Casino NSW

Started moving stuff over to All Type Diesel Services where the motor-home is waiting for loading. Fridge is cold and freezer is working well. Got stuff loaded and about 10am decided why wait. On the road before 11am headed for Casino NSW.

The motor-home is running very smoothly. I was especially attentive for any anomalies, anything out of the ordinary, but she's a pleasure pulling up hills really well and cruising the highways and freeways without effort, better than ever.

Arrived at Casino BlazeAid camp at about 430pm on Tuesday and decided staying till Sunday helping out would be good. Been back here several times since the fires in 2019.

Unsettled weather and the paddocks were wet but we got a bit done. About 20 volunteers going out in three teams with two tractors and a tracked bobcat with bucket and auger. For me it was mostly chainsaw work building end assemblies and staying strainer posts. Fortunately all the heavy lifting was done by the machines, not like the 'good' old days. Thank god!

I found it interesting going back to, or past, farms where I had helped lockup paddocks by standing up the old burnt stuff to quickly contain the cattle. Now the teams are replacing those old burnt fences and building with new materials, far more rewarding.

Bit of handy chair saw work

One very handy device that makes nice holes

Timber spilt post fence
ready for wire.

Cotton Tree

Back into my Cotton Tree routine.

This time of year, weather wise, can be unsettled with storm cells coming through in the afternoons. But it's usually possible to get out and about and stay active.

Kandanga - Tin Can Bay

Got an email toward the end of the day from my conveying solicitor in Narrandera: deposit receive, contract sent. Looks like I just sold the two blocks of land on the Leeton Rd.

Left Kandanga to arrive at Woolies in Gympie at about 830am. Not one person wearing a mask in the shopping centre but hey no complaint from me. Got some provisions and headed to Tin Can Bay for the night.

Booked into a Caravan Park in the centre of town, down by the marina. Power tonight to test the inverter/charger, fridge, and hot water system are working properly on 240v. Everything appears good.

A bit of wild weather overnight but a nice sunny day to follow, if a bit humid. Just cruisin' around town checking out the places I remember from back in 2012 when I stayed here for a couple of weeks. Tin Can Bay is a nice place to visit and probably a good place to retire to, if you are into fishing that is. Quiet at the moment but goes crazy-mad over the summer holidays and the bugs, like midges, are prolific. The buggers would feast on me so you won't seeing me here then.

Touring Again

Cotton Tree - Kandanga

The repairs are complete and the MH is ready to go. I won't bore you with the details but putting it simply, it was a big job. So now I'm able to tour again. And this trip is just for a few days to reacquaint myself with the MH, a shake-down, if you will. I'm looking forward to the borders being open again soon but till then, north is the only real option.

Bike on the back and away we go.

Just a short drive to Kandanga for tonight, 70km, stopping at the nice little free camp in town. It gives me time to set MH up and work out what's needed and where, then knock up some more kms tomorrow.

Corindi Beach - Mid North Coast NSW

May 2021

Corindi Beach is just north of Woopi (what locals call Woolgoolga) north of Coffs Harbour in NSW. Back in early March they had a one in 500 year rain event. Local farmers describe a wall of water larger and faster than has ever been seen before flooding houses upto a meter deep. Tractors, water tanks, fences and pretty much anything in its path was washed away.

BlazeAid set up a camp in the local caravan park and the volunteers responded from the towns around as well as some grey nomads. Having time to spare I took a drive down from Maroochydore to do a couple of weeks work.

A small team effectively cleared or rebuilt on average about 500m per day. Just about every farm had wet paddocks and the work at times was tough. One of the berry farms on Sherwood Creek Rd lost millions of dollars of produce already prepared for market the next day. The flood waters rose during the night peaking at about 3am and then reseeding very quickly.

Berry farm devastation.

Very handy thing to have on a ute.