Solar set up part #2

So the time had come it was the new year and time to get the free sun power hooked up.
Oh not to have to make the decision, food or drinks.... you know, one or the other when you only have a small camp fridge and the weather is in the high 30's. Eat something out of the fridge so we can put in some water. Oh how we miss cold drinks.......

Well it all seems to good to be true, unpacked all the solar gear, go through the stuff, look on line and go through all the stuff again and well you guessed it half the order was missing, who are these people who pack orders for shipping, it's ridiculous. Now Andrew's calling the company and trying to work out what's missing as there is no sheet listing what items were sent there isn't even a guide as to how it all goes together. Well there is quite a lot missing and you guessed it too big of a package to go to the PO Box so another trip to Sydney when the missing items are sent.
Back home again and we think we are all set but no, still missing some of the battery connectors and still no instructions.
We feel like this is a bad joke.....

Solar Set up Part #1

We ordered our solar set up on line and it was a toss up between two companies, one was a bit cheaper and you had to wire the board yourself and the other came with a pre-wired board and was more expensive. 

We decided to go with the pre-wired and had 2 double power points added to the board.

4 x solar panels and 8 x Giant premium heavy duty sealed deep cycle batteries. 

New Steps

On our last trip to Sydney we brought back a set of steps and today is the day they will be installed.

There was timber and a large rock step and we added the iron, but it was time to go as it is a good place for a snake to hang out and im not a fan of snakes as most of you know, and spring is here and so is the warn weather.

Away went the rock and the iron, with a few Red Backs on the underside.

Next the old timber was prised up.

All raked up and ready.

First Andrew add a piece of timber under the edge of the floor.

Using a Bit and Brace, drilled holes in the floor and screwed it together.

Added a second piece of timber in front. The timber is Yellow Box that Andrew milled.

Again drilled and using hex screws to attach.

Next drilled holes in the top to hold the stairs in place, sorry didn't take a picture of that bit.

Levelled the dirt and attached the stairs, added a couple of paver's at the bottom.

We may add some gravel as its a bit muddy.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Linked here

natasha in oz sunday linky

Shower

We decided to move the shower to a better spot and as luck would have it when we bought the place this old concrete shower base was already here.

Joshua came down for 2 weeks and when we took him back to Sydney we came back with half a dozen pallets, they are really hard to come by down here.

We had a few slate tiles so they went down for the gas bottle to sit on.
Two pallets one for the shower and one for the veranda.

I cut the bottom out of the shower so it would sit over the concrete base and Andrew nailed the tent peg tabs to the pallet.

A few mats over the veranda and it all went together in about an hour.
With views of the bush.

The shower has had a good scrub but will need the pressure cleaner to really get the dirt off, in the mean time one of those blue mats will do to stand on.  

At the moment the water is directed by a trench, we will pick up some fittings so we can have it run through a hose and direct it to where we want it.

Next was the toilet, it didnt really have a place we just moved it to where ever.

Now we have a toilet with views that is up off the muddy ground. 

The only problem is, when it rains you get a bit wet. Thinking we either need an umbrella or another tarp.

For Andrew's Birthday Joshua got him a water cube, it holds 1000 litres .

At the moment we are just filling it up from the jerry cans when we go to town, but down the track we will pump water from the big tank off the house to the cube.

All hooked up and works like a dream.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Sydney and Home again

Joshua came down and stayed for two weeks, the weather was cold but it didnt snow.

We loved having Joshua down, two weeks was not enough time.

Every day was busy cutting fire wood, driving the buggy, milling timber, filling pot holes, going detecting, dragging out the truck when the guy brought the second container, going to the beach, into town and not to mention getting Betty stick in the mud. 

It all went way to fast, but Joshua had to get back for uni.

The snow did come on the day we left, we stopped at Nimmitabel, the snow was about 5 inches on the ground.
I'm 5 foot 8 1/2 and i look like a tiny person next to Joshua.

We spent 2 weeks in Sydney as our big solar set up was suppose to arrive at Dads and it was cancelled as they were still waiting on parts. The set up was payed for in June and we are still waiting and its now August.

On our second trip back to Sydney after dropping Joshua back our gear box blew up just out of Canberra, luckily we made it back to Dads. $3800 and one week later our Betty was like new again.

Unfortunately that was a big chunk of money we didnt want to spend but we need a car so there was no choice.  

We came home to a lovely surprise, mice nesting in our sleeping bags. If there is one thing i cant stand then that is mice and rats. Not only pee and crap every where but they also chewed a big whole in the bag.

There is no way i would have slept in that bed especially as we only had that bedding.

While in Sydney we went to Ikea and saw this bed we liked and as we have not had a good nights sleep since all our stuff was taken way by the removal truck, we decide to spend the money and buy the bed. Also purchased new sheets and a feather and down doona.

 

Andrew putting up our new bed.

The next day every thing came out of the cabin and we cleaned. it was a good thing as the new arrangement is a lot better than it was with a lot more floor space.

Sally Girl supervising on Dads arm chair.
Lots of things didn't make it back into the cabin like the two single mattress and the big work bench.

Now it feels like home, it is amazing what a bed can do.

We can both highly recommend our new Ikea bed, the mattress is wonderful, its like a giant marshmallow that's not to soft and not too hard. 

So much more room in here now and having the dinning table down the end means we can see out both windows, ill never get tired of these views.

I picked up 3 of these baskets at Big W for $10 each, 2 are hanging on the wall as storage and the other we turned into a light shade for over the table. The down light was $10 from the Blacktown Twin market. 

Makes reading at night so much easier.

There are many uses for pallets, this is our new front veranda and steps.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl