The driver, nice young man, is unloaded and has made one run towards the shed and now raced off towards the bank leading to the flats just as Jenelle arrives back. Just in time to say to John "what on earth is he doing over there running in and out in the one place he'll get bogged". As we were discussing this..... it was happening before our eyes. After a full 5 minutes of work he had managed to bog himself.
A general discussion on how to get out. Maybe go find a tractor from someone. Who you might ask...... our neighbour lives more than 20 km away and we don't know who might have a tractor close by. Maybe get an excavator from Sarina. Oh Yes! that will cost a small fortune and take probably all day to get here.
He gives it one more try and goes in deeper. That's good.
Over the next five hours in drizzling rain we have a serious of movements back and forwards. The aim was to try and get anything solid under the tracks to build the machine up higher to possibly get out of the muddy hole in which it now sits in. At first it only moves a matter of inches but gradually we through besser blocks, rocks, timber slabs, old wooden pellets, a tyre, and roofing iron into the holes at the front and then the back so the tracks may get some grip. All the time digging mud out near the tracks to through these objects in that we have dragged from the sheds.
Good fun hey!
Finally more roofing iron to make a ramp.
Still too steep to get out. So we then drag the last timber we can find without starting on the actual sheds. This included lovely hardwood beams we could have used in the repairing of the sheds and the only helpful thing that had been put to some use since we arrived a small wooden table. All cut up into small pieces to build up the ramp and thrown in the hole on top of the roofing iron. We now have an onlooker come for a visit with plenty of advise telling us to go and cut down some trees and use them. That would be good the trees being on someone else's property.
We are physically exhausted and getting free advise is almost too much but we battle on in the rain. Our young man has done his digging out on one side but the two oldies have done the digging out on the other side plus dragged every conceivable object we could find to this spot.
At 2pm we have success.Our emotions have gone from anger, to dismay at the expenses and then to sheer jubilation. We only have the mulcher to pull out now.
Yes it was in over its tracks.
Some of the now well worn tracks, back to the sheds that are in places around half gum boot deep.
After three tries and one hour later there is success here too. Just a big hole someone will find one day and think "what on earth were these people doing with all these things buried in the ground"...
Time for Breakfast....
The next two days are some of our wettest. On the local radio we hear that north of Mackay has had in the last week 950mm of rain that is 38 inches in the old language.This is outside our kitchen window in the caravan park where we are staying.
The front driveway has a few inches running down it most of the time...
On the second day when there was a break in the rain we went down to Flaggy and were very surprised to see the whole flat that used to have cane growing on it has had the creek come over it either yesterday or last night.
What an impressive sight it would have been to see this covered in flood water.
This photo, taken from the old shower shed where we hope to set up home in the future.
The trees covered with vines are our old citrus trees and belong to our part of the farm. The flats now belong to the farmer that bought the cane farm that was subdivided off...
Flaggy Rock Creek from the bridge on the highway looking west.
Flaggy Rock Creek from the highway looking east towards our farm....
Our trusted little chainsaw which is essential for cutting into the lantana. Starting to clean around the old tank which is beside the main shed.
The electrician is coming today to make sure we are safe with electricity. With cut wires hanging where someone has cut off the lights and stolen we don't feel very safe. We also have exposed wires where there would have been a pump on the tank. Here they have cut of the entire switch and of course the pump is stolen as well. So the poor guy doesn't get bogged to mid calf which we are in our gum boots Jenelle has laid down old sheets of corrugated iron to walk on. I wonder what he will think of that. At least he can get to the power pole which Ergon hasn't for many years but still kept on charging us a set amount for the electricity.
As we clear more and more open spaces the birds seem to be coming closer which gives us some beautiful bird calls during the day.
One side of the tank cleaned around...
We are finding more and more of these. Jenelle goes home each night to look up and see what species they were. For someone who does not like snakes it is a constant worry.....
Another day and another side of the tank is now cleaned. This gives us better conditions to walk between the two sheds and as we open it up to the sun it starts to dry out....
Time to try and burn off some of the rubbish to help clear space. We now realise that we have to clean and burn a lot as we can't leave any mulch lying around because firstly it won't dry under it and secondly we have to open it up to make it safer around the sheds....
This shed now being renamed the "Studio" is to be our home. This is taking off all the old corrigated iron so we can rebuild it.First Jenelle went around with a hammer and wrecking bar to at least get the nails out far enough for John to come along a grind them off. This is seriously hard hardwood and nothing is coming out or going into it very easily.
Our plan at first was to just put up new iron but we now realise that to live here safely we have to line the shed and have screens......
You may wonder why there is a photo of a fluro light but this is very modern for us and we now have power to the Studio and our first working light....
All hands are kept busy.....
It's all going out it obviously isn't any good of it would not be here!...
After a full morning of banging and grinding we take off the last sheet of iron behind the shower and what do we find. How much noise do you have to make to make these things move on.....
The first sweep of the floor was done with a shovel.....
More clearing.....
This is a great site to us.....
And now a broom. We are very happy with our first two weeks although very challenging at times.....
