Christmas Feast

Beautiful surprise Christmas Eve dinner was prepared by our beautiful European and middle Eastern volunteer staff this Christmas. Complete with menu's courtesy of  Josh Campen, printed in Swedish Dutch French and Yes .... Hebrew.... What the?  Sarah joined in the family Christmas and bought to the table her favourite Jewish dishes. How lucky are we to have the opportunity to celebrate with these delightful young travellers!

 Christmas Day of course was prepared by the Men of the Household and duck terrain and asian salads and rice paper rolls were perfect for the tropical temperature in the North East here at Spring Spur.

Re-duce Re-use Re-cycle

With a commitment to sustainable building practice, the right choices in design and materials goes a long way to meeting or sustainable goals. Along the way there is unavoidable waste and the the creed of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle comes into play. All waste is separated into type, and dealt with according to best possible outcome.
There was a generous "estimate" in the supply of waffle pods used in this construction, and surplus material and offcuts were sent back to the supplier for reuse/recycling.

Waffle Pods awaiting backload in empty truck.

Timberzoo

After a recent trip to Moolap, Steve found some suitable timbers for the lounge trusses. Looking forward to getting vertical in the new year. These timbers are clear straight and should clean up beautifully.

There is something very satisfying about re-using Australian hardwood timbers.

Christmas Greetings from the Bogong Bairds

Christmas AGAIN the start of many exciting new roles for us all here at BHA and especially for George and Mildred the Christmas Mule~deers! LOL
To all of you whom we adore out there in the world of Cyber Space ~
Have a Safe and wonderful Christmas with your loved ones, don't eat too much and send a little something to a charity or buy a goat for a village in Africa rather than a whole lot of stuff from China~ Compassion is a gift and the heart of life ~ Generosity sustains us ~ Be generous in simple acts of kindness ~ See the smiles from my family to yours ~ AND smile too ~ With all of our love from deep within our PUMPS ~
We all love to celebrate this special time  ~ Influenced by great SAINTS that have walked our earth ~ since time began ~ Time for Stillness~ Contemplation ~ Love ~ and a couple of  DAYS OFF! Ya Hoo!

Mildred, Lin, Kath, Steve, Clay and George

Time for reflection

After a solid effort, both slabs are complete, storm-water system is in place, wastes are mostly completed and the heavy lifting of the landscaping is complete. As we prepare for the framing stage   we can be thankful that most of the in-ground work is complete and the summer is ahead of us.

After wetting down the concrete, the early morning sun is reflected on slab2.

Storm water gets away

In a good season when the tanks are full and the many roofs that feed the water tank are shedding a summer thunderstorm or winter cloudburst, all the excess water will spill into our little rock spillway, and flood into the stallion paddock.

Steve and Lin put the finishing touches on the spillway.

Slab2 pour

Ollie's team were back for the second pour, in ideal conditions. Another well finished slab and a solid foundation for the construction ahead.

Troweling machine puts on a good finish, while Ollie adds a bit of fall to floor wastes.

Slab2 takes shape

Second time around the slab prep seems easier. We re-used the boxing from slab1 and laid the sand and plastic out first this time, as there was no break in level to contend with. The set out was a bit of a challenge thou. 

Jack's level helped get the complicated shape up to level.

Tayla, local horse enthusiast and sometimes guide, helps secure the boxing

Spring garlic harvest

Garden meisters Lin and Kath braid the seed garlic thinnings. Garden fresh garlic is a whole new experience in the garden kitchen and adds that fresh flavor missing from dried garlic.

Yard works

Last summer a little brumby colt jumped out of our round yard and more recently a new horse on the block breasted and broke the old top rail, confirming what we already knew, that the top rail needed to be higher and stronger. Lin and Nathan dropped a few long tall blue gum regrowth poles and set to work putting up a new top rail. The job will be ongoing as time allows, but the first rail is a good indicator of things to come.

New top rail firmly in place

12m3 concrete gone

This building is well anchored into the earth now that the piers are filled with concrete. Clay handled the pump hose which ensured the concrete was delivered fast and efficiently across the site, then a quick swipe with the trowel and job done.

Where did that 12m3 of concrete go?

Pack mules rule

With an overnight ride heading bush this weekend, it seems like an ideal time to introduce George and Mildred, our new mules, to their future employment option - as pack mules carrying goodies and comfort into the renowned BHA bush camps. George was given a trial run today and passed with flying colours, taking to the pack load like an experienced hand. I'm sure Lin's extensive experience working with mules at Rock Creek Pack station in the USA made sure the job went well.

Big George dwarfs Lin with his oversized bags

Into solid ground

As we prepare for the lower level slab we have to place concrete piers through the fill on the lower half of the pad. The 600mm piers are drilled through up to 1500mm of fill so the piers can be founded on original ground.

Looking for a hard base, the auger drills to below where the grey line of original sub-soil shows

Ned the terrier does what terriers do - dig into the "terre"

George meets the dentist

Once a year equine dentist Barry Stephan checks and files the teeth on the horses. Amongst the patients this year George and Mildred the mules had their teeth worked

It's a long reach into Georges mouth

Storm water pit

With projected demand for plenty of fresh water, we have piped the storm water from all buildings including the sheds and stables, to a single 105,000 litre water tank. The big pit handles all the overflow from summer thunderstorms.

Clay lifts the rain tarp to check the work after a 5.30am concrete pour.

Getting boxing in place for early pour next morning

Brodie takes a leek

Long time family friend and sometimes staffer, Brodie Pownall plants leeks in the Spring Spur veggie patch

The everlasting leeks are constantly divided to produce a year round crop.

Falling from the sky

Twice now during my life I have witnessed a paraglider falling from the sky! The first time was when Steve and I were driving back from the Township of Mt Beauty, when as I was gazing out at the beautiful blue sky, a glider off in the distance above the airport suddenly spiralled out of control towards the earth!

I rang the police and reported my sighting, immediately.

The poor man lost his life that day, as the sun shone brilliantly on the rest of us, but for the family and friends of this man the news they were about to receive would shatter their shining world forever.

I was saddened to hear later that the man died instantly, with no chance of surviving.

Yesterday at exactly 10.24 the phone rang and I answered the call, It was our good friend Tim Cope the adventurer ringing me to tell him he was back renting next door in his little cottage and settling back in to Tawonga life after returning from Mongolia with his beautiful partner Haulo.

As I settled in for a chat on the verandah over looking my beautiful valley, I thought I witnessed this terrible sight again across the valley this time on the edge of the National Park!

I gasped as I saw an orange parachute suddenly crash and disappear out of sight! I told Tim what I thought I saw and hung up! I grabbed the binoculars that we have handy, and saw the Ryder's cattle, who's property it was, all cantering away from the area!! Alarm bells rang as I know there was a motorised Hang gliding club in the Valley, as on Friday they were flying over our house annoying the peace of Spring Spur Life with their lawn mowers in the sky flying very low over us.

I then rang 000, explaining what I had just witnessed calmly explaining the National Park Track the emergency services would need to access to find him, on or near where we take our riders everyday called Moncrieff's fire trail at the eastern end of Rock Pool rd in Mt Beauty.!

It is frustrating when explaining to emergency services that I was witness to an incident some three kilometres away as the crow fly's, on the other side of the Valley, and the ambulance was not needed here at Spring Spur but in the National Park!

My darling son Lin, recognised my anguish and drove down to the National Park gate with his first aid kit and hiked in, running most of the way, calling me to see if he needed to go further. Thank god for iPhones and excellent signal now days, as I was able to pinpoint the approximate location of both Lin and where he needed to get to, from my awesome lookout point on the verandah of my home.

In the meantime I had rung my neighbour Glen McIlroy, paramedic and in search and rescue, direct to alert him of what I had witnessed and gave him Lin direct number!

I then rang Lin back and just at that moment he had found him! "He's conscious mum I have found him"

Nigel was in a bad way, but the ambo's were on their way. Lin had found Nigel at exactly 11am. and the The first ambulance officers, Glen and his partner  arrived at 11.20am. Although Nigel was in terrible pain, there was no external bleeding so Lin could only make him as comfortable as possible while they waited for the ammo's 20 minutes later.

Lin said it seemed like a very long time to wait, but it was difficult to access the site. Lin shared with us last night when we had a family de- briefing, that Nigel's sense of humour remained in tact and he had told Lin he had hit the power lines and fell from about 20+ metres, (actually 60-80 metres) landing strapped to his machine on his back!  Later when his friends arrived at the scene Nigel overheard someone say "It's his birthday today and he is 60 years old" On hearing this Nigel whispered to Lin who was still supporting his head, "I'm 59 tell 'em I'm 59!"

Lin was so amazingly brave, as was Nigel,  comforting and supporting Nigel while they waited for help to arrive, it was a long wait. He was very pale and couldn't move. He was airlifted to Melbourne at 1.45pm,  after great life saving stabilising efforts from out emergency services team, Nigel's blood pressure was dangerously low at the scene, he remains in a critical but stable condition, fighting for his life!

We are hoping he can pull through, and celebrate his 59th birthday some other day, in some other way, with his loved ones, mates from the club and maybe with his feet firmly on the ground!

Our thoughts are with Nigel and his family and friends.

Kath Baird

View from the verandah

Daisy's Tilly arrives

Daisy is arriving after Christmas to lend a hand and sent her filly Tilly on earlier to get aquainted with the BHA team. A smart little Quarter Horse and a beautiful foal will be had in the future to Lin's Red Robin.

'Tilly' on the green pastures of the Kiewa Valley

Chooks arrive

After great anticipation, the construction of their transport cage and fox proof shed, the point of lay chooks have arrived here at Spring Spur. There are nine ISA Browns and one White leghorn. The girls have settled quickly into their new home and we await the eggs!

Chooks check out their new home

Clay's Middle Eastern Taverna

Diner time at Spring Spur is a never ending ode to good food. Tonight Clay prepared a middle eastern meal including hand made dolmades using the homestead grapevine leaves, fresh baked flat bread, a spiced chicken Shawarma, minty youghurt, spiced cous cous and a mixed bean salad.

Dinner time at Spring Spur

New trees for pack saddle

Nathan and Lin have fired up the forge to smith some new fixed trees for the pack saddles

Nathan on the old Buffalo Blower

Veggies

Spring crop is in the ground and loving the warm, damp weather

Food, the giver of life

Living and working at Spring Spur is punctuated by meal times, food and good company.

 The cookhouse, source of many happy meals

 Family lunch on the veranda

Lin's vegie garden

Horsemob

The horses benefit from living as a herd, and running as a mob is balanced with lots of work.

Plenty of energy in the spring pastures.

Family life

Living at Spring Spur has it's quiet times and jumping times.

Family life - pic Charlie Brown

Stables

The stables were built in 1992, and are the "engine-house" of the working life at Spring Spur

Lin and Clay in the Big Shed - pic Charlie Brown

Welcome to Spring Spur

Spring Spur is a rural property in North East Victoria's High Country Region, sitting in the Kiewa Valley and surrounded by the peaks and High Plains of the Alpine National Park.

Shed and Yards at Spring Spur

Salvage timbers

Kath Lin and Steve took a drive over to Echuca to assess the available salvage timbers, for the building, at Nullabor Timbers. From big section bridge and wharf timbers to finely dressed salvaged feature timbers the selection was impressive.

 Big Timbers in the yard

Dressed Timbers in the Shed

Jack's back

While the upper level slabs "cook", works have shifted to the lower level. Jack and his excavator have returned to finish the lower level rock walls, slab undercut and site drainage.

 Jack carefully positions a large rock in the retaining wall

Clay shoots a level for the underslab cut with the laser.

The finished slab

Job well done, the finished top and middle level slabs completed by mid afternoon.

Concrete pour

The pump was booked for 6.30am and the first truck load of concrete at 7.00am. Our concreting team Ollie French and his daughter Robyn and crew were on site and ready before the first truck. Ollie had spent the previous afternoon helping us get the finishing touches on the pre pour, and we passed inspection in the afternoon.

With the pump set up, the concrete was poured into the middle level slab first, then the upper level. We put a total of 50m3 of concrete into the slabs, and all was in place by 12.30.

The concreters worked behind the pour, screeding to a rough level, then to a finished level. Ollie troweled off the surfaces with the helicopter and Robyn finished off in the tight corners etc.

 The concrete pump beats pushing barrows of concrete around.

 Robyn trowels the edge

Ollie with the "helicopter" troweling machine.

Wafflepods

The wafflepod blocks are placed in a grid pattern on top of the sand and plastic. The pod design uses less concrete, insulates the slab and is suited to working at wet times of year when you might normally get in a muddy mess with traditional pad and beam footings dug into the foundation material. 

Waffle pods partly layed out on the sand and plastic base.

Fantastic plastic

At .2mm thick the plastic film under the slab is a thin but effective moisture barrier to keep unwanted rising damp out of the building. The plastic is layed on top of the recently wacked sand base.

Plastic placed and taped into top boxing.

Wack it down

The sand needs to be well compacted by a vibrating plate "wacker". The under slab level is checked and the sand finished 310mm below finished floor level (FFL).

 Bodie on the wacker gets the good vibrations.

Mark finishes off around the waste pipes.

Boxing Day

 Waste pipes in and sand spread out across the site. The boxing (formwork) is 300 mm high because we are building a waffle pod slab. The slab will be poured in one continuos pour at the two different levels incorporating a 600mm step.

 Boxing partly in place

 The 600mm break in level is lifted into place.

Strip footings poured, boxing finished and sand raked out.

Poo pipes and dishwater

Before the concrete slab can be layed we needed to put in the various waste pipes and other services such as power, phone, gas and water. We are working with local plumber and dairy farmer Scott Coultson.

The little digger spreads sand across the site

Rectangles and Pythagoras

Time to "set out" the buildings. Hurdles are placed so we can construct a string outline of the concrete slabs. Lots of measuring and double checking of dimensions before the project is set in concrete. True right angles are created using the 3-4-5 rule, a simple adaption of the Pythagorean equation.

Hurdles for the string lines