Slow Build in Oz

[MickinOz]

Life isn't quite following The Plan.
The missus went to the optometrist to see about her eye being suddenly a bit blurry.
Optometrist said,"Hmm, f@#ked if I know" and called the hospital to see if the visiting eye specialist was there.
Eye specialist said, "Hmm, f@#ked if I know" and sent her to the city to another specialist.
City specialist said, "Hmm, f@#ked if I know" and sent her across the road to the eye department of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Doctor at RAH said, "Hmm, f@#ked if I know".
By then, I was starting to see a recurring theme.

RAH scheduled blood tests, MRI, FFA, sample of fluid from eyeball (I wasn't in the room for that), hourly eye drops, 2 day stay, etc.
Here we are on Sunday arvo, we still don't know what is wrong but have ruled out viruses and brain tumors (the one thing I was really worried about), and have followed their advice and cancelled the other surgery she was supposed to have on Monday.
Going back Tuesday for results of tests and further treatment.

In the meantime, very little progress on the TD.
Except, my octogenarian mother dropped in to see how we are, and commented "Your little caravan is looking good."
Thanks Mum.
Further conversation ensued re: fit and finish, and discussions on cooking and fridge options.
She said, "Remember way back in the early 80's when you and your brother gave us that little Engel car fridge for Christmas? The year he came home from the Territory?"
"Sort of," I said.
"It's in the spare room, it still worked the last time I plugged it in. You can have it if you want it."
"Can't just take it, Mum," I said.
In the end, she sold it to my wife for $2.

It looks nearly brand new.
Mum told me, "Your father had a tear in his eye when you gave us that. He treasured it. Took his lunch and drinking water out to the jobs in it for years. Wrapped it in a towel and strapped it in with the seat belt."
Dad was a contractor. Looking back, I guess you needed to be fairly well off to afford an Engel in those days.
The brother an I were doing OK money-wise, both at work for 5 years or so by then, and wanted to give back.

It's only small, maybe 15 litres, but I bet the ol' man loved having cold water to drink on an Aussie summer day.
Still has original cables and owners manual.
It got down to 2 degrees C in less than 30 minutes.
Was going to buy a 30L fridge, but memories and sentiment win.
Older Aussies will know what I'm talking about. Engel was the big name in Aussie portable fridges since 1962.
It's going in the teardrop.
Here it is:

[edgeau]

Sorry to hear about your forced trip to the big smoke. I hope it turns out to be a storm in a tea cup for you both.
That little Engle is gold though. That is quality to still get down to 2deg after 30 odd years!

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[MickinOz]

Rained here.
Tarp leaked.
Now hoping it dries out without too much staining or warping.

[MickinOz]

The missus has gone back to work.
She had some leave booked, but went in and saw the boss, said things are turned upside down, can't really go anywhere, might as well be stacking shelves as sitting home doing not much.
He got on the computer and cancelled her leave before she could change her mind! All the while chanting, thank you, thank you, thank you!
People are buying up and hoarding stuff - it's madness.
Hence the boss pleased to get a worker back from leave.
A small positive - in recognition of the stress and pressure, the staff discount has been doubled to 10%.
I'm on holidays. Despite not being able to do a lot of the things I planned, I was gasping for a break, and we are all in a giant open plan scenario, so bugger it, I'll do a bit of proactive self isolation.

Trailer progressing.
I've been looking for lights that suited the cabin.
Criteria wasn't real strict:
Older style appearance would be good.
Prefer surface mount to cutting holes in liners.
Prefer in-built switch.
Prefer Australian seller. Have nothing against foreign sellers, but the last thing I ordered from overseas has failed to materialise - freight has been disrupted I guess.
So I ordered a couple of these:

cabin light.JPG (40.02 KiB) Viewed 3441 times

Ordinary incandescent bulb kinda appeals. Given proposed size of battery, I have a 250 watt solar panel, I figure if it uses a little more power it'll be worth it to avoid the harshness of LED's. They work out at $14 each with the freight.

[MickinOz]

Didn't get a lot done today - cut a ceiling panel and varnished one side of it.
It kept trying to rain, and we'd just get the camper uncovered and it'd start spitting.
So gave up.
The table we are working off is usually used for pizza prep.
So today I cleared it off and fired the oven.
Nothing like wood oven pizza and a coldie to let you know you are on holidays.

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meat lovers pizza in the wood oven.JPG (86.16 KiB) Viewed 3410 times

[MickinOz]

Small progress.
Drilled some holes to run some cable.
Cabling will be minimal - up front will be, two 12v lights and a usb outlet charging of phones. There will be no mains power circuits in this rig.
If I find I frequent caravan parks a lot, I might consider a shore connection and battery charger.

Bought some double insulated cable - 1.85mm2 - about 15 awg.
Allegedly good for 15 amps - so I reckon I might fuse it at 10!
(Trust no one - then you are never disappointed.)

Trimmed the ceiling panel and test fitted it.
I consider the outer skin, glued and nailed to framing and walls, as a structural element.
Hence only test fitting the inner skin. I'd rather able to see how well the outer skin faced up to the glueing surfaces.
(Very nicely, thanks. )

liner 30.3.2020.JPG (79.96 KiB) Viewed 3418 times

[tony.latham]

The year he came home from the Territory?"

Okay, Mick, give it up. What's the "Territory" over there? Sounds mysterious. Is it the bush?





Tony

[MickinOz]

The year he came home from the Territory?"

Okay, Mick, give it up. What's the "Territory" over there? Sounds mysterious. Is it the bush?





Tony

Haha - Settle in for a long read.
It is indeed the bush.

The Territory is short for the Northern Territory, a vast area of northern Australia that never quite made it to full Statehood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01cw8eZapdU - I saw this bloke singing this song in the Alice, keeping time on the lagerphone (a beer carton)
In 1980, my brother legged it for Darwin (main town) with the money Mum and Dad had put aside for his 21st birthday.
Started out as a "yard boy" in a trucking company depot.
By the time he made it home a couple years later, he was driving triple road trains, hauling big black steers out of the big cattle stations for export overseas; and rocking a serious disdain for "bitumen road cowboys who need twice the horsepower to pull half the freight."
To this day, the really big road trains spend most of their time on dirt roads and private station tracks.
The last bastion of the proper outback truckies - if you can't patch a punctured truck tyre, bleed a diesel injection system, dog up a broken axle, or mend an air line so you can pump up the brakes and get 'em to let go, all on the side of the bush track, then that bush track is where you could die.

A triple in those days was a prime mover semi, three trailers and two dollys. Total number of wheels = 62.
These days it would be considered a small road train, one step up from an entry level AB double.
They are really trains now, 4 and more trailers.

The Northern Territory is home to much of what the rest of the world thinks all of Australia is like:

Snakes
Crocodiles - a 20 footer is not out of the question, and since we gave them protected status after nearly hunting them to extinction, there are lots of them.
Water buffalo - bad tempered f*@kers - I recommend 0.270 WIN as minimum calibre.
Camels
Brumbies - mustangs to the North American brothers
Donkeys
Dingoes
Pigs - them's grumpy f*@kers too - I like repeating shotguns with solid slugs for those.
Serial killers like Bradley Murdoch
Funny bastards like Mick "Crocodile" Dundee
Ayers Rock/Uluru
The Olgas

The terrain ranges from desert to tropical jungle.
Land area is 521,000 square miles, population 246,000
Compare that to Texas - 262,000 square miles, population 29,000,000; and you'll see that the territory is very big and very sparsely populated.

So when the brutt let his itchy feet get the better of him at 20 years of age, and took off for Darwin in 1980, it was a big deal.
The ol' man was a sometime truckie, and so with his heart in his mouth gave his blessing.

Come to think of it, there are three generations of truckies in the family - my old man, the brutt, and now my oldest son.
Son the nut is pulling triples out of Olympic Dam - I've never seen him so happy as since he started up at the downs.

The best thing that came out of the territory was Warumpi Band - aboriginal language rockers from the western desert northwest of Alice Springs.
There are quite a few Koori bands now, but they were the trail breakers. Lead singer George Rrurrambu is gone, so we will never see their like again.
It's a shame - George was a hell of an entertainer. He was actually from right up north, from the Saltwater people, but his wife was from the Western Desert people.

Here's a taste, you don't need to speak Pupunya Luritja to enjoy this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3RAPV7p-nc - Warumpinya (Papunya)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1baOxLwccB8 - Jailangaru Pakarnu (Out of Jail)

I'll throw this one in too, mostly because I have often wondered if that is my brother sitting on the bullbar at 00:13 when the bloke in the A-double pulls in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E0aZ387M_I

[MickinOz]

Putting a camber in the roof.JPG (57.92 KiB) Viewed 3293 times

Cables in roof.JPG (66.58 KiB) Viewed 3293 times

Cutting and varnishing panels, hunting up electrical bits, running repairs to the truck, and trips to hospital don't bring many photo ops.
The truck is a Ford (Fix Or Repair Daily), so there is no surprise there are running repairs required.
Like every Ford I've ever owned, goes great, fun to drive, but there is always bits of trim falling off, or little ancillary items that stop working.
Today I lifted the bonnet to try one of my new cabin lights on the battery, and discovered that most of the clips holding the grille in are either broken or missing altogether.
That was challenging.

But I digress, again.
Installed cable for my minimalist cabin lighting and power, and then fitted the roof.
My electrician son said I could just let the cables lay in the cavity, but I couldn't resist clipping them in place.

I helped build a few widespan sheds and carports when I was a pup, We always tried to build a little camber into the roof. The idea was to try not to have the beams sag past the horizontal when the supports were taken away.
So I did the same here.
We'll see how that turns out.

Left this little maths error for posterity.JPG (50.94 KiB) Viewed 3293 times

[MickinOz]

One of the things I did before I closed the roof was to drill 3mm holes to connect each chamber together. I figured the way I was assembling the roof with glue to every mating surface, some were going to end close to air tight.
It was about 22C when I glued and stapled the roof skin on. That leaves potentially 28C of upside swing and maybe 22 or so downside.
Temperatures range from 50C down to subzero here,
That'd be some fairly big pressure swings if the chambers seal right up.
Lots of potential for creakin', groanin' cracking of joints etc. So I connected them all together with the 3mm holes. I figure the pressure can then equalise with atmospheric pressure through the cabling holes.
I've actually been wondering if this is the cause of some peoples frustrations with leaks. Maybe over time joints can get worked enough to leak?

[MickinOz]

Got the headlining and head board fitted. So pleased with progress that I had to go inside and reward myself with beer and raw beef.

head lining and head board in 8.4.2020.JPG (106 KiB) Viewed 3246 times

Beer and Biltong.JPG (92.39 KiB) Viewed 3246 times

[MickinOz]

Cabin dome light arrived today.
Looks just right. I fitted it while the missus was out, She was pretty happy with it when she saw it installed.
Ordered a 20 amp Maximum Power Point Tracking regulator today
An American company. We'll see if "Made in USA" is as good as they all claim.

[MickinOz]

Rose with the sun this morning.
The wisdom of sealing the plywood with poly at the first opportunity cannot be oversold!
We had a very heavy dew this morning. The layer of water beaded up on the teardrop roof was quire impressive. I swept it off and it all ran down and dripped off one corner.
If I were lost in the desert, I might have collected enough to sustain me for the day!

Wasn't planning to do much, it being Good Friday and all.
I'm not particularly religious myself, but I have enough friends and family who are that I feel a bit sensitive about disturbing them. For example, my elderly neighbours are practising Catholics.
So I was looking at my stuff, when I heard an angle grinder start up next door.
Yep, one of the sons is using his Easter visit to modify the verandah!
Bloody heathen.

But the power tool lamp is lit.
So I've been doing a little bit.

First of all I made beer batter and pre boiled potato wedges.
Lizard fillets and potato wedges for tea!!
My elderly mother is staying home. The first time in 20 years not eating with us for Easter - the virus has her worried. The wife is going to deliver her dinner.

Then I created a template to mark the cutout for the swiveling reading lamps in the shelf I made yesterday.

I've made a decision with regard to the wiring. Installing the ceiling mounted dome lamp yesterday, I used a piece of insulated terminal strip and made screw connections.
So much easier than trying to solder wires together overhead. These connector were the ones that have a little strip of stainless steel in them so that the screw isn't chewing up the wire as you tighten it.

I'm not sure if Ill be able to get that type again, but if I can only get the plain ones, my son has an impressive collection of bootlace strips.
So that is it - no soldered connections unless there is no other way.
I believe it will end up a lot neater.

[MickinOz]

This is the front shelf test fitted with the swivelling reading lamps.
A little heavier than planned. 7mm plywood base.
I had 42 x 19mm bits laying around so that is what the frame is.
My fervent desire is for this to be stiff enough that I only need to mount it at the ends.
We'll see.
Plan is to slip the shelf in as a pre-wired unit that just need to connect to the tail I left hanging out of the headliner.

Pleased with the domelight - incandescent bulb, real glass lens.
I could have gone lighter, and used less power, but somehow these seem more in character.
The two reading lights and the dome light will draw 3.4 amps between them ( I measured it).
I'll wear that.

First job tomorrow - clear the benches and sort the tools out!

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Domelight 10.4.2020.JPG (66.68 KiB) Viewed 3178 times

[tony.latham]

The Territory is short for the Northern Territory, a vast area of northern Australia that never quite made it to full Statehood.

Mick:

Thanks for the explanation. That sounds like a great place to teardrop. Assuming there's a road or two and water.

Your explanation reminds me of this story.

I was a wildfire firefighter in Alaska for a decade. By treaty, we could take a fire five miles into Canada and they could do the same into the U.S. I was dispatched to a fire three miles into Canada north of the Yukon River on a steep ridge above the Tondonduk River. From the helicopter, I was blown away by the view looking east into the Yukon Territory. (There's that territory word again.)

I knew Alaska well but I was looking at a mountain range in Canada I had no idea what it was called. Big rugged peaks with a few spots of snow even in the warmth of late summer.

The fire wasn't a big deal so as soon as I was done lining the crew out and ordering the stuff we would need for a week, I pulled out the Canadian 1:250,000 scale contour map that covered the country to the east.

Most of the map was white without any contour lines or any other details. No contour lines, drainages ridges or names. Nothing. Diagonally across this big white spot --void of any mapping was one word; "UNMAPPED." I can still hear the thought that went through my brain, "holy sh**!"

I wish I'd stolen that map.

Tony

p.s. The range is called the Ogivile Mountains. I'm sure it's as wild-ass now as it was forty-five years ago.