On the loose

Photos: Rafting

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:11:00 GMT

Russel river 1 hour south of Cairns

Photos: paluma range national park

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:01:00 GMT

Near Townsville

Photos: Boulders

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:53:00 GMT

Yellow footed Antechinus

Photos: Hook Island

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:04:00 GMT

Christmas + New years

Photos: Dam

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Outside Emerald

Photos: Carnavon Gorge

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:48:00 GMT

Photos: Euneeke

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:41:00 GMT

Rob work

Photos: Aldinga Park

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:21:00 GMT

Heidy Work

Boulders

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:24:00 GMT

Boulders

After townsville we moved to a campsite called The Boulders just outside of Babinda. Babinda is about 60km south of Cairns and is the wettist town in queensland and possibly in oz.

During the drive up it absolutely throw it down with rain. It got so bad that I could only see about 15 meters in front of the car. I wished the car had a even faster speed on the windscreen for HOLLY **** it's really raining.

When we got to the campsite we decided to put the little tent up and shove a trap over it. We stayed there for 2 days and it pritty much rained for the whole time. When we left the bucket we left outside had filled up. Prober rain.

townsville and paluma range national park.

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:18:00 GMT

well, we got into townsville with a dripping wet tent so we decided to stay in a campsite instead of the free overnight rest area that we planned to stay in. we stayen at black river stadium and when we got there we couldnt find the office so we called them up and the woman said she would come down later to collect the money. we found a nice pitch under a tree and started unloading the car so rob could go and get some ice for the cooler. all our stuff was dumped and rob was just leaving and some guy came up to rob and said the pitch that we picked flooded when it rained. rob went to get the ice and when he got back he told me and we chose another pitch and comtinued to carry our stuff over as we needed it to set up. the woman came over as we were half way through putting up the tent. she wasnt very friendly and had a go at us for 'making such a mess' and told us to 'clean it up' not very nicely!.went into townsville, not that much to do, just a town... the capital of north queensland apparently. stayed untill the tent dried properly and then went to the free camping are... bushy parker park. it was a really nice campsite but we had quite a bit of rain while we were there but it was ony in teh night really so on teh first day we went to little crystal creek in paluma range national park. the road up there was really narrow and winedy and very steep. regie (the car) didnt really like it!! when we got up there it was lush. breathtaking views, nice walks and it was cool for once!!. on the way back down i was trying to take some pictures of the mountain and the view over townsville. i missed a few times, well actually most of the time so sorry about some of teh really weird pictures that rob is insisting on putting up!!. the next day we went to big crystal creek but there wasnt much there so we headed up to babinda.

Airle

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:13:00 GMT

Airle
After we came back from Hook island the car was due its service so we stopped at Airle beach which is where the boat brings us back to.

I went to get the car whilst Heidy stayed with the stuff. When I got to the car there was a really bad bad smell but I didn't work out what it was. When we were loading the car Heidy found the source of the smell. When we left we forgot to take out the bin bag which had a chichecken breast in it. So after 10 days in the car the chicken breast was covered in maggets. They were all over the front foot well and smelt so bad.

When we got to the campsite Heidy put up the tent whilst I went to buy so food. The first thing we did after setting it all up was has a shower. It was gooooooood.

We didn't really do much else in Airle apart from get the car serviced, try to get rid of the smell and plan the next stop.

However as we started to back down the tent to leave it started to rain. Then it got heavy. So we packed the tent as quick as we could. Didn't really fold it and just chucked it in the car. But it did't work and we were still soaking wet. We also could't get changed into dry clothes because they were right at the back. All we had was our swim stuff and a towel. So we decided to have a shower and get warm and tumble dry all our clothes. Then buy the time we were leaving the rain had stopped and the sun had come out.

Hook Island - christmas and new years

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:04:00 GMT

the whitsundays... christmas and new years.

Well, on the first day it was a bit of a mess, we drove to Airlie each with the car so badly packed it was unbelievable. Rob dropped me off at Shute Harbour and went and parked the car. When the woman eventually arrived it took ages to sort everyone out with everything like snorkell and stinger suit. Then the boat was about two hours late because they were fixing the steering arm or something. The boat ride took about an hour as we were the first drop off with 4 german people. It was lush weather though and it was really an amazing view when we first set eyes on Crayfish Beach, Hook Island. The water was crystal clear and looked so inviting!! We got off the boat and went onto the island to the campsite which was just a bit further up the beach. Rob looked at the compost toilet and immeadiatly chose the site furthest away from it! We set up the tent and just chilled out for a bit before cooking dinner of steak and chicken with fried onions and potato. It rained during the night and woke us up as it came pouring in the tent through the windows and the door. It was an interesting night, especially as we slept with the case!! Not the best night sleep but oh well. The next day we went snorkelling in the reef, I got a little freaked out by a bit of weed growing on the reef and Rob had to drag me out onto the reef but once I was out there I loved it, Rob didnt though because he complained that he didnt have an arm left because I was holding onto it so tightly. We went snorkelling about 4 times that day but the jellyfish started coming in with the tide in the afternoon so we just sunbathed and played cards under a tree in the shade because it was just so hot! It was a bit weird that it was so hot on christmas eve!! We covered the tent in tarps before we went to bed. We stayed dry that night!! I woke up first on christmas day then when Rob woke up I wouldnt let him go back to sleep. We opened our presents and read our cards (thanks everyone!) then put on the suncream and the bathers and sunbathed for a bit then went for another snorkell where we accidently came across a really beautiful stingray. We backed off a bit but it swam away really fast so we didnt get a picture. Snorkelled and sunbathed and played cards all day just chilling out in the shade and not stepping on the sand in the sun because it just burnt your feet so badly it was just so hot!! We had fried chicken and steak again for tea but it didnt really feel like christmas...it was just too hot!! Boxing day we just did the same, snorkelling, cards and sunbathing, creaming our ears as well as somehow they got burnt!! In the evening some people that were staying further along the beach came up and said did we want some fish and proceeded to give us this huge fillet of fish which was about 50cm long abd about 2 inches thick!! We ended up sharing it with the Germans. It was a spanish mackeral and was actually really nice! On sunday we went out snorkelling to a crack in the reef that the Germans had told us about and it was so amazing!! the reef was more colourful and everywhere you looked there were fish swimming about. We got lots of piuctures a lot of them were just coral though because you couldnt see the screen on the camera so I was a point and shoot jobby! Got some good ones though! The rest of the time we were there we couldnt go swimming because there were lots of jellyfish around and it rained most of the time and was windy so we jjust sat around playing cards. The tide during this time was coming in really high and going out really low. One night we slept on the beach next to the happy christmas that the people that were on the island before us had written in coral on the sand. That morning when we were back in the tent the tide came right up and washed it away and went right around the campsite into the dry creek behind us. On the last day the tide went out so low the whole reef was out of the water and we went out onto it and had a look around. It was weird seeing it out of the water. After that we caught the boat back to mainland where we could eventually have a shower and a proper toilet!!!

Mackay

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:59:00 GMT

The first stop was Mackay which is about 7 hours north east from Euneeke back on the coast.

Mackay was just a quick stop for a couple of days to prepare for hook island. We needed to a smaller tent, stinger suits and some other small bits.

The camp site we stayed at was called Sea Winds Caravan Park. It was in north Mackay on Blacks Beach. The camp site was beach front and our tent was about 5
meters from the beach.

On the second night the wind began to pick up quite a bit. The tent started to lean over alot so we decidedto check the weather forecast. We found out there was a severe weather warning in place for Mackay for strong winds. We didn't have time to pack the tent down properally so we just shoved everything into the middle and took all the poles out.We then went and slept in the car. Luckely in the morning the tent was fine and nothing really got wet.

That day we moved everything into the new smaller tent that can survive stronger winds.

Carnavon Gorge

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:55:00 GMT

Whilst we were working we went to a national park called Carnavon Gerge. It was about 100km south of rollestone with 30km along dirt road.

The gorge has a walk that takes you up the river with stepping stone crossings. There were also paths off the main track.

There is not much to write about the for the gorge as the pics do all the writing for me.

Both time we to the gorge something went wrong. The first time we nearly ran out of feul on the way back. We arived back at rollestone with only 5km of fuel left.

The second time, just as we got to the end a massive thurder storm and pooring rain hit us. Heidy was not happy.

Aldinga Park (Heidy Work

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:44:00 GMT

Well, for two months I have worked at Aldinga Park, a cattle station in Rolleston. For the first week I worked with Terry Piggott (my boss) and Ashley, the station hand, at a set of cattle yards at the other side of the property. It took about an hour to drive from the homestead to the yards and it was all 4x4 off road over the mountains and creeks that litter the property everywhere.In the following weeks of work I mustered cattle a lot around the station on horseback which was really fun. One of the musters was from a paddock called iron bark, a paddock by the cattle yards on the other side of the property. It was a really long muster and took me, terry, ashley and terry's wife, Katherine, all day. We boxed the horses out there and boxed them back when we brought the cattle back up to iron bark.Most of they time I was working at aldinga I waqs fencing.Firstly the fencline had to be marked out, then the posts had to be cut and barked using Budjuroo trees. The next thing to do was dig the holes for the posts using the tractor and the ogre, thankfully not by hand like at the training ranch!! After that we had to plant the wooden posts in the holes and ram then in with the crowbar so that they stayed in solidly and were sturdy. After that we had to cut the steel posts for the corners and the strainers and poles to weld between the corner posts to make them even stronger. Then we had to concrete the posts in. For this we had to use the flatbed lorry/cattle truck to transport all the sand/cenent/gravel/water/mixer/wheelbarrow etc. After a rather heavy rainfall of 80mm we went out cementing with the flatbed which ash drove and the tractor which I was driving. Somehow Ash got the truck really badly bogged and made me pull him out with the tractor. Bearing in mind I had only driven a tractor a handful of times, its a shock that I only snapped the ogre when towing him out...when I eventually got him out that is! Well after we finally finished cementing we put the wire up and banged in the steelies using the air compresser powered badoiing. I had to drive the red toyota. Not a good move, lets just say that me and the red toyota dont get on, I managed to stall it sooo many times and to loose controll and reverse through a newly put up piece of wire...oops!! At least I missed the steelie and the wooden post! When I was working at aldinga I stayed in the cottage at the homestead with ashley. The homestead comprised of the cottage, terrys place, the barn, horseyards and a little further away the cattle yards and the shed.

Euneeke (Rob Work)

robert_heidy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:30:00 GMT

Euneeke

Work

Well it is the first job that I have had which has nothing to do with lifeguarding.

So that i could be closer to Heidy I looked for a job inland and near Rolleston. I got a job with the Euneeke Cattle Company in Springsure. Spingsure is about two hours drive from Heidy.

My Job was on Vandyke Feedlot as a team member. Vandyke is around 4000 acres. However the feedlot was around 3/4 square kilometers. The feedlot had just under 4000 head of cattle whilst I worked there with a maximum capacity of 4300.

At the begining as I didn't have any experience of cattle work i had to do all of the crap jobs like cleaning up spilt corn and cleaning the yards. But they slowly trained me up to use the Big Boys toys. The heavyist being an 18 tonne frontend loader which is used to load the food mixer and make fire breaks. The biggist was an 8 tonne articulated ex mining truck. This was used to carry the silage from the silage pit to the shed where the food is mixed. I was also trained to drive a little loader called the Bobcat and a medium size loader called the Manito.

4000 head of cattle eat alot of food. Each day they had to be feed 60ton of feed. The feed is made up of corn, wheat, silage and cotton seed. It is all loaded into
the 12 tonne feeder. The feeder then needs to about 6 trips to distribute feed which takes around 4 hours.

As I gained more experience my jobs changed and i was checking the pens for sick cattle, running (moving) cattle and helping to treat cattle.

I was paid $100 a day which also included food and accommodation. I wasn't staying at Vandyke but at Euneeke with my boss Lex and his wife Jo. Euneeke is
around a 45 minute drive from vandyke with 20km on a dirt track. At Euneeke I got my own little place which had a bed with a very small kitchen, ensuite shower room
and large closet. Also at Euneeke lived Lex's son Trent and his wife, Chantelle, and her child from her previous marriage, Armarni. There was also 12 dogs, 3 potties (Baby cattle) and a shetland pony called candy.

Fun With the Wheel

During the time I worked they gave me a ute to drive to and from work with. On the last week I was driving me and another worker, Zane, to the feedlot when we heard a noise that sounded like we had a flat rear tyre. The truck started skiding
from the back. As I slowed the truck down to pull over the back left side dropped right down and the back went really light. When I stopped the back left wheel
rolled passed the truck and continued a further 100 meters up the road. I looked at Zane and said, 'I dont thinks its a flat mate'

After we got the wheel back and Zane found 5 of the 6 knuts we realised that we only had 2/3's of a jack. We had the jack and the turning handle, We were just missing the hook that conected the two parts. This meant that instead of using the
handle that would have taken less than a minute we had to use this tiny spanner which took about 10 mins to lift an inch. It was so slow. Luckily Jo was driving past us and had a handle and the conecting piece. This ment that the wheel was finally fixed 15 minutes later, but, Because we only had 3/4 of a jack for most of it, in total it took us an hour and a half to fix.

Not the best thing to happen at 6.30 on a monday morning.

Fire

About half way through my stay at Euneeke there was a bad lightning storm which started a wild scrub fire on the next property.

The day before, Lex and Trent had put a fire break in place. This is when they drive the dozer about 1km away from fire and all the way around it, scraping all the grass and stuff off so the fire hopefully cant burn past it. Lex and trent had to leave the next day. So my neighbours plus me and one other worker called Jon went up at night to start the back burn. This is when we drive along the break and burning all the grass back onto the fire so that there is nothing for the fire to burn. One team of two light up the grass and another team of two follow to stop the fire from going the wrong way and jumping the fire break. After we set it all, we had to watch it to make sure the fire did not jump the fire break.

We finally decided it was good to leave at around 2 in the morning and got back home at around 3am. Then back up for work at 5am. That was a long day!

Gallery: Brisbane

robert_heidy — Sun, 4 Oct 2009 21:43:00 GMT

Brisbane

Gallery: Bribie island

robert_heidy — Sun, 4 Oct 2009 21:23:00 GMT

Near Dicky Beach

Gallery: Pandanus Beach

robert_heidy — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:04:00 GMT

A beach near Brisbane

Gallery: Austrailia Zoo

robert_heidy — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:58:00 GMT

Zoo