Australia 2012 - Week 1

September 18, 2012 

 

3:49AM…Sitting on the leather couch in our home in Lacey, Washington, USA…Coffee on the side table…Big screen TV is on with the daily news…Computer on my lap…The start of a new day, the start of a big trip…

 

Today, in a few hours, I’ll be on my way back to the Comboyne plateau, home of the Turner family…A 90 acre organic farm on the hinterland of the mid-north coast of New South Wales. Australia, midway between Sydney and Brisbane…The Comboyne Plateau is not on any tourist maps…It is a village of 600 people and about half that many cows, about 45 minutes from the coast, up a hill at about 1,500 ft...Rural...

 

Andrew Turner builds houses from heavy timber, assembled with mortise and tenon joinery…Think Amish style wood frame houses…Months of cutting and fitting culminating with the local community getting together for the final lifting and assembly, all done in a day…

 

In about a week,  the six members of the Turner family will be heading to India…They are renting a house in the ancient city of Varanasi for five months, and will be building an 18 foot traditional timber rowboat…Their boat will be launched in a river in Allahabad, then they will explore the Mela and the Ganga rivers...Next they will ferry countless boatloads of Hindu pilgrims out to the bathing sandbanks in the middle of the confluence of the three rivers; the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mystical river, Saraswati…The pilgrimage lasts for a month and a half…At its completion, the Turners will journey down river to Varanasi using sail, oar and pole power…Their plan is to camp on sandbanks and in villages as they follow the course of the mighty Ganga…At the completion of their journey they will be donating the boat to a worthwhile cause or family…Check out their website http://sustainabletimberframes.com and follow them on their grand adventure as they, along with a few friends, surrender into the Indian kaleidoscope of color, sounds, sights and smells…

 

While they are in India, I’ll be taking care of their hand built timber frame/wood peg house, a one room wood cabin with an extension cord, and a large tin workshop with an attached kitchen and bath...I’ll have a lot of other things going on, as you’ll see…

 

More later…

September 21, 2012 

 

4:20 AM…Sitting on the bed in the tin roof, single wall wood cabin on the Comboyne plateau, N.S.W. Australia…Coffee on the folding table in front of me… The  folding computer  is on the table…Music plays from the plug in speaker….Good old classic rock (Ride My Seasaw, Feeling Alright, etc…)… The start of a new day in a familiar place in a familiar way…

 

I got here yesterday after a 36 plus hour travel day…I’ll back up to get started…

 

(above) Lift off day Sept. 18…All packed and waiting for the ride to SaeTac…Our front yard, late summer and looking way different than a year ago, but that’s another story…

 

(above) Two to check, one to schlep…

 

(above) Mike is a wanna-be limo driver so I let him practice today…here he’s telling Pam that they expect her to come over and party like rock starts while I’m away…Pam’s eyes say “YES”…

 

(above) The hard part…Fake a smile like this is going to be easy…Three months apart is close to an eternity…

 

(above)  Time to roll…

 

(above)  SeaTac…I’m flying with Virgin Australia the whole trip…

 

(above)  Postcard view, big, under glass…

 

(above)  Airport glass art…

 

(above) Wander while waiting, I come across Ivan and Dianne, Pam’s uncle & aunt…They are waiting for their flight to Croatia for their umpteenth oversea adventure…

 

(above) A6 leads to L.A..

 

 

(above) Wing seats…They bounce less…

 

(above) Three hour flight to here…

 

(above) seven hour wait here…

 

(above) Same ceiling…

 

(above) Only three and a half hours more to wait…

 

(above)  LAX sunset…

 

The flight across the Pacific was 15 hours…15 long hours…No legroom and I have a lot of legs…That sums the flight up…Flight tip: pre-order the vegetarian meals…Better food and it come out first…

 

(above) About an hour away from SYD…First light…

 

(above) After 14 hours of looking out that window at dark, color is nice to see…

 

(above)  35,000 foot view…

 

(above) Wheels down…

 

(above) Andrew and youngest son Finn picked me up…This is Sydney as seen from the freeway that you pay to drive on…

 

(above) The iconic Sydney bridge, looking less than iconic…

 

The drive from Sydney to Comboyne is about three or four hours with rest stops and all…

 

(above) At a rest stop…

 

 

(above) Next to the rest stop, exciting things are coming…Sure…

 

(above) Don’t see that in the States…

 

 

(above) The hills are the Comboyne plateau…That’s where we are going…

 

(above) Off the paved to the packed dust and rock…

 

(above) onward and upward…

 

(above) We stopped at the place where Andrew built this cabin…He designed this and the adjacent house…I will likely get the back of my legs sunburned here…

 

(above) Inside is another timber frame masterpiece…Mortise and tenon joinery with hardwood pegs to hold thing together…

 

(above) Off focus photo of the front door rail…Local wood…Andrew built it…

 

(above) Off the deck to the ramp to the house…

 

(above) Kitchen countertop  …Yep, another Turner build…Cabinets too…And the floor…Everything screwed and pegged…

 

(above) The timber for the frame came from the dis-assembled bridge at the bottom of the hill…They got all the wood for $1,000…Hard as iron…Heck, it was the bridge for fifty years…

 

(above) From there we went to Andrew and Ginny’s homestead…More still needs to be done, but there is plenty of time…

 

(above) As I walked in Ginny passed this to me…Veggie lasagna, organic salad and local bread…Just the way it is…

 

(above) The love birds…

 

(above)  This is an aerial view of their property…Their house isn’t on it…It’s sort of in the middle of the large grassy area…The red lines are streams, the bold green line is the waterfall…

 

(above) Fresh cut…

 

(above) Local color…

 

(above) After a while I walked up to the cabin and settled in…

 

(above) Late afternoon with springtime about to come on fast…

 

(above) Fuzzy flora…

 

(above) The doors go full open for the widescreen view…

 

(above) Front porch…I have to bow to enter…

 

(above) Late afternoon on the sunny side…

 

(above) Up the drive came Tarra and Gemma…

 

(above) And the last side of the cabin…The electric extension cord plugs into this side…

 

(above) Home for a week and a half until the Turner’s head out to India, then I’ll move into the main house…

 

Soon it got dark and I dropped onto the bed for the best sleep I’ve had in days…

 

More later…

September 22, 2012 

 

5:20 AM…In the cabin, doors open…The sound of the wind rushing though the trees, kookaburra birds making their pre-dawn calls…Blues on the speaker…Cool…Coat and hat on…

 

Yesterday was my first full day here…A day of getting reacquainted, napping, eating well and hanging out…

 

(above) Morning ritual…Instant coffee heated with an immersion heater…Half way through the boil, the heater went kaput…Cold coffee is better than no coffee I always say…

 

(above) Instead of a leather couch like back home, this is my morning computer set-up…

 

(above) Here comes the sun…

 

(above)  … here comes the sun …

 

(above) …and I say it’s alright…

 

(above)  The cabin was cold last night…I layered up and got toasty once I cocooned in the down bag…

 

(above)  The post dawn clouds were moving in and out…Being high on the plateau the changes come quickly and pass just as fast as well..

 

(above) Time to join the Turner clan for the day…The walk takes about five minutes…

 

(above) The Turner van…To me it’s The Dust Devil…It’ll be my ride while I’m here…No way will I wash it…

 

(above) Breakfast was on when I walked in the door…Avocado and lemon juice…Home made bread with beans and avo…So good…!!!...

 

For me, the morning was time to talk with the kids then get plugged into the internet, upload pictures, caption things and post them…The internet speed is somewhat slower here than back home and that’s just fine…

 

While I was on the computer the Turner’s were going over things they need to do before leaving for India…

 

(above) Andrew pulled out the blueprints for the boat they will build while they are there and made lists of things needed…Some they will bring…One thing Andrew was weighing (literally and figuratively) was whether to bring brass and bronze fasteners…Maybe spread the 8 kilos of metal among the eight travelers…???...Maybe go on faith they can find them there…???...Faith is a big part of traveling to India…

 

(above) Lists sometimes feel like an endless scroll of paper…Things get crossed off and just as soon something else gets added…On it goes…

 

Rye is analyzing the bridge of the guitar he will take to India…Says the “action is too high”…Rye for a few years had been building guitars, both for himself and apprenticing  under a master luthier…check out www.caldersmithguitars.com

 

(above) Mid afternoon meal…Oven roasted pork, yams, potatoes, and onions…The smell of it cooking had me close to drooling…

 

The pork has a story…Wild pigs are common around here…Weeks ago, three pigs came onto the Turners place…Wild pigs can do a lot of damage, so Andrew corralled them…After a day or so, he noticed they weren’t all that wild, they liked to have their bellies rubbed…How he figured out that was a good thing to do, I don’t understand… It was surmised that they must be somebody’s “pets”…Anyway, a ‘found pigs’ notice was posted at the village store…A week went by and that should have been long enough for the owner to connect the dots and contact Andrew about getting them back…So Andrew made arrangements with a guy who is a butcher…You know what happened next… Only the biggest one ended up getting sacrificed…The butcher and Andrew split the meat…The next day Andrew gets a call and the owner of the pigs saw the notice at the store… Awkward timing…Andrew has some sad news and some good news…Two are still fat and happy…The other one is, well, curing…Like I said, awkward…The owner wasn’t exactly thrilled, but understanding…what else can you do at that point…Bottom line, two pigs were re-united and I’ll have a heap of pork to make meals with…

 

(above) Rye just about has the bridge thing figured out… Notice the “brick phone”…It was like that two years ago when I was here…A novel solution to the phone not staying on the cradle…I love ingenuity…And simplicity…

 

(above) The Turner home, like many in Australia, relies on rain water collection for the household supply…The cistern is low, and it’s been a dry season, so any rainfall would be a good thing…

 

(above) The forecast was calling for a chance of showers…Maybe later…

 

(above) Gray, a friend of Andrew, came by…Gray will join the Turner’s in India…They all check out Andrew’s new website that has info about their trip…

 

Gray is a clown…His son is a lion tamer…The afternoon conversation was enlightening…That’s the thing about traveling, you never know who you are going to meet and the things you’ll learn…

 

(above) The weather forecast was right…Some rain fell and the cistern was added to…More is still welcomed…

 

(above) Finn pulled a chair to the corner and I saw a classic B&W shot, so I took it…Timeless…

 

(above) After a relaxing afternoon, I headed up to the cabin for the evening as clouds came and went… The walk back up to the cabin for the evening was through air thick with the smell of the fresh damp grass and the moist iron rich red soil…Too bad the photos cant record those…It’s all part of the experience…

 

More later…

September 23, 2012

 

(above) Sunrise on the Comboyne…

 

(above) Calmness…Birds chirping, whistling, warbling…

 

(above) Cool air in the morning…

 

(above) No wind…

(above) On the northern hill, cows graze…

 

(above) Down at the Turner’s, the sound of kids playing inside breaks the calm…

 

(above) Today’s juice: carrot, celery, ginger and lemon…

 

 

 

(above) Ginny already has the wash on the line…

 

(above) Rye and Finn lead me down the hill to show me the hydro system…Finn heard something in the bush, Rye stops to see what it might be…Whatever it was, it stayed a mystery…

 

(above) The trail down…Not exactly defined, but to Rye it’s something he could do in the dark…

 

(above) Finn grabs a vine, while Rye sets up the GoPro to video him swing on the vine, Tarzan like…

 

(above) Returning to the jump off point…

 

(above) The vines are twisting tangles…

 

The walk down the hill was  over and under vines, and fallen trees…The ground was steep covered with loose leaves…You have to plan each step…

 

(above) Finally at the bottom…The waterfall never dries up, so the constant water flow is perfect for the hydro-electric system…

 

(above) Rye needs to show me the monthly maintenance plan…First the valve is closed, next the pump cover is removed then the central bearing is greased…Sometimes the pipe is disconnected, then tapped with a hammer the full length to free accumulating sediment…Next the valve is re-opened and left full open for a half day to flush the pipe clear…Reconnect the pipe and it’s good for another month…

 

(above) The drop is about 100 feet…Rye say’s it never flows less than this and in the wet season it is scary big…

 

(above) I steadied the camera on a rock and slowed the shutter to ¼ second…

 

(above) Down this stream, about an hour walk away, is what Rye calls the really picturesque waterfall…One that overhangs and drops free from any rocks, directly into the pond below…The highest falls in New South Wales…

 

(above) An ant about ¾” long…

 

We finished the maintenance then scrambled back up through the bush to  the house…Pretty strenuous unless you are ten or twenty years old…I’m not…

 

(above) Back in the house among other things, I played around with the double expose feature on my camera…

 

Today the Turners worked getting the house set for their departure…Cleaning and going down the To Do list… Mid-day we went to the village, to the Comboyne Fair Thank You Luncheon…

(above) It’s held at the Comboyne Community Hall…

 

(above) So much style…

 

(above) The door reflects the Parisian theme of this year’s fair…

 

(above) I like the wall paneling…

 

(above) Lunch…Sausages on white bread with butter, tasty rice and salads…

 

(above) The Queen still watches over things in the hall…

 

(above) Can’t seem to get away from her…

 

(above) After lunch, it was back to the Turner’s…Andrew cuts wood for some storm doors…

 

(above) Meanwhile, the kids and a couple of their friends headed down to dam…

 

(above) The water is warming up enough to adventure into…

 

(above) The boat has holes in it…

 

(above) No worries…Just put your foot over the holes…A hard push starts the fun…

 

(above) They’re off…!!!...

 

(above) A good push get’s them out that far…Then it’s time to “speed boat”…

 

(above) “Pull harder”…

 

(above) This is how kids here play on a sunny day…

 

(above) If the boat is rocking everyone is having a good time…

 

(above) After a few trips, it’s time to drain the boat…

 

(above) This is trip number thirty-eight…

 

(above) Yuma knows the drill…Let out the line, then pull back with all his might…

 

(above) The dam is spring fed and is tested regularly for water quality…It’s the water source for the tin shed and the house at the front of the property…

 

(above) Boat repair time…Mud and weeds are the time tested method…

 

(above) The sun was dropping, the air cooling…Time to pull the boat out…

 

(above) …and flip it over until tomorrow…

 

(above) Back at the house, Andrew shows me the electrical system and how to re-set it if it conks out…Simple, flip a switch, wait fifteen seconds, then push the lower left button five times…Good to go…

 

Just before dark, I walked back to my cabin and called it another good day…

 

More later…

September 24, 2012

(above)Good day, sunshine…

(above)Another day dawns bright and rich with color…

(above)Looks like it’s going to be another good one…

(above)Time to enjoy the coffee and caption yesterdays photos…

(above) Not so little house on the plateau…

(above) Front door flowers, a nice touch…

(above) The Turner’s have morning ritual of “no prisoners” soccer…I’m included and fill in for Ginny as goalie…

(above) After soccer and pancakes it’s time to attack the check lists…

(above)The twins have a cake baking fever…

(above)They are intent on following the recipe EXCATLY…

(above)Later the family huddles to read my blog posting of the day…

(above)Internet connection…

(above)Fresh citrus is plentiful…

(above)Oranges, grapefruit, and mandarins abound…

(above) Evening smack…

(above) Up at the house in front, Till and Annette have a great gardening thing going on…

(above) Nothing beats home grown…

(above) Tomatoes went in today…They say the Comboyne isn’t right for them, but I think “they” might be wrong…

This Sunday was pretty low key, tomorrow is likely to be busier as the Turner’s departure day gets closer and a trip to town is planned…

More later…

September 24, 2012

September 24, 2012
(above) Another day comes up with color in the sky...
(above) Bird songs echo back and forth...
(above) Cup of Joe and a catalog to peruse...
(above) Over on the south hill, it's about to get blasted with sunlight...
(above) I helped Andrew get the rainwater collection cleaned out...
(above) Back inside, Rye mad beet, orange and tumeric juice...Tangy...
(above) Toast, garlic spread and tomatoes...
(above) Before heading off to town, I walked about and shot some flowers...
(above) Yeah, spring is here...
(above) It's warmed up by now, just in time to head to town...
(above) down is the only way out...
(above) Rolling around on the floor was this...Has a nice ring to it...
(above) The girls spies these Wedge Tail Eagles, so we stopped and watched...
(above) We finally got to Andrew's folks place...They had us over for lunch...
(above) On the dining table were these glasses...I wasn't sure if I was to leave a sample or drink out of it...???...
(above) After me and the kids walked to town...
(above) In the evening we had dinner with an old mate of Andrew's...They showed me this with a serious warning...Basically, you die...
It was a late evening and once back at the cabin, slept came fast...
More later...

 

September 25,2012

 

(above) Every day before sunrise the doors get opened so I can witness the dawning day and hear the birds talk to one another…

 

(above) After coffee, I rambled out to explore the side orchard…There are roughly a hundred avocado trees here…

 

(above) Another pond…This one is above the one the kids played in a few days ago…

 

(above) As peaceful as one could ever hope for…

(above) A natural explosion of color…

 

(above)  Even the fence posts are alive…

 

(above) One you slow down, you can notice how the small things can be the some of the most interesting things…

(above) It leads to a not used much corral…

 

(above) Back to the cabin…

 

(above) The welcome mat is always out here…

 

(above) Hand wash out for the day…

 

(above) Down at the house, fresh picked oranges are today’s juice…

 

(above) Local eggs and home made toast…

 

(above) Tarra and Yuma walked down a sack of just picked salad makings…

(above) Tarra also brought a pretty flower…

 

(above) I volunteered to amend the water storage system…I’ll put a “Y” at the low point of the pipe to create a leaf collector and cleanout…

 

(above) The pipe was cut and water fountained out…

 

(above) Once the pipe drained the modifications were done then we all went to town…

 

(above) At the sheet metal fabricator there are few complaints…

(above) Not on today’s list was repairing the tire that was supposedly fixed last week up at Comboyne…Sometimes the city guys just do it better…

 

(above) Ginny and the kids were dropped off at the beach for a get together of the home-schooled community…Meanwhile Andrew and I went around getting materials and supplies needed in the coming days…

 

(above) At the end of the day we went to a home where I’ll help Andrew with rendering (painting) the inside and outside of this modern mud brick home that was formally a bed and breakfast…

 

(above) On the wall were a couple pictures of old time timber transport here in New South Wales…Top heavy…

 

(above) The trees do get big here…

More later…

Go to Week 2

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