Kalgoorlie

Lib's new friend Maria from Germany

26/4/12 Thursday. Yesterday we remembered all those who are or have served in defence of this country. Lib and I managed to get pretty inebriated but we did keep our decorum intact. We do miss seeing all our old mates in Sydney but alas, life must go on. We are starting to run out of things to occupy our time. We have been in the caravan park for a week now. But the mechanic did ring today to tell us that he would be here in the morning.

Also, Barry and Judith have arrived and we look forward to spending the next few weeks with them.

The Super Pit, Kalgoorlie WA

The Super Pit, Kalgoorlie WA

27/4/12 Friday. Simon turned up at about 9am this morning with the new head for Bess. I assisted him in fitting the head, the tappets and the rocker cover. At this point he left and I was left to reassemble all the rest. This included the air intake, exhaust manifold, fan belt, water pump, air filter and various hoses and fittings. At the moment of truth she started and ran just fine. Although I did notice that the temperature gauge was no longer working. But for the first time in my life I had completed a major repair on a car and saved myself hundreds of dollars in labour.

28/4/12 Saturday. This morning the four of us went up to the Super Pit. It is the largest open cut mine in Australia and produces $70,000 of gold a day. It is truly mind boggling. The sheer size of it and the logistics involved are amazing. Afterwards we went and did some shopping.

I spent the afternoon fitting a new temp gauge. In a week Bess has gotten a new head, new fan belt, new starter motor and a new temp gauge. Hopefully she will run for a while now with no breakdowns. Fingers crossed!

Barry, Judith & Lib @ The Super Pit, Kalgoorlie WA

29/4/12 Sunday. Today was a very stressful day. In the beginning I had to do some rewiring as I had wired the temp gauge incorrectly and hadn’t earthed it properly. I fixed that and then decided to start in on our leaking water tank but with no success. It has gotten worse but it is only losing about five litres a day which at this stage is manageable. We will need to get it fixed when we start working again.

Lib & I @ The Super Pit, Kalgoorlie WA

Charlie's War Wounds, His Ear

Just before lunch, Lib, Barry and I decided to take the dogs for a walk at the local dog off-leash park. Judith stayed behind to have a sleep. Lib and I had taken the dogs here on two previous occasions before her parents arrived in Kalgoorlie. We had a good time there but today would prove to be anything but. Just after we arrived Charlie was saying G’day to a couple of other Staffy’s and an American Staffy when the American Staffy became protective of his “pack” and latched onto Charlie’s throat. I was about 50m away and sprinted straight into the fray. Charlie was squealing his head off and I knew before I got there that something was seriously wrong. The owner, Jess, arrived just as I did and Lib wasn’t far behind. We managed to get it off Charlie and I think it was Lib pushing her thumb at its arse that did the trick.

We separated the dogs. Luckily none of the little ones were involved. I think that the owners were more shaken up than the dogs. After we had checked Charlie over and ascertained that he wasn’t seriously injured, he just wanted to keep on playing with Asha, Raff and Pickles. The three dogs from Jess were put straight into her car. She was beside herself and said that her dog had never done anything like this before.

Charlie's War Wounds, His Throat

She offered to pay any vet bills and to be safe Lib and I dropped Barry and the other three dogs at the caravan park and then took Charlie straight to a vet to get checked out. He had suffered a puncture/tear wound to his left ear along with some grazing in front of the ear. He also had grazing on his throat and small puncture wounds on his nose. The vet said that he didn’t need stitches for his ear and gave us some antibiotics to stave off any infection.

Jess paid the vet bill which we were very grateful for. She was very apologetic and said she wouldn’t be taking her dog to the park any more.

Lib and I are just glad that Charlie is ok and doesn’t seem to be any worse off for the experience. So far he seems to be his normal, happy, inquisitive self.