A Day at the Beach

So much for a lie in yesterday LOL - the girl's stomachs got the better of them so at 7.05am I heard, "miiisss" outside my door "is there any milk?" and thus the day began. Passed the required milk to them as we had cocoa pops and toast already sorted for breakfast and then I proceeded to have a bone warming hot shower. All going well with the girls, I went over to see if the workmate was up and to plan the day. Had thought we might go into Gton shopping initially but decided to go to the beach instead for a picnic lunch (winter is soooo hard over here)- so Dongarra it was, which is 1 1/2hrs south west for those looking on a map at home.

Our estimated time of departure was 9.30am and so by 10.30 we were driving out the gate LOL. We had the school minivan this time so we could fit the 10 of us all in the one vehicle. We took the Tardun-Pindar road which is gravel with a small sand trap for the unwary not much past the initial turnoff. Seemingly in the midst of nowhere (there is a lot of that about out here)we turned left on the road to Mingenew which was about an hours drive. Very little animal life out yesterday. Did see some manky looking sheep with their lambs in a paddock somewhere along the way. Most exciting was one paddock (think probably 100acres LOL) with wheat 8" high, though most paddocks (small counties)that had wheat were about 2" high in growth. It seemed the way to Mingenew was drier than the Gton - Tardun area - lots of red ground and saltbush along the way. We crossed the Urwin river about 5 times from memory - now more creek looking than I imagine it was during the rain. We were driving along one particular part of the road when the workmate and I both said at the same time, it reminded us of the scenery in a Western movie. There were hills in the distance on both sides of us that were plateau in appearance (flat), with us driving through the "valley". We would not have been surprised to see Red Indians hurtling down on their horses (I know it is Native American's now, but it was Red Indians when I watched Bonanza and Rawhide!!)

Mingenew is a blink of the eyelid - the 'town' was left and we turned right and 30 mins later got to Dongarra. First job was to find a bakery after we had done a quick scout out of the lookout overlooking the coast. After some helpful advice from a local as to the location of the bakery we bought fresh poppyseed and sesame seed buns, loaf of bread and a tea cake (Australian for Sally Lun cake). On the walk back to the car we espied an op shop which drew us in like a magnet LOL. I got no further than the book section and bought two, to fill in a gap between library visits. We drove on a bit further to an area alongside the tide in a marina type spot that had picnic tables set out under a roof (for shade), beside a playground and toilets. Again I must say, Aussi beaches are done well with public amenities (WA at least). A veritable feast of salami, luncheon and ham salad buns ensued with teacake and fruit to follow with lashings of orange juice (we take an eski of water/juice on all outings). This was followed by at least 20 mins on various playground equipment and a walk out onto one of the piers, followed by a walk to another one a bit further up that was more of a breakwater. Now I know by now you are thinking - oh my gosh, Lynn and all that walking. Well rest assured, I was not. At the playground they had this hollow ball type thing that you could fit 4 children in and whirl it about at speed. (Which they did, backwards and fwds). Consequently, one of the girls felt ill and said she could not walk. I waited with her while the others walked on. There was nothing for it but to sprawl on the grass and lie in the sun. I say grass, because this is the closest thing to normal (NZ)grass that I have seen. There did not appear to be any teeming insect population about it, and how good was it to be able to wear bare feet and just lie on the ground. What I did notice was this weird fillament thingie amongst the grass. At first I thought some samoyd dog had been scritching and shed multitudinous hairs about the place - but on closer inspection there were these white filament type strands in groups or two or three, coming up out of the grass, with little seed heads at the end of the filaments. Once I had established there seemed to be no danger attendent in any of the above, I just lay and soaked up the warmth - in May, nearly June, (you know, winter time heh, heh)and just enjoyed, whilst the girl beside me had to go and be sick in the tide (finally). When the others eventaully got back, we had a quick ice-block, loaded up the wagon and headed out of Dodge.

Dongarra was reasonably sized, maybe about as big as Waiuku shopping wise and the houses ranged from average to some very nice ones around towards the marina. Beaches (here) are still not unlike say Glenbrook Beach in the 60's/70's where you had people living there all year round in normal type houses mixed in with the odd bach type place. There seems to be little of the sort of housing you find in NZ along beach fronts these days - the million dollar apartments etc of the Mt and Auckland way. You could buy a place at Gton or Dongarra for around the $400,000 mark though they do go up to around $600,000 for the two story, newer built houses.

Got back here in time to make a salad and venture forth with the 'whanau' down to opposite my place and a fellow kiwi's home, for a barbeque dinner for the daughter's 13th birthday. All those on site with kids were there and between kids and at least 6 dogs it was a noisy and fun night. All the kids were on the 'oval' at one stage, playing spotlight in the dark -not a playstation or computer in sight. As well as the gas barbeque, there was a small campfire going so toasted marshemellows were part of the evening fare - (I am practising hard for Christmas camping LOL). AND - only one mosquito bite last night under my right ear lobe!! Drank a bottle of tonic water whilst around the campfire and had minimal repellent on (in the hurry to be ready)and think I got this bite in my sleep. Am almost scratch free today though will take another telfast just to make sure. We are going out on the farm later for another bush barbeque (going to make a damper loaf for lunch to go with the butter and jam LOL). I expect I will have to clean my house and room upstairs (decluttered my back pack on Friday night LOL to cope with the haute cuisine of the weekend). Update on the workmate's arm - still itchy yesterday but redness and swelling had gone down. General consensus seems to be that it may have been a wasp sting as a spider bite would leave a black mark around the puncture wound indicating dead flesh!!! Ointment and pressure bandage seems to be working. By the by - there were HEAPS of wasp nests in the trees on the way to the beach yesterday. They hang like small chinese lanterns in the gumtrees along the side of the road, some trees have up to 5 or more in them!! They also range in size from table-tennis ball to baseball size. Ick!!!

Happy Birthday to No 1 Daughter in Law - Hope you have a great day.

A lot has happened in a few days.

Have lost email in the boarding house again and the workmate has my laptop to do an assignment, so this is the first chance I have had to catch up since Monday. I rang Mum late Tues to see how Clive was - he had a double bypass earlier in the day and it had gone well. Have been joking he has become the $6million dollar man with all the medical treatments he has had over the last twelve months!! Good to know someone is getting something back from their tax dollars. Latest news to hand is that he has been up and is going well.

Tuesday, I got up early, zoomed through some housework and curled up on the verandah to read in the sun to soak up the warmth right into my bones (It was 20o indoors and I was cold). Once feeling toasty, I thought I would curl up back inside again as the flies were starting to be a nuisance, and proceded to fall into a deep sleep for about six hours. Woke up feeling great, and caught up from the weekend. Had my Tuesday dinner with the workmate's family - it is becoming my 'Nana' night. The boys make me coffees, I listen to some homework or catch up on their day and we are now into the semi-finals of Australia you've got Talent, on TV. Their dad and I alternate cooking nights and we had chicken and mushroom stew this week. I am thinking of doing my vegetable tangine next week and garlic chicken.

All the girls went to netball while the workmate was back here finishing her assignment. As she shot over for a drink break, she felt a stinging in her arm and their were two (little) puncture wounds when we looked. Couldn't find any insect upon herself, or my laptop that she had been carrying. She was not a happy camper and we all watched very closely for the next 20 mins - she survived without anymore symptoms other than the stinging, so felt reasonably confident that it wasn't something fatal. A little unnerving for moi who is used to dialing for a taxi for A&E or for an ambulance for anything more than I can fix with a plaster or a panadol LOL. We have an airstrip on the property and did joke about calling the Flying Drs. Apparrently the ambulances are a bit like the fire brigade - its quicker to do it yourself if you are in dire straights which flies in the face of what you are taught in NZ. I feel an Aussi 1st aid course coming on ......... She decided to take an antihistamine and see how things were in the morning and went back to work.

Yesterday was my first time completely solo on the vege run as Bro M is in Perth. Filled up the ute with petrol (am nearly expert now LOL) and was on my way. Called into the store to post some cards and thought I would ask where I went to get my Aussi car license sorted out - lo and behold - the library which also doubles as the Shire's offices. Erica was back behind the desk and what a difference having a real person (as opposed to those corporate persons) to work with. I started filling out the paperwork and found once begun, you cannot take the paperwork away (had to have proof of residency). It involved being measured (approx 173 metric measure) having my eyes tested on a chart on the library door, and for those playing at home, when I hesitated on describing 'body type' Erica responded "solid", as the option to put in!!!! Hmmmm - a common description apparrently for most body types. Didn't think to ask what my other options might have been LOL. If that was not bad enough - I also had to have my photo taken - had not planned on getting that far yesterday on the basis of a mere enquiry so no make up, birch broom in a fit, hair day, thus looking like a candiate for Australia's most wanted - with a smile no less. Over here you are allowed to smile!!! Two separate swipes of the bank card and a small strangling sound from me as the figures totted up, and my new Aussi license, with application for an F endorsement and LR whats it, and I am now able to start learning to drive the bus. There is no theory test, just when I am ready, ring whoever and drive the test!!!! Too easy LOL. I have to have a medical to sit the bus license and that is organised for next Wednesday (it does not involve a blood test, merely questions I understand). Have taken a 5 yr license so am not sure whether that is optimism or forward planning LOL.

A bit gobsmacked that it all happened so easily, (rang work to get them to fax my proof of residency) I headed off again to Gton. First stop the tractor bits, fix it place that I have become a frequent visitor to during seeding season. Found it first time, negotiated from there into town and finished all the rest of the jobs for school, and completed some chores of my own. Decided to treat myself to lunch so tried the local Hans Cafe - I think it is a Thai food franchise. Had a very friendly young chap take my order and 4 small spring rolls with dipping sauce and a plate of pepper squid and rice I was replete. The pepper was capsicum and the squid delicious. I asked the waiter if they used real woks (I have a yen to cook chinese again LOL and cannot find a real wok for love nor money in Gton) and if so where did they get them from. It would seem Perth is the place. Very wierd after NZ with Asian shops abounding, not so Gton and surrounds. I have only seen electric woks so far and that is not what I am after.

To continue with the interesting food theme, one of the girls scrambled an emu egg last night after blowing it out of the shell (family had dropped it off to her earlier in the week) and I got to have a mouthful once it was cooked. I am told an emu egg is the equivalent of about 10 chook eggs.... It did make up a huge bowl of scrambled egg. It looked very smooth and velvety, hard to explain the texture, maybe a little more dense than an ordinary egg but very tasty - I would definitely try it again.

Up at 5am this morning to get the first lot of girls away on the bus to Gton at 5.45am to catch the bus to Perth. The rest went on the bus at 10am to Gton to be picked up from there. The girls from Yalgoo and Mt Magnet went yesterday afternoon. The workmate came over about 9.30am to show me her arm which had swollen around the bitten area and was hot and pink looking. She had made an apt at the Dr's so the three girls left and I took her in the ute to Mullewa. I now know, if it had been a mouse spider, she could be dead, if it was a wolf spider she would be dead, and if it was a redback, the wound would be sweating. There is a possibilty that it might have been a white tail spider - oh good I replied, necretising flesh to look forward to (why didnt we call the flying Dr's after all!!) . As she has been taking antihistamine all along, the Dr said to continue, gave her some ointment and covered it with a plaster and arm bandage to prevent her from scratching it. If it gets worse, we are to take her to the hospital - all good, 1 1/2 hrs away, though there is a hospital at Mullewa open during the day.... Of course I am feeling extremely itchy in sympathy and leaping out of my skin with anything that brushes against me, flies at me etc. I have not taken to walking with a can of flyspray, spraying a circle about me - yet - but the thought is crossing my mind. Before I forget - my hunt for the great mega death to midges and mossie elixer has now come to quinine!!!!! I have been told that those who take quinine do not get bitten. Shot into the chemist on Wednesday only to be told, they are now a prescription drug in Australia - arrhhhhh, wouldn't you know it. Not to be thwarted, the next best thing - tonic water (usually only associated with gin and lime and gin and gin LOL) so bought several bottles of that at the IGA on the way home. Will let you know how the experiment goes. Not sure how much you have to drink each day to get the effect I want. May have to add the gin - perhaps enough of that, and the bites will not matter. I can totally sympathise with all Summerset Maughm's characters who lived in the tropics drinking themselves silly (maybe there was more than mosquitos to blame but it works for me).

Speaking of the IGA - The Durlacher St smaller one (there is a bigger one on the same street) was my last stop before the vegie pick up for school. I was after some ingredients for my tangine and specifically kaffir lime leaves. This IGA's speciality is Asian products, Home brew and bread baking products amongst the usual spread. I asked one of the shop assistants where to find them,and she said she had the lime leaves on order for several weeks. As I saw my hopes of the tangine slipping away, a woman in the next aisle said over the counter, "kaffir lime leaves, I have a kaffir lime tree growing in my garden, I live at ...... Shenton St, go and help yourself to some leaves"!!!!!!!! How does that happen anymore?? I love that Gton and surrounds are so country (although, this is something my mum would do if she heard someone talk about fuschias, red hats .... etc LOL). Well, I thought, nothing ventured - so drove to said place which was about 10 houses up the road and a big thank you to Lesley for the leaves picked from her lime tree. She has told me to pop back anytime I need more, and she works in the local chemist. People truely amaze me over here how friendly and do anything for you they are. (apart from the b..........d corporates - I know, I am going to have to let it go and move on, LOL)

Am up in the library while typing this and we have Home and Away on the big screen tv. Bones is on tonight and the girls are going to sleep on the floor out in the lounge so will move back down there once I have finished some more emails. May go into Gton tomorrow, will wait and see how we feel tomorrow. Catch you later.








I am looking for a wok - you cannot buy one for love nor money in Gton unless you want an electric one.

More Cooking in the great outdoors!

Yesterday after a sleep in till 7am (had to get up for soccer girls,the rest of the girls got up for breakfast at 9am as our token lazy day for the week LOL. Breakfast done followed by the weekly clean, wardrobe check etc etc I was told there was no water!!!! I went forthwith to the taps and yes, the girls were right. Arrrgh. Rang and left a msg with one of the Bros, then rang the DP to spread the joy. Had a locked block with showers and toilets opened and was going to access the laundry as well to get all our washing done looking at worse case scenario not trusting anything to be fixed in a hurry. I am not sure what happened but about an hour later we had water again, albeit with very little pressure and quite yellowy (is that a word? LOL). Ah well, at least we could flush loos and continue with the washing. By then it was lunchtime so a quick round of sandwhiches were had and then on to the bus to go back into Gton.

Took the girls to Aquarina again and they got an hours swim in before the pool was closed for the day. We then headed for a little beach (Gton is not unlike the Mt, only in that the beach is right there all alongside the town) just up/down (not sure of the directions) from the shopping centre we usually go to. Can you believe it - the council has installed at the park/playground two separate stainless steel topped, gas run barbeques that start with the push of a button - be still my beating heart. One of the barbeques is a double one and the other a single with more 'bench' top. They were both spotlessly clean so we were very impressed. One other thing that I have noticed at the two beach areas I have been to, is that they both have water taps to wash your hands/feet etc along side the carpark areas.

We had taken our usual Sunday barbeque packs of one chop, 2 sausages and piece of steak (think weiner schnitzel for thickness and about 1/2 the size), bread, onions, butter and tomato sauce. Got the chops sizzling, then the sausages going on the double bbq and the steak and onions on the other one. Meanwhile, some of the girls walked up the beach looking for clams and crabs (and they found them) or just lay about in the sun - yes I said sun as it was a warm day yesterday - in the 30's I would guess and this was at 4pm!!!
We ate lashings of meat - it is a carnivore's dream on Sunday night - I underestimated the tom sauce and onions but better luck next time. Four loaves of bread were inhaled and we had the least left overs ever. It was magic cooking with the sound of surf and then the equally magnificent sun set (Sun set, sun rise and the moon are all brilliant here - lots of red hues). I will need to do a heap of decluttering this week to make up for the weekend indulgences LOL. Girls were very relaxed and very appreciative of the whole weekend so it made it worth all the effort.

Although there were toilets at a small park type place across the road, we were thirsty and chose to do a Macca's stop on the way home. I grabbed a much needed coffee and could not believe it when I saw that some of the girls got hamburgers etc on top of what they had just put away. It was dark by the time we left which was just after six, getting back to school just on 8pm. There was not a murmer from the girls at the juniors being in bed at 8.30pm and everyone else by 9pm. The computer upstairs was on the blink so did a few loads of washing in between playing some solitaire on my laptop (very little thinking involved). I know I was exceptionally tired several times over the weekend. I thought I had lost my glasses again - I remembered taking them off to put a jumper on at my house - the workmate found them in her car the next morning as I had driven her car from my place back up here (can not remember why I needed to drive there and back though LOL) and yesterday, I walked out of the loo at Maccas leaving my wallet on top of the toilet roll holder. Luckily the workmate was in there after me and asked me if I had lost anything????

Carrying on with the lovely weather theme - I got my jeans on the line at 1pm today and hopped into them to go to work at 3pm - Brill!!!! In fact got three loads of washing done and dried in that time. If this is winter - rock on. I will be sleeping at home tonight and notice the temp has dropped as the sun has gone down so will be piling the blankets on tonight.

Three more sleeps till Boarders - yay. Have been thinking what to do and have decided not to go to Perth this time but will stay here instead and do a couple of day trips and some exploring of the farm, some cooking, some reading, some DVD watching, some needle work - are there enough days off I ask myself. We are thinking of going up to Kilbarry on the Sunday which is about 2 hours north of here. Two other staff are going to be there for the weekend and there is a cray festival on. That was an easy decision to make LOL. I could really get into a good feed of seafood and this may be the perfect chance. Watch this space!!

Have fallen from grace today and I blame Kay. I think she sent me a picture of something I might like on trade me or ebay contacted me and I have found myself looking at things on the site again over the last few days. Because everything is so slow out here, have not spent eons of time on but whilst looking for one DVD I am after - lo and behold I spotted a Ben 10 DVD (the latest super hero for all those playing at home. If you have grandchildren, great grandchildren or have small people in your life - Ben 10 and his assorted bunch of greeblies are the new market driven toy, schoolbag, blanket etc etc to have). I actually enjoyed watching the couple of programs I watched with the 5yr (and a half LOL) grandson in the holidays.

Dinner bell has just rung so had better go. Hasta la vista (In support of the Camp Kay, Viv and Bobby are on)