The plumber came today – on time, neatly dressed, knowledgeable, and personable – rare characteristics for a tradie in a dirty job. He jetted out the pipe and used a camera to discover we have 4 m of disintegrating clay pipes connecting our entire drainage system to the main sewer, going down a considerable depth. All of this is under a corner of our garden where the pool equipment is on a concrete slab, with underground pool pipes and electrical connections.
So far, our quote to reline the pipe is $9,000, which will take three men most of tomorrow to complete. Access is very limited and realistically precludes digging a hole big enough to reach pipes that go 2m underground. A single storey house on this block was demolished in the late 1990s to build our two storey house in 2000. The original sewer pipes were not dug up and replaced when it would have been a relatively easy job on a vacant block of land.
At least I finally tested negative and have regained most of my energy. I was able to stay with Bluey on the beach while he had a great time running and chasing his friend.
I have a couple more wonderful photos I downloaded from nature sites – a white Japanese cherry tree, an outback storm, lightning strikes over an hour, and the castellated rock forming Stuõlagil Canyon in Iceland.
Committed Travellers 