This made no sense to me because I put an isolator solenoid in to stop one battery from getting flat when it reaches a lower charge. This wasn’t really a problem, we just went out for breakfast and by the time we got back the solar panel had charged the batteries.
I think the problem has to do with the smoke coming from the dashboard when Rachael plugged something into the cigarette lighter, which shorted the “ignition off” circuit. Because this circuit was shorted we had to leave the keys in the ignition all night so all the lights and junk would still work. I think we flattened the battery by sucking power out through the “engine on” circuit which the isolator solenoid can’t protect us from.
Anyway, good news is we drove to Lismore to visit my old friend Will and on the bumpy roads out to his place the short circuit shook itself back into place! Apparently we don’t have to worry about that one for a while, at least until the next bumpy road.
BUT on the road the microwave shook itself out of its shelf which was pretty alarming because we were going along at 80Km/Hr and had nowhere to pull over. We knew the microwave was gonna shake loose for a while now but didn’t do anything about it... We are totally not cut out for this lifestyle... I also snapped the CV radio aerial by going under some low hanging trees driving up Will’s driveway.
It was really nice seeing Will again. We were very close friends in highschool, and used to egg each other on to do the most dangerous things either of us could think of, we had a lot of fun. Times have changed now though, Will now lives in a really beautiful little cottage on the top of a hill looking over Lismore with his partner and kids. He’s also extending a house for his sister and has already built a little cottage for his parents! Will’s not a builder either, he just read a book on carpentry. It was really impressive to see what he’s done using a book and determination.
We spent the night in Lismore and had a really nice vegetarian dinner with Will and his partner Claire and spent the night at their house. The next day we headed off to my Grandfather’s farm in Murwillumbah to set up for a while, we’re going to have to start doing some serious repairs on the lemon to get it ready for its trip, we’ve also got to use the place as a dumping ground for all the dead weight we’ve accumulated (e.g. a broken microwave).
Tension was a little high in Murwillumbah when we arrived. My grandfather (Dick) was away from home but his tenant was in who lives in a nearby cottage, and she filled us in on the story. (Last time me and Rachael came up here we went to sleep in her bed thinking the place was unoccupied, she was pretty surprised in the morning finding us in her bed).
Anyway, the place is being re-fenced and the fencer’s were out the back of the property cutting down trees for timber for the fencing. This doesn’t make sense to me because I’m pretty sure you have to cure timber before laying it for a fence, but I’m not a fencer. Apparently it was OK’d by dick before they started but It was a bit worrying hearing the chainsaws. It is a real shame, hopefully they are only cutting down English pines because this property has some beautiful native pines and gumtrees. Its a pretty amazing place.
I had a crack at mowing the lawns after getting up here. Everything around this place is a bit bizarre, the lawn mower must be pre 1960’s and was so dangerous, it had a tin can as the muffler, weighed about 80Kg and could propel itself along. The problem was that if you lost hold of it then it would just keep going until you caught up to it and managed to pull the lever to stop it. It was actually pretty fun trying to use this thing to mow the lawns. The next target is the Bulldozer/Tractor in the shed.
No comments:
Post a Comment