Recharging

During my Easter road trip I realised there was a capability the trailer didn’t have.   Let me explain.

Last year I bought a DeWalt battery chainsaw.  It’s great for cutting firewood and I do like to attempt to poison myself by cooking over an open fire under the night sky.  Before the chainsaw I would cut firewood with an axle and handsaw.   The chainsaw is much easier on my old body!

The trailer second electrical fit (lithium battery installation) included a 2000W 240V inverter.  This also involved fitting a 240V 3 pin socket above the tailgate.  The idea was it might be used to power an induction hotplate at some future date.   That hasn’t happened, but I do have the chainsaw and the battery needs to be recharged.  Because the socket is on the back of the exterior of  trailer the battery can only be recharged when the trailer is stationary.   Whilst stationary the power is coming out of the trailer lithium battery.   This seems inefficient and it would be better if the chainsaw battery was recharged whilst I was travelling with the power coming from the 4WD alternator.

I decided to fit another 3 pin power socket inside the trailer allowing the chainsaw battery to be recharged whilst I the vehicle was moving.

After rummaging around in the ‘these might be useful one day’ drawer I found a suitable circuit breaker and dual 240V socket.  The circuit breaker is designed to go inside a switchboard so it’s cable terminals were exposed.   I solved this by making a timber enclosure.  Fitting everything was a rather simple task.

 

Circuit breaker on the rear partition in the electrical compartment and the power point on the sidewall.

Gwalia to Cue

Leaving the bitumen at Gwalia we headed west towards Sandstone.   The terrain was mostly flat and covered with saltbush.   This is both cattle country and mining.   Not cattle to the acre but acres to the cattle!

Just before Sandstone some of us made a short detour south to visit London Bridge.

London Bridge has been a popular destination for more than 100 years as visitors come to admire its unique shape.   When the nearby town of Sandstone was founded the bridge was wide enough for a horse and buggy to cross.  Decades of erosion and weathering has worn away the rock and eventually, the bridge will fall.

After a refuel and resupply stop at Sandstone we headed 50km north to Lake Mason Homestead.   This was once a cattle station, but on expiry of the government lease it was taken back by the state government reverting to a conservation park.

The Homestead consists of three buildings, one of which is a small shower block where water is heated by a wood fired ‘donkey’.  There is also a flush toilet (luxury) and untreated bore water.  

We spent two nights at the homestead before continuing west on dirt roads to the town of Cue

Some of these outback dirt roads have been poorly constructed.  The profile of the road in the above photo was dish shaped which means when torrential rains fall the road floods and is then ripped apart by heavy cattle truck servicing the cattle stations.   The profile should be high in the middle to drain off the water.

Surprisingly the Caravan Park in Cue was full.   Fortunately Cue also has a free RV Park provided by the shire council.   No facilities, but as we were only there for one night this didn’t matter.   I was up at 5AM the following morning to attend the ANZAC Day Dawn Service, which was well attended.   The shire council even provided a free cooked breakfast after the ceremony.  I didn’t partake in the meal as I wanted to remain alert when driving the 700km back to Perth the same day.

An interesting trip which allowed me to see more of western Australia

Kookynie to Gwalia

A lazy start to the day as Kookynie was only a 10km drive.   For a special reason the plan was to arrive at noon.

Kookynie is known as "A Living Ghost Town". It was first discovered by prospectors in 1895, one of whom was WA Miller, who took up the lease on the 25th June 1895.  Miller sold the lease to the Cosmopolitan Proprietary Ltd in 1897. This resulted in the virtual existence of Kookynie. In 1907, Kookynie had a population of 3,500, yet a hundred years later fewer than 20 people lived there.  The town used to have 11 hotels and numerous businesses.  There was a brewery and seven brass bands. It had the regions first public swimming pool with water pumped from the underground gold mine.  Flooding in the mine was an ongoing issue.

Today there is only one hotel and the major attraction is the horse that daily waits at the pub door around opening time.

Visitors are warned not to stand behind the horse as it has been known to kick!

The hotel has a dress standard

We continue north to the town of Leonora.  Europeans first explored this area around 1869 and in 1897 gold was found.  The town grew rapidly and by 1903 was linked to Kalgoorlie by a railway.   The town was our last opportunity to refuel and resupply before our final destination, Cue

Nearby is the ghost town of Gwalia.  Gold was discovered here in 1896 and the London based company, Bewick & Moreing sent 23 year old mining engineer Herbert Hoover to inspect the site.   He identified the site potential and the company bought the site appointing Hoover as its first mine manager.  Hoover didn’t endear himself to the company shareholders when he had the company pay for the mine managers house at a cost of £600.  A significant sum at the time.   This is the same Herbert Hoover who was later elected the 31st President of the United States of America.

The mine was named The Sons of Gwalia.   Initially gold production soared but by the mid 1960’s it was operating at a loss and the decision was made to close it.  Within a few weeks to population fell from 1500 to 40.   Gwalia became a ghost town.

The abandoned State Hotel

Hoover’s cottage.   Now a café and B&B

More modern mining technology enabled to mine to reopen in the mid 1980’s.   The original mine had been underground.  However the re-opening was initially opencast.

Although the pit looks deep it’s only the ‘tip of the iceberg’.  The modern mine extends a further 2km down with numerous shafts.   A crushing plant was installed 1km down which allows the first stage of gold extraction to be completed thereby reducing the amount of material needed to be transported to the surface.  The tailings from the crusher and ground to a find powder and mixed into a slurry with cement before being pumped back into the exhausted mine shafts.

The original mine machinery and pit head have been converted into a tourist attraction and museum.

Miners were lowered into the mine and ore removed using a large winch powered by a steam engine.

 

The highest paid worker in the mine operated the winch sitting at the controls in a seat positioned immediately behind the two winch drums.

He knew when to stop the winch by looking at the markings on a rotating counterweight showing the various level

Since being first established Gwalia has produced more than 6 million ounces of high grade gold.   Moreover recent geological surveys indicate there are many more years of life in the mine.