so the girls head into the river for a final dip before hitting the dirt and the 2 hour journey home, whilst we are not that far out of Canberra, the tracks make it a longer journey.

The good news is that all the guys have passed their exam, they all comment on how much they have learnt and how useful it was to have the training, Andy says he has learnt a lot and this knowledge will go a long way so that should he need to use the chainsaw he can do it safely.

After the guys have a quick dip, it is one final rush for packing up and we all appear to be ready at the same time so one long dusty convoy heads out of the property leaving it in its previous tranquil setting.

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Photos

Taking a Dip
Look closely in the distance - a few metres above the water level lies a huge catchment of wood, there is a fridge on top. This is a result of the flood, which shows how high the water level was.

Chain saw Training
All the saws we had to use, laid out.

Chainsaw Training
Our Instructors

Gypsy
The official naming of Gypsy

Surf Board
What every Caravan needs, a Surf board

Sharpening the saw
When it was time to refel the saw, it had to be maintained and sharpened.

A bore Cut
Doing a bore cut,very difficult

Comments

[Anne]

Hello again!
Good to hear from Kangaroo Jack again. I was beginning to think your last entry "Logging Off" had a hidden message! Anyway, congratulations on finally achieving your Australian citizenship. You had such a lengthy battle there. Hope you enjoy the new vehicle. I'm looking forward to reading more of your adventures.

[kangaroojack]

Re your message
Hi Anne, Thanks for your message, its just been a bit disjointed this year really, we have been lucky to have so much to write about,but the blog just seem to be to much work. The last one I wriote and published yesterday, (Bells and Smells) was just such a trudge to write, possibly becasue it wa hanging around for so long. We do have some pretty big news, which we will share,all I can say for now is Today 28th Mrch 2013 is day 1, and we hope to be turning out some more exciting blogs, so read in to that what you can, until we make our anouncement. Just me being nosey,where abouts in the world are you. My regards Kangaroojack