Well, actually, i don't live in a swamp anymore. But i just like that as a title...
The water has gone, no more flooding under the house. Things around our area are still a little stinky, and people are still cleaning up, but the good thing is that it hasn't flooded again and we didn't lose anything.
The water was knee high under our house... we were right on the edge of the flooding, the house next door didn't have any flooding at all. So, we were lucky. The house on the other side of the vacant block of land, had to pump the water out of their backyard and under their house.
Anyway.. its all good at ours again. We were worried about the storm everyone was predicting on Saturday, meant to be another crazy wild thing that was going to tear through again.. but it never happened. It was funny though, on the news that day they had shown people taping their windows and sandbagging, getting ready for the big storm.. and it never came.
But, the creek near us is still incredibly high. It hasn't gone down at all. It used to go up and down with the tides, now its just high. Not only that, but its not moving anymore either... its all full of debri and rubbish, and its not flowing... just stagnating.... hmm.. not good... if we get another downpour, we may be in trouble again...
Will be on weather watch!
In other news, we got the windows on the truck tinted! On Friday last week.. looks really good. Makes a huge difference having the windows darker... looks much cooler.. heheh
And, i have also just sent off my application to Qtac to study a Bachelor of Creative Enterprise next year through CQU! Am going to be a uni student again... I'm enrolling externally, so that i can keep working, and study after work. It could be difficult, but i think it will be really good for me. My second choice is a Bachelor of Business, but I think the Creative Enterprise will be more interesting. :) Am sort of looking forward to it...
Its also just hit me that Christmas is a month away! YIKES! I might try and get some time off work in January, or after Christmas sometime.. maybe a week or two. Have to talk to work here and see when others are going on holiday etc.
Am hoping i can... a holiday would be nice...
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
farewell
So.. news.. We have sold the van!
:( which is a bit sad.. but its a step forward.
After we came back from Fraser, Mateus and I started thinking, that perhaps the van isn't going to last us forever. And due to it being an import car, if something very bad should happen to her, we would have to let her go... So, we started thinking of getting a new vehicle... We started looking, and found a few ones that we were interested in, other 4 wheel drives, not really trucks, not really utes, not really cars.. heh.. Anyway.. we went and had a look at some on Saturday, and were driving around, and found one that was not on the list of ones to look at, but was very very nice. After taking on a test drive, and then much deliberation and driving around and looking at other cars etc, we thought of trading in the van for it, but got a really really shite price, so we put the van on the market privately. We put it up on Sunday for sale, and have sold it already.. well granted the guy comes to pay Mateus today.
I feel like a bit of a traitor to be leaving the van, but she has a new owner, and Mateus assures me that the new owner will look after her. :)
The new car/truck, i think I will stick to truck, cause it sounds beefier.. haha.. Is a 1995 Ford Raider. Its sort of like a ute, but intstead of having a tray that you can't get to in a normal ute, its got one you can. Imagine a car that has an extended boot but in the shape of a ute.. hahaha.. :) I love my descriptions.
Perhaps photos will be better:
So we're still able to sleep in it, the back seats fold down, and we've got the perfect flat bed there. Has plenty of space in the back too... Is a real 4x4, not that the van wasn't, but this one is a little higher, more practical should we wish to go to Fraser again for example. Mateus picked it up on Wednesday, and its a really nice truck. Very neat inside, really good condition... We'll be driving it around for the first time this weekend.. which will be good.
Our plans are to get a nudge bar for the front, and eventually we would like side steps, we want to tint the windows, really black, like limo tint. Especially the back windows... We will get bigger tyres eventually too, like the ones that were on the van, well they weren't bigger, but they looked cooler. Chunky, due to the writing on the sides of them, so we'll get ones like that too.
So, we'll make it ours... but i will miss the van...
:( which is a bit sad.. but its a step forward.
After we came back from Fraser, Mateus and I started thinking, that perhaps the van isn't going to last us forever. And due to it being an import car, if something very bad should happen to her, we would have to let her go... So, we started thinking of getting a new vehicle... We started looking, and found a few ones that we were interested in, other 4 wheel drives, not really trucks, not really utes, not really cars.. heh.. Anyway.. we went and had a look at some on Saturday, and were driving around, and found one that was not on the list of ones to look at, but was very very nice. After taking on a test drive, and then much deliberation and driving around and looking at other cars etc, we thought of trading in the van for it, but got a really really shite price, so we put the van on the market privately. We put it up on Sunday for sale, and have sold it already.. well granted the guy comes to pay Mateus today.
I feel like a bit of a traitor to be leaving the van, but she has a new owner, and Mateus assures me that the new owner will look after her. :)
The new car/truck, i think I will stick to truck, cause it sounds beefier.. haha.. Is a 1995 Ford Raider. Its sort of like a ute, but intstead of having a tray that you can't get to in a normal ute, its got one you can. Imagine a car that has an extended boot but in the shape of a ute.. hahaha.. :) I love my descriptions.
Perhaps photos will be better:
So we're still able to sleep in it, the back seats fold down, and we've got the perfect flat bed there. Has plenty of space in the back too... Is a real 4x4, not that the van wasn't, but this one is a little higher, more practical should we wish to go to Fraser again for example. Mateus picked it up on Wednesday, and its a really nice truck. Very neat inside, really good condition... We'll be driving it around for the first time this weekend.. which will be good.
Our plans are to get a nudge bar for the front, and eventually we would like side steps, we want to tint the windows, really black, like limo tint. Especially the back windows... We will get bigger tyres eventually too, like the ones that were on the van, well they weren't bigger, but they looked cooler. Chunky, due to the writing on the sides of them, so we'll get ones like that too.
So, we'll make it ours... but i will miss the van...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
gilligans isle
heheh.. so we made it, here and back again to Fraser Island. In the van... :) It was a bit of an effort... hehe... Don't think Mateus really expected it to be as 'off road' as it is over there... ;)
I was pretty worried about the van making it over there, handling the roads etc. I remembered it was pretty tracky over there... so wasn't sure about the van handling it. But she did, quite well too... apart from one slight problem, its too low!
This time of the year is pretty bad actually, cause there has been no heavy rain to smooth the roads out, which means that all the roads are really tracklike. Just two rather deep tyre tracks... and that was alright... but it was the middle of the track that was the problem. The sand bank in the middle... Poor Kickin' Super Tripper ended up dragging her underbelly through these sand banks all the way through!
At the start Mateus was pushing the van quite hard, cause he was worried that it wouldn't make it through... and we got to about halfway across the island, just before Lake MacKenzie, before we stopped at a little steep hill down, where we peered down, and thought that if we went down there, we would probably not make it back up. Was so potholed and rough... The van was rather overheated at this stage, so we thought it would be good to just rest before we decided if we should carry on or not. After a while we considered our options, and decided the best thing would be to turn back, we didn't want to have to get stuck there...and then try and get a lift to Lake MacKenzie, camp there for the night and hitch it back on Sunday.. hahaha... but Mateus was worried about the drive back, we had pushed the van hard, and it was rather full of sand that we thought it would be a good idea to have a lifeline there to pull us out. So we called up the tow truck service, and asked him to come and lead us out. We weren't stuck, and we didn't need towing, but it was more of a confidence thing. Having someone there to pull us out if we needed it made it a lot easier for Mateus who was feeling a lot of pressure... But we really shouldn't have worried, the van made it back fine.. and up an even steeper and more potholed road than the one we stopped at! There were a couple of times where we were stunned the van actually made it through there the first time.
Anyway, we made it, back to Kingfisher, parked little van there to rest and recover, and then caught a lift back with the tow truck guy.. we just grabbed the tent and a blanket, our clothes, some food and that was it... so basic camping haha.. now, the way to Lake MacKenzie, was shockingly bad... the road there was so bad at one stage that we wondered if this 4WD would make it through, and then glad we didn't bring the van down there.... heheh
Lake MacKenzie was empty by the time we got there... which was perfect. We set up camp in this hikers camping area they have there, (all fenced off from dingos)... and then went for a swim in the Lake which is just so clear... was gorgeous. (photos will come up on flickr soon).
Was fun camping there.. really minimal, no blankets, no light, not much food.. hehehe.. back to basics! There was another couple that were walking across Fraser that were set up in the camping site, and we borrowed their little gas cooker and made noodles... had biscuits.. hehehe... rations!
The next morning we woke up early, to a rainy day... Went walking along the lake... came back, packed up camp... then we had to decide what to do next. We had our ferry booked for 4pm, and needed to get a lift back to Kingfisher from there... We were contemplating asking the people that were coming to the lake to visit... but I was not looking forward to having to go up and ask people... would have looked so dodgy.
Anyway.. then i had a look at the map i had, and it had some numbers on the back, the tow truck service and lo and behold: Fraser Island has a taxi service! hahaha.. who would think it?! So problem solved... we caught a taxi later that day... went back to the Lake first, the sun came out and we went exploring all the way around the lake, had a bit of rationed food.. and then went back to Kingfisher.
Then we had to worry about the van not starting or having issues with its steering, at one time coming back to Kingfisher, Mateus started feeling something wrong with its steering.. the wheels weren't turning... but she was fine! She's a goer that one... :)
Was definitely an adventurous weekend.. didn't go entirely as planned.. and we ended up spending way more money than we had expected.. tow truck and taxi service etc... plus we think I lost some money over there... a couple of hundred that Mateus had in his wallet was gone... and we believe it fell out of his wallet when i paid the tow truck... :( eep!! So apart from that horrible bit, it was fun. We know now, that we will have to get the van raised if we want to take her back. We will go back if we do.. depends how difficult it will be to raise the van.
You should of seen the amount of sand in the engine.. unbelievable.... and she is rather squeaky now... must get her cleaned up as soon as possible...
So, we will return to Fraser to conquer the wild once more... :)
(The van's tires have Wild Conqureror written on them... hehehe.. and i joked that we would see if she really was a Wild Conqureror on the barge over... hahaha.. not completely defeated, but not entirely conqurered either!)
I was pretty worried about the van making it over there, handling the roads etc. I remembered it was pretty tracky over there... so wasn't sure about the van handling it. But she did, quite well too... apart from one slight problem, its too low!
This time of the year is pretty bad actually, cause there has been no heavy rain to smooth the roads out, which means that all the roads are really tracklike. Just two rather deep tyre tracks... and that was alright... but it was the middle of the track that was the problem. The sand bank in the middle... Poor Kickin' Super Tripper ended up dragging her underbelly through these sand banks all the way through!
At the start Mateus was pushing the van quite hard, cause he was worried that it wouldn't make it through... and we got to about halfway across the island, just before Lake MacKenzie, before we stopped at a little steep hill down, where we peered down, and thought that if we went down there, we would probably not make it back up. Was so potholed and rough... The van was rather overheated at this stage, so we thought it would be good to just rest before we decided if we should carry on or not. After a while we considered our options, and decided the best thing would be to turn back, we didn't want to have to get stuck there...and then try and get a lift to Lake MacKenzie, camp there for the night and hitch it back on Sunday.. hahaha... but Mateus was worried about the drive back, we had pushed the van hard, and it was rather full of sand that we thought it would be a good idea to have a lifeline there to pull us out. So we called up the tow truck service, and asked him to come and lead us out. We weren't stuck, and we didn't need towing, but it was more of a confidence thing. Having someone there to pull us out if we needed it made it a lot easier for Mateus who was feeling a lot of pressure... But we really shouldn't have worried, the van made it back fine.. and up an even steeper and more potholed road than the one we stopped at! There were a couple of times where we were stunned the van actually made it through there the first time.
Anyway, we made it, back to Kingfisher, parked little van there to rest and recover, and then caught a lift back with the tow truck guy.. we just grabbed the tent and a blanket, our clothes, some food and that was it... so basic camping haha.. now, the way to Lake MacKenzie, was shockingly bad... the road there was so bad at one stage that we wondered if this 4WD would make it through, and then glad we didn't bring the van down there.... heheh
Lake MacKenzie was empty by the time we got there... which was perfect. We set up camp in this hikers camping area they have there, (all fenced off from dingos)... and then went for a swim in the Lake which is just so clear... was gorgeous. (photos will come up on flickr soon).
Was fun camping there.. really minimal, no blankets, no light, not much food.. hehehe.. back to basics! There was another couple that were walking across Fraser that were set up in the camping site, and we borrowed their little gas cooker and made noodles... had biscuits.. hehehe... rations!
The next morning we woke up early, to a rainy day... Went walking along the lake... came back, packed up camp... then we had to decide what to do next. We had our ferry booked for 4pm, and needed to get a lift back to Kingfisher from there... We were contemplating asking the people that were coming to the lake to visit... but I was not looking forward to having to go up and ask people... would have looked so dodgy.
Anyway.. then i had a look at the map i had, and it had some numbers on the back, the tow truck service and lo and behold: Fraser Island has a taxi service! hahaha.. who would think it?! So problem solved... we caught a taxi later that day... went back to the Lake first, the sun came out and we went exploring all the way around the lake, had a bit of rationed food.. and then went back to Kingfisher.
Then we had to worry about the van not starting or having issues with its steering, at one time coming back to Kingfisher, Mateus started feeling something wrong with its steering.. the wheels weren't turning... but she was fine! She's a goer that one... :)
Was definitely an adventurous weekend.. didn't go entirely as planned.. and we ended up spending way more money than we had expected.. tow truck and taxi service etc... plus we think I lost some money over there... a couple of hundred that Mateus had in his wallet was gone... and we believe it fell out of his wallet when i paid the tow truck... :( eep!! So apart from that horrible bit, it was fun. We know now, that we will have to get the van raised if we want to take her back. We will go back if we do.. depends how difficult it will be to raise the van.
You should of seen the amount of sand in the engine.. unbelievable.... and she is rather squeaky now... must get her cleaned up as soon as possible...
So, we will return to Fraser to conquer the wild once more... :)
(The van's tires have Wild Conqureror written on them... hehehe.. and i joked that we would see if she really was a Wild Conqureror on the barge over... hahaha.. not completely defeated, but not entirely conqurered either!)
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