Around the Massive Stone

Art Pictures

2007-04-14T12:30:00.000+10:00

These are not the greatest photos but will give an idea of what I am doing. I am going to take good shots soon to catalogue my latest work and will put some better pics up then. . Dancing Man Eel City The Dust Storm of '83 Steel

LATEST NEWS

2007-04-14T12:23:00.001+10:00

I am almost ready to head off to Queensland, will be leaving in three weeks today. I have about 25 pieces of art to pack in to my van and drive to the Sunshine Coast and display them at the Australian Steel Association’s National Conference. There has been a lot to organise and also keeping in mind that I am planning an exhibition in Melbourne for the 22nd. July. The next few months will tell if it going to be viable to keep going along this path. I am creating some nice work and I can see my style developing so am hoping that the next two shows will be successful.. I am missing Helen and the kids although I would not have been able to achieve what I have in the last seven or so weeks without leading the life that I am at the moment. I am very lucky to have such a great place to stay and work, Matt and Soph are very accommodating and I try to pull my weight as much as I can and not be a burden to them. It sounds like Tal and Rennie are having a great time in Scotland. Tal is very popular at school, so popular in fact that one of the girls in his class will not leave him alone and the boys are taking turns at lunch time to guard him!! The kids have a lot of freedom, different to how it was for them in Melbourne. Helen is having a bit of a hard time, There is no child care on the Island and she has to look after Jarra full time. There is also not a lot to do on Mull, so with the weather as it is over there her options to amuse him are quite limited. I am planning to head over there in early August hopefully in time for Tal’s 10th birtday. Wow, I can’t believe he is turning 10…… Will keep you posted about my progress on my odyssey North.

FRIDAY THE 13th.

2007-04-14T12:12:00.001+10:00

The weather has been lovely, although a bit of rain would be quite welcome. The drought continues in earnest, dominating the news and conversations country wide. So I took the kayak down to the river to take advantage of the lovely conditions and paddled along the Gellibrand towards the river mouth. It is a beautiful and peaceful way to travel, accompanied by the sounds of various birds in the tall reeds which line the banks, the splash of the paddles and the rippling of the bow wave as the kayak cuts its way through. On the return leg, approaching Princetown, a car was putting in a jet-ski at the boat ramp just next to the old bridge and had some trouble getting back up. I stayed to watch, a bit of free entertainment for the afternoon. He was pretty well stuck, the exhaust pipe of the white station wagon was underwater and was bubbling away, making a funny noise like blowing a straw into a glass of water. The girl who was with him was looking a bit worried. A guy with a ute tried to tow him out but his wheels were spinning. I mentioned that I had a 4WD up the road but no way to get there. Ben offered to take me to it on the jet-ski. Cool. We flew up the river from where I had paddled and in about 2 minutes we covered the distance it had taken me about 40 minutes to paddle, great fun. I drove the ute to the ramp and hooked up and towed him out. As Ben’s car made it on to level ground he shouted “SHIIIIT”. His car had filled with water while sitting with its back in the river and it all rushed forward as the car levelled out, gushing out the doors. He was taking this girl out for the first time and I do not like his chances for a second date. She got her bag out from the front passengers floor and pulled her dripping wet digital camera out, but luckily her mobile phone was spared. I put the kayak back on the 4WD, I had probably had enough by then anyway and was saved the paddle home, so all in all a fun afternoon for me!

KEBABS

2007-04-14T12:11:00.000+10:00

The Easter weekend at Kangaroobie is an annual event. Many folk come up here from Melbourne and help to herd all the cattle into the stock yards so that we can separate the cows from their calves and do what needs doing. The cattle need drenching and the calves need to be ear tagged and injected and the boys need their tackle removed. It is an experience to be amongst a herd of 1000kg animals, persuading them to go where we want them to. They are a funny creature the cow, imagine weighing more than ten times as much as something and being frightened of it? The noise of them all mooing is a strange and surreal sensation as we push them into the yards. Each calf is put through the “race”, the narrow fenced section that runs through the stock yard, it puts them into single file so we can deal with each one in turn. If it is a girl it gets tagged in the right ear as it is squeezed inside the crush, then a couple of injections and off she goes. The boys are a different matter. As well as all that, Matt gets his sharp knife and bending over behind the unfortunate creature slices and cuts and removes the reproductive bits. It is a pretty swift operation. But hey, they do not go to waste, oh no. As an entrée to the evenings cocktail party (an appropriate title) the bits were threaded onto skewers and spiced. Moroccan style kebabs were then barbequed and sampled by most. An unusual texture and psychologically challenging, but not too bad. The things you do on a farm……..

Eel Festival

2007-04-14T12:10:00.000+10:00

LAKE BOLAC EEL FESTIVAL

2007-04-14T12:03:00.000+10:00

The Eel Festival at Lake Bolac was an interesting event. Not quite as big as what I imagined, but being only the third year it can only get bigger and better. The quality of the music was fantastic and I am sure it will attract a larger audience in the future. Unfortunately Lake Bolac is pretty dry, being a salt lake means that the salinity is double what it should be and subsequently most of the eels have died. It was an important place for the Aborigines in the past, a gathering place to harvest the eels. I bumped into a couple of people I knew. Robyn who we bought our bus from was there with her two boys (Hi guys!) and it was great to catch up. She gave me a hard time about not keeping the blog up to date, so here you are!! Also bumped into a guy who came to Camp years ago, Ian from the band Suade. I took along a couple of pieces to show in their art exhibition. I made a piece called “Eel Festival” which the Committee of the Festival bought and want to use in their promotions for next year which I was really happy about. So if you are interested I would recommend going to the Festival next year, I hope to see you there.

THE DAY I BLEW MATT UP !!!!

2007-03-02T11:04:00.000+10:00

It was one of those moments that would have had the headlines screaming about stupidity and the talk back lines jammed. It all began with the idea of making a bait launcher to fire our rigs out over the sets of waves into shark inhabited areas for our upcoming Friday night fishing odyssey. Tyson, our shark obsessed Mate in Melbourne came up with the ingenious idea of shooting the squidded hooks out there with an orange gun. If you are not familiar with the peculiarities of this beast then Google it, and take heed of the disclaimers and warnings of possible death. So the two mad professors headed into the lab (shed) and started their experimentations. The implement basically consists of a length of PVC tube and an igniter. An accelerant (hair spray, fly spray or such) is sprayed into the chamber, your choice of missile is loaded and then the spark is set off to ignite the spray and hopefully the missile is safely launched into orbit. It is probably better to now envisage Matt and I as two cartoon characters, bumbling ones at that. All things were in place for the first test fire. Squirt in accelerant, load foam plug and……..ready………steady………..click…………click………click………. Nothing happening. Try again……..squirt, load and click…………click………….click…. And now for the fateful words…. “Hey Matt, just have a look in there (down the barrel) and see if the spark is working will ya?”……click………click……..Matt gets a bit closer, squinting behind his sunglasses…….this time it doesn’t just click…… Now picture this……. ….a ball of flame balloons out of the tube and engulfs his head, negating the need for Matt to shave or consider a trim of his curly locks. Actually, he no longer needs to even trim the hair in his ears or the top of his chest as it was all singed away. Looked like he had had blonde tips in his hair, the trendy thing. As the smell of burning hair filled the shed (sorry, lab) and we established that there were no serious burns, we both fell about laughing. It would have to be the funniest thing I have ever seen. But like all good cartoons, no matter what happens, singed hair and blackened face, they always seem to make it back for the next segment with a clean bill of health. Sophie has now banned any more experiments, so our next idea is to make a huge slingshot to get us into the shark zone. She doesn’t think we care too much for her husband, sending him out on surfboards for bait drops and now this. But I am sure she will enjoy all the fish we will catch………..

THEY’RE OFF

2007-03-02T11:03:00.000+10:00

It was a strange time seeing Helen and the kids off at the airport on Saturday night. A new adventure beginning for them, a real contrast awaits them in the Scottish winter. I am back at Kangaroobie, getting a few things organised and slowly adapting to the quiet and lonely bus. We had a bit of excitement here today. I will describe it in my next entry……………

Scottish Adventure!

2007-02-27T19:47:00.000+10:00

Well we finally made it! Despite a 5 hour delay in Dubai due to fog, we finally made it to Glasgow in one piece. The trip went well and the kids were great, drawing quite a few compliments regarding their behaviour. A family consisting of parents, three adult children, son in law and grandson which I named the Large family (how they managed to squeeze into those seats was beyond me) were sitting to our left in the double seats. After not drawing a smile the whole trip, I was surprised when the two daughters turned to me as we were about to disembark and suddenly announced "You deserve a best mum award, your children have been wonderful the whole trip and you are amazing to tackle this on your own." I was stunned! The children to their credit were very good, but I cannot take all the credit as they emerged at the end with red eyes due to the equivalent of a whole day watching TV! But it just goes to show that you never really can tell what other people are thinking. So finally we arrived weary, but excited in Glasgow and from the moment we stepped off the plane I was filled with nostalgia as I was surrounded by Scottish accents, sparkling eyes and warm smiles - well they needed to be warm smiles as the temperature was about 8 degrees! With the sun shining in our eyes we headed into the airport across the tarmac from the back of the plane and Jarra finally realised just how big the plane actually was. Standing under the wing, his eyes full of wonder he uttered "Our plane very big plane mummy!" My wonderful friend Sheila was there to meet us with her friend Ann there to take the luggage, as Sheila's little 'green minty' wasn't up for such a big load. Standing for the interminable wait for our luggage to appear on the carousel, Sandra ( Glasgow airport employee, or so her badge said ) saw me trying to keep Jarra from climbing on to the conveyor belt for the tenth time and approached me.She asked if I had anyone meeting me and then offered to take Jarra and Tal through to Sheila while Rennie stayed with the rest of our stuff. In the seconds after I saw them walking off I suddenly had a moment of "Oh my God! What if she isn't who she says she is!", but she was just great and returned to help me through customs and beyond, dissappearing back into the arrival area with a smile and a wave. I wonder if she realises how much her warmth and kindness re-asserted all that was good in my memories about Scotland. The weather may be shocking, the Aussie dollar not go very far,but the people are great. They smile often, chat freely about their cousin in Australia or whatever and it is as if they have known you all their life. I smiled. I was home.

DAYLIGHT SAVING AND THE SHRINE

2007-01-30T19:48:00.001+10:00

Today I learnt another thing that the introduction of daylight saving in 1971 has caused problems with. For readers outside Australia, daylight saving was introduced so as to provide an extra hour of sunlight for people to enjoy in the evening. This phenomenon occurs in the summer months, the clocks being shifted back an hour for 5 months of the year, between October to March. It has been blamed by various dim-witted folk over the years as being the cause of their tomatoes ripening too quickly and their curtains fading prematurely. Dairy farmers have also accused this extra hour of confusing the cows…… $ I am back in the big smoke again; Tal and Rennie are staying at their Gran’s for the next week or two and going back to their old school for the first couple of weeks. So while they all went out for the day, I headed into the City to do a few things. It is great doing touristy things in your home town, and having my day-pack from my previous overseas travelling days made me feel more like a tourist than ever. $ After lunch I checked out a few different galleries and found that one of the main items on my fairly incomprehensive agenda, The National Gallery, is closed on Tuesdays, handy that. For some reason the Shrine of Remembrance seemed like the next place to visit, I saw a photo of it recently, can’t remember where, but I do remember thinking at the time that I should try and get along there some time. Quite a few of the books I have read lately concern the wars, so it seemed like the right thing to do. A nice walk through the parklands beside St. Kilda Road found me wandering up the hill towards this impressive stone building, and I followed the signs for the visitor centre, which was quite a surprise in it’s own right, I never imagined the Shrine having a visitor centre. It wasn’t that impressive but a good thing for school kids or such. $ The First World War finished on the 11th of November (the 11th month) and each year at 11am a ray of sunlight passes through a carefully designed hole in the roof (which took 142 pages of calculations) over the word “LOVE” in the centre of a line of a poem inscribed on the stone plaque in the centre of a special room with a vaulted ceiling. The impressive ceiling has some wonderfully carved stone reliefs, of action from the war, originally sculpted in situ over 2 years by a 20 year old sculptor in 1931. You need to crane your neck to look at them; they have been purposely created out of all perspective so they look correct from the ground. $ I got chatting to one of the attendants who was a font of information while not quite as wet. Every half hour there is a simulated ray of sun from a spotlight mounted in the hole through which the sun comes on this special hour. Robert explained that all was going well for forty years until daylight savings was introduced and suddenly the hour for the “LOVE” was pushed forward to 12pm. Moving the orbit of the sun would prove a bit difficult so now they set up mirrors on the roof to achieve the original concept. So all the dignitaries are present for the sham, smoke and mirrors ceremony, while the public are let in for when the real ray of sunshine takes place, after the removal of the mirrors on the roof. One day I will try and make it there for the 12pm start, that is, so long as I have picked all the ripe tomatoes, milked the cows, and shut the curtains.

PARAGRAPHS

2007-01-30T19:48:00.000+10:00

Please excuse the lack of paragraphs in these entries. For some reason all the writing gets grouped together. From now on I am going to put a “$” in where I would like you to draw a mental breath…….

THE GREAT SHARK HUNT

2007-01-30T19:47:00.000+10:00

26th January, 4pm, Australia Day. So there we were, 8 guys rocking down the deep sandy track towards Rivernook beach in two 4WD’s, full of gear including a surf board, a full esky, 200 metres of rope with a shark rig attached and various other fishing implements. The plan; catch some decent salmon in the afternoon to put on the big rig and get Matt to paddle the bait out behind the breaking waves for the bronze whalers to find after dark. How much more Australian could you be on Australia Day? We caught the salmon ok, but the problem was Matt getting out there in one piece, carrying a sand bag weight and dragging the 200 metres of rope behind him. The waves were hammering him, throwing him about like a cork, but he is a determined fellow is Matt, although even the most determined must finally accept defeat. After a 15 minute battle with the surging white waves he came back in, dropped of the gear and this time attempted the paddle out without the added weight, which he finally succeeded. The second attempt with the rig went pretty well, Matt getting it about 100 metres out from shore. This time he paddled to the first sand bank and dragged it to himself and then paddled to the next sandbank and repeated the procedure. We should have just covered him in tuna oil first and put the two big hooks through his wetsuit!! The waves were big, the wind coming in strong, bringing with it the occasional shower of rain. We collected a huge amount of driftwood and had us a magnificent bonfire which warmed us up as we kept a check on the battery of surf rods lined up along the beach until close to midnight. The shark rig wasn‘t touched, probably not out far enough, and the conditions were not great. But it was a lot of fun, and if we had of gotten on to one it would have been an experience to remember, a bunch of guys hanging onto a rope and having a tug of war with a big sea creature. We did end up with a few salmon and a couple of snapper though and are already planning our next assault. Stay tuned!!

PLANS

2007-01-24T10:20:00.000+10:00

Happy New Year, and what a new year it is turning out to be! Our plans and directions have taken a huge turn, and we are all excited about the challenges ahead. For many reasons we have decided to finish our bus trip, it has been a great experience for us all, but 10 months solidly together is about enough for us. We have made it around the Massive Stone and will catch up with the western side of the country some time in the future, possibly without the kids!! So what’s next?? We always talked about going to live in Scotland for a year or so before the kids were too old, and it was going to possibly be when we had finished the bus trip. So that is what Helen and the children are going to do. I am not quite ready to head over to Scotland just yet and am going to stay for a while, tie up some loose ends and work towards having an exhibition of my work mid year, before heading over and catching up with them all. It is all systems go on the farm here. The lack of rain, and subsequent shortage of feed has forced Matt to buy $35,000 worthy of hay to feed the 150 cows. Each morning, a huge round hay bale is loaded on the back of the ute and the tractor spikes and lifts a couple more and are driven to the cows. Placed on a downward slope, the bale is given a push and unrolls itself over a length of about 30 metres, normally collecting some unsuspecting beast along the way, ending up with a face full of straw and a dazzled expression. While we were feeding the cows this morning there was one standing at the bottom of the field by herself and not with the rest of the hungry, mooing lot. When we were closer we could see a red baloony thing was hanging out her behind. She ran off with the afterbirth swinging from side to side, we followed in the ute until she stopped and gazed at us with eyes full of emotion. She was standing over her dead calf that the flies were busy buzzing over and many questions were being asked by her in her silent stance, it was so sad. Matt reckons she might be carrying twins so we will keep an eye out for another new born tomorrow. The dry conditions up here remind me of a clever poem written by Banjo Patterson many moons ago, it goes something like this; “How can it rain”, the old man said, “with things the way they are” “Youv’e gotta learn off ant and bee and jackass and galah”, And no man never saw it rain, not for fifty years at least, That is of course when the parakeets were flying to the east. Well the weeks went by, the farmer wrote to tell his bank the news, “It’s still as dry as dust out here we’re feeding all the ewes” “The overdraft would sink a ship, but put your mind at rest” “It’s alright now the parakeets are flying to the west”. The Gellibrand River which snakes through the flats at the bottom of the hill is a great place for the kids to swim and canoe. A layer of warm, fresh water covers the colder salt water beneath. We were having a nice swim the other day when it started pouring with well needed rain and it was quite a surreal experience, the large rain drops hammering the surface, looking like it was boiling. I met the local tiger snake in the shed today, Dan told me he had seen one about. I walked past it and only noticed it when I heard some rustling behind me, glancing around to see the last half of its stripy body slithering into an old box. It has made me a bit nervous…… Matt was correct in his thoughts that the cow yesterday was carrying twins as he met and patted her new calf this morning, I am very glad for her. So there are some challenges ahead for all of us and we are looking forward to seeing what happens from here. PS, It poured with rain last night, filled up the water tanks and relieved some hard, dry times.

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGEDY JIG

2006-12-24T13:19:00.000+10:00

We left the bus at Kangaroobie - our friend’s Matt and Sophies farm - near the Twelve Apostles (although there is only about eight and a half of them left), and headed on back towards Melbourne. As the city came into view, blanketed by a smoky haze due to the continuing bushfires in the east of the state, it was quite a surreal experience, having been looking forward to returning for a while now. Over the West Gate Bridge the butterflies buzzed around my stomach with the anticipation of being back “home”, although home now is Bessie and wherever she happens to be. We are staying at MPG’s place (Mum, Penny, Gran) and she is very happy to have the clan under her roof. We have caught up with a few people between finishing the Christmas shopping and doing the usual every day living requirements. But it is great to be back in Oakleigh, having access to our favourite shops, the cafes, souvlaki bar, the dried fruit and nut shop, the various fruit and veg markets, the Italian deli. Funny how much revolves around food! Our plan is to stay at Kangaroobie for a month so I can concentrate on making some more artwork, the kids are going to go to their old school for the first two weeks of the year, starting on 30th January. It will be great for them and also for the school, as they will get funding for them, which they are in need of. We will take this opportunity to wish all our friends a safe, happy and very Merry Christmas. We will not have enough time to catch up with all our friends now but will be back again towards the end of January and will work out a time to hopefully have a BBQ at a park somewhere, we will be in touch once we have worked it out. There is a party happening at Kangaroobie for New Years Eve so if anyone is interested, get in touch before then for more details.

HATTAH LAKES

2006-12-10T09:57:00.000+10:00

I camped at Hattah Lakes National park when I was 6 years old, so was interested in going back to see it. Just south of the Murray in dense dry scrub, plenty of bird life, screeching cockies, magpies and the charismatic apostle birds. Unfortunately a few days before our arrival, blue green algae developed in the water there and prevented us from swimming to relieve us from the heat on the 40 degree day. So we drove 20 km to the mighty Murray and had a fantastic swim, the current was strong and refreshing, sandy banks and mud holes for the kids to play in, it was beautiful. The road south was like a giant had shoved it together from each end causing it to be gently rippled up and down. Endless fields of yellow lining both sides of the road as far as the eye can see, but the smoke haze from the bushfires in the east made it a surreal sight, We passed the turn off to Patchewollock, cruised through Speed, Brim and Dooen to Horsham. Next stop the Grampians and then to Kangaroobie.

THE EMU ROAD

2006-12-10T09:56:00.000+10:00

Heading South from Broken Hill along the Silver City Highway towards Mildura provided a change in scenery. The dry clumps of knee high grasses sitting amongst the red desert sands gradually grew closer together until they became a blanket of greyish green, with no more sand to be seen. A few straggly goats grazed about the sides of the road, along with the ever present dead roos with the mobs of crows feasting upon their rotting carcasses, flying away to the nearest tree on our approach, and straight back to their meal once we are past. We saw many families of emus prancing about in their search for food, with their cute babies tagging along behind. They are a strange looking bird, their greyish, ruffled, feathered bodies blending into the colours of the fields behind them and their long, swan like necks with the bright blue flash poking up out of the feathery mass. They are an impressive creature, standing as tall as a man, on long poky legs, and it is always a thrill to spot them in the distance as they watch us trundelling by. Every adult seems to have a baby or two with them, like a mother duck with her ducklings. So we have finally crossed the Murray River, back to Victoria the Garden State, the place to be. Before leaving The Hill we went along to Howard William Steer’s gallery, we had seen some of his work around the town. A prolific painter, completing 812 paintings last year, he is quite a character, very friendly and happy to chat. He gave me a few ideas for my work and was quite inspirational. He has quite a bent sense of humour, a bit like myself, and this comes out in his work. My meeting at the Regional Gallery went ok, they have exhibitions booked in for the next two years but are interested in me sending in a proposal.

Bessie

2006-12-03T20:40:00.000+10:00

Bessie at The Marbles

A Few Pics

2006-12-03T20:35:00.000+10:00

Bus in Coober Pedy Helen at Devil's Marbles The Rock Cool Sign Salt Lake

FLINDERS RANGES

2006-12-03T20:34:00.000+10:00

About 150km North East of Port Augusta lies the Flinders Ranges, very dry conditions contribute to the colour scheme of the dusty land. Dry clumps of spiky grasses are scattered about the rolling hills where the many dark grey kangaroos obviously have worked out a way to survive. There are ants everywhere, big ones and small, the big ones wander around by themselves looking a bit lost at times, while the small ones travel together in quick moving processions. Long highways of the things, racing along six abreast into the oncoming traffic, no obstacle too big, I wonder what they are up to? The columns stretch for a long way, interspaced by small holes which they climb in and out of. They only work in the daylight hours. All of this watched by the many big black crows, huge birds they are, sitting up a tree doing their Graham Kennedy impersonations. The dryness here in South Australia is similar to where we have passed through north of here, but the colours on the hills and the desert areas are altogether different. The dry greenery giving way to brighter greens, the red earthy tones replaced by browns and yellows. Along the way we stopped for a cuppa beside a salt lake, it so looks like it is full of water until we got up close. Quite a bizarre experience standing on a blindingly white expanse in the middle of a dry desert. Leaving Wilpena we swept through some beautiful rolling countryside, dodging the early morning kangaroos who were deciding whether or not to jump out in front of our 12 tonne vehicle. Stopped for brekky at the quaint town of Orroroo, which sounds like a title of a movie about Skippy going mad with a chainsaw. 35kms from Cockburn (pronounced Co-burn……luckily….ouch) Bessie ground to a halt. After some deliberation I realised we had run out of diesel, either my calculations were badly wrong, or she used way too much juice on the last leg, or more probably I didn’t fill her up properly in Port Augusta. Got out the car and drove to get our jerry can filled and back again. After some time bleeding the fuel lines we were back on the road to Broken Hill. And what a great town The Hill is. There is art everywhere, murals covering much of the wall space around the place, sculptures scattered here and there. Huge mountains of mining leftovers dominate the backdrop to town. Fantastic old buildings dotted about the main street, old terraced houses populate the hilly back streets, some of which are named Oxide St, Bromide St, Chloride St, Argent St. We visited Pro Hart’s gallery today and we were suitably impressed by his range of styles. I am going to speak to the director of the Regional Gallery tomorrow to see if they are interested in hosting an exhibition of my work next year. There was a Christmas procession through the main street last night, all the local businesses and clubs dressed up their trucks, cars, motorbikes, camels and anything else they could find and paraded along the street, it was quite tacky, but fun for the kids.

AROUND THE MASSIVE STONE, AND ON

2006-11-27T12:00:00.000+10:00

We have finally made it around the massive stone, although the journey is far from over. Uluru, otherwise known, as Ayres Rock is so much better than what I expected, having only seen it in pictures taken from a distance which do not show any of the awesome textures of the rock, or the forms and patterns that make it the attraction that it is. We walked the 9.5 km track around the base and marvelled at the variety of scenes along the way. Sheer rock faces littered with holes and caves, ancient rock art, some sections around the base look like a huge wave frozen in time cut into the rock. Kata Tjuta, aka The Olgas, is 50 km west of the monolithic masterpiece. A series of dome topped mountains made up from small conglomerated rocks as if pieced together by a stonemason with a lot of time on his hands. We walked through a gorge where a green belt of rare fauna lived amongst the rocky ground. Massive faces of smoothish rock towering above us on both sides. We went on a little camel ride which the kids loved and passed a German guy riding around the country in a covered wagon pulled by two camels. His wife left him 12 years ago and he came to Australia and rode a bicycle around the place for a few years, then bought a paddleboat and explored the country’s river ways. He has been on the camel wagon for four years now, some interesting characters about. When we arrived at King’s Canyon, 200kms north of Uluru, we saw a guy ride in on his bike. I was fascinated by the thought of someone riding a bike around here, the harsh heat and huge distances would make it hard going. Albert from Bavaria is loving it. He arrived in Perth 7 weeks ago and has just clicked over his 4000th. Km. The plan is to head from here to Adelaide, then Melbourne, Tasmania, Sydney and then to Brisbane to meet up with his girlfriend and ride some more. He came out for a beer with us, a quiet sort of guy, wiry build, very strong willed, a wicked tan between white thighs and ankles, huge calves and similar appetite. We might catch up with him further south, (I gave him Kangaroobies address so hopefully we will see him there). Safe travels Albert!! I find it difficult enough driving a bus around the country….. King’s Canyon too was excellent, a harsh 6km walk started at daybreak, lots of steep climbs down, across and up a series of canyons, the kids have done very well on all these walks lately with the heat and rocky paths. I think we have had enough of the rocky, sandy places for a while. We seem to travel through areas and get sated with the type of land we are in; we have had our fill of theme parks, zoos, rainforest, desert, fossicking, caves, mines and more. After an overnight stop in Marla, (where the hell is Marla?) we ventured on a side trip to Mantabie, which is another small opal mining town 30kms. each way down a rocky dirt road. Fields of cars stripped of all their workings, mining equipment and a few dry looking shops, of course a pub and various temporary permanent styles of accommodation sat amongst small mountains of glaring white rock, all perched on a small rise in the middle of a rocky red desert. Back to the bus for a late start to the travelling day. As we approached Coober Pedy, the opal centre of the world, (providing 85% of the worlds opals) 240kms to the south the small volcano shaped domes of mining gravel of various shades from white to yellow, began lining the flats beside the road, sort of what the moon would feel like, I Imagine. It is also the town where half the population lives underground in houses cut into the earth, mainly to keep cool, a fairly constant 26 degrees year round A very multicultural place where many Europeans moved to after the first World War, meaning lots of nice eating places, the bakers this morning were Hungarian, which was good because I was Hungary. Coober Pedy is an adaptation of an Aboriginal term of similar sound meaning “white man in hole” or “white man’s hole”, depending on which brochure you read. There are certainly many white men’s holes around here, over 200,000 shafts that many signs warn of. Do not walk backwards on opal fields. Take care of children. Be careful! Water is very precious out here, the supply has been the biggest hurdle for many years. We have to pay for showers here and there is no supply for the campsites except a sink, you can buy water for the bus at a pump in the main street, 30 cents for 20 litres. There are no native trees in town, all have been planted by drilling holes through the rock and sandstone crust, and definitely no grass, so it is a dry and dusty place. Even the local footy field is just a layer of whitish grey gravel! The local speedway is on tomorrow night which I am looking forward to. They have a demolition derby and a burnout competition, should be interesting.

HOT, HOT, HOT

2006-11-27T11:58:00.000+10:00

The heat up this way is quite remarkable, we are finally getting a bit used to it, but it is one of the reasons we have been heading south at such a pace. That and the fact that there is not a great deal to see out here. Hundreds upon hundreds of kilometres of uninhabitable country, red earth as far as the eye can see, the type of earth that gets into everything and is hard to get rid of. The land is not as flat as I imagined it would be, and the dry greenery that grows is more prolific than I thought the centre of Australia would be. I still wonder how people live around here, and we do regularly comment about the early explorers and how they managed to survive while exploring these deserted parts. Approaching Mt.Isa the huge chimney stack from the main mine could be seen from 30 kms. away, we were told it is 300 m tall. It is a huge erection. The kids had a great time at the library while I organised for the bus to have her head retensioned and temperature gauge checked. She is cruising along fairly well now, we are slowly ironing out a few of the teething problems, there always seems to be something else to do. The road temperatures are causing the engine to run quite hot so I am always keeping my eye on it and slow down when needs be. Most travelling days we leave early and are covering between 4-500 kms per day. Fuel supplies are about 250kms apart at different Roadhouses or Homesteads which consist of a restaurant, bar, petrol station and accommodation, camp sites or rooms with grossly inflated prices to cover their transport costs and the fact that you really don’t have any other options. Some are working stations and are a real melting pot of people. At Three Ways Roadhouse we met a couple who had rolled their 4wd and caravan on a dirt road 400kms from anywhere and were left with a written off vehicle and a squash top caravan, very lucky to survive. At Tennant Creek we spent the afternoon at the local swimming pool with the local indigenous population, full of energy and smiles, a welcome relief after a long day on the road. We passed the spot where the Peter Falconio mystery occurred and met Helen at the Barrow Creek Road house where Joanne Lees was taken by the truckies after the incident. She was a lovely lady who didn’t want to talk too much about it. After all she did to care for Joanne she seems very disappointed about the comments in various books and articles. Loads of journalists have been there to ask her about the whole affair and all they get is a “no comment”. Spoke to a couple of road train drivers on the UHF radio along the way, their 1.2km/litre fuel economy makes us feel better about our consumption. Their 3 trailers taking their length to 50 metres or so makes for interesting times when being overtaken, they seem to go on and on……..and on some more. We kept on passing the two trucks taking the big yellow mine carriages from Sydney to Karatha in W.A, about 80 tonnes of load between two of the furthest points in the country. We overtook them a couple of times, one was a wide load and the spotter car 1km ahead could give us the OK over the radio that it was safe to pass. The overtaking manoeuvre took at least a minute to get past them both. We finally made it to the fabulous Devil’s Marbles, arriving just after the sun set and spent a warm night with the many flies and other critters, accompanied by the howling of dingos and the awesome backdrop of the huge balls of stone, some precariously balanced on top of each other. Waking early for sunrise we watched as the light started to shine on this amazing landscape, made a fire and enjoyed some bacon and eggs for brekky before exploring through the red boulders. From there to “The Alice”. Alice Springs also not what was in my mind’s eye, Surrounded by rugged rocky hills, the MacDonnell Ranges which runs about 200kms east to west dominates the skyline. There are lots of indigenous people residing in Alice and they all seem to sit about the place under trees and just “be”. A huge dust storm blew up on our first night there and did not seem to bother the locals, we were all scurrying for cover while they remained in their shady spots. Caught up with Jonas and Maree, and their kids Angus and Merrick, we all get on so well and we are enjoying travelling with them again. We still do our own things but tend to see a lot of each other. We all went to Ellery Creek Big Hole, a lovely water hole situated in a gorge between two wicked rocky hills, an oasis in the desert. We floated on lilos and splashed about for the afternoon while dingos and ducks played around the rocky edges of this beautiful place. We need to watch our belongings at night as the dingos are quite fond of thongs, toys and grips on the handlebars of bicycles. They are a very interesting animal, very quiet and quick moving, an elegant beast. Jonas and Maree have air conditioning in their bus, something we are keen on installing while stopped in Vic over Christmas time. We have had some 42-45 degree days lately and it is quite uncomfortable in our metal house on wheels. The bloody ants keep popping up out of nowhere but I think we may finally be rid of them.

2006-11-09T14:23:00.000+10:00

Jarra and Andre On the reef The Iron Chefs, Adrian and Tal Sutya and Rennie, happy girls Ice cream boy

PSSSSHHHHHHHHHHTTTTT……WHAT A DAY......

2006-11-09T14:22:00.000+10:00

We ended up knowing most of the folk at the Sunset Caravan Park in Karumba, a couple o f families turned up half way through our 4 day stay and all the kids got on well together, quite a community feel to the place. There was a lady down the back called Betty who is travelling with her husband in their caravan, they live in Kuranda, near Cairns and run a wildlife shelter there, as well as a home made ice cream business. They were already caring for two baby kangaroos they had rescued along the way when Dave and Sally arrived with a little Joey they had found on their way. Travelling at 90 clicks, towing a caravan, Dave noticed a couple of little legs moving from the pouch of his dead Mum in the middle of the road. Pulled up about 150 metres past and ran back and pulled the baby from the pouch. Lucky little thing. We left Karumba at 7.45 this morning, an early start for us but is what we are going to have to do for the next month or so to beat the stifling heat of the day. We drank about 20 litres of water between us all today, the water in our 400 litre tank got so hot, the fridge was working overtime to cool our bottles down. How do people live out here? It isn’t even summer yet… So we were cruising along the road to Cloncurry, a 400km long road made up of long straight sections joined together by a few curves and one place in the middle of it to break up the journey, the Burke and Wills Roadhouse where we eventually had lunch. Suddenly, about 120kms into our day, a mad hissing sound erupted from the engine compartment, we pulled over and found a junction in an air line had come apart and all our air pressure was escaping. We were right in the middle of nowhere, which is pretty much where we have been for the last week and where we will be for the coming few. I got a few things together and started to try and fix the problem while Helen juggled the kids, she is pretty good at juggling! The first car that came by stopped and Kevin offered his help, when we thought we had it fixed he left and then the sleeve we put on split. Along came Alan and Sandra. Alan and I worked out a way to bypass the problem and we got back on the road again. Good old bush mechanics. Out of the ten cars that went past us 9 of them stopped to see if we were ok, which really impressed us. Not long after, our army of hitchhikers, the bloody ants, made their first salvo of the day. After much spraying and whacking we got them under control and continued. They are a fair sized little beastie with a black head and abdomen, but luckily they do not seem to bite, they hang around in groups of about 100 and when agitated they go into a bit of a frenzy, they’re quick little buggers. They appeared down beside my feet a bit further on and then near Jarra’s seat, each time requiring us to stop the bus and start whacking, sweeping and spraying. What adventures we are having, eh??? Being cattle country we give most of the cows a toot hello on the way past, while commenting about the amount of roadkill, always fascinating conversation in our bus, Quite some variety around here though. Saw about 5 dead, black, hairy pigs, a few white, bloated cows, lying on their backs with their legs sticking up in the air, while dodging these huge road trains and trying to stay a bit cool, it was 43 degrees today. Still so much nothing, vast expanses of dusty, red earth, dotted with rocky outcrops and straggly trees, although in some parts some very green grass defied all logic, and grew in the face of the arid conditions. Areas full of termite mounds, subtley different from the previous types we have seen, not as smooth sided, their sizes and the way they were spaced reminded me of a graveyard. How is this for a name? A small hill on the LHS of the road was called Bang Bang Jump Up. We were looking forward to finding a sign to get a picture of, but unfortunately there wasn’t one. Stopped a pub at 4.30 for a break before the last leg. A lovely old pub with a couple of really rusted old pick ups out the front. Kerry, the lady who runs the place invited us to have a swim in their pool, which was so kind. We had a ridiculously pleasant time in the pool. It has been a day of people being very good to us. We finally made it to Wal’s Camp in Cloncurry, better late than never. Off to Mt. Isa in the morning to get the head retensioned and oil changed. By the way, our fishing charter was not as great as I thought it might be, the day before us and the one after they caught heaps, its always the way. I did catch a good grunter and a 70cm jewel fish which made it worthwhile. Along with the 2 kgs of prawns we bought our freezer is now chock a block with seafood. A badly spray painted sign on the way into Karumba said, “God Bless the Outback”. I wonder why???? We have had no access to the internet for ages now and no mobile reception, but the blog is back on track and we hope you continue to travel with us. We are heading for Victoria, and all going well, we might even make it back for Christmas.

DIESEL FITTER

2006-11-09T14:21:00.001+10:00

Diesel mechanics are pretty rare around these parts. We met a guy today who was a diesel fitter and I told him about the guy who used to be a diesel fitter at a ladies underwear factory. His job was to sit next to a conveyor belt that carried the underwear along past him and he had to hold each pair up and say, “Yeah, diesel fitter”………………..!!

ACROSS THE TOP

2006-11-09T14:21:00.000+10:00

The road west is lined with termite mounds of various sizes and colours, from six inches high to many feet tall, pale brown to deep red, they are all shaped very similarly, like jagged witches hats. It is quite surreal seeing them for miles upon miles, like some sort of fairy community. Brahmin cows with their big lumps behind their neck, the same colour as the landscape, graze beside the unfenced road, blending in with the surroundings with us hoping like hell that they stay where they are at the side of the road and do not step out in front of us. Road trains up to 50 metres long barrelling towards us on roads the same width as the bus, having to move right over with our left side wheels into the red dirt on the shoulders, beyond which the long white grasses interspersed with scattered trees give this part of the country its savannah name. The many bits of roadkill, mainly kangaroos and wallabies are feasted upon by large birds of prey which leave it till the last seconds to make their getaway, their large wings slowly and grudgingly lifting them away to safety. Others with their bones picked clean, lie there waiting for their skeletons to blend into the earth. The narrow roads are long, straight and hot, undulating and with the temperature right up there our new engine is running hot, way too hot for my liking. We are going to make a few calls on Monday to our Cairns mechanics to try and sort it out. I pulled the thermostat out this morning to check if it was operating correctly and a couple of other things, but to no avail. Crikey it is hot out this way, and as dry as dust, just thinking about moving gets the sweat running and the insects, beetles, flies and cane toads just love it. We have seen more ants around these parts than anywhere else and they have recently moved into the bus with us. Doesn’t look like the locals feel the heat though, we went into the pub yesterday, commented about the heat and the locals there laughed and said, “What’s wrong? It is still winter!!” The golf course is quite a sight too, dry fairways with greens made of sand, you need to mark your ball and get a roller to roll the line from your ball to the hole. They can’t grow grassy greens because the roos dig them up and eat the roots. We had lunch at Georgetown on the way across to Karumba, a journey of about 450kms, our longest day so far, passing through Croydon and Normanton. There is a whole lot of nothing out there, the harshness of the land preventing even the hardiest folk from trying to live, and those that do reside in these parts are a breed of their own. So we are in Karumba, by the sea on the Gulf of Carpentaria, it is not really on the main tourist route so we feel quite lucky to be here. We enjoyed a spectacular sunset this evening while having a counter meal right on the beach, I tried the salt and chilli crocodile which was very nice. Glad I was eating it and not the other way around. The beaches around here are not very human friendly. Sharks, crocs, jellyfish and other nasties prevent us from entering the tempting bluey green waters, we have to make do with the swimming pool at the caravan park which is a welcome relief from the harsh temperatures. Tal and I went down for a bit of fishing this morning, spoke to a bloke who had just arrived back in his boat and asked him how he went. He had an esky full of fish and offered us a couple of fairly big grunters, great name for a fish I reckon. He passed us one each, I should have gotten him to throw them to us and then we could have said we caught them………… We did catch a few small ones but not big enough to keep. One small one was dead when we threw it back, a few minutes later a large bird of prey swooped down and plucked it out of the water and flew off for a feed. We saw some dolphins swimming too, I thought they might have been sharks. Tal and I are going on a fishing charter tomorrow morning so stay tuned and hopefully we will have some stories to tell.

UNDARA LAVA TUBES

2006-11-09T14:20:00.001+10:00

We stopped at the Undara Volcanic National Park on the Savannah Way near Mt. Surprise to visit the amazing lava tubes, created about 190,000 years ago when the Undara Volcano erupted violently. Its molten lava flowed quickly through the low points in the landscape, that being the valleys and river beds. As the top outer layer cooled and formed a crust, the fiery magma below drained outwards leaving a series of long, dark, hollow tubes, the ones we visited were about 30 metres round. Parts of the tops of these tubes collapsed over time and created fertile pockets where now rainforest thrives, it is quite an amazing place. Unfortunately it is a closed National Park and therefore we had to pay quite a lot of money for an organised tour. Our tour guide had the personality of a brick, continually using food analogies like; “See the layers on the walls there where the lava was flowing? Imagine a bowl of pumpkin soup or a pint of Guinness. When you are finished the soup, the side of the bowl shows you evidence of where the soup once was”. Fair Dinkum Sherlock?? Or; “Think of the lava tubes as a bar of chocolate with soft caramel inside, the centre staying runny while the outside is hard”. Mate, if it was a bar of chocolate wouldn’t the lava melt the outer casing??

OOPS…….AGAIN

2006-11-09T14:20:00.000+10:00

Ravenshoe is the highest town in Queensland, which meant a lot of slow climbing up the narrow, windy roads for Bessie, she handled it all well. We were on our way to visit a friend who has built a lovely house high up on a hill just outside Ravenshoe where she lives with her partner and their five dogs on the road to Tully Falls and Lake Koombooloomba. Pam’s gravel covered dirt driveway is steep, very steep, but I thought we could make it up instead of us staying down the bottom of the hill. Dropped off the trailer and started to make our way up, on the first attempt I made it halfway but was too close to the timber gate on LHS, so had to ease her all the way back down, front wheels slipping a bit and Helen looking quite worried. On the second attempt I made it up and through the narrow gateway but unfortunately did some damage to the LHS, quite a nasty scrape down the side, I will have to make another piece of artwork to cover it up. Was a bit hairy going down the driveway again the next morning, but we made it out OK and on the road again. Another lesson learnt…..the hard way…..

OIL WELL

2006-11-09T14:19:00.001+10:00

It looks like our bus is now leak free and ready to roll. Roy the mechanic fixed the leaky crank seal today, he was a very nice guy who knows his stuff and he reckons that the motor will loosen up a bit after the first 1000kms and will be good for us. The original mechanics in Cairns are paying for it. While Helen spent the afternoon op shopping and grocery gathering I took the kids back to Lake Eacham and we had a nice walk around it. The path is 3 kms around through lovely rainforest, some huge, amazing trees and plenty of cyclone damage. Trees just snapped in half, then falling on other trees, some seeming to be floating in mid air as they propped themselves on other trees on their way down. Vines climbing and twisting around each other, up into the canopy, knotted and wrapped as they wind their way about. Tarzan would love this place….. It was a bit late to get to our next destination, Ravenshoe, which is pronounced like a black bird’s gardening implement and not the same bird’s foot protection, so we headed back to what we knew at Yungaburra and are parked up here again. We are going to visit Pam Dillon, a friend from Lord Somers Camp who has recently moved to the Tablelands from Palm Island. We had some donuts after dinner and it was quite ironic that a few local hoons came down to the field we were camped on that night and did some donuts of their own.

DIPSTICK!!

2006-11-09T14:19:00.000+10:00

There are a couple of different meanings of the word “dipstick”. 1- a long thin metal strip that enables the inspection of oil in the sump of a motor. 2- a derogatory term indicating simple mindedness. While our engine was being rebuilt I took the opportunity to have our dipstick replaced, as the old one had snapped and a long piece of wire was instead employed, which worked fine, but I was keen to have a more precise indication of our oil levels. When we got the bus back I had a look for it and could not see it anywhere, eventually locating the replacement deep down in the bowels of the engine compartment, impossible to reach without crawling under the bus and feeding it up to Helen, and guiding it back into the sleeve again. They had replaced it with one half the length of the old one……… Which leads to the other meaning of the word. Whilst under the bus checking the oil I am always reminded of the mechanic who performed this extremely unintelligent job…….what a DIPSTICK!!

Mt.Isa - the search continues!

2006-11-09T11:20:00.000+10:00

Here at the library again with seven blogs to put up and there is no socket for the Shuffle. Aaaarrrggghhh!! I will keep trying!!! H

Bloody Technology!!

2006-11-06T11:30:00.000+10:00

We are in Karumba. Right up on the gulf of Carpentaria. I am at the local library and I have finally got internet access, but alas the Shuffle (memory stick) will not fit into the USB socket and I can't put on the latest blogs! Will endeavour to get them on in Mt Isa. H

YUNGABURRA

2006-10-31T10:45:00.000+10:00

Well Hello again! Due to a combination of not having the computer, a lack of Internet connections and feeling a bit daunted by not having written for so long, it is now time to get back into the swing of the blog again. We are the last vehicle in the large campground at Yungaburra, a large grassy field just out of town where a couple of hundred tents, caravans, buses and motorhomes stayed for the last few days. The rest of the folk departed over the last 24 hours after spending a fantastic weekend at the 25th. Yungaburra Folk Festival, it is quite strange having the whole place to ourselves now. There have been some amazing bands playing in the six venues, plenty of activities and entertainment for the kids including a special lantern parade on Saturday night culminating with a great display of fire dancing accompanied by the tribal rhythms of ten drummers at dusk. We have caught up with quite a few people who we met at Wallaby Creek Festival last month and we have enjoyed the camaraderie and good vibes of the whole Festy thing. The last ten days we have spent with Jonas, Maree, Angus and Merrick, a family from Melbourne who are travelling the same way as us. We all get on very well and we reckon we will see them on and off on the way back down. Had the tinny out on Lake Tinnaroo last week, putting out our yabby trap and trying to catch a barramundi. No success with the fishing side of things but we did manage to get five red claw yabbies, a freshwater lobster type creature which tastes similar to their saltwater cousin. They dammed the Barron River to create Lake/Dam (we have seen signs calling it both) Tinnaroo which is a huge expanse of freshwater, attracting lots of boats for fishing and waterskiing. The weather has been extremely warm this weekend, a taste of things to come. Cairns has been a bit of a trial for us. The saga of the bus and the computer has dragged on and hopefully the final instalment will end tomorrow when a mechanic in Atherton is going fix the oil seal on the timing cover. We have spent a heap of money rebuilding the engine as one of the cylinders had failed and the water from the radiator was going into the motor. We finally picked up Bessie after three weeks in the bus hospital, got 2 kms down the road, (1km away from our caravan park….) on a Friday evening and the temperature gauge went very hot. I pulled over and found water spurting from the engine, got on the phone, a mechanic came straight out and discovered a welch plug had blown out. Three hours later I could drive her back to the waiting family who were all very happy to be “home”. We have a few bugs to iron out until I will have the confidence in her again to start our journey down through the centre back to Vic and hopefully that is the last of the dramas. So we are off to Atherton in the morning to drop the bus off for the day. We will go to Lake Eacham for a swim like we did today. It is a very beautiful lake, the water is a lovely greeny blue colour, (not like the algae!) there are a lot of fish and saw tooth turtles swimming about and the kids can jump off the rock walls into the water. The lake is a crater from an old volcano and is surrounded by rainforest. Just down the road is an amazing curtain fig tree, something I knew little about until now. We have had such a lovely time in this part of the land that it takes the edge off the whole engine rebuild debacle as we would not have seen half the stuff around here or met all these great people that we have in the last six weeks or so.

Quick Update

2006-10-23T08:35:00.000+10:00

Cairns has been a bit of a trial really. We got the bus back on Friday afternoon after 3 weeks of work to rebuild the engine, not a cheap excercise but had to be done, a cyclinder bore had failed and water was going into the engine where it shouldn't have. The drive back to the caravan park in the "new" bus was cut short when I noticed the temperature gauge very hot, pulled over,and found water pouring from the side of the engine. It had blown out a welch plug!! 2km from the mechanic.... They sent out a couple of guys to fix it and 3 hours later I drove the last 1 km to the caravan park. We are looking forward to getting back on the road tomorrow, over the Great Dividing Range to Atherton and Lake Tinaroo where I am going to try and catch a barra. We will just have to wait and see how our new engine goes, we do not want to get too far away from Cairns until we are confident that the bus is 100% again. The computer saga also continues, had to go back in again....... So much of this journey to catch up on, will try and write about our Cooktown adventures soon. All the best, A

OFF THE TRACK

2006-10-11T15:55:00.001+10:00

So we arrived at Peter and Estelle's place on Thursday and it was as if we had known each other forever. They have four children - Eden(18), Brooke(15), Harmony(12) and Cassie(8)- who got on wonderfully with our mob as we settled down to a few beers and a good chat. When she realised I was a teacher, Estelle showed me a photo of the school the girls go to, Rossville State School, down the road. There are only 28 kids in the WHOLE school and there on the right was Cassie's teacher who looked very familiar. When I showed the photo to Andre, he suddenly recognised the familiar teacher. He is Adrian, a friend of his from back in the London days whom I had met a few times. What a spin out! We hadn't seen Adrian in almost 9 years and to see him there in the photo was just incredible! So we called him up and after a little memory prompting, he and his wife came round and we had a great time reminiscing about times past and catching up on each others lives. We ended up staying 5 days with Peter and the kids (Estelle had to go to Sydney unfortunately)surrounded by the rainforest and learning about how they live. They have bought a hundred acres of untouched forest and over the past six years have worked to clear space to plant an orchard and live. They have a large, wonderful shed for the main living area, with smaller buildings for the bedrooms. They have solar power, a "long drop" (compost) toilet off in the bush and a wonderful hot water system runs from a large drum built into a stone fireplace, above an open fire. You have to think ahead, but it is amazingly good and they are totally self sufficient right through the rainy season when they can be cut off for days on end. We had a wonderfully relaxing time there as the children finished off their school holidays. Then, on Adrian's invitation, our kids started school on Monday. The best thing about the school? Definitely the fact that you don't need to wear shoes!! Nearly all the kids are barefoot and mighty fine soccer players. Tal and Rennie are thoroughly enjoying the experience and enjoying the company of the other students. I will encourage Tal to do his own blog in the next few days, so check the link to the right to hear about all the animal encounters we have had recently! So we will spend the rest of the week here in Rossville with Adrian and then head down the track back to Port Douglas to see our friends Jonas and Maree, before finally picking up Bessie in Cairns. H

Yes, we are still here!

2006-10-11T15:55:00.000+10:00

Well where do I begin??????????? We have been without the laptop for quite a while now, that there is an almost impossible amount to catch up on. We are now just North of Cooktown at a spot called Endeavour Falls on the Endeavour River. It is a lovely spot.Set amongst lots of trees filled with birdlife and lovely green grass - which is just as well, as we are in our tent and some of the dusty , stony spots we have stopped in wouldn't be much fun to set up a tent. Poor old Bessie is up for rather a lot of work (which means a huge bill for us!!) and is back in Cairns now getting repaired - at the bus doctor as we have explained to Jarra. We feel sure she is in great hands, but it is a funny thing to give your home to someone to work on! Jarra insists on calling the tent the "bus tent". He found it hard foe the first couple of days. Announcing now and then that he wanted to "go back to the bus now" and not being very happy that we didn't. He is settling in now to our new life under canvas, as we all are. Last weekend we all had a fantastic time at the Wallaby Creek Festival ( see the website at the side),30kms or so south of Cooktown on the Bloomfield track. It is held in the grounds of Home Rule Rainforest Lodge, three and a half kms down a little track off the main track, next to a beautiful creek and surrounded by the most amazing rainforest. As we approached the festival on Friday afternoon we were all quiet as we gazed out on the thick, almost inpenetrable forest that lay on either side of us. Having spent time in the Daintree along with hundreds of other tourists, this somehow seemed to be the real McCoy. The Daintree is mobbed every day by tourists from Cairns and Port Douglas on their whirlwind 4WD tours to see the World Heritage Listed area of incredible rainforest. Now I know that this is necessary to sustain the local economy and stop these important forest from being chopped down, but it certainly ruined the experience for us when we had to sit in traffic and share every lookout and accessable forest space with so many others. We could tell instantly that we were going to enjoy camping at the festival for the weekend. With great luck? Timing? Coincidence? we had an excellent time. The music was not limited to folk, but showcased an array of local and indigenous music. The poetry was funnny and entertaining. The entertainers amazing and impressive. However the thing that struck us all the most was the wonderfully friendly and warm feeling we experienced everywhere we went over the weekend. We hardly saw Rennie and Tal as they were busy socialising and doing activities. After Andre had played a challenging game of chess with Peter at the Chai tent, his wife Estelle invited us all to pitch our tent on their property up the road for as long as we wanted. How generous! So we took her up on her offer and that has led to a whole other story that I will tell in the next blog entry! H

TOWNSVILLE and BEYOND

2006-09-27T21:06:00.001+10:00

The landscape really opened out into flat expanses and fields of sugar cane on the way to Townsville. Sugar cane is a huge industry in Northern Queensland, fields of cane in various stages of growth stretch from the side of the highway as far as you can see. The houses of the cane farmers are situated in squares cut into the cane fields, they do not waste much space, every inch of ground is planted up and as the crop grows to its full height their views would decrease. Narrow gauged railway lines for the cane trains frequently cross the roads, their wire carriages full of cane ready to be processed at the refineries, where huge clouds of smoke bellow from their tall chimneys, casting a rather unfortunate smell around the place. The Great Dividing Range, a rugged series of mountains, remain a constant on our left hand side as we travel northwards up the coast, creating cloudy and unpredictable weather systems. We have just left Townsville after spending five days there and we were surprised how much we liked the place, it has a very modern and trendy feel. A lot of money has been spent on a stretch of the waterfront called “ The Strand”, a great place for kids and families. We spent time at the water park there, it’s just like a playground but with water spurting all over the show, a huge bucket on top fills with water and then tips out when it is full, must be 200 litres of water drowning everyone underneath it, great fun. Castle Hill, a massive rocky outcrop, provides a great backdrop to the town and the drive up and around its steep roads to the summit is quite awesome, the view over the deep blue water to Magnetic Island is pretty special, and our drive up there at night was spectacular, a sea of lights all around. The kids made a couple of good friends at the camp ground, Elizabeth and Elenor and our families went out to the Strand for some fish and chips together one evening. We visited the Palmetum, a section of the Botanic Gardens full of different species of palms and we were amazed at the hundreds of different varieties from all around the world. Murray Falls National Park has a magnificent waterfall which cascades down through a series of clear pools, it was so loud, like waves at a beach, roaring as it fell. It was a beautiful place, although the ordinary weather continued. I went for a walk at night with my powerful torch and saw a small sugar glider leap from a tall gum tree and glide to the next tree before scooting up high into the canopy. I also saw a bandicoot feeding but it took off when it heard me approaching. We past a small school between Murray Falls and Mission Beach, our next destination. We noticed it had a “bush tucker” garden and asked if we could have a look. Elisa the principal was happy to show us around and described her experience during the cyclone that ripped through in March. They bunkered down in the brick toilet block at 4am after battening down the hatches, and waited as the wild wind tore past for the next 8 hours. The school has 80 students, a third of which are indigenous, so they created this garden which provides all sorts of bush tucker for the kids to eat. Cyclone Larry devastated the region earlier this year and the effects are still very obvious. Trees and palms are leaning away from where Larry hit, as if cowering in fear of another blast. Some tall trees simply snapped in half, signs blown over onto the ground, fences downed by falling trees, the photo boards at the caravan parks documenting the destruction and the clean up efforts. The wet and windy weather continued which made our stay at Mission Beach a short one. How different it was from when we were there at the same time two years ago, the blue sky and sun shining creating great conditions for beach time. This time though the waves were pounding in, the water full of stirred up sand, grey and cloudy skies and a brisk wind blowing in across the sea, washing up loads of coconut fronds and pieces of wood. This weather is quite unseasonable we have been told, the locals reckon it is still after effects of Larry and they are all bracing themselves for another one. It is quite fascinating hearing different peoples perspectives of their experiences during the cyclone. The people who stayed describing it as the scariest thing they have ever experienced.

DON’T GET SICK IN MACKAY

2006-09-27T21:05:00.000+10:00

Trying to get an appointment with a doctor in Mackay was like looking for rocking horse poo, extremely hard to find. I found a small lump in a delicate place and just wanted to get it checked out, so I started calling medical centres. After seven calls to no avail I thought I would leave it until the next town, but my mind kept conjuring up worst case scenarios and I couldn’t think of much else. Being a Friday all the doctors were full up or just not taking any new patients. The private hospital wanted a small fortune to see me so I just tried my luck at the local medical centre. It was 4,55pm and the sign on the door said they closed at 5pm. I walked into the reception and the two ladies behind the desk were tying up the loose ends, looking forward to the end of the week, and chatting to the guy who was leaning against the counter. They explained they were finished for the day to which I replied that I was pretty desperate to get this thing checked out. The fella leaning on the counter said, “Well I am just the janitor here, but I could take a look if you like!!” He took me through and checked me out and gave me the all clear, which was a great relief. He was quite a character really.

Bloody Kids! Bloody Technology!

2006-09-24T17:31:00.000+10:00

We are off the air for a while until the laptop is up and running again. We have had to replace the screen as it has received some serious use over the past few months. The kids use it like an MP3 player amongst other things and it has suffered a couple of drops recently as well! So the apple shop here in Cairns is sorting that out at the moment. We will be up and running ASAP!

WHERE THE FOREST MEETS THE SEA.

2006-09-10T17:27:00.000+10:00

We are in Cape Hillsborough National Park, bang on the beach 85km North of Mackay. The park is predominantly rainforest and stretches along the coast on a large expanse of interesting beach. It reminds me of Jenny Bakers picture book “Where the Forest Meets the Sea”. It really is very picturesque. We are staying at the resort here, but wouldn’t exactly say it is like any resort I have been to before. It really is just an upmarket bush camp, which is where it gets its appeal. However it has just enough mod cons tucked away in the main building, like a café/restaurant, internet and children’s play area, to make it very attractive. Oh the joy of sinking into a wonderfully, comfortable couch to type this. Often you don’t know what you miss until it is right there. We haven’t sat in a sofa since we were staying at our friends place in Brisbane! Very nice. After three days of rain in Mackay, we arrived here on my birthday and finally saw a few rays of sunshine. It really changes everything when it is raining. Trying to keep the three kids entertained all day on the bus is never easy, but when it is hot and humid as well, we can all get a little antsy. This morning the sun was shining thinly and we decided to head off walking. It was quite a climb for the first km, almost straight up and humid, through thick lush rainforest, but the beautiful butterflies sailing around us and the frequent sightings of lizards – Tal even saw a snake disappearing into the bushes - kept us all interested and keen. It was pretty overcast and windy when we reached the lookouts, which spoilt the views a little, but the cool wind was welcome relief. After our descent we walked along the beach and inspected the minute sand balls made by the crabs, but this time they were different with little arrow heads between the balls signalling the direction the crabs had moved in. Its these little things that we have the time to notice. After a couple of weeks inland it is good to be back on the coast with the lush, green forest around us. I realise how I crave to be surrounded by green. Which is why in its own way living in Melbourne felt ok. The gardens were all green and trees thrived everywhere, with lush green open spaces amongst all the concrete and urbanisation. When we head away from the towns into the bush where man has cleared the earth and it is parched in the sun, then we see the real effects of the harsh Australian climate.

CLERMONT-MACKAY ROAD

2006-09-09T12:13:00.000+10:00

From Clermont to Mackay is about 280 km, probably the furthest we have attempted to travel in a day. It does not sound like a very long way but with a head wind the average speed is about 65-70 km/hour and it does take quite some time, especially if Jarra is troublesome. On our way out of Clermont we had a look at the piano in the tree, a symbol of the flood that occurred there in the 1920’s which claimed sixty local’s lives. After the floodwaters had subsided, various articles of furniture were found stuck up to sixty feet high in the surrounding trees, including three pianos. Leaving Clermont behind us we started on the road to Mackay and encountered absolutely nothing for miles except grassy plains dotted with trees and shrubs. The mountains in the distance, some really pointy and steep, others with very flat tops, kept the landscape interesting and in some parts it was almost like being in another world. As we got nearer to the dark ranges the pointy ones appeared as great jaggy rocks erupting skywards from the earth. Some of the peaks we saw from a distance eventually proved to be much further behind the ranges than I first imagined, distances can be very deceiving. The undulating road usually provided enough momentum on the downhill parts to get us up the next hill at a half decent pace. The contrasts of colours in these parts is intriguing, there are so many dry yellows, browns and pale greens, thet when a lush green crop comes into view, or one of the occassional purply/ red bushes we see about the place, it stands out like the dogs proverbials. The other day, a car coming towards us was one of the new Holdens, coloured bright orangy/ red, we saw it from a long way away, it stood out like a beacon and looked so unnatural. As Tal is so mad about snakes I am always keeping an eye out for them when I am driving along. The torn and shredded truck tyres on the shoulders of the road look quite like contorted snakes and they always hold my gaze until I am sure what they are. There was a noticeable lack of roadkill on the edges of this road, I don‘t know whether this is because the roos are smarter around here or maybe they have better eyesight or maybe there are just not many about. The white line markers were on the job today, although I think they must have had a few beers as the lines were wobbling all over the place, I got on the UHF radio to them to enquire about the quality of their work and the guy replied, “Do you want to come and drive this bitch of a thing?”

SAPPHIRE

2006-08-29T10:22:00.000+10:00

We had heard about Sapphire months ago and have been looking forward since then to visiting and doing some fossicking. After staying the night in Emerald we drove an hour down the road to the very strange little place that is Sapphire, which contains not many permanent structures, mostly caravans set up on brick pillars, with rough extensions tacked on here and there. There is a feeling of temporary permanence, caravans, buses and motorhomes that were only meant to stay for a week or so are now rusting and weathered, surrounded by long, dry grass and rusty old mining equipment, and of course the familiar piles of dirt that are commonplace in every plot. You can just imagine people visiting years ago, finding a small sapphire and catching the bug, it is quite addictive really. Many small claims have been set up around the place, one with a sign that states “Anybody caught digging on this claim will be shot”, although the people we met were all very welcoming and full of advice. Sapphire supplies 80% of the worlds sapphire demand. It is very hard work sifting through all the clay and gravel to find the precious stones that a volcano spewed out millions of years ago. There are a couple of ways to go about finding sapphires. You can buy buckets of “wash” at many places and sift it with their equipment on site, or hire the picks, shovels, sieves and willoughbys (a mechanical dooverlackie that cleans your wash in a 44 gallon drum of water) and go for it in one of the places open to the public. Being 200kms inland means that it is very hot around here, and needing sunlight to find the sapphires in the piles of gravel makes for hot and thirsty work. So we bought a few of the $8 buckets at Pat’s Gems and had lunch and a beer or two while we searched for our fortune. We did find a few stones that are of a cuttable size and it was good fun, but we did not find the million dollar stone.

FROM JARRA.

2006-08-29T10:21:00.000+10:00

I have finally got my hands on the lap top, gee these Macs are cool, and so user friendly. Let me start off by saying that whoever invented the “terrible twos” cliché should be congratulated. It is like a licence to misbehave, and I am playing it for all it is worth! Another of my mottos is, “if it is there, it deserves to be climbed on, AND jumped off”. You should see Mum and Dad’s faces sometimes when I am about to jump off something really high, it cracks me up. I don’t get as excited about big trucks as I used to, but any sort of roadworks get me going. Diggers, rollers, graders and bob cats are sooooo cool. There was a great sand pit in the fossicking place here in Sapphire. Mum, Dad, Tal and Rennie were playing around with sieves, washing little rocks and picking out tiny little blue ones while I enjoyed myself playing around the piles of sand, the wash troughs and the sorting tables. They reckon they were going to make their fortune, but they only came away with a few. They had fun though, which was good as it kept them out of my hair. I am very independent these days, as I am sure you can gather from my writing. I do not like to be helped with things at all, except when I get frustrated. I might consider letting them help if they ask nicely. Mum and Dad have decided to stop driving me around each afternoon to get me to sleep. I really can’t blame them, the price of petrol these days is silly and it sometimes takes 20-25kms until I drop off. Most days I can do without a sleep in the afternoon, but sometimes we are in the bus travelling anyway and I have a wee snooze along the way. And can I say how much fun it is to get out of bed at 4am and get into the big bed. A bit of poking and pushing really fires them up. Lack of sleep doesn’t bother me really, I can always have a sleep in the afternoon if I want!!

CARNARVON GORGE

2006-08-29T10:19:00.001+10:00

The country around here is very dry, the yellow fields feeling the brunt of the drought, fluffy type grasses with pink tips line the edges of the road. The long straight stretches of road means that other cars and trucks are seen from miles away, and as we plod along they slowly catch up and eventually pass us. Unfortunately the kangaroos do not seem to see the traffic as well as us as there has been more road kill around here than we have seen anywhere else on this trip. So many dead roos on the side of the road in all states of decay, some you can smell before you actually see them. It has been nice to see some hills about as we travel on our inland loop and the country side is becoming what I have always imagined the “outback” to be like, although the soil is not quite as red yet as it needs to be to complete my picture. Spinifex grass blows along like tumbleweeds in the old westerns, yesterday we actually saw a willy willy (a small scale hurricane) in a field we were driving by, the circular wind had picked up a lot of spinifex and was spinning it around, was an amazing sight. So it was great to arrive in the oasis that is Carnarvon Gorge, which sits in the middle of some very dry country and is lush and green and hosts some amazing wildlife. It contains a quarter of Australia’s bird species and supports many roos, wallabies, gliders and platypus. On our first day there we did a 13km walk up the gorge to the Art Gallery where there were some great pieces of Aboriginal art from 10,000 years ago, stencilled hands, boomerangs, goannas and nets were some of the symbols displayed. We had to cross the creek 12 times on a series of stepping stones, and as we had the pusher with us we had to get Jarra out, carry the pusher over and convince him to get back in again, we were all very pleased to get back to camp after our trek. The next day we headed up one of the side gorges which was spectacular, getting narrower the further we went up, sheer walls of rock 30 metres high and only about 2 metres apart at some places. We received some sad news after leaving Carnarvon. When we got back in to mobile reception a message came through that Helen’s Gran in Scotland passed away the night before, she was 89 so had a good innings, but it is hard for Helen being so far from home. The sandflies are quite prevalent up here in Queensland and we have all been affected by them. We found out that they do not actually bite you, instead they wee on you, and if you can wash the area where they have been soon enough, it makes a big difference.

Life is full of contrasts.

2006-08-29T10:19:00.000+10:00

The past few days have been full of contrasts. After staying at a lovely campsite in Rockhampton we move east to the coast to visit the beach one last time before heading into the hinterland and prospecting country. The coast between Yeppoon and Emu Park is literally empty. Kilometres of greyish sand with white dunes and the ocean in the distance. When I say in “in the distance” I mean about 500m away. When the tide goes out here, it really goes a long way! When Andre and the kids went in for a swim, I could barely make them out in the distance and certainly couldn’t see them when they were in the water. In addition the campsite and the surrounding areas are sub tropical, lush and green. We had a lovely time there. The kids found some dunes and had a ball sliding down into the pool of warm water at their base. Beaches bring us together as a family, with something there for everyone. Tal and Rennie played beautifully together, not always the case, and Andre and I commented on how well they got on. The sand was so good for building sandcastles, that Andre was able to stack them into a large pyramid – very impressive! At the campsite we at last met a family very similar to ourselves. They are from Belgrave and are travelling for three months with their four children. They have a four-wheel drive and a camper trailer that unpacks into a substantial tent area, with a kitchen. This means they can go places we never could, but lack the comfort and permanence that we do. Each has it’s own drawbacks and advantages. So we had a lovely time with Bernie, Jim, Grace, Rose, Lily and Oscar. Hey guys, if you are reading this… thanks for the time, conversation and tips. Great to meet others with similar aspirations for their family. From there we headed inland, back through Rocky to check out the slot cars one last time, but alas they were closed on Mondays. Foiled! We met briefly with Matt, had lunch and were on our way for one of the longest days we have had for a while. As we drove inland things just got drier and drier. We decided to spend the night at a free campsite, well off the beaten track close to a weir in Blaalala??. When we got there, we were surprised to see how popular a spot it was. All retired couples, many of who were from the south up for the winter. Before the sun went down they all got together for drinks and a game of what I termed Frisbee bowls – definitely a seniors club if ever there was one. Feeling a little young for the company, we moved on the next morning driving on to Banana – not named after the fruit, but a bullock of legend – and on to Rolleston, through miles and miles of open, arid nothing. This was the first open, straight(ish), quiet stretch of road that we have really hit, so it seemed as good a time as any for me to have a go at driving the bus. Yee Haa! I have finally done it and we all lived to tell the tale. Being over a year now since I passed my truck licence and with the bus and trailer being at least twice the length of the truck I learnt in, I have to say I have not been looking forward to the day I finally get behind the drivers wheel. However, I do want to be able to drive the old girl. Boy was it scary. I had to use all my weight to push down and change gear, or not as the case may be! My feet dangling just above the pedals made me feel the enormity of what I was in control of. For the first 15 minutes my sweaty hands were clamped onto the steering wheel with my heart pounding. Each time I passed a truck I held my breath and my eyes were glued to the road. Andre had to remind me to wave. What a nerve-racking experience! Eventually I began to change the gears a lot more smoothly and was able to judge when to change too. At last I was able to relax a little bit, but it will be a while before I will be doing any parking or hill starts that’s for sure. Hats off to Andre and well done! Keep on trucking!! With my moment of truth past, we arrived in Rolleston. By contrast the most ordinary campsite we have stayed at in 6 months, but as we bought a few essentials at the one and only shop/ fuel stop in town, we saw the best sunset of the trip so far. The sun sinking, a deep red ball of fire into the horizon. Absolutely stunning, which serves to remind us that mother nature rarely chooses where she shows her most beautiful attributes. Which leads me on to Carnarvon Gorge where we arrived this afternoon. The campsite is great, with excellent modern facilities. Yet again, due to our size we have a secluded spot far away from the other campers surrounded by beautiful trees and wildlife. We are looking forward to doing lots of walking, watching and learning. This promises to be as wonderful as the Warrumbungles. We will fill you in on our next entry.

SLOTCARS, HOCKEY, WIGGLES and ANT’S BUMS

2006-08-29T10:18:00.000+10:00

While waiting for the car to be serviced yesterday I had a few hours to do a few things around Rockhampton. I visited the art gallery where there was an exhibition of year 11 and 12’s work from all around central Queensland and there was some excellent pieces, some too deep for me though. Checked at the Post Office for mail from Mum then noticed a red sandwich board on the side of the footpath advertising slot car racing and I must admit I was curious. A doorway opened straight into a steep, carpeted staircase, then more stairs to the right which leads to the landing and a darkish corridor each way. A most unlikely place to find slot car racing, whatever that is. Taking a punt to the right I happened on a door with an A4 sheet of paper which indeed indicated I was at the right place. In a huge room there was a long, blue, 8 lane track, snaking around within a metre of the walls in most places, except for the work areas. Consisting of a 25 metre straight, full 180 degree fully cambered turn, right hander, hairpin left, right again, 270 degree loop and a left hand turn onto the straight once again. This takes about 7.8 seconds! You use a little controller, they go about 50 km/hr, great fun, although I spent quite some time putting the car back on its track until I worked out corner speeds. There is a monitor with lap times, fastest lap etc. Took the kids there this morning and they loved it, they decided to spend some of their own money and go back on the way home this afternoon. In 20 minutes Rennie did 107 laps, she was very consistent; Tal completed 97 but had some very fast laps. It is run by a guy and his wife, they must be 50ish, he looks like he has been playing around with slot cars all his life and he decided to import this 1/24th size track from America. It was certainly something a bit different, we all really got into it, we were really racing those zippy little things, was good fun. We heard that there was a hockey International on and I was lucky enough to watch Australia play Korea last night. Haven’t seen that standard played for many years and I enjoyed seeing the sport I loved playing for so many years, it brought back some good memories and it was not a bad game, we won 2-1 for the record….. It was quite strange for me that they had a speaker system all the way around the ground that was playing “We Will Rock You” before the game and the opening whistle was co-ordinated with the end of the song. Loud bits of “Black Betty” were blared after each goal, that dodgy 80’s ice hockey organ accompaniment came to mind. From the hectic racing circuit to the tranquil and very beautiful Botanic Gardens which host a free zoo and is a most interesting place. There were 3 pythons which pleased Tal, some baboons, chimps, cassowaries, the usual native cuddly and hoppy creatures. We were lucky enough to meet Simon the head zookeeper and got talking. He showed us this amazing skull and jaw bone of a huge croc that was 8 metres long. The solid bony heads of these things is amazingly solid, Simon pointed out the recess that the brain sits in and it is about as big as your thumb, they rely on instinct, there is not too much thought processes going on in there. We will pay heed to the travel warnings, when north of Rocky, watch out for croccy!! Simon would have given us a close up look at the snakes, but they were shedding their skins and they subsequently lose their sight for a few days as the skin peels off. Instead he took us around to let us meet Wiggles the 1 year old wombat. I fell in love, so did Helen. She is the most adorable little thing, just lying there in our arms, big soft nose and the softest, greyish fur, as placid as can be, just gazing into our eyes. The kids noticed an army of green ants outside the information centre and asked Simon what sort of ants they were. He said to the kids,”Hey, have you ever sucked an ant’s bum?” What the? He grabbed an ant and squeezed the back section, a green sac, and said it tasted of lemon and that some people put a whole lot in a pan of boiling water to make a sort of lemon tea. We all had a go at this bit of bush tucker, was very sour, the kids thought this was great, sucking ant’s bums!! In the info centre they also had a collection of dead spiders, scorpions and other crawly critters. There were funnel webs, tarantulas, redbacks, huge hairy bird eating spiders, quite creepy. The tropical fruit garden contained an amazing array of different trees, although the wrong time of the year for most of the fruit. Can’t believe it is 6 months today since we departed on this trip, unbelievable how the time has flown. So, time to say goodbye to Rockhampton, city of; bulls up on verandahs with slogans such as “Move a bull” on the furniture removalists shop; “Edi bull above a restaurant, etc.etc. City of hoon car drivers. City of many, many pubs, seems to be one on every second corner. And of course, city of cool slotcars.

The Big Rig

2006-08-16T14:49:00.000+10:00

THE HERITAGE HOTEL ROCKHAMPTON

2006-08-16T14:47:00.000+10:00

15th August. We had the pleasure of having lunch today with a friend of ours, Matt Mullins at the recently renovated Heritage Hotel in Rockhampton. Matt and his business partners, have spent 6 months completely transforming the old place into a fantastic, modern new venue, we were very impressed. They have a great ability to make spaces that people want to be in, lots of wood and soft leather couches, interesting looking chairs, it is a huge place with a balcony right the way round the front, with views of the Fitzroy River. Matt, Andy, Tom and Doug have successfully completed four new pubs in Melbourne in the last five years and both of my exhibitions have been at their venues in Swan Street Richmond; Holliava and the Richmond Club Hotel. Matt’s brother Andy has played quite a part in the early stages of my art career. Jarra was pretty full on, climbing onto the billiard tables and grabbing the balls, grabbing the pool cues, climbing onto tables and jumping off, doing forward rolls on the carpet, he was quite feral really, although Matt was actively encouraging him……

FEAR AND FALLING APPLES

2006-08-16T14:46:00.000+10:00

Yesterday when we stopped in Miriam Vale on our way here, I was watching the kids playing in the playground and got talking to another mum, from Gladstone on her way to visit rellies in Bundaberg. Two things struck me as I thought later on what we had talked about. The first was her comments about Jarra and his apparent lack of fear. He really thinks he can tackle anything and accomplish what he wants to do. He has so much confidence in almost everything he does that at times all I can do is sit back and watch and hope that the injuries are nominal, for certainly there will be some form of knock or abrasion. We have recently taken to calling him “monkey boy” or “circus child”. He is incredibly agile and has recently begun to suddenly execute a forward roll/front flip (on any surface!) without any warning. The first time he did this was on grass at Rainbow beach outside the pub where we were having dinner and there was a collective gasp as we waited to see if he had indeed injured himself this time, but he just got up and shouted “ More! More!” and continued to entertain us and quite a few of the other customers. He climbs everything and jumps down with great guffaws of laughter. Seen through his eyes, every aspect of life is an assault course just waiting to be tackled. Can you imagine tackling life in this way – full on. So much of who we are and what we do is governed by our fears. Fear of failure certainly, but also the fear of being thought less of ; of being laughed at; of being hurt; of seeming too different or out there: of being perceived as being rude or not complying to some social/cultural norm etc. The list goes on, but the sentiments are the same. Coming on this trip Andre and I could have had so many fears and everyday I try to make sure that my concerns are realistic, but that we also allow the kids as much freedom as possible to make their own trip and to discover the places that we visit in their own way. Often this means letting them go around the campsite/park on their own, always difficult as of course anyone could be lurking just around the corner waiting to pounce, but on the other hand they may not be and our children’s confidence and life skills grow. Which leads me on to the second thing that struck me ( if I was Andre I am sure there would be a pun at this point about some branch or another!). While we were chatting at a bench her four year old was sitting eating an apple at another bench when suddenly a wail pierced our conversation, “ My aaappppllllllle!!” He had dropped his apple below the bench and was distraught that his mum wasn’t there to pick it up for him and so she duly went over and picked it up for him so that he could continue to eat it. Now this struck me as a bit sad. How will this little fella cope with life if he can’t pick up his own apple and sort it out????

RUM’n’ NUTS’n’ BARRA

2006-08-16T14:44:00.000+10:00

While waiting for the tour to start at the Bundaberg Rum factory I noticed two guys in their boots, denim jeans, black cowboy hats and navy blue wife beaters (I do not really like this colloquialism, although it is a pretty funny one! A wife beater is the common name for a vest/ singlet top), I actually thought they may have been leading the tour as they were the epitomy of a Bundy drinker and fit the stereotype perfectly. As we checked out the rum making process they had to slip in comments here and there to complete the picture. It was an interesting tour and we enjoyed a tasting at the end of it. A guy at the caravan park we were staying at told us of the macadamia nut farm across the road that had completed its harvest and were happy for people to come and pick the nuts that were on the ground. We didn’t need to be told twice and we ended up picking up about 5 kilos of this sweet nut with the bulletproof shell. They are really nice roasted up with oil,garlic and rosemary. Yum! On the 6th August,Tal started his 9th birthday off in style with a bacon and egg roll for brekky followed by a game of footy with the local footy team and a steam train ride in the Botanic Gardens on the way home. From Bundaberg to the Town of 1770 which had some nice beaches, Captian Cook must have thought so too way back then. The Information centre at Miriam Vale told us about a free bush camp at Lake Awoonga which was delightful. The countryside is a lovely yellowy colour around these parts, tall grasses containing a spectrum of orange, yellow and brown hues, it is not too dry, still a lot of green about, although we can feel the sun getting hotter as we venture further northwards. We had a lovely time at Lake Awoonga, a haven of peace and quiet, only a few other people staying here, loads of birds and wildlife. Have been feeling pretty cramped staying at caravan parks for the last month or so and it is just so different when you can choose your own space in the camp area. It was also nice as there was not much to “do”, as in the touristy sense….:we must see this while we are here”…..etc…. It was nice to just “be”, out in nature, in comfort. It is nice to think that our bus relies on solar power while we are camping, which means we have to make sure we park somewhere not too shady. It is a funny thought that we use sunshine to make our fridge cold!! Also noticed a funny sight at the campground at the Lake, someone had screwed an electrical power point onto a tree next to a picnic area, and just for a second it had me thinking…….hang on….!! The barramundi is a fish famous for its fight and size, we are just heading into barra country now and had a bit of a try for them at Lake Awoonga. I caught three on my first night!! ……………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………….. Unfortunately I have to add that they were only about two inches long…..I had set a yabby trap and they got caught in that……Oh well…….. The barra hunt begins!! Had pancakes for breakfast this morning in Rockhampton and I bought a couple of bananas yesterday for this purpose. I knew they were going to be expensive, but the $4.27 really shocked me. We told the kids that we were going to start paying their pocket money to them in bananas, Rennie would get one banana a week and Tal one and a half!!

Been a while…

2006-08-07T16:13:00.000+10:00

It feels like forever since I last wrote. So much has been done and experienced. It has been an interesting combination of very busy and very quiet times. Today I experienced something I have been looking forward to for a very long time. Due to the lack of enthusiasm from the children, this morning I went out on a whale watching tour on my own. It was strange to be without them, but I had a truly amazing time watching these majestic humpback whales frolicking in the ocean. After a fairly brisk start we headed off out into the bay and it wasn’t long before we could see the now familiar spouts of water on the horizon and then the whales themselves launching into the air and pirouetting before crashing spectacularly down again with an almighty splash with that all too familiar breach. The boat I had chosen (The Quick Cat) seemed like a lucky choice as it was spacious and comfy, with lovely staff and as it’s name suggests, had enough grunt to get us to the whales in no time. In many ways it is nice to share such moments with other people, where we can all oooh and aaah in unison at the awesome sight taking place before our eyes. Although we have spotted humpback whales a few times up the coast and were lucky enough to see some when we went out sailing with Phil on the Gold Coast, what makes Hervey (pronounced HArvey for some reason) Bay the best place in the world along with Hawaii, is that they seem to take the time to have a little R&R and a play in this protected area. Watching them today rising to the surface and smacking their enormous pectoral fins into the water, each in turn, for about ten minutes really looked like a game they were playing. They are very inquisitive and come right over to the boat, a couple swam right underneath us and we all held our breaths as we absorbed the incredible grace and power of such an enormous creature as we moved over the top of her. I feel privileged to have seen these creatures in their natural state and shake my head in amazement that anyone would want to kill them. What an experience! I won’t forget today for a long time… …And neither will I forget yesterday. As much as today was uplifting, yesterday was about killing and destruction. As we were driving round Hervey Bay we spotted a building with a huge shark outside, advertising the world’s best shark show and a frozen Great White. Well, you can imagine Tal’s face lit up and we excitedly ventured inside to be met by this rather lovely Kiwi lady, but a rather dated looking place. Not to be put off we paid or entry and headed on in. The first port of call was that great white in a huge frozen display. This had the sound of being something great, but in reality he looked much as I feel some days – a little old and worn around the edges!! He really did look very ordinary and there was definitely a slightly fishy aroma pervading the dank, cold room he was in. We should have taken this as a sign of things to come, but we soldiered on and walked around to look at hundreds of media clippings, surfboards with bites out of them etc. all relating to shark attacks. There seemed to be a lot of information about this guy Vic Hislop, including letters sent to him from grateful people for whom he had saved the day by killing a shark or ten. The best was yet to come. “Shark Hunter 2” is billed as “…entertainment for the whole family.” It’s a movie that runs in a little theatre on a loop. Our kids weren’t very entertained, so much so that Tal got up and left, as did Rennie. In fact Tal got really upset and we had to leave shortly afterwards as he ended up in tears and was really quite distressed. The movie, and the whole expo for that matter, was all about killing sharks - how to do it, with lots of photos and footage. This was all too much for Tal the boy who loves sharks. He couldn’t understand how this guy could call himself a conservationist and go out there and kill all these sharks – I feel much the same myself. Hislop claims that due to heavy fishing we are taking the large sharks food source and this in turn leads them to attack baby whales, dolphins etc much more than mother nature intended. He may have a point, but I am not sure if culling sharks is the solution. Now that the great whites are protected I think he is a bit less active and he certainly isn’t too happy about the ruling. After the event we asked Tal why he hadn’t told us earlier about how all the images were upsetting him and he reminded us that we had said we would do this for him and he had been worried about the money we had spent on his behalf, so didn’t want to let us down. We both felt pretty ordinary after we heard this. How easy it is to try and make kids appreciate things by slipping in a comment reinforcing that we are doing it for them, instead of just giving with an open heart and letting things take their natural course. It is a tricky thing, but we are learning all the time. One would think this would have been enough killing for one day, but last night Andre decided to try out the new headphones and extension lead he got for the TV. This is to enable us to watch TV at night without Tal listening to every word being said – he had started to comment on the plot for The Bill a bit too often. Anyway we decided to watch a DVD and we chose Munich from the selection our friends Zo and Ant made for our trip. Undoubtedly it is brilliantly acted by Eric Bana, but as some of you may know it is all about the hostage taking and shooting of the Israeli athletes at the Olympic games, and the reprisals to the Black September organizations. All just a bit too much for me and I slept an uneasy, dream filled sleep where I ran around desperately looking for people to kill and not being able to find any of them! I hope I sleep better tonight. H

NO DAM

2006-08-07T16:12:00.000+10:00

We saw an article on 60 minutes last week about the 500 families that will lose their home and land when the Mary Valley is dammed to supposedly ensure Brisbane’s water supply. The project is being pushed by the Premier of Queensland, Peter Beattie, even though many experts believe the site will produce a dam that is far too shallow to be effective. We happened to drive through the area on the way to Rainbow Beach, a very beautiful part of the world, we started to pass signs made from old sheets, corrugated iron, any material that could be found really, with various messages hand painted on, such as: No Dam ; Dam Peter not Mary ; No Dam way, etc… There was an absolute classic I saw which stated, “My horse can’t waterski, don’t build the dam”. Ha!! We have started to watch the Chasers War on everything, 9.40 pm Friday nights on the ABC, it is one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. Last week when they took a horse around and into city shops, restaurants, cafes and even a betting agency, I was rolling on the floor laughing and it was hurting. So we made it to Inskip Point which is just past Rainbow Beach, a sandy finger of land, the ocean on one side and a sheltered body of water on our side, great for the kids to play in the shallows. We pumped some yabbies at low tide in preparation for our next days fishing in the boat. Crammed into our little boat the next morning, along with all the necessary gear and motored off in search of fish, Tal caught a little bream to start us off before Rennie brought in the catch of the day, a decent sized flathead. I dropped Helen and the kids back to shore and headed out by myself to try and catch us a feed. During the afternoon drifting around the bay I had a dolphin swimming next to me for a while, and after hearing a whooshing sound behind me, I turned around to see a giant turtle come up for air and I caught enough fish to feed us for dinner. Yum! Tal and I went out again the next morning and we could not catch a thing. We met some nice people who were camping near us including Troy, Tracy, Khia (pronounced just like your name Kaiya!), Braeden and Leyton; Steve and Vicki and Tjanna; Dave and Scott. It is a funny thing meeting people while travelling, it is easy to get to know people you have never seen before, yet we lived the same distance from people for six years in Cash Grove who we never spoke to. From Rainbow to Boonooroo, which I reckon sounds like a Scottish person who is upset there are no Kangaroos about, not much there to write home about, or to the blog either for that matter. Our plan was to go to Hervey Bay from there so we phoned ahead to try and find somewhere to stay. Every caravan park was full so we came here to Howard instead and will drive into Hervey Bay for a day or two instead.

Kingsley Piece

2006-08-07T16:11:00.000+10:00

CARAVAN REVERSING

2006-08-01T13:14:00.000+10:00

There are a few rituals that occur daily at caravan parks, one of the most amusing to see must be the act of reversing a caravan onto the designated site, under the watchful eyes of all and sundry. They will not just blatantly stand and watch the victim attempting the backward manoeuvre, but secretly chuckle to themselves while pretending to be busy doing something else, watching out the corner of their eye. It is always the male of the usually elderly retired couple who gets the job, while his wife uses hand signals and runs about doing the directing. It is like a test of manhood, the pressure mounts as the attempts increase and the frustration rises. There are a few schools of thought that you begin to identify, those who just guess which way to turn the steering wheel and hope for the best, trial and error style. There is also the slowly does it option, this way you do not actually give away the fact that you do not know what you are doing. Then there are the experts who do it in one motion with one hand tied behind their back, then hop out of their car and polish their fingernails on their shirt. Here at Forest Glen we have seen all manner of styles come and go in the past week and a half. There was a young lad here for the first week of our stay, Josh, the experienced and well travelled12 yr old who knew everything about caravans and mobile homes, including the reversing of. Whenever a new comer arrived he would be straight over, sussing out their style and all their gear, commenting on the quality or lack of and suggesting any improvements. He was very honest and quite a pain really! Another noticeable ritual is the row of men shaving every morning at the basins in the amenity blocks and the usual banter that goes with it, ably accompanied by the noises from the toilets behind. Fair dinkum, at times you would think you were in the midst of the brass section of an orchestra. And the question must be asked, how do you choose which toilet to use from the seven on offer? Do you use the same one each day or become comfortable with “yours”. For some reason I never choose the ones on the ends, usually the third one in, don’t know why…. When you spend any length of time in the same place you become very comfortable with the surroundings. You also get to meet various new “neighbours” as they come and go, they are mostly very pleasant and usually up for a chat. There is the odd unsociable person like the Pauline Hansen lookalike who was next door for a few days, though we have had the pleasure to meet Isobel and Keith who parked up next to us a couple of days ago in their spiffy American made RV with all its hydraulic bells and whistles. They made it known very early on that Isobel is in the middle of a fight with breast cancer. Whilst admiring the artwork I was working on she told us that she had started to draw with pastels for the first time in her life when she was first diagnosed a year or so ago and let us have a look at the preliminary copy of a book she has produced which will be published in October. It comprises a series of drawings and some words about her battle with cancer and it is very inspiring. She loves butterflys and these creatures are her signature, signifying peace, hope, freedom and beauty, a lesson the Israelis could learn from at the moment. I made her a small butterfly out of steel, it was simple and very effective, it went down very well with Isobel. They are a lovely couple from Kyabrim in Victoria and we wish her and Keith all the best with the coming months. On a lighter note, there is a little town near here called Sippy Downs, it rolls off the local’s tongues very easily but I can’t mention it’s name, or even read it on a signpost without smirking. The organic shop around the corner from here is quite amazing, it has organic everything and the prices are not too bad really, we will stock up on produce before we leave. We also visited Underwater World last week which is full of sea creatures and was very interesting. The leafy sea dragons are a totally beautiful creature, we enjoyed the seal show and the glass tunnel which has a moving walk way right through the deep sea aquarium, it was quite fantastic. I am even more determined to catch some fish now!! Last Sunday morning we went to Palmwoods so Tal could play a game of footy with the local under 10’s team and they were a great bunch of people we met, very welcoming, down to earth and enthusiastic. I finished the two pieces of art for Kingsley today, I am very pleased with them and have learnt more and developed my style in the last week working on them. Kingsley was also very pleased with the result, it is funny the path that led to us meeting eachother and I am glad we did because he is a genuine and very nice bloke. It has been a nice stay but we are ready to hit the road again and head northwards. Have more news from Rainbow Beach where we are leaving now, will post again soon.

FIRST BOAT TRIP

2006-07-21T15:44:00.000+10:00

Look what happened to us on our maiden voyage in our new boat. Crikey....

GOLD PLATED BANANAS AND HUMBACK WHALES

2006-07-21T15:42:00.000+10:00

Well it has certainly been a while since I updated this blog, we have done a lot since being bogged in Mullumbimby. Our next stop from there was the Gold Coast, an area of the coast that contains Surfers Paradise, which is a mass of high rise apartments that casts shadows over the beach, maybe keeping the sun out of the surfer’s eyes, this being why it is their paradise…?? According to Bill Bryson, Surfers Paradise used to be deserted in the 1970’s when it had a different, common name, until some smart fella renamed it Surfers Paradise and the real estate started to sell like hot cakes, smart eh? Bananas are very expensive at the moment due to Cyclone Larry having destroyed a lot of the crops, the price of these bent yellow fruit has risen to silly heights. Talking about silly heights and cyclones, I heard from a couple of people that roof plumbers are earning stupid money up in Innisfail as Larry tore so many roofs off and they cannot get enough tradesmen up there, so we are thinking that we may head up there so I can work for a couple of weeks. We went out on Phil’s yacht (Phil owns the house in Bowraville that we stayed at) and saw some humpback whales from close range which was fabulous, although Helen and Rennie lost their breakfast due to the rolling of the boat, ( no the breakfast did not roll off the deck, we ate it before hand). The whales were playing about 100 metres from us, breaching and rolling around while blowing clouds of water from their blowhole on their way north from Antarctica. We had a very social time on the GC, catching up with lots of our friends who we saw on our way down south a few months ago. A lovely home made vege lasagna with Brian; Pizza with Geoff & Kristy & Samuel; A cuppa with Rick and Jane in Brisbane; and various meals and sleepovers with Nicky, Pete, Steph and Dean. Our day at Dreamworld went very well, Tal is an adrenalin junkie, he loves all the fast and scary rides. His favourites were the Wipeout, The Claw and the Tower of Terror. He did not join me on The Giant Drop as he had just had lunch, probably just as well. You can see The Giant Drop from miles away, a 120 metre high steel column about 8 metres in diameter which has a row of 8 seats on either side which work independantly, one lot faces the freeway, the other looks out over the park and bushland. When all seats are occupied and everyone strapped in securely the row of seats starts to move upwards slowly, you cant see the top due to a cover above you and you feel as though you are quite high enough now, thanks very much, but up she goes, your breath quickens, heart rate increases, thoughts like, “What the hell am I doing up here?”, start to infiltrate your mind. How much higher till we are there? Come on, I can see Tasmania from here……still ascending……higher and higher……and we finally stop….phew. So we are sitting there, perched at the top of the tower, waiting, waiting to drop. Mind racing, empty feeling in stomach….come on…. Lets get this over with. Nervous laughter from the row of victims beside you, some bravado from the tough guys. Suddenly your bum is in your throat as you plummet faster than Newton would think possible, cant remember if my eyes were open or clamped shut (like my bottom) as we race towards the ground and within the last 10 metres the brakes are applied and you come to a sudden stop, whew, a big smile on your dial. On the way up to Mooloolaba where we are now we bought a little flat bottomed tinny, purchased a motor for it yesterday, we are looking forward to taking it for a spin soon and maybe catching us a fish. The fish we have caught so far are currently costing us about $4500/ kilo if you equate money spent on gear to fish caught…..will try and improve that ratio. . Went to the Eumundi market last weekend where there is an amazing array of very inventive stuff, including some inspirational art of all sorts, lovely food and interesting wares. We are staying at a lovely caravan park at Forest Glen, on the edge of a rainforest, it rained lots for the first couple of days here but has been lovely weather since then. We are not too keen on the signs on the big gum trees all around the park that read: CAUTION: limbs may fall without warning….. righto, sleep well….. A few developments on the art front. I dropped off three pieces at a cool décor shop on the Gold Coast called Senja, they stock very different and unique wares and my work fits in well there, they reckon they can sell it to their clientele so will see how that goes. Have been here a week now and were going to head off tomorrow but are staying another week now as I have picked up a bit of work. I went to a sheet metal factory around the corner from here the other day to get something for the trailer and they had a piece of artwork made from metal on their wall, so I gave the owner my card. The fantastically named Kingsley St. Clair had a look at my website and has asked me to do a couple of pictures for him, a portrait of himself and a picture of the beach at Mooloolaba. Kingsley is a lovely guy who is originally from Victoria and loves to talk footy. Jarra has been getting up very early lately, 6-6.30am although the last couple of days he has slept in till about 7am. He has been banging himself about, trying to get us investigated by social welfare I reckon. He has no fear unfortunately, he has almost drowned twice in the last week by jumping into the pool when our backs are turned after we have finished our swim and taken his back float off. At the playground the other day he would climb up to the 5-foot high platform and just jump off; it is the equivalent of me jumping off a house roof. Crazy child. And by crikey we went to Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo a couple of days ago. She was a little beauty mate, although overpriced in my opinion. Many tourists from an assortment of countries were there, it was pretty packed. Overheard an English guy talking on his mobile describing it as, “Well smart “ The group of shops around the corner from here have organic everything. An organic butcher, green grocer etc. Helen had her hair cut at the organic hairdresser…..what the…??

BOGGER BLOGGER BUGGER

2006-07-12T22:38:00.000+10:00

We dropped into see Ros at Mullumbimby on our way back up towards the Gold Coast where we are now. The caravan park we are staying at here has wireless broadband internet throughout the whole place so we are online in the comfort of our bus, cool eh? And we get 2 hours free each day!! We arrived at Mullum in the dark on Monday night and I attempted to do a U-turn and be ready to drive straight out in the morning, not realising how much rain they had had since we were here a month ago, ooops…..soft ground……stuck fast……didn’t need to put our wooden steps out at the front door as we had sunk down enough to not need them…… I drove the car up the road in the morning to get some help to get out of there and found Dave the organic farmer who came and gave us a pull with his tractor but unfortunately it was a bit on the small side and we did not move. He gave me a couple of names and numbers of bigger tractor owners who I called. Wayne and Peter brought their decent sized tractors over and managed to get us out with a bit of pulling to and fro, delayed our departure quite a bit but another lesson learned and more experienced gained. They were happy with a box of Crown Lager for their efforts. Some of the buses and fifth wheelers at this caravan park are quite amazing, with all their slide out sections and razamataz, makes our old girl seem like the old boiler, but we love her all the same, she has soul! It was nice to have people so willing to help us out of our situation and who were happy to drop what they were doing to assist us, we appreciate their efforts immensely.

GRRrrrrrrrrr.

2006-07-08T11:13:00.000+10:00

Latest Pics

2006-07-08T10:54:00.001+10:00

Tal at Auskick Rennie's class Andre's new friend Tal's class On the rocks

BIG SURF, PESTO PASTA AND ANOTHER HITCHER

2006-07-08T10:54:00.000+10:00

There is something about hitch-hikers that we identify with, it might be their nomadic, gypsy like nature. I find their stories, backgrounds, outlooks and circumstances very interesting, often sad, sometimes uplifting. I am sorry but I find it hard to resist writing about them. We picked up Michael in the bus yesterday just outside Woolgoolga, he had 80 cents to his name (but a new pack of fags in his denim jacket pocket), his loud booming voice kept Jarra awake just as he was about to fall asleep. He is 43 years old, from NZ, a grandfather who hasn’t met his grand daughter yet and is heading north to Mackay to find some work. We dropped him off when we turned off the Pacific Highway 45 km north, on our way to Minnie Water, which turns out to be quite the opposite. The surf here is big and loud, rolling in off the ocean and pounding the shore, it comes right up to the campsite leaving very little beach for us to play on, what beach is left is scattered with smooth stones. We built a little fire last night and had our pasta with creamy pesto and mushroom sauce on the wooden table next to the beach, when the fire died down enough we had some toasted marshmallows which we do enjoy. It is school holidays here so there are a few people about. Not only am I the world’s second worst gambler, I am proving to be just as successful at fishing. I caught a tiny little fish today in the surf and when I got it in I discovered that I had hooked it through its side, how unlucky was it to be swimming past my hook and impaling itself on it….?? We left Yuraygir National Park this morning and headed north through the Scottish town of Maclean where all the bottoms of the street posts are painted in tartan colours and we hade a nice lunch. Arrived in Yamba at the Blue Dolphin Resort which is a massive place with two pools, two kids playgrounds, a centre for under 5 yr olds, an internet café and all sorts of entertainment for the kids, treasure hunts, boat/ canoe hire and movies etc.. As we were leaving Maclean a car in front was making a right hand turn, leaving a bit of space to pass on its left. “Come on”, I said, “You could drive a bus through there”………. And I did! The weather here is sub tropical, quite warm and sunny at this time of year. Rennie has been making some great things lately, she is very artistic and creative. She just goes to the trailer and gets what she needs from the Usefull Box and goes and cuts, sticks and creates wonderful crafty things, which we are decorating the bus with.

EGGSELENT LIFT

2006-07-08T10:53:00.000+10:00

He had on a back pack and was carrying a large chainsaw along the dusty dirt road towards us; where he was heading with it in the middle of nowhere was a mystery, but what a good place to start if writing a bad horror movie script. Tal came with me on our daily afternoon drive to get Jarra asleep, we saw the bearded fellow and covered him in our dust, exchanging a nod of the head as we passed eachother. We reached the driveway down the road with the cow skull on the old timber gatepost and as Jarra’s eyelids were drooping and almost closed we turned around and headed back towards home. It wasn’t far from there that the chainsaw wielder used his spare hand to stick out his finger……decisions, decisions, Jarra not quite asleep yet …. but I don’t like to drive past hitchers, so we pulled over and offered him a lift, explaining that we were not going too far. He was happy to go any distance at all as he had stacked his ute the week before and had borrowed the chainsaw from 10 km up the road to cut some firewood and was on his way to return it. Jarra woke right up as the hairy fellow squeezed into the back seat next to him, chainsaw in his lap, and so still was not asleep when passing our driveway. “I will take you to where you need to go”, I explained after Jarra fell asleep. “Cool, have you got any chooks?” he replied. When I answered to the negative he offered me a dozen fresh eggs as a way of thanks, we needed eggs at the time and they tasted even better when I poached them this morning knowing how we acquired them. On the way back to the house I saw a brown snake crossing the road, it reared up and had a strike at the car as we went past. Tal missed it as his head was stuck in his book (as usual) and it had disappeared into the long grass by the time we reversed up to have a look. We moved back into the bus yesterday, had a spring clean (in winter) at the same time and left Bowraville this morning, is nice to be back on the road again. I left my mark at Phil’s place, converting his plain green milk bottle letterbox into a crazy sort of spiky animal. It is definitely a male…(mail)!! We went to the horse races on Sunday, the Bowraville Cup, it was a funny old day at the country racecourse, there was a good jazz band and some face painting for the kids, although the wrong horses kept on winning…… I am the world’s second worse gambler and had a shocker. So we made it to Coffs Harbour this afternoon, home of the not so big banana, a big fibreglass tourist attraction that we expected to be much bigger than what is actually there. I made a piece of artwork for Bluescope Steel in Coffs in exchange for the material they gave me to work with while at Bowraville, and dropped it in on the way. The manager I was dealing with was very happy with it. I created nine pieces while up on the hill, they are not framed yet but are wrapped up in bubble wrap and stored in the boot for a later time. We are staying at the showgrounds here, next to a footy oval where Tal and I had a kick when we arrived, we had to do a few things here this arvo and will head off tomorrow on our next adventure. Had our first pizza for a month this evening, must be some kind of record for our family!! My work on the dust proofing seems to have worked a treat.

VISITORS

2006-07-08T10:52:00.000+10:00

We have had quite a few visitors in the past week. I was cleaning out the toilet the other day and decided to check out the cistern because there were lots of bits of grit in the pan. Well imagine my surprise when I found two large and one small green tree frogs living in there!! The largest one of the lot was clinging on deftly to the cistern lid and wasn’t nearly as surprised to see me as I was to see him. After showing Andre, and then the kids when they got home from school, we decided to leave the lid off to see what they would do, which in fact was nothing. How did they get in there? What do they eat? Isn’t it a little cramped and unpredictable when your home surroundings suddenly empty and fill with water without warning? Well they obviously liked it very much as they were still there days later, so we put the lid back on again and have left them to it. Our next visitors were on Saturday. When Tal and I returned from a morning out, we were greeted by the others and two very friendly dogs – a little staffy and a kelpie cross. They were so comfortable that I knew they had been here before, but I was surprised when it started to turn dark and they were still here. They tried in vain to sneak into the cottage, but finally got the message and left late in the evening. We have since found out that they live about two kms down the road and must have decided to have a day out. We enjoyed their company while they were here. Our third lot of visitors are of the rodent variety! We always knew that there were mice around, but hadn’t had much evidence of them, then the other night when Andre was up watching the football (soccer for all you Aussies out there!) he caught not one, but two in the trap in the cupboard. Then yesterday we had no less than four sightings of mice and this morning there was evidence that something a bit bigger had been snacking on an apple in the kitchen. The mice are very small and cute, but I still don’t like them nibbling on everything and when one ran across Rennie’s bed last night it took quite a lot of cajoling to get her to sleep there! Our other animal encounter which I forgot to mention in my earlier entry, was finding a large ( about 2m long) python warming in the sun on the dirt road. At first Penny and I thought it was a stick because its head was raised and so still, but we reversed the car and went back to have a better look and take some photos for Tal. Yet again he missed out on seeing a snake! A and I are working on the theory that because Tal wants to see a live snake in the wild so bad, he will never see any. I have my fingers crossed for him though.

WATER TORTURE

2006-06-26T09:20:00.000+10:00

It is usually about 4am when the enveloping cloud is at its heaviest that I wake to the sporadic drip, drip, dripping on the cottage’s flat skillion roof. The cosy cottage is situated under a massive old fig tree, its branches ranging far and wide above, the mist collecting on the leaves and forming into large droplets, which fall onto the iron, sounding like rocks at that hour of the morning. The constant beat follows no pattern, like a percussionist with no sense of rhythm and a broken hand, as I lie wide awake trying to fall back asleep. Have done a bit of maintenance on the bus, am trying to seal up any gaps where dust constantly gushes in whenever we travel on dirt roads, am looking forward to seeing how what I have done works out. I am looking forward to getting back on the road next week and heading north. We have a date at Dreamworld, we cashed in some Fly By points for a family entrance ticket and we are going to catch up with some friends in Maroochydore. After that we will just see what happens, we are heading north for some warmer weather and looking forward to some time on the beach. It has been a nice break here on the hill but the feet are getting itchy. A few facts about the trip so far: We have put 1036.6 litres of diesel into the bus, which has cost $1438.45. We have travelled about 3400 km on this fuel in the last 4 months, this does not include the petrol we have used in the car. We have done about 8500 km in the Subaru during this time.

CYCLONE PAUL

2006-06-20T15:27:00.000+10:00

Up until a month ago we had only seen the one hitcher on the road, our friend the pig chaser, but since then the hitch hiker drought has well and truly broken. The first batch we noticed around the Byron Bay/ Mullumbimby area, an assortment of characters trudging along the gravel shoulders, subtly pointing at the road with their right index finger. Predominately young bearded guys with dark sunglasses and hippie looking woman in floral clothing, but occasionally we saw a mum with her child in a pram or an older gentleman. Having no spare seats we would have to drive past with upturned hands signalling our wish to help them out not being possible. We know what it is like to wait ages for a lift so we try to help when we can. The police breathalyser units must be on the ball around these parts, since we arrived in the Bowraville area we have picked up a few hitchers who have all lost their licences for drink driving. We were very lucky a couple of days ago, Mum and I went to town and picked up Paul on the corner of Upper Buckrabendinni Rd. who needed a lift, he wanted to go to the service station to borrow some money off a guy there, coincidentally we were going to the same place to get our puncture repaired. He was full of stories and it was hard to get a word in sideways until we dropped him off on the corner and went to find a parking spot, the smell of beer following him out thankfully. I got the wheel out of the boot and was carrying it to the service station when I noticed Paul bent over in the gutter throwing up. “Just made it”, he said. “Good timing!”, I replied. We described Paul to the hitcher we picked up the next day, brown beanie, mirror sunglasses, goatee beard, and he replied “Oh yeah, that’s Cyclone Paul, he is pretty wild”.

Our little mud brick cottage

2006-06-20T15:26:00.000+10:00

Our little mud brick cottage is lovely - very rugged and basic, but nice in a really rustic way. The setting is beautiful, remote and peaceful. The glen is stunning and already I am beginning to recognise its moods through the day. It is stunning shrouded in early morning mist when we get up, before seven, to get the kids off to school, but as the mist clears and burns off, the views are splendid. It reminds me a lot of where Andre and I lived in Italy, in Northern Umbria - the rolling hills, the variety of trees, the distance to the nearest village and the colours. It was early winter when we first arrived there and the autumn colours surrounded us just as they do here. We also enjoyed the wonderfully warming winter sun, out of the wind, in a protected spot and lazing around like cats reading, as we do here. As the day moves on often we have clear blue skies and beautiful sunshine. It gets very cold at night, but the cottage warms up nicely. Although the other morning we awoke to find that Jack Frost had been and the ground was white and the windscreens frozen solid. Tal and Rennie were very impressed! Not something you see in Melbourne too often. Once again it is the birds that are the most accessible wildlife around us and we are getting to know our feathered friends well. There are a family of butcherbirds that keep a close eye on us and never miss a chance for something to eat. They are very inquisitive and show no fear of us what so ever. Each morning as we start our day, I greet them outside the kitchen window, all fluffed up against the cold morning chill. Recently Andre has caught me chatting to them. They are already friends. Then there are the rosellas and lorikeets that are in the trees chattering in the mornings and evenings, and the sole black cockatoo who flies over daily calling as he goes and bringing his friends occasionally. The rest of the time the air is filled with the calls and chatter of so many other birds, but unfortunately we don’t get to see them all and therefore identify them. We have also seen quite a few wallabies on the road. Most alive and some dead. Now that we are stopped for a while it provides me with an opportunity to tackle many of the tasks that are on the ‘to do” list, and of course the domestic chores have increased. More cleaning, tidying, vacuuming, packed lunch making – all the things I haven’t missed! So, despite missing the kids when they go off for the day, I still find my days quite full. We both look forward to hearing their news when they return at the end of the day. After having been with them 24/7 for the past few months, it is both strange and good to have some time on our own. Both Tal & Rennie have settled in well to the new school situation and it reassures me once again that they are strong, resilient children that cope well with what we throw at them. Rennie has friends keeping her seat on the bus each day and has been getting up so much better in the mornings than back in Melbourne. I thought Jarra would have missed the older kids more than he has. Apart from the first morning he now waves them off happily and welcomes them home heartily, but enjoys mum/dad/gran’s attention during the day. He is talking so much better these days. Stringing words together to make short sentences and starting to refer to himself as “I” or “me”. This has decreased the frustration he was feeling when he couldn’t make himself understood. Maybe because he is the third child, we deal with things better/differently or he is of a more relaxed disposition, but suffice to say that so far we have had few tantrums. Having said that he is a very cheeky little fella and often gets up to stuff he shouldn’t. Those blond curls and beautiful, brown eyes help him get the best from everyone he meets and occasionally away with stuff that he shouldn’t. Another benefit to being in one place is that our family and friends have been able to phone here on a landline, so it is good to hear their voices again and catch up on all our news. At times like this I am so glad that we have done the blog and it is great to know that they are able to follow our travels and adventures. When we talk on the phone I have time to hear their news and feelings, rather than try to catch up on so much stuff that we have been up to. Hearing how everyone else is going is so important. I have always realised that as soon as you stop doing this, then the connection is broken and relationships begin to suffer. One starts to feel less connected and it is hard to know where their life is going. Well for now my life is going to take me for a nice cup of chai and a relaxing read in a cosy corner of the cottage, before Jarra wakes up and it is all systems go once again. BFN! H

Butcher bird

2006-06-14T14:11:00.000+10:00

Bus on the hill

2006-06-14T14:10:00.000+10:00

THE BUS ON THE HILL

2006-06-14T14:08:00.000+10:00

We first met Phil, the guy who owns the property we are staying at, when he drove up on his four wheeled motorbike and discovered our dirty great big bus stuck in his driveway. There is quite a dip where his driveway meets the road and as the back wheels are so far towards the front, the back of the bus stuck firm on the road while the back wheels spun….. oops….. His first words were, “So, you meant a real bus…” Ha! He got his big red tractor, took Jarra and Tal for a bit of a spin on it, hooked a chain to the front of Bessie and dragged her out. Phew! The bus is now parked behind the cosy mud brick cottage, up a hill on North Arm Road, she has a wonderful view across the valley, it is a very picturesque spot, snuggled amongst lush green rolling hills where deer, cows, and many birds call home. The rolling mist in the morning is an amazing sight, sometimes tufty clouds hang around the hill tops until the sun comes out and clears them up, and other mornings we are blanketed by low cloud which collects and drips off the trees like rain, then in the evening the mist rolls in again. We have the company of many butcherbirds here, black and white, fluffy, medium sized birds which are closely related to the magpie, we heard that they hang up their food in a tree and let it decompose a bit before eating it, this is where their name comes from. They hang around the kitchen hoping for scraps and will come inside and help themselves if we leave the door open. They are very interesting, if you throw a piece of bread up in the air, they will swoop down off their branch and catch it in their beak before it hits the ground. I caught a mouse in a trap in the kitchen cupboard of the bus today, my third attempt, it managed to swipe the cheese twice without setting the trap off, clever little bugger, but not quite clever enough. Helen suggested I give it to the butcherbirds. Well, they spied me carrying the mouse straight away and were swooping me for it, I layed it on a log and it was taken immediately. They are a funny bird. They have also been keeping me company as I have been working on some artwork in the shelter that I set up off the side of the bus; it is a magnificent place to work. I went into Bluescope Steel in Coffs harbour last Friday to get some material and the manager Sally was fantastic, she had seen an article about my work in their magazine last year and was happy to give me some steel in exchange for a piece of my work for their showroom, a good deal for us both. I have done a bit of work for Phil on his house down the hill, replaced some windows, and fixed a few other little problems to help pay our way a bit, it is quite satisfying to make things work properly again. So I have been creating some nice pieces in preparation for my next exhibition, when and where it will be is not known yet, I will start to work that out when I have a decent collection of work. I have a lot of designs that I have been working on during the trip so far and I now have a chance to put some of these into practice. Tal and Rennie have fit in very well at their school, Bowraville Central, which has classes from kindergarten to year 10, about 300 kids go there. It has been quite novel for T & R to catch a school bus in the morning and afternoon, but the early starts take a bit of getting used to, the bus leaves from out the front of here at 7.30 am and arrives back about 4.30pm. Bowraville is a fairly low socio economic area and the school gets quite a few subsidies to help out. It was interesting at the Athletics day last Friday, funnily enough it was the kids second day at school, there were so many parents there supporting, which is great for the kids, but a bit sad that so many were not working. My Mum arrived here last Thursday and she has enjoyed spending some time with the children and just getting away from it all for a while. It is actually very nice to have no mobile reception, no internet connection and only one TV channel, so we get to spend some time without these distractions, except of course for the very important show Survivor. Yep, the one channel we get is channel 9, lucky eh? Tal and I went to an Auskick session this afternoon in Macksville, they have footy training on a Tuesday arvo and then play a game on Sunday. It is a small Auskick centre, there were 9 kids taking part, but it is good to see Australian Rules Footy up this way. This weeks game is an away fixture and we will travel about an hour and a half to it, Tal really enjoys it and is getting very good at fitting into new surroundings and meeting new friends. We went into Macksville for lunch on Saturday, it poured with rain all day and I had the pleasure of changing a flat tyre in the rain after lunch by the side of the road. Wet?? We are planning on staying here for another three weeks or so, that is when the school term ends, not too sure yet where we will head to from here. Will wait and see if we can get the bus out first!!

Fiji - Rennie

2006-06-14T14:06:00.000+10:00

Here is Rennie's post from Fiji ... We went on a plane to Fiji and we stayed at Zalen and Zahnee’s house. We found a new friend and her name is Lenea. I slept in Zahnee’s room. Andre bout me a t-shirt and it said “ Bula Fiji “ and it had turtles on it. We went to Mololo island resort. I learnt some Fijian words ; Bula – hello

BOWRAVILLE

2006-06-08T12:16:00.000+10:00

Bowraville is about 10 km inland from the coast, south of Coffs (ahem) Harbour, the property we are staying at is another 22 km from there, half of which is a juttery dirt road which winds through the valley. It is a very beautiful part of the world. We are living in a mud brick cottage, it is a friend of a friend’s place and we are going to stop here for a little while. We have enrolled Tal and Rennie at the local school, they started today and are going to catch the school bus home this afternoon, quite a different experience for them, more later. A

FLATHEAD VIC

2006-06-08T12:15:00.000+10:00

When I go fishing there is nothing specific about the type of fish I am trying to catch, if it swims, I’d be happy to have it. I freely admit that I am not a great fisherman, although I do enjoy watching people who know what they are doing. We saw a few examples of expertise on the coast recently, all very different ways to fish. Vic Henry, a 76 year old gentleman we met at Woody Point, N.S.W, fishes exclusively for flathead, a bottom dwelling fish. Vic knows where to find em, his art has been perfected over 50 years, he can actually feel them sucking the bait into their mouth, ready to strike, as he dances from rock to rock like a sprightly mountain goat, casting here and there, in and out, “You’ve gotta make it look alive”, he says, and, “You’ve gotta find them, they wont come lookin’ for you”. That’s all he catches! He went out in the morning and came back with three great flatties, filleted them there and then and gave us enough fish for dinner. Was lovely fish and a pleasure to meet such an energetic guy who is a cunning angler. Thanks for the fishing tips Vic! A younger guy went skin diving around the rocks, had a look around at what was there, then went and got his rod and caught the huge flathead he had found earlier. Another fella was fishing off the rocks, a pretty hairy place to be with the large surf crashing over the rocks as the sets of waves rolled in over the sea. He caught a great size tailor, about 8 kgs, using a lure made from cutting a 6 inch piece of broom stick handle painted silver with a stainless steel rod through it! Unbelievable eh? Quite a few people saw him pull in this monster fish and went over for a look. One of the first guys there said,” Whoa, that’s a horse!”. The fisherman replied, “Yeah, she’s a bit of a chopper!” As we watched him fillet it on the rocks a group of pelicans noticed the goings on and made their way over hoping for a feed. He cut the massive fish skeleton into 5 bits and let the kids throw them to the big beaked birds. “Watch this”, he said as he threw the triangular shaped head to one of them who caught it in his beak, turned it around and swallowed it whole, like a snake swallowing a dog. Funny to see.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

2006-06-08T12:14:00.000+10:00

It is great to be back on the bus again. After over two weeks of sitting in Ros’s garden she started first try and we realised yet again that age is little to do with performance. Our old Bessie did far better than the Subaru, which we had to jump-start when we got back to Brisbane. Fiji was lovely. The wedding went smoothly and was great fun. We all had lots of new experiences. Tal and Rennie got right into snorkelling and were amazed at the world under the ocean, that lay just outside our bure. I often think about the great experiences they are having right now and wonder at how different their lives are compared to A and I in our youth. I grew up blissfully happy on my little island in Scotland and didn’t have the chance to do much of what they are doing until I was an adult. I remember the first time I went snorkelling in the Red Sea when I was in my early twenties. I was blown away! That was the same trip as I flew for the first time, travelled on my own, went to a country outside Europe – all things that our children take in their stride and hardly question. How things have changed. It was wonderful watching and listening to their experience of the trip. They hardly batted an eyelid in Lautoka. A city full of people, words and things far removed from their norm. Even when I asked them, they had little to say except that the people were so friendly. Everyone loved Jarra and it wasn’t unusual to walk into a shop and have him whisked away, to be fawned over for the time we spent there. I think I shocked a few people by offering to sell him to the highest bidder! He was great and handled the extra attention very well despite being kissed and pinched by complete strangers on a regular basis. Being back in Brisbane was loud, busy and fun. I like Brissie as a city. Amazingly it rarely felt rushed, except if you looked out the back of the house onto the road at rush hour. The river and the ferries help to slow things down I suppose, but it is also the people who seem to be fairly relaxed. They have a wicked museum and science museum, small compared to the Melbourne equivalents, but plenty to keep us going all day. On the weekend we took the chance to catch up with some friends from Melbourne who moved to the Sunshine Coast over two years ago – Nicky, Pete, Steph and Dean – and had a lovely day with them. As we won’t be up that way for a while it was great to see them. Asked if they miss Melbourne the answer was evident when we looked at the kids jumping in the pool and running round the garden (in May!). Climate can really make a difference and they are busier socially than they ever were in Melbourne. It is interesting to see how other families go with the whole relocation thing, especially interstate. I look forward to the day we finally settle down somewhere and have a place to call our own, but I also wonder about how it will be to start over again. I seem to have spent most of my life doing just that until I arrived in Australia and settled into life in Melbourne. It was very hard for the first few years and now, just as I have really started to feel connected, we take off on this great adventure. Go figure! Returning to Mullumbimby it was reassuring to see our Bessie sitting there in the sun. “Home again, home again. Jiggity, jig.” We were all relieved to be back in our bus again and pleased to see Ros, Elle, Georgia and Gemma. We met Ros and her lovely family in Nepal ten years ago. She and Paul were travelling through India and Nepal with three young children. We stayed at the same guesthouse and had lots of fun together. Andre and I were so impressed we decided that having children would hardly change anything (little did we really know!), so we tried, became pregnant with Tal and the rest is history. So, it is all down to them and their lovely girls! I haven’t seen Ros since Tal was 9 months old, but she made us feel so welcome. Thank you! The past couple of days we have spent at a most delightful spot on the Northern NSW coast called Woody Heads on the edge of Bundjalung National Park. It was bliss! A place where we all felt happy, content and at peace with the world The campsite is bang on the beach and the beach has a bit of everything for everybody. Great rocks for climbing on, fishing off or just plain looking at, lovely sand for playing in, busy rockpools waiting to be discovered and plenty of bird life including a whole group of pelicans (don’t know the collective noun for pelicans?!) The children played endlessly on the beach and I got to read my book, “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger. It was a great read, an amazing concept. The key character suffers from a rare genetic disorder that means he time travels, without any prior notice, into his past and occasionally his future. It is, I suppose, a love story but I was fascinated with the whole idea of going back and seeing what one was like as a child or what ones parents were like and also how it changes him having to deal with turning up naked somewhere (he can’t take anything with him when he time travels), not knowing when or where you are or how long you will be there. Interesting. H

MULLUMBIMBY

2006-05-31T12:23:00.000+10:00

Just a quick one to let you know our plans for the next couple of weeks. We are enjoying being back on the bus in the relaxed Mullumbimby/ Byron Bay area, have been sorting a few things out, had my 35th. Birthday and are planning our trip south, through Coffs (Excuse me) Harbour to Nambucca Heads. We have been offered the chance to look after a property near there for a while, how long that will be will be decided once we get there. Am sitting in a field with a bus, in a lush green valley, in the nice sunshine, a barbed wire fence separates me from the next field in which is a tree and three very inquisitive cows, two brown ones and a black one……. our neighbours. If they were horses they would be our NEIGHbours. A cow is a funny animal, my perception of a cow has been tainted by the many Gary Larsen cartoons I have read over the years. Until next time, A

Pics

2006-05-31T12:05:00.000+10:00

The bus Helen, Tal and Rennie Jarra Rick and Jane

BULA BULA Part 2

2006-05-31T12:00:00.000+10:00

Thought I would split up the large post into 2 parts, and by the way, we do write with paragraphs but for some reason Blogger is not recognising them so all our words are all squashed together. So, imagine there is a big paragraph starting......HERE..........The wedding was on the beach at sunset the next day, the combination of the bride walking down a pathway made from planting palm fronds in the sand in a row, and the Fijiian choir singing behind us, made it a beautiful experience. The reception was held in the Treetops restaurant and the food was just out of this world. The most amazing selection of fresh seafood, exsquisite salads, fresh fruit and cakes left everyone feeling very full indeed. Tal said it was the best meal he has ever had and I would have to agree with him. It was a lovely night, especially as we had a babysitter from 9pm-12pm. There is a kids club at the resort which Tal and Rennie went to most mornings and had a great time doing different activities there. Jarra was a bit of a stand out, his blonde, curly locks had many women just walking past him reach down to touch his hair, and many men stopping to shake his hand and say “Bula”. He falls asleep most afternoons, usually when we are in a vehicle of some kind, the movement certainly helps, and then we try and find somewhere to lay him down. It must be so funny for him to fall asleep and then wake up somewhere different, like in the Zig Zag restaurant, waking up lying on his back on a hard wooden bench looking up at the lights on the ceiling, or when he fell asleep on the catamaran on the way home from Malolo, we put him in bed in one of the big pontoons. He slept for 2 hours and woke up in a fibreglass shell moving up and down in the swell. There is something special about spending time on tropical islands, the blue of the water under clear skies and wonderful sunsets each evening. The Fijiians are very musical, at all the resorts there was guitar players and singers at almost every meal and at visitor’s arrivals and departures, and their hospitality was first class, even though they get paid peanuts compared to what we are used to. The country is comprised of half Fijiians and half Indians. There is quite some hostility between the two races, the Indians looking down on the others as not being in the same class as themselves while the Fijiians do not like the attitude of their wealthier counterparts. Between First Landing and the refinery is a marina where many yachts from around the world are moored. Jarra and I spent a couple of early mornings walking around having a look at them, a very different way of life. I spoke to an American couple who have been away for 2 years and plan to spend another 3 years sailing around the world, a bit different to life on a bus but similar in many ways. It would be fun to do, maybe one day we will, although I would have to grow some potatoes on the roof so we could have fish and chips whenever we wanted. We did a lot of snorkelling while we were away. It was just awesome, the coral was brilliant, many different types of tropical fish, the water as warm as a bath, and just floating about, the only sounds your breathing and heart beat, looking into another world. Very relaxing and amazing. Helen and I also had our first try on a jet ski, I am still smiling from the experience, it is like riding a motorbike with no helmet, no traffic and no worries, on a vast, flat, expanse of blue water, riding into the sunset on a 500cc, 2 stroke machine, cool…… The kids spent so much time in the water, on the beaches and in pools, their swimming is really coming along well and they are so happy in that environment. A chain of shops in Fiji is called Rups Big Bear. It is like a $2 shop, full of cheap household goods, their iconic large brown fibreglass bear on top of the awning is quite a sight to see. Thanks once again to Zac and Sandra for having us. Zac’s skills at arguing a point of view are quite something, even if the view is preposterous (in my view, of course!), he will find a way to try and persuade the rest of us and it is good fun. It is nice to be home again, although a lot colder than Fiji, the bus started first turn of the key and we are excited to see what happens next!!

BULA BULA Part 1

2006-05-31T11:58:00.000+10:00

“Bula” is the Fijiian equivalent of “Hello”, but it is normally spoken with a lit up face and sparkling eyes, like “Surprise!”, subsequently you reply in the same manner. It is much nicer than the commonplace mumbling of… “Morning” ….that we are used to. When we landed in Nadi (prounounced Nandi), we were met by four men in traditional floral shirts singing happily with guitars which was a lovely way to be welcomed to the country and brought smiles to us all. Zac and Sandra were there to pick us up, they are friends from home, Rennie and their son Zalen went to kindergarten together and Helen and Zac were on the committee together as president and vice. Got some local currency and were a bit surprised to see the Queen on all the notes and coins. The road from the airport to Zac and Sandra’s house was a rough and bumpy single carriageway full of potholes and with occasional speed humps, lined by fields of sugarcane, which seems to grow very well in the humid conditions. Smoky vehicles lacking maintenance rumbled along, spewing clouds of diesel fumes and overtaking at inopportune times, the odour and traffic bringing back memories of travelling in India. When we slowed down while passing some roadwork, Zac explained that they were just making new potholes! He is quite a character. We went out for dinner on our first night there, Chinese of course, and after a nice and cheap meal we flagged a taxi to take us the 15km home. The driver stopped and put in 3.5 litres of fuel at the Mopil service station (the “b” had fallen upside down), which might have just been enough to get him there and back. Zac and Sandra bought into a watersports business last year and decided to move to Fiji for a year or so to work there and let their kids experience a different culture. The house they are living in is a girls stone throw from the beach, next to the First Landing Resort, which unfortunately is just next to a large petro chemical refinery. They have a couple of fishing boats, some jet skis, kayaks and the pride of the fleet, a large catamaran yacht named Wanaka (lucky the extra A is in there!). These are to take tourists on snorkelling trips, island hopping, fishing trips etc. Luckily for us they took us over to Malolo Island where we were to stay for three days for Rick and Janes wedding, the reason we went to Fiji in the first place. I say luckily as the transfer costs are quite steep, and once you are on an island they certainly take advantage of the fact that you are isolated and rely on their services unanimously. The boat trip to Malolo would have been a lot calmer if we had left earlier in the day, but by 2 pm when we departed the seas were quite choppy which meant our smallish vessel was being tossed about and we were riding up the waves and crashing, BANG, onto the next. Rennie curled up in her oversize life jacket like a turtle, Tal huddled down on the side to keep dry, I was up the front, trying to add a bit of weight to the prow?? riding the waves like a surfer while hanging on with white knuckles to try and miss the bone jarring whacks if seated , all while Jarra slept in Helens arms, oblivious to the soaking we were receiving. Was a funny 45 minute trip and we were glad to arrive at Malolo. It was quite a reminder of the power of the ocean.

THE CARS HISS BY MY WINDOW

2006-05-14T15:53:00.000+10:00

Jim Morrison from the Doors wrote one of my favorite songs, a great blues ballad called “The cars hiss by my window”, (like the waves upon the sea, da da da da dum da dum dum…………………..) He obviously did not live where we are residing in Brisbane, as it would have been a very different lyric altogether. We are lucky to be staying 8 mins from the centre of Brisbane in a very modern, 3 level townhouse which backs on to Old Cleveland Road, a fairly major route by the sounds of the non-stop traffic. It is strange to fall asleep and wake up to the sound of motors accelerating uphill and not the sounds of birds, wind and nature, I know which one I prefer. Brisbane is a very hilly city with many old weatherboard houses, mostly built on stilts, the suburbs being quite a contrast to the city we have seen so far which is a vibrant, modern, angular looking place, with many one way streets. The Brisbane River which snakes through the city seems to be an integral feature, with ferry services moving people comfortably and peacefully to and fro. The Citycat is a catamaran which just oozes power and cruises smoothly and effortlessly through the greenish waterway. On the south side, opposite the CBD is the surprisingly named “Southbank” which is quite an amazing area of various entertainment venues including a tropical lagoon surrounded by beach sand and palm trees, cafes, ampitheatres, museums, Imax theatre, rainforest walks, cultural displays, sculpture and much more. The weather is nice and warm about 25 degrees every day so far, makes me feel a bit guilty when I see Melbourne’s chilly, wintery weather. Oh well….. It is funny to be sleeping in a real bed in a real house for the first time in 3 months, I suppose it is like a sailor reaching land after a time at sea. I have become so used to feeling every movement at night, when one of the children rolls over in bed we can feel it at the front of the bus. Went to the Botanical Gardens for our Mother’s Day lunch today, tall palms and lush rain forest filtering the strong sun to leave dappled sunlight along the pathways. This time tomorrow we will be in Fiji and everyone is excited. There is a good chance that we will not have access to the internet for the next couple of weeks, so while we are away check out some of the other blogs on www.blogger.com. There are some amazingly different blogs out there, a whole new world. On the home page there are some that are recommended. One of our favourites is www.oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com Please keep in touch, we do appreciate news from home, so either leave us a comment or send an email all call!!

Tal on a walk

2006-05-08T20:08:00.000+10:00

Rennie on a walk

2006-05-08T20:06:00.000+10:00

Our new toy!!

2006-05-08T19:58:00.000+10:00

Sawn Rock

2006-05-08T19:57:00.000+10:00

MT.SUPERBUS

2006-05-08T19:51:00.000+10:00

From Warwick we ventured 45 km East through Loch Lomond, Killarney and up the steep 7km ascent to the Queen Mary Waterfalls where the many king parrots and the beautiful red and blue rosellas were happy to come and eat out of our hands. It is a beautiful waterfall and the kids enjoyed the 2km circuit walk through the rainforest from the top to the bottom of the valley and up the other side. We left the next morning for Brisbane after stopping at a café at the top of the road which looked right out over the valley. I am going to call the ACCC and lodge a complaint about the false advertising on the café’s sign out the front. It advertised gorgeous waitresses, well; she was a nice enough girl, but far from gorgeous. So we started passing signs to Mt. Superbus. I thought it was Mount Super Bus but later realised it was Mt. “Superb“ us, although we could have done with a super bus to get up there. On the road to Brisbane you go down Cunningham’s Gap which is a steep, windy descent of about 6 km, got to be careful that the brakes do not heat up too much as they can fail. For this purpose there is a run off area for heavy vehicles that suffer brake fade, which is a long, uphill driveway of sand/gravel. Glade we went down the Gap and not up! We made it to Ipswich that afternoon, 40 km from Brisbane and found it to be quite a cultural backwater, it was not too long before visions of Frankston came to mind. We did not see a lot of Ipswich and left the next morning after some interesting reversing manoeuvres to get out of the caravan park. Phew, we arrived in Brisbane at last but we could not find a caravan park that would fit us in so we parked in the street outside Rick and Janes place, our friends who are getting married in Fiji, and spent the evening with them, it was far better staying there than in a caravan park miles away. There are quite a few people to visit around here so off to Geoff (an old hockey mate of mine) and Kristys place for Saturday and parked outside their place in Mudgareeba. Picked up some nice pies from Yatala on the way and had them for lunch with Geoff and went to Brians, another friends place for dinner. What socialites eh? Cruised south on the Pacific Highway to Mullumbimby to visit Ros and Elly, people we met in Nepal almost 10 years ago, we will be based here for a few days and are leaving the bus here while we go to Fiji. Missed the turn off to here and tried to find somewhere to turn around. Eventually attempted a three point turn and managed to squash our bikes between the bus and trailer, ending up with Helens and my bikes back wheels trashed, more lessons learnt. It is a beautiful area around here, we are going to head in to Byron Bay today for a look around. Hope things are treating you all well.

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?

2006-05-05T15:29:00.000+10:00

A great lyric from Pink Floyd that I have been thinking about during various moments on this trip. It might have something to do with us having visited the radio telescopes, discovering many amazing facts about our known universe there and also spending so much time under clear, star filled skies, giving us plenty of opportunities to gaze at the heavens as man has done since the beginning of time. I think I have taken a lot of things for granted in my life, as a lot of people do, without really appreciating how special and amazing our lives can be. I suppose having more time to ourselves and being closer to nature has given me the opportunity to wonder at the ways of the world in a way that I have not really appreciated before. I have been drawing a lot of inspiration from nature’s patterns and have a new bank of ideas for future artwork. I can see why people with religious beliefs believe that “God” made the world, but that is too simplistic for me. When I was playing golf with Matt Bowker a few months ago I asked him about his thoughts on these matters as he is a very wise fellow who’s opinions I value. He reckons that there is definitely some other life form out there on one of the billion or so stars and planets we know of, but he doubts that they would be hitting a little, dimpled white ball around a large grassy area into holes not much bigger than the ball itself. What intelligent creatures we are………. When it gets dark outside we close the curtains and we could be anywhere in the world really, it is certainly home now and we are comfortable in our own wee space. We then wake up in the morning with our view, wherever that may be. I don’t think I mentioned that in Moree we spent some nice relaxing time in the artesian spas at the caravan park. Luckily for Moree, their town is situated on an artesian basin which most businesses drill down into so as to offer hot spas to their customers. Moree does not have too much else to offer that we could see. Jarra loved swimming around with his new flotation device but when we got to Goondiwindi that afternoon we went for a swim in a freezing cold pool which Jarra just jumped into and he freaked, he was expecting the warm temperatures of the Moree pools. So from Moree to Goondiwindi then on to Inglewood where we stayed a night in the laneway next to Nev’s place. Neville was the supervisor I dealt with for many years at the roofing company that I contracted to in Melbourne and he moved up to here last year with his wife Anne and his daughter Kiara and is enjoying living in a small town. We all had a counter meal and a good laugh together at the local. Nev also introduced us to a new type of prickle, the galvanised burr, a grass seed covered in spikes like a little round porcupine, snasty. The drive to Warwick was easy the next day and what a lovely town it is, we stayed 15 kms out of town next to Leslie Dam, where there was a lovely backdrop of mountains which the sun set behind. We went to the very modern aquatic centre after lunch on Tuesday and were the only people there, it was very funny having the whole place to ourselves, the 25 metre lap pool, the kids learn to swim pool and the excellent pool that was like a river flowing through a circuit of channels that swept you along, great fun. Just to finish off we must relate to you the Roddy McCloud story that was on an information plague in the park in Inglewood. There were many plaques next to the path on the walk around the park there that gave information on different aspects of Inglewood’s history but this one took the cake. Enjoy!! Roderick McCloud was the owner of “Terrica”, a sheep station 55km east of Inglewood during the 1890’s. One morning, when mustering the brumbies, he fell from his horse and completely scalped himself. He pulled himself together and instructed the team to continue the muster without him. After the brumbies were securely yarded, Roderick McCloud was rescued and his teenage son Scott took the sulky 60 km to Stanthorpe to get the Doctor. Having pulled the skin back, he pulled his hat on hard to hold the skin in place and went back to work waiting for the Doctor. The Doctor arrived that night and McCloud asked his wife Pettie to hold the lantern while the Doctor stitched the skin back. She was unable to stop shaking at the sight of it. McCloud barked “Pettie, I will hold the candle as you are trembling too much for the Doctor to set the stitching”. Dissatisfied with the number of stitches (as he felt they were too wide apart) he instructed the Doctor to put in more stitches. All this was done without anaesthetic or disinfectant. When men were men eh?

Life on a bus.

2006-05-05T15:27:00.000+10:00

Everywhere we go people notice us. Now when we talk to anyone at sites etc I just say that we are on the bus. The usual response is “ Oh, the big bus!” Then when we answer their questions as to what we are doing, the usual answer to that is “ You are so lucky. I would love to do that.” Are we really just lucky? At first I used to just agree with people, but now I talk about the choices we have made etc., because really luck has had very little to do with anything actually – except perhaps in the purchase of our wonderful Bessie bus, but I personally think that was meant to be to help us meet the wonderful Smith family who sold her to us! A desire to travel again like we both did when we were younger, before children; a belief in the need for our children to get to know the wonderful country that they have been born in; a need to expand our thinking and ideas and show our children the diversity that they are part of; a chance for Andre to be inspired to create even more wonderful artwork; the courage to sell our home, relinquish our security and friends for a time; all of these have played a part in where we are now. So to any of you reading this and thinking how lucky we are, I say “Just do it!” We are all learning so much, especially about each other and as a family we are growing closer all the time – a necessity on the bus! The children have their moments, but overall are becoming intrinsic contributors to our day-to-day existence. They are learning so many new facts, having so many new experiences and are reading so much that I am finding it hard to keep up with them. I am glad we are able to take this as a year out, as I think the need for regular study would change the trip entirely and be difficult with Jarra. Even keeping their journals going is a bit of an effort. Another realisation is that we, Andre and I, really need one another. There is no way we could do this on our own. We constantly tag-team, especially with Jarra, but also with everything else. Andre is the fix it man though and usually can create something to fix any problems we may have. It really helps to have a very practical outlook and experience with making and mending things to get the most out of your trip and he is never happier than when he is solving some minor problem. In an ironic twist I am missing two things that are pole opposites – time on my own and talking to friends, even just talking to people past the usual “Hello”. We spend a lot of our time all together and as it is dark by six, pretty chilly and we are exhausted, we often fall into bed early at nine or ten…. so not much chance of socialising. I hope as we get into warmer climes we will venture outside the bus more in the evening. So far we haven’t met many people our own age. Most of the residents in the campsites are much older couples who keep to themselves a bit. We will see how things go.H

Queensland

2006-04-30T21:48:00.000+10:00

Tal has really taken to learning to cook lately and is helping so much, he especially enjoys lighting the gas burners (pyromania?) When we left Coonabarabran I missed the turn off for Narrabri and I only realised we were on the wrong road after 25kms of some very steep up and down hills, very frustrating having to turn around and retrace our steps and ended up being a long day in the bus. She is not the fastest vehicle on this earth but we are getting there. We drove the car out from Narrabri to the Mt. Kaputar National Park to see “Sawn Rock”, an amazing example of the rock formation commonly known as organ piping. Columns of six sided basalt standing vertically on a cliff face, some having fallen down to the ground beneath and lying on interesting angles, quite a phenomonem. Have been collecting some great pictures of post boxes lately, the lengths some people go to is quite amazing and it keeps us looking as we are travelling. We have about a dozen beauties so far and I hope to get about 100 pictures by the end of our trip and maybe make a book of them. Rennie lost her two bottom teeth last week, they were very wobbly and she actually pulled them out herself, one day apart, maybe she will become a dentist? She also caught her first fish this morning at the caravan park in Goondiwindi, they have a dam at the back that they have stocked with fish. It is a great place here, they cook pancakes for the whole campsite on Sunday mornings, you bring your own plates and have a great feed. It has just started raining here, the first bit of rain we have seen for some time, and with the palm trees becoming more abundant we can tell we are heading into the tropics. It was Jarra’s 2nd. Birthday last week and I gave him some chocolate and marshmallows for breakfast, much to Helen’s surprise.

PIG CHASER

2006-04-30T21:47:00.000+10:00

G’day Dame (Damian) here, I’m a pig chaser and me dad’s a roo shooter, we are getting’ a dollar a kilo at the moment, which is really good, and there’s heaps of work around. Had to go to town today to pick up some paperwork. Got meself into a bit of trouble ya see. Goin’ to court in a coupla weeks, but me brief reckons I’ll get off, no worries. Got a lift on me way back from this family in a bus, was waitin’ for arf an hour for a lift so I really appreciated them pickin’ me up, and we had a great chat as well. I had had a few but we had a good laugh anyhow, and I was their first hitcher on their trip…..cool eh? Their little fella sittin’ behind me was a beauty, I’ve gotta couple of kids meself ya know, but me and the missus aint getting on too well at the moment and we are livin’apart, I’m drinking too much ya see. Sorry about the swearin’ with the kids and all that, gotta try and remember. The sheila sitting next to me had an accent. Scottish she was, and a vegetarian too, no wonder there was silence when I was talkin’ about huntin’ pigs. I started to wind her up too, saying how good echidnas were to eat! Even her hubby who was drivin’ believed me for a minute! Ha! Ya goin’ to Moree are ya? Go to them hot spas, they are great. But I don’t like all those chinese that go there. No, I am not racist, just a few races I don’t like. Yeah I understand where you are coming from but I still don’t like em. Me dog got ripped a bit by this big pig he ran down the other day, so I’ve gotta let him rest up a bit now. I reckon what these people are doin’ is great, s’really got me thinkin’ about doin’ some travellin’ meself now. Just let me off at these silos coming up thanks. Am goin’ to me mates place and then we’ll go to the pub for a few. We’ll go and try and get us a few pigs after that. Hey thanks a lot for the lift, happy travels. .

Cotton pickin', telescopes and toilets.

2006-04-30T21:46:00.000+10:00

We are now camped on the shores of Lake Yarrie – alleged Mecca for over 80 species of bird, but unfortunately most of them seem to have gone off travelling elsewhere. Having said that, this is a lovely spot. Peaceful and quiet, with very few other campers. We are about 25 kms out of Narrabri (“forked waters”) and just down the road from Wee Waa, home of cotton country. We have arrived just as the cotton picking has started and this morning we had a look at some of the huge fields of cotton growing. A sea of brown, dotted with little balls of soft fluffy cotton, just as if there had been a light fall of snow. All along the roadside are huge bails topped with blue tarp, big enough to fill a truck each, waiting to be taken away. When we asked the children what cotton was we had some interesting answers. They had never really thought about “cotton” wool or “cotton” buds and it was only when they had the cotton in their hands that they really put 2 and 2 together. Later we visited the cotton museum where we learned everything there is to know about cotton – apart from any negative impact on the environment. A lot of space was given to the benefits of using GM cottonseed and a persuasive argument set, but the old cynic in me thinks there was a lot they didn’t tell us. Anyway, the industry has certainly had to clean itself up in the last decade or so and it is good that less spraying is going on. We learnt a few interesting facts though… Cotton is used in American and Japanese banknotes, margarine, paper, soap, explosives and tents. One cotton bale weighs 227kg and can make 4,321 pairs of socks. Two billion dollars of cotton is exported each year. Only America and Uzbekistan export more cotton than Australia. From there it was on to the CSIRO Australia Telescope, just down the road. This complex was just as impressive as Parkes in it’s own way. Write more later.

WARRUMBUNGLES

2006-04-26T14:38:00.000+10:00

It is nice to once again be out in the bush, surrounded by nature, mobs of kangaroos and emus grazing on the flats next to our camp, with the backdrop of the rugged mountains that are the Warrumbungles, which means jagged mountain in Aboriginal. On the drive here from Dubbo we passed through Gilgandra where the flat expanses started to give way to some rolling hills. It is quite lush and green around these parts, an added contrast to the flat dry plains we have been travelling through for the past month or so. The dark and dramatic outline of the Bungles appeared as we passed the turn off to Wallumburrawang, turned left at Tooraweenah and then right again at Gummin Gummin, and made it to Camp Blackman in the afternoon. A very picturesque setting with the sounds of kookaburras, carrawongs and other birds a constant soundtrack to the magnificent view. Jarra is becoming used to life on the move and has been sleeping well lately, he is even putting himself to bed at night time. We have resorted to taking him for a drive in the afternoon so that he falls asleep and we then transfer him to his bed, he does not think that he needs an afternoon nap but he gets quite feral without it. We reckon we are spending as much money on petrol to get him to sleep as we used to on family day care for him!! More in the next post about Tal cooking Post boxes Rennie losing her teeth Yarrie Lake Wrong turn oops, bad hills Jarra’s Birthday

T.C, RULING THE HOUSE

2006-04-26T14:37:00.000+10:00

Spoke to the Hodges a couple of days ago to find out that our old cat T.C is now ruling their house, he has the dogs, geese and other animals all worked out and is sleeping on the end of Dave and Cara’s bed, we are very happy that he is happy. Our water pump completed it’s interstate journey this morning and is currently being reinstalled onto the front of the motor. I must admit that I was starting to get a bit worried that we might be stuck here in Dubbo for a while longer but it looks like we will be back on our way tomorrow. The light from the control tower at the airport has been cutting across the clear skies the last couple of nights and the moon has also been lighting up the night. Had a big electrical storm last night which brought a lot of rain but the strength of the sun in the morning soon had everything dry quickly. Visited Jedda Boomerangs the other day and the kids decorated one each with a hot wire instrument, we then learnt how to throw them properly, it was very interesting and quite easy to learn. They are thrown at a flock of birds in the distance and if it comes back it means you have missed! To check which way the wind is blowing you kick up a bit of dust and see which way it blows as a boomerang is thrown into the wind on a 45 degree angle. We have discovered the Melbourne band Cat Empire, and are enjoying listening to their funky tunes, if you haven’t heard them, they are well worth a listen. A great book we have read recently is The Kite Runner, which we would both recommend. The Wellington Caves complex which we went to yesterday is quite incredible, the Cathedral Cave has one of the worlds largest stalagmites, about 15 metres tall and 30 metres around the base. Considering that they grow at a rate of an inch each 100 years what we were looking at was incredibly old. The cave system was well lit and the series of caverns spread to 45 metres under ground. There is also a huge sculpture at the turn off to the caves called The Pod. It is made of steel, rock and some lovely mosaic, designed by an Aboriginal artist and created by a collaboration of local artists and the main steel girders were from a bridge in the area which collapsed in 1989 We are getting a refund for our canoe this morning, minus a bit, their policy is to not give refunds, only exchanges, so we had to lose about 10%, a lesson learnt. *****COUPLE OF DAYS LATER******* Well, it was a bit of a saga with the water pump, the one we received back was not our original one which was meant to be reconditioned, the guy who normally does them was away so they sent one off the shelf. It did not quite fit properly and after about 15 phone calls back and forwards to the suppliers and speaking to various different people in different states we finally came up with a solution. So, 24 hours later Matthew the young mechanic brought it back after grinding a section off which then allowed it to fit, we were ready to rock and roll (and pump water through the motor) once again. He had spent about 12 hours altogether working on it and he charged us four hours which was great. It was about 1.30pm by the time we finally left Dubbo so we did not plan to travel too far. There is a nice camp spot we found about 10 km North of Dubbo, next to a river and we had a beautiful dinner last night of barbecued tuna steaks on a bed of mash potato with fresh stir fried vegies, yum. We tried to catch a few fish but had no luck. Was a very cold night, our thermometer says it was minus 4 this morning, we know it is cold when we can see our breath, but the sun is shining brightly now at 8.20am, have had some nice porridge and are ready for the day ahead. It is really nice to be back in the bush after being stuck in a caravan park for the last 9 days or so, but we did have a good time in Dubbo. Found out some different names for those wicked prickles, some people call them cats heads and others three corner jacks, which gets shortened to three corn jacks, whatever they are called they are very nasty.

THREE THORN JACKS

2006-04-18T14:47:00.000+10:00

The sign on the road as you approach Dubbo claims that it is the home to Australia’s best meat pie, something to really hang your hat on I suppose. I would like to counter that claim and say that it must be the home to Australia’s worst prickles, a fact we have discovered in a couple of ways. There are two main sorts, your normal grass prickles that latch on to your socks and end up everywhere, and these monstrous things called three thorn jacks which are wicked. Tal has had 2 punctures and Rennie 3 in a couple of days riding around the caravan park, we have heard that they can also puncture truck tyres, so we ended up going to the bike shop and buying some thorn resistant tubes!! They are made from thick, heavy rubber and I also used the old tubes as liners inside the tyres, am getting sick of repairing punctures, something I could now probably do blindfolded. We are just waiting for our water pump to return from its journey to Melbourne so we can get back on the road again, it has been nice to be in the one spot for a while and the kids have had a great time playing with the many kids during Easter when the caravan park was full of families. We are adapting well to our new surroundings at each new place we stop at and are getting into a comfortable routine, and enjoying the different communities we pass through and become involved with. Our canoe turned out to be quite a debacle which we hope to sort out this morning. We got her in the river on Saturday and all hopped in and it was so unstable that we were lucky not to all end up in the drink. We only went about 20 metres before turning back to shore with white knuckled kids hanging on for dear life and took it straight back to the shop, where we are trying to work out how to get our money back. It was very disappointing as we were so excited about our new red canoe and the adventures it would provide. We did not even have to warm it up, as we all know, you can not have your kayak and heat it too………. Check out Tal’s latest post on his blog, just click on the link on the right.

I LOVE DUBBO

2006-04-18T14:46:00.000+10:00

This is what we were met with everywhere we looked when we ventured into Dubbo for the first time on Wednesday. The library staff all wore these t-shirts, as did every third or fourth person we saw. We were very curious and eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I asked someone what it was all about. “Just a local promotion to counteract the bad press/reputation that Dubbo has had recently and to raise funds for charity.” I was told. Nice idea and it certainly caught our attention; we were beginning to wonder about the place!! We have spent the last couple of days at the zoo as planned, despite waking up both mornings to the rain. After almost complete dry weather for the past month or so, it seemed a tad ironic to waken up to the gentle pitter-patter of the rain on the roof of the bus. But the rain is so important that you have to smile and I have to admit that any hotter yesterday and we would have struggled to cycle round the zoo. We took our own bikes (saving $60) and it was definitely the way to go. Western Plains is about a 6 km circuit, but after we finished I reckon we had covered almost double that. Highlights of the day were: • Feeding the giraffes pieces of carrot on their long, strong, curly blue tongues. Pretty tickly and wet! Jarra’s face was priceless! • Watching the otters tuck into their morning tea. They were even cuter than the meerkats. Otters have such beautiful faces and are so inquisitive. We all loved them. • The display at lunchtime by the siamang apes. A family live on a couple of little islands and at feeding times the keeper drops the wires that connect the two islands so that they can check out their home while we get front row seats to watch them singing and swinging on the other island. Their territorial booming is so loud that they can be heard up to 4km away!! • Andre being eaten by the deer in the children’s zoo! They seemed to think he tasted really delicious and kept on coming back for more. Rennie wasn’t too impressed when one decided to give her t-shirt a taste! • Learning that elephants sleep standing up. Did you know that? It is a great idea that the ticket allows access over two days. Today we took the video camera and filmed all our favourites, had lunch and were back by 1.30 to chill out at the caravan park. There are lots of kids here now and our kids are not going to be short of someone to play with this weekend. I am missing our open spaces though and after so long at campsites, Andre and I at least are looking forward to getting to the Warumbungles National Park north of here. Our other excitement is our new RED canoe – red ones go better or so Tal and Andre reliably inform me??? On Wednesday we finally found just the one and bought all the jackets etc and are now set to go. So over the weekend we will go for a paddle down the river. Buying the jackets I was amazed at the fact that Jarra’s one was double the price of ours and three times the price of the kids. Just hoping he enjoys wearing it. Saturday pm. We all got really excited. Today was the day to baptise the new canoe. Drove down to the local boat ramp on the river, donned the jackets, put on the cream, got the drinks and snacks ready, unloaded the canoe, got in the water and after about 20m had to turn round and come back. How disappointing!! The whole canoe felt extremely unstable and kept on listing from side to side, dipping down to about an inch above the water. Needless to say we went straight back to the outdoors shop and will now have to wait until Tuesday before they can order us something else in. Aaarghh!

Some Photos

2006-04-12T12:10:00.000+10:00

Auskick(Crows Yuk) Shadows Possum feeding Rennie Talvale Percy the penguin

ANYONE GOT A SPARE WATER PUMP?

2006-04-12T11:51:00.000+10:00

Tal and I drove back to Forbes to attend our first Auskick session of the year, we are going to try and find a clinic each weekend wherever we are and take part. It was a fairly small Auskick compared to what we are used to in Melbourne, there were 32 kids and they split into 2 groups, 8 yrs and older, and under 8’s. I was very proud of how Tal handled himself in the new environment, there was a 10 year old called Liam who was very rough and threw Tal to the ground in a few tackles, but Tal would not leave him alone, tagged him closely and gave him back some of his own whenever the bigger kid got the ball, was very funny to watch the two of them, I don’t think Liam was used to anyone not shying away from him. That afternoon I went to have a quick look at a rugby league match just near our caravan park. There was a very different feel to the crowd than at an AFL match, quite laid back. Had a nice round of golf on Monday arvo at the Parkes golf course, played with Jim Buckley, a local who was a very nice guy and he gave me a lift back to the bus, thanks Jim! We drove 20 km out of town on Monday to visit The Dish, the largest radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere and it really is quite impressive, a funny movie was made a few years ago about the part that The Dish (title of movie) played in bringing pictures of the first moon landing to the world. While Tal and Rennie watched a 3D movie about space in the next theatre, Helen, Jarra and I saw an informative 20 min movie all about the Dish and how it works. Helen and I were both amazed at some of the facts about the vastness of our universe like : Light year = how far light travels in a year at the rate of 300,000 km/second OR 9,642,000,000,000km ; the moon is 1 light second away, the sun is 8 light minutes away, our closest star is 4 light years away which is Alpha Centuri which is one of the pointers for the Southern Cross, it really makes you think about how vast our universe is. The other amazing fact is that the amount of light that they study there in a year would light up a 100 watt light bulb for about 1 millionth of a second. On the way home through the massive roadworks on the Newell Highway which was Jarra’s highlight of the day, heaps of diggers, rollers, compactors, bull dozers and other assorted roadmaking equipment, all of which he loves, Helen was telling the kids about when she was young, going to work with her Dad when he was working on the roads back on Mull. She mentioned that she did not even get car sick on the drive there as it would have been the last time her Dad would have taken her in his work truck. Rennie asked from the back seat,”but did you get truck sick Mum?” We left Parkes this morning after seeing Troy the truck mechanic at Triple T’s truck repairs. As I was doing the pre-trip check I noticed a little water leak coming from the water pump so made a few phone calls and found Troy who said he would have a look at it, but only after they had finished their smoko. Smoko consisted of five rather large, bearded mechanics in their greasy overalls sitting around a small table in a tiny, dark, dingy and extremely smoky room, with pictures of semi-naked women adorning the walls. After consulting with Troy we decided to nurse her to Dubbo as finding any parts for a water pump like ours around there was about as easy as finding rocking horse poo, he said. Saw a sign on the way to Dubbo that said 942km to Brisbane, not too far to go now, we are starting to get excited about our trip to Fiji, we so need a holiday at the moment!!! Ha! Fixed the plumbing problem at last, it was Plan F that finally worked, incorporating some of Plan D as well. In Dubbo I found Ray Payne in the Yellow Pages and he is sending his young bloke Matthew around tomorrow morning to pull out the water pump. I will then send it to Don Kyatts Spare parts in Sydney, who will send it to Melbourne to be repaired. It will then be sent back to us the same way and re-installed after Easter. So we have about a week here in Dubbo, we got the last site in the caravan park here, it is fairly ordinary and next to the airport (which is handy if you want to squeeze into a sardine tin with wings and fly somewhere) and the juvenile detention centre ( which might come in handy if the kids play up too much), but all the other ones in Dubbo were booked out as the school holidays start in NSW after Easter. We plan to spend a couple of days at the Western Plains Zoo which we have heard a lot of good things about, we are also expecting some mail at the Post Office which is quite exciting. There is a place near here that has boomerang making and throwing lessons that we might check out as well. NEXT MORNING Went for a run to the airport down the road this morning, I love the smell of aviation fuel in the morning…….. It was quite lucky that I did end up there as I had an early morning call and the toilet in the departure lounge seemed an appropriate place to go. Matthew the young mechanic was here bang on 8.30 am and had the water pump out by 9.15, a very nice, quiet young guy. So glad I did not attempt it myself as I fleetingly considered. So it is back on its way to Melbourne for a new seal ARF ARF.

PARKes RAGE

2006-04-10T13:43:00.000+10:00

Today I experienced the down side of staying at a caravan park. A little after nine this morning I went to the laundry to put on a load of washing, to discover that there was a load in and another appeared to be waiting. I duly stashed my basket and took my place in the queue as only one machine is working at the moment. At 11.50 am I finally got my washing in the machine. I swear there was a conspiracy against me! Every time I headed back to check how much longer to go, I was told that it still wasn’t my turn and to come back a little later. By the time “later” had spun out to more than 2 and a half hours, I was feeling a little tetchy and just to keep me on my toes the machine stopped mid cycle and I had to do a bit of jiggling to get things going again. In the midst of this I was told that park etiquette says that one must wait for ones place in the queue – not really feasible when you have young children. Having said all that feeling annoyed didn’t last long as I went and read some of my book in the sun and played with Rennie and Jarra and realised life is too short to worry about such stuff. The washing got done in the end and a few other jobs as well!! I think it will be a bit of time yet before I lose all my city expectations though. Like being able to go out for a coffee on a Sunday afternoon – just not possible in Parkes. Some things we really do take so much for granted… We have decided to stay an extra day here as T & R have hooked up with Nathan and Zac, two young guys who live here at the park. They have all played so well together over the past few days and have really enjoyed each other’s company, that it is worth staying another night. Tomorrow we will head out to see the “Dish”, which will hopefully be interesting. I wanted to mention the book I have just finished called “English Passengers” by Matthew Knealy, which was recommended by Matt and Soph at Kangaroobie. It is a fascinating historical novel set in the early 1800s, told through the eyes of a number of people connected to Tasmania -Van Diemens Land, as it was then known. The ignorance that was portrayed about the Aborigine population is especially highlighted and the arrogance of the English, but it also opens your eyes to the amazing abilities of the Aboriginal people and gives a clear account of the misunderstandings of the times. The night after I finished the book, which also is very humorous in parts too, I picked up the book “Going Bush - Adventures Across Indigenous Australia” and there looking back at me on pg. 205 was one of the main characters of the book Peevay. If you get the chance check it out. The young lad in the photo taken in 2004 stood out in just the same way that Peevay did all those years ago. I hope the young one has a happier life than Peevay and that he experiences little of the said ignorance and arrogance I mentioned, but sad to say I am not sure that he will, even 150 years on. Here’s hoping. Watched a little more of The Three Stooges tonight with the kids and it was lovely to all laugh together. The kids just love them. It has brought back happy memories of tuning in each week on a Saturday teatime to watch Laurel & Hardy with my family and laughing until we ached. I will endeavour to find a DVD of L&H. So much laughter MUST be good for the soul.

OUR FIRST SCALP!

2006-04-10T13:41:00.000+10:00

On the road from Narrandera to Forbes we were stuck behind a small truck with a large caged trailer surprisingly even less aerodynamic than us. Our top speed being about 5 km/hr more than him he finally got on the UHF radio and offered us the chance to go ahead. We found the right spot and got out the whip, racehorse style, “Come on Baby”, and overtook our first vehicle, a cause of some celebration as there is someone out there slower than us. I feel like painting a symbol of a truck on the side of the bus as our first “kill”! I spoke to Phil, the guy we bought the bus off and he said that they had kept a tally and had overtaken 17 vehicles on their trip around the massive stone. A massive congratulations to our good friends Ty, Matt, Willow and Thommo who took part in the Oxfam Trailwalker yesterday, attempting to walk 100 km in 24 hours. They completed 90km in 17 hours and arrived at the bottom of Mount Donna Buang at midnight in very ordinary weather, unfortunately the SES (State Emergency Service) and the Police had closed the mountain for safety reasons due to the rain and asked the teams to wait until daylight (7hours) when they would reassess the situation. The team retired as there was no guarantee that they would be able to continue. Even more impressive I reckon is that on the way they each ate 25 apples, 16 bananas, 8 litres of water, 4 litres of Gatorade, and assorted sandwiches, energy bars and more. Great effort Fellas, we are all very proud of you. Tomorrow morning Tal and I are heading back to Forbes for his first Auskick session of the year. We are going to try and track down Auskick centres along the way and join in the footy training where and when we can. Have been spending some time and effort trying to iron out a few bugs on the bus. One being the water coming through the overflow pipe when you let the plug out of the sink. Have tried two different ideas with no success, it is very draining……. I have got another plan which I will try tomorrow. Talking about ironing out bugs, we have collected quite a variety on the radiator’s mesh screen on the front of the bus. So we arrived in Parkes, quite a nice town and the home of the Southern hemispheres largest radio telescope, ironically we can’t get reception on the ABC so as to watch The Bill tonight, how disappointing. An interesting feature of the last few towns is the method of parking in the main streets, one of which is aptly named Bogan Street, Ha! It is 45 degree angle parking but you back your car in, ie. rear to kerb, a very good idea so you do not need to back out into the traffic. We watched a DVD of the 3 Stooges together last night and we have not laughed like that together for a long time, they are wonderful. Went to the library for story time this morning and I went to see a game of hockey this afternoon which was pretty good standard, but very rough. There was a tractor “start up day” at the Parkes Museum today, we were quite curious and went along for a look. Out the front of a house on the Newell Highway was a hand painted sign and we entered the front door of the run down looking house not knowing what to expect. A few steps down the floral, wall papered hallway was a piece of paper saying “pay here” and in a doorway on the right we handed over $12 to the old lady there who was sitting behind the similarly aged desk. Continuing down the dim hallway with the water stains on the ceiling, left then right and out the back door, past the old dog on the long leash and through the back yard, we heard the sounds of tractors and headed that way. When through the back gates it opened out into the most amazing collection of vehicles you will ever see in the same spot, mainly tractors, trucks, cars, lawn mowers, train carriages, most of them beautifully and painstakingly restored. Every four months they start up all the tractors and drive them into a fenced off yard to give them a bit of exercise and to show them off, it is quite fascinating. There are sheds and sheds of bits and pieces of rusted steel, old car parts, ploughs and all manner of things. The trucks and tractors are up to 100 years old, many examples of solid timber trucks, one of which used to take loads to Queensland and its top speed was 12 miles/hour, another vehicle that would be slower than us!!

“YOU’RE NOT BIG ENOUGH A WOMAN TO STEAL MY MAN.”

2006-04-08T11:33:00.000+10:00

These were the words I heard as I tuned in the radio to the local station in Narrandera, home of the big guitar and Texas Rose. Like Andre said about the bakeries I feel about the local radio stations. Narrandera is certainly a country music spot. Have you ever REALLY listened to the words in these songs?? I never really paid much attention, so the other night while I prepared the dinner and the great fishing team did their stuff, I listened carefully. “Your not big enough a woman to steal my man” was closely followed by “ I remember _____ ( fill in any place that takes your fancy) where I had my first beer, I found Jesus and smashed my car” I felt something was amiss and contend that surely smashing the car was entirely due to the beer drinking and Jesus wouldn’t be able to help you much with that. On the way here through this wide open land – very hard on the eyes, just seems to be miles of crops and sheep – I couldn’t help notice all the local entertainment on offer. We have mower racing, camel racing and of course the ubiquitous mallee root toss. I was a little disappointed that we have managed to miss them all. Fishing, open fire and marshmallows about sums up my memories of Narrandera. We are now settling in to the rhythm of life on the bus and even within so much change we often have a semblance of routine. When we arrive at a new destination it is time to have a platter of nibblies and do a reckie (?) of our new spot. We are starting to realise that we need to read ahead a little more, so that we don’t miss some the off the track things. Jarra seems to be settling down a bit now and I think his teeth had been bothering him quite a lot. He even seems to have finally sussed out the whole sleep thing, which has lightened our load tremendously. Both Tal and to a lesser degree Rennie are missing school and their friends. We seem to have waves of it, just as I do myself. I suppose for us all it is mostly the just not knowing what everyone is up to. We have heard that Cash Grove (our old house) has been let and it is funny to think of another family in there. I hope their lives are filled with happy times as ours were. FORBES. The night was shared with hundreds of galahs instead of the usual cockies. The galas have a much more gentle squawk. Hundreds of them filled the sky at dusk and squabbled and squawked until they had all found there places in the trees above our bus. We had a bit of company of the human variety too. Six other campervans or caravans were parked alongside us, but most kept to themselves only taking time top warn us about “them blackfellas” in Dubbo. I find this all a bit offensive, but sometimes even I feel the less said the better. These people are not going to change a lifetime of prejudice in a moment. The town itself is a very pretty historical one. Full of period buildings and quite a few art deco ones too – we took photos Penny!! We will send them to you when we get a chance. We were just starting to think what an idyllic placed Forbes was when we reached the library, which is next door to the local courthouse. After Andre had spent half an hour in the park outside with Jarra while we were inside, he had met most of the local petty crims. Dodgey has never been a more appropriate word. When we asked a bunch of local lads what they thought of Forbes their reply was “ .. too many criminals” This certainly makes you think twice about a place. I have changed some of the settings on the blog and I hope I have now made it easier to post comments. If you have had problems in the past give it another go and see if it is any better. I have also added a few more links and the layout seems to have righted itself. I have to admit that one surprise on the trip is our lack of down time. I really expected to have more time to do the blog, study, read and play games, but the days just seem to roll on and we live the life we do. How could I possibly say to you all that I sometimes feel busy and feel like I am trying to catch my tail a little. The difference is that I really can put it off to tomorrow. We have also been having very chilly mornings and evenings (sunny during the day though) and I have invented a new piece of clothing to combat this. I have decided to name it a “bug” – short for belly rug. A piece of material that wraps around the area between my hipster pants and my not so long top, covering the area in between nicely. You girls out there will know what I am talking about! Ahh bliss!! H

Catch up

2006-04-07T12:02:00.000+10:00

Hi there Managed to get some time on the computer at the local library in Forbes. Thanks for all your comments. Good to know that people are out there reading it! Thought I would draw your attention to Tal's blog. Link is on the side of this page. All the best H

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY…

2006-04-06T14:35:00.000+10:00

A Just north of Yarrawonga is Lake Mulwala, a very surreal looking stretch of water containing many tall dead trees. We camped here for the night along with the thousands of cockies who reside in the trees and seem to have endless arguments with each other at the tops of their voices. I imagine you would get sick of it after a while but their incessant screeching just makes me smile. We like to go for a walk when we arrive at a new place to get a feel for it and just generally suss out the surroundings. On this occasion Rennie and I met Trevor who was camping in his caravan up the road. He and his wife Pat had eyes that look like they are always squinting into the sun, even when in the shade. There are many of these camping areas which are free of charge and there are often some fairly “permanent” residents who look like they are well embedded to the spot. We also saw some amazing patterns of bark on the trunks of a few gum trees by the track, one looked like it had been twisted around like a corkscrew. While preparing the dinner, roast chook and veg, Helen was off on a walk with the kids and my phone rang. I grabbed the hands free and answered. It was Daniel from Optus, wanting to chat to me about better deals etc. Normally I would have got off quickly but this time I was quite in the mood for a chat and kept him on Morman style, it was good fun doing something a bit different. There were about six different groups of people camping at Kyffens Reserve, all men with boats, I am beginning to question my manlihood as I am presently boatless, although we are trying to find a canoe to take along with us. Jarra woke up at 6am when the cocky alarm clock went off we went for a walk and every one of these groups were up and ready for the morning’s fishing. Have been seeing some excellent letterboxes. Particularly interesting are the groups of them, bunched together at the end of a dirt road so the posty doesn’t have to travel all the extra kms to the properties. Unfortunately I am having trouble getting photos of these as it takes so long to get the bus going once she is wound up I am reluctant to stop in the middle of nowhere and start the long haul back again. There are many converted 44 gallon drums on pipe legs, popular is the box on an old crankshaft post, and of course in the dairy areas it is hard to go past a milk can, usually with black spots. As we left Mulwala Helen commented about the many properties that had a caravan with an annex attached, we were discussing the hows and whys of this when we passed a farm which had three caravans in a U shape together under a roof. Instead of building a house they just extended their original van with two more. 25kms north is the town (blink and you miss it) of Rennie!! We had always planned to go there and it did disappoint…!! Two houses and an unused pub, the Rennie Hotel. It was a good place to park up for some morning tea of Nachos followed by watermelon. Is a very quiet road, the only car that we saw stopped for a chat as they passed. They were a couple of shearers on their way to their next job, cans of Melbourne Bitter in hand at 11am, they reminisced about some great times they’d had at the Rennie Hotel . The roads being as quiet as they were, I had to feel sorry for the two pieces of roadkill I saw, the chances of them meeting a vehicle on that road were probably comparable to winning the lottery, but with extremely different results. The road north from there changed width often, at times it was as narrow as the bus and sometimes there would be room for two cars to pass comfortably, but it probably averaged at one and a half vehicles wide. We normally win the game of chicken if playing with cars though. The edges of the tarmac look like it has been torn off a roll, very rough, worn and uneven. There was not a lot of variety in the scenery today, very flat and if possible, drier than where we have come from, the long grass is a whitish yellow now, not golden, and the wind that we were driving into and which kept our speed down a bit was blowing these tall grasses over to the east. Some fields are being burnt, I presume for preparation for crops, and you can normally smell them before you see them. A great feat of engineering are the huge rows of sprinklers all joined together, some must be 120 metres in length, 6 sections of steel pipe trusswork with wheels every 20 metres or so. It moves in one long line and waters the crops beneath, incredible. We made it to Oaklands for lunch, found a nice park for a play while Helen made some turkey, cranberry, cheese and lettuce rolls. An old fella, Ron, stopped his blue ute and came over for a chat, he had seen us drive past his place and thought we were his mate who has the same type of bus as ours. Learnt a lot about the motor and a couple of ideas to play around with in regards to getting a bit better performance out of it. And finally, the one that got away. Mate, it was this big, you should have seen it….. After passing through Goorabin, Urana and Morundah we made it to our destination just over the Murrumbidgee River in Narrandera, a campsite called Brewery Flats, named after the five storey orange brick building that is now gutted, which is just next to us. A lovely big river beckoned us and we got ourselves set up to fish. Dug for some worms without success so got some frozen corn from the freezer and some cheese. Phoned up and bought a month’s fishing license over the phone and were all set. Rennie has decided that she really likes fishing so we all went down the steepish slope to the muddy banks and cast in while Helen prepared dinner in the bus. Had to constantly stop Jarra from eating all our bait as we waited patiently for the strike. We are not the most patient of families and soon the kids were wandering off, I was chasing after Jarra here and there and I ended up chatting to a guy who was walking his dogs about the bus and our trip blah, blah, blah. I said I better go and check our rods to make sure a fish didn’t drag them in ha, ha, and as we walked down to the spot Tal started shouting, “Dad, Dad, quick you’ve got one”. My rod was actually being dragged along the bank and into the water. Well, you should have seen me move. Action Manning down the slope, leaping into the mud and just got hold of the rod as it was about to be lost for good. Started reeling it in, it was pulling like mad, a flash of yellow, fighting and reeling in, handle difficult to turn as the reel was caked in mud from being dragged through it, heart and adrenalin racing. Here it comes, almost there now, the three kids shouting and whooping, then SNAP!! A metre from the bank the line broke and it was gone. Couldn’t believe it. Boots covered in mud, dangly line hanging from the rod, I thought, Oh well, at least it is good material for the blog!! PS. Sheila, might throw a shrimp on the barby this arvo, fair dinkum, crikey, yawithme?

Traffic on the Westgate

2006-04-04T12:58:00.000+10:00

A 8.35 Tuesday morning, washing the breakfast dishes while the others have gone for a walk around the lake. A few dishes left from our supper of damper that Tal and I made on the fire last night, was very nice too. Jarra in his orange pyjama top hopping like a kangaroo behind Helen, imitating the ones we saw from our window first thing this morning. Tuned into 774 and the traffic report came on. It is quite surreal hearing about all the congestion on Melbourne’s roads whilst being so far removed from it, but also having been in the midst of it for so many years. Although when you are in the middle of the Monash in a jam, tuned into the same radio station as out here, it is just another day and I suppose you make the most out of your circumstances. Had our dinner around the fire spoilt by a fairly heavy but brief shower of rain which had us moving inside and onto the beanbags, the first rain we have seen for quite a few weeks.

Blood from a Stone

2006-04-04T12:57:00.000+10:00

A Under a cloud streaked sky we left Echuca on the Cobb Highway and turned eastwards towards Barmah. 7km north of there is a great camping area next to Barmah Lake in an area full of gum trees, the sort of place where I can easily imagine the Aboriginals living happily. On arriving we went for a walk along the bank of the lake and saw a huge gum tree with its limbs cut off about 3 metres up, it had a new, slender tree growing from amongst all the dead stumps and it looked quite interesting. When travelling in a bus like this it is very important to strap everything down and put things in their place before departure, which we are getting quite good at. It is quite a task to pack up to go, put the car in the trailer and strap it all down, put the 4 bikes back on the bike carrier, turn off the gas, put the step away, sort Jarra out, check oil and water, quick vehicle check, turn bus on 15 mins before leaving so air brakes are ready to go, check map for correct route. Had the car chained down in the trailer this time and it did not move, might have finally sorted out that little problem. The title to this post concerns our childrens work ethic when it comes to getting them to write in their journals/ diaries.

Echuca

2006-04-04T12:56:00.000+10:00

A Day light savings finished last night, thank goodness for that, our new curtains were starting to fade with all that extra light we were getting….. The Murray is a very impressive river, have not seen it for many years, wide, brown and flowing, lined by huge gum trees full of screeching birds, which are very noisy at both ends of the day. The way here from Bendigo was very flat so we cruised here at a steady pace. We chose a very busy weekend to come here as there is a fishing comp, a lawn bowls comp and a bike race as well, so we could only get an unpowered site. With our new batteries needing a charge and some fairly cool days with not a lot of sunshine this was not ideal, but I befriended a guy, Mick, who lives here permanently and he let me plug in to his power so we could charge up. We have decided to head for Brisbane and not change our flights to Sydney as it was going to cost about $1200. So, heading off tomorrow on an inland route which will take us through Dubbo and we will miss out on seeing Sydney and the coast between there and Brisbane for now Have done some more repairs to the trailer. Had to buy a new jockey wheel as the handle snapped off, I think it was when we drove into Robyn and Phils, they have a bit of a dip where their driveway meets the road and our draw bar on the trailer is a bit low. Found a trailer place here, the salesman was a dodgy looking fellow but had the right bits. Had some good pies for morning tea the other morning. The quality of a town’s bakeries and their pies and sausage rolls is beginning to influence how I feel about the place. A