Not my day LOL

Hope everyone in NZ has survived the weather! We had around 25mls of rain yesterday - (68mls for July so far!!!) and there is meant to be more to come tomorrow. It has been fine today with blue sky and feeble sun, so washed my sheets and got them dry with the wind mostly. Had a very nervous drive to Mullewa yesterday afternoon going at half the speed I usually drive. Talk about slip, sliding away... fishtailed at the first corner in the mud which was fun and then dodging water covered parts of the road without stalling or aquaplaning was the major mission. In all the flood areas, water was covering the road, luckily only about 4" deep at the worst. It was the sides of the road that had flooded to the middle that were the tricky bits - no way of seeing how deep the water was, so drove through mostly in the middle of the road all the way there.

Got to our appointment to find no one knew we were coming, one of the managers had already left for home because the Murchison Rd was closed and there was talk that the road to Yalgoo and further up would be next. It had stopped raining heavily by the time we were on the way back so the drive was much easier to manage.

I am not at one with gas ovens - I think I have mentioned this before. Decided to cook myself a piece of steak for lunch to go with my courgette, onion and tomatoe mix, choosing to grill the steak. Pressed the switch on the stove with the igniter and nothing happened. Pressed it again and again and then thought I heard a noise in the oven - yes, for some reason my eyes were looking at oven switch and my fingers pressing the oven ignite button and my brain was saying "grill, grill, why isnt the sodding thing working!" Once I realised I had ignited the oven (and turned it off again) I turned my attention to the other switch and pressing it down over and over, with my other hand on the oven ignite button, things still were not happening. I could smell gas so knew something was working when there was one of those duuuuhhhhh moments and that internal voice saying "use the other button...". Eureka, the grill switch and the grill button - how commensensical - pushed both and whoosh, bang, flame shot out from under the grill nearly immolating me on the spot - luckily I was moving backwards from the stove at the time. I could smell burning so checked my jumper - no melting so AOK. There was still a smell of singeing in the air like burning wool when I happened to glance down as I then placed the steak in the griller and noticed all the hairs on my right arm were nearly gone, those that were left were curled like melted nylon rope ends!!!!!! Just as well I wasn't bending down looking in the grill at the time like I had been minutes earlier wondering what might be wrong!! My hair would have gone up in smoke (and I had just washed it!) At least I finally get it!- left switch, left button = grill, right switch, right button = oven. Ah well, you learn something new every day. It shows you how much I use the stove though LOL.

Next thing I did was read my watch wrong by an hour, hence I am up at school at lunch time instead of early afternoon. After lugging my stuff up to school, I realised I had left my keys hanging on the hook at home so am able to go no further than the staff room!! Will now have to wander back down and get them which will be my exercise program for the day - I will have walked near a mile after down and back twice today. That is three things in a row so should be right for the rest of the day LOL. Have just heard it is raining again so maybe it is four things for me today. Had better dash and get the keys so I can get upstairs to work this afternoon.

If I didn't know better, I would think I was in NZ LOL

It has rained!!! heavily at times and over most of the weekend, with more today. There are discussions going on re how long do we have before the roads are impassable again - this with me having to take two girls in the ute, for job interviews in Mullewa this afternoon . May have to take a long stick and an extra clothes in case I have to a) walk through water (still practising to walk on top LOL), or b) get cut off and have to stay overnight - goodness knows how that would work.

I had a weekend off from Sat am till this morning am and had a very lazy time of it. Read two books, watched '27 Dresses' (a good girlie movie with Katherine Heigle - Greys Anatomy) and 'RENT' (my nieces fav movie,play of all times - at the moment LOL). "Rent" is a musical set in NY in the 80's. I also tried out a new recipe - Kumera soup with rosemary and lemon with rosemary toast (out of the June Aust Women's Weekly supplement booklet). It worked well and was an interesting mix of flavours but forgot to turn off the griller in the stove so had three hours of warmth unbeknownst to me at the time, though I did wonder why I did not feel the need for the heater for most of the day LOL.

Those who are waiting for tales of the great horse riding expedition are doomed to disappointment this post - weather did not permit and parts of me are grateful for that this morning.

I did poodle around on the laptop and looked at how to get my movies on, edited and ready for consumption by my adoring public (all right then, by long suffering family who have no choice). I have got the title page done and the next clip with the names of those featuring in it - will try getting some actual footage on later in the week LOL.

I did go on line Saturday night (WA time) to see that we got thrashed by the Aussie's for the Bledisloe Cup. I no sooner had seen the score when there was a knock at the door, with the WMH stood there, phone in hand with a rude comment from the Bathurst lot about our loss, with an amount of gloating from the WMH about an Aussi win! Have no idea how rugby is going at all in the scheme of things as it doesn't rate WA news - there was more excitement about the Eagles and the Dockers both winning a game over the weekend which has been a shock to everyone. I hope you are impressed that I know the names of these teams - there is also Collingwood (the WMH fav team who lost) and Essenden (the Italian's fav team, who won this weekend).

Am just about to dash home to have some lunch before venturing forth to Mullewa.
Will update tomorrow if I am able.


Kay: Glad herbs are doing well, how about the lime tree?
Mum: Saw reports of weather bomb - lots of people without power except Wku was not mentioned.
Claire: Go Darren with his license - well done. Again, good survival skills with the weather.

Busy, busy

Went to do a write up last night and the server is down upstairs!! To Recap - Tuesday began with an inservice from the same guy who did the Catholic Accreditation day. This time it was on the 'Fruit of the Spirit (and Virtues). Most people seemed to know what he was talking about - the nine fruits of the spirit being: love, peace, hoy, kindness,patience, trudfulness, self-control,goodness and gentleness.. (I do not recall ever hearing about the above as a group with the Anglican lot or may have been away on the day they were being taught, LOL). It was an excellent morning as we looked at the work a teacher from a Catholic primary School in the diocese has developed a way of using the fruits of the spirit in her classroom practice, which in turn has made a difference to the way the children interact with each other, which in turn has been adopted by other schools and classes in our area. All good values based education!! We did a quick look at virtues - there are too many to mention LOL. They sort of underpin working with the fruits of the spirit - so I think the next step is to see if we are going to adopt this program has a whole school.

Tuesday afternoon was spent racing round doing last minute things to set the boarding house up. We had tradesmen in until the day before so there was dust everywhere but we now have a new hotwater cylander so all good. It turned out to be netball that evening so most of the girls stayed in town and came back later that night, hence I was able to have my fix of "All Saints" before helping to settle everyone when they got back later that night.

Did the vegie run on Wednesday - started here at 8.30am and got back to my place at 10.10pm. Had a reasonably light run so managed to get my hair cut during the day and to do a bit of shopping (missed the giant toy sale in Target by one day as it started the next day!!!!!! so was very restrained, LOL). I was told I had a boy to pick up at the airport at 6.30 but by the time no plane landed. I asked at the desk and was told the plane was in fact landing at 7.30 - and then an announcement came over the speaker system that the plane was further delayed by 20mins due to bad weather!!!!. Fortunately, I had a new library book with me, picked up earlier in the day, so it was actually bliss to be able to sit and read. When the plane landed, the boy I was to pick up had come accompanied by his Guardian, so again lucky for the light load so I could fit them both in the ute with their bags. It had been raining most of the afternoon but thankfully it fined up once I left the airport on the way back. I came the closest yet to hitting a kangaroo just past the school turnoff to Wandalgu. I was talking and not paying the strictest attention to my side of the road when the guardian yelled out "Kangaroo" which promptly led me to hitting the anchors. Luckily the road had been recently graded and there was no metal on it, so never spun out but it all happened so fast - note to self - practice stopping in a hurry without brakes until it becomes 2nd nature LOL.

I had my first night on duty properly last night with only half the girls back yet for a variety of reasons. It is shearing time so five girls each morning have been getting up at 6am for breakfast with the shearers to go out until lunchtime to work in the sheds. Everyone seems to have settled back in OK - just a small amount of retraining required to get back to where we were before the hols LOL.The WM and I are going to try and work weekends about this term to have a proper break so we are looking for someone else to work as well.

When I got back from the holiday one of the first things I did was to see if my 'garden' had survived. Not only has it survived, but I have flowers on my tomato plants and I picked the first leaves of my spinach yesterday!!! I put 1/2 of them in my soup bowl and poured boiling soup on top and they were just perfect - nicely wilted but with none of the goodness missing. Will have the rest today. I scrounged round the ground and found some very thin dead branches to use as stakes for the toms as they are leaning fwd to the sun, then found some old pantyhose (purposely saved) to tie them up with. There was more rain out here Wednesday night and when I put some new basil plants in yesterday, the soil in the planters and the ground was damp to several inches down. Am keeping fingers crossed this lot grows as my last lot of basil withered and died. Parsley, chives and coriander all thriving.

I have the opportunity to go riding again tomorrow so am just working out feasiblity of pain ratio to enjoyment. Do I need to do some stretching beforehand, LOL. Watch this space. Had better get on and do some paperwork so I can get home for a few hours. Have another birthday call to make. It has been a trifector this week with one of the nephews turning 21, and Mum yesterday (somewhat older LOL) and Clive today (see earlier brackets heh, heh).

Last Leg

One of the dolphins.

To Continue...

Wednesday
Still a bit damp but we had breakfast and broke camp to be on the way to Kalbarri. There were several wild flower photo stops before we left Shark Bay as we headed to see the stromatolites at Hamelin Pool Telegraph station after stopping at two beaches on the way. The first beach was amazing, millions and millions of tiny shells carpeted the whole beach. We walked out onto a spit of sand. The water was crystal clear and got to see a small shark swimming in one of the tidal pools.
Shelly beach was the next beach we had a quick look at – again, a lot of shells everywhere.

Hamelin Pool Telegraph station is an area where they originally had a telegraph station that was responsible for getting telegrams around the area. It was also an area they loaded wool onto ships. It is famous now for stromatolites growing (one of two places in the world) and for coquina which is where millions of tiny shells have formed into a solid mass, which was used as a building material back in the day. It is also preserved now and can only be quarried for restoration of historic buildings.

"Hamelin Pool Marine and Nature Reserve, where the largest and oldest living fossils dot the shore of the pool in rocky lumps. Stromatolites are colonies of micro-organisms that resemble the oldest and simplest forms of life found on earth around 3.5 billion years ago. The Hamelin Pool colonies are relatively newer, being around 3,000 years old. The stromatolites grow in Hamelin Pool because of the extreme salinity of the water, the occurrence of calcium bicarbonate and the limited circulation of the water". (Tourist mag)

Took masses of photos and got a brilliant David Attenborough type video of a blue bottle jelly fish at the Hamelin Pool and again of some birds, possibly swallows at the same place.

After that, we were on the road again to Kalabarri after stopping at the Overlander Roadhouse for a picnic lunch. We got to Kalbarri late afternoon and set up camp. It was cloudy and threatening rain so got sorted pretty quickly. We bought steak for dinner and had a slap up meal with heaps of veggies, mushroom sauce (chops and sausages too) which we cooked in the camp kitchen. The TV room is right next to the kitchen so most of the troops got their fix of Home and Away. I wanted my steak cooked medium rare, so was taking care of that (one person who shall remain nameless cooked their steak well done!!!). We were all finished by about 9am and so to bed.

Thursday

Today dawned overcast and then it rained. Not very auspicious so after a late start for the day – didn’t get out of bed until 8ish, it was decided to go to see the Sea Horse Sanctuary which was an indoors set up. This place breeds sea horses for the pet trade, initially in Australia and now world wide. Sea Horses in the wild need to feed on fresh, live food and most die fairly quickly in captivity. These are raised specifically to eat thawed, frozen shrimp (they are taught as tiny babies) which can be bought at the pet shops they are sold from. Had a look at the tanks of newest hatchlings to more adult sea horses and got some excellent footage again. By the time we had finished doing a tour through the building and looked at the video about the set up, the rain had stopped and it was borderline sunny. We were ready for lunch and decided we would have fish and chips. We tried a different place to the last time we were here and had a fantastic meal. I picked a seafood type basket and just ate the fish, giving my chips to the kids. I had prawns, a scallop, squid rings and 3 small bits of fish and was in 7th heaven. If I come back here again I would definitely go back to The Jetty Seafood Shack. We were across from the actual jetty and the loos so wandered over for a comfort stop and then went onto the jetty to take some photos. There was a flock of pelicans bobbing along on the tide and a molly hawk on the beach amongst the sea gulls. Down on the beach, some fisherman had dumped the remains of his filleted snapper catch (illegally) and so the kids decided to try and feed the pelicans with some of the remains. Pelicans need to catch things in mid air or floating in the water and they cannot pick up anything large or heavy off the beach with their beaks. Apparently they have no strength in their lower beak (so I was told). Got loads more footage of the birds and then it was time for the next stop.

We decided to chance it and headed to the Wildflower farm for a quick look around. It took us nearly 15 mins to get from the car to the shop where we gained entrance to the rest of the place LOL because there were a few new varieties out front that had not been photographed yet. The farm had a bush fire through part of it in 2005 and you could see the blackened trees left behind. It was interesting to see how quickly it had regenerated too. Got lots of photos and did nearly a 2k round trip walk!!!! The people in the shop were very helpful and friendly. There were not masses of wild flowers out yet as it is a bit early still, but it was a good walk ( I scare myself on reading that LOL).

Even though it was still overcast, it was decided to make a quick trip to the Zigzag gorge for a look. The entrance to this is through the National Park so a fee for each car load had to be paid. They use an honesty system – you put your money in an envelope with the details of your rego number and leave the envelop in an honesty box. We drove for a reasonable distance into the park and then did another 1.5k walk to the gorge lookout as we were too late to do the walk along the gorge edge right the way round (tragic I know!!!!). The path was well laid out and good deep steps to work your way down to the lookout. Not as magnificent as the gorges in Karijini but still interesting and with a different landscape again. The scrub is much taller down here and of course a whole different lot of grasses and shrubs as well. The sky was really blackening as we left to come back to town, go to the IGA and back to camp for dinner. Once again we used the camp kitchen – hot dogs in buns tonight with yoghurt and tinned rice for desert, with hot chocolate and marshmellows to follow- it’s a hard life camping indeed LOL. While getting dinner organised, the weather report came on the telly – gale force winds, hail, rain etc etc from Geraldton down to Bussleton and Kalbarri was mentioned as well. It had started to rain so we headed back to our tents and as I am typing this up (we have a powered tent site again LOL) the wind is blowing the tent in and out and it is raining in fits and starts. Am a little nervous as we are camping under trees – I am told two children died at school camps last year when trees fell on them – not the thing you want to hear before you have to go to sleep at night. We did contemplate staying in the TV room all night but I figured, with the amount of stuff I have in the tent (plus moi) the tent is not likely to blow away, and I have my trusty blow up mattress to use as a lilo if it pours with rain LOL. I will unplug the computer before I go to sleep so should have no electrical worries. I am cosy and snug as a bug in a rug so to speak. It was not cold last night either, in fact I had to shed sox and jumper during the night!

Friday
We did pack up pronto the next morning and headed out of Kalbarri to Geraldton via Northampton, down the coast, calling into two beaches for photos on the way. It started pouring while we were in Geraldton (getting supplies for the home trip) and we wondered at one stage whether we would get through. Fortunately, although there was water across the road in several places on the way home, the flood areas were not flooding and we all got back safe and sound.

And now, its just the rest of the photos to unload and to organise into some sort of cohesion and lots of remembering and telling of tall tales LOL. To put this trip into some sort of perspective, we did over 3,500k considering all the extra byways etc we visited. I have just googled some info on NZ and came across a bloke who walked from Cape Reinga to Bluff earlier in the year and he did 2,600ks!!! And what we saw was a piece of North Western Australia - there is about as much again to go right to the top!!!!! I said earlier, that about the only word to describe the landscape of this region is epic. It's huge and fascinating in the extremes of temperature, rock formations and general flora and fauna. I am really glad I was talked into going - lots totally out of my comfort zone but the boundaries of that are somewhat extended after this experience. Going with camping enthusiasts and adventurers (who were highly organised I might add) certainly helped.

And now a plug for my sponsers LOL. If anyone ever needs a place to stay in Bathurst - check out the Big 4 Caravan Park, Kelso, NSW (you can google it) as you could not get better hosts than Leanne and Jason (and family). I enjoyed their company, sense of humour and encouragement very much. Also to the WM, WMH and family - they are solid gold and did very well with the novice that I was on this trip. They were extremely patient with my Nana abilities at rock descending (and climbing)and deserve a medal for getting me home safe and sound LOL.

If anyone plans on coming to WA for a visit (hint, hint) this is a good time of the year through to the next holidays. I could heartily recommend all the spots I havebeen to. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I may get to go up to Broome and the Kimberlys later in the term on a school trip - watch this space.

And so back to another term as the kids come back tomorrow. Only 5 weeks till half term LOL.

Updated Look

Just a quick note to say I have changed the template for my postings as I have done something to the last one that I do not know how to change. Am up at school and about to go home for a late lunch. Meetings and set up today. Will check in again later to see how this looks.
Cheers

Me and Flipper!!!!

You will notice there was no update yesterday - got up late, hung out three loads of washing done the night before whilst posting blog, and started spring cleaning laundry, finishing washing and then started on bathroom. Vacuumed out WM's car which they had kindly lent me to bring all my gear back the night before and then ambled back up to school to return the car. A campfire was planned for the afternoon so at long last we got to toast marshmellows and have damper. Although fine, it was cold so was just about on top of the fire by the end of the day. Got dropped back home and decided to put on another pot of soup and then fell asleep!!!!!

Had a day home today, last lot of washing, and then moved onto tidying kitchen and lounge. Am having a few hassles with my laptop so have defragmented (while watching Harry meets Sally - still a good movie LOL)and Norton updated so here's hoping. So back to the trip.......

Monday

Struck camp early this morning as ETD was set at 8am. We had another 600+k trip today to get to Shark Bay. First stop was petrol and air in the tyres and then we were off properly. Next stop, a photo opportunity at the welcome and goodbye signs for Exmouth and the Prawn outside the fish factory. The landscape was much of a muchness, scrub, scrappy patches of grass and a few wild flowers. On the trip to Shark Bay we crossed two completely dry rivers which was interesting. The land was almost flat with very little to comment about. We had a stop at Minilya Road House and then headed to Carnarvon to find it was the Banana capitol of the West!!!!! There were acres of bananas palms growing everywhere and the wild flowers on the side of the road changed with white daisy type flowers and what looked like Michaelmas Daisies though smaller than the ones in NZ.

We stopped at Carnavon for a quick picnic lunch along side the harbor where there were tables placed beside a carpark. A quick toilet stop that was unusual in that the toilet was completely automatic. You pressed a button for entry and once inside, a button to close it. You pressed the loo paper dispenser and that doled out an amount of paper (you could press again if need be). Soap came out of an automatic dispenser above the basin and once you put your hands under the tap, water came out and the loo flushed. Next to the tap you put your hands under the dryer and then pressed the button from the inside to open the door again. Not for the nervous or for those who could not read English LOL. It did say on the notice outside that if you failed to come out after 10 mins a siren would go off for a minute and then the door would open automatically – I guess that is if you had a heart attack or stroke whilst on the throne or some other affliction that prevented you from exiting under your own steam. Back in the car again and miles and miles and miles and miles of much the same scenery again and after we left Carnarvon, we rejoined the Great Northwestern Highway. At one stage we passed a sign saying we had passed the 26o latitude and we were no longer in the northwest (merely west I guess) but as we reached Shark Bay we passed the 26o line and were back in the NW again!!. There were numerous signs along the way with kangaroos and cattle on saying beware, but we were lucky today to reach here without having to dodge a one! There was another stop after the turnoff to Shark Bay because new wild flowers were spotted – yellow ones – two varieties, and pink ones and green ones so another photo stop LOL. I have taken a few myself and we have all started to watch the roadsides to see who can spot the next new variety.

When we got to the caravan park at Denham, Shark Bay, we found we had sites in two completely different places and once we ascertained we could all fit on the one site and cleared it with the office, we immediately set up camp. A change yet again as this time we set up on sand/shell mix with a concrete pad as well. We are cheek by jowel with three caravans and as I am typing this there is a child crying in the next caravan (11pm). The WM, LA and I with one of the girls headed down to the township once our tents were up to see the sun setting on the horizon and I got some good photos again (I think). We also got a few more supplies and then headed back for dinner and more laundry. 'Shark Bay is one of only a handful of special regions in the world to meet all criteria for World Heritage listing. The Shark Bay region is home to an extensive range of rare and colourful marine life including the humpback and southern right whales, dugong, manta rays, turtles and dolphins. There are rare plants, mammals and birds also only found in this region' (tourist mag).

We are off early tomorrow morning to try and see the bottlenose dophins at Monkey Mia so will sign off for now.

Tuesday 15th

Was up at 6am to get ready to leave camp by 7am. We managed to get away by 7.10am so not too bad. The idea was to reach Monkey Mia by 8am in time for the dolphins. Apparently they come to the beach several times a day, but the only guaranteed time is the first feed hence our decision for the early start. "Up to three generations of dolphins have been known to visit Monkey Mia beach since the early 1960's. Up to 20 different dolphins have been known to visit the beach. Many dolphins have been given names by the research scientists and can be recognised by defining individual features, mainly fin identification" (tourist mag again). The beach started to fill up with people as we arrived, so I gained a vantage point and sure enough the dolphins started to arrive – just two at first, a grandmother called Puck and another female called Nicky were the first two. Then several other adults came plus at least three babies. I rolled up the legs of my pants and went into calf deep water. Two volunteers were in the tide with the dolphins and gave the crowd a commentary while walking up and down the area with them. We were told to stay in the shallows as the dolphins preferred to come in close. I took oodles of video and how exciting it was, I was less than a 1m away from a DOLPHIN!!!!!! And yes, the babies really do make ‘Flipper’ type noises. Not only were there dolphins but there were pelicans as large as life also on the beach. More photos ensued. The volunteers wait for ½ hour with the dolphins just poodling up and down the area of the beach they use for their display and then more volunteers come down to the beach with buckets of fish, about 5 for each dolphin, and they get people from the crowd to move into the water to hold a fish in their hand. The fish is held in the water for the dolphin to take from their hand. At the end of the feed, the volunteers swish the buckets out with water and that is the signal to the dolphins that the feed is over. While we were there today, there were two other people in the water with the dolphins with sieve type filters in their hands which they held above the blow holes of each dolphin that they could. From the residue of what the dolphins blow out, they are learning what sort of food they eat and yesterday they found out they can do DNA analysis on the residue also which means they can work out the family lineage of each dolphin. They know who the mothers are for each dolphin because the young stay with the mother for up to 4 yrs and now will be able to work out the sires of each dolphin too. "The DEC has developed a management program that aims to ensure that the dolphins maintain their hungting and survival skills. The feeding strategy that has been implemented, allows continued interaction with humans, whilst ensuring that stress levels are kept to a minimum and the fish provided does not exceed one third of their estimated daily intake" (tourist mag).

We were not allowed to touch the dolphins because of the possible transference of disease from humans to the dolphins. It was OK if they came close enough and rubbed up against you – they didn’t tend to as the volunteers stayed pretty close to them at all times. A dolphin can move at 40k’s when they are after a fish, they only get one set of teeth, and the oldest one they have had since Monkey Mia opened was 35 yrs old when it died.

Within about ½ hour after the feed, a good amount of the dolphins had come back for their second feed and again, I was in the tide taking more photos. This time however, I WAS PICKED TO FEED ONE OF THEM!!!!!!!!! I handed my camera and video to a woman standing next to me, never thinking to ask her to take a photo (spit, snarl), picked a fat, smallish fish out of the bucket and held it just under the water when my dolphin (Nicky) came and took it out of my hand. Crikey!!!! What a total buzz and how excited was I. (I was jumping up and down on the inside and hugely squealing in my head, LOL) It was all over too quick and somebody else was taking a turn for the last fish of the morning.

We then decided to do a tour on the Aristocrat, a catamaran which goes out across the bay to the Pearl Farm in the middle of the bay and over sea grass beds in the hope of seeing a dugong. "Seagrass meadows cover about 4,000 sq kilometres.. dugongs are hervivores and feed mainly on the roots and rhizomes of the seagrasses .. The dugong is one of the world's two suriving species of sea cow and it is thought about 1/8 of the world's population is found in the Southern most extent of Shark Bay" (tourist mag). It was a fairly overcast day so it was a challenge to see the dugong but we did catch a glimpse of one as it came up for air briefly. We appeared to be in the middle of the dolphin’s pantry at one stage as there were several of them racing the boat and leaping about in the tide around us. There were also numerous cormorants about hunting for fish as well. The catamaran had nets in the front and back of the boat you could sit in, around etc. The front net was so that the adventurous few could hop in and sit in it and sit/ski along as the boat sped along. Lots of shrieks as the water was cold (18o) but it looked a lot of fun. After spending a good hour looking for dugong and sailing amongst the dolphins we pulled alongside a floating building with a boat along side that was the Peal Farm. They grow black pearls and we had a very informative chat from one of the blokes who runs the place. One of the guys running the place showed us how a bead of shell is implanted in an oyster, and then a piece of nacre beside it that stops the oyster rejecting the bead that in 4 years becomes a pearl. To get a 1” pearl takes 11 yrs and you only get one in about 10,000 pearls of that age. It was then a short trip back to the beach, a few more pelican shots and back to camp.

We had a very easy dinner and then a relatively early night as it started to spit and then rain. I was tired from all the fresh air and was asleep before I knew it.

A Picture is worth a 1000 Words!

At Newman ready for mine tour.



Sartorial elegance first thing in the morning at Karijini.



Dingo in the Park taken from the car!



'Ranger Stacey' at Weano Gorge!

I'm Back, and in One Piece LOL

Computers too difficult to get too over the past few days but kept running notes each night on the lap top so will try and keep things in chronological order - may take several goes as you may atrophy from sitting too long reading otherwise LOL. Why am I home a day early you may well ask.. I imagine Mum and Clive will have been watching the weather out here - we were sitting at Kalbarri last night and the weather report came on the tv (next to the kitchen where we were cooking) foretelling galeforce winds, hail, 100+k winds on the way so there really was no contest!. Anyway, I digress. I have just quickly looked at my last post and realise I said I had been to the Dawes gorge twice - the second and much easier walk was to the WEANO gorge in case any of you are out there plotting your next intrepid camping trip to the North West. So - excerpts from my notes!

After my great walk Mk 2, that night we packed a certain amount of stuff away as we had a a600+k trip the following day. Had another ‘hotwater bottle’ for bed and luckily the temp was not as cold either – I have a feeling it was above 0o at least LOL and another good nights sleep, so much so, I was able to take my jumper off during the night – yay.

The day dawned bright and warm and after breakfast and quick clean, the cars were loaded up and we were on our way again. We stopped several times on the way into Tom Price to take photos of wild flowers (I have become a wild flower spotter LOL). LA had spotted some small pink flowers the previous day and she wanted a photo of them and then the WMH spotted a deeper pinky flower that had not been seen before. Then, I wanted to take photos of some of the mountains – the scenery was truly epic in its magnificence and you have to wonder what momentous movement of the earth’s crust had caused the range that went for miles. The rock here is very different to NZ as ours is mainly volcanic in nature or glacial leftovers. The rock here, apart from being reddy brown is compressed in layers upon layers – you will have to see the photos as I cannot do it justice with words. Because we had spent a fair amount of time taking photos and time was marching on, the decision was made to take a short cut on a gravel road that would take 80ks off our journey. No worries LOL. I had visions of my trip back in the day to Palmerston North when friend Annette and I took a shortcut because it measured shorter on the map!!!! (Ended up on a virtual goat track and nearly went over a cliff off the gravel road as we rounded a corner too fast). However, this was a piece of cake, there were a few dips as we crossed river beds (dry – only wet in floods) and mostly it was smoother than the road to Tardun. The walkie talkie is a real boon as the lead car can send road info back to the car behind such as safe times to pass someone ahead, tight corners, huge dips in the road etc. Plus there is the ablity to bandy comments to and fro about the scenery or anything else that takes your fancy which has added to the hilarity of several occassions along the way.

We arrived at a place called Nanaturra Roadhouse for lunch. We debated buying lunch but at $5.95 for a pottle of chips and $12 for an ordinary hamburger, we once again had a picnic lunch out of the car before heading on the road to Exmouth. There was great excitement when we saw 4 emus on the side of the road – even though they looked a trifle manky like they were moulting. We also saw numerous eagles and hawks, and the odd dead beast they feeding off. I have to admit sleeping a good amount of the way or resting with my eyes closed as it is the way I travel long distances best. The landscape changed dramatically once we left the Pilbaras and the Hammersley Ranges behind and moved to the coastal Exmouth.

Exmouth Caravan Park – we just went from one extreme to the other. This place is relatively large, powered tent sites again – yay- internet – yay, showers with hot water, yay and a laundry with industrial sized machines, hoorah indeed. First job was laundry for 11 people and what a job that was. Lots of pink clothes (from the two youngest girls) to handscrub before we even got them to the machine as everything had red dust stains from Kirijini. I felt like I was back in boarding school again as I handscrubbed numerous items with SARD soap. We used a whole bottle of stain remover as well but oh, the joy to come back to the tent for dinner and with clean, warm, clothes.

Our site is a corner site just up from the ablution block and we quickly set up on arrival before the laundry mission. Being here, the temp has risen considerably so was able to get out of boots and I was wearing jandles at long last without any fear of getting frost bite. After dinner I had a shower and it was still so warm, I went to bed in a thermal top and pj bottoms only, and did not need the blanket during the night. The joy to sleep relatively unfettered instead of feeling wrapped like a mummy in some desert tomb. Camping certainly helps you to appreciate the small joys in life LOL.
When I set my tent up this time, I also changed the lie of my mattress and instead of sleeping head and foot at each opening (very bad fung shui as that is the coffin position LOL), and I now have the mattress going crossways which gives me room to step into the tent and much better storage/access to all my goods for tidying and reclassifying as the need arises. Even better, my tent has an electric cord away from the power box and I am able to sit up in bed to write my diary and play the odd game of cards again. BLISS. It remained warm all during the night although it was windy – it was music to my ears and reminded me of home for some strange reason (Waiuku home LOL in windy Franklin district).

........

Amazingly enough, I was first up this morning (apart from walks to the loo) and felt very 'hidee hi campers' as I got water for the billy and put it on the stove for our first hot drink of the day. I have since had breakfast – had another shower and washed my hair (because I could) and am now sitting outside my tent working on the computer. I am in bare feet, Ranger Stacey shirt and jeans, though am ready to change to something cooler. More laundry is being done and we are having a general cleanup and sort before the rest of the days activities.

I forgot to mention that the camp has a swimming pool and they have a movie on the lawn at 7.30pm at night!!!!!!. Woke up to cockatoos doing loops of the camp, playing tag this morning and a couple of spinnifex pigeons poodling about our tents. This camp wastes no space so everyone very cheek by jowel – nothing like your own complete corner of the compound at Awhitu LOL. People very friendly and cheery about – some bloke came and chatted to the men last night about J & LA’s tent set up. Bloke right behind us this morning saw me on the ground trying to get a photo of the pigeons and told me what they were called. Not sure whether it has been the extra walking or lots of sleep but I am now able to move again without pain and sit down and get up from a variety of chairs without clenching teeth or others parts of my body to be able to move. The men folk are back from the laundry so will stop and see what’s up next.

Had a great day today. We drove into Ningaloo shopping centre to get a few provisions. Bought some postcards, cheese, diet coke, olive oil and balsamic vinegar – just the necessaries of life - LOL. Also got some olive bread and bread rolls from the bakery for lunch. We then headed to the Cape Range National Park and Yardies Creek in particular. Yardie Creek is a tidal gorge, home to the rare black footed rocak wallabies. The tidal gorge has not always been open to the sea as there have been years when the sand has built up and blocked it from the main tide. Across from the accessible side of the creek is a wildlife sanctuary. Got to the beach and had a picnic lunch as it was past 2pm. Some of the troops went for a swim and after lolling on the beach for a bit, I decided I was going to do the walk to the lookout – (I know, go figure – maybe it was the kahki clobber again but it felt so good to be moving without aches again LOL). The WMH and LA were on a flower finding mission, taking photos as they went following the same path as me. I got up to the lookout and read the info on how the place was formed – all very interesting. While I was standing there a heron flew across the creek and I could see fish in the water beneath me. Where is a fishing rod when you need one?!!!!!!! On the way back OMG, there was a kangaroo with a joey just to one side of where we were walking. I got to about 8 feet away, trying to take a video of it and then there was another two and then another two further on back towards the beginning of the track. They appeared to have no fear and were out grazing. Tried to take several videos of them – all very exciting indeed. Got back to the beach and my face felt like it was burning even though I had put suntan lotion on. We linked up with the others and headed back to the camp. We hadn’t gone far and there were wallabies and kangaroos on the side of the road everywhere. Unfortunately, one dived out in front of us – the WM clipped it and apparently it did several rolls on the road before leaping off into the bushes again – no marks on the car (I'm hoping it was a kangaroo and not one of the rare black footed wallabies, otherwise they may be closer to extinction than they think - going too fast to see the colour of its feet LOL). I think we saw at least 10 dead bodies (kangaroos or wallabies) on the side of the road before we got back to Ningaloo. We stopped at a couple of spots on the way back to check out different parts of the coast line until we got to Vlaming Lighthouse, from which you can see the end of the spit and both sides of the ocean as Exmouth juts into the sea with Exmouth Gulf on one side and Ningaloo Marine Park/Indian Ocean on the other. Just below the lighthouse further up the point is a naval communications place. The defence property went for miles and had serious government notices up warning about people trespassing on the property every few metres along the fences. While at the lighthouse, we watched the sunset and tried to capture it on film. There was no cloud so it was pretty much the sun on its own going down and it was very quick. I am reliably told that cloud makes for better sunset shots as cloud gives you all the different colours. We were well ready to return to base by then so continued the drive home, dinner (I managed to post another blog) and a reasonably early night. I had another shower – because I could LOL and am now cosy in bed ready to charge batteries for tomorrows adventures.

....Looking at the map, after the event - Exmouth is part of a peninsular and by going to Yardie Creek we virtually went right round the entire penisular for those trying to follow my meanderings on the map.

Will write more tomorrow. Have had blissful hot shower tonight once I got home and have done one load of washing. Its 12.21am so will head for bed and continue the rest of the travels tomorrow - the best is yet to come LOL.

Still alive in WA

Am using a challenging computer so again apologies for any mistakes. To follow on...
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The morning after my very cold night was warm once the sun was up. Ablutions consisted of a quick lick and a promise with a handful of wet wipes for the nooks and crannies and then it was off into the park tolook at a gorge. Was in 3/4 pants and one of my new shirts and even put sunblock on - gotta love WA winterrs. We went to a place called Dawes Gorge - the area had a bush toilet - a chemical long drop but no running water to wash hands LOL. At least plenty of loo paper and very little smell. As we drove into the area,we spotted a dingo trotting along the road in front of us. I thought it would race off into the undergrowth - but no, obviouusly used to tourists - it ambled along in front of us and you could almost see it pose LOL. Windows went down and cameras snapped furiously before it did amble into the undergrowth. Saw some plonkers feeding later in the day!!!!!

At the lookout there was a picture of the gorge with information as to difficulty etc and how todo the walk. The girl at reception back at the camp had suggested going down a particular way which meant an easier return so we followed her instructions. Part of the information re the walk was about degree of difficulty and I understood it to be a level 3 walk with 6 needing a guide for death like challeges to be incurred such as abseiling and going through water to get to the end points. When i first got to the edge of the going down bit, I was going to stay put as it looked to be a 1:1 gradient but got talked into it as the very small children were already skipping along the way like mountain goats!!! Very wrong decision!!! First of all, there is no Health & Safety other than the notice at the top of the cliff. The climb was all downhill ( I know that is Irish) on shale type rocks with NO HANDRAILS or proper paths anywhere. I had started with a back pack that the WMH soon took over and someone found me a stick for balance. There was one v small ladder down one steep bit with a handrail on one side only. I cannot tell you how many parts of me were quivering in abject fear all of the way down!!! Any strength I had disappeared from my knees, ankles and wrists and there were places Icould barely hold myself up and several times I had to slide on my behind with everything clenching!!! I got to the point several times when imminent death would have been a blessing in disguise - and all of this to see some pool at the end of the gorge. I can tell you, I have never been further from an hello birds, hello trees, hello sodding butterflies, frame of mind in my life and at this point was seriously contemplating heading back to Tardun on the next coach out of Dodge LOL. The trek backwards was nearly as bad but at least it was no longer going downwards!! I never got to the pool in the end as I stayed sitting on a rock while the others did the last bit as I had no strength to go on. The one bit I did enjoy was a pool along the way with a heron wading about in it. I called it a shag which provided much hilarity for the aussi contingent as they thought I was being rude LOL.

I nearly had a panic attack at one particular part of the descent and had to suffer the ignominy of having some jolly hockey sticks older woman tell me to give her my leg and she would guide my foot down on each rock at the same time she grabbed my leg and did just that !!! Whilst everyone was wittering on what a wonderful place it was, my whole focus had become about getting out alive.
I eventually reached the top a quivering wreck, with most parts of me positively aching but I have got video and camera footage of the so called beautiful scenery etc. LOL.

Once back on terra firma we drove to the Karijini visitors bureau for a look and then into Tom Price to get the CV joint fixed in the workmates car. It had been diagnosed as needing attn while I was on the tour the day before. Tom Price is another mining town and was a mere 90k trip in. Because we had some time to spare, we got to go shopping. I bought a queen size underblanket and cotton air cell blanket amongst other things for the night ahead,determined to keep warm.
Had fish and chips for tea and got back to camp about 9.30pm. I made up my bed with the new purchases and the WM also gave me a 'hot water bottle' a drink bottle made out of some space age material that will take cold or boiling water. Bliss, I had 4 layers of clothing top and bottom plus the aforementioned and felt like an Egyptian mummy, I was so wrapped up.Whilst I got some sleep, I woke however barely able to move from the strain on the body from the previous days exploits!!! I found out over bfast that in fact the walk the day before had been a LEVEL 5!!!! and a snake had been lying about on the rocks I had sat on before all our group had got there.

The days plan was for another walk to another gorge - this time Dawes gorge (for those playing at home) It was a real level 3 walk so as I needed to stretch out my aching quads off I went. I got gyp at my beige/kahki attire and got called Ranger Stacey (did wear my pink sox with the work boots though LOL) so was in a real 'crikey' frame of mind as we set out (more or less restored by now except the aches). It really was a much easier walk and with the fear factor gone, I was abe to now enjoy the trees, flowers and butterflies LOL. I had another stick to help with my balance and managed well I thought.I did stay put for the last bit that went to level 5 difficulty and once again sat on a rock, reading the latest Woman's Day (as you do) that I had in my back pack.
I was able to get up the reasonably steep steps up to the top of the gorge as this time they were proper slabs of stone of a decent size and were solid to step on. I was very pleased with myself that I had managed this one and again have much photographic evidence. Back to the camp for lunch and then a small walk to the top of yet another gorge where I perched myself with a good book while the others completed a level 5 climb once again.They all agreed I would never have made it as they had to squeeze through a gap in some rocks and some of them also climbed a water fall.

Well have come to the end of my time again. Have had a great day today but will finish off Karijini and the trip to Exmouth next round.
Cheers

Newman Mine

Another very quick blog while I have the chance. As I was saying, Newman is the biggest open cut mine in the world. We drove in and initially it didn't look too big but when we got to the actual mine site it was amazing. They are mining currently at level 22 and ultimately the mine will go to level 45. The mine opened in 1969. Water level is at level 18 and they pump 80 million litres of water per week out of the mine - some of it waters the Newman golf course. The workers have two shift patterns - either 12 hour days for seven days followed by 12 hrs x 7 nights followed by 7 days off or a 4 day, 4 night, 4 off shift. We went past the tyre depot where they had $2,000,000 worth of tyres stored. Each tyre for the big trucks is worth $25,000!!! I got lots of photos and did some videoing so hope it all turns out ok. There are more details but would need the papers with me for that. We headed for the town lookout once the tour was finished where we had lunch and then left for a 2 hour drive to Karijini National Park. About an hour out the WM mentioned, you realise we are going to an Eco resort, no power!!!! Luckily I had the rest of the trip to adjust. Was also expecting long drop loos but hooray, they do flush. There are showers but no hot water.

We are in part of the park called Savanah and funny enough driving through to get hear the landscape is a little like the Serengeti in miniature. (No elephants or giraffes either)There is longish dry grass throughout and scrubby trees. The camp is red gravel patches where you pitch your tents and then there are clumps of grass everywhere that look like they would be nice and soft, however each stalk is needle sharp and stings when you get scratched. The first night I had a better mattress as we had got a proper pump and attachments in Newman. However, I wore thermals, trackpants and then had to put my pj pants over that, plus 4 layers on top and I nearly FROZEtodeath! The temp was below 0o over night and there was a frost on the tent when I finally got up. It was also brilliant fun going to the loo in the middle of the night in the pitch black. Luckily the loo has a solar light to get yr bearings otherwise I could still be wandering around. I did mention that the loos flush, there is a sign saying, leave the lid down so frogs do not jump in!!!! I dragged out my towel and other shirts and fleecy jumper to put under my sleeping bag gaining a modicum of extra warmth so began the day slightly less than my normal morning cheery self LOL. Times up so will have to carry on later - it gets better yet!!

Oh My God!!!!!!!!

Yes, well his name has been called into use several times over the last few days LOL. This is $5 for 15 mins useage so there will be no corrections so apologies at the beginning.
First day out, we left Tardun at 6.30ish in the end - all good. Managed to fall asleep before we got to Yalgoo, got out to have photo taken at the Yalgoo sign - this is the beginning of the Outback, and again when we stopped for photos to be taken of a wedged tail eagle eating a dead thing on the road - very impressive, then woke up at the next stop Mt Magnet - a much prettier town than I expected. One humerous note, there was a road sign along the way with the outline of a kangaroo, a fox and a kiwi, the sign saying - watch out for strays LOL. Next stop was Meekatharra, a fairly dingy looking place where we got the cars filled with fuel. We passed through Cue before that and that had some lovely old stone buildings, looked very much a town in the wild west (and the difference is?). Over here there are road houses along the way - sometimes they also have petrol but not always a franchaise BP or Shell type set up. One such place was a mere flyspot on the map called Kuramina (from memory). I was standing in front of the drinks cabinet thinking which one will I have when I had a surreal moment and realised I was staring at a shelf of L&P cans. A small shriek ensued - OMG its L&P - blank stares from the Aussies LOL and I swooped on two cans ($3.70 each!!!!!). In a believe it or not moment, it seems that the owners are Kiwis hence the reason these cans are stocked. I would bet it is the only place in WA that you could find them. I can't remember the first names of the owners but their surname is Currie.

We reached Newman around 5.15pm and headed to Dearloves Motor Camp - where you never have to book because there will always be spare spots..... to find they were booked out!!!!!!! Fortunately, there are two motor camps in Newman and we were able to get a tent space in the next one. I was very impressed with the camp site because over here you get POWERED tent sites. This came in handy when we sat around the table later in the evening playing cards with the blow heater going underneath the table for warmth - buggar global warming LOL. Even more impressive was my ability to lie in 'bed' later on and play solitare on my laptop while listening to music on it through my MP3 earplugs. I did appreciate the luxury and was lulled into a false sense of security thinking we were in like accommadations for the rest of the tour.... but more about that later.

Note to self: If/when camping again, I need a tent I can stand in. My tent is a two/three person curved type for pygmies. Initially the work mate was only going to take three tents for 7 people and I am glad I asked for an extra one. I could not fit another person in unless I was EXTREMELY fond of them or willing to share a kidney with (could possibly stretch that to a Bulte or two LOL). First challenge was blowing up the double sized mattress I had bought with the pump we got at the same time. Words are going to be said to the BF.whoever store when we got back because the pump was not the right one!!!! The WM's friends had a pump that kind of worked as it did not have the right fitting either and in a Princess and the Pea moment, it gone blown up enough for the night after much fiddle, faddling with the stopper etc.

Next, it was already cold by sundown so dressed with the thermals, bush shirt, track pants, woolen socks and a sweater. Next challenged - B.....d zips - two on the tent, one that got stuck every time I tried to use it on the sleeping bag - someone out there, anywhere - invent a sleeping bag that opens in one fell swoop! Once I was finally ready for sleep again after suffering RSI from playing cards on the laptop I snuggled into my SB only to wake later in the night having claustrophobic dreams and feeling I was strangling - that was me in the hood of said SB. Fortunately dawn came not long after, though I did sleep through the 4.30am departure of the mining crew.

Newman is not a pretty town, very utilitarian but the visitors bureau was colourful, with lots of items for sale and friendly staff. We headed there once we had packed up as a tour of the mine was on the agenda. We got there to find there was only 4 more seats available so everyone decided I should do the tour and I got to take 3 of the kids with me. Looking at a mine site has never been up there on my list of things to do and I was unsure whether I should indeed accept the gift of going, however, I thought - at least this will give me something to blog about I guess - spot the enthusiasm LOL. Well, the first good thing was, the tour was by bus (I thought it would be 1 1/2hr walk LOL)so it immediately started to look good. I am now very glad the WM encouraged me to go - it was a very interesting tour indeed. We had to don a blue hard hat, safety glasses, and a high vis vest (nuclear orange) and then on the bus we had to have our safety belts on - all good BHP safety practice! The itinery did not have a typo - it is the biggest open cut mine in the world. - I will have to write more later, I am being picked up for a trek in some gorge this morning. Catch u later.

Fox on the Run

I thought for those of you playing at home, you might like to know where I will be over the next 10 days. Tomorrow at 6am we leave for Newman - a trip of 877km -staying at Dearloves Caravan Park. At Newman we visit the world's largest open cut mine! (not sure if that is a typo and its meant to be Open Cast - will let you know LOL).
Wed 9 - Travel from Newman to Karijini (281km) and stay until Sat. There are the Wanna Munna Rock Carvings, Fotescue Falls, and Karijini National Park to visit.
Sat 11 - Karajini to Exmouth (640km) Not sure what the main attraction is there - I have a horrible feeling its walking tracks and the great outdoors and plenty of it LOL.
Mon 14- Exmouth to Shark Bay (692km) and hopefully a trip to Monkey Mia where there are dolphins.
Wed 16 -Shark Bay to Kalbarri (374km) this is serious great outdoor stuff - I have seen pictures of here and the National Park is huge. Only saw a mere smidgeon when we went there at half term.
Sat 19 -Kalbarri back to Tardun - unpack etc
Monday 21 - The kids are back in town!!! Work begins again for the next 10 weeks.

I am taking the laptop so if there is a chance to send a blog while I am away I will do so but not even sure if some of these places will have email ability. Will be a good Girl Guide and be prepared anyway. Did I say the WM's friends come from Bathurst and have a Caravan Park there... I have already been invited to stay to go to Bathurst this year if I want to!!!!!!! (For THE race of course, not just to see the place!).

Have had a good weekend - Saturday I got up, got dressed in my new outdoor pursuits gear, went across to the WM's at 9.30am and crawled back to my bed in the dorm at 10.30 that night. The workmate was feeling really unwell with tonsillitis so the adults blobbed out all day on various couches and I think we watched 5 DVD's in between grazing on various bits left over from the night before. Ended up by watching an AFL match as well- Collingwood v Sydney - very hard to get used to people passing forward - do not get the point of this game at all - and two programms of 'The Bill' before decamping back to the dorm to sleep.

Woke up Sunday full of energy so tackled the clean up of the boarding school. Washed everything in sight clothes, did dishes, moved furniture back from the party the night before, cleared out all the girl's rooms of anything left, vacuumed the place and then did our 'flat'. By then it was mid afternoon so wandered next door again just as National Velvet was finishing on video and stayed for "Mr Holland's Opus' - Still a great movie. The WM was no better so I put two batches of soup on to cook. I had bought lamb shoulder chops and a bacon ankle the day before so added vegetables and soup mix to the respective meats and let them bubble away through "Titanic" in between racing backwards and fwds upstairs to get all the washing completed and dried. These have been my best batches of soup yet and had both for dinner last night and again tonight. Watched a'A Few Good Men" after dinner and then it was time for the Federer/Nadal match. I walked home sometime around 1am this morning as Federer was getting a caning and it was too hard to watch. I believe he did come back but not enough to win Wimbaldon again this year. Although there was not a lot of moon last night - the stars were magnificent and you can almost touch the Milky Way out here. I wanted to stand and look for shooting stars but thought I might snap freeze (ok, it wasn't that cold but it was under 10o) or break my neck by tripping over something in the dark.

Made a two biscuit slices today to take away with us - one a new recipe from a staff member at school and one I found I'd been given years ago by one of the physios at Waikato Hospital. Both no cook, once you have melted butter and added - my favourite sort of cooking LOL.

A Good Day's Night

Have nearly been up for 24 hours!!! Got up at 4.20am to get last girls ready for us to take to the airport. The boys arrived up at 5am and 10 mins later we were off with the workmate at the wheel of the bus. For a moment I thought I was back home (but I never clicked my heels Dorothy!! and this certainly is not Texas LOL). It was a pea-soup FOG!!!!! Not good when you go for over 1/2 hour on dirt road or tarseal without any WHITE PAINT MARKINGS!!!! One depends on red glow in the dark bits and white glow in the dark bits on the few and far between markers on the side of the road to find one's way (the markers are only on bends and awkward bits of the road!!!) At least when we reached the main road, there was the odd road train with lights and white markings all the way then almost peak hour traffic as we neared Geraldton with their lights on(about 10 vehicles LOL). We made it to the airport with HEAPS of time to spare (7am) as the flights did not leave until 8.45am. The kids were so excited to be going as none of them got home at half term. We got lots of hugs and then they were on their way.

We decided a stop at Maccas was the next priority once we had seen all of the kids board the plane. That done, a quick trip to the Post Office and then after an even quicker look at a local clothes shop, the workmate and I headed to the Woolworths Mall. I needed to get night attire for camping and so bought some track pants and some pjs, plus two polar fleece jumpers as they were on super special at $10 each. Then came the groceries... three trolleys fulled to the brim later... - well we are feeding 7 people for nearly two weeks,- the workmate fetched the bus from Maccas carpark, pulled up outside the mall and about 15 mins after that, we had everything stashed on the bus ready to head out of town to the camping shop. Tried a place called BCF (I think - boating, camping and fishing?) and bought a blow up mattress and a nuclear fall out orange coloured rain jacket (so I can be spotted in the bush should I lose my voice and not be able to be heard LOL)and a short sleeve shirt that was on special. I looked at a therma-rest thingie - 1/2" sponge type stuff between me and the ground ....hmmmmm. Hence the blow up air mattress (double for maximum comfort as a single would have meant lying in a coffin positon every night to fit LOL.

We quickly went to Rangers again after that as their thermal under gear was cheaper and bought another set. We got asked where we were going and when told, the woman behind the counter said, I wonder if you will hear DINGO's during the night? After my eyebrows had shot up to my scalp in puzzlement at the word DINGO - I was told that yes I would here them but they would be more scared of me than the other way around - oh yeah!!! The only positive thing is the children we are taking with us are all beyond babyhood heh, heh. (The Aussies are still a little defensive and sensative about their baby taking, dingo, beasts). The salesperson and the workmate then hastened to tell me I was not likely to see one, just hear them from afar. Watch this space.

After Rangers, it was back to town as we had to go to Target on the way home. Found some Ben 10 shorty pjs for the grandson and will put them away for his birthday. We finally got out of Gton at 4pm and drove home through pouring rain with a spectacular burst of lightening happening half way home. This place is becoming more and more like the Waikato as winter cracks on!!!. It is quite exciting to see how high the wheat has grown in just over a week. The paddocks are looking lush and the growth is about 6'' plus in places. There is also a large area on the way back covered in yellow flowers - no not gorse, but canola. It is grown as a crop here and has an unusual smell which I am told becomes quite unpleasant at harvest time. It is interesting to see what ends up as oil or margerine, growing as a crop here.

It was a marathon unpacking the bus, and thanks to the foresight of the workmate, most of what we bought is already packed in plastic containers (large storage type) ready for camping. We then had about an hour to get ready for the staff do tonight which consisted of a pot luck dinner. My contribution was two platters of nibbles and 2 and a bit ltrs of mulled wine. We had a great array of food and the last person went home at 2.30am. One of the staff bought up his guitar and amp and after a suitable time of grazing and general chatter, he kicked off with some songs. When they had dried up, the keen and hearty took over the Play Station from the kids (who had left by then) and Sing Star (Kareoke competitions) took over with lots of laughs as it is not as easy as it seems. Modestly I report, I rocked again on the Legends disc!! was passable on the Party disc and we didnt even go there with the Pop disc as I barely recognise anyone singing the songs on that one. Got to Superstar level doing Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and the Monkees - "I'm a believer" LOL I will skip lightly over the fact that I have several years on most of the other participants.

Have locked the place down, am wide awake but am going to head to bed, it will be 4am by the time I hit the pillow . Should have a good nights sleep. Am staying up at school tonight because the staff do was up in girl's boarding so it's easier than trekking back in the dark and cold to my abode. Will finish tidying up after the girls tomorrow so we can come back from holiday with everything straight. It's 3.30am and all's well.

Last Sleep!!

Am back up at work tonight to get up at 4.30am to be on the bus at 5am to take the last lot of kids to the airport in Geraldton. There was a muck up with the bookings so they have had an extra day at school today. The workmate is driving the bus in and I am going to keep her company.

Have had a very lazy time of it as I did not go to town yesterday after all. No need to go as it turned out (after I had raced up here by 8.30am) as everyone is sorting themselves out for vegies etc over the next two weeks! It would have been nice to know the day before but such is life. Went and had coffee at the workmates and watched a DVD about a dog team in the Antartic - based on a true story when they were abandoned and the guy who ran them as a team turned everything upside down to get back to them. Went home and made scones for lunch with soup and settled down to watch 'For the Boys' with Bette Middler and James Caan. I am totally having a DVD pig -out at the moment but as I still do not have TV it is the next best thing. I threw a minor tantrum when I was woken out of a sleep at 6pm (drug induced by the cold medication) to be told either my workmate or I were needed for this mornings run into town (the men did it instead..)and then as I was awake, I brought up the key to the cleaning cupboard that had somehow found its way into my bag and helped with the clean up that was in progress and to say goodbye to the girls who went today. The drugs have been brilliant for my headcold - one more day and I should be fine.

Had another slow day today - did not move until 10.30am - almost an unheard of luxury, and then did more tidying of lounge, sorting of paperwork and packed for tonight. I am told there is more rain heading here over the weekend. Once I have been shopping tomorrow, I will be fine with that. Have books, more DVD's, and a heater - what more could I want :).

The workmate has been to town today and the car/wagon now has a roof rack for the impending journey. I am told there are temperatures in the 30's where we are going (during the day) so need to think of two seasons re clothing as I believe it still gets cold at night. I think the first night we may be camping in the wild so to speak - will revisit that thought tomorrow. I have misplaced our itinery and will have to get another copy so I can keep you properly informed. Am charging up the camera batteries and clearing current photos off. Will also have to do the same to the video camera and see if I can remember how to use it.

Looked after the workmate's two boys this afternoon. Played a game of Buzz which I eventually won (they are 8 and 10)though they had me on the ropes at one stage. Longevity pays off when there are questions of general knowledge LOL. We also had a quick round of Sing Star which I again scored top points - a little unfair as I picked 'Legends' though again one song was very close. Luckily they got picked up before we changed to something more modern where I would have got trounced. You have to take the wins where you can LOL as these guys take no prisoners in Buzz where there is rounds you can lose points to the winner - that is always my most dyslexic round.

Great to get emails today from those of you reading this blog but not leaving the footprint of a comment LOL. It helps to know who these ravings of mine are reaching. Will respond by email, hopefully before the end of the weekend.

Shall We Dance?

Have had a bit of a movie marathon in the last two days. Watched the updated version of 'The King and I' yesterday and loved it. Chow yun-Fat (I hope I have remembered his name properly) who plays the King, I thought was brilliant in the part, though Jodie Foster was a bit of stretch as the English teacher. Today, being my day off, after leaping out of bed at the crack of 9.30am, cleaning my bedroom and a shelf in the wardrobe, putting two loads of washing on the line, and having lunch sorted, I sat back on the couch and watched 'John Q' with Denzel Washington - another excellent movie I thought, about a family whose son needs a heart transplant with a swipe at the American health system, followed by 'A Night atthe Museum" (I think that is the title, which kind of says it all) - the story about a Dad who is mostly unemployed needing to impress his son, who gets a job in a museum as a nightwatchman and everything comes to life at night. Ben Stiller plays the Dad with cameos played by Dick Van Dyck, Mickey Rooney and Robin Williams. A bit hokey but watchable in a background to quilting kind of way.

I had taken to the couch to do some of the aforementioned quilting and also because I have a lurking cough/cold. Am writing this after taking coldrex night and day tablets to try and knock it on the head so to speak. I was given them up at the workmate's place when I had dinner tonight. My contribution to dinner this week was minimal - a packet of chocolate and raspberry Tim Tams only bought for the noblest of reasons (hem hem), the packet was pink which caught my eye in the shop, and I think by buying then I have donated some money to breast cancer.

The WMH had made a toe tingling/heart warming, vegetable/bacon chowder followed by chicken and vegetable wraps. I helped by chopping and slicing raw vegies for the wraps and we all felt extremely virtuous by the end of those two courses. A small pause and then some caramel self-saucing pudding. I even had a herbal tea (with my choccy biscuits)!!!!! so all food groups covered.

It was of course the final of Australia you've got Talent tonight and it was a great show. The winner was a young 15 yr old lad, self taught, who played his guitar brilliantly, the second place going to a 12 yr old lad who sang and played guitar and I would say, both will go far. The WMH and I picked the winners so felt very pleased with ourselves and then went on to pick the 1/4 finalists in the choir contest that followed. I do think if the Pukekohe/Waiuku lot entered this contest, they would walk away with the prize, no contest - what we saw tonight was good, but the performance I saw last year with the above choir singing Christmas songs and the Messiah - were better.

Have had two goes tonight (1/2 hour later) at downloading photos - it would seem the hamsters are too tired to turn the wheels this evening - will try again tomorrow perhaps. I love the reliability of the connection out here!

At this stage I will be off to Gton tomorrow for the vegie run and whatever else needs doing, trying to slip in some more pre-camping spending. I have to get a therma-rest to put under my sleeping bag - it is about the size of a postage stamp and is designed to keep a warm layer next to your body, under your sleeping bag. Will do investigations and keep you posted LOL. I think I have caught my cough/cold from being cold to the bone twice and from getting wet twice over the weekend. Am sitting with my little heater on cremate at the moment so am doing nicely now LOL.

Clearing out the shelf in my wardrobe today I came across a pile of NZ business cards, coins, etc from the last hols. For those heading to Wellington at anytime, or currently living there, I have several places to mention: Should you need a hair cut, I can heartily recommend Jean Jacques hair design, 160 Lambton Quay. I was desperate for a cut when last in Wtgn and they fitted me in at late notice. Jolene did my hair, giving me a very professional and thoroughly unpushy list of products that she had used when she had finished the job, with two small free samples to take away. I do not recall fainting at the cost so it must have been comparable with Hamilton prices. The other bonus was the coffee - they have a machine that will do professional standard flat whites, capuccinos, etc etc. My coffee came with chocolate coffe beans as well. I will certainly go back there again when next in Wellington.

Should you be a tea drinker - then the tea emporium (my description)is a definite must, look at -www.tleaft.co.nz - its on the corner of Lambton Quay and a street I forget - I think there is a magazine store next to it and its on the same side of the road as Kirkaldie and Staines (family - see Laura for directions). I am a novice tea drinker and I found the staff very helpful in guiding me through the different sorts of tea they had. There were two teas to taste the day I was there and I came away with a lemon flavoured green tea that was delicious, light and fresh to drink, an apple tea - also can recommend, and my favourite - a rose flavoured green tea that had a cherry taste. You can also buy any tea making implement you might require. I do like to patrionise places where you get great service without having your arm twisted to purchase anything and both the above fit that category. My other always visit place is Abracadabra ( I think I may have mentioned this before) - a Middle Eastern type cafe just off Cuba Mall.

Now I have done my little commercials LOl I will sign off and let the Night tablet of the day and night lot, do its work.