LJ70 Build Thread!

[Ben]

Perfect! Thanks guys, lots for me to think about.

I really like Dave's idea of joining a club! I had not thought of that!

I will look into it and let you know how I go.

Were really blessed to be living where we are!

The climate is sub tropical with an average of 300 sunny days a year and the average temperature never gets above 28 in summer or below 21 in winter! Much better than Melbourne's freezing cold winters and boiling hot summers!

Its also an amazing spot for water sports!

We live on the banks of the Coomera river. Its a beautiful big calm river and I could potentially paddle all the way down it to the ocean and explore all the little islands and water ways.

Cant wait!!!!

We live roughly where the 95 is to the left of Oxenford on the map below.

 

[Chas]

Just looked you up on Google Earth Ben. I think the 95 is about the middle of this pic.

 

[Ben]

Yeah that looks about right Chas.

I will try and get some pics next time we go out for a run.

Finally got the garden tidied up today as the previous tenant had left it in a bit of a mess. Found a few cane toads, so there now safely sitting in a box in the freezer! Don't want little Lexi coming into contact with any of those if I can help it!

22 days and counting till she gets here!

 

[Paddler Ed]

Don't worry Ben, you've gone from being a Mexican to a Cane Toad now... Just wait for Origin to start, the Maroons are nearly always called Cane Toads here...


Not certain that canoe clubs are as common in Aus as they are in the UK, so might be a bit more of a challenge to find somewhere to join.... have a look on here for canoe clubs in QLD; it looks like there are some around the GC and the Sunshine Coast.

 

[Chas]

Found a few cane toads, so there now safely sitting in a box in the freezer!

In the freezer,

Next delicacy on the Barbie?

 

[Ben]

I got a few pics of the river last night.

There is a street that backs onto the river that is full of huge multi million dollar properties that have mooring rights to the river, then next up the hill is our street, then one more at the top which is where these first couple of pics were taken, looking over the roof tops.

Walking down the hill to the river. All the cars are from the people fishing. I'm not sure what they were fishing but there was a lot of them, most with rods but some just with nets.

A sort of causeway has been created across the river here which I'm sure must get breached during heavy rains.

Spotted a couple of guys with fishing rods on kayaks.

Looking back down the river.

Through the park.

The river gets really wide as it heads down past the houses.

You can see one of the expensive houses here at the end of the street.

Complete with jet skis out the back!

Walking down a bit further and looking back up.

Walking down a bit further.

So as you can see its a bloody big river, more like a lake in places!

I think it will be a nice place for a paddle.

 

[clivehorridge]

Great Dog.

Canoeing is a great idea, did loads when I was young.

Recon you'll be looking to buy that place one day soon Ben, once your name gets around and the subcontracting business gets on its feet.

 

[ModelMakerMan]

Looks beautiful Ben.

I reckon with all the energy ben seems to have Lexi will end up with as much energy as this dog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG8UYn352rQ (one of my favourite outdoor films )

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

In Tassie now and my brother law is hoping to take me 4wding tomorrow in the 90 series Prado hes recently bought!

Pics to follow.

 

[Pat]

Ben,get your work sorted first,your income is important to your future.Joining sporting clubs can help in generating business but too often willing workers get tied up In club activities.It happened to my wife and me with our local and then our provincial rugby union.Your cv as is on the iPad should help immensely in establishing your Bono fides.Best of luck

 

[asheddie]

Hi Ben, I have been kayaking for many years. I started of with the sit-in style, they're fast, but no good for water sports where you want to get in and out of the yak, ie swimming, snorkelling etc. I moved on to a sit-on like the first picture you put up. They're ok, but without a rudder they're pretty basic and not very user friendly. I now have a Hobie PA 12. These kayaks aren't cheap, but extremely good quality. Still sit-on style, but you use your legs to propel the yak. Kind of like riding a bike! it leaves your hands free to fish, hold a camera or in your case hold a dog. They're very fast, faster than a normal kayak and much easier to propel because your legs are so much more powerful than your arms. There is every possible item out there to pimp them up too!

The river next to you looks like a great place for flathead, a great fish to learn the art of fishing on and a favoured eating fish too.


Cheers,

Ash.

 

[Ben]

Ben,get your work sorted first,your income is important to your future.Joining sporting clubs can help in generating business but too often willing workers get tied up In club activities.It happened to my wife and me with our local and then our provincial rugby union.Your cv as is on the iPad should help immensely in establishing your Bono fides.Best of luck

Thanks Pat.

I've got a couple more days here in Tassie then were flying home. Going to start looking for work when I get back, with a view to starting work the week after next. I just want one more week off relaxing!

Need to get some cash coming in so I can start spending!

After paying for Lexie and buying all the doggy stuff I want to get an enduro, a kayak/canoe, we need an outdoor setting for the house and I've convinced Bec we should upgrade to an OZ Tent RV4 or 5 with all the extras.

I'm also hoping for a brand new 79 series duel cab and Bec has decided she loves the FJ Cruiser's so a double purchase from Toyota might be on the cards.

Oh and I need some stiffer rear springs for LJ, the part I never received for the anti roll bar, so I can re-fit one and an air conditioning compressor so I can finish the aircon install.

Hi Ben, I have been kayaking for many years. I started of with the sit-in style, they're fast, but no good for water sports where you want to get in and out of the yak, ie swimming, snorkelling etc. I moved on to a sit-on like the first picture you put up. They're ok, but without a rudder they're pretty basic and not very user friendly. I now have a Hobie PA 12. These kayaks aren't cheap, but extremely good quality. Still sit-on style, but you use your legs to propel the yak. Kind of like riding a bike! it leaves your hands free to fish, hold a camera or in your case hold a dog. They're very fast, faster than a normal kayak and much easier to propel because your legs are so much more powerful than your arms. There is every possible item out there to pimp them up too!

The river next to you looks like a great place for flathead, a great fish to learn the art of fishing on and a favoured eating fish too.


Cheers,

Ash.

Awesome, thanks mate.

 

[Ben]

Wedding Plans & 4WDing.

We've been busy getting things sorted for the wedding.

We're really pleased with the rural property where we will be having the ceremony and reception.

This is where the ceremony will be held.

And the reception will be held in an old apple shed.

Its not going to be a traditional wedding in the slightest!

Its going to be a fun day surrounded by family and close friends.

I wont be wearing a suit and shoes, instead opting for shorts and a short sleeved shirt and no tie.

There wont be any disgusting fruit cake covered in thick icing and marzipan! Instead we will be having a yummy 3 tier cake with a chocolate cake layer, a victoria sponge layer with fresh cream and strawberry's and banana cake layer!

We wont be having a formal sit down dinner, instead it will be a much more relaxed affair. As our first 2 dates centered very much around pizza, so were having a guy come in who will be cooking gourmet wood fired pizzas!

We will hire a trailer fridge which we will fill with bottles of beer, cider and wine and our guests can help themselves!

Anyway................................... back to 4wd's!

Yesterday my brother in law Andrew, took Bec and I out in his new KZJ95.

We stopped at a few dams that had sadly had a lot of the water drained out of them.

We saw a few trail bikes out on the tracks.

Was a great few hours out exploring a part of Tasmania I've not seen before.

We're hoping to do a Fraser Island trip together later in the year, some where I've been itching to take LJ to.

 

[stumog]

Wedding place looks nice there Ben. Hope it all goes well for you do you have a date? Did I miss that part?

Hope your settling in to the new area well.

Stu

 

[Ben]

Thanks mate.

Saturday 12th November is the date for the wedding!

 

[stumog]

Oh right sorry I thought it was sooner then then.

Have you found a job yet?

 

[Ben]

No need to apologise mate, I should have mentioned when it was. The reason were down here so early sorting things out is that in less than 3 weeks time we will have little Lexi, so for us to both fly down here then will be more difficult.

I want to fly her down with us for the big day though.

I applied for 7 TIG welding/fabrication jobs last night. I'm massively under qualified for some of them though as they want 5+ years minimum TIG alluminium welding experience.

But I thought I'd try anyway. When I left Piranha my now old boss said I've got a really unique skill base, which hes never seen in anyone before and never to underestimate myself or my skills.

Its funny when I started with Piranha I remember thinking shit I dont know if I can do this job, having never worked full time as a metal fabricator before. But that went really well, so I guess now I'm less fearful of chucking myself in at the deep end!

If none of those jobs come off I'm going to take my CV round to some of the local boat builders and see if they have any work for a TIG welders/carpenters.

Theres loads more carpenter jobs around than welders and they might even be paying more money, but I would like to do another year of TIG to really get my skill level up before going back to carpentry.

If I cant find welding work, then I will go back to carpentry, but I will need to get my White Card first, which is just a few hours internet based training and test. A White Card is required on a lot of building sites, to prove health and safety competence.

 

[stumog]

I surprise alot of people in my current job as I am one of the few without a degree and know far more about engineering then lots of the people in a similar postion. It funny in meeting when I can explain really why the part has not been made correctly with my experience. I have done lots of jobs over the years in a fair few different industries but they all complement each other well.

I am thinking now of instead of buying a new mig going for a acdc tig and having ago at that.

Stu

 

[Ben]

You will love TIG!

The precision and level of control you have with the weld pool is awesome!

MIG has its place, but its not hard, you could train a monkey to do it! Where as TIG is an art form!

Job Searching.

I had an interview and weld test yesterday at a company just up the road who manufacture and sell allumnium canopies and tool boxes for utes/pick up trucks.

I've got the job if I want it but it means taking a pay cut and its more like a factory job than the sort of fabricator/designer job that I want and I think I would get bored working there.

The boss there was really nice though and said if he was me he would keep looking for something that is more suitable and will pay more.
He also said if I just want to go and do a few weeks for them while I find something else then I can, as their desperate for a TIG welder as they have got a lot of orders for canopies.

I've just applied for another 8 fabricator/welder jobs. If I dont hear anything back by Friday afternoon, I will call the guy I saw for the interview yesterday and see if I can do some work for him next week.

Been off work for almost a month now, so need to start earning some money again.

2 weeks tomorrow Lexi arrives!!!

We went out last night to pick up a table and chairs we saw on Gumtree. As theres no daylight savings in Queensland it was pitch black when we got home at 8pm.

Walking out into the back garden with a torch I was amazed to see dozens of eyes staring back at me!

Bloody cane toads!

So the freezer now has another 13 toads in it.

I'm going to toad proof all the fences and gates before Lexi gets here and keep removing them each night and hopefully by the time she gets here we will have a toad free garden.

I've found when you pick them up they start spitting their poison at you from the glads either side of their mouth.

So I'm sure an inquisitive puppy investigating them would get a face full of it.

Anyway......................

This is the bargain new garden furniture.

So we can finally start inviting our friends over for BBQ's!

The tomato and strawberry seedlings I planted a few weeks ago are absolutely loving the tropical, hot sunny days were getting everyday and their shooting up!

Thinking of planting some more fruit and veggies soon. I've just got to make sure there all well out of Lexi's reach when she gets here.

 

[Paddler Ed]

In all honesty at the moment Ben any offer of work is a good one; the mines are winding down, particularly the trades (the mine here closed days before Christmas and laid off 100+ people). I know my mate who works at one of the local metal works here in town has had some thumb twiddling days this last week. All of that will have a knock on on the wages...

How much design/manufacturing is there in that area compared to how much plain welding stuff together? That I suspect will influence what is offered as much as anything.

Hope that all makes sense...