BlazeAid Stanthorpe

 September - Stanthorpe BA

Only photos this time.

Creek crossing and flood gates.

The hill top in the middle of the farm.

Gullies on the flat.

Get the fence over the hill.

Cut your own round post strainers
 then bark them and dig them in.

But dig out the old one first.

August 2024

Stanthorpe BA August 2024

After a break, we’re back at Bungulla Farm, diving into the next phase of the fencing project. The electric fencing is nearly complete in the main area of the farm anyway.  Our focus has now shifted to tackling the remote boundary fences and the rugged terrain behind Red Hill.

Here, the granite belt lies just beneath the topsoil, making it difficult or near impossible to dig in round post strainers. Instead, we’re resorting to a method of securing the fence by drilling and hammering railway spikes into larger trees. This approach is labour-intensive and slows progress, especially since we have to carry tools and materials by hand due to the steep, wooded terrain and multiple creek crossings. Replacing flood gates at these crossings adds another layer of complexity, but we’re managing.

The farm's wildlife provides both beauty and a few headaches. Kangaroos are a common sight in the paddocks, while wild pigs and rabbits leave their mark with burrows that can be hazardous. Long grass and hidden holes pose a risk to both humans and vehicles, we’ve been fortunate to avoid major incidents so far.

One of the highlights of our routine is the vibrant community of backpackers we work with. Each Saturday night, a different nation takes the helm to cook a traditional dinner for the group. With an average of 35-40 people to feed, this is no small task! The diversity of the group is remarkable—at our roll call, we’ve had representatives from 14 different countries.

Backpackers generally stay for 88 days to qualify to extend their working holiday visas, so we frequently see new faces as some depart and others arrive. Despite the turnover, these new volunteers pick up skills and contribute to the fencing operations. 

New creek flood gate.

Stanthorpe Fires

Stanthorpe June 2024

Back in October 2023 bush fires raged along the boarder between Qld and NSW. Early in 2024 BlazeAid setup a camp at the showgrounds at Stanthorpe. That camp still continues but is now located at the Fred Rogers council facilities at Storm King Dam about 10km out of town.

Work continues on farms in the area as well as some farms an hours drive away. The camp has a majority of backpacker working for meals, accommodation and to qualify for a holiday visa extension to extend their stay, in Australia. People come and go but generally there are about 40~50 in camp at any one time, maybe 75% backpackers.

I've been working on a farm south of Tenterfield where the they lost 95% of the fences but the fire fighters saved the 2 sheds and the house. The farmer got up and running again by quickly erecting temporary fences on the property. We have removed the temporary fencing and put in place a permanent electric fencing system where one energizer, centrally located, is serving all the fences on the property. After 5 weeks we have used over 5km of new wire, hundreds of pickets, fitted insulators, and trenched many gate openings as well as the normal fencing stuff like mounting gates and building end assemblies. 

BPs trenching the electric cable under a gate opening

After improving the creek crossing with bricks a
great place for smoko.

Daintree - Cane Mill Mossman

 Working to lock up a farm on the main road. When that's finished moving on to a fence between a swampy area and cane cultivation. Cattle need to be contained. Difficult terrain. The farmer explains the access tracks were solid before the cyclone and then the flood dumped several hundred millimetres of river silt everywhere and turned the tracks into mud baths. The silt is not going to be good for ongoing cultivation. 

The 4x4 does OK until the land slopes, then its slip sliding down the slope and "where is that tractor"?

The viability of the cane is uncertain as the mill in Mossman may not open again. The value of a cane crop depends on the cost associated with harvest and transport. But if there is no mill in Mossman the transport cost escalate sharply. It's not looking good for the district if the mill closes. Lots of jobs will be lost. On this farm the cane may not be harvested, just ploughed back in and the cultivation converted for cattle.

ABC News Mossman Mill

Hot, humid and wet

Daintree Village Far North Queensland

Daintree Village FNQ 

Extract from Douglas Shire Council public notice:

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper made landfall on December 13, 2023 but it was the associated weather event that followed which had devastating consequences for the Douglas Shire.

3.2 metres of rain was recorded in less than a week and a total of 4.2 metres in the space of two months.

The entire Shire was impacted with major flooding, landslips, overnight evacuations, homes destroyed, water infrastructure, and roads collapsing.

https://douglas.qld.gov.au/cyclone-jasper/    Cyclone Jasper

Blaze Aid started a camp in the new year at the community oval and began repairing farm fences. The camp running with mostly backpackers. The conditions are not the best but everyone is pitching in. Tents are set up in the community hall and meals come out of a very basic kitchen. All the cooking and cleaning is done by the backpackers. There are no service clubs in Daintree Village, its a very small community.

The facilities at the camp are basic. Men have a shower setup in the public toilet block, the urinal area as it has a floor waste, and with a portable camping gas shower connected to the handbasin tap. Fortunately a warm shower is good enough in this weather. Whilst the ladies have a bush dunny looking tin-hut to shower in.  The basic kitchen has only one sink with just a cold water tap. All the hot water comes from an electric jug. But as I say everyone is pitching in and I've not heard a word of discontent.

I arrived in April and the weather, hot, humid and wet. Being rained-off happens all too often as does getting bogged in the paddocks. The work is dirty and difficult. Gumboots everyday. 

At the moment the camp has about 18 backpackers, an experienced camp co-ordinator from WA and now me. Tools and trailers are adequate but there are only two cars. Getting people to the fence line is a daily issue. 

Clear sky but still water everywhere

No work today

Bogged yet again

At least they are dry

Battery Charge and Discharge Monitor

Yep, I'm the type who needs to know what's going on all the time. When it comes to batteries there is no exception. Knowing what the state of charge is, is good. Being able to predict when the battery needs to be re-charged and for how long, is better. 

A voltage/amp meter combo is my next project. Reading the voltage is no big deal, providing a fair indication of the capacity of your battery. But better still, is to be able to see the amount of current flowing in the system. To do this the circuit must be broken and a current measuring device put in circuit, in series.

I have combined breaking the circuit and inserting the meters in one small box. Two Anderson connectors and the meter mounted on a small box. Inside is a shunt that permits the current to be read. It's done using Ohms Law, in that, the shunt is a know resistance, in my case 0.5 ohms. The meter reads the voltage across the shunt and displays that voltage as a current value. The meter has duel displays. 

The alloy cast box from Jaycar was the most expensive bit. So yeah no big outlay.

Interesting: Found that the Dometic PLB-40 that I'm using has a very stable control over the rate of charge by controlling the current it accepts regardless of the voltage applied. Hence, when charging, you can plug it into the car cig lighter or straight into a solar panel without any other voltage control device. This is part of the reason I went with PLB-40 rather than mucking with a controller and separate batteries. I suppose the only downfall, as far as it and me are concerned, is that I like knowing more of what's going on. Hence my new box.

The gizzards.

12.9 volts and 3.5 amps.