Day 86 Sunrise Dam Gold Mine Day 1
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 08:03PM Hello & good evening! Hope you all had a great day, we did! Today was day 1 of our 4 days here, but you know when you go somewhere or do something and everything just seems to work?
This site has been great, they already had a spot for the van, power arranged and were more than helpful when we were setting up.
We love technology, today we spoke on the phone to Sandy G, Granny, Dan, Matt, Katrina & Anika, we also arranged for the car & caravan to be serviced, paid some bills & arranged more work! All from the middle of nowhere!
Hey today was a little different, most of my talks are held in training rooms or lunch rooms or workshops, the people I speak to are predominantly male, and they don’t really want to be there! That is until I start telling my story & they usually become interested! And the first session was exactly like this. I expected the second session to be the same, but I was surprised that the group of 12 were mainly women!...... wow what a difference! Firstly they were a lot prettier than a bunch of ugly fat truck drivers!.... but their questions were much more “thoughtful” Ness was in the session with me & when we got out we were both impressed as to how different the session was.
How quickly things change, for most of this trip we have had the air conditioner on 24hrs a day. We have moved south & obviously it is a little cooler down here but we were not prepared for how cool it is! Yesterday we woke up & the van was freezing! Sure when we went to sleep it was still quite warm & we had some windows open.... but it just turned cold very quickly! We have a heater in the van but it was out of fuel! So we have some changes to make before we head back across Australia to Melbourne.
When we were speaking to Dan yesterday he told us that he went up to Toolangi for an excursion, which means he drove right past Grannies house & the turn off to Saltbush (our place) He went to the forestry discovery centre where they learnt about forests & renewable resources. One of the things they mentioned was that trail bike riders are a problem in the forests.... Dan said he was quiet when they said this as we ride our trail bikes through these areas all the time!
Special thanks to Sandy Gay, the books she lent me before the trip are fantastic Sandy, really enjoyed reading them both.
Ness also just finished a book bought for her by Brad W for Christmas, it was called Caravanastan! It was about two people that travelled around Australia by caravan! Ironic huh!..... Maybe we should do another trip and write about it?
5 days till we start the journey home!....... Woo Hooooooo!
James
Reader Comments (5)
Hi James,
I promised the kids that I would write today and tell you about this cool motorised chair we saw last night on Top Gear. It was made by Toyota in Japan and they think it should replace your wheelchair. I'm just about to search for more info and send it to you via email.
Lesley xx
the southern hemisphere is turnign the weather in to true honeymoon mode so you guys can rub your feet together like crickets
if yous are cool there you will need the winter woolies on by four in the sfternoon in melbourne
what happened to the blogs voicing your opinions? chicken! LOL!
I watched the add for top gear, but I did not get past the good looking guys to see the chair Lesley is talking about, I reckon Brad and I would be great at sorting out homes for people in wheelchairs - we have gone around our house to see if we can see any unforseen problems for when you come for a visit and I cant find a thing - the shower was a bit of a worry till I heard Brad tonight advising you that he will send an email with a photo of the bathroom so you can give your opinion on what you need - can you please ask for canningvale towels (dark blue) with the handtowels,flannels and bathmats to match and also the soap dish, toothbrush holder and soap dispenser I saw in the earthborn store at Garden city - you should also ask for the two franginpani waterproof prints from david jones along with the sample size shampoo, conditioner, handcream,bath salts and body lotion that I seen in the body shop (chemical free and non animal tested)
If you make sure you get all the abovementioned necessities for your bathroom for when you visit - I will make sure that you can reach the fridge and BBQ in the entertainment room so you can cook and get my drinks for me and Vanessa.
PS: I will also make sure you have access to the ride on lawnmower
PSS: please add the shower curtain from bed bath and table to your list.
PSS: LOVE YA BIG BROTHER!
I'm of two minds about Rudds proposal after reading your figures here. They are afterall achieving these profits through digging up Australia! So I have a question for you. Does a mine site ever close down and if so, can the land be used again? I feel very ignorant asking that question since Dad was a miner all his life. Sad eh?
Great buisness idea by the way. I'm sure we've all thought at one time or another when we've been somewhere wheelchair unfriendly "How would James get past this?". For me it was particularly so in England which is behind the times when it comes to disabled facilities and access. Our house is fairly accessible with the exception of our very steep driveway but thats just going to be fun to see what speed you can get up to on your way down. Don't forget to bring your helmet.
You know the programs they run in schools to try and resolve the issue of teenage pregnancy by providing the teens with those real life-like dolls that are programmed to make demands like a real baby? Sam was wondering- Has anyone ever asked if they can 'borrow' your chair for a day at these mine sites ?