Windy and Cold Wellington :)

On the day school finished (Wed 16th) No1 GS, his Mum and I went to Carols in the Park in Wellington. We took a picnic dinner with us and sat down on a blanket in the crowd while it was still daylight and waited for the show to begin. No 1 GS was in a rocking mood hence the "Chopper (of tv bike customising fame) look with the new sunglasses that he just had to have, lol.

The evening started with all the old favourites with some more modern classics as the evening wore on. You will note the glow stick around said GS's neck - there is a story to that. Wellington, being somewhat windy, is not the place to take candles to light to enhance the evening, so I bought three glow sticks which in turn donated money to hospice so a seasonal win win situation. As the evening drew nigh and it turned to dusk, the GS's mother and I looked at each other and wondered how to get the sticks to glow. I have never ever used one of these weapons before having attended most concerts in my life lit from within rather than without, heh heh. His Mum suggested we shake them which we proceeded to do but they did not seem to change much in brightness. Luckily a woman who was watching from behind us called to us and told us to bend the stick in half which breaks the inner bit and consequently the stick glows like a glowing thing, lol. Two very sheepish people complied and hey presto - let there be light!






This is not a trick photograph, I kid you not. Santa did several twirls around the park in the Westpac helicopter before appearing on stage. I got this shot as the copter was banking to circle the second time, lol. The evening was very family orientated and seemed to be enjoyed by most, but without the star impact the the Auckland version appears to have. At 9pm we left the park and strolled along the waterfront to go see the Telecom Christmas tree in yet another small playground, come park, nearer the center of town. These photos do not do it justice as the lights lit in waves down the "tree" and varied hues of colour as it shimmered down and around. No 1 GS and I then went under the Christmas tree and lay down looking up which is the second shot. There were a whole lot of bean bags on a tiered seating sort of set up, though we just lay down across the seating and looked up. It was a wierd experience as the lights hurtled down towards us and was like being in a star wars movie or star trek as you race towards the point of exit of a galaxy far, far away, lol.


We missed the bus as we got to the main road and because we had one wilting boy, caught a taxi back home.
On Thursday morning I baked for our donation to the Church Christmas boxes they were making for those on their own over Christmas or who were known to be having a tough time. I use the word bake in its widest sense as used the melt the butter and add honey ricebubble recipe again putting the mixture in patty cups which went down a treat. I had some time to kill waiting for James to finish at his holiday program so helped with the packaging at the church office as well earning myself a cup of coffee for my contribution. GS and I stopped at the library on the way home to pick up a couple of DVD's for the following night when it was the GS and myself, as his parents went out to their work do's. We got the cartoon version of the Sword and the Stone and Red Hollow 8 - a story set in medieval England with cartoon mice, badgers, wolves etc - a find as the lad has seen 1 - 7. Both were hits and watched numerous times over the next few days.

Saturday with a wind chill factor somewhere in the minuses I am sure, at 8.30am I was at cricket (Nana will come, - oh, the implicit faith of grandchildren, lol and of course, Nana would be delighted to go rather than curl up with good book in the warmth of her bed, laughing lots). Had four layers of clothing on and could not believe you could play cricket in such wind, lol. Thought I would just watch, but oh no, after said GS had batted, he wanted to do more practice in the nets at the side of the grounds - so off I tottered and bowled and batted for the next 45 mins :). Son was in full winter coat and commented you have to love Wellington summers, lol. Got back home and had the gas heater on for the rest of the day.
One of the coolest things was seeing the cable car go up the hill behind the park where the boys were playing cricket. I had not seen it before and once again seeing it against the backdrop of so much greenery it made me realise how unique our capital city is. I love the houses hanging off hillsides, not so fussed on the narrow roads all through the area and glad not to have to walk many of the hilly parts whilst staying down here. Do not have to feel like a mountain goat in Karori where the family live which is great.

Once again the grandson in full bowl.

Over the weekend, preparations for Christmas were in full swing and will follow up on Christmas Day in my next post.

Howzat!

Who would believe it, I am actually playing cricket (I use the term in its broadest sense, lol) and have the bruises to prove it. No1 grandson has chosen cricket as his sport, so for the last two days have spent a good amount of time on the front lawn - which is kind of flat- by Wellington standards, lol, either bowling or batting with Mojo (the dog) acting as fielder at times. So, the last time I had a go at cricket would be about twenty years ago and pre wearing glasses. I wasn't sure whether I would be able to guage the ball as I seem to be unable to play tennis since wearing glasses, but it has been all good :). In fact I am doing 4's and 5 1/4's (No1 Gs's scoring, lol) when batting and have been able to bowl numerous 'outs' which means I have bowled to the edge of the concrete path without the ball being hit. The bruise is spectacular, lol, and covers most of the left knee and is the result of some fielding when I dove sideways for the ball, sliding on the grass a la a rugby slide. Who knew it could result in such pain and damage? but there has been heat coming off the bruise and knee is tender to move and was excruciating when knocked against the table. Can only put it down to the aging process which impresses me not, lol. Last night was very exciting when No 1 Gs caught the ball on the full when I hit it. I don't know who was more surprised but I am sure the whole neighbourhood enjoyed the shrieks of excitement from myself heh, heh. (His Mum inside preparing dinner thought major damage had occurred). On Sunday afternoon after a bout of practice on the lawn, we went to 'real' cricket practice at a local park as No1 Gs is in a cricket team.






In true Wellington spirit, it was windy and cold, with cloud halfway down the hill behind the park! We got back home and put the gas heater on - in the middle of summer. I naturally had multi-layers on and resorted to sox as well. In keeping with the temperature, we had a very mid-winter type dinner - Lambshanks cooked gently in the oven in a wine and herb mix, with boiled potatoes, fresh beans and asparagus. The meat fell of the bone and was absolutely delicious.

We had started Sunday by going to Church where No1 Gs attends Sunday School. It is a very ordinary looking building from the outside but a beautiful old wooden building on the inside, with huge wooden beams and wooden ceiling, with old darkend wood pews stained and stained glass windows. We went to the family service where many of the children were in a nativity play with lots of audience participation, interspersed with some good old belting carols, followed by a sausage sizzle on the vicarage lawn next to the church.


We got back here and I had to charge the video camera up while No1 Gs found numerous leggo people and animals from his collection, and before dinner, I had to film his version of the nativity story. (Peter Jackson need not be too afraid yet, but watch this space, lol). We did the nativity story which then segued into Jesus as a teenager hanging with the shepards and wise men with a superhero overlay and heaven knows where that would have gone except we were called to come and have dinner. All good fodder for the 21st birthday, heh heh. I have a suspicion there will be more movies made yet.

Yesterday I walked No1 Gs to school with his Dad (he caught the bus to work along the way) and got introduced to his teacher before walking back here. (Walking and cricket, I hope you are all taking note, lol). I came back via the supermarket - managed to buy some strawberries - $1.99 for a large chip, mangos $1.59 each woohoo (they are Australian ones and cheaper here, go figure), and bananas $1.99 bunch. I am loving how cheap this fruit is. Also went to the Salvation Army shop as I needed something to read and managed to pick up four books for $10 so that should see me through the next 10 days.

It has rained during the night but I see the sun struggling to come through. The temp is meant to be around 14o Celsius today (put Celsius for the benefit of those who read this who are still using farenhieght and Centigrade). Not sure what today is going to bring, but am going to watch No1 Gs who is going swimming after school - they have a heated pool for children so is used all year round. We are in the midst of doing Christmas cards so if there is any energy left after dinner, I guess we will do a few more :).

Land of the Long White Cloud

It is now 10 days since I landed and as per usual time is swooshing by. Of these days I feel like at least six of them have been pouring with rain and cloudy, or with rain imminent so yes, do know I am back in NZ. I seem to be in perpetual motion and once again am covering some miles as I get to catch up with family and friends. The first week was spent in Waiuku for the first half and then down to Waihi to see No 2 son, daughter in law and grandson - who is now 9 months old. Apart from the weather, I am totally noticing how hilly Franklin and the Waikato areas are - verging on mountainous in places. The colours are so different to WA, with blues and mauve's of the hills (grey days, lol) and green vegetation everywhere - pine trees, pungas, flax, and a host of other fauna. Landscapes I have lived with forever seem brand new and I wonder what I noticed before I went away, lol. Traffic is another thing. The days when three vehicles on the road signal a busy day are over. Auckland traffic is ghastly - not so bad as you move further on down the island, and everything seems much smaller - no road trains, and less FWD type cars about but the traffic is much heavier in volume.

It was Kay (sister) and Mark's 30th wedding anniversary last Tuesday. We were discussing what did 30 yrs signify the night before, to which Kay's quick response was - a miracle, lol. I googled anniversaries to find that 30yrs traditionally is a pearl anniversary, however Kay had received pearls for their 13th one and they decided to go to dinner instead. I was involved in a mission by Viv who had made them a beautiful quilt with 25 hearts on it for their 25th anniversary, to take it out to her on the day so she could add 5 more hearts. After searching the house high and low, finally dawned to check behind the couch it usually reposes on, where it had fallen to the floor. Under the pretext of going out to lunch with Viv, I got it out to her and mission was completed by the time I was headed back. I stopped on the way at the local supermarket and put together a small bag of goodies, namely pearl barley, pearl soap,hand wash and a refill, pine nuts (pearl like), aolie and garlic dressing (again pearly), a packet of greek yoghurt mix (keep going with the theme) and put it all in a gift bag plus a bottle of champagne type wine (again colour was the issue here) which was received with much laughter as Kay unpacked it.

Wednesday I headed down to Waihi buying a new charger for my NZ cell phone and new windscreen wiper blades for the car on the way. I stopped just out of Waihi as there were several vans on the side of the road selling fruit and veg and got 3 bunches of asparagus, 10 avocados, 3 chips of strawberries and a bag of nectarines for $20 - be still my beating heart. No2 son and family are living in a cottage on a farm where he milks 280 cows and does other various jobs about the farm. No2 grandson is crawling, has two bottom teeth and getting top teeth through. I only took 95 photos the first day I was there, lol.

The local Plunket group was having a fundraising cake stall on Saturday so I did some baking for it after a quick mercy call to Mum for some of her melt the butter and add recipes. Friday came all too soon and a return to Waiuku to get ready to leave for Wellington the following day. I left with several heads of brocolli out of son's garden which I shared about the family as they were better to be eaten fresh. By the time I was heading to the outskirts of Hamilton, I realised I had left my new ph charger behind!!!!!! No worries, I will use the oz one which was getting calls and txts except, oh dear, it had run out of funds on it. Went to recharge it but will not let me in from NZ - so worse than useless, though I still have the charger to that and it will receive txts and calls when charged so maybe marginally useful after all. Could have spit tacks about the nz ph charger, arrrgggh.
Saturday started drizzly and overcast which did not bode well for the local Santa Parade. Went in to Waiuku for a coffee with Viv and Kay (as you do) and then a few quick jobs about the place. I had some charms I wanted added to my silver charm bracelet and two chains for necklaces needed to be repaired so called into "Richardson Jewellers" in Waiuku, which is one of the town's original shops. It is a treasure trove of jewellery, clocks, china and crystal and most of our important gifts given and received over the years have often come from there. It is a family business and as I went to school with two of the older children in the family, it is always nice to drop in for a catch up as well. I was assured that what I wanted done could be done by Christmas and if the shop was closed, just to give a ring at home and I could pick the bits up from there. You do not get service like that in many shops these days.
By the afternoon, thankfully the weather had lifted so after packing bags into the car for trip to the airport to Wellington, went in to view the parade.
Mum and her mob of Red Hatters, with 2nd Prize - they have won a prize every year they have entered - I think this is the 5th year.



New Zealand Icon, the buzzy bee, done by Sandspit School and now the float is famous throughout NZ as well.

Landed in Wellington to be picked up by No1 son and family with one very excited grandson who at 7yrs was able to take my bag to the car without help!. Next post will update the Wellington news :)

On The Road Again

I must be back in NZ as it has done nothing but rain almost since I got here, lol. It was a group effort to leave Tardun as we were two hours late from estimated time of departure. Thanks to Janette and Jude for helping me with the last minute stuff and for morning tea :) :) which actually was my breakfast. Had cleaned everything else out of fridge etc and packed the rest. Once we finally got going we left via Wandalgu as Marinus (bloke who had been helping with harvest) had something to pick up from there and so we headed out via Canna. I drove the Brs car and Br M and Marinus were in the very overloaded station wagon. It was good cos it meant I could have the ipod up at nose bleed levels, lol. Anyhoo, also got give a walkie talkie so Br M could stay in touch with me, but was told to turn it off to save the battery between chats!!!!!! Naturally I did not turn it off as otherwise, how would I know he wanted something LOL. Zoomed through Morawa and took the rd to Perenjori which ws apparrently the wrong rd to take, however all good and still got to Carnamah. Stopped at Moora - and Br M then decided to do the next bit with me. I do not think he trusted my ability to keep on track with them. I had stopped being the lead vehicle much earlier on as the station wagon was over heating and apparently I was driving too fast. In fact, strangely enough I was doing the speed limit only, but did not argue heh heh. Got delayed at one point as after missing numerous opportunities for some great photos, I did stop and take one of a row of silos that caught my eye and got to Moora several mins behind the stn wagon.
From there we drove to New Norcia and Marinus wanted to get something from the Monastry - we arrived 5 mins to late, but omg, what an amazing place with these amazing buildings in the middle of nowhere. There are two old schools and a monastry that were built in a Spanish style after the monks that went there to settle. I want to go back now and poke around and take more photos :) :) :). We then headed for Bindoon to leave the station wagon behind and to catch up with who ever was there. Met the Brs that Br W and Br M will be living with next year. Not having been to Bindoon before it was great to see it and now have a picture in my mind of how it is all laid out. It was amazing standing on top of the hill where the Brs live and to look down and across the valley planted with olive trees and then to see the statue in the distance. I got a few photos but have not looked at them properly yet. We then drove to the dining room and got to see three ex pupils. I caught up with one of our girls from the Kimberley who was in good spirits and says she has passed maths, english and hospitality and has been getting good marks. She plans on returning next year and in fact wants to go to Year 12 !!!!!! So, who would have thought.

Got to Wembly (another Brs home type set up) and dinner was there for the microwaving of. More Brs turned up as we were about to eat and hosted us very well - seemed an OK bunch. At 9.30pm we left for airport to discover Marinus and I were on the same flight to Sydney after all that, lol. Didnt have a long wait and as soon as I got into my seat, I think I fell asleep. Missed dinner but when I woke, one of the stewards asked me if he could get me a meal which was good. I was wearing Tardun jumper and he reconised CBs insignia from boyhood days, so think that stood me in good stead.
The plane over to Sydney was very civilised, individual screens in the back of seats for movies etc, friendly staff and reasonabe comfort. Made it to Sydney with no problems.
Sydney was a longish day. Poodled about shops and looked for power plug outlets for laptop and to charge ph only to discover I did not have charger in my hand luggage while Aussi phone slowly went dead and of course have lost nz ph charger so was incommunicado until late afternoon when I finally found powerpoint for laptop and then only managed to get a few messages out trying to tee up my pick up in NZ. I seem to be the Typoid Mary of catching planes at the moment as for some reason, the next one was delayed for over and hour - I was feeling extremely weary by then so dozed with foot through straps of back pack and sitting around handbag so nothing could be moved without me knowing, lol. Was not impressed by next leg of journey. The plane seemed smaller and was tackier to say the least. No individual screens but screens in the aisles, so no choice of own movie or games etc. Found music instead and slept with that in my ears which was good. I was sat by a window and next thing was no blankets or pillows provided like there was the previous flight. I asked one of the staff for a blanket and was nearly dead with hypothermia by the time I had to ask yet another one to fetch me one!!!!! Not impressed. Arrived an hour late to Auckland. It was beautiful fine and sunny with a pinky glow to the light above the cloud and then we began the descent. It becomes obvious why NZ is called Land of the Long White Cloud as you near land as there was cloud EVERWHERE. It changed from being puffy lambswool type cloud to grey, horrible and nasty and then rain. The temp was 14o lol on landing. Got through customs ok and went through one duty free thinking I would wait and find trolly and look for stuff at the next one but arrrrgggghh there was no second duty free or third one. Somewhere in the last 9 mths, they have reduced things to one duty free shop and I had missed it by then. Rediculous at yr major airport to not have a choice!!!!! Not impressed. Had a wait as Kay and Vivienne were at a staff dinner and just as I was wondering what to do next, I spotted a friends son (as you do) who happened to be waiting for his wife to return from Melbourne - so had a good catch up with him. Love the jungle grape vine as his mother had already rung him to say to watch out for me as I might be there at the same time as him. I knew I was back home then, lol. Trackers already out heh heh. In fact it was nearly 11pm by the time Kay arrived. I was feeling hypothermic again and was starving, so had just got some Maccas, turned around and there was Viv.
The drive home was horrendous, pouring with rain with the glare from all the street lights, traffic lights and cars bleeding into the darkness so difficult to see road markings and road works in the mix as well. There were two accidents on the motorway in the space of 20ks and we were diverted on the way home as there had been a fatality between the motorway and home. I think we averaged 48k the whole trip. It was nearly 1am by the time we got to Kays and was great to get inside, have a hot drink and then I decided to have a hot bath to ease out all the kinks. As it was raining so much, filled the bath to my throat,bubbles galore and a book to read while soaking - bliss.

Was up reasonably early the next day -Kay opened the door at 8am - are you awake - am now (after four hours sleep). We called round to say hi to Mum and Clive and then went to friend Denise's for lunch and I stayed the rest of the day helping her to wall paper a bedroom. Yesterday, another early wake up as neice Laura was on the front cover of the weekend magazine of the Sunday Star Times re her food blog (http://hungryandfrozen.blogspot.com for those playing at home). Kay shot into Waiuku to get the paper and bought it back with fresh strawberries for breakfast - yum. Great excitement to read about Laura in print - phone calls and texts abounded. Went to Pukekohe in the afternoon to hear the local choir do their Christmas Concert. Kay used to be in it last year but with a change of schools and an hour and a half travel each day, she gave it away. It was very enjoyable - good range of traditional carols and more choral type pieces. Bonus was Mum had done roast lamb and veg for tea so called round here on the way home to be fed like pate de foie gras ducks and then back to Kays with food parcels for Mark and Julian.
I found mysef up until 3am which is only about 10pm in WA but losing out on the other end as awake and up around 8amish each day.

Have tried to add photos still but no luck with uploading. Will update further news. :)

The Last Post (at Tardun)

This is a very hurried touch base and maybe the last chance I get to write before leaving the school for good, and Oz (hopefully at the moment ) for the holidays. I want to finish off talking about Adelaide but have no time for pictures so will have to recap when back in NZ. Needless to say, it has been a crazy time since arriving back in WA. First challenge was racing from the plane when it landed at Perth to Sky West (luckily in same building) as I had 10 mins between flights in the end. Ran to the counter and the VERY helpful woman there sent someone to look for my bag while I shot through xray etc to get back to Geraldton. Zoomed along to departure lounge and straight to desk only to be told the plane to Gton had been delayed. Whew, someone up there was looking after me. Caught my breath, asked whether I should go back and look for bag but was assured all would be fine, so got out book to read, and waited. And waited. And waited. An hour and a half later, we finally boarded - apparently there was a medical emergency and the plane from Geraldton was needed to transport someone as flying drs were busy - hence the delay. Dozed all the way back but by then panicking somewhat on who would pick me up at the other end. All the staff had been in town for a farewell lunch with the Principal so arriving at the proper time was no problem. I sent txts as I could but of course, once on plane - for the hour flight - I was incommunicado. Got off the plane and saw no one, very sick feeling in pit of stomach and then as I was thinking what next, the office lady turned up - yay - as she had been doing extra jobs in town and was the last one heading back. The DP, WM & WMH and all gone on ahead, which were two respective rides that I missed. So as I was metaphorically kissing the pavement for being picked up, grabbed my bag and was off.

We had a pit stop at Janette's Mum's on the way back. She lives directly on the main road and we had a trailer of mulch to pick up from there. Coffee and bikkies, mmmmm, just the ticket, lol. Even though we were both talking flat tack catching up on all the news, I became aware that we were not leaving the airport by the usual road as we took a detour to get onto the main road. There is huge road works as a new bypass goes through from the main road at the old airport entrance, straight to the port, for mining and wheat trucks etc. It is a massive undertaking and will make a considerable difference once completed, but very confusing in the midst of it all. We were not long on the road again back to school, when the sky began to darken and there were some amazing cloud formations. We were thinking of taking some photos (which I did but a bit too late I think) when hello, forked lightening, and hello again, more. Well, for about 60ks we witnessed the most spectacular lightening show, it was like New Years off Sydney Harbour Bridge (not quite, lol, - slight exaggeration, but you get my drift). Sheet lightening went off behind a large cloud formation so it was like turning a light on and off behind a scarf type of thing, and them whammo, every now and then a ripper forked lightening would zap out towards the ground. If I tell you one of the ones looked as thick as my wrist and and we were miles away, it will give you some idea of how bright and awesome these lightening bolts were. There had also been torrential downpour, ouch, just what you need as you begin to harvest. Finally got back to school, noticing water running along side the road in some areas, and some decent puddles lying about. We went straight up to the dining room as there was a shared meal on for the DP's birthday and farewell as he was off to Sydney the following morning. How nice, I thought, they are having a candle lit dinner (it was around 7pm by now), only to get into the dining room to be told, the power was off. Fantastic. Ate a quick bite in the dark and another catch up, in between fending off a slew of insects that had arrived with the weather. There was a heap of beetles on the table, on the floor, everywhere, - ick. Got dropped back at my place, taking a largish candle borrowed from the Chapel as only had tea lights and not sure where to put my hand on them immediately. So much for catching up on laptop etc that evening, but thank god for gas (the only time I like gas stoves, lol). The DP put a pot on at his place so went and had coffee and catch up and then returned home with nothing for it but an early -ish night. Did try to read by torch light for awhile but tiredness did catch up with me, so all good.

Got up the next day - to no power which out here means no phone, no nothing. Went up to the WM's place to hear it would not be on till later in the day, so there was nothing for it, but to play cards, lol for the rest of the afternoon. The power finally came on, about 4pm, 25 hours after it had gone off the day before!!!!!!. Apparently something like 18 poles had been affected by lightening strike (in the middle of nowhere) and it had taken ages to find and fix them all. Since then have had another 7 hour power cut Monday a week ago, and another 4 hour one on Saturday - all great fun indeed. Because the power was off for 24 hours, we are all entitled to claim $80 inconvenience money from power suppliers and also to claim for any food etc that was affected by it. Janette got us all forms to fill out for the claims so will have to wait and see how that all works.

As our time has been drawing to an end out here and there has been nothing but leave takings since I got back. First the Principal and DP a day apart, then my neighbours 10 days ago, the WM and family last Friday and now it is down to me and Br M who are leaving tomorrow for Perth after morning tea. There will be one couple, two other Brs and our cook left and only one Br and the Cook after Christmas until March next year when the place may be leased to a mining group.

Before the WM and family left, we went over to the office lady's farm the weekend before to take photos of them harvesting wheat. I got to ride in the header (think combine harvester type thingie) as her husband did a round of the wheat field. Firstly, I nearly needed crampons and a pick axe to get into the cab of this behemoth vehicle - (the first vehicle I have clambered into that you need not ask 'does this vehicle make my bum look big, lol). I sort of launched myself at the ladder on the side of the header and dragged myself into the vehicle that has enough bells and whistles to resemble a small flight deck (no coffee machine though, lol). Have taken photos which will upload next post. I did say paddock - it was bigger than our farm in Waiuku (60 acres), and the next door neighbours farm (80 acres) being around 100acres for the ONE paddock. The cutting end of the beast has a blade running horizontally about maybe 8 - 9 inches off the ground (so that the paddocks look as though they have had a no 2 haircut, lol) and then prongs that rotate, - (think croquet hoops or prongs on old fashioned tedders of yesteryear for haymaking in nz -) to scoop up cut wheat. Somehow the wheat is separated from the chaff (almost biblical sentence that, lol) and the wheat flows into the back of the header into a bin. Once that is filled, you then have a truck drive slowly to the side and just back of you, with a trailer and wheat is then transferred by a cylander type nozzle thingie into that bin, while you are both driving round the paddock side by side. The 12 yr old son was driving the truck and I was amazed at how he managed the massive vehicle (gotta love WA that you can stil do this, lol). Wheat is not as densley planted as hay with rows looking to be 3 or 4 inches apart if not more. Just to give you an idea, the school farm harvested 6,000 acres of wheat this year. The machinery is able to measure moisture content in the wheat as you cannot harvest below a certain point. Because the bins on the back are so high, there is actually an alarm that goes, when it needs to be feed off into the truck - I kid you not. The cab is airconditioned, and the view is magnificent as you look down onto the prongs rotating where the blade cuts. Chaff does not appear to be collected and is blown back on the paddock from what I could tell.

You can tell it is harvest time, because the roads are chocka block with wheat trucks and the silos are filling up at Mullewa again and the wheat train is running. Most of the trucks are two trailers big and so after having a brief respite from the terrorists (tourists, lol) and their caravans and winnebagos, you now have to contend with wheat trucks and mining trucks at the same time. It is a challenge on these narrow country dirt roads as these trucks do not give much quarter. You spend a good amount of time trying not to hit the markers on the side of the road as you have to move off (often at reasonable speed) to let them have the right of way. Also, at Mass (I went on Sunday in at Mullewa) there was a specific harvest prayer amongst all the others. For the heathens out there, it was the first Sunday in Advent so the Advent wreath was displayed and the first candle lit during the service. Father Morrissey mentioned he was out visiting local farms to wish them well for their harvests and called out here on Monday evening. Also mentioned it was 27 days to Christmas!!

In the midst of all the above, I have been applying for jobs with no luck as yet. Tried for one in Darwin after being alerted by the lecturer from one of my uni papers as there was a job came up at his school. He rang the WM and I to apply given what he had read in our papers which was a bit of a buzz. I also tried for one in Geraldton but think I have missed out on that as well. They wanted someone with a bus licence which I do not have so not to worry - I have the consultant who employed me for here beating the bushes to see what he can find as many schools are only just advertising now.

So, the house is a tip, I have mice running rampant through the place as there is a mini plague of them happening around here. I have had "one feed kills mice and rats stone dead" bait out for a week - four boxes of it (trying for overkill, lol) and to date, one dead mouse, three playing tag in the lounge the other night and cavorting through the rest of the house as well (the whole other two rooms, lol) with no sign of impending demise. Had a very slow day yesterday and did not sight one at all and was just talking to a friend on line mentioning the same when "MOUSE", one shot out from behind the pantry and then a mate a little later, so am not well impressed. I am only loosely packing and cleaning as I go as the packers are coming in on the 6th of Jan to do it properly. The challenge will be to have a destination for them by that date - no pressure, lol. I leave Perth on Thursday night for Sydney and have several hours stop over there before arriving back in Auckland around 8pm. I am 17 hours in transit from memory.

So I need to get cracking and empty the fridge - I have had some very curious and unusual things to eat over the past week as I try to get through things without wasting food etc. Those of us who are left except the Brs are going to the local pub tonight for dinner so once I do dishes and clean up, that will be it for here. Will have bfast/morning tea up at school tomorrow before we leave.

It all feels a bit surreal (I know, thorougly overused word, lol) as on one level, it is like leaving on any other holiday, and it has not really hit home, this may be the last time I see this place. Too busy to process that bit at the moment however. The WM and family left to go back East for a family wedding and for Christmas and they are back on the 4th to move to their new house in Geraldton. Most of the others are moving there or are already there. So, this just might be me, signing off my aussi adventure until back in NZ as I have just 24 hours left here. It is fitting that it is a full moon, and will try to get some last moon photos tonight, weather permitting. It is overcaste and blowing outside today. The temps have been pretty good - mainly in the 30's with a couple of 40's. Have only had the air con on a couple of times this week mainly towards the middle of the day, and am sitting here with a jumper on this morning,as it is only 22o outside.

Will put some photos of harvest on next post plus some more of Adelaide. Until then catch ya later. :)

Like Arnie - I Have Returned :) Pt 1

Firstly thank you to those who have rung, emailed and checked to see if I am still alive, lol. I am. It has been awhile, possibly a record, so will try and catch you all up with my great Oz adventure....

After the flurry with finishing all university papers that seemed to swamp my creative juices, I then had my CV updated and applied for a job in Geraldton. To date, as I dropped my CV in myself, they have received it but I have had not further contact. Other people have applied for jobs at the same school and have heard nothing either so am not feeling spectacularly left out.

I have been to ADELAIDE whilst I have been in blog wilderness, which is partly why I have been missing in action. But, what, you say, you have always managed to post whilst away before - and yes I have. However, due to certain amounts of partying for a whole week, thinking and writing ability were somewhat comprimised, lol.

Just for your information, getting anywhere from here when you do not have a vehicle of your own is worthy of an army manouver. I had a date for the party awhile back - this was the 50th birthday celebrations of one of our next door neighbours from Waiuku, which once I heard about it, cheekily wangled an invitation - as you do. So planning to get there - looked at a bus from Tardun to Perth, bus from Geraldton to Perth, train from Perth to Adelaide (takes something like three days and only leaves twice a week), flying from Geraldton to Perth and then Perth to Adelaide. This was complicated by the fact that the WM, the WMH and the DP were all in Queensland on a fact finding mission for a new learning centre, thus options to get off site were extremely limited. Fortunately, at the last moment, the Principal said he was going down on the Monday to Perth (a week before party) and I could catch a ride with him. Zoomed to computer and managed to book a flight at 6.30am on the Tues which arrived mid morning in Adelaide. Phew, it was probably easier to put man on the moon. At that stage all I booked for a return was the flight back to Perth to co-incide with departures with family from NZ several days after the party. Was frazzled by then and was prepared to hitch back if necessary, lol.

Was up at 6.30am on the Monday (had given KJ a good news/bad news ph call on the Sunday to say hi, yes I am coming, and oops, it has to be Tuesday to fit with rides, which he took very well) packing and doing last minute jobs to leave here after lunch for the 5 hour trip to Perth. Got away and did two side trips to Wandalgu (boys boarding) and Old Camp (where school began) to check on a few things and had a good trip down. Stopped at one point in the middle of nowhere on dusk as there was a huge full moon rising on one side of the road with a windmill in the foreground, and on the other side of the road, was the setting sun. I was so keen to get photos, as was the Principal, we leapt out of the car leaving hazard lights on and doors open, only to find car full of flipping mozzies on our return. Buggar!!!. Spent the rest of the trip trying to squash mozzies as they came anywhere near me, lol. A lesson well learned - will never leave car doors open on dusk again.



Moonrise and Sunset


Got to Perth about 9ish and got dropped off at the airport front door. It wasn't worth going to a motel for the few hours before flight, so armed with laptop to play games, and a good book, found an electrical plug and set myself up. Unfortuately they close the domestic airport lounge around 3am, so had to decamp to the International lounge, fortunately next door, found another plug and stayed there until 5.30am and time to check in and board plane.
I do not remember the flight attendants doing their safety talk, I was already asleep, and woke just in time for breakfast and landing. So 24 hours awake that segment.

KJ was at airport to pick me up and drove especially through Adelaide city so I could see something of it. I was surprised how dry it was expecting lush vegetation after WA. I loved the architecture of Adelaide, what I managed to see. Lots of gothic buildings mixed with more modern skyscrapers that feature in most cities. Adelaide was designed by the same bloke who designed Christchurch (South Island, NZ for those who are not kiwis/aussis) so has some spacious streets, a river running through and pretty much all in squares for roads. Lots of green in the city with parks and open spaces. This is all impressions as mostly seen by driving to and fro over the next 10 days.

KJ and family live in Enfield so that afternoon went to some of the local shops - went into sensory overload in Foodlands - which appeared like an Aladdins Cave of interesting foodstuffs. Within the mall that housed Foodlands was a delicatessian where we bought cheeses and stuffed peppers, and then a butchers for chops for the barbie, fruit and veg shop, and then asian shop in another block for some other ingredients. Mangoes $2 each woohoo- which was my favourite find. Back to KJ's where it was 'beer o'clock' and a continued catch up before rest of family got home from school and work.

My abode for the next 10 days was a caravan built by KJ's father in law, back in the day, nicknamed the Tardis. It was like something out of a Noddy book and just perfect - had power and all. Finally got to bed at around 1am Wed morning so was running on adrenalin I think by then. Needless to say, slept the sleep of the dead.

The Tardis

Wednesday was taken up with organisation for party, and then Thursday the troops arrived from NZ - three of KJ's sisters and a nephew (waves to Viv,Tim, Michelle, and Denise ) I do not think I stopped laughing the entire 10 days I was there and it was wonderful to catch up with everyone. So another shopping expedition for food and lots of food prep began for party. Friday did a trip into the Central Market in Adelaide - Alladins Cave Mk II. You have to love the diversity of people who make up cities and the food etc they bring with them. It reminded me a little of the markets in Suva with foodstuffs everywhere with smells and sights assaulting the senses. We had a coffee and a pastry tube filled with vanilla custard at one end and chocolate custard in the other for morning tea. I found quince jelly in a slab the size of a wedge of brie cheese (to actually go with cheese) for $2.50 when you ususally buy it in a small jar the size of an eye wash for about $9. Also bought some dutch cumin cheese, dukka, and turkish bread. The food stalls were interspersed with clothing stalls and aussi souveniers and the usual asian type goods found in such places. A stop at the bottle shop on the way home and we were stocked for the next 24 hours, lol. Got back and wandered out on the back lawn to find KJ's brother had arrived as a surprise from Tasmania, so the day and night continued with much catching up all round. (Blood was now running diluted with an amount of red wine, lol).

Everyone pitched in over the next 24 hours with food prep, setting up tables, chairs, putting up balloons etc and then Saturday night it all came together for a brilliant night. Note to those wanting to host a party for over 50 people (head count at this one was 64) a bain marie and a portable chiller fridge are wonderful additions. The chiller fridge especially was marvellous, as it held as much as three or four fridges - woohoo. One of the lovely thing about the party was everyone had a part in getting it ready with the kids all pitching in with cooking various dishes as well. Dinner was a bit of a continuous feast and did kitchen duty until it was all finished and then it was out to the shed (which is soundproofed) as KJ and his band ripped it up for the rest of the evening. I finally called it a night at 6.30am the following day .

KJ - with guitar and the doowop team lol.


Sunday was a slow day funnily enough and evolved into a Monty Python fest with a couple of DVD's back to back. More hilarity and fun watching another generation enjoying the timeless Monty Python humour.

Monday we set forth to buy the offical family birthday present as with careful and cunning questioning we ascertained that a new coffee machine would be icing on the cake for the birthday boy. What an interesting experience that proved to be. We went to a local shop first that rents and sells a range of products that you would find in a Bond and Bond or Noel Leeming. We lurched towards the coffee machines and saw the one that KJ wanted. The salesman was an interesting individual to say the least. Once he knew we wanted to buy a machine and not rent one, he voiced the opinion that they were all much of a muchness regarding reliablity. He was not interested in any discount for cash (even though we were going to purchase three items from the shop) and then said there was no box for the one we wanted to purchase it would just have to be taken as is off the shelf. Now, what he failed to realise was he was dealing with some serious shoppers, one could even say gold medallists in shopping all round. So with this less than enthusiastic and underwhelming display of salesmanship, we stalked out of the shop (think pursed lips and sucked in breaths, lol, then merciless character assassination once we got into the car, heh heh- theraputic of course). Then from the rediculous to the sublime - we went and found an outlet of the "Good Guys" ( think Bond and Bond again) - "where everyone gets a bargain", and bingo - I found a young lad behind the counter who came over and discussed the finer points of the brand we were looking at. So skillful was he, he set about and showed us the next one up in the range that we were looking at, that came with a free coffee grinder (worth $200). It was the one he was saving for himself, and one that several workmates had already got. Discussion about steam pressure etc and internal workings and the decision was made to go for that one, spending slightly more than planned though within budget and what a difference in approach. The general consensus was that we had been well sold, and there was also a discount on the special price that the machine was going for - our hardended shoppers heart's were overcome at being so well sold, lol. Nicknamed 'the beast' the machine did sterling service over the next few days as KJ road tested short blacks, cappucinos and latte`s.

The next few days zoomed past with more shopping as we found a mall the size of a small district to browse about, with a trip to the Museum on the afternoon before we left. Will follow up with the next installment hopefully tomorrow. I have promised that this will be ready to be read at breakfast Sydney time by dear friend (waves to Val, lol) who has emailed twice and rung to see that I am still above ground, lol. So come back y'all for the next installment. Cheers.

News Flash: Stan has won Australian Idol - have to admit to watching this from the beginning and he was my pick. Another Kiwi taking it to the Aussies, lol.

Summertime again

Here is me thinking it was only a few days since I did a post and 10 days have shot past again. All I can put in down to, is that most days I have been involved in the never ending assignment round - never ending because facebook games, and real life sometimes get in the road, lol. Aslo forgot to mention funniest saying of the weekend at the campdraft, when the announcer said, *name was as busy as a one legged duck in a snake pit"..... am stealing that one for future use, lol.

Summer is on the way, how do I know?? First clue is the temperatures - three days last week at 40oCel - woohoo. I actually have had ceiling fans on most days for the past week and even went so far last weekend as to put the aircon on. However, after some time I realised that it was blowing WARM air into the house. Went and had chat to DP who came over and removed cover to aircon outside (I did not go near it, dark spaces, possable spider retreat) to find that the vital ingredient, being water, was absent. What to do, the tap to the aircon made no difference on or off, so got a hose from inside (as you do, brand new and bought in my gardening phase) and got it fixed to the outside tap. Have to admit to a bit of girlie helplessness as to affix it to taps meant brushing under bush, possibly home to icky things again, so DP dutifully affixed hose to tap and promptly broke something when he went to turn it on, however what ever was broken did not stop hose filling up base of aircon and wetting panels on the side. Went in an gingerly switched the beast on and lo and behold, within two mins, had cold air circulating - bliss, except also had a smell of swamp permeating the place as the water and dust combined was interesting to say the least. Wasn't my weekend for things of a technological nature. Went to light element to cook veg for tea and phtttttt - small amount of flame and nothing. Buggary bollocks was the thought that went through my mind. To give the long suffering DP a break, I walked instead up to the WM's place and the WMH and two boys kindly got a new gas tank, bought it down and connected it for me. They also gave me a hand to fix my bed ...... (Just remembered that bit). Earlier in the week, during the night I rolled over and heard a couple of bits of wood drop to the floor, followed by a change in the feel of the mattress. Could not be bothered waking up properly, so gingerly placed myself in the most comfortable spot carefully, and went back to sleep. On investigation the next morning, I found three slats on the ground. Oh well time to change sheets and tidy room so heaved the mattress up of the base and rested it perpendicular against the window, whilst replacing said boards back in their slots. Tipped the mattress back and made bed. All went well except during the night, another two slats dropped out underneath me. It transpired that the bed had become loose and so after the WMH managed to screw the middle slat at each end to the base, so far, so good.

Second clue was when I opened pantry door the day after the first 40o and wondered what all the yellow stuff sliding down the inside of the door was and why was there an empty butter wrapper sitting on top of the golden syrup jar. The butter had not only almost entirely slid out of the wrapper, but the remainder was almost clarified in look and texture. Not impressed at all. Thirdly and my particular favourite was that during one of my lazier days I did the washing after lunch, finally hanging out the towels about 3.30pm to go back an hour later .... and they were dry. Now that is more like it.

Had a trip to Geraldton on Tuesday to take the ute in for a new windscreen and to get a new piece of exhaust - missing since the Mt Augustus expedition, lol. It involved much toing and froing across town with the office lady also getting her car fixed, so it was a weary me that finally got back here about 6pm. Luckily, got a second wind as it was a neighbours 40th birthday dinner which ended up by being a pot luck up at the WM's and a nice relax after a hectic day. Zoomed into Mullewa to post off assignment the following day and was taking photos on the side of the road by my favourite duck pond that has now dried out to a large puddle (as you do), when one of the neighbours pulled up and invited me back to theirs for a cup of coffee. Had to wait while she went and picked up her daughter from the bus, so took more photos. Noticed one of the other neighbours had started to harvest their wheat that afternoon and there are fields the size of small districts on the way into Geralton full of large round hay bales and huge square ones as well.Harvesting should start in earnest in the next two weeks.

Friday went into Geraldton again to get a hair cut. My quarterly treat to myself as I have averaged a cut a term so far this year. Have had a fairly radical shearing, and had a straightener used to give elegant sort of bob look and then a savaging with the thinning scissors so have a chomped bob look for summer. Looks better than it sounds I think, lol. Had gone in with the DP so as we had started off early (7.30am for appointment at 9.15am) we decided to have lunch in town and went and tried a new restaurant called altitude 28 I think. It is down one end of town (or perhaps up, still do not have directions entirely down pat, lol) overlooking the port and ocean. I was a bit suspicious as there seemed to be only one other patron, but nothing ventured. The other clue was OMG, what the waitresses were wearing and I can only say, it looked like a bunch of Heidie's had escaped the Swiss Alps!!!!!! Can't remember the shoes but think they were black, then white stockings to the knee or just above (wanted to ask if they were the ones you wear when flying long distance, lol), then a blue flared short skirt with gimp along the bottom. Now for those not familiar with sewing bits and pieces, gimp is the sort of edge, fringe stuff that goes along the edge of piano stools or lamp stands. This was sort of dangly stuff in white along the hem of the skirt. Next was a white blouse with black waistcoat thing- the blouse had a gathered neckline and puffed sleeves, almost expected to hear yodelling in the background. Almost enough to put you off your food, .... almost, lol. The food was not cheap but mine was very nice. Salmon on garlic crostini with several prawns and a creamy sauce all over it. Had very attentive service but do not think it will be on my hit list to return.

Have had nose in books most of the weekend, except for this afternoon when there was a knock at the door and the WM had popped in to tell me her boys had gone hunting with one of the neighbours and they had killed to bungarras (goannas). The neighbour was digging a fire pit as I went to look at the dead creatures and about an hour later, I went back out to try eating some. Have to say, it did taste exactly like chicken, lol. I ate some from the tail and then some from around the ribs. It was a little disconcerting to see a barbequed head lying on the ground and some of the claws attached to legs, still in the coals, lol. So can tick another wild animal I have eaten of the list!!!

I started writing this over an hour ago but nearly had a heart attack half way through when I saw something run across the floor under the table, that almost looked like a mouse out of the corner of my eye. However as I was processing what was moving at the speed of light, it was a SPIDER. Am surprised I didnt waken the neighbours with the scream that came from within. I moved at the speed of light abandoning the laptop, and leapt onto the couch to watch where the beast was lurking - got some shoes on and VERY gingerly slithered around the edge of the pantry to the laundry to try and find fly spray. Every sodding tin of what ever was in the cupboard, but no spray. There is a can in the ute but very dark and pouring with rain outside so not sure other spiders are not lurking where I cannot see them. Was envisioning a LOOOOONG night sitting up with eyes firmly fixed on bedroom door (did contemplate shutting myself in and putting a towel along the door so nothing could get in), when I espied a can of spray above the kitchen cupboards (thank you god). The can said surface spray, but would it kill something instantly - yes it would and anything else for up to 6 months where you spray - be still my beating heart. I slithered back into the lounge and back onto the couch and gave a blast of spray (almost a minutes worth) under the kitchen table where the multi legged thing was sitting. Nothing happened but other small insects and moths were beginning to go into death throes. I gave another blast and was lucky not to flip onto my back spinning with legs in the air, the smell was so noxious- lips started to tingle, could well be affected, lol. With the second blast, all was still and then zoom up it the leg of the table it shot. Laptop so close and yet so far away. Moved as close to table while still on the couch, after turning the overhead fan off and gave two more blasts of spray aimed under the table, hoping that it would not cause electrical combustion of laptop as spray is flammable (still spider/ melted laptop, hmmmmm, can replace laptop, lol). By now had shirt over my head so I wasn't inhaling anymore noxious fumes, peering through gap in neck, waiting, waiting, and after half an hour from the beginning of the spraying, the damn spider finally dropped from underneath the table with all 8 legs curled up underneath it. It was now hopefully an ex spider. Not trusting too much that it was totally dead, I got the vaccum cleaner out and sucked it up from a distance and yay, access to the laptop again. During this process I became aware that the slider door was open about 2inches which must have happened when the WM called round this afternoon, hence the reason there were so many insects inside. Was nearly ill at the thought at what else may have got in this afternoon as it is pouring with rain outside for several hours now and the sodding things are probably seeking shelter from the storm. I usually live with the place hermetically sealed and the continuous flyspray thing going continuously just in case anything does get in as I go in and out. At least I will be able to go to sleep now I know the damn thing is properly dead. Just another week in the outback, lol.

Yeehaaa, I wanna be a cowgirl, lol

A couple of weeks ago, our cook asked me if I would like to go to a Camp Draft - had never heard of a camp draft before and had no idea what I was saying yes to - she said a sort of horse competition and already had me at that point, lol. Her son was one of the organisers and both he and her granddaughter were riding. We would camp there for maybe two nights. Sounded like another great Aussi experience to be had, and it was. As the week unfolded it was decided we would stay at her place in Dongara on Friday night and head down to Eneabba the next morning as her grand daughter wasn't riding until 10.30am. In the meantime, I had sourced a tent and swag from school, and packed for several contingencies, lol.

I can tell it is nearing summer again as there are numerous bobtail lizards out and about crossing the roads - saw three and a half, lol as one had been run over and a part of it was missing. Had a narrow escape when a smallish kangaroo leapt out towards the ute as I was driving and thought I might have clipped it, but luckily missed (and dodged all the lizards, lol). Got to Dongara just before sunset. Jude's unit is directly across from the beach and the wharf we have fished off before. Who knew she was so close!!!! and definitely have her marked now for a coffee next time we go over (if she is in fact home). We had taken food with us but decided without any arguement from me to go to the local tavern for dinner and am glad that we did. Had avocado and mango salad with salt and pepper calamari on top as I was hankering for some decent greens - very yum. We went home and had coffee and a relax in front of the telly. It is only a one bedroom unit so put my swag out on the floor and went to sleep with the sound of waves crashing on the beach - bliss.

After poached eggs on toast for breakfast, we repacked the ute and were off, driving down the Brand Highway to Eneabba. The wild flowers and shrubs were out along the way and different again to the ones around here. Had an excellent run and just past the Eneabba turnoff, turned into a gate and we were at what I would describe as showgrounds in NZ. We found Jude's family, parked behind Jude's son's camper trailer and quickly put our tents up and then went to watch the competitions.


Now will try to explain what a camp draft is. First of all the place was knee deep in cowboys, lol - by that I mean blokes in a variety of akubras, wrangler jeans, plain or checked shirts, wearing boots and spurs and riding some of the finest horses I have seen in ages. The horses were decked out with stock saddles and bridles and reins like I have never seen. Some were just rope reins (synthetic rope) or very long reins that were not joined like a normal bridle but crossed over when held and nearly went to the ground. The women were all dressed much the same and when rain was in the offing later that evening every second person was in a dryazabone!!!

Back to the competition - basically it is rider and horse, cutting a cattle beast out of a group of about seven and getting it from one end of the stock yard to the other and then when ready, yelling gate, whereupon the gate at the bottom end of the yard is opened, beast leaps forth to escape and horse and rider leap our after, heading said beast left first around a pointer then across the field right, round another pointer, then veering right and left through two pointers which are called a gate. Cutting the beast out of the group is done in a time frame as is the part out in the paddock. If the beast gets back to the top of the stockyard twice amongst the others or just to escape being hearded, the rider is disqualified. Once you have picked your beast you are not allowed to change your mind. There was a judge and time keeper. The judge sat on a variety of horses during the competition and was located to one side of the gate, and carried a bull whip cracking it once if you were disqualified or missed getting round a pointer to say you were out and twice if you were sucessful. There were several classes, juveniles, novices and open. Juveniles - self explanatory - were from kids as young as 8 through to teens. Novice was related to the horse - you can win 5 novice events before you have to ride in the Open class. The oldest rider there was an American bloke, - 77yrs - and he was one of the top riders!!!!!.

All cattle once they have been picked to herd, whether they get out the gate or not, are cut out and sent to a holding pen as they are not herded twice during the event. A new beast is let out of another pen to join the group and then after three or four drafts, the whole group is turned out, to keep the cattle reasonably fresh. Over the course of the weekend 900 cattle went through the yards. They were delivered from a local station in double decker, double trailer trucks that arrived and departed several times a day. The cattle were brahmin and angus, and a mixture of steers and heifers and not like our domesticated moos at all, hence there was a fair bit of skill to complete the moves of the competition. Some never got out of the stock yard with the beasts hightailing to the top of the yard twice. Quite a few of the horses were quarter horses and I was amazed how some of them didn't fall over as they were at such a lean as they rounded the pegs after the beasties and were going like the clappers to keep them on line for the next peg. The palaminos were the horses that I noticed most as a group, their colour was amazing - kind of burnished coppery/gold with creamy manes and tails.

Unbelievably, we sat for nearly four hours before taking a break. Nothing could be predicted, naturally as there were times when both cattle had horses displayed minds of their own, lol. I am sure a couple of the horses could have drafted cattle on their own and they were brilliant to watch, anticipating where the beast would try to run, heading them off and moving them turn by turn to the gate. Have no idea how points were allocated for all these moves but I understand, the more you have to turn the beastie in the yard to keep it moving towards the gate, the more points you get. It was a fine line trying to go for higher points, only to blow it when the beastie bolted through being blocked to the back again, or getting it down to the gate relatively easily and just going for it. Watching the kids was great - the difference for them, was they only had one beastie to get from one end of the yard to other though having only one to work with was not necessarily easier, lol. Another part of the competition involved one rider in the yards cutting out a beastie with two riders either side of the gate out in the paddock and the three riders had to herd the beast round the pegs, staying in correct formation. Jude's son was in two teams and got placed in both of them.






About 4.30pm went back to the tent as wanted to shut my eyes for half an hour and get warm as there was a coolish wind where we were sitting. I was only two metres away from the family's three horses that were only corralled with electric tape! I had already caught one of the horses earlier when we first arrived as it had somehow walked out of the pen!. As I lay down and closed my eyes, horses were screaming out all over the camp ground and the thought went through my mind, how safe would we be in a stampede, would I be trampled where I lay, lol. Must have dozed off cos the next thing I heard was the thundering of hooves and shouts, and then Jude called out to see if I was OK as someone elses horse had escaped and was being rounded up by a group of riders ......... Decided to park the ute behind the tent so at least had some protection during the night, lol.

Although we took food to cook, there was too much going on and the local netball club and school were doing barbeques to raise money so decided to go for that instead. At around 6pm it started raining but it had cleared by about 7.30pm. An auction was held to raise money 'buying' both horse and rider for the next draft competiton. This was held for the top riders and horses only and was a great spectacle under lights. The business end of things finished, we gathered round the campfire that had been lit and listened to the band that was playing until just after midnight.

Slept like a baby and was up by 8am as competition started again at 8.30am and this was run offs and finals for ribbons and prizes. There were some tired horses as it had been three days riding for some of them. One came out of the gate and spectacularly bucked right round the paddock, naturally losing the beastie with a rider who was less than impressed, lol. The other laugh of the morning was seeing one of the cattle run straight towards the haybale barrier where the cattle who had already been in the competiton were herded before going back to the station. It ran straight for the gap in two bales and went with such speed and force, it got wedged in and had to be hauled out.



Four cattle escaped confines completely over the weekend but no sooner had they got away than a group of riders would be on them, with one lad leaping off and hog tying three of them. I thought one of the cattle was dead as saw Jude's son moving it in the scoop of a John Deere tractor, but he was just moving the immobilised animal (legs were all tied together) to the truck.

We left not long after lunch to come back to school. We were meant to take a short way home but ended up on the wrong road so came back through Three Springs and Morawa. However, it was all good, got to see another chunk of countryside and found at least five new flowers to take photos of, lol. I did ask Jude if there could be snakes in the undergrowth where I was gingerly moving to take said photos and she said yes, just make a noise and they will go away, and they can't bite you if you are wearing jeans. Hmmmmmmmm, have no intention of putting that to the test, lol but did procede to crash and jump about on the ground to let any slithery things know I was there.

As we had thawed out some steaks to cook over the weekend we decided to invite ourselves to the DP's home for dinner as he has the biggest kitchen between Jude and I. I cooked and it was a nice end to a great weekend. Australian Idol was on following dinner so stayed and watched that. They had Harry Connick Junior as an extra judge, and he managed to get through the night without any controversy, although Dicko gave one swipe about the hoo ha Harry CJ caused with his comments on a black face skit in the previous weeks 'Hey Hey its Saturday Reunion Special'(which caused comment around the world it would seem!). Definitely slept the sleep of the dead Sunday night, lol.

Speaking of things celeb - caught Tim Finn on one of the morning TV shows last week -promoting his latest album which from memory is an anthology. He still sounds good. Liza Minelli is the guest judge for this weeks Idol so will definitely be front and centre on Sunday night.

Breaking news: got my second assignment back yesterday - 42/50 so am happy with that. Got the fourth one posted so only two left to go, woohoo.

A Miss is as Good as a Mile

Reading that title and it doesn't write as well as it sounds. However let me tell you after having a VERY near death experience on the weekend, the width of a coat of paint and the equivalent space of a mile bears little resemblence to the experience one has. Had been led astray by fellow neighbour and DP (mentioned in dispatches before) with the offer of a trip to Geraldton versus doing another assignment, hmmmmm no contest really. Feeling a smidgeon of guilt, (quickly sqashed I might add) off I went. I had no major purchases to get, but it was a nice fine day and I did want to peruse tents and swags once again. I have a peculiar yearning to own my own space for camping, possibly in lieu of my own residence at this point, lol. Had a good look at the two local camping/fishing shops and then a sortie to Jesters Pies (had the spinach, mushroom and feta - swoon), got a few groceries and back to here which is when the near death experience occurred.

I was espying new plants/shrubs etc to maybe photograph on the way back and taking some gyp at only just getting a medicare card (another story) when I noticed said neighbour was swerving off road to the left and then I moved my eyes from the side of the road to front and right to see a road train (50m long), double white lines and a car coming head on towards us as it was trying to pass the road train (should have explained, truck and at least three trailers sometimes four). As we went left, so the car coming towards us went right, making a head on almost imminent. Brakes were applied in our car, and the smell of rubber wafted about as the opposing car also applied brakes severely, fishtailed and went sideways between us and the truck in the space we had vacated only seconds before. It was a bizarre feeling to see this unfold before my eyes, with absolutely no ability to control the outcome, in the space of seconds rather than minutes, with inches to spare rather than feet. There was another car following behind the idiot who nearly took us out and I did notice that they were gobsmacked as they stopped to see if we were all right. We were. Said neighbour drove up the road a bit further and then stopped to hop out and had a cigarette to contemplate the near miss before we continued to drive back here. My life did not flash before my eyes, contrary to popular myth. I would not have got as far as teething and crawling, it happened so fast. And even more strange, felt no after shock although I did come back and curled up for an afternoon snooze once in the door.

Sunday I attempted to work on my assignment and a campfire dinner was a very welcome respite. The WM's boys and another neighbour had gone down to the dam and caught a pile of yabbies in a net which were cooked and eaten with other barbequed food. A pit was dug in front of neighbours house so children could be put to sleep while parents could be in hearing distance. Highlight of the night was have an electric lamp on a small table going at the campfire so we could see how everything was cooking. It was a very retro 60's sort of red lamp so created quite an ambience.

The boys were keen to get more yabbies and so were down at the dam early next morning and was able to sample more at morning tea. I took photos of one and everyone thought I was mad, but will add to my flora and fauna collection, and also to show what these tasty morsels look like.

Campfire and note lamp, lol

and yabbie - cooked and ready to eat on serviette to show size.

Tuesday was a celebration with the arrival of the WM's parents from Philip Island for a stay and the younger daughter's 14th birthday. There was a gathering of clan Tardun with everyone taking something to eat - and as usual, heaps of yummy food and a good time had by all.

Photo of birthday cake

The week was mostly spent in between the odd bit of procrastination, chipping away at the aforementioned assignment. The good news is that the university has accepted my belated cheque, I am re enrolled and I had overpaid them by $100. Have decided to leave it as credit for the next three papers.

Next post will tell you about the Camp draft I will have attended. Watch this space

Things to try the patience of a Saint, lol

Should be heading to bed but telethon is on the telly with all sorts of stars on from Rafters and All Saints, so have been hopping up and down checking things out. Have had an intersting week since getting back from Perth, got back Wed before last and spent a good amount of time trying to sort out paying my fees to uni here. What a mission!!! I was waiting for an invoice to arrive - as you do, and then had a suspicion that it was heading to be overdue . Tried for two days to find info on computer - was looking in wrong place, even with a phone call to try and work it out. The workmate got me sorted and then, power failure here for most of the day and night it needed to be paid. Went back into site after the weekend to pay, to find I could no longer pay direct into their account, so another phone call. Was told to get a cheque in the mail. Explained 280k round trip to bank and had no transport, was told to let them know when I would be in town again, could not pay by bank card over phone and still could not pay direct. OK. It transpired thatI was also was having extreme hassles with email connections that week and then Perth, no bank and unwell. Got back here to receive a letter on the 25th Sept that was sent on 8th Sept to say fees needed to be paid by 22nd Sept. You can see a theme happening here. Rang and emailed uni and they said if I could get cheque in by express post that day would be ok. Got off the phone, went back into email,as they were sending me a form I had to post with cheque, to find internet down. Internet down at school also so mild panic though went and had some lunch with neighbour for an hour in the hope connection would come on again. Got back and eureka, email back up, and then printer would not print. Went to re-install printer but taking too long and couldn't interrupt, so what next. Aha, flash stick - got it to down load on flash stick and hied my way up to school to print out (had organised and borrowed ute at morning tea time). I rang Mullewa Post office to see what the cut off time was for express post and was told 3.35pm. It was 2.45pm as I got up to print out form. Loading, loading, loading, VERY slow comp system, finally get printed form and nearly 2pm, so shot home, to pick up something vital, (prob wallet) and off I went. It is 40k roughly to Mullewa and have to say, went 140k all the way hoping like hell no kangaroo, emu etc would leap out and dodged lizard so all good. Made it with 3 mins to spare. Asked for cheque to be written, and then Mrs Post Office said that she would have to write three as max cheque could be written out for was $1000. I was busy addressing envelope when she said, before writing out second cheque, she should check how much money I could get out of my account. Had not thought of that. Drew first $1000 out all good, and then bang, would not let me draw any more. At that point felt like falling to the floor and howling like a banshee at sodding bank/post office/uncle tom cobbley and all. Could not use visa again for money withdrawl - how was I going to pay for already addressed envelope and then OMG petrol to get back. ARRRRRGGGGGG. Mrs Post Office could see things were a little stressed with me, hubby was hovering ready to seal off post bag, so took pity on me and let me use visa in shop to pay post office for envelope, (phew) and I scribbled quick note on form, sealed it and could do no more. Had realised by then, could also buy drink on visa and also go to next shop and get petrol, small amount of sanity returned and had slower trip back. What to do with the remaining amount to be paid - cos,wouldn't you know it, Monday was to be a public holiday in WA while uni in Victoria!!!! More email hassles but did get one off to say would go to Geraldton on Tuesday first thing to bank and another express post - could do no more......

It was the first night all of us left here were in the same place as first day of school holidays, so got back to find dinner invite for home made pizzas up at the workmates (there was a god after all, lol) and it was great to catch up with everyone. Saturday reaquainted myself with my house, washing, cleaning etc and Sunday much the same. Monday attempting to do assignment and more procrastination and a campfire that night which was nice way to end the weekend.

Tuesday the WM came with me and off to Gero we went for part umpteenth of the fee paying saga. Went to rip the liver out of the bank as to why I could not access money on Friday and they had no idea as my limit was max at $2000 already and prob down to branch rather than main bank. Great!!!!! Withdrew money plus some, and zoomed to Post Office in town who had no prob with writing cheque for whole amount left owing without having to do two cheques - smiling through gritted teeth by now, and so stressed by everything had a dyslexic moment transposing amount I needed to pay and sent $100 too much but so over it all couldn't have cared less at that point. Got home to find email that previous money had arrived but owed remainder needed to be there the next day when it wasnt going to arrive until the day after that. Tis now in the lap of the gods and am off the whole workings of banks and institutions over here.

To counteract all the above, had a bit of theraputic shopping with WM before heading back for roast chook and pavlova for dinner - bliss. While I was in the midst of shopping I finally applied for a Medicare number which took about 10 mins. Yippee so I now can get sick in Aust cheaper, lol. You get a rebate on Dr and specialist bills and prescriptions so how good is that. Said I would prob not cost them much as only been to Dr once for medical check for mini van license in 18 months. However have regarded it as form of insurance, lol. I did actually go to apply for a number when I first arrived but they were not keen to give me a number back then. Eighteen months seems to have shown commitment to being here, lol.

To balance all the drama with fees, got my first assignment back in the midst of the hassles with 92.5% for my Health, nutrition and fitness assignment - which is kind of ironic, lol. Hmmmm must say, have been eating with more healthy choices since beginning assignment and have actually lost some weight into the bargain, still out on the massive exercise kick though, lol. So, that was a buzz and cheered me up immensely.