OOPS Again

Hi All,

The saga continues, yesty was doin the big shift, way out back of nowhere and we had just driven thru a creek and I looked back at the van and it looked as though she had popped off the towhitch

I's gets out and has a look and the back of the caravan is sittin on the dirt and the towhitch is still connected, I said what the!!!!!!, the A frame had broken off the van and I said what the!!!!!,SSSSSSSHHHH!!!!!!!!!TTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!

All things started goin thru me ead, and being as cool as I am(I Lie) I started havin to fink ...overtime like!!!!

Tree limbs won't do, there is old mine not far away so went and had a look ,but nuthin there , so decided to check out the nearest operating mine and see if they could help with a welder and some gear, thinking all along I'd have to go to Meeka to hire the stuff from coats and try and scab up some gear to fix it

I met the mine manager, and he laid down a few laws and we had a good talk and he offered to help us out as best he could

He gave me some scrap steel and a welder and rods and helmet and off I went, 3hrs later grovelling around in the dirt she was all fixed, but one side of the A frame is also the reservoir for the Hydraulic pump that pumps up the top half of the van.....so I had to refill bleed al the lines and try and get it all working in the dark

I know why I bought the 4.4kva genny now as it powered the welder and ran the grinder for the job no worries at all

Got 5 nugg's next morning and then took the gear back and thanked them very, very much for the help and went back and got another 2nugg's for 2.25gr all up, the missus got just over the gram for 3.3gr's all up for the day

Just had a bath and in bed writen this at 6o'c and all's well, waitin for tea to cook in the oven and beer in hand

Ron,Sherri and yoda

good repair Ron, been in a similar situation myself and had to do a McGuiver to get us through, ours caused by my mate when he jack knife the trailer.    middle of no where as usual, good old fence wire got us to a place to do repair, good to see you got some gold for your efforts.   

2 OOPS in one week is 1 OOP to many    Lucky you could get help.
So take it easy out there, stay safe and no more OOPS   

....but one side of the A frame is also the reservoir for the Hydraulic pump that pumps up the top half of the van

Are you pulling a Prattline.??

Hi All,

I don't know who's the Pratte, me or the van for pullin it!!!

I'm lucky I guess that I am able to fix these sort of oops's and have an understanding missus

Mechanical oops's I can handle its the physical ones I am having trouble with like the knee and back and little toe!!

Now it wants to send us 100mm of rain and would mean being stuck out here for a week, luckily we are on gold ..not good gold but gold..time for exploring

Roast for tea tonight and with the cold weather cumin PEA SOUP with ham hock...yum!!!

Ron,Sherri and Yoda

hey ron and sherri --someone told me all the hickups are part of the dream--I would hate to see the nightmare..

good to see u pulled through..and don't forget about the mine manager for helping u out..

regards
oneday

Hi Oneday,

We think if you are going to do these sort of things, like prospecting ,miles from civilization you have got to be prepared for all eventualities and meeting the challeng head on is part of the ride(you wouldn't have wanted to ask me that yesty}

As for the mine manager he shall remain nameless but needless to say there is still some good sorts out there willing to give a hand and we sure are grateful for his help

Another 2.25gr today

Ron,Sherri and Yoda

Wasn't Clarrie was it Ron?
cheers
Brett

Hi Brett,

Sure was, nice bloke, helped us no end, couldn't say enough to the trouble he went to look after us.He's been in the district for 30+yrs and would have some stories to tell, he's actually spent a few years repairing vehicles and trailers and the like so knew exactly the predicament we were in

Cheers,

Ron, Sherri and Yoda

hi ron and sherri, are you ex cue park don't know if you remember me sovereign john anyway you did well just had something same but managed to get to broome to get fixed cheers jono  

Hi John,

G,day ex Cueite, good to hear from you, could never forget you John, we have had our run of bad luck of late but heads high and will be back into prospecting as soon as I replace the A frame on the van and fix a few other things

You and your "new" friend seem to be getting around enjoying the good life, I didn't know there was gold in Broome  but I suppose there is more to life than just gold

Good to catch up, all the best John

Ron, Sherri and Yoda

hi we are on our way to cains but have to go through halls creek so thought id give it a go there , the park in cue put the rates up by $50 a week and most folks have cancelled when we left cue only 9 vans in all gone to sandstone only $105 instead of $150 Yalgoo park is only $98 and free washing machines so grey nomads are doing Yalgoo as well hope to catch up next year if still on the planet cheers jono, ps don't know anything about halls creek do you ?

Hi john,

The rates at Cue are ridiculous, so much lost trade but that's Cue's problem and they can have it!!, we were doing our washing at the Meeka Park $5'00 /load x3 washing machines and it was $15 to do the washing

Try googling Halls creek gold ..might help

Ron,Sherri and Yoda

why don't u buy a 12v/240v washing machine--just pre soak yah dirty clothes befor washing --

saves a lot of water

u can always save the excess water into a tub so u can pan off..

regards
oneday

we used a 20lt plastic bucket with the tight fitting lids, put your clothes in, add 1/3 bucket of water and a little soap powder and seal up. just put it in back of the car and after a drive on the tracks agitating it, its done. you can reuse water a few times depending on how dirty it gets and then use it for panning.

I think everyone should get one of these, folds up and stash in your pouch and you will always have water.

http://www.echomax.co.uk/a-solar-still.htm

Hi All,

Washing is the bain of long term camping, it takes three full size washing machines 1/2hr to do the washing or if you did it with a 12v job it would be like putting the fridge on every hour on the hour(like Sherri had to) it would be a continuous job and the water use would be large

I can't stand the smell after one day not alone a whole week like some I have heard some do and a fortnight of clean clothes is all the van will take

We go out for 2 months at a time but 2 weekly visits to town to do the washing not only clothes but sheets as well and a bit of shopping, also to top up with water at 200L,we take enough meat meals and tin stuff to last oh, and alcohol to last

As for water there is plenty of rain at the moment so collecting rainwater would have been our priority as all our town water for drinking goes thru the filter, I always carry a 25L container for that

Cheers Ron

Gday Ron
I was up Meeka last week and caught up with Clarrie. He's a top bloke and wields a mean guitar around the campfire. We grew up together in Mk.
On the way up last Monday I saw someone towing a Pratline with a small truck parked at the Nallan Dam, wasn't you was it?
cheers
Brett

Hi Brett,

I was supposed to stop at Nallan dam but because one of those huge dump trucks from up north was going thru I had to get off the road for a few minutes, so yes and no ,I was there and it was with the trayback cruiser HZJ79 and I was supposed to put some rubbish into the roadside bins but ended up carrying it to Mt Magnet

Last time we met up he was off to a local wedding, I agree ,a top bloke, extremely helpful for a man in his position, certainly got us out of a pickle

Ron

Bump,

Well the saga continues, been back for three weeks no time for rest as I was busy fixin everything, I managed to replace the A frame slightly modified of course

I ftted two gas bottles to the front instead of the one that we had before and a new tow hitch, the brakes are a non event as the wheel brake cylinder is off a hilman or Cortina from 30 yrs ago, so a non event(have to replace the whole shebang later)

I used 100x50mm rhs instead of the 78x50 that was on it before but instead of just having an A frame I took it right thru to the box frame that I mounted the springs onto to raise the van, way back

The 110L waeco fr/fr packed it in on the last trip so I fitted an after market temp controller from ebay like the guys on here said and it all seems to be working, trouble is we were going to be leaving on our next journey this mourning but the evakool decided to NOT work, it wouldn't get cold

Anyways a bit of fiddling and its all fired up now and should be leaving tomorrow morning if all goes well

IF anything else decides to shite itself I will leave it in the bush for someone else to be stuffed around with

Also the quad bike blew the CVT belt and had to be replaced when out there last time and the kickstarter decided to strip itself , so fitted a new one

Anything else!!, oh yea I fitted another 60w panel on the roof of the van and the door of the large cupboard in the van was vibrating off all the time so I replaced hinges and latch...oh!! and one more,  the wiring plug on the front of the towbar was too short now because I lengthened the towbar so I had to splice in another 250mm of cable, all soldered and spaced apart joins

AND.... I was too stuffed to take off this morning so we stayed another night just to wind down a bit

We used to do better when working in Cue, this full timin is not what its cut out to be, so far

Ron,Sherri and Yoda

AND I had to recondition the hyd pump I tried to redrill but the balls wouldn't seat so I went into a hyd place and they said to get the ball bearing and hit it with a hammer, which I did and now with new ballbearings and seals its all good....does anyone else have this much luck, maybe I should lash out and buy everything new!!!!

Things can only get better now hey...  

Hi Nuggydreamer,

Better, is there such a thing I'm beginning to think this is the norm!!!

Ron

geez with your luck Ron--I would go to church on Sunday--to b sure..

regards
oneday

G'day Flouro, I know how you feel. We were coming over again to W.A. this year but we had some dramas also.

Got to Longreach and had to replace the dual battery controller in the Troopy.
After Mt.Isa caravan fridge broke down. We had to go to Darwin to get it fixed (Waeco 2 door).
That took a week. On the way back to Katherine where we turn West, the toilet flush pump shat itself. Then the hot water system stuffed up. Someone is trying to tell us something.

We decided to cancel the trip and return home to Hervey Bay. We got past Mt. Perry near Bundaberg and my wife started suffering from severe chest pains. She has been in Bundaberg Hospital since (three weeks).
She will be flown to Brisbane on Wednesday for open-heart surgery to replace the mitral valve.

We hope to go West next year.

Regards Roger   

Hi matelot
i hope it all goes well for your wife's opp


regards red

Mulgadancer If its Clarie L in Meeka your on about il give him 10 outa 10 ,i worked under him keeping the water out of various pits south of Meeka contracting when it was going on there , very fair bloke , might see yas at the next race round there , albo , [ ol Henry turtles mate ]