FNQ trip

Well this is the week we are off to Nth Qld, it is a bit slow but we finally get to Friday. I hate early morning flights, I just can’t sleep and we are off to the Airport at 4:00am. Not a bad flight but they all take too long. We arrive, pick up the hire car and head off to East Feluga to view the first property. It is nearly 2 acres on the side of a mountain overlooking the Tully valley. It is nice but a bit steep and has plenty of rain forest on it bloody wet though. We meet the agent and discuss our thoughts , and the move on to other properties.
That night we stay at the Feluga hotel a beaut country pub for $40 a night we get chatting to the locals and have a few drinks. Next day we are off to Tully to meet with a couple of agent and see some more places. We are pretty fussy so it narrows down the available places, some on the Tully river and quite a few old Sugar Cane farms. You have to be careful in this part of Aus with 4,000mm+ rain a year. Yes that is nearly 8 x Adelaide annual rainfall. We are not that keen on the Sugar Cane farms not really much to look at. Anyway we spend a lot of time driving around for 4 days. We stayed at Kurramine beach and Innisfail talked to some agents, and locals about Tully, land sugar cane you name it. It rains for the 4 days we are here especially each time we look at a place or drive through El Arish (we are definitely not buying there) It has been the wettest year for a long time with most of the sugar cane ruined. On the first day a rock hits the windscreen of the hire car and puts a crack in it which continually gets bigger. I got a quote and rang up the hire car place who said it was OK to get it replaced, only $ 240 so a bargain. Anyway my Camera, Phone and now the Windscreen all in a week, they say it comes in 3’s so this has been one hell of an expensive trip. Today we looked around Cairns and did some Christmas shopping at DFO. Back to the Airport and home to Darwin what a weekend. No land purchase either yet, but stay tuned.
Back in Darwin and patiently waiting to hear about the land !!

Wet Season Build up

Well it has become a normal build up now with daily storms rolling in but little rain. We are off to Dundee in the hope of some fishing but it is not good weather expected so it looks like a weekend of working. I get bitten by a centipede and it really hurts so onto the phone to make sure I’m not going to die. It is all good just need to expect some pain for at least 48 hours.
Number 1 on the list is replacing the leaking pump that has been giving Jan the shits for months. Well all of us really it leaks over the floor. I knock that off along with some wiring jobs. Brian has a load of road base so there is plenty of shovelling to do. Saturday is full on and we get heaps done. Another Dundee sunset a big feed and off to bed. We awake to another day of windy yucky ocean, so more work, we are off over to Bobs to work on his roof project. There are some tricky beams to get up and weld and it is hot as. At Dundee you stand on the cliff and it is not too bad, you go back to the Dongers and it is hot but another 100m inland to Bob’s and it is stifling heat. Anyway we get it done with the aid of some beers. After lunch it is time to head home, Brian is staying on so Jan is coming back with us. It is quite funny how Jan fusses over Brian to make sure he will not starve to death. (he has enough food for a week)

Darwin Townhouse

Andy Still has Sore Foot

Well another week at work goes by, my foot is slowly getting better and we think it may be Metatarsal injury but what exactly is not known. Anyway as many would say “Toughen up Princess”.
Finished my first course this week Microsoft Project which I have used for years but never been taught properly, now for my Diploma in Project Management. We have had a bit of rain but nothing serious yet.
I finally got around to adjusting the handbrake on the weekend which is not a nice job on an 80 series cruiser. Found out the rear pad for the brake shad seen better days so I decided to swap them over. Not a big job but it is funny how you lose interest in working on cars as you get older.

Melbourne Cup week

It’s November and that means Melbourne Cup, I try to embrace it but I just can’t get to like it. It’s wet in Melbourne and Darwin, and In fact it was the coldest November day on record in Darwin, a chilly 26˚, how we had to suffer.
Another Car repair this week new rear wheel bearings, nothing has happened but Jo told there was nothing wrong with them and that they had never been replaced. Oh no never? Anyway it is all good driving around Australia with water crossing beach drives and mud adventures but it really does wear out your car. Nothing has actually broken but I still want to ensure all this stuff is in good condition before we tackle WA. (When ever that may be)
Tina and I are famous now for changing our plans not quit weekly but we certainly move the goal posts a bit. Take our latest venture, we are trying to buy some land in North Queensland are flying to Cairns soon to look at some properties. ( I can’t have enough projects on  ) Stay poste for an update of how that goes.
I have been promising for quite some time now that I would post some photos of the Townhouse and gardens Tina and I made so here they are.

Halloween