It is now Tuesday afternoon and have been for a walk round some of Rollingstone Camps6 #36 and settled in with the neighbours and have taken some pictures, the murals under the highway bridge are amazing. If you walk past the day area there is a wooden staircase down to the river, this I found after climbing down a rocky cliff area. Bushy Parker was a highly respected service man who was instrumental in designing the escapes from Colditz during the war.

I have booked to go to Paronella Park next Tuesday and plan to leave here on Monday and drive to El Arish rest area before driving to Paronella Tuesday morning. Will be having a quiet time here for the rest of the week and intend to christen the shower tent tomorrow, how exciting is that can hardly wait but I have 24 channels on the TV so that will amuse me and keep me occupied

Thanks again for the great Pics. John.  'Specially the last one.  I hadn't known where the Park got its' name from.  That was most informative, and interesting.

Cheers,

Sheba. 

My $3 day and that was $3 more than yesterday, and no doubt $3 more than tomorrow.

I continued my exploring around Rollingstone and found the crossing to get back to the highway, I was looking for the BP service station where I had been told had local sweet pineapples for sale cheaply. Sure enough there they were in a crate for sale at $3 each, one was enough for me so I carried it back to the van and immediately cut off the top and cut it into slices. Beautiful juicy and sweet just the thing after a walk in the sun.

Then I made a washing machine after seeing a similar one at Saunders Beach. All that was needed was a funnel, duct tape, 4 screws, pole and a drill. All on hand in the van and close by in the park, so I gave it a work out and found that it worked very well. After doing my laundry at Home Hill there was little to do but enough to trial the new washing machine, and enough sun to dry the results very quickly.

Today was the day to christen the new shower tent so I assembled everything together ready to waste no time and running water, the last time the water ran out whilst rinsing off my hair after being unprepared and still looking for the soap whilst the water was running. No problems this time until I wanted to turn the shower off, where was the off switch, round the corner and impossible to reach without getting out from the tent minus my clothes. Another item to remember next time, it would have been easy to have the unit next to the flap and it will certainly be there next time.

All in all I have had another excellent day on the road finishing with a happy hour with ten of us travellers swapping yarns and sitting round the water tap posts, I would have liked to say sitting round a camp fire but that was not the case. I didn't even have time to have a mid afternoon snooze my life is so hectic.   John

Glad you are enjoying Rollingstone John - it is a really nice place to spend a few days
- the ranger will probably come today though - so remember = you only arrived last night!!!!! He is a nice guy though. The idea of the "washing machine" is great - we are going to make one, when we get time - we are sooooooooooooooo busy

I hate to say it but they,ve put up the bloody barge fares again!just a couple of bucks, but it all adds up. Pm me when you are coming.I had a great time trying to get the shower tent back in the bag, until I re read the instructions. fun and games.See you soon. Bill

-- Edited by bill12 on Thursday 16th of August 2012 05:53:40 PM

Love the washing machine John, I use a paint plunger/stirrer for mine, some people use the toilet plungers as well.

Glad the shower tent went well, I still remember you wrestling with the previous one at Cosy Corner, I wish I had a video with me at the time!  

bill12 wrote:

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How does the "washing machine" work? I use the foot in the large bucket method.Some sort on diagram would be nice. Thanks, Bill

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 Hi Bill if you can see the photo it should explain the machine. The funnel has holes drilled into the sides and is fixed firmly to a pole or suitable stick then is propelled into the water with a brisk up and down motion. Similar to your foot in the bucket method.

Will be wanting to visit you on Magnetic Island later this month, early next week I am going to Paronella Park and then to see the Boulders in from Babinda. Will move back to Townsville afterwards.

John

Duh wrote:

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Love the washing machine John, I use a paint plunger/stirrer for mine, some people use the toilet plungers as well.

Glad the shower tent went well, I still remember you wrestling with the previous one at Cosy Corner, I wish I had a video with me at the time!  

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Hi Vic,

 Pleased that you didn't have the video camera working I really was getting frustrated, I haven't pulled the new one down yet but this time I did get a demo from the salesman and I am confident that all will be well and the unit will fit back into the bag easily

John

yeoeleven wrote:

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Will be wanting to visit you on Magnetic Island later this month, early next week I am going to Paronella Park and then to see the Boulders in from Babinda. Will move back to Townsville afterwards.

John

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 Be very careful at "the Boulders" John.  Please don't be tempted to swim there.  Even though the girl in the Legend usually prefers Younger guys I think, you have so much "go" in you, she might decide on a change.

Just google the Legend of the Boulders, to see what I mean if you haven't heard about it yet.   We'd all like you to be around for a long time yet.

Cheers,

Sheba.

Yes Sheba I now have Googled the Legend of the Boulders and was fascinated by the story, I will be swimming there but in the safety of the recognized swimming holes and well away from the dangerous currents. I too want to be around for a long time but can't resist some element of danger and don't forget I have those rubber shoes to protect my tender feet.

John

yeoeleven wrote:

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 can't resist some element of danger

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That's why I mentioned it.   There have been a few guys drowned there "well away from the dangerous currents"  John.   No satisfactory explanations have been forthcoming.   So please be careful.

Cheers,

Sheba.

bill12 wrote:

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How does the "washing machine" work? I use the foot in the large bucket method.Some sort on diagram would be nice. Thanks, Bill

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 Bill, this is similar to the ones Bunning have, they have about three types similar (paint stirrers) with different size heads, mine has a plastic head with a unclip/layover handle on it, but I think the all metal ones would be best, see;

http://www.homedepot.com/Paint-Paint-Tools-Mixers-Stirrers/h_d1/N-bttaZ5yc1v/R-202284233/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051 

On that link, I saw one that looks like the old type metal potato masher, and thought it you could get one of those from a 2nd hand shop (potato masher, the zig zag type, they would be good to use too for small things......

Git this one at Bunnings almost 12 months ago.  Can't see it on that link though.

Cheers,

Sheba.

I have something similar to that Sheba, stainless steel with a handle up the middle. Paid $1 at a Garage Sale.

You can also use the old lidded bucket system. Put your clothes in a bucket, add detergent, put the lid on firmly and it agitates while you're driving along. When you get to your destination, rinse and hang.

We used to do this with the nappies, when the kids were little. Worked well.

Beth, that's the same system we used when the kids were little.

It worked really well.

Travel Bug wrote:

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Beth, that's the same system we used when the kids were little.

It worked really well.

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My problem these days is the Arthritis in my fingers. Can't squeeze them out like I used to. Someone said to twist inside a towel, but you need another person to hold the other end.  Do I need to carry a vice with me?  

Jeans would take awhile to dry though.

Okay, I'll try that next time. I've used laudromats in the past, but that gets a bit exxy and sometimes the machines wreck the clothes, or they're not clean.

You need a mangle like the old old washing machine used to have, someone did manufacture them for RVers a while back not sure if still available.

Lots of things don't need to be ironed if left to drip dry. I don't iron at all. Can always hang your smalls on the ariel going along to dry.

Marj, you jogged my memory.
In my previous post, I forgot to mention the long metal and plastic paint stirrer/plunger.
That's what I use too with the lidded bucket.

jetj wrote:

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You need a mangle like the old old washing machine used to have, someone did manufacture them for RVers a while back not sure if still available.

Lots of things don't need to be ironed if left to drip dry. I don't iron at all. Can always hang your smalls on the ariel going along to dry.

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 Except my smalls aren't so small! They'd be like a flag on the aerial!

I do carry a drying rack though. I though I could use that for the 'smalls' and put the clothes on hangers and hang them along the awning poles.