Pine Mountain
Hello again from Pine Mountain. This week we bought a new piece of equipment called a chipper. It is a 1999 John Deere model 4045 ,115 horsepower, diesel chipper. It will chop wood up to 18 inches in diameter. Now that we have a gas fireplace and with all the new no smoke laws we had to find a different way to sell all the firewood that we have. I found several feed stores and lawn and garden store that need wood mulch so that is our new project, turning firewood into mulch. The new chipper makes the mulching part easy, it is putting the chips in bags and sealing them that is the hard part. This week a friend of mine moved to that big land down under to work at the Australian, US satellite tracking station at Pine Gap. Pine Gap is just outside of Alice Springs in the center of Australia. My friend told me about some of the strange events in the town and I added a few facts. First we have our usual sections of Alternative energy, Easy Cash, Nutrition, Traveling, and Adventure.
Alternative Energy
First for those of you that have just joined us, here at the ranch, power is supplied by 2 wind turbines and a water turbine. We also have a few solar panels that charge up a battery bank. Our horizontal turbine looks like a small wingless airplane on top of it’s 80 foot tower. We purchased that one from www.bergey.com. Our vertical turbine we purchased from www.pacwind.net, it spins away on a 30 foot or 10 meter pole out by the barn. Our water turbine in the dam of our pond came from an Alaskan alternative energy company www.absak.com. The wind has been normal for this time of year. Every day there is an almost constant 7 or 8 mph wind. In the late afternoon and early evening the wind picks up to about 10 to 15 mph.
Is your electric bill going through the roof? Are you paying $200 or even more per month for electricity? Do you want to cut costs or even learn how you can sell electricity back to the power company so they pay you instead of you paying them? Learn how you can supplement you electricity and reduce your electric bill for only a small investment of less than $200 in alternative energy. Go to http://deserthab.offgrid07.hop.clickbank.net and learn easy ways you can cut your electric bill.
The price of fuel keeps going up in price. Gasoline is now over $3.75 a gallon. Everyone is looking for anything that will increase fuel economy even a little. Most Alternative energy fuels are still years away but there is a way to improve your mileage, increase your horsepower, and reduce your emissions all at the same time. You will be able to turn your vehicle into a fuel efficient one with only a few readily available items from your local hardware. The instructions are easy to follow and there are many diagrams so you can see how to do it too. It does not matter if you have a gasoline or diesel engine vehicle it will work with either one. Go to http://deserthab.water4gas.hop.clickbank.net to learn more while supplies last.
Do you want to increase your fuel economy and create 30% less pollution? How about increase your gas mileage and increase your power too. An environmentally safe non toxic product called Ethos will do just that. It improves gas economy by reformulating your gasoline to allow more air to be mixed with the fuel vapor. This causes cleaner combustion and increases power. Your fuel burns more completely and thus produces less emissions. All you have to do is add a couple ounces per tank of gasoline or diesel. Go to www.thegassecret.net and learn more about this alternative energy supplement.
Easy Cash
Is the cost of living getting you down? Do you need to make some quick money to cover expenses? Go to www.freedom.ws , put in the access code mountain1, watch a free short movie and start making the money that you have dreamed about.
Nutrition and Health
These days everyone is concerned about nutrition and health. Most of our food is over processed and has very little nutrient value. Our food looks great but not much more. If we want to stay healthy in today’s world we are forced to take supplements. The question is: What supplements will provide what you need for the least amount of time and money? I believe one of the best supplements out there is called acaiplus. It is a blend of vitamins and minerals plus acai to promote health and long life. They also have vitamins to help improve your long term and short term memory. They also have an energy drink that gives you steady long term energy. To learn more about these products go to http://www.acaiplus.com/desertstarproducts. Check out Acaiplus, Feed My Brain, and White Lightning.
Travel for Less
Are you tired of paying high airfares only to be crammed into a tight seat when you travel? Find out how you can save hundreds of dollars on your next flight. You may even be able to fly first class for the cost of coach if you know the secret. Learn how you can save enough money to take that once in a lifetime vacation. Go tohttp://deserthab.airtravel.hop.clickbank.net and find out now while supplies last.
Discover how you can fly around the world on a shoestring budget. There are ways to travel for free. These ways are easy to learn if you know the secrets.. Go tohttp://deserthab.fly4free.hop.clickbank.net to find out. You will be glad you did.
Have you ever wished that you could travel for a living. Does the call of far off places thrill you? Would you like to travel the world on your own schedule and see the places that you want to see? Would you like to enjoy your vacation and get paid for it too? Long to travel on your own schedule and enjoy your vacation? Would you like to travel for a living and see new and interesting places every day? Do you like to write letters to your relatives telling them about your recent vacation? Then you have what it takes to become a travel writer. All you need is a little instruction and you can have a dream job too. Go to http://deserthab.wp3033773.hop.clickbank.net/ and learn how you to can become a travel writer.
Adventure and Treasure Hunting
Do you watch movies like Indiana Jones and wish you could do that in real life? Do you like a good mystery and a good adventure? Would you like to use modern methods and tools to find long lost treasure? All this is possible if you learn from the best. Stan Grist, world renown adventurer and treasure hunter has written a course complete with step by step instruction on how to become successful. Go to http://deserthab.infoshare2.hop.clickbank.net And check out his course “Creating Wealth Through Adventure”
And now our feature story.
Alice Springs
Pleasant Valley
Alice Springs is known as the capital of the outback. It is in the middle of that big country down under called Australia. Since it is in the land down under or the southern hemisphere the seasons are just the opposite of those in the northern hemisphere. Winter begins in June and Summer begins in January
History
The native aboriginal people called the Arrernte came to Alice Springs over 50,000 years ago. That makes it one of the oldest civilizations on the planet. The natives call the place Mparntwe.
Modern history starts with world war II. During the war it was a staging area for supplies called the ninth staging camp because it was about halfway between Darwin and Adelaide. The Army also built the 109th general hospital and the air force built the seven mile Aerodome.
Today the town is home to around 26,500 people. The center of town is called Todd Mall. It has many aboriginal Art galleries. There are also several historic buildings like the Overland Telegraph station, Adelaide House and the Hartley Street school.
Climate
The climate is a desert one. About 11 inches (279 mm) of rain fall each year. The hottest daytime temperatures are in January with an average of 97.5 F (36.4 C). The coldest average temperatures are in at July at 39.2 F ( 4 C) The coldest recorded temperature was 18.5 F ( -7.5 C) on 7/17/1976. The highest recorded temperature was 113.4 F (45.2 C) on 1/3/1960.
Parks
Many parks are around the Alice Springs area. The Alice Springs Desert park shows the variety of plant and animal life that lives in the desert.
The Olive Pink Botanical park is dedicated to the anthropologist and naturalist Olive Pink who live and worked in Alice Springs for over 30 years.
The Simpson desert to the southeast of town has over 1100 shifting red sand dunes and a large freestanding rock over 50 meters high called Chambers Pillar. The dunes are a favorite with the four wheeling crowd. There are daily and several day expeditions.
The Macdonald Mountain range has the 223 kilometer Larpinta trail. It also has many swimming holes and place to relax and cool off.
Elery waterhole Macdonald range
That national landmark Ayers Rock is also a favorite daily expedition.
Population and Employment
The population of Alice Springs is made up of aborigines, other Australians, and about 2000 Americans. The biggest employer in the area is the Satellite tracking center in Pine Gap, 19 kilometer to the southwest. This is a joint Australian, American operation and over 700 Americans work there. The area also has ranching and mining operations as well as many gift and souvenir shops for the many people that pass through town. There are many fine restaurants and hotels in Alice Springs.
Schools and Transportation
Alice Springs has 19 public and private schools as well as the Alice Springs campus of Darwin University.
The Famous train, The Ghan stops in Alice Springs twice a day and the Alice Springs airport has many daily flights to all the major cities in Australia.
Festivals
There are many strange and hilarious festivals in Alice Springs every year.
The Camel Cup Race features a wild camel ride into the desert with the riders hanging on for dear life on back of a galloping camel.
The Henley and Todd Regatta held in September is the only boat race in the world to be held in a dry river bed. In fact he Regatta was cancelled in 1993 because there was water in the river. The final race is with 4 wheel drive boats and the participants throw buckets and bags of flour at each other.
There is also the Finke desert race and the Beanie Festival. This last year there was also a Wild Cat Stew festival.
Communications and Film
There are 4 television stations and 3 radio stations as well as 2 newspapers in Alice Springs. Many films have been made in Alice Springs including, “Walkabout”, “Quigley Down Under”, and “Kangeroo Jack”. One hilarious TV series called bush mechanics was also filmed there. One episode featured a group of musicians that had overloaded the roof of their old car. When the roof caved in they took an axe to it, tied it behind the car loaded their equipment on it and towed it behind them like a trailer in the loose sand.
Alice Springs is an interesting place to visit. If you ever travel to that land down under, Alice Springs should be one of your destinations.
Pine Mountain Evening
It is evening and I am relaxing in my easy chair in front of the fireplace. A cheery gas fire takes the chill off the mountain evening. Squeekers my African Grey parrot is sitting on his perch munching peanuts. I am relaxing with my coffee from www.coffeefool.com. Tonight I am trying Cinnamon hazlenut. This coffee is normally a breakfast coffee, but I like it with a slice of cake as I am relaxing by the fire. The smell of cinnamon and the taste of hazelnut goes well with cake or cookies. Squeekers and I have been watching the latest episode of the Sci fi series Stargate Atlantis. The show is over and I have finished my coffee and cake. I put Squeekers in his cage and turn off the gas fireplace. It is time to get some sleep. See you all next week.
Resources
http://en.wkipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Springs
