My 2023
2023 began with the death of my father on the 7th of January. Being the eldest, I had the responsibility of his eulogy at the funeral which was well attended. Bec and Andie flew out, along with Abigail and Luke. Mathew was already in WA. Andrew and Odile flew over from Hobart and Alex Metropolis also showed up. So, the two people I had personally wanted the most there, were.
Alex and myself.
At the end, all six grandchildren escorted the coffin out. I had been expecting this for a number of years now, but I still miss him.
In mid June, we manage a single day out at York to help with some tree planting for the black cockatoos.
We leave for 10 weeks in Vienna in mid July. Details are below. Alot less riding this year, alot more studying German.
SkyFarming
The problem with turbine 3 and it's chewed up yaw drives is resolved, Enercon had given us incorrect advice and it was the Slovenien made yaw ring that was the problem. The teeth were not treated correctly and two adjacent teeth had fatigued off. This meant the pinion began to mash not mesh with adjacent teeth. The crane and crew replaced the yaw ring and all four of the yaw drive motors during the middle of January. It was another week before problems with being off for so long (since 8th of September!) were sorted. When we discovered that the yaw ring had not been sufficiently heat treated, we checked the other two turbines and yes, those also need replacing. We managed to get the crane and crew back there in mid April and had both yaw drives replaced in less time than the January work. Fortunately, the Denmark turbines came equiped with German made Liebherr yaw rings. Our metallurgist, Peter (formerly of Hoffman Engineering) is confident we should get 50 years out them. Our Peter was on site for 10 days for each lift. We did get about the third of the cost of this repair back from insurance, but it took alot of effort and the money did not turn up until August.
I manage to drive down in March for the 10th anniversay of the Denmark windfarm and take the road bike out in the rain up Shadbolt Road and around the back of Denmark (60km, 805m).
Mid November sees a night down in Denmark staying at Paul and Pam's, after we take the sodar down to Sleeman's. Graham comes with us as my wrist makes any manual work difficult. Paul and Pam have their new Tesla model Y turn up the next day and we all go out for a spin.
Cycling
The big ride for the year was the Dams ride in April, I rode the 3 Dams 135 km, 1.6 vertical kilometre challenge while Susanna took on the shorter 2 Dams of 54km, 800m vertical metres. Given my longer ride, I had stepped up a number of training runs, including the Mundaring route out from Toc's place and a run out to the Whaling station from Middleton beach in Albany during one of the trips down south.
The Domane at the Gap, Albany.
Susanna looking very pleased with herself as she came 3rd in her category.
The following weekend, I also drove out to Northcliffe for the Karri Cup with my brother in law and my sister in their big red car towing the Avan. A couple of laps of KC midweek on top of the Dams run on the Sunday was not quite adequate training. Despite the effort, the walk in the rain in the tall forest on the following day with my sister and brother in law was more fun.
Mid December sees the mountain bike stolen directly out of the garage, and nothing else touched.
Of Cars
I used a different mechanic this year and in early April they replaced the rocker cover. However, the smell of leaking fuel meant we had to take it back. On Good Friday, when we looked at it with our neighbour, I left the keys in the ignition. At 3am on Easter Sunday morning, we were woken up by the diesel motor starting then failing. We got out the house in time to see the car disappear around the corner at the end of the street. The police turned up half an hour later but what really surprised us was a call at 9:20pm that night by the police that the vehicle had been discovered and was in Melville. We found it easily enough on the bikes but the thief had kept the keys so I parked the car at the mechanics. They fixed the leak and we were able to pick up the car and then 230kg of bolts from the airport on the Wednesday and drive them straight to Peter's for him to take down to Mt Barker.
When I bought the Golf, it was with a plan to replace it with an electric vehicle in 5 years and after 100,000km. It is now over 11 years later, and some 193,000km on the dial. However, not only is there now a recently installed Chargefox fast charger at Willaims, Tesla has also opened its Willams fast chargers to non Teslas. As soon as I was allowed to drive again, I test drove both the MG4 and a BYD Dolphin. On the 8th of December, we picked up a white Dolphin. The Golf is currently being used by Bec.
10/11th of October
On the first trip back to Denmark, I stayed overnight at Paul and Pam's. I catch up with a local ecologist who will be doing the bird count at Sleeman's, a new project. Unfortunately, I suffer a major fall on the way back at the Bannister Roadhouse and break my left wrist. I am driven to the Armidale Hospital by the local manager where the doctors, after two attempts, put my wrist in a cast. I cannot swim, ride a bike or drive for the next couple of months. I end up requiring surgery at Fiona Stanley hospital two weeks later.
Stayovers
Tom comes over in January for 5 nights, always good to see him. Graham stays over, now and then but it is November when most people come over. Tom had come across from Melbourne for a week to clear out his parents place, but due a very delayed flight only stays one night. Idalko and Jim come over for two nights, and Izaak our Dutch investor makes it over for a night and we end up driving him down to Denmark as we need to be in Mt Barker for a Tesla Tour of the Mt Barker windfarm with 4 Tesla drivers (and one guy from Harvey in an electric Kona).
Paul Knight has flown in to see his folks and we go out a few times, including seeing the epic film Napoleon and I am there to cheer him on at the Park Run at South Beach. He misses Bec who flies in mid December to meet Andie who sailed in on the clipper Qingdao from South Africa on Thursday, 14th of December. They have hired a BnB on Wray Ave and host the whole family on Christmas day.
Wishing you all a terrific 2024
Andrew