Here’s a great solution for storing a two-piece flyfishing rod and reel with line fully-loaded and ready with fly attached.
Jim Hill of Oatlands, like me, has trouble tying on flies on cooler days, and this way he just pulls rod and reel out of the 40mm tube, joins the two pieces and he’s ready.
He suggested it would work fine with my four-piece rod with a shorter tube and perhaps a 50mm pipe. Watch this space for a progress report …
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In April 1861, the explorers Robert Burke and William Wills — sick, starving and desperate to survive — abandoned their surveying instruments and other ‘non-essential’ items in outback Queensland and continued south on their ill-fated journey.
Almost 150 years later, in a discovery being proclaimed as the holy grail for Burke and Wills enthusiasts, a Melbourne academic claims he has found some of the equipment buried in a creek bed hundreds of kilometres inland from Brisbane.
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Fellow Coaster fan, Al [of Al & Mel fame] recently sent me this clipping.
Just looked through a 2006 copy of Campervan & Motorhome Trader I found when clearing out the bus and noticed this Coaster, same as yours except the rear side windows appear to have been filled in.
It appears Madam Plush is of a rare variety indeed. Long web site search sessions only found one other — in New Zealand.
If any readers are aware of others, or the final fate of the one above, please be in touch.
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My yearning to hit the road again was severely hampered for nearly a decade with a mysterious ailment which would flare up intermittently and cause bizarre swelling of various joints and the need for several ambulance trips, extended stays in hospital and time flying by as morphine dripped into my veins, and drains leaked pus from the currently afflicted joint.
Blood specialists, orthopaedic surgeons, and other medicos were baffled, and all the many x-rays revealed were old battle scars from a life more hectic and active in my younger days.
Not a pretty vision and my rabbit pal, shown above, sort of sums up the Dorian Gray aspect of it all.
The rabbit was given to me by a maiden aunt the day I was born [a long time ago]. It was skillfully made out of war-issue stockings and stuffed with pure wool straight off the sheep’s back.
Apparently, according to family, the rabbit and I were inseparable for about seven years — literally — and I guess that’s where a lot of the wear and tear came from. About 10 years ago my mother found him again and mailed him over from Africa. He’s sat on a shelf in my office ever since.
Today I like to think I don’t look as battered as my rabbit pal on the exterior, even though some days I feel just like he looks. Be interesting to see how we cope with life on the road.
The last attack was just on two years ago [after getting them about 2-3 times a year, so that's a big breakthrough] and I am now ready to get on with my next adventure.
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