2024...

[Moneybox]

We're hitting 2024 running. To start out the year we jumped onto a Virgin flight heading for the Pacific. It was not planned but then how much of life is?

In fact we actually started the year on a bottle hunt that resulted in us pegging some new ground but that's another story.

This trip took us to a tropical paradise where we snorkelled the coral reef most days, hand fed the fresh water fish while snorkelling the crystal clear water below the waterfall and just did anything to avoid the searing temperature of the WA desert.



It was out of season for tourists but we enjoyed torrential rainfall pelting into our back while paddling through the crystal clear warm water over the coral reef. We dropped into the water anywhere it looked inviting and that was just about everywhere around the island however each destination was different in so many ways, different coral shapes and colours, different fish in every colour imaginable and a variety of other marine life.

We got lucky hiring a car from a very friendly guy who was friends with a local family who owned one side of a fresh water stream with a waterfall, teams of tropical fish, splendid waterholes and rapids. It was just like a tropical paradise of our own for as many days as we wished to go there free of charge and it even came with a young boy guide who I'm sure enjoyed our company as well.

Now we have to head home and face the dry WA desert. Who knows, we might see a bit more of the beach this year. It was one hell of a way to crank up the new year .

 

[RichardWest]

What was that green stuff Phil?

 

[Moneybox]

What was that green stuff Phil?

Not native to our region and not allowed to be smuggled in but most of it is edible
Everything grows there, bananas and pawpaws throughout the bush along with lots of other fruit. It was as much a contrast of our little patch as we could find and a great place to visit while our January average is above 40°C this year. To go there was a momentary decision that we'll never regret



and there's something for everyone

 

[RichardWest]

Not native to our region and not allowed to be smuggled in but most of it is edible
Everything grows there, bananas and pawpaws throughout the bush along with lots of other fruit. It was as much a contrast of our little patch as we could find and a great place to visit while our January average is above 40°C this year. To go there was a momentary decision that we'll never regret

View attachment 12571

and there's something for everyone

We had to do a quick trip back to Qld over Xmas and everthing there was green, a total opposite from here in WA. Love visiting those tropical islands.

 

[Moneybox]

It might look like I've been a bit slack lately and I have but I've been stretched too thin with a bit of prospecting in between volunteer work for the heritage centre. Then in between that we've been tripping back and forth from Perth trying to empty out Sandra's parents house now that they've passed on.

We've had the usual hassles with new leases as well. I have one application that has been in the Warden's court too many times and is nowhere near resolved and another new application that has a court case pending. Pegging a lease is a reasonably simple process but following it through to completion is a different story.

Anyway after I was spurred on by a fleeting visit from a forum member I got back to playing with the new impact crusher. I found an old electric motor from an evaporative air-conditioner so yesterday I set about mounting it.



I should have tested it first because it's a 4-pole motor and just too slow for the job. It gave me a tip speed of my blades at about 11.5 metres/second and even though it crushed the quartz ok it discharged the particles about 4-6mm in size.

Next option was the 9" grinder. I walked across to the new/old house and removed an aluminium pulley from an old air compressor motor.



The size was spot-on so it just need a few adjustments on the lathe to make a perfect fit. I tend to get a little impatient so I had to give it a spin before it was finished


View attachment First run.MOV

The extra speed made all the difference. I now have a blade tip speed of 32.75 m/s. It worked well enough grinding about a litre of quartz rock into a half a pan of dust however it needs more work. The only discharge area is the original axle and stud holes in the brake drum. This means that the heavies stay pinned to the outer circumference of the drum. I had to empty it with a vacuum cleaner. I'll have to give it a discharge port and a bin to discharge into. I'll connect the vacuum cleaner to that bin to keep the dust heading in the right direction.



Anyway that little bit of stone that I picked up off my workshop floor gave me a bit of gold. Now where did I get that rock .

 

[nucopia]

Pretty dang spiffy MB

 

[RichardWest]

Crikey Phil, you stopped the video too soon. I wanted to see where the stick ended up.

 

[Moneybox]

Crikey Phil, you stopped the video too soon. I wanted to see where the stick ended up.

That's a crude way of putting it, it's called a belt tensioner.

 

[Moneybox]

Well it's been a long time coming but we're getting our annual prospecting trip started. Mrs M is grounded because she's had too much time off work already. I guess that's happens when you choose work over retirement.

My brother Merv turned up today and I've spent the last couple of days packing the bus so I'm ready to go.



Tonka has been standing on three legs for too long so after I finished packing the bus yesterday I decided to fix it.




I've had a new tyre sitting in the shed for some time but at something over 300 kg I had to be in the right mood to take it on.



It took me three hours to fit but I beat it in the end.

It was a bit late to leave this afternoon so Merv and I took a 6000 each and walked over to the nearest bit of bare ground to check that everything was working as it should. Merv has the little Colitek 9"x5" and it did well. He got six little bits for 0.8g and I got four for 0.38g, the first with the 14"DD and the next three with the 11" mono.



Not a lot but a good start so tomorrow we'll hit the road to find a patch somewhere further from town.

 

[Moneybox]

The drama has started and we haven't left yet. We just had an emergency call-out. Merv just called from his camper "We have a problem!" "What sort of problem?" "The roof just collapsed and I'm stuck".



His slide-on camper has a very heavy roof that winds up with a central handle. The catch that keeps it in place should self-lock but failed to do so. Somehow he bumped the frame while he was lying in bed and brought the roof down pinning himself to the bed. Fortunately he could reach his phone and he had a spare key outside that I used to enter so that I could wind the roof up again. It's now securely locked in place

 

[Mackka]

Why am I thinking that this is the start of many a story of interesting times ahead? Best Wishes for a safe and rewarding journey. Mackka

 

[grubstake]

The drama has started and we haven't left yet. We just had an emergency call-out. Merv just called from his camper "We have a problem!" "What sort of problem?" "The roof just collapsed and I'm stuck".

Sounds like a script idea for the next great Aussie horror movie, in the tradition of The Cars That Ate Paris:
The Man-eating Campers of Cue!

 

[Moneybox]

I felt lousy leaving Mrs M behind so on the first day we didn't travel too far.



She didn't want to go detecting so we camped by an old bottle dump.



This 1923 Threepence was amongst her treasures.

Merv is happy with the new little Coiltek coil so today went out with the same setup as yesterday and ended up with seven nuggets.



Taz tried to get into it too but this bottle said NOT TO BE TAKEN so it's still there.



Merv got a few more nuggets but I won on weight.

 

[19.3]

The drama has started and we haven't left yet. We just had an emergency call-out. Merv just called from his camper "We have a problem!" "What sort of problem?" "The roof just collapsed and I'm stuck".

View attachment 13734

His slide-on camper has a very heavy roof that winds up with a central handle. The catch that keeps it in place should self-lock but failed to do so. Somehow he bumped the frame while he was lying in bed and brought the roof down pinning himself to the bed. Fortunately he could reach his phone and he had a spare key outside that I used to enter so that I could wind the roof up again. It's now securely locked in place

Jayco provide 2 'broomhandles' with rubber tips on each end which are wedged (one on each side) to hold the top up should something unforeseen happen. Might be a useful bit of kit for Merv?

 

[Moneybox]

Sunday was a quiet day for me with just one tiny nugget until I went out after dark for one more. Merv got seven for 1.6g.
Monday was a bit better, I think we both got six little ones. I just detected the morning because Mrs M was going home today and I wanted to spend some time with her relic hunting. She got another threepenny from 1922.



This is my tally up until last night just before the rain set in. It’s not a lot but enough to keep us here for the moment because I have a court hearing tomorrow by audio link.

Mrs M left this morning and I escorted her out for about three kilometres just to be sure she got through. It was so slippery the quad was spinning in 5th gear if I accelerated to hard. I came back soaked through but she’s home safely.

 

[19.3]

Sunday was a quiet day for me with just one tiny nugget until I went out after dark for one more. Merv got seven for 1.6g.
Monday was a bit better, I think we both got six little ones. I just detected the morning because Mrs M was going home today and I wanted to spend some time with her relic hunting. She got another threepenny from 1922.

View attachment 13805

This is my tally up until last night just before the rain set in. It’s not a lot but enough to keep us here for the moment because I have a court hearing tomorrow by audio link.

Mrs M left this morning and I escorted her out for about three kilometres just to be sure she got through. It was so slippery the quad was spinning in 5th gear if I accelerated to hard. I came back soaked through but she’s home safely.

1922? or 1923?

 

[silver]

1922? or 1923?

I'd say 1923

 

[Moneybox]

It's just a memory now. I guess some are still making finds like this but we are not doing well on the big bits these last few years. This year we still managed a few weeks away, well I did with my brother Merv, Mrs M stayed behind because she's enjoying working in the Cue Heritage Centre.

When it comes down to it the size doesn't matter too much because the fever can still be fed one little bit at a time

View attachment Img 7294.mp4

Finding a little patch is the reward for many kilometres walked over hills and gullies



and this the reward for crawling out of bed just before sunrise in the beautiful WA goldfields.



Of course it doesn't always go to plan. I broke this CV joint playing in a gully when I shouldn't do such things if a long way from home. We had to remove all those broken bits because they jammed the steering on full lock. From then on it was 2WD so no more hooning around



We stumbled across this old mine, well actually a friend told us where to find it. There were dozens of quartz seems running through undoubtedly laden with gold.



Merv wanted to bring the detector down but I knew he couldn't avoid digging when he got a signal and the roof was already collapsing in many places.



We're back home now so back to the real world. After fixing the bus CV I headed to Capel to clean out a property we've sold there. One of the problems is the distance, we are moving everything nearly 900km and 25 years of junk takes a few good loads.



Yesterday we loaded the vans and trailers for another trip north. We left about 5pm for the 2½ hr trip to Perth so that I could pick up new diff gears for the bus. We only got about 2km up the highway when the little Merc spat the dummy. I heard a clang and a rattle under the bonnet before I spotted a few bits bouncing along the highway behind me. A fan belt idler pully sized and then blew apart so with no power steering, alternator or cooling system I had to turn back. I spent the rest of the evening pulling it apart using the iPhone for light.



I'm hoping to have it back together later this morning so that I can get the new diff gears on the way home .

 

[Moneybox]

Well we tried. I tried to buy a belt tensioner pulley but there was nothing aftermarket available in the SW so I tried genuine, that was worse there were none in the country. There are plenty on ebay and the same pulley fits most diesel Merceded models. I didn't have the original because it exploded and left the scene but I worked out what it should be and walked down to the local mechanical workshop. They had a recently removed Holden V8 that was going to the dump. The belt pulley was exactly what I wanted and was in good condition and came for free instead of the after market quoted price of $140.

That left the belt. It was labeled 6PK2100 so simple enough. Veale Auto Parts had one for $108 in Bunbury so I asked them to deliver it. They said they only deliver to account customers. I told them I used to have an account but haven't used it for 6 years but it was still in their system so they just booked it to the account and delivered it by 10:30am. The invoice price was $58.

We had it all back together and running by 12:30 and hit the road at 1:00pm. That gave us good time to make it to Perth to pick up the Isuzu diff gears. I had them rushed over from Sydney but unfortunately they never arrived. Nobody knows where they are so we're going home anyway

 

[RichardWest]

Well we tried. I tried to buy a belt tensioner pulley but there was nothing aftermarket available in the SW so I tried genuine, that was worse there were none in the country. There are plenty on ebay and the same pulley fits most diesel Merceded models. I didn't have the original because it exploded and left the scene but I worked out what it should be and walked down to the local mechanical workshop. They had a recently removed Holden V8 that was going to the dump. The belt pulley was exactly what I wanted and was in good condition and came for free instead of the after market quoted price of $140.

That left the belt. It was labeled 6PK2100 so simple enough. Veale Auto Parts had one for $108 in Bunbury so I asked them to deliver it. They said they only deliver to account customers. I told them I used to have an account but haven't used it for 6 years but it was still in their system so they just booked it to the account and delivered it by 10:30am. The invoice price was $58.

We had it all back together and running by 12:30 and hit the road at 1:00pm. That gave us good time to make it to Perth to pick up the Isuzu diff gears. I had them rushed over from Sydney but unfortunately they never arrived. Nobody knows where they are so we're going home anyway

If your diff gears are coming by Team Global Express Phil I can understand that. Been waiting for a generator to go from Perth to Albany and it has finally arrived today, a fortnight after it was consigned.