Australia 2010
Copied from my old blog... and minus the photos... but too good to throw away.
11 August Setting up in Oz
Yes, we’re here. Having made the decision to put our regular lives on hold for five months, we’ve sorted our house and businesses in NZ and we arrived here in Sydney four days ago. Our plan is to travel the Northern Territory and Western Australia in a caravan and 4WD with our two kids, ages 13 and 11.
Schooling: Because we’re gone for less than six months, our children don’t qualify for NZ correspondence school. It turns out we’re not required to formally school them while we’re on the road. However, I’m not THAT nice a mother. Thankfully our children are avid book readers, so apart from a bit of maths everyday, their learning will take place informally as we travel. Their maths teacher supplied us with maths books for each of them, and they started two days ago. Without grumbling either I’m pleased to say!
Australian paperwork: Thankfully we’re not in Europe so don’t have to register at the local govt office, but to buy a mobile phone you need ‘100 points of identification.’ A passport alone is not enough. Before leaving NZ we transferred a large sum of money across to an Australian bank account we opened at the CBA bank. As an aside, we used an independent foreign exchange (forex) broker and saved ourselves $$$ rather than using a bank. Once we arrived we had to call in at the CBA bank to pick up our bank cards. This has already saved us a small fortune since we’ve used them a number of times for eftpos transactions. Using our NZ cards would be incurring all sorts of horrible forex fees. We pick up credit cards tomorrow.
Car and Drivers License: We hired a rental car straight from Sydney airport with gps to save our family here the time and effort involved in collecting us and running us around. Thank goodness for kind family who open their kitchens and offer rooms and laundry facilities as needed! The same night we arrived we called ahead to a seller asking to view his Jeep Cherokee. He lives four hours away over the Blue Mountains, so thankfully he was OK with the proposal that he drives an hour and we drive three to meet at a place called Orange. His car was a 2006 and was as described, and while he didn’t budge much in price he did throw in $5000 worth of extras that we don’t have to buy. Essentials such as: a second spare wheel, roof basket, bullbars, spotlights, raised suspension, and other touring essentials I don’t really appreciate, I’m sure. While feeling a bit unsure buying the first car we looked at, sometimes the first car is the right car. We gave him a deposit to secure it. It required another drive the next day (after we’d been to the bank for a bank chq) to pick it up. Be aware, in Australia there is a sales tax on vehicles that is payable to the RTA (road transport authority). Sometimes, the seller will state a price lower than the actual purchase price on the required RTA forms so the buyer doesn’t have to pay quite as much. But we wouldn’t know about that. While at the RTA office completing the car ownership papers, Noël showed his passport AND NZ drivers licence and bought a NSW drivers license for $48 giving him a bonafide Australian piece of photo ID. I’ll drive on my NZ licence. Arranging insurance was done online with AAMI.
On our trip to Orange to look at the car we had to go over the Blue Mountains and past Bathurst. This meant an obligatory drive around the Bathurst racing circuit round Mt Panorama. It was just like the computer simulated version according to the two males in the car! On the way home we stopped to see the Three Sisters rock formation near Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Awesome. Breathtaking views and Noël and I were on a bit of a high having effectively purchased a car and we’d been in Oz less than 24 hours.
Metal detectors: Today we purchased two Minelab Xterra 705’s. I did a fair bit of research and reading before deciding these were the detectors for us. I’ll admit to feeling a giddy kind of excitement buying them. Perhaps it’s the promise of what might be achieved – everyone warns newbie detectors such as us that it will take a lot of time and practise before finding anything worthwhile. That’s fine, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? I’m getting a bit old for outdoor hobbies that require intense physical fitness anyway.
Caravan: I’ve listed this last in this first blog, because it’s been the last thing we’ve finally organised. Four hours ago, after looking at a caravan salesyard today, we finally decided we want a semi-offroader caravan rather than a tourer that is limited to sealed roads only. That narrowed our search significantly. We got advice in NZ that Sydney is not the right place to buy a caravan, and it seems we proved that. There are some for sale here, but all the ones that suit us seem to be at least a days drive away. Two hours ago, we went into discussions with a caravan owner in Noosa, QLD. Queensland seems to have a lot more choice of caravans for sale. To keep this blog short (whoops, too late) we’ve decided to purchase this caravan in Noosa. It’s more than we budgeted upon, but it’s a semi-offroader with everything we wanted and will come ready fitted with everything we need. It’s just completed a year long tour of Oz with parents and two kids, ages 13 and 11. Sound familiar? It’s also only two years old, so it should hold its resale value well. We pick it up next Wednesday which gives us a chance to visit family in Brisbane and visit Movieworld with the kids.
So, while we won’t be leaving Sydney with our caravan, we’ll be travelling faster for a few days and plan to stay at cabins in caravan parks till we get to Noosa. We’ve already joined both the Big 4 and Top Tourist Caravan Parks which give us discounts on accommodation as well as a myriad of tours and shops around the country. For the number geeks out there, our spend on car and caravan will come to $77000. This is $7000 above our budget, but we won’t be buying a whole lot of extras since both of them are coming kitted out already. Yippee, that means less shopping and more time for travelling! We plan to leave on Friday, two days from now and head north.
17 August – Heading north…
It’s seemed a slow trip so far, but that’s what a holiday is all about, right?
The next two days after our last entry was spent kitting out the car a bit more. Tinting the windows, fitting some new rear tyres, etc. We did ride the monorail in Sydney CBD and the kids loved travelling on the trains.
After leaving Sydney, NSW on Saturday, 8.30am we arrived at the Gold Coast, QLD 9.15pm. Yes, a long day of driving, but we were glad we pushed on through. It wasn’t so bad with stops every two hours to stretch the legs or grab a bite of lunch or dinner. The kids were entertained with the promise of $5 for the first person to spot a kangaroo (winner: Amy at 4.30pm) and with their blessed personal entertainment thingys.
Ringing ahead from the road for night accommodation in the Gold Coast was harder than we expected. A lot of caravan parks were booked and others had a minimum of two nights stay. Two nights suited us though and we finally found a space at a budget cabin in a park at Southport. It was small and basic, but thankfully it was clean, and as we were out during the days, it was just fine.
Sunday was Movieworld. The kids had been looking forward to this since we arrived, and we all enjoyed it. Sister-in-law Jaime used to work there, so we managed to get some complimentary tickets. It was wonderful having them come with us, nothing quite like inside information! The Superman rollercoaster has our combined vote as the best ride there. Wet ‘n Wild was also a promised destination, so that filled our day yesterday (Monday). A good number of rides or pools were closed but there was still plenty to choose from. We’ve got tickets to go back for free (good till June 2011) as compensation for closed pools. We did make a fairly expensive mistake though. We had considered buying rolls, etc for lunch and taking them in to the park, but we were running a bit late so decided to take whatever the park had to offer. $55 later, no one was impressed with the mediocre pizzas and salad we ended up with. Lesson learnt.
We drove from Wet n Wild to our current accommodation at the Gateway Village Caravan Park on the outskirts of Brisbane. It is a great midpoint between last night’s dinner date and where we need to go from now. Again, two nights minimum stay.
Monday evening was spent with extended family. My brother (Nate and his wife Jaime and two young children) are moving from Brisbane to Western Australia for job opportunities and to be closer to my parents. Jaime’s family invited friends and family round to farewell them. Guess what the meal was? Hangi. Yep, a true blue delicious kiwi hangi. Jaime’s family is originally from Wellington. It was wonderful to catch up with my parents too. They have flown over from WA to help Nate and Jaime drive their two cars across the Nullabor.
This morning was spent doing washing, schoolwork and catching up on emails to keep the fires burning on our businesses back home. Most mornings involve a quick round of email, twitter and facebook checking. (Our twitter account is @nzjellys). This afternoon we followed the gps into Brisbane and tracked down the Queensland Museum. Although entry to the museum is free there is a $40 family pass charge to enter the Science Centre. It was worth it though and we could have easily left the kids there for the whole day I believe. We left the kids to move at their pace through the hands-on exhibits and experiments; Kelton spent 30 minutes at the very first interactive exhibit. We had to drag them away in the end.
So we’re back in our cabin (fully self-contained and very comfortable) about to have a bite of dinner. Tomorrow we pick up the caravan from Noosaville, about two hours drive from our current location. We will leave just after the 9am to avoid the rush hour around Brisbane and will be stopping in Maroochydore to visit my grandfather on the way. My mother was born near Maroochydore, and her father is a man with a lot of great stories. He is also in bad health now, and he can’t believe he isn’t bulletproof anymore. I help people record their life stories as a profession, so I will be armed with a digital recorder during our visit tomorrow. It will be priceless for my children to hear stories of his life in the future.
As an aside, I must mention the prices of fuel here. It is amazing to see prices differing quite significantly from one petrol station to another, all within the space of a few hundred metres. They change from day to day too.
OK, time for dinner. Congratulations too to New Zealand on being ranked the most peaceful country in the world! (Discovered today when I was checking facebook and twitter – it’s the only way I get my world news these days!)
23 August - Five pearls of wisdom and two major highlights
Hats off to Noël, he clearly paid attention when being shown which switches do what around the caravan (van). I was genuinely lost at the word ‘inverter’ and feigned ignorance at the words ‘greywater hose.’ So, now that we’re on the road, let me share the five pearls of wisdom we’ve gleaned so far.
1. Before driving, once you’ve checked all the important stuff (like inverters and greywater hoses), check the fridge door is shut. In fact, to avoid a melee of veges, butter and ham when you next open the van door, it wouldn’t hurt to check it twice.
2. When removing something from under the cargo net on your vehicle’s roof basket, be sure to secure the cargo net again immediately. This will save unwanted running exercise, 20 minutes later, to collect jerry cans from the middle of busy two-way roads.
3. I love head torches, we each brought one from home and they’ve been invaluable. So, tip 3: wear your head torch when visiting the ablution blocks at night, unless you’d prefer NOT to see the wildlife that may live in the corners. Invaluable for picking up the reflective eyes of the spiders in the grass too.
4. If you’re sleeping, and you think you may hear raindrops, don’t be lazy. Get up and close the skylights.
5. Make friends in Queensland. This will be especially useful if you’re buying a van in Qld. You need a Qld address to avoid out of state paperwork and time delays. (Thank you for the use of your address, Mario!)
No doubt we’ll learn more, but these are the current top five. Thankfully, we’re having a lot of fun while learning!
Tomorrow we drive through Emerald and will be staying at Sapphire. We plan to try our hand at fossicking for semi-precious stones, such as emeralds and sapphires. No plans to stop at Rubyvale yet
“But what about the metal detecting?!” I hear you cry. I finally got the chance to put it together three nights ago, just before the sun set. I stepped out of the caravan to play with it and immediately got talking to the vanner next door who has one too. While I’m talking, I’m fruitlessly pushing buttons trying to find a setting I’d read about in the instruction booklet. I give up when Kelton comes along and asks for a go. I continue talking, and off Kelton goes, beeping away; within five minutes he’s back with a grubby 50 cent piece he’s dug up. Not fair – he didn’t even read the instruction booklet! I have yet to use it.
Two major highlights
1. Day trip to Fraser Island: fantastic weather accompanied our successful day on Saturday. We saw whales 150m offshore, dingoes, dead manta rays, ate our packed lunch by the stunningly clear Eli creek and had a late afternoon dip in Lake Wabby.
2. Stainless steel front loader washing machine drum: OK, so this is more a highlight for Noël and the kids. After delightful tours of second hand appliance stores and local landfills in the last five days, Rockhampton dump came through for us today. The boys had to dismantle the old washing machine in 30 deg. heat for the spinner drum. Why? For the perfect outdoor fire while camping of course. “Latest bushfire started by Kiwi family of four” is a headline we’re trying to avoid.
Happy travels!
26 August – From Sapphire to Townsville
I’m sorry to report that an hour of fossicking did not pay off in the biggest sapphire ever discovered. Not that surprising, I suppose. The Sapphire gemfields are an amazing place though. Noël and I found the stories of the miners more interesting than looking for the sapphires. The designated gemfields are open to anyone who cares to spend some time scratching through the gravel or digging tunnels. Anyone can live on them, but your dwellings must not be permanent, so it’s very much shacks and shanties. There are apparently plenty of sapphires still to be found, but you need more than an hour I guess. We were late arriving in the afternoon, and because of a recent gem festival, the Blue Hollow Mine was fresh out of bags of gravel for us to search through. Peter Chalmers from Blue Hollow was wonderful though and spent time teaching us what to look for. I never knew before now that a ruby is just a red sapphire. (Emeralds are a different mineral though).
We had planned to go back to the gemfields the next day, but when we woke to clouds and light rain the kids enthusiasm to fossick in the river bed using willoughbys and sieves had disappeared. The kids are keen to get to Cairns. We all enjoyed a 10 day stay last year at the Cairns Coconut Resort. The promise to return there was one of the biggest carrots we waved in front of their noses when we sprung our ‘five month Australian travel’ plans on them 10 weeks ago.
So after a pancake breakfast (this caravan life is really quite civilised) we jumped into the car and continued north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Once through Clermont, we found ourselves on the wrong highway (gps systems are NOT infallible) and decided to carry on anyway. Now heading towards Charters Towers through scrappy looking farmland
and foreign looking brahman cattle, we found other road users were either caravans, road trains (really long trucks with three or more trailers) or white utes. By lunchtime the sun had come out in full force – we pulled over for the salami/salad sandwiches which mum makes best. While I was making said sandwiches the others got adventurous and put up the awning attached to the car for the first time. It was a breeze – easy to put up and cool to sit in, safe from the flies, while we ate our lunch.
Dishes in the sink, quick pats on the back for buying a car that has a roof awning attached and back into the car. We stopped at Belyando’s Crossing for fuel. Belyando’s Crossing looks bigger as a dot on the map than it does in real life. It was basically a large petrol station that served toasties and chips to truckies. We went in to choose icecreams, but the freezer only had large bags of ice for sale. The chocolate bars were in a drinks fridge. No matter, we had icecream in the Jellycan freezer anyway.
So, at about 4pm we rolled into a free parking area at Cape River. We shared it with two campervans and another vanner like us. The vanners, Brian and Marg, came over and witnessed the inaugural lighting of the fire drum. Noël was as happy as a mud clam. It worked brilliantly. Great conversation with Brian and Marg (from Victoria) exchanging travel stories before kebabs on the BBQ for dinner.
A couple of road trains rolled in late at night and slept there too, but they left before we did this morning. We rolled out at 8.30am, us heading north and Brian and Marg on their way home, heading south. We made it to Townsville by lunchtime. It was a grey day today. A stop at the visitors info centre decided us on a visit to the Reef HQ aquarium. $62.00 for a family pass. I guess we’re spoilt with Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World in Auckland and it wasn’t as large as the one in Osaka, Japan, but enjoyed by the kids nonetheless. We took the kids out for a snorkel and swim tour on the Great Barrier Reef a couple of years ago, and it was fun to hear them identify things from that trip.
On our way to the free camping at Balgal beach, north of Townsville, we stopped to collect more firewood from the side of the road. There’s plenty of free firewood in Australia – and it’s still novel to drive alongside blackened trees from bushfires. The camping at Balgal beach was full, so another ten minutes brought us to our current free camping at Rollingstone.
It is alongside a picturesque rocky river in a park. There are free gas BBQs and a playground for little kids. There’s loads of trees for shade here, and, as usual, we had set up camp by 4.30pm. At about 5.30pm I heard bell ringing. Coming slowly into the park was a ute (white), with a trailer, going slow with the female driver ringing a bell. She was selling prawns, reef fish and mud crabs freshly caught that morning. $20 later, Noël and I had added 1/2 kilo of prawns and three fish fillets to our dinner menu. Dinner was cooked on a grill plate over the fire drum. Dessert was fresh watermelon we’d purchased at a roadside stall in Clermont yesterday. We ate our watermelon around the fire as it died down.
Now, the kids are in bed having just returned from night-time wildlife spotting with their father. They can add cane toads to their nocturnal list now. We’re parked about 100m from the toilet block. I’ll have to go there before I turn in, and apparently the cane toads are hanging out around there. Uggh. Where’s my head torch??
Tomorrow we have a two and a half hour drive to Cairns. We’re booked in at the Coconut Resort again. I am looking forward to staying in one place for five consecutive nights. A different campsite every night is a little tiring. I expect our trip to slow down now and we’ll settle into a cruising mode once we leave Cairns. But first, bring on the pools at the resort, I say!
1 September – Cairns to the Tablelands (Platypode!)
Here’s the summary of our five nights in Cairns– it rained. Day and night. However, we still swam in the resort pools everyday, and we managed one game of tennis. My hair went freaky-frizzy from the humidity and we felt sorry for the holidaymakers who were there for the first time. Cairns just isn’t the same in the wet weather.
Right, moving on…
Today we drove up the winding Gillies Range which took us from sea level to 800m higher. The drive up with cloud surrounding the rainforested hills was quite spectacular, but what really amazed me is how they managed to stick New Zealand up here! Honestly, once we broke through the top of the rainforest, the land gave way to gently broken hills covered in farmland and cattle. Welcome to the Tablelands. I love it up here – it feels familiar – and my hair is back to normal. We are staying in a wonderfully peaceful caravan park on the edge of Lake Tinaroo at Yungaburra tonight. We chose Yungaburra as this is where Noël and the kids saw some platypode (an acceptable plural of platypus) last year. Today’s goals: to see a platypus and visiting the giant curtain fig tree by day, and by night.
The curtain fig tree is quite a sight. Despite our best attempts to spot resident tree kangaroos, the biggest wildlife we saw were golden orb spiders. Beautiful creatures. Of course, that opinion was formed after a local walked past and told us that they were harmless, before that they were downright scary.
We returned to the local river bend at 5.20pm to catch a glimpse of the platypode. There is a viewing area – a latticed wall with small window cutouts where you can sit and wait. It started raining gently again at 5.30pm. At 6pm we were still waiting. Other hopeful viewers came and went, some with tour guides, but we stayed on. An hour after arriving, the sun had gone down and it was getting hard to see the water boatmen skimming across the water anymore. Amy had given up and was waiting in the car. At least it was dry there. But sometimes it pays to be stubborn.
Or, maybe it just pays to be wet and pathetic looking. A young man, part of a small tour group, walked past and called out to us “Excuse me, but you can see one across the bridge further downstream.”
Bless that young man. Noël, Kelton and I took off in the rapidly falling night as fast as we could.
Success!
The most gorgeous little creature I have ever seen was swimming silently up and down the murky creek. He’d pop up, paddle his little front flappers, then duckdive down again. When it was clear that we weren’t scaring him away, I rushed back to fetch Amy.
Back to the boys as fast as we could to find two platypode swimming around, feeding on the bugs at the top of the water with their toothless little bills. What strange, adorable creatures! They were much smaller than I expected – about 30cm in length.
By now it was dark, so Noël fetched the three million candlepower spotlight from the car. We were standing under a bridge (it was dry there thankfully) watching them by now. The light didn’t bother them, and we watched them happily for another 20 minutes or so while small bats flew all around us.
We had to drag ourselves away really. I’m just sorry that we didn’t have the camera with us.
So, back in the car and back to the curtain fig tree for the night time experience. Unfortunately the rain muted the sounds that Noël and the kids experienced last year. We saw flashing bugs, king crickets and caterpillars the length of my hand.
The platypode were the highlight so far, and Noël’s red chicken curry for dinner was the perfect way to end the day.
8 September – Savannah land – Tablelands to Normanton
Since our platypus encounter we’ve experienced amazing lava tubes at Undarra National Park, hunted for gold at Flat Creek Station, fallen in love with a speck on the map called Georgetown (for a very specific reason) and seen so many jumping wallabies we can now tell the difference between kangaroos, wallabies and wallaroos.
This Savannah country is harsh. Yet beautiful. Savannah country means the predominant growth is grass, with emergent trees. This is the land of controlled fires. Patches of land are routinely burnt to keep the grass growth under control, thereby reducing the risk of large fires feeding on the grass and ravaging the countryside and small towns. Our scenery for the last week has been constant – red dirt and dust, brown grass, gum trees amd small termite mounds by the thousands.
Undarra National Park – Lava Tubes
Worth a visit in our opinion. We stayed at the caravanpark there for one night – our most expensive Jellycan night yet, but it was worth it. What an amazing place to camp! Gorgeous pool too! Guided tours are the only way to see the lava tubes. We chose a morning two hour tour (easy) although half day and full day tours are also on offer. It’s here we learnt the difference between a wallaby and a wallaroo.
Flat Creek Station – ‘gold in them thar hills!’
A lady at church (in Cairns) told us about Flat Creek Station, 50km south of Georgetown on unsealed roads. Her and her husband found a nugget there a couple of weeks back. “How long were you there for?” I asked. Her reply seemed extraordinary at the time. “Two weeks.”
But, in gold prospecting/fossicking terms, that’s nothing. We camped at Flat Creek Station and swung our magic wands around for four days ( a few hours each day before it got too damn hot). No gold for us – but I’m ridiculously proud of the small metal button stamped with “Q’land Woollen Coy’ which I found. Which old miner lost it? I wonder. This is the kind of country where, 100 years ago, you came to either strike it rich, or die. I hope he had better luck than me.
We were privileged to meet John and Marcia Kingsley there – they’d been camped there 12 months and counting). Lovely people who made their fortunes on the Sapphire gemfields for 20 years (do a search for the Kingsley Sapphire) followed by another 20 years of gold mining. They have no fixed home anymore – they travel as and where they wish enjoying the great outdoors and the riches it holds.
Flat Creek Station is a 50,000 acre beef grazing station, grazing approx. 3000 cattle. The paddocks available to us fossickers were mind boggling huge. We didn’t know where to start, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Wallaroos, frogs, emus, goannas, cane toads, untold bird life (not to mention the ants and bugs) kept us company at different times. And the stars at night are breathtaking.
Georgetown
A small Savannah town with friendly people. Our love affair with Georgetown is mostly due to the small but clean public pool available to anyone, free of charge. With temperatures in the mid 30s (celcius) everyday, we send our heartfelt thanks to the Etheridge Shire for this amazing facility.
The rain in Cairns and the Tablelands, just a week ago, is a distant memory now. I’m glad we spent our last day in the Tablelands (before driving to Undarra) visiting five waterfalls. Dry creek beds and outcrops of rock are the repetitive landmarks as we now make our way to Mt Isa. We lunched over in Normanton today specifically for the mobile (and therefore internet) reception. I’m seated in a park with a hot breeze blowing. It’s hard to stay cool, but we won’t swim in the river. I’ll leave you with this photo of a life size replica of a saltwater crocodile shot in the local Norman river.
16 September – Normanton to Alice Springs
Normanton to Mt Isa – this was, without a doubt, the most boring road so far. After dinner at the Burke and Wills roadhouse (named for two explorers that died trying to cross this continent) we drove into the night hoping to lessen our time spent on this road the following day. As we drove off into the dusk at 6.30pm the roadhouse employee warned us to watch out for ‘roos – dusk is their favourite time to cross the road.
We have heard horror stories of kangaroos and wallabies being hit and coming in through the front windscreens. It happened to one of my brothers and his friends a few years back. His friend in the back seat fared very badly from the kicking and scratching of these powerful animals.
We drove a little slower than normal and saw lots of roos and wallabies grazing along the roadside. The odd one bounded across in front of us, but once true night had fallen, we had to run a gauntlet of a different kind. One that no one had told us about.
You know, when you’re driving at night, how bugs and moths are attracted to headlights? Occasionally you’ll get a nice big juicy bug smear itself across your windscreen. Well, nothing prepared us for the swarms of large brown locusts that rose from the trees along the sides of the black road and hurtled towards us en masse as they saw us approach. Imagine grasshoppers the size of small birds, say… sparrows* – then imagine all those sparrows hitting your windscreen… thwack, thwack, thwackthwack! At first it was amusing, but after an hour, it was just gross. The noise was sickening.
We free camped that night. The front of the car and van were absolutely covered with grasshopper parts – legs, bodies – the whole lot. It was disgusting. Noël swept them off before retiring. The ants (which themselves are the size of a large house fly*) were still feasting by the millions and doing a superb clean up job the next day.
Onwards to Mt Isa. Upon arrival we drove around checking which caravan park had the biggest swimming pool. Argylla Tourist Park won our patronage for two nights. With temperatures still in the mid to high 30s (celsius), we all jumped in the pool fairly promptly.
Mt Isa is an interesting place – it doesn’t hide the fact that it owes its existence to the huge 24 hour mine (copper, zinc, lead) which looms over the city. Amazing sight by day and spectacular by night when all lit up.
We haemorrhaged a fair bit of money at Mt Isa on essentials such as: haircuts (hooray!), surface tour of the mine, second hand books, small portable fans for the Jellycan (sooo much better now), movie excursion to see Despicable Me (funny), visit to the dentist, head nets that go over your hats and face to keep the tenacious flies out of your nostrils, vinyl lettering with which we finally christened The Jellycan, icecreams, groceries, etc. All money well spent.
We were ready to roll out again on Saturday morning. Ahead of us lay 1000 km to Alice Springs.
We liked the sound of the free camp at Camooweal Caves National Park by a waterhole. It involved 20km of unsealed roads to get to the campsite, but that was precisely why we bought our semi-offroader van. It was mid-afternoon and stinking hot when we arrived. The thought of visiting the cool caves was a welcome idea.
Well, I’ll tell you now, do not go to the Camooweal Caves NP expecting caves. Despite signs saying otherwise, there are no caves. There are two large sinkholes that offer no respite from the scorching sun. This National Park urgently needs renaming.
An early start the next day saw us enjoy the air-conditioned car as long as possible. We crossed the Queensland state border just past Camooweal and found ourselves in the treeless expanse of the Northern Territory. Signage warned us against transporting fruit (there is no fruit fly in southern NT) so we pulled over and ate as many of the grapes, bananas and apples that we’d bought in Mt Isa as we could. One of our healthier morning tea breaks.
Continuing on our westward course, we turned south after lunch, at Threeway Junction. This put us on the Stuart Highway which leads to Alice Springs. However, the distance is too far to travel in one day, so we camped at the Devils Marbles campground – right beside the Devils Marbles themselves. Fantastic place. Photography heaven. Mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds.* Stop there, if you ever get the chance.
Now, we’re in Alice Springs. Today is Thursday, we arrived on Monday. The temperatures have dropped steadily since we arrived. Unfortunately, we were expecting to be travelling through the MacDonell ranges and on to Uluru (Ayers Rock) by now, but we’ve had car trouble. Thankfully it happened here, in a city, rather than in the outback. Our front drive shaft was replaced yesterday afternoon.
Do you want my impressions of Alice? Well, ready or not, if you’re still reading, I’ll take that as a yes.
This is a beautiful outback city (about 28,000 people). It is built around and amongst the rocky landscape, and has the feel of an oasis about it. It’s origins are a little more honourable than some other towns too. It sprang from a telegraph station placed here to connect South Australia with Darwin and therefore, the rest of the world. Many other desert towns exist because of the riches that lay under the earth.
Alice Springs bills itself as the centre, and the heart and soul of Australia. Aboriginal art and people are everywhere to be seen in this city. To be honest though, the divide between haves and have-nots, between whites and blacks appears vast. I don’t know the intricacies involved, but the divide has captured our attention, and we find ourselves wondering what the solution is.
We visited the Alice Springs Desert Park yesterday afternoon and are richer for the experience. I have a much better understanding of the desert environment now, of the flora and fauna that inhabit it, and of the people and how they survived here for the last 30,000 years.
We hit the road again today. Hopefully the rain will stop so we can visit some of the gorges and canyons in the outback. The forecast for the rest of the week is not too flash – cold and showery. We enjoyed the pool earlier this week though. Whatever the weather, we’ll be sure to have fun and make the most of it. Hope you do too. Signing out till we return here again after the outback loop… Teena
* slight exaggerations may describe objects slightly larger than they may actually appear.
21 September – The Red Centre: MacDonnell Ranges, Kings Canyon, Uluru and Kata Tjuta
I am in awe. I find it hard to imagine there are still sights to see that will make the last five days pale by comparison. Yet, that’s what we’ve heard. The desert out here in central Australia holds some breathtaking spots of beauty. The MacDonnell Ranges (west of Alice Springs) has several gorges, chasms, waterholes, etc that warrant stopping at, but due to the falling rain and cold temperatures, we chose to visit just three.
Standley Chasm was our first stop after driving out of Alice Springs on Thursday 16th Sept. It is on aboriginal land and cost us $30 for the 20 min walk to see it. It was a pretty little walk over rocks and around waterholes until we came to the narrow gap in the sheer walls that is the chasm. $30 seemed a bit much for us Kiwis who don’t expect to pay for visits to natural areas, but if it really does go to help the local aborigines, it’s a bargain.
“Right kids, back in the car. There’s more fun ahead with another walk in the rain planned this afternoon.”
Serpentine Gorge was our next stop. The landscape throughout the ranges is quite dramatic and photos just don’t do it justice. The winding Serpentine river carving its way through the rocky ranges was indeed gorge-ous. (No sar-chasm intended either).
The next day brought cloud and a cold wind, but thankfully, no rain. This proved to stand us in good stead later in the day. After hot chocolate for medicinal purposes we arrived at Ormiston Gorge. We had a packed lunch and were planning on hiking the Ormiston Pound walk (3 hours return). Signs warned that rains and flooding meant that anyone undertaking this walk ‘will get wet and will have to swim through cold water.’
“Hmm. C’mon kids, let’s see how far round we can go.”
The Mereenie Loop Road is 200 km of unsealed 4WD road. I’ve heard it called the Highway to Hell and there are locals who choose to drive the long way round rather than risk it. Its official status was ‘impassable due to flooding.’ But, as the manager at the Glen Helen resort said, ‘the wind today will have helped dry it out a bit.’ That eased my mind. Then she added ‘it will be pretty slippery though.’ Noël needed no further encouragement. We paid our $3 for the permit to drive the road (as it goes through aboriginal land) and set out. Much cheaper than an amusement ride!
Three and a half hours later, we came out the other end. The manager was right – it sure was slippery – watching a caravan fishtail behind you can be a little unnerving. Coming through the rivers that flowed across the road was always a bonus too! Here’s a short video clip of us on the road here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lco9BMJI_Y We treated ourselves to a powered caravan site at the Kings Canyon resort for two nights. We slept well that night in a warm caravan as the rain fell.
Next morning (Saturday) as the rain continued to fall, we debated whether or not to go ahead and walk Kings Canyon (3 hours) or wait till the next day when the forecast was for clearer weather. In the end, our impatient streaks won out. Stuck in a caravan all day wasn’t an attractive alternative.
“C’mon kids. Dress warmly, it’s not raining that hard.”
On Sunday morning we woke to clear skies. Hooray! The desert roadsides were blooming lovely. We arrived at the Yulara Resort (closest camping to Uluru-Kata Tjuta NP) in the early afternoon and set up camp. To enter the National Park costs $25 per adult. The ticket is good for three days.
“Right kids… let’s go touch the rock!”
Sunday morning, we drove further into the park to visit Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) meaning many heads. A beautiful day with clear skies and a cold wind kept us cool as we did the Valley of the Winds walk (3 hours). Waaay more interesting than Uluru in my opinion. Kata Tjuta has personality and dimension; the walk takes you amongst the rocks that, in fact, are taller than Uluru in some instances.
After a late picnic lunch we spent the afternoon driving as far as we could. Our destination was Alice Springs so we can stock up with supplies before heading north again. After a peaceful freecamp at Finke River we arrived in Alice today.
We have great expanses of nothing to cover in the upcoming days. Darwin will be the next big place we stop at.
“Righto kids, put your hiking boots away – you won’t need them for the next few days.”
27 September – Three things I never thought I’d say
1. ‘I agree, let’s leave the aircon on!’
Travelling from Alice to Elsey National Park took two days of driving. It was bizarre getting out of the car every couple of hours to discover how much hotter and more humid it became as we drove closer to the equator. It wasn’t a subtle change; it was powerful and arrogant. This is the the weather build up before the wet season here in the north.
On our way here we passed signs advertising a ‘free zoo at the Pink Panther Pub’ in Larrimah. It sounded as good a reason as any to stop and get a cool drink on our second day. We pulled up and were blasted by more hot air as we got out of the car. We’re glad we stopped – the zoo had plenty of animals and birds to look at. The pet wallaby and baby emus were a hit with the kids. The pub was tired looking, but comfortable and friendly. Our cool ginger beers under the corrugated iron roof of the beer garden went down a treat.
Our destination was Elsey NP; famed for its thermal springs. Upon arrival, we paid for two nights at the Elsey Park Homestead campground and set up the Jellycan. It takes us 20-30 mins to set up properly (levelled, awning up, power/water connections, etc). We let the kids off setting up and sent them off to the spring for a swim as soon as we got there – that’s how hot it was – we’re not usually that kind. The aircon went on as soon as we’d plugged in and it stayed on until we left again. Believe me, it was a matter of survival! We joined the kids for a dip as soon as we could.
2. ‘Nice camelbak.’ The importance of this statement lies in the fact that I used it without sarcasm (which, as we all know, has no place in a marriage).
Anyway, back to our story. Elsey NP is lovely by the way – the springs are crystal clear and a constant 34 deg celsius – beautiful.
On a hot Saturday morning we left our airconditioned van running and set out for a 4km hike (one way from ‘12-mile yards’ carpark) to the Mataranka falls (still inside Elsey NP). It was 9am. It was a flat walk, but heavy going through sand at times, and not much shelter. We eventually got there, hot and very bothered. The falls did not have easy access for swimming, but we jumped in anyway. As Noël succintly puts it, ‘it was a life-saving swim.’ He wasn’t wrong. The kids came alive again with renewed energy. Thank goodness. The 1.5 hour walk back to the car was noticeably hotter still. We jumped in the river again by the swimming pontoons at the carpark to lower our body temperatures to normal.
We’d each started out with 2 litres of water (plus food). By the time we got back, it was all gone. This walk highlighted the need to improve the walking (and drinking) comfort for the children. Today we outfitted them with their own camelbak type backpacks that even has room for togs and towel. I don’t have one, yet, but no sarcasm is intended or implied when I comment on people’s camelbaks now.
3. (muttering to self) ‘I’m going to have to put my chocolate in the fridge, dammit.’
Our next stop was Nitmiluk (Katherine gorge). Another two nights getting our moneys worth from our camping fees and keeping power companies in business.
We decided on a two hour breakfast cruise to view the gorge. We saw the first and second gorges actually. I won’t bore you with all the reasons why this cruise was a great idea but the alternatives were a helicopter flight (ka-ching!$!), canoeing (half day at least) or walking (have I mentioned how hot it is here at the moment?!) The highlight for me was seeing aboriginal rock paintings for the first time. When we docked again at 9am we jumped straight in the river to cool off.
The rest of the day was spent lazing about (acclimatising) reading books, updating work emails and facebook, snoozing, cooling off in the pool and eating chocolate at the perfect temperature. Despite the heat, we’re having a great time. The rain and cold of the MacDonnell ranges, just over a week ago, is a distant, hazy memory.
Wildlife update: Kelton saw the first live snake on an evening spotlight walk at Elsey NP. Noël saw another in the Nitmiluk gorge. Watching the flying foxes move in to the trees around the thermal springs (Elsey) was amazing. One day they’re not there, the next morning, they’re flying in and filling the air with their chattering and delightful odour. Nitmiluk gorge also gave us our first freshwater crocodile sighting!
11 October 2010 – Xin Chao (hello) from Vietnam!
As we approached Darwin, we planned to look into cheap flights to various Asian destinations. We heard there were some bargains to be had – and who can resist a bargain?
The final choice, after some negotiations, was Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Teena was pretty keen on some resort-style relaxation in Bali, while I wanted the buzz of visiting Saigon & the Mekong Delta. So a compromise of five days in the city and five days at the coast was reached without undue bloodshed.
As I write this, we are enjoying the peace and quiet, sitting in a lovely spacious family apartment at the Grace Boutique Resort at Mui Ne on the coast, some 200km southwest of Saigon.
Over the last few days we’ve eaten a lot of noodle soup and been thoroughly entertained by the sights and sounds of Saigon and the Mekong Delta. The proper Vietnamese Pho (Noodle soup) is just delicious – prepared with lots of fresh Vietnamese herbs and sprouts, chilli, lime – really yummy – and at between $0.50 and a $1.50 per bowl, pretty good value! We have had it for breakfast, lunch, dinner – pretty much any time of day. I love Vietnom nom nom….
We’ve had a blast so far eating incredibly cheap food. Teena and I had a two course meal at a restaurant the other night for NZD $4 each. Teena had a whole grilled red snapper at a night market restaurant for $7!! Just amazing. The shopping is incredible too – although there’s not really a lot we can buy – as we’ve nowhere to put anything in the JellyCan – and it’s too hot here and back in Oz to wear a lot of clothes.
Still… it has us thinking about coming here for a shopping trip in the future. Everything in the markets is haggled of course – and it’s not until you see the same thing for sale in a supermarket for half of what you paid for it that you realise how badly we suck at haggling. Although it’s hard to get too worked up about it when you realise you’ve bought a really nice back pack for $14 or a nice “Nike” (yeah right) sports shirt for $3. You’re haggling over such small increments – it almost seems mean! However – you get what you pay for: Kelton’s nice new $5 “Nike” waterproof digital watch did not survive its first encounter with the swimming pool.
After arriving in Vietnam late on Monday night we’ve spent 3 days/3 nights in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and 2 days 1 night in the Mekong Delta – which included a homestay with a Vietnamese family.
While staying in Saigon we visited the Cu Chi tunnels approximately 60km out of town where the Viet Cong hid and fought against the Americans. At the peak of the conflict they had over 200km of tunnels, some of them so narrow that only the diminutive Viet Cong soldiers could fit through. The somewhat larger American troops were simply too big to get into most of them. Absolutely astounding! We also fired some real machine guns there – an AK47 and an M30 – now that is scary! The tour started with a very interesting propaganda show presenting the whole war from the North Vietnamese point of view.
The Mekong Delta tour started with a 2.5 hour speedboat ride through some of the filthiest, most polluted water I have ever had the misfortune to see (and smell). Everything just gets thrown, chucked, rinsed and flushed into the nearest convenient waterway. Fortunately, as we got further from the centre of Saigon, it improved from horrifying to merely putrid.
The Mekong Delta is huge, and the river systems that flow through it are massive – providing homes, transport, and water to irrigate the countless rice paddies, coconut trees, fruit orchards and fish farms that cover this lush region.
There are people everywhere. This region is home to tens of millions of people, and they are all either riding a scooter – or trying to sell something on the side of the road. You’re never more than a moment away from a local market, or a street vendor selling rice noodles, bottles of water, Buddhist statues, fruit and veg, sunglasses – you name it! The sheer volume of trade and commerce going on all around you is staggering. One of our taxi drivers informed us that there are over 60 million scooters in Vietnam. I can believe it – although I lost count somewhere around 20 million.
Although we’ve seen many things, I believe our homestay with a Vietnamese family is the highlight of this trip so far. Our host, Viet, met us at the bus at night in Can Tho city on his scooter with three other friends on their scooters. Without a moment to think about it, we all had helmets popped on our heads, were each thrown on the back of a scooter, and tore off into the night, horns a honkin’, surrounded by the flashing lights of Karaoke bars, massage parlours and thousands of other scooter riders, most of whom thought I looked pretty darn funny towering over our slightly built Vietnamese host with an undersized helmet lashed to the top of my skull.
We reached Viet’s riverside home about 20 minutes later, where his wife had prepared a delicious Vietnamese feast, which never seemed to end! Vietnom nom nom… The following morning, after breakfast, Viet loaded us into his small boat and took us down the river back to Can Tho to meet up with our tour boat for our visit to the floating market.
We had initially booked a three day/two night tour of the Mekong – but after two days of relentless heat, markets, buses, boats and highly packaged attempts to extract more Dong from us than we had intended to spend – we opted out at the end of day two and made our own way back to Saigon. A day spent relaxing in and around our air conditioned hotel room soon had our energy levels restored. During the day we went for a walk with the kids around the neighbourhood and Amy had her first ever manicure and pedicure, complete with exquisite hand painted flowers decorating her nails – all for the royal sum of $5.
Our last few days in Vietnam will be spent here at the beach away from the complete chaos of the city.
We’re flying back to Darwin on the 14th – So back to the 38C heat and humidity. We’ve left our travel through the top end of Australia a little late in the season – which means our plans for mostly free camping are out the window – it’s just too hot. We’ll need powered sites so that we can run the air conditioning to survive. Yeah, I know. Soft.
16 October – My ten impressions/observations of Vietnam
We’re back to our regular holiday schedule now, back in Oz where it’s warmer and the flies that like to lick your eyeballs abound. We arrived back yesterday and already Vietnam is becoming a fond memory as we fill the Jellycan with groceries and hit the road again. Looking over the ten days we spent in Vietnam, some surprising, interesting and fun observations have risen to the top. These aren’t the only memories that will stay with me and colour my perceptions of Vietnam forever – but they are the fun ones.
1. Those little ladies in tourist markets may be small, but they have a surprisingly strong grip!
2. Hotels brag about being ‘wifi free’ but in fact they mean they have free wifi. In fact, anywhere near a hotel, cafe or city was ‘wifi free’. Who’d have thought?
3. The usual suspects such as KFC and Pizza Hut were obvious in the cities, but the big M was noticeable by its absence. I must look up why that is… if anyone knows, please tell me!
4. Saw that with a bit of imagination, and lots of bungee cords, absolutely anything can be transported on a scooter.
5. Vietnam only opened up to the western world (for trade, etc) in 1996. English is spoken very well by some, and badly by many. It was fun communicating in sign language more often than not. Go see this country before it becomes too civilised (with big M’s everywhere).
5. Pho soup (the quintessential rice noodle soup in broth) is as good as I expected. You’re never very far from a pho vendor. To save embarrassing sign language, get the pronunciation right from day one: it’s pronounced ‘fur.’
6. Best to stock up on little tissue packets. Then remember to take them with you if you’re likely to need a public toilet.
7. Try not to use a public toilet. Look, I’ve lived in Japan and understand how the hole in the ground works, but unless it’s a place that foreigners visit frequently, best to hold on. The level of hygiene is wayyy different from what we’re used to.
8. Just so I could report the difference, I tried a Thai massage and a Vietnamese massage. The sacrifice was immense. The result? Well, in the words of the many Vietnamese who know a little bit of English, they’re pretty much ’same same.’
9. Haggling with a smile at the markets seemed to work better, but then I suck at haggling. At the very least, it’s more enjoyable that way.
10. And to top it all off, the most gratifying observation of all – in Vietnam, I’m NOT short, or vertically challenged in anyway! (Not that I can fit their clothes, or buy their shoes, but oh well… I’m still not short!)
20 October – Kakadu or Kakadon’t?
Back from our holiday in Vietnam, we were in the Kakadu NP within 12 hours. This is Australia’s largest national park and a World Heritage site. There are those who rave about it and those who bill it as over-rated. We had to go see for ourselves.
The kids weren’t aware we’d entered the park when we did; they were both zonked out in the back seat – something they haven’t done in over six years. We sleep walked them from the car to their beds when we stopped for camp at 4pm. Not another peep was heard until 7am the next morning. Guess the sleep lost during the evening flight from Vietnam the night before needed replacing!
So, well rested, we rose to a clear sunny day and enjoyed a thoroughly Western breakfast of cereal, fruit and yoghurt. We packed up the Jellycan, filled the camelbaks, donned the walking shoes and drove 10 kms to the Mamukala wetlands where magpie geese and other birds congregate at seasonal times.
The 3 km loop walk was dead boring. A walk through Spartan bush with glimpses of the swampy wetlands. The track never took us close enough to really make out the birds, and you daren’t leave the track for fear of being fined, or being a bad example to your kids who can read the signs warning of fines.
Once back we took the path leading to the hide which is at the water’s edge. It is a nice spot from which we could see magpie geese, lotus birds, whistling ducks and egrets. It also includes a mural explaining the six aboriginal seasons. Seeing as I’m not much of a birdwatcher, I found the mural fascinating.
Back in the car we came up with a rating system for the walks. We decided on four categories; difficulty level, natural beauty, wildlife and overall enjoyment. We each rate from one to ten (ten being the best) for each category. Mamukala’s walk didn’t rate too highly.
We drove on to Kakadu’s main township – Jabiru. We pulled into a caravan park (which are all deliciously empty at the moment) and made the most of the big, empty pool. There’s a lot to be said for travelling in the off season. Yes, it does get rather hot, involving frequent use of air-conditioning, but there are plenty of other benefits such as ‘pick your own site’ and ‘enjoy the pool we keep clean just for you and the few others crazy enough to be travelling in this heat.’
We visited the Bowali Visitor Centre which is a must do if you’re on a tour bus. The French speaking tour group going through seemed impressed.
Otherwise we whiled away the afternoon by the pool, reading and swimming. We decided to skip the rock paintings at nearby Ubirr (80kms round trip) as the caravan park owner advised that the rock paintings at Nourlangie (already on our to-do list) is the better of the two sites in his opinion. A boat trip up a river to see crocodiles was briefly considered, but there are no guarantees and we had plenty of reptilian action at a crocodile park in Darwin.
Up early next morning, we packed up and rolled on to Nourlangie. Now this place, in my opinion, is seriously cool. You could see where natural shelters had been campsites, and there was plenty of rock art. I got my fill of culture and history – I loved it. A German tour group looked quite impressed too.
And this, I think is where Kakadu shines. If you’re a foreigner, with limited time, a tour of Kakadu will give you a taste of Australia’s variety. However, natural swimming holes are practically non-existent because of the crocodiles – it doesn’t look good when the tourists get eaten.
We did find a fantastic, safe, swimming place at the top of the Gunlom waterfall – but it was 36km of bone-shaking corrugated road to get there. And then we had to come out on the same road. That’s a long uncomfortable journey for a swim.
After some discussion, we’ve decided that Litchfield NP (2 hours south of Darwin) offers more overall, than Kakadu; especially if you like to be able to swim on a hot day. Combine that with a trip to a crocodile park if you want. Then, the only thing Kakadu still has going for it is the rock art (there are 5000 rock art sites throughout the park).
Avenue bowerbird nest - he collects stuff and decorates inside and out choosing colours that reflect his natural plumage. Shame we never saw him. The stuff this bird had collected was amazing, and obviously laid out with care!
Of course, we’re thoroughly spoilt and have the luxury of time. We acknowledge that. We’re also not mad fishers and boaters which the Kakadu is famous for. But otherwise we’ve seen stuff that leaves Kakadu in the gutter on our customised rating scale. Kings Canyon still ranks number one, for each of us, for overall enjoyment.
We’ve passed another three nights since then as we make our way westward. One night at Pine Creek, two nights at Timber Creek. Pine Creek gave us a great example of an avenue bowerbird’s nest (coolest nest ever), and Timber Creek has freshwater crocodiles in the creek out back. No, it’s not fenced, but they do suggest no fishing or swimming.
Today we will cross the quarantine border and enter Western Australia (WA). We’re easing back into our regular routine with the kids doing daily maths again. We’re trying to rise earlier (6.30am) each day to make the most of the cooler morning temperatures. Having said that, because the rainy season has officially started, the odd rains do break the unbearable stuffiness that builds up before a monsoon. It is generally cooler than it was two weeks ago.
The Northern Territories have been amazing and we’re looking forward to what WA, the largest state of Oz has to teach us.
24 October – Surviving the Karunjie Trail Campout
It is said that the things that go wrong will imprint most strongly in your memory. Well, we’ve got the Australian story that we’ll all remember, and because we survived, it will no doubt be remembered fondly in the future. Here’s our Australian misadventure, told now before it becomes distorted with nostalgia…
It all started so innocently. We left for a day trip (from Kununurra, WA) with a packed lunch, loads of freshly stocked water, chocolate and the camera, and drove 100km to the town of Wyndham. The Five Rivers Lookout from the bastion above the little town is spectacular. Brilliant white salt marshes and river inlets are framed with rocky hills everywhere; the perfect spot for our lunch. The wharf is closed to the public so we never saw the famous 8m tide that is supposed to rush in. We did take advantage of the cheap diesel prices though and filled up – this was to prove a real bonus…
We checked with the petrol station owner that the local roads leading to the infamous Gibb River Road were open – she confirmed this with a fax handout listing all the roads as being open to 4WD vehicles.
The Gibb River Road is not a road in modern terms; it is unsealed with many stony river crossings, complete with crocodiles, and the station owners who live along the road are isolated when it rains – the road becomes impassable for weeks or months at a time. However, this is the region where the movie ‘”Australia” was filmed. The road winds through amazing landscapes, and we wanted to see just a tiny bit. A loop of 100km was all we wanted.
Just south of Wyndham the King River Road begins. Unsealed of course, this would connect us to the Karunjie Trail which would lead us on through to the Gibb River Road. That was our plan anyway.
25km in, we stopped to look at the prison boab tree. Before prison transport, this was a holding cell for prisoners who were shackled and walked from Wyndham to the prison at Derby (700kms away).
Perhaps now is the time to mention that I was driving. I am a fairly inexperienced 4WD driver but I was totally loving the road. Fording the river crossings and picking a way through rock strewn roads was fun! So, back in the car and on we went. We followed the road and came across a large farm gate that needed opening and shutting behind us. No problem. Three more gates later (I was glad I wasn’t in the passenger’s seat – it was hot out there) and the defined road came down out of rocky terrain onto salt flats.
I found it a little freaky – my only bearing was car tracks on the flats in front of me. This didn’t feel like a road or trail anymore. I couldn’t help thinking things like ‘How did these people know where they were going? There’s not that many car tracks, you know… Shouldn’t there be road markers or SOMETHING?’ I was ridiculously pleased when, in the middle of the white mud flats, we came across a fence with another gate in it. This meant we were on the right track.
Right?
The salt flats were a bit boggy in places which I found unnerving, but Noël’s advice ‘just put your foot down’ seemed to work just fine. Large sweeping corners in the middle of the flat expanse seemed arbitrary but I faithfully followed the car tracks in front.
Amazing scenery here with rocky ranges on our left dropping to the salt flats, and mangroves along the river’s edge far off to our right. No wonder it’s the stuff of movies. Coming up in front of us, another boggy bit of salt marsh appeared. No worries.
My foot hit the floor as my speed dropped. The bog was stronger though and the car stopped. Dutifully obedient, I put the car in reverse as instructed and backed up a bit. And that’s when my confidence ran out. I gratefully climbed over into the passenger’s seat, happy to open farm gates for the rest of the date if need be. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be…
We rushed forward with almighty speed only to bog again about 20 metres later. And then the fun began. Or the hard work did anyway. It was just before 4pm.
Noël stepped out of the car into mud and sank up to his ankles. Our first attempt at extrication involved using timber planks as ramps. We came close, but, no joy.
Next, Noël tried jacking the car up to get the timber under the wheels. In thick goopy mud this was super hard work, and unfortunately, also unsuccessful. Sweat was pouring off Noël. We were all in the mud now and two hours later, covered in mud and sweat we were driven back into the car by incessant swarms of mosquitoes that appeared as the sun went down.
We had no mobile coverage and I’d tried the UHF radio on a couple of different channels to no avail. Then, in the darkness ahead we noticed tiny pinpricks of light in the distance. It was 6pm. Noël flashed SOS with our headlights over and over. We didn’t know if they could see or not. I tried the UHF radio again.
“Hello, is anybody there? This is an emergency call. Anybody at all. Please come in.”
I kind of went into shock when the reply came back “Copy that. Go ahead.”
I threw the radio to Noël who took over communications. Reece, from Home Valley Station (30km ahead) was our saviour. He had seen our lights. Reece became our lifeline and relay to the outside world for the next couple of hours. He relayed the necessary information to the Wyndham police. Details such as: our GPS co-ordinates, that there were four of us, including two kids, no one was hurt and yes, we had plenty of water and a wee bit of chocolate. We were now 50km from Wyndham, and about 5km into the salt marsh. We heard back that the Wyndham police would leave at 8am the next morning to come and get us out. No worries.
We had about 15 litres of water, so the only thing that needed rationing was the chocolate. Dinner was five Maltesers or M&M’s each. Chew slowly kids…. Enjoy.
And to be honest, I think they did! The kids were in good spirits and appreciated the adventure of it all. We are so proud of them and very impressed with their behaviour throughout the whole ordeal. Kel volunteered immediately to sleep in the boot. He may have regretted this later as he was trying to get comfortable amongst tool boxes and bottles of water.
Thanks to our near full tank we were able to run the engine which meant we had air-conditioning. What a life-saver that was! To open the windows meant being eaten alive, and it was still over 30°C long after the sun had gone down. As it was, we used duct tape and head/fly nets to fashion a mosquito screen across one of the windows to let in some fresh air. The air-con was just loud enough to drown out the sound of the squealing mosquitoes trying their hardest to get in. Some still got through at different times during the night and we were bugged by the fact that we had oodles of insect repellent sitting in the caravan (I know, you picked up that pun, right?) The mosquitoes out here are huge and we must have been the tastiest (and only) meat on offer that night.
The kids found it hard to settle – for the first time in a long time I sang songs to help them sleep. It worked great on Noël – he fell asleep first! Fair enough, he was exhausted.
It was a long, uncomfortable night. At about 1am the mud between my toes finally dried and fell out.
It’s the little things that bring happiness. Also, being wide awake at 4.30am, I did witness a beautiful sunrise.
By 6am the sun had been up for an hour, the mosquitoes had mostly withdrawn and we were all awake. Breakfast was three Maltesers or M&M’s washed down with lots of water.
Noël and I sweated hard from 6 – 7.30am cutting down long swamp grass in the hope that lots of it would provide some traction – but to no avail. We were up to the axles in mud. We retreated to the car for welcome shade from the already blazing hot sun. There was no shade for miles around. The inside of the car was looking pretty muddy by now. Thankfully the kids had their machines (Nintendo and PSP) with them and they were as happy as could be.
At about 8.30am we realised the car’s air-con was really struggling to cool the air. A warm breeze was blowing and it proved cooler to open all the windows. We passed the time playing four player Buzz on the PSP and watching for tell-tale signs of our rescue crew. At 10.30am Noël saw the dust cloud heralding their arrival. It was so good to see another car and know we weren’t alone anymore.
The two policemen (Sergeant Brad and officer Travis) from Wyndham had a local guy, Roderick (owner of Diggers Rest Station which we’d passed) with them. Roderick is clearly a ’salt of the earth’ kind of guy who couldn’t understand what the road was doing open in the first place. I could see lots of head shaking as Noël talked with them and I pictured lots of eye-rolling to go with it.
Unfortunately, the police didn’t have enough tow straps and Roderick wasn’t going to risk a rescue using just one vehicle. All sorts of extrication strategies were being discussed. Being the inexperienced 4WD driver that I am, I stayed out of it, of course. Then, when my back was turned the three of them jumped into the police V8 diesel landcruiser and disappeared. Noël informs me they’ve gone to get more straps and would be back in another two hours. EXCUSE ME?! TWO MORE HOURS?!
This is where I nearly lost it. The M&M’s were well and truly gone by now, so we had no food and two kids still stuck in the car. The police gave us some extra water, which was nice, but I did wonder if they could have driven the kids out or promised to bring some food back. Too late, we were on our own again.
I was also kind of mad by now too because Noël told me we’d effectively been sabotaged. He heard from our rescue team that there is some kind of land dispute going on and we weren’t even on the proper road! Somebody had put ‘no entry’ signs across the road with arrows pointing folks out into the boggy salt marsh to go the long way round. (Humph – I knew it wasn’t a proper road!)
Our fantastic kids hung in there reading and playing on their machines. In desperation Noël picked up a Twilight novel and I read kid’s books. The wind had really picked up by now and you could literally see the water evaporating and the mud drying up. Cabin fever hit me just before our rescue team returned at 1.30pm. I’d started to mentally pick out the tree on the horizon I was going to walk to and wait under. The risk of dying of heat exhaustion on the way seemed an acceptable option to staying in the bogged down car another minute.
It was a real relief to see the rescue team again. Roderick had returned in his own ute and the police had each driven out in a landcruiser. This cheered me no end! They brought straps galore, and without further ado, they set to making the longest tow rope I have ever seen. The kids and I got out, sent up another prayer and sat down on the hard baked mud to watch. Our car was hooked up to Roderick’s ute, which in turn was attached to a police landcruiser in case it got stuck. The other police landcruiser stayed way back in case everything went wrong and they all got stuck.
These guys have clearly done this before and we were pulled out first time, without a hitch. HOORAY!! Oh, it felt SO good! We were free again! We were, without a doubt, the happiest people in the middle of that salt marsh desert.
Reece and Home Valley Station, without you listening in, we’d still be stuck there now – you rock too!
For 23 hours we’d been rooted in one spot. If we’d been there for just an hour more, when it started raining, it would have been too late. A few people are pulled out of the bog every year apparently and if you’re stuck and it starts raining, you’ll possibly be there for weeks. That would be way too adventurous for my liking.
We were all very tired and muddy by the time we got home. We showered, went out for dinner and were all in bed by 8pm. We woke up, 12 hours later, grateful to be in our own beds. We all have lots of mozzie bites and Noël has lots of blisters as well, but otherwise we’re completely fine. We’re grateful we follow the outback rule of always having plenty of water on hand. It is a night we’ll never forget, and one I’m not in a hurry to repeat.
We were all very tired and muddy by the time we got home. We showered, went out for dinner and were all in bed by 8pm. We woke up, 12 hours later, grateful to be in our own beds. We all have lots of mozzie bites and Noël has lots of blisters as well, but otherwise we’re completely fine. We’re grateful we follow the outback rule of always having plenty of water on hand. It is a night we’ll never forget, and one I’m not in a hurry to repeat.
31 October – North West WA
Since our rescue from the Kimberley region nine days ago, we’ve taken things at a more sedate pace. I’m unsure whether that’s been a conscious decision or not.
The day we left Kununurra we stopped en route at Turkey Creek and treated ourselves to a scenic flight over the Bungle Bungles (Purnululu NP). Up we went in a tiny Cessna (6 pax including the pilot) – it’s been a while since flying in a small plane, and I forgot just how noisy, hot and bumpy it could be. However, the land formations below are an amazing distraction. Being above it all made it clear how the land is at the mercy of mind-blowing forces such as tectonic plates and rain and desert winds. With temperatures still round 40deg, I was glad we hadn’t driven in to the park and done any of the walks. As it is, you can’t walk on the amazing beehive formations that the Bungle Bungles are famous for.
We stopped that night in Halls Creek, then on again the next day to Fitzroy Crossing. The park that had a pool won our patronage once we arrived. The Geikie Gorge and Tunnel Creek are two nearby sites worth exploring. Tunnel Creek captured our imagination the most, but when I found out it required another two hour drive (one way), I mutinied – in a nice way of course. I stayed behind to keep the pool company while Noël and the kids had some quality time together.
Tunnel Creek was as good as they hoped it would be. It is a creek that has created an underground tunnel (750m long) from one side of the Napier range to the other. Once the family had scrambled up and over the rocks that had fallen in at the entrance, it was big enough to walk through easily. There are the usual cave dwellers such as stalactites and bats but the excitement lay in the pools of water with freshwater crocodiles in them that you have to wade through. The kids, and Noël, loved it and with their head torches they spotted five different pair of crocodile eyes reflecting red as they made their way through.
And the next day saw us arrive in Broome. It had been three days of fairly solid driving from Kununurra. The boab (or baobab) trees along the way were amazing, and once we left Broome to head south, we didn’t see anymore. On advice from new friends in Kununurra we stayed at the Cable Beach Caravan Park.
Cable Beach is well known for its beauty, swimming and camel rides. It was indeed a lovely beach, but nothing better than the beaches back home. We were looking forward to a swim in the warm Indian Ocean, but were wondering if marine stingers had already arrived with the warmer weather. The receptionist at the Caravan Park smiled briefly when we asked about the stingers and with a straight face replied, “No, there’s no stingers about, just a croc.”
Yep, a rogue saltwater crocodile had been cruising up and down the coast the last few days, so all the beaches were closed. Unfortunately the beaches remained closed while we were there and authorities were looking to trap it and remove it when we left.
Broome is a quaint little town, at the end of the Savannah Way, that has retained a lot of character and has carved itself out a nice little tourism niche. It appears to have plenty of resorts/hotels in Broome and Cable Beach to cater for the massive influx of tourists that arrive in the pleasant winter months.
Noël and I got up early one morning and took our metal detectors down to Cable Beach to try our hand at beach detecting for the first time. The sun had been up for about 30 mins when we arrived at the beach at 5.30am. I was impressed to see the large numbers of people out walking, running and training at that hour. Of course, it made complete sense. Have we mentioned how hot it is over here?
We spent a couple of hours doing community service digging up beer tops and pull tabs for disposal in the rubbish bin. In return, we found about $18 worth of coinage. Not much, but good for a giggle.
Once we left Broome, the landscape changed dramatically. We moved from boab trees to scrub and dusty desert. This is a large, harsh land – no doubt about it. And the only reason to scratch out a living in this area is because of the riches in the ground.
Segue to Port Hedland and the Pilbara region.
The traffic on the roads here is almost solely white work utes with orange flashing lights. There are mines for iron ore, copper, salt and much more. Amazing sights to see plonked in the middle of nowhere. We stopped in Port Hedland a night, amongst a sea of white utes. As the name implies, Port Hedland is on the coast. Large numbers of ships wait patiently in the harbour, this town exists for industry, not tourism. Then on to Karratha (current port of call) where there are even more white utes plus buses transporting the workers around. This is the main town of the Pilbara region though, and it is pleasant and well thought out.
We’re very focussed on getting to Ningaloo Reef near Exmouth now. We’ve ignored some well-known National Parks and tourist attractions during our travels over the last week, but for the sanity of the family, we’ve decided not to overextend ourselves, and to take it easy in this heat. We’ve noticed a definite drop in the temperature over the last couple of days which has been wonderful. A couple of degrees make a world of difference. Still over 30, but not stifling like the high 30s. As we head further south this can only improve, and we relish the nights we can sleep with the aircon off and the windows open.
7 October – Paradise found
Sometimes you find a place so beautiful you just sit there and smile with a dumb look on your face just soaking in the tranquility and vividness of it all… I’ve been looking pretty dumb quite a lot over the last week.
Our arrival in Exmouth heralded a noticeable drop in the temperatures. The sky is still hot-washed blue every day, but due to ocean breezes and a more southerly aspect we are out of the humid tropics of the north and find it easier to breathe and just be. Daily temperatures around the 30s (Celsius) are not overbearing anymore and we are able to survive with the breeze that blows through the caravan now.
As we headed out to camp in the Cape Range NP 40 kms from Exmouth, we were aware that we wouldn’t have the luxuries of water on tap and air-conditioning if we needed it. We also wondered if we’d be able to get in to camp. Grey nomads tell true tales of the lines of caravans that wait each morning to enter Cape Range. They wait for one of the allocated spaces within the park to be vacated. There are campgrounds up and down the coast, each with a certain number of sites available. You cannot reserve these in advance as with a normal caravan park, it is strictly first in, first served. Many campers stay weeks on end, and we soon saw why.
Thankfully, there were no vehicles waiting at the gate to get in. Apparently caravans and motorhomes were waiting just last week, but with the official start of cyclone season being 1 November, perhaps it’s only the ignorant, foolhardy or flippant that head in to Cape Range to camp now. We were advised that a number of campgrounds had sites free and we could pick and choose as we saw appropriate. We chose Mesa camp.
Cape Range is well-loved because it borders the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park. We didn’t go there because of the scrub covered hills and rocks of Cape Range, we were there for the turquoise blue of the Indian ocean and the coral that we could snorkel amongst right from the beach’s edge.
It was everything we anticipated. Standing on the fine white sand looking across the clear calm water to the reef in the distance, I breathed deeply, smiled to myself and, no doubt, looked completely imbecilic. It was heaven.
We spent three days at Ningaloo and snorkelled at the two well-known sites of Turquoise Bay and Oyster Stacks. They are quite different snorkelling
experiences, and we agreed that Oyster Stacks won out by a slim margin. Plenty of sea life of different sizes and colours, all waiting to be admired in water that is warm enough to swim in all day. There are other snorkelling sites up and down the 250km of coastline that comprise the park and I was really impressed with the quality of the coral despite the numbers of snorkellers.
There was even snorkelling to be had off our own beach with sea grass and rocks supporting all sorts of marine life. Plenty of small rays too. I was alerted to the presence of a fairly large one by Amy’s ear-splitting underwater scream. I think the ray must have heard her too – he was off in a flash. Unfortunately I never got close enough to see any of the turtles that were in our bay. They were constantly popping their heads up and looking at us on shore, but when I donned snorkelling gear to find them they were nowhere to be seen. The best marine encounter was no doubt the reef shark who swam indolently by at Turquoise Bay.
The turtles are mating now and preparing to lay eggs on select beaches at night. Noël took the kids looking for them one night and after a couple of wrong turns they were well rewarded with fresh turtle tracks that led to large turtles slowly digging holes. The turtles they saw never went through to the egg-laying stage though, and we’ve since found out that it is common for turtles to practice their digging a few times before the main event. It was clearly a laborious, energy sapping endeavour for creatures more suited for water, than land, which makes the practice holes quite a marvel.
Kelton (13 years) is keen on fishing and with designated spots for fishing we threw in the rod a few times. No bites though, but an afternoon or morning in the sun sitting by the ocean is not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. When I was doing parent duty keeping him company on an afternoon fishing session, I found myself looking up from my reading book and out to the ocean with that dumb and happy expression on my face a number of times.
The only thing a Ningaloo beach holiday lacks is shade. There are no coconut palms or trees on the beach. A beach umbrella would have been the perfect way to spend hours on the beach and in the water.
We’re now at Coral Bay – a tiny settlement with a minimum of locals catering to us tourists who have come here for more marine experiences – there are plenty of reef tours promising exquisite diving/snorkelling with manta rays, etc.. You can snorkel right off the beach though and we’re heading out to do just that in a moment.
Is there a better way to spend an afternoon at the Indian ocean in paradise?
17 November – Distractions and dugongs along the Coral Coast
We rolled into Perth today! Wow, I can’t quite believe we’re here already. The last ten days travelling down from Coral Bay has gone very quickly.
The highlight was the Shark Bay World Heritage peninsula – it deserves its world heritage status and in case you think your neighbourhood has what it takes to be ‘world heritage’ here’s the four criteria you need to meet. You must display: natural beauty, biological diversity, ecological processes, and earth’s history.
Shark Bay area includes well-known Monkey Mia where wild dolphins come into shore up to three times a day for feeding by the marine folks who know each and every dolphin by name. There are no monkeys around but some theories about how Monkey Mia got its name.
We took a 2.5 hour cruise on the catamaran The Aristocrat 2 hoping to see dolphins and dugongs. Dugongs come back to the waters of Shark Bay to feed on the abundant sea grass once the water has warmed up – they typically arrive in November, and we were in luck. Dolphins and dugongs everywhere! Hard to photograph but beautiful to watch as they cruise slowly around doing their thing. We found the cruise to be extremely good value at $150 for the four of us.
Before The Aristocrat headed out to the dugong sanctuary area we docked at the floating pontoon of Blue Lagoon Pearls. This is where they work every day, seeding, feeding, cleaning, extracting – it’s not at all glamorous work. In my ignorance I always thought cultured pearls were a bit of a crock – they’re just not the real thing, are they? Well, I hereby eat my words; every cultured pearl is a product of nature, science, hard work and care, and I admit, I fell in love with them… A big gold one in particular that was set in an 18ct gold ring flanked by baguette diamonds…
Blue Lagoon Pearls also do a new line of pearl jewellery which includes opals and gold nuggets. They attach the opals, etc to the oyster shell where the oyster naturally covers it over with its mother of pearl in the next couple of years. Then they pull them back up and carefully polish back the mother of pearl to expose the opal which is now one with the pearl shell. Not my thing, but apparently a big seller in Asia.
Lazing about on the beach at Monkey Mia after the cruise we went swimming and snorkelling with a couple of large lazy turtles who were only 2-3 metres off shore. The pelicans were amusing to watch too as they scoop up fish in the shallows using their huge expanding bills. I don’t think I’ll go to another zoo again – it’s so much better to see the animals in the places they belong.
We stayed at a caravan park in Denham (25 mins from Monkey Mia) while we were out visiting Shark Bay/Monkey Mia. The resort at Monkey Mia was a bit pricey for us. Travelling at this time of year, we are off peak season so all the parks have spaces available. Denham, like all the coastal settlements here in WA was very windy (a local informed us that WA actually stands for Windy Always) and was a cute little town. All the coastal towns that we stopped at have mobile coverage, and it was on our first night stay in Denham that we got confirmation about upcoming opportunities next year. We celebrated with a new pearl ring and some pearl earrings purchased from the Blue Lagoon Pearls shop in Denham. Of course, I’ll probably wear them more often than Noël.
Moving on from Denham, we stopped a night at Kalbarri (a cosy little coastal town at the mouth of the Murchison river). We drove inland to the Kalbarri NP and visited Nature’s Window which is a mere 500m walk from the carpark. A couple of days stopover in Geraldton also. The museum in Geraldton was fascinating stuff. The wind and ferocious seas of this coastline have claimed quite a few major Dutch East Indies trading ships over the centuries and amongst over things, the museum presents the stories of these shipwrecks very well.
Our last two nights were at Cervantes – another growing coastal settlement which exists for the crayfishermen who call it home. The rock lobster (crayfish) season opens on the 15th November each year and the fishermen have seven months to fish the seas. It’s windy and wild water out there past the reef which parallels the coastline here. Paying $35 for a teeny weeny lobster had us thinking longingly of Paradise Bay in New Zealand where family members haul them out of the water and you tuck in for free!
Inland from Cervantes is the Pinnacles Desert. The Pinnacles are funny fingers of limestone standing in the sandy desert. Scientists are still undecided about what/how they came into being. We checked it out in the morning then stopped at Hangover Bay for lunch and some snorkelling. We got such a fright when we entered the water – it was freezing! The ocean down this way clearly hasn’t warmed up yet. That was yesterday.
Today we journeyed along the Indian Ocean Drive into Perth. It’s a beautiful 3 hour drive from Cervantes to Perth. It begins with inland sand dunes and turns to prehistoric looking trees before becoming wheat fields that slowly morph into the outer suburbs of Perth. While in Perth we have some people to visit, and some folks coming to look at the Jellycan, which we are now advertising for sale… We are still on track to spend Christmas with my family in Kalgoorlie and will need our caravan up till then, but fingers crossed we ‘presell’ it. Putting things up for sale, both Noël and I losing important family members recently and new opportunities arising has been distracting, but I’m pleased to say, we’re still on holiday and loving it.
29 November – Perth to Margaret River; city to country
Perth
Let me say straight up – if our job opportunity in Singapore falls through for any reason, we’re moving to Perth.
Everyone we’ve met, without exception, says Perth is a beautiful city, so I wondered if our expectations were set a little high. But no – it turns out everyone was correct! We spent six nights at the Big 4 caravan park in Swan Valley, about 14 kms from downtown Perth. This was our base from which we explored the outer suburbs and CBD.
Perth CBD appears to be very localised. We spent a few hours there wandering around, visiting some of the temporary festival exhibits such as the inflatable luminarium and catching one of the three free buses that run regular city routes.
But here’s what took up a large chunk of our time in Perth – shopping. And what better way is there to test a city? We had a few chores to run in different suburbs (buying caravan parts here and something else there) and the roading system works extremely well. There’s nothing worse than a city that no-one can move through. There were lots of green spaces apparent and fresh fruit and vege stores were everywhere selling local WA produce. We tested some of the large retail malls thoroughly as well; they all passed with flying colours.
If we weren’t shopping we were visiting friends and being treated to famous Aussie BBQs. Catching up wth friends no doubt added to our favourable opinion. Perth has a lot of tourist attractions which we didn’t have time to visit. We did spend a pleasant day at Adventure World though. Water slides and rides surrounding a large shady grassed area ensured we all had a good time. It’s so good having kids who are old enough to run about without constant supervision! Perth clearly supports the arts and sports and we look forward to visiting again.
Margaret River
On Tuesday, 23 November (shucks! That’s not long till Christmas!) we drove down the new highway that took us through lush dairy farming country. Three hours later we rolled into Margaret River where my cousin and her family live. Margaret River is a region famous for its vineyards. The local paper had a full page listing the vineyards along with their facilities (café, wedding venue, lake, etc), wine specialities and specials. I imagine it would be heaven if you are a wine connoisseur. However, we don’t drink alcohol, so does Margaret River have anything else to offer? Apart from the Margaret River Chocolate Factory?
The answer is yes, definitely. The coastline, just 12 kms from Margaret River, is stunning with lots of large and small beaches available. It reminds me of the Northland coastline – pristine clear water and sandy beaches. Surfing, kite surfing, snorkelling and sandcastles are all a stone’s throw away. The water temperature is reminiscent of New Zealand’s beaches too. Wetsuits are not required but it’s a lot cooler than the tropical waters of Exmouth or Monkey Mia (800 kms up the coast).The coastline in this southwest corner is also home to a limestone ridge that runs parallel to the coast. It contains large caves throughout that are worthy of a visit while you’re here. Driving from Margaret River, along Caves Road to Augusta takes you past the caves. Jewel Cave is closed at the moment (facilities upgrade); Lake Cave runs hourly guided tours (which we didn’t want to wait for), so Mammoth Cave, one of the closest to Margaret River, got our business. We took the audio players available and moved through the cave at our own speed. Wow. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was an awe inspiring end to our day trip to visit the lighthouse at Cape Leeuwin, near Augusta.
We had originally planned to leave Margaret River four days ago, but due to a comedy of errors we will now leave early tomorrow morning. Not that anyone minds our extended stay. Cousin Mel is a fantastic cook – none of us are in a hurry to leave with the gorgeous meals being served. We’ve nick-named Mel ‘Earth Mother.’ Her vege garden is very productive and free range chickens, ducks and quails have a home here on their half acre property. Mel and Ralph, like many of the folk around here appreciate and practise permaculture and organic gardening. Mel’s young children (6 and 4 years old) are learning animal husbandry and helped show us the ropes one afternoon when it was time to pluck and prepare a couple of quails for dinner. Rural families the world over have prepared their own meat for centuries, but it’s not something I've ever been exposed to. Seeing it up close, our family now has a greater appreciation for the prepared, readily available meat in the supermarkets.
Our level of sightseeing has dropped in the last couple of weeks. We find ourselves thinking ahead to the adventures that follow our current Australian holiday. We have just over a month to go before flying home. To quote myself from a Facebook update; “It’s getting harder to hold onto the holiday feeling with all the organising going on around here. We just booked our tickets home to NZ; meanwhile am filling out application forms for school in Singapore. Must stop, look around and breathe deeply…”
