BOSS OFF TO TOWNSVILLE ... WITHOUT ME !!!!!!!!

WELL ..... This is a nice state of affairs !!!!! ..... the Boss decided to take off to Townsville without his loyal, loveable, friendly & multi-skilled travelling companion & navigator !!?? It's times like this when you find out who your friends really are !!!!

The boss told me a week ago that he got a metal fragment in his eye from the angle grinder .... at the same time I got some grass seeds in my eye which caused it to weep & go all red ?? The boss got the grass seeds out & kept squirting this saline solution in my eye when I wasn't looking !!!

I suppose that I should have got the metal out of his eye but at the time I wasn't seeing too clearly at the time !!

I made out I wasn't very interested when he was showing me the pictures he took in Townsville.... fancy leaving me behind ..... I didn't eat tea that night on my own back at the Station because I was so disgusted !!?? But anyway, he said the above picture is part of the Townsville Marina !!

However, I suppose I should show you guys some progressive photos of the boss's charcoal retort kiln as he builds it. Just don't tell the boss though because I'm not talking to him at the moment !!??

The boss butt welded 4 sheets of 2mm plate steel, each 2.4m x 1.2 together on the concrete floor, reinforced it with star droppers, then he welded more plate steel on the base which he had previously cut square holes in to control the air intake to the fire box. Someone asked him, "How the hell are you going to lift that from the floor .... & make it into a circle ... it must weigh 1/2 tonne ?? " Watch & learn the boss replied !! Although I woudn't tell him this at the moment, he is bloody clever & resourceful when it comes to projects like this !! AND .... he did it all on his own .... no help from anyone except me !!!!

I'll let Darryl explain to the rest of you guys how he did it .... it's all in the photos Darryl, so tell those less engineering minded than you, me & the boss how he did it via the comments section below .... please !! I would normally do it myself but I'm a bit peed off at the moment ??!!

The steel circle almost closed !!

The closed circle & welded outside cylinder for the kiln ..... 1.5m high x 2.8m diameter. the boss has to fabricate a steel lid for it when he gets some more plate steel. He's also thinking about fabricating another cylinder to wrap around this one just above the air intake holes ..... with a 50mm gap which will be filled with sand or clay to insulate the whole kiln & reflect all heat inwards to the charring timber in the internal cylinder !!

The internal cylinder & lid which I showed you previously ..... the boss cut this from an old underground diesel tank .... without sending himself into orbit around the moon !!??

This cylinder will hold about 1.6 tonnes of Ironbark timber which will be charred via the heat from timber burning in the gap (300mm ) between this cylinder & the external cylinder .... after about 4 hours charring & 4 hours to cool, we will have about 700kgs. of Bio-char. You better make it simple when you explain in the comments section below Darryl.... some of my readers are 2 bob short of a quid !!?? ....... & they are not very bright either !!??

I'll let you guys do the maths on what 700kg of charcoal retails for at Bunnings !!! Also, just overheard Kerry saying that when she was in the Cairns market last weekend selling organic beef, she visited a stall selling " activated charcoal ?? " They were environmentalists ( !!!!!!!????? ) & said the charcoal was made from coconut husks after removing the coconut milk !! Bugger me, she said ..... it looks exactly like the charcoal Tommy ground for me to use as a filter in my booze distiller ??? The man told her that it was a health product curing many ailments ..... big deal I thought .... the boss has already proved his bio-char cures diarehae ( is that how it's spelt Karen ?? )

Anway, Kerry asked him the price per kg ...... he said ...... $80 per kg !!! I haven't got my calculator with me at the moment ..... can someone tell me what is 700 x 80 = ???? $$ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway .... back to the boss's unauthorised AWOL trip to Townsville .... I made out I wasn't very interested in the photos etc. when he was telling me about his trip when he got back !!!!

But this photo is apparently taken on The Strand .... looking north. The Strand stretches for 7 kms with shops galore lined up on one side the full length of the street & the sea on the other ..... Nanna & Karen would wet themselves if they saw this ..... talk about SHOP TILL YOU DROP !!!! They would both need a gopher to get to the end !!???

Just don't go looking for any sand ..... you know !!! .... that white stuff we have on our beaches that gets between your toes !!! The boss reckons he found about 50 metres of sand along the entire beach ..... & that had been dropped there for the the dragon boat racers in the photo above so they could walk to the water carrying their boats !!!!

But that's OK he said ..... people don't need sand to walk down to the water because you can't go swimming in the water anyway !!?? He said that a guy he spoke to told him that there are millions of STINGERS in the water ..... they're about the size of your fingernail & the sting can / will kill you !!?? The guy also said that a crocodile has been cruising up & down The Strand in the last few weeks ..... in the water I hope ........ & not on the bitumen !!!??

THE STRAND looking south !!!??

Magnetic Island looking from The Strand.

The boss said this is the Ross River Dam ..... Townsville's water supply .....water level down a bit & they are talking about more water restrictions if no WET season !! Greg's son Shane lives on a property not far from the big peak on RHS of photo .....that is a man made earth wall holding back the dam .... the wall is about 50ft above the road that runs past Shane's house where the boss stayed last night. The boss reckons that if someone pulled the plug on the dam, Shane's house would be under water in 1 minute flat ..... hope he can swim !!??

Like Jervoise, there are many houses on this property ...... & the boss reckons one house would be great for anyone visiting Townsville ( HINT !! HINT !!! ) to stay in just 15 minutes from the city & The Strand !!??

WELL ...... I need to finish this blog now because I have to go down to the caravan to tell the boss that all is forgiven !! He's been pretty quiet this afternoon because he knows that what he did in leaving me behind was wrong ..... & stories about bad tempered cattle dogs at Shane's property don't wash with me !!?? But we have travelled too far together for me to stay mad at him for too long ..... but I'm not looking forward to this kiss & make-up idea ..... the boss's kisses are all slobber & yuck !!??

So goodbye for now Fans ..... love from Jack the VERY FORGIVING dog !!