Study, what study????

Am in week 2 of a school term without any kids and it is like having one long weekend, except I am feeling I should still be at work, somewhere, lol.

Am in full procrastination mode as three lots of papers have arrived from the Catholic University in Brisbane and the first five assignments have to be completed by 31 August. Hence, my washing is up to date, dishes are done, bed is made, and today I even SWEPT the lounge, lol. I did however sit outside in the sun (20C) this afternoon with a classical CD playing whilst I did one assignment's readings. If I could talk my way through the assignments, I would have had them done, lol, but am having to do some retraining to get pen to paper, so to speak.

Have had an extremely frustrating week regarding communications - I know it has been some time since I have had a Bigpond/Telstra meltdown so shouldn't have been surprised. Wondered why I hadn't heard from anyone up at school the other day and it wasn't until a neighbour called in to see if I was ok, did I realise that my house phone was on the blink. Scrambled under the desk, turned it off at the wall and on again and hey presto, connection. In the meantime, the laptop would not connect to the internet...... tried everything I knew, then gave up and rang bigpond and fortunately got someone who talked me through a convoluted process that worked - praise be. Not only that, I ended up with 4 bars of reception when I usually only get two - small mercies indeed. It doesn't help when trying to write my assignments, that I have the laptop on a slant across the table with the aeriel near the window, with the curtain pulled back, to maximise reception, lol. All good now though.

The first week back here after the holidays has been spent with most mornings up at school. My task last week was to type the names of every child who had ever left the school in the year groups their files had been stored in. Then helped the WM scan photos of days of yore to be added to a host of photos on the computer to make a DVD which will be played at the wind up Chapel Service for the Brs and past pupils/staff etc next weekend. Have seen some amazing photos of the school when it first began. They are a slice of social history when you see the clothes they wore, machinery used on the farm, how they farmed - starting with horses to the modern tractors of today and everything in between. Saw heaps of photos of the construction of the the school building and then the classrooms as they were built. We have barely scratched the surface but hopefully there will be a bit of everything to show the changes when the DVD is finally burned. Other staff have been working on the grounds, packing up books etc. Last Friday night went up to school for a shared barbeque dinner which was nice. We had three 1/2 44 gallon drums with fires going so we got dinner cooked and kept warm at the same time. A couple of shearers who were staying on site came to share the fire and we found out two of them were old boys, and also related to one of our current staff. It was interesting to hear some of the stories they had of the old days.

Saturday got to go to Geraldton and FINALLY got my haircut (last one, the last time I was back in NZ). The lass that did my hair noticed I had cut my fringe myself in the meantime, lol and has tidied that up and given me a bob style cut that will be ok if it is 10 - 12 weeks before the next cut. Tried a new eatery for morning tea called 'Streeters' which occupies a corner site facing the beach at the back Marine Terrace. Was happy with what I got and the service was good which is just as well as I heard over the telly the other night that 90% of eateries in Geraldton are under par. Went and got some groceries after the hair cut and it was back at to school again as my neighbour who took me in wanted to get back before dusk.

In between all this, I have been involved in my latest addiction, lol, which is facebook. The WM got me onto it some time ago and I first got hooked on a game called tetris which meant arranging blocks of shapes to form lines in a grid, then there was wordpath, making words out of random letters in 5 mins, bejewelled, breaking eggs, and best of all Farm Town where you build a virtual farm. Playing these games has replaced for me the solitaires and mahjong of old and are great time wasters though I prefer to think the skills needed to play these games are staving off alzheimers (that's my story and I am sticking to it, lol). I am in competition with several people (it is all right, I will not out you, heh, heh) so there is an element of challenge to each game which keeps me competing, lol. Farm town has been a little more. A good friend who shall remain nameless got me to join the game as her neighbour. With trepidation, you know, in case somehow I got sucked into some wierd cult game, I gingerly went through the ropes to begin the game then hello, hook line and sinker, I was in competing has hard as I could go. This will sound like gobbildy gook to anyone who has not been enticed into playing such a game. I started off with a peice of land with a few squares of ground to harvest, plow and reseed. Gifts of trees and animals started arriving from my friend. The trees fruited and earned me money as I sold the harvest. Initially I did all the jobs on my farm myself, again very nervous to get someone else involved , but, as you earned more money by getting people in to harvest your property, I took the plunge. To do this, one visits the market place and picks a random person (forgot to mention, you create your own female or male personage, give your self a name and can choose hair, eyes, and other facial features to suit - all wear the same clothing ,lol)

Well, the first person I picked was great, did the job and went away. As I had more to harvest and got different people, some would chat and want to know where you lived, what you did or just wanted to pass the time of day - so, my world has expanded. I have talked to aussis, kiwis, americans (the most are american), singapore, and in fact have noticed there are people from all over the world on line at any given time. The WMH became a neighbour of mine and then it was farms at 40 paces as we have compteted furiously to get to the highest level, getting the biggest farms, going up the levels and last week, I got the mansion!!!! (Have to be on the highest level to get that, - the WMH beat me to level 34 but I got the house first, lol)

I have had some random people become neighbours ( which earns you extra advantages rather than using random people all the time0 and have lots of laughs as we compare notes. It's like having cyber penpals on a level. The WMH and I share a couple of neighbours and have done stealth missions when trying to beat each other to the next level. Have to say, I do smile that luddite that I am, much preferring older technology (except for dishwashers, lol) I have found this a lot of fun. So, if you cannot find me at home, try facebook, you can run, but you can't hide, lol.

Everything here is continuing to grow apace. Lawn mowers are being heard which is not a sound I am familiar with anymore. It is looking like my lawn will get its third cut this year, when last year, it only had one, lol. Verdant is a word that comes to mind in fact, where crops and grass are growing like Topsy. I noticed that towards Geraldton last Saturday that the Canola crops are just starting to flower. Tourists (people with campervans and caravans, locally known as terrorists, lol) are starting to trickle into the district. I think there were six cars on the road last Saturday on the way back from Mullewa, so much so, we commented something must have been on, lol. The tourists will be here for the wildflower season which starts next month and will go through to September. It is still cold at night but are starting to get some glorious days. There was a good sheet cracking wind today so got washing on the line.

It was Happy Birthday this week to my dear friend Peg who has reached 90yrs, Mum and Clive who are 75yrs and 70 respectivly. Managed to get to talk to Mum and Clive on their days, though my phone went flat in the middle of the coversation with Clive. Both of them are on skype, how amazing is the technology we have come to since they were young. Mum was on the telephone exchange when phones were still wooden boxes on the wall and now she txt msgs with the best of them, lol. Happy Birthday and well done to you all. Clive is up on two legs again, having done three weeks of rehab learning to use his second prothesis. Again an amazing effort in such a short space of time.

Had better sign off and get to bed, just noticed the time. Will try and get some more photos next week.

But Wait, There's More

Had to put this in as not a sign you would be likely to see in NZ, lol



After a DRY night (saints be praised, lol) we were up at 6am to get to Monkey Mia for 7.45am to catch the first dolphins in for their feed. Due to the weather the water was very murky compared to the crytal clear sea the last two times I have seen these dolphins. Nevertheless, there is something compulsive about watching these amazing creatures and have more video and photos of them than I can show in this post (move over David Attenborough)


I think this is "Surprise" who is about 30yrs old and the matriarch of this group. Only the female dolphins get fed at Monkey Mia as the males form their own groups and do not have a lot to do with the females unless it is breeding time. (Apologies if I am repeating myself from earlier visits here). Because I have fed a dolphin before, I stepped back at feeding time and as it was a cold and windy day, grabbed a hot coffee in between feeds. I was very pleased to see 'Finn' who is nearly 9mths old and is the daughter of 'Nikki'. Last time I was at the beach it was the first time the baby had shown up with her mother and the time before that, Nikki was still pregnant with her calf. It is the first baby that has survived for her and a shark chomp out of Finn's dorsal fin would suggest that it is not her mother's lack of care that is likely to take her out now. I had hoped to go on a camel ride which they do from the beach this time, but they were not there, so missed again :(. Mid morning after both feeds had occured, we headed back into Denham to get petrol and a few supplies to last us until Kalbarri. We had lunch back at the Nanga Bay resort, then broke camp, loaded up and headed out. Didn't think there would be anything too different to see on the way to Kalbarri so chose to be the passenger and snoozed most of the way. Petrol was $1.71 in Denham which should have been cheaper, but I put the premium lot in by mistake %**% otherwise it should have been about $1.40 something as petrol had dropped overnight - Sods law, lol.


Picture of Kalbarri which is where the Murchison river meets the tide. The line midway in the photo is a bar that mostly has breakers breaking over and behind it with calmer water in front on a good day. This was taken late Monday afternoon. The WM, uncle and kids hired a kayak and two paddle boats, and paddled over to the bar and back while the WMH, aunt and I sat in the sun and just enjoyed the scenery.


Whilst in Kalbarri, we stayed at the 'Bishop's" house which is owned the the local diocese. If it is free, anyone can rent it out. So for the next four nights we stayed snug and dry because, you guessed it, there was more rain. How good was it to wake up early next morning and here it on the roof, to turn over, and go back to sleep again, lol. Woke up to everyone watching a movie next morning and we all had a lazy day. I spent the time catching up on my posts.

Wednesday morning the lads all set out to go fishing but within half an hour, the WMH was back as he had rolled his ankle going down some uneven stairs before he even got to bait a hook. He was in much pain, so did the whole RICE thing then the WM, T and I went shopping! We found an amazing little antique shop that had all sorts of china, war memorabilia and australiana . I would have liked to get several things but resisted. We poodled through a boutique, health food shop and the grocery shop before heading back for a late lunch. I stayed behind playing cards with the WMH as I had bought a Samba set of cards that morning (three decks and played along similar lines to Canaster), while everyone else went to the Gorges for photos and walking (can you see a pattern evolving here, lol)

It was a bit overcast the next day, but the decision was made to go out to Bluff point as there were walks along the coast that could be done. Got to the lookout to see whales out aways from shore as they did their whale thing. No big leaps, standing on their tales, but could see them coming up on top of the water at least. Best of all for me was that there were a few wild flowers just coming out so spent my time searching out and photographing them.




This flower is called the Murchison Rose. I did not see this last year and these photos will probably not do it justice, colourwise. I thought it looked to be a reddy, salmony (invent new word) colour. What fascinated me was the similarity to our Pohutukawa with its stamens and leaves in particular (or have I been away to long, lol)

This is a view of just up from Bluff Point and looks like much of the Kalbarri coastline. The WM, aunty T and one of the boys walked along the cliffs to the next two points up the coast while the rest of us went in the vehicles wild flower spotting along the way until we all met at 'Grandstand' which was the beginning of the next 8k track called the Birgurda Trail.

While we were waiting for them to arrive I got this shot of one of my favourites - this is a grevillia - we have red grevillias up at school and as soon as I have recharged my camera batteries I am going to get some shots of them. (am hoping I have spelt the name right, can not put my hand on my flower book at the moment, lol)


After all that strenuous exercise, hem, hem, it was decided to have fish and chips for lunch which was followed by another bit of shopping. While we had our meal at the tables outside the shop and I was amused to see the antics of the pelicans as they sat on these lamp posts across the road down at the wharf.

Managed to get this photo with two of them perched on the same pole. A third one tried to land but was not allowed - their beaks would open and snap at the bird trying to land. Could watch pelicans for hours too.

We returned to the antique shop and this time I weakened and bought a nut loaf tin which is a cylander baking tin with a lid at both ends. Apparently, everyone used to make this kind of loaf over here back in the day, lol. Am being sent the recipie by aunty T. It reminded me of the time Mum tried to bake a loaf in a baking powder tin. I am not sure what there was too much of in the mixture, but it blew the lid off while baking in the oven to much hilarity from us kids at the time. I think they were known as 'poom' cakes after that - I am sure Kay will get the story right if I am wrong. (they tasted great anyway). Found an excellent gift shop we had missed the day before for a look around and then it was back start packing and tidying before we decamped the next morning.

Had a good trip back to Geraldton, a bit of rain but not toooo much while driving. Could not get over how green the paddocks were along the way though still not as many wild flowers as this time last year. The WM's family went touristing after dropping me off in town to poodle about the shops as I tried to find a few things that I wanted. I had no sooner hopped out of the car after they had gone, when after crossing the road, I found myself flat on the footpath, not quite sure how I got there. As I lay there momentarily like a beached whale (nano seconds of have I broken anything?) the only person who appeared to have noticed or came to my aid, was this little old lady on a walking stick. I assured her I was all right whilst trying nonchalently to pick myself up off the footpath as though nothing had happened. I had put my hand out to save myself somehow so the heel of my hand and somewhere on my right leg took the brunt of the impact. I got an split in my hand about an inch long and had a sore neck for a few days but no other damage. It caused great hilarity to others when I related my nosedive at lunch which we had at the Camel Bar. We then did a huge grocery shop, the boys got haircuts and the girls got bits and pieces for school, finally leaving Gton at 5pm. Once again I was not driving and must have fallen into a deep sleep not long out of town as next thing I knew we were in Mullewa (an hour later). It was dark by then and the dirt roads were slushy to say the least. We could tell there had been heaps of rain by the water covering stretches of the flood plain areas, and on the sides of the road. We were only about 10k away from school when I saw the WM slow down in her car to avoid two kangaroos when one of them swerved and ran right at the ute. It happened in a flash and the next thing the left front wheel went up and over and we had run over the second kangaroo!!!!! the first one having dodged us and gone to the side of the road. Thank goodness it was only a small one and not a fully grown beast head on. By slowing and putting the headlights up to full, we avoided the next two making it safely back in one piece.

We unpacked everything straight away and I bought my stuff back in the ute, the first thing I did was to start with the washing machine as I washed every single thing I had taken away with me. It was good to be back though it is always a little wierd being on ones own again after being with people for an amount of time. I stopped washing at around midnight and decided to call it a day. Great trip, with some great photos and lots of laughs.

Not Very Happy Campers :( Sun 12th )

During my mere four and a half hours sleep if I was lucky, (used to dream of sleep, lol), I became aware of some severe precipitation going on outside my tent - it was our 'you beaut' personal rain clouds at work yet again. I wasn't too badly off that morning as I was dry on the inside having a tent to myself which gave me some extra room (all used I might add, lol). The WM and family were not so lucky as they were piled three to a tent, therefore touching sides of tents with mattresses, bodies etc consequently they were very damp. We peeled into Aunty T and Uncle B's room for a coffee, and then proceeded to break camp. The WMH in particular was the least happy camper - coming to camping late in life (last year, lol), and whose idea of roughing it previously would have been 4 star accommodation instead of 5, waking up wet AGAIN, was a bit of a stretch, lol.















Breaking Camp Getting petrol and tyres filled. Note the thin blue line on the door behind the petrol pump. That is the height where the floods reached in 1980!


Packing up most of the bedding was completed under the sail over the swimming pool as that was the driest spot on the property. We were able to get a replacement tyre for the flat one ($72) the night before but thought we should check the pressure on the others as we filled up before heading to Nanga Bay. All the tyres needed air so Uncle B sorted that while I got petrol - $1.72 ltr. At least it was cheaper than Mt A, lol and the guy actually said he kept the prices cheap as he did not want to rip people off!!!! It was interesting to note the line on the garage door that indicated the height of the flood in 1980 - not surprising when we crossed the width of the river which was only a creek the night before. I think I forgot to mention the highlights of T and B's cabin - milk left in the fridge and a half eaten sandwhich of dubious age!!!

We had debated whether to go a longer distance to Nanga Bay by going to Carnarvon and down the coast which had more tarseal, or to risk going on dirt roads the shorter distance. It was decided to go the shorter distance - the first stop being the Wooramel Roadhouse for breakfast. I slept most of the way as Uncle B drove the ute. The roadhouse had food to go and good toilets so after a brief stop we headed to the next road house to get some veg and bread to tide us over until we got to Denham. Seeing the Overlander Roadhouse was like visiting an old friend (this was my third visit in 18 mths, lol). It was flat tack with a bus tour pulled in at the same time as us but we got bread - $1.50 loaf!!! and some very reasonably priced vegies and were on our way. I managed to score a book on wild flowers reduced from $29.00 to $9 which had the flowers laid out in blocks of colours for quick ID. There is a space beside each flower to note when and where it was spotted. Have already been able to tick off several and will need to go back through my last years photos to see how many match. I am learning the names of the flowers as I go so will sound very knowledgable by the time I am through, lol. I believe there are two other volumes in this series of books but will stick with this one for a start.

Once again a feeling of familiarity as we turned off to Shark Bay and environs. Shark Bay is known as a World Heritage Area. "The Shark Bay World Heritage Area covers 2.2 million hectares on the coast of Western Australia. Its colourful and diverse landscapes are home for a profusion of animals and plants, including some found nowhere else on Earth. Its vast seagrass meadows feed and shelter globally endangered species ......Shark Bay was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1991 for its natural heritage values. To be inscribed, properties must be of outstanding universal value and meet and least one of ten selcection criteria set by UNESCO. Shark Bay met four of the criteria. As of May 2008, Shark Bay was one of just 20 places on Earth to satisfy all four of the natural criteria for WH listing (natural beauty, earth's history, ecological processes and biological diversity). Other properties that satisfy all four criteria are the Great Barrier Reef, the Galapagos Islands, and the Grand Canyon".

This time we stayed at another 'resort' called Nanga Bay which was a mixture of tent/caravan sites and cabins of dubious standards. Possibly had the same builder as Gasgoyne Junction, lol. As soon as we arrived, we unpacked the tents, sleeping bags and swags and put them all in the sun to dry. We had booked unpowered sites for the tents, but as the powered sites had a sort of thatched awning, we upgraded and moved.


Most of the troops went down to the beach to try a spot of fishing. I stayed behind and did some much needed laundry $3 per load and $3 to use the dryer for about 20 mins. I went to put more money in the slot and pushed it in and the dryer started again without taking it so was one up there. Not sure whether my cycle had finished or what but was under pressure as the laundry closed at 5pm so didn't look a gift horse in the mouth so to speak. Because we had not been to the shops for more substantial supplies, we decided to dine at the camp. You had to put your request in by 5pm and give the cook a time for the meal to be ready. I had grilled fish with lemon butter, a few chips and salad. It was nice though I was still hungry after the meal. Not to worry, an ice cream later, followed by coffee and biscuits back and T & B's abode and I was fine. We sat outside to eat in what was called the Bull Pit ? an open shed type building like a gazebo with canvas roll down sides, a fire to sit around at one end and a tv in the corner which was the draw for us - Sunday night has 'Dancing with the Stars' on again and this was the first one to have someone leave. It was an early night after that as it was a 6.30am start next day for Monkey Mia and the dolphins.

I seem to have got my days out of sync somehow so, so far Wed night Murchison, Thurs/Fri at Mt Augustus and Sat was Gasgoyne Junction, not Friday as written. (Must have been lack of sleep, lol)

The Best of Days and the Worst of Nights (Friday 10th)

We couldn’t get petrol until 9am so not a huge hurry this morning and it didn;t take too long to pack the car and ute ready for departure. Petrol $1.98 ltr and it took $96 and some cents to fill the ute. Today I decided to drive the ute and had Aunty T with two of the kids as my crew. We set off on Cobra Road, so named for Cobra Station that the road runs through. We had not gone long when we had to stop for a photo shoot for purple flowers, lol. Whilst everyone was busy looking at those, I noticed these green mango looking things on a vine draped through a bush. I asked the WM what they were and she was very excited, because I had found some bush tucker!! I had found some native pears. When you open them they are full of seeds that can be eaten and unfortunately these were too green to eat. They smelt like green peas and the seeds were yellowy green – not sure what they would look like ripe. I happened to look down at my feet just after finding these pears and taking several photos of same, when I saw my sneakers and socks crawling with bull ants. These things bite/sting so there I am hopping from foot to foot doing a very good imitation of an audition for Riverdance, wiping each leg of my jeans with the other and swooshing the ants of my shoes and socks. Luckily, I managed to either kill and brush off every ant without being stung/bitten though my flesh is still crawling at the thought of them.















I think we had 280k of gravel/dirt/mud roads that we drove over today and it was awesome. The rain had made several parts of the roads more than boggy, my first bit of fun was driving at about 80k into mud that went up to the axle. We sashayed from side to side, and I thought I was going to get bogged for a minute (and a small almost underwear changing moment when I realised there was a ditch to the immediate right of where I was heading), when the tyres grabbed and we got through. Not much further up ahead, was this huge mud puddle that looked reasonably tricky to get through. The WM got out to take photos while the WMH and Co went through first as they wanted to stop and take photos of me coming through - or not. I aimed to go through where their tracks were having learnt from my previous near catastrophe, revved up the ute, and went for it.

Talk about yee haa and ride him cowboy, water sprayed everywhere, we slid to the left, then straightened and shot through without missing a beat. Everyone was in fits of laughter- both vehicles dripping with mud. This is the WM's car going through, lol.

A bit further down the road we stopped again as there were several ruins in a paddock. The WM and I both hopped over the fence all the better to take photos up close. Nearly had a nasty moment when the leg of my jeans caught on the top barbed wire strand of the fence and had a fleeting picture of myself hanging upsidedown in extremis, lol, nearly did a nosedive into the paddock and just managed to right myself in time.


Next thing I spotted a hawk in a tree, braked, and managed to get a couple of good photos before catching up with the others just as the WM speared herself in the leg with a branch as she went to climb a tree for some photos! She pulled the wood stuck in her leg out, and we were off again.






The landscape was very rocky with scoria type rock everywhere, with scrub and lots of white looking rock. It felt like we were driving on top of the world in places. After stopping arbitrarily just over a creek crossing in the middle of nowhere for lunch we were on our way again towards the Kennedy Ranges.

(Us stopped for lunch - note the sort of roads we were driving on.)

We spotted some cattle in the shade under some trees and should have stopped for a photo but the others were up ahead aways, so kept driving. Out this way you will drive for miles and then come to a cattle grid that seems to appear for neither rhyme nor reason except there are huge tracts of land fenced off to each side of the grid. We had passed numerous grids during the course of the trip when I found myself in some loose dirt on the right hand side of the road, heading directly into the corrugated iron. I went to straighten out of the slide and kept going right thinking, this is not good, oh hell, hit the anchors (Aunty T already had the brakes on, on her side of the ute, lol) and managed to stop about a two feet away from taking out the front of the ute (and the fence). Straightened up, managed to get through the middle of the gateway and off we went in fits of laughter at our narrow escape!. The kids made the comment it was the best day ever and they were glad they had come in the ute for this part of the trip. We caught up with the rest just as they had stopped on the brow of the hill to see 5 eagles fly up off a kangaroo carcass lying in the middle of the road. I have to say, I have picking up my camera, getting it switched on and ready to use, with one hand, pretty perfected by now. Took what photos I could of the birds, all now in flight. We all sat there for awhile hoping they would come back but to no avail so the WM and Co moved on. I sat there for a minute or two longer and OMG, one did come back. Very carefully got some photos of him sitting on the side of the road, and then after some mins more, he flew onto the carcass and started eating. Well, the camera nearly melted with the amount of photos I tried to take. What an amazing moment and to be so close to such a magnificent bird. I think we might have stayed a little to long, because the other crew were headed back towards us just as we were moving on, so gave them a wave and drove off to the next stop off in the front, lol.

The next bit of road was much improved, almost four cars wide as the road was used by traffic putting the gas pipeline in up there so amped up the speed to 110k for most of next bit. We turned off into the Kennedy Ranges National Park which had three walks and of the three, picked the shortest to look at the honeycomb cliffs that have been formed by rain, wind and erosion. The ranges are huge and dominate the landscape for some time as you drive towards them. There are some different shaped hills and then this long plateau of rock that goes for miles. There were huge boulders lying about the base of the honeycomb cliffs and I was amused to see one of the cliff faces looked just like Jabba the Hutt and another one looked like the head of a turtle.











Jabba the Hutt (ab0ve)This is what a gentle stage 3 track looks like, heh heh -a gentle climb! (above right)



This is a view of the honeycomb cliff. There was a waterfall to the right which was dry and a small pool which you can just see in the bottom right hand corner that looks like mud. Not the best shot as it was late afternoon in the shade.


It was getting late, so decided to get going to our evening destination at Gasgoyne Junction. We hadn’t got back to the main road, when I heard that very distinctive noise, and yes, I stopped immediately and hopped out to discover the right rear tyre was extremely flat. (Flashback memories to when I lost the whole rear wheel earlier in the year, lol). BUGGAR!!!!. Just as well The WM & Co were behind me, as who knew that the spare wheel was underneath the vehicle and had to be accessed by something resembling key hole surgery through the back of the ute just under the tray!!!!!

The wheel nuts had been undone and the jack placed on a block of wood but that was not high enough to get the wheel off the hub. Just as the WMH was getting his jack out of his car to use as well, a truck pulled up beside us and two blokes hopped out to give us a hand. They work for McConnel Dowel (same company that helped build the steel mill at Glenbrook) and are involved in building a pipeline from here to below Perth, I think they said. They provided the hammer to bash the wheel off the hub and also helped chisel off all the red dirt off the spare tyre so it could be fitted onto the ute. As one of them had his head under the back of the ute, he commented on the fact that the muffler was hanging by a thread. Well, a few thwacks and tugs, and the end bit of the muffler was tossed in the back of the ute. It now sounds like a V8 (would be great if it went like one, lol). I was very impressed with myself as I had commented earlier in the day that it sounded as though there was a hole in the muffler, and I was right except it was more than a hole!

The trip onto Gasgoyne remained relatively uneventful with just two kangaroos to dodge and about five cattle that lurched from the undergrowth to cross the road as we drove past them. First thing I noticed about Gasgoyne Junction is that a lot of the houses are built on stilts about 2 foot off the ground. We crossed the river coming into town which covered the roadway in one place but OMG, how huge is this river when it must be in full flood. The town would be completely cut off. There does not appear to be a shop in the entire spot although we passed a goodly sized school. We found the pub/camp where we are staying and set ourselves up for the night. The accommodation here looks like rows of containers. You open a door onto a bed, with a fridge, small bench, tv, kettle and toaster in one corner, and a bathroom with basin, shower and toilet as a separate room and that is about it. There is a built in wardrobe up beside the bed and you have to shuffle sideways to move about the room, lol. B and T are staying in one of those while the rest of us are in tents again as there is no hint of rain for tonight. There is a garage of sorts connected to the pub and a small shop as part of that. Bread here is $7.50 a loaf! We were going to have dinner in pub at first but at $38.50 for the cheapest meal, we ate up what we were saving for tomorrow night instead as we can restock at the roadhouse on the way to Nanga Bay.
The place is full of guys all working on the pipeline so we figure that is the reason everything costs so much. I am sitting in my tent as this is a powered site, but still no reception – hanging out for that tomorrow. Have an early start so will stop typing now - its nearly 11pm.

Written in retrospect:
Well, I don't know why I bothered to stop typing because OMG, the pub did not close until 1am!! As we were basically on the front lawn (to the side of the pub), we may as well have sent up camp in the bar. The juke box or the equivalent of played some reasonable songs and that would have been ok, but the yobbos who were drinking in there were another story. Several of them lurched back and forth from the pub to their rooms further out the back than us, and it was all the effing and blinding, more effing, yobbo talk - all at a yell that put the icing on the cake. At 1.30am some local yokel hopped in his unmufflered car and I heard him drive - all the way home!!!! I believe the last time I checked my watch, it was 1.45am!!!! Note to self and anyone else travelling - avoid Gasgoyne Junction if you can.

God Moves in Mysterious Ways, lol

Did I hear rain in the night, tell me I heard rain in the night, YES!, oh dear, what a catastrophe (said with tongue in cheek), it POURED with rain during the night and in the early morning. About 6.30 am there was a knock at the door and all the troops were stood there damp as their tents had leaked and they were getting wetter and wetter. It was not looking good for the climb (heh, heh) as there was fog all over the Mt as well. Everyone had breakfast, got changed, had a hot drink and B went and checked with Ranger Bob (who had a shack with a flag up outside, within the camp) - open at 9am, to see what the story was on re the possibility of doing the climb. The reply came back, not at all and more rain was expected. Some of the roads to Mt Augustus were already closed, the mail man couldn’t get through and so we were stuck. (You get fined if you drive on a closed road over here - $400 I saw on one sign) About 10am, the weather started to lift, so all the bedding and tents were taken down and put about the place to dry. The unit started to look like a Chinese laundry with clothing, bedding and towels etc draped from anything drapeable - doors, pictures on the wall, lol. In the midst of this, the camp table was set up in my bedroom between the two single beds for the kids to play cards to keep out of everyones way when one of them said there was a spider in the room. It just happened to be a REDBACK!!!!!! OMG, I stayed right where I was out in the living room area while the aforementioned beastie was killed and disposed of having severe palpitations as I had been walking about the place, seeing I was inside, with my bare feet!!! Needless to say, my boots went back on, flyspray was got from the shop and the room liberally sprayed with a napalm equivalent sweep. Once I could breath in the room, I then shook everything and repacked my bag, zipping it firmly shut.The WM took a photo of the beast before it was killed and just looking at the photo was nearly enough to make me heave never mind getting closer to the poisonous beast in situ.

There were several very silly hat moments not long after that as some of us then got dressed up in an assortment of head attire and took photos (one of those 'you had to have been there moments) and just as everyone was about to get cabin fever, the rain started to lift and the sun sort of came out. The decision was made to do a walk at the base of the Mt instead and so off we went to Gum Grove (Warrala) where there was the Kotka Gorge trail (class 4), 2km, 2 hours return amble. The walk started out through some awesome white gums and a gentle path and then with memories of Karajini coming to the fore, it turned into terrain that was only fit for mountain goats. Managed to lumber up the rocks and crevices with the aid of a trusty stick until the last 100mtrs when the kids and the WM (more intrepid than the oldies, lol) met us on the way back and said there was no water, just more rocks, and that was enough for us who needed no encouragement to stop and turn back. Got back down with only one ‘is my bum bigger than this rock’ moment when I was wedged and had to slide down one bit, lol and made it to the car without any misadventure requiring medical attention. There were several other shorter walks, at a lesser degree of difficulty further around the base of the Mt so off we went. The Ooramboo trail was a gentle walk into to see aboriginal rock carvings – goodness knows how many hundreds of years old. There was yet another walk further up the road again and this time there were more aboriginal rock drawings (Flinstone - see pic below). It looked like a flood had swept through the place at some stage – there was a cave to one side with 5 kangaroo skeletons and there were bones scattered further down that looked to be cattle bones.

The WM was extremely disappointed not to have climbed the Mt as it seemed people who had started out later in the day, managed to do so. Me, I was able to cope with the crushing disappointment heh heh.Back to the ‘resort’ and it was time to do dinner which was barbeque and very tasty. Had a small heart attack at some of the prices of this place. Bread $5 loaf, $34 for 9 bottles of water – we had to buy water as there was no drinkable water to be had on site – only bore water. Because there was a possibility of rain again, everybody camped in the unit that night. We moved a cane two-seater into my bedroom and put 4 squabs on the floor for the kids to sleep on. The WM shared the other bed in my room and the WMH put his swag on the floor next to the stove and bench in the kitchen. Amazingly enough, everyone seemed to have a good nights sleep and no one moved until 8am.


White-barked river gums.


My artistic shot of the workmate and family draped through the aforementioned wbr gums.

Another tree (right) and the path! to Kotka gorge, lol (below).


















Below is a picture of the rock carvings at the next stop called Ooramboo.

Picture above is taken at a stop called Flinstone - Beedoboondu. The actual drawings are on the wall under the rock that T & B are in front of.

This was an easier walk with a class 3, 500mtrs, 30mins return certification. We fairly gamboled up this incline, lol.



The drive around the base of Mt Augustus is 49k, all dirt/gravel. Mt Augustus is different to Ayres Rock in that it has vegetation of sorts all over it and is not merely rock. The rock on the ground alongside the roads is reddish and looks like a scoria type rock mixed with what looks like quartz.

On the Road Again (Thursday 9th)

Having left the Road House heading towards bluer skies and a dry road, our first stop was at "Stock Route Well No 19". We never saw numbers 1 - 18 or any others on the trip, so this may be one that has survived the passage of time. I forgot to mention that for a good part of this trip, we were following the old wool trail which continues north to Carnarvon, which we didn't go to, having passed through there on last year's trip.

The bucket in this picture is lying on top of a trapdoor that is covering the well. It looks like you had to bucket water from the well into the trough from which the animals could drink.

Next stop was a beautiful spot called Bilung Pool. It is named after an Aboriginal elder and is known amongst the Wajarri people as Bilungardi's Dreaming. 'Bilungardi means standing tall and skinny - this pool was the home of his Dreaming, the place from which ancient Dreamtime laws and customs originate'. The school is also on Wajarri land so it felt like there was a connection to this spot any of our indigenous staff from the Wajarri people will know this place and it's stories. This pool was at the bottom of a cliff which you could scramble down (I didn't, lol) and what looked to be a dry river bed which no doubt the pool overflowed into when in flood - it was fed from a smaller pool at the top of the cliff. There were lots of animal footprints in the riverbed, so obviously a watering hole for them. Surrounding the pool and along the riverbed were some magnificent white-barked river gum trees that were huge and therefore possibly very old. One had branches reaching up to the top of the cliff, which was worn away to accomodate one particular branch.

It was not long after I hopped back in the ute, I began to feel unwell - possibly the bacon and egg sandwhich not travelling too well through my inner workings!. I grabbed a gavascon tablet out of my bag and took that and then the next one which began to give a smidgeon of relief. I spent most of the trip with my eyes closed, willing myself to feel better and trying not to throw up, finally coming right as Mt Augustus came into view. We did make one brief stop at the Burringurrah Aboriginal settlement along the way to see if the shop was open but it only opened two hours a day, already been and gone. I cannot remember a bumpier road which was filled with hollows and dips all the way, so I considered myself lucky to have survived in one piece, lol.

"Mt Augustus or Burringurrah rises abruptly 715m out of an extensive, stony, red sandplain of arid shrubland dominated by wattles, assias and eremophilas. (for those playing at home, lol). It is 1105m above sea level" and is regarded as the largest rock in the world (larger than Ayers Rock). " In the Dreaming, a boy called Burringarrah was undergoing his initiation into manhood. The rigours of this process so distressed him that he ran away, thereby breaking the Aboriginal law. Tribesmen pursued the boy, finally catching up with him and spearing him in the upper right leg as his punishment. Burringaurrah fell to the ground; the spearhead broke from its shaft and protruded from his leg. The boy tried to crawl away but was hit with a mulgurrah (fighting stick), collapsed and died, lying on his belly with his left leg bent up beside his body. You can see his final resting pose when you approach Mt Augustus from the south".

We arrived at Mt Augustus 'Resort' and set up camp once again. The WM had booked a family unit for T & B which came with a double room, shower, toilet, open plan kitchen, living area and another bedroom with two single beds. As my tent was wet through still from the mornings rain, I was offered the spare room which I gratefully accepted. I was still not feeling great so took a codene tablet, curled up in my bed and fell asleep. There was no drinkable water at this 'resort' so nine bottles of 1.5l water were purchased from the shop for $32 and two loaves of bread at $5 each. (No crusts were given to the birds at this price, lol). The plan was to be up at 6.30am next morning to climb to the summit which there and back is usually a 6hr walk, so it was a relatively early night, after we had viewed and uploaded all our photos, with me mentally girding my loins so to speak for the challenge ahead!

A Camping We Will Go (Wednesday

Fianlly got to bed about 3am more or less packed for an ETD of 10am. Heading this years expedition once again,is the WorkMate, the Work Mate's Husband, their four offspring and the WMH's Aunt and Uncle over from Queensland (Pottsville, for those playing at home), who shall be known as T & B for the purposes of the next few epistles. We are taking the WM's 4WD and ye olde trusty Toyota Ute from School. The trip will take about 2,000k in round numbers, mostly over dirt roads, in the middle of and through the back of beyond, lol. So as not to be late, I got up at the crack of 7.30am to get last minute things done (emails and facebook, lol) and wandered up to the WM's to find them all having a cup of coffee at 10am!!! I think we were fully loaded and on the road by midday. First stop was at Mullewa for ice to keep food frozen in the eski, necessary lollies for the trip, and we were off to the Murchison Roadhouse/camping ground where we were spending the first night.

We actually had a smidgen of tarsealed road from Mullewa to the turnoff to Tallering Peak Mine and then it was dirt road all the way. Just out of Mullewa we passed a tree full of teddy bears which apparently signifies the turnoff to a waterfall???. We shot past that but had to stop at the next tree where they appeared just after the Tallering Peak turnoff to take some photos. Looked a bit like a soft toy massacre
had taken place as there were toys in branches and on the ground. We took the opportunity to pick up some wood from the side of the road too, as we had been told to bring some with us for the fire at the campsite.


This leg of the trip was reasonably uneventful. We stopped for photos as three emus stood in the middle of the road and then walked to one side and at the first crossing of the Murchison river which was little more than a creek when we crossed the one way bridge over it. We arrived at the Road House and without further ado set up camp for the night. The Road House is run by an ex staff member from school and she made us extremely welcome.

The tent sites were set between four polocross fields of red dirt and there were two more to the back of the camp. To the right was a huge shed which held the settlement's two generators, one of which was going 24/7, the other was back up if the first one stopped. The sound provided an interesting backdrop to the neighing of horses as there were several in residence in nearby stables and out practising for the annual Murchison Polo Cross event, to be held that comingweekend.

Some of the troops went off and gathered yet more wood as camp was being set up as we had half a 44 gallon drum with a hot plate on our site to barbeque on and then what looked like a rim of a very large truck wheel, to light a fire in for warmth. Sausages and onions were put on to cook, a batch of damper was made and I toasted a heap of marshmellows for desert.


Just before dinner, we had to stop to take photos of the magnificent sunset which was followed by a huge moon. Our ex colleague is also the local weather person checking rainfall etc daily sending the information by computer onto the weather people. (more technical than that but not sure what the aussi term for the met. service is, lol). She said that it was meant to have been raining that evening but the night sky had a full moon, was crystal clear and full of stars. The moon did have a haze around it - which apparently means it's going to rain, but at around 10pm it was cool but still fine.

Must tell you about our camping arrangements - this time the WM had organised swags for us borrowed from school. OMG, what luxury compared to the 1/2" foam sheet that I used last year. The swag comprises of a brown canvas envelope that is zippered and domed down one side. Inside there is a 2" (should be in capitals, lol) foam rubber mattress. You place yourself in the swag, in your sleeping bag so you a like a bug in a rug, lol. The only hassle I had was my zips were on opposing sides with the sleeping bag and the swag. No matter, the night was so warm in the end, I slept in my sleeping bag, on top of the swag, though I did have thermals and pj's on to keep me warm as well.

Had a very good nights sleep, which was just as well, because just as I was contemplating going for a morning shower, sitting out drinking my coffee (as you do), the flopping heavens opened, and thus began the much promised downpour, which dumped 6 mils between 7.30-9.15am. Apparently it rained 15mls back in Mullewa and further on again got 21mls the day before. We dropped breakfast preparations as the first rain drops fell (my cup of coffee left on the camp table filled with rain)and got the tents down as fast as we could, then draped tarpaulins over everything else during the worst bit, intially sheltering in the aunt and uncle's caravan, and then in the shop where we ordered bacon and egg sandwhiches and coffee for breakfast. The cars eventually got loaded and we headed north - towards sunshine, leaving the rain and heavy clouds behind us.

Apparently the word Road House disappered in a previous storm.

Wet, Wet, Fine, Wet

I am now offically on school holidays as of last Thursday night. On the previous Monday we had the chief honchos come for a visit. I believe they had a pavement kissing sort of flight up from Perth, plus the road was in flood in several places from Mullewa to here. One staff member had to wait until 11am for the water to go down a bit before he made it through in his car. I went out with our office person in her 4WD just to make sure he made it through and could not believe the difference in 24hrs.
















It was very reassurring to hear from the honchos that there is no urgency to move on now the school has closed, in fact they are more than happy for all of us to stay on site until the end of the year. I met with the guy who has been up several times, working through this process with us and had a fruitful discussion with him. I have signed up today at the Australian Catholic University in Brisbane to do three papers this coming semester which will leave me two to complete a degree in residential care. It maybe that I will graduate in Australia before I get to complete my degree in NZ, lol. The workmate is also doing four papers this term, two the same as me so we are going to keep each other honest, and on task. I am expecting a sparkling house as I am want to do housework in droves as my especial form of procrastination when I am studying,lol. Will keep you posted!!!!

On Tuesday night we had our final Mass in the Chapel and it was quite moving. One of the Brs bought up the Baptismal and Marriage record books that go back to the beginning of the school as they were to go back into archives in Geraldton. We followed the service with a lovely roast dinner with most of the staff and their familys in attendance.




On Wednesday I had a phone call which woke me out of a dead sleep to say come up to school now! Naturally I was not well pleased, even less when we all had to line up for a photo - no prior warning - great look for posterity, me feeling and looking like ferral Sheryl, lol, in clothes I had dragged on and hair all over the place - not a happy camper at all! The students all left for Geraldton after the photos for the day with several going for good, being picked up by family from town. There seven left that night, so after dinner we all decided to have a final campfire. One of the girls made some damper, we had marshmellow and potatoes and didn't wind up until 10pm. We had one of the girl's mum, dad and aunt who were staying the night come and join us as well which was great. Lots of hugs, tears and laughter which made for a special last night for those left.

On his way back from town, one of the staff spotted some emus not far from school and managed to find their nest with 10 eggs in it. He bought up two for the girls as farewell gifts. I have one of them on loan as we did not think it would get through 5 plane flights back up to the Kimberly's.



These were smallish eggs, though the equivalent of about a doz chook eggs, so we blew them but were too full to eat them that night.










Thursday I was up at 4am to get one of the girls up to catch her ride to the airport at 5am, then up again at 8.30 with the other girls as they packed and another one left. The last two left at 3pm to catch their bus home and that was it, the end of girl's boarding and the end of the school, after 81yrs. It was very hard to say goodbye as no one wanted to leave, the girls were in tears and one of the boys was too. However, we will see several of them again as I think there are some follow up visits planned to their new schools next term once they have settled in, to see how they are all doing.

The staff that were left on site that night gathered back down at girl's boarding and we had a shared pot luck dinner, and lit a roaring fire outside. It was not the usual end of term wind up at all and felt more like a wake than a celebration I have to say. Nevertheless, it was after midnight when everyone went home. I stayed on in the house for the night as I had all my gear still there and wanted to be up earlyish to pack and clean the next day. One of the staff came up about 10am and gave me a hand with the kitchen while I started at one end of the house and worked my way through. I took two ute loads of stuff back to my house late afternoon, dumped it in the door and called it a day. By the time I got here, the next door neighbour had his barbeque cranking and a fire pit going. The workmates kids were there and they were all taking turns on the neighbour's kid's go cart. This was a no frills dinner and totally carnivorous with chops, sausages and kangaroo to eat (there was bread, butter, tom sauce and fried onions to cover the other food groups), washed down with another few beers leftover from the night before. Have to say, I really liked the kangaroo - didn't taste as strong as beef and with onion made a very tasty sandwhich indeed.

Saturday was up with the larks at 9am, lol and back to the boarding house for more cleaning and the last of the packing up. Finally finished about 2pm, got home and then had to turn around to start moving things about so I could put things away - that entailed cleaning the kitchen cupboards, the bathroom cupboard, bedroom cupboard, while at the same time washing all my clothes and linen that I had bought back with me. I had to carry on and do it as I could not move about the house as it was. Luckily I bought a set of drawers down with me and have put all of my craft bits and pieces in them.

Yesterday was glorious - the sun was shining (28C), I got things dry, three out of four rooms were in reasonable shape, so I sat out on the deck for awhile to soak up the sun and then went and had a coffee with the DP before he left on holiday. I was NEARLY too hot while I was on my deck, and actually got down to two layers, being too hot for my jumper!!!, and then, today, I woke up to RAIN again - all day, on and off. We were meant to be going bush today while the next door neighbour tried to hunt a couple of kangaroos and to see some caves with aboriginal paintings so that expedition has been put on hold. If it rains again tomorrow we may not be able to get to where we want to go camping this week. The workmate is checking with the Shire tomorrow to see if the roads will be open. Watch this space!

Wet week.

Its been a long week. After a heinous bout of gripe that had me in its grip after a particularly flavoursome beef and red wine casserole, followed by a couple of glasses of red wine as we debriefed the news of the closure of the school, I awoke at 6.30am the next day with a second gripe attack. As I was up I switched on to face book to see the news that Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett had passed away. I found myself unaccountably sad to hear the news of MJ's passing as that was a total surprise. Two people who had lived their lives played out in the media, both with immense fame and not much luck to go with it, it would seem. Both of these people made me money and are part of my life. When I left school I started work in a radio and tv repair shop that also sold whiteware and stereos, tvs etc. There was one stand of records (yes I know, - just after dinosaurs walked the earth, lol) and people used to order 45's which were the singles on the charts at the time. Long story short, I ended up having a corner of the shop and became "Lynn's Music Mecca", selling records. Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 were huge on TV and just about anything that they put out sold well. I bought posters into Waiuku, and along with Eric Estrada, Elvis, Clynt Eastwood, Mountains in the USA, etc etc - there was the famous Farrah Fawcett Majors poster which just about walked out the door. We never missed an episode of 'Charlie's Angels' and with FF being married to the 'Six Million Dollar Man', she seemed to be the epitome of the then American Dream.

So, it was with a surprisingly heavy heart I went to work for the last weekend in girls boarding at school. On top of all this, it was raining again!!!! and it continued for the rest of the weekend. A roaring fire and a night in front of the TV watching footage of MJ, and then the footie followed. One of the boy's staff came down and made us some damper, cooked in the oven which was meant for the following day but it didn't last thatlong once it was cooked. He put some rosemary in it which made a lovely savoury taste.

Saturday dawned raining (spot a theme running through this post, lol) but then changed to merely overcaste and the decision was made that we would go anyway for a drive with all the kids out bush. We ended up at some mining place where there were a couple of trucks,a portashed, a BIG hole/lake and not much else for miles. I believe the blokes that were there are test drilling for gold? or so I was told. We had intended to have a campfire for lunch on the side of the road, but the rain started setting in so the decision was made to head on up the road to Yalgoo via the back roads that we were on. As we were travelling, we passed the 'rabbit proof fence' and one of the staff told me his grandfather remembered the girls that the movie was made about. One of our girls said her aunty was in the movie. The staff member had spent a lot of his youth in this area. He told me his grandfather had been adopted by an Afghan camel driver, who used to take his camels laden with wool down to Perth from the district. As we got to Yalgoo, it was still raining so the decision was made to pull into the old railway station which these days doubles as the sports centre and the race track is over the back of the building. There are only two houses on the side of the road as you go through the town, with a few more houses further to the left and an old church up on a hill. The men had organised lunch so we all had a couple of sandwhiches, and what luck, there were flush toilets WITH hot and cold running water. I was extremely greatful for that as the only other option was going out in the fresh air and Aussi scrub is not as thick as NZ bush to enable much discretion (well, not where we were anyways).

A bit further up the road and we turned right up another gravel/dirt road to a place called Jokers Tunnel. We had a kangaroo leap out before us followed by two emus just to keep the adrenelin flowing, lol. Jokers tunnel is maybe 100 odd metres through a hill - to the other side and that is it. Was a bit nervous when I saw the warning sign with a snake outlined on it - something to be aware of in summer, (note to self, will not be going there again at that time of the year). As I was one of the last to walk through the tunnel which is just over head height for most of the way with a slight bending required for the last few metres, I felt that any beasties lurking would get one of the others first, lol. It was quite novel to walk, in the dark and to see literally, the light at the end of the tunnel. Can well see how the saying came into being. The tunnel was dug around the 1870's as the search for gold was occurring. Most of the local mining leases were named after cards - right bower, left bower, etc from the game of euchre. I think something like just over 3k of gold was found in this tunnel after 550 tons of soil/rock was removed.

Fortunately, the rain lifted long enough for us to light a campfire just down the road and one of the men made some damper, cooking it in a camp oven and he put two large empty fruit tins of water on the fire to boil for tea and coffee. Both very welcome. I was shown a karrara tree which is what used to be used for making boomerangs if the branches had the right curve. The leaves can be used to cure warts, the wood makes excellent fire wood, and the old ladies used to grind the seeds for flour so the one tree could feed you, warm you and cure you. The work mate was very impressed that I have been picking up all this bush knowledge, lol. I also got shown a tree that you can rub the bark of, and the bits that come off used to be used to smoke before tobacco came along. Didn't look appealing at all I would have to say. We had no sooner finished the damper than, you guessed it, more rain. We packed everything up and headed back to school for another night in front of the fire.

Because we didn't have Mass that Friday night, the decision was made to attend Mass at Mullewa - 8.30am Sunday morning instead, so no sleep in this weekend. It was still raining steadily so decided to leave early allowing for the weather and not having to rush. Although the roads were soft, it wasn't too bad. An hour and a half later, after getting some hot chips from the local petrol station before heading back to school, it was a different story. The road was totally slushy, water was building up on the sides of the road and I drove back mostly around 60k instead of the ususal 110k. I had to drive down the middle of the road as when I did go to the side, the ute started sliding out. We got back to school and hunkered down for the day in front of the telly as I was not going to tempt fate by driving anywhere else. Although we had plenty of rain in the district during the week, it was now raining north of us which meant the water would start to flood down towards us - and it did. The workmate and her family had left for Dongara that morning at 6.30am as the boys had footie there. They then went to Gton on the way home and less than half a mile from school, later that afternoon, their 4WD slid across the road and took out a small tree, fortunately only damaging on of the spotlights on the car. The WMH said he was only driving 40k at the time and it happened so quick. Was I pleased we had stayed on site. (Have tried to upload some photos but computer being ever so sluggish so will call it a night/early morning, lol.)