.and so, it continues.

I hated History at school!

Yep, welcome to my May update and me continuing the house sit in down town Wonthaggi, South West Gippsland VIC.

The month started where April finished and enjoying being in my old stomping ground once again. When I left there 3 1/2 years ago to go full time on the road as a Grey Nomad I didn't think I would be back but I was back. I will add here that I do not miss the place though and have not looked back since leaving.

I was and still am looking after two lovely ladies as well. Golden Retrievers. Well what did you think I meant? Sandy and Willow are their names and Sandy is, sort of, the naughty one and Willow has a smile on the dial all the time. I say Sandy is naughty cos she barks a lot and has caused a few little problems with me getting to sleep. She tends to bark mainly between 8.00pm and 11.00pm. Like clockwork even. I managed to get some quiet after a week or two though so all good. That is until the dogs next door start up, then it's a free for all.

I also got to catch up with friends in Wonthaggi and even caught up with my ex-boss from when I was being Stan Butler, on the buses. It was great seeing them all again and I tell you that for free. Every time I went into town I was caught out by someone I knew, that was no problem though. I also got to see a few Grey Nomad friends as well and got a couple of visits to see my Daughter and the two grandsons. One visit they came to me. Nothing to do with 13 X 6-week-old puppies though :)

In Wonthaggi township is a lovely old pub called the Wonthaggi Hotel and also known as the Whalebone Hotel and one thing that always interested me was out the front they have large Whale Jaw Bones that were from a 74ft Sperm Whale that was found dead washed up along the shore line near by on July 4^th 1923. Just opposite the hotel is a large mining Headframe and sitting proudly on top is an air whistle that was used during the mining days to announce the start and end of shifts, it was also used to let the area know of a major problem in the mines. It still sounds at midday every day and can be heard for kms away. You can set your clock by it.  I have included pics below.

During the month I decided to go check out a few things to see if or how they have changed but found nothing had changed really. I was around when the Wonthaggi Wind Farm was first talked about and the six wind turbines arrived in town and set up so headed there and got a couple of pics that I have included below. I remember the outcry when they were first talked about back around 2003/04 and how noisy and how bad they are to your health etc. I much prefer to see a wind turbine than a large electricity plant and smoke billowing out of large chimney stacks and I tell you that for free.

These are massive 66m towers, 6 of 'em, with 3 massive blades each tower with a Rotor diameter of 82m and have a slight whoosh sound as they spin around but you must be very close to actually even hear that, from a distance, nothing can be heard. The Rotor and Hub weigh 36t so not only are they huge they are heavy. I remember clearly when the blades were arriving in Wonthaggi on the back of very long semi-trailers and police escorts. Protestors and onlookers, including me as a on looker only, were lining the roads in shock of the size of these things. That was just one blade. 18 Blades and 18 trucks in total just for the blades alone.

I also remember in March 2012 when one of these large blades snapped and crashed to the ground. It stirred up the protestors big time but all was safe, blade replaced and all seems good now and fully operational. Again, I much prefer to see these things than big power plants etc.

I also took a drive out to another major project I was also around for and that was the Victorian Desalination Plant. Sometimes called the Wonthaggi Desal Plant. This was an interesting project to watch being constructed from the very first turn of the soil on October 6^th, 2009 to the commissioning of a working plant in 2012. Again, I remember the protesters etc lining the roads and the actual site of the plant for many months prior to and during the arrival of massive earth moving trucks etc arriving through the middle of Wonthaggi from the Latrobe valley. A massive project indeed. I also remember taking Councillors and many members of the public out to the Desal site for tours of the place. In the end a magnificent building was completed with the top of the main buildings having vegetation planted to blend in with the natural surrounds and now that it is all finished looks great. The plan was to or still is to pump water in from Bass Strait, process it and pump out through a pipeline all the way to Cardinia Dam south east of Melbourne. Unfortunately, its like a white Elephant these days as it is not used for what it was built for. Still, one day it might be. I have included a couple of pics below also. One is not mine and have acknowledged the photographer on the pic. I have tasted the finished product and found it was no different to fresh water. I would prefer to drink that than processed sewage water. Just knowing its origin is enough to put me off with that one sorry.

The main thing that attracted us to Wonthaggi was the history of the town and area in general. Wonthaggi was a large coal mining town that started up in 1826 when coal was first discovered in the area. In 1859 Tent City being established and the start of the town. Transporting the coal via the sea was causing major problems and many ship wrecks are scattered off shore so a Rail line was constructed and is now a walking/riding track for everyone to use. The mining of coal actually stopped in 1968 and you can now visit the mine area and do underground tours after sitting idle for many years thanks to volunteers that got things up and running again. Yep, great history in Wonthaggi and surrounds. Oh! Our home was built right on the land that was Tent City and the number five shaft was visible from the back yard overlooking farmland.

Gee, I hated History at school!

You might remember in my April Update I said at the end I had a little/big project in mind well, that project was to change the back of the Collie to a tray with Aluminium Canopy. I went to a place that was recommended to me over in Traralgon, Gippsland VIC, about 1 ½ hour drive to the north east of Wonthaggi to discuss said set up and removal of the current rear end. Mmmm, that is off the project list due to a rather larger than thought cost involved. For now, anyway. I actually don't think the people wanted the work to be honest. Who knows, it might go back on the project list further down the track but not for now. I had a day out though and travelled a road I travelled many times while I was on the buses and noticed a few changes so not all was lost.

Well, that's about it for this month as being an ex local makes it difficult to go out and see things but I did manage to bring you a little info so hope all is not lost. Until next we chat, take care everyone.

DOUG

Some pics below as usual.