Did I ever tell you about the time that I was in Papunya ? A little settlement way out beyond Alice, and heading for Darwin. It was a stinking hot day, and the Air Cooler was in overdrive. I looked out into the backyard, and there wasn’t anything happening there, which was normal. I noticed that water was pouring out the overflow of the Air Cooler, onto the ground, and then bouncing up into the air, disappearing as the hot sun ate it.
I thought, “Ross”, as is what I am accustomed to calling myself. “Ross, that’s a shameful waste of water in this Green-Based ecology – we should fix this leak, or put this water to good use”. Then I had an inspirational thought that would change the course of the day, which was, at this stage, a substantial amount of time.
First, I dug a big hole in the backyard, about a meter by about two meters – like an egg, from a chooks ovalie. Then I dug a channel from the overflow to the hole, now known as Dam Alone, being the only dam for a few hundred kilometers, Dam Alone seemed appropriate.
Anyway, the water flowed in a raging tiny torrent down to Dam Alone, and got sucked into the dirt like a Dyson on heat. Don’t ask me to elaborate. The problem was solved the following day by the procurement of some plastic sheets, which were used to line the bottom of Dam Alone, and held fast with large rocks. This, in itself, was a feat, as finding large rocks in our backyard took several expeditions.
So, now Dam Alone had the sheets.
It turned out that the evaporation rate out of Dam Alone was equal to the Overflow In, so we had reached a Status Quo. Now what ?
We needed a boat ! It just so happens that I had two Nestles Choc-Top cylinders (little plastic cylinders.)
The boat kept leaking, and duck diving, so after much arguing & re-design we (I call myself we when we argue) decided to call the boat a submarine. Many hours were spent bent over the bathtub trying to get the submarine to sit flat in the water, but eventually persistence prevailed.
All submarines need turrets, which is where the sailors come up to breath. The Top of one of the Choc-Tops fitted the purpose perfectly. Unfortunately the submarine was now top heavy, and kept rolling over like Flipper (a dolphin). Back to the bathtub.
Resources were a bit slim, so the sub had to be weighted with a few metal washers. Too many and it sunk, too few and it rolled all over the place. My aching back influenced me to migrate to the kitchen sink (wife not home ;) )
Eventually I got to the stage of adding a UHF Aerial, made out of a rivet. Sailors need to communicate with the shore so that they can order Beer and Pizza.
The next day was the big launch. I whacked it on the hull with a 70ml bottle of Bundaberg Rum, and christened it the HMAS Choc Top.
Job well done – YouTube Video attached: http://youtu.be/iRVmfabz4K8
