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Saturday, April 24, 2010
Cat Sitting
For a couple weeks we had Krista's cats visiting us again while .jpg)
Krista and family moved into their new house. This time around the cats behaved very well. No peeing on the sofa, no poohing on the carpet, no scratching on the bedroom door at 6am on Sat/Sun mornings. On day one O'Malley hid for a couple hours in my clothes - well protected by a big towel but showed up even before the sun set. Sammy was out and about right away as usual. For the first time ever I saw O'Malley finish his meal before Sammy. Another first for Sammy to leave food in her dish - which O'Malley devoured ASAP - usually it's the other way around. The one thing that was the same was them taking over the sofa at night so that Jeff and ether had a cat each on our labs or we had to sit on the floor. Aren't they adorable like that?
.jpg)
Krista and family moved into their new house. This time around the cats behaved very well. No peeing on the sofa, no poohing on the carpet, no scratching on the bedroom door at 6am on Sat/Sun mornings. On day one O'Malley hid for a couple hours in my clothes - well protected by a big towel but showed up even before the sun set. Sammy was out and about right away as usual. For the first time ever I saw O'Malley finish his meal before Sammy. Another first for Sammy to leave food in her dish - which O'Malley devoured ASAP - usually it's the other way around. The one thing that was the same was them taking over the sofa at night so that Jeff and ether had a cat each on our labs or we had to sit on the floor. Aren't they adorable like that?
Friday, April 2, 2010
Australia Report - WA Part 5
It's been a while since I started this post. At that time a storm was howling outside so I decided to better spend some time with warmer thoughts and continue with my posts about our trip last year. We are only halfway through the WA portion of the trip yet. It took 3 weeks to write this part. At that speed I'll never finsih this year :-)
Day 13/31 (Nov 01, 2009): Remember my last post ending with the big rig and it's compressor running all night. Well, it left at 5:15am just after we got up. We enjoyed the silence around us but only for 15min - another big truck pulled in. So instead of exploring the half desert around us in the early morning to see what creatures we might find, we left in a hurry after a quick bite. Today's program was mostly driving down HWY 95. The weather was a mix of sun and clouds - some of them real dark storm clouds. Since we skipped my big adventure (maybe a good thing looking at the storm clouds) we decided to take a little detour to have a lock at the "Ayers Rock" of WA called Walga Rock just an hour out of Cue on dirt road. I was surprised to see all those signs directing us to Walga Rock since it isn't really one of those main attractions the travel .JPG)
guides talk about but I doubt we would have found it without them. Walga Rock should get more attention though because it is almost as impressive as Ayers Rock. Okay it is smaller and a bit overgrown in sections but it is one of those lonely red monolith sticking out of the otherwise flat landscape nonetheless. It also features some weird aboriginal paintings - although I have seen better once in Kakadu NP 15 years ago as well as later on on our trip through Queensland. .JPG)
On this trip though those were the first signs of aboriginal culture we saw (except for some aboriginals hanging out on a bench in a parking lot in Newman where we had lunch). You can walk or even drive around the rock. I started to walk but Jeff headed back for the truck. The flies were really bad at this spot again and started to annoy him seriously. It took him a little while to catch up with me again (I am sure he had a quick nap) even though I stopped a few times to look at the many kangaroos around the rock - these specimen seemed larger and the fur redder than the ones we had seen along the coast. There was also impressive thunder and lightning in the sky and the dark clouds over the red rock lit up by sunshine from behind made for some great shots. When Jeff caught up with me I finally surrendered to the fly attack and crawled into the truck. Jeff quickly regretted catching up with me. Naturally, I had to continue taking pictures every few seconds. Since the windows were really dirty I had to roll down mine for each shot. Word traveled fast in the world of flies and soon enough we had quite a few keeping us company. But they really only bother you as long as you drive slow. Once you speed up with open windows they get blown to the back and eventually die. Don't call me cruel saying I enjoyed seeing flies get smash when we accelerated - you have NOT been there and can't judge how bad it can get. Instead of back-tracking to Cue we decided to continue on on dirt road to stop in at the .JPG)
Dalgaranga Meteorite Crater. Never been to one and though that might be a cool thing to see. Again finding it was a challenge our GPS - often helping us to find the way - quite often lost the track completely and we had no idea if we were on the right track, there were so many - well at least we knew the general direction we were driving towards and that helped. But at the end it was luck and another small hand-painted sign on the road that led us to the right spot. Ah and then there was the sign right at the crater explaining how it was discovered and when. Without that sign we would not have known that the little dip in the dirt in front of us was a meteorite crater. Well it said on the sign it is the smallest known one. How they know it's a crater and not just a little depression in the ground (like many other we had seen all over) I still don't know. So if you ever go to WA - Walga Rock is a yes, Dalgaranga Crater not so much. But at the end the dirt road got us to Mt Magnet - past some beautiful dessert areas covered in tiny pink or yellow flowers -were we joined the HWY again. We meant to have lunch in Mt Magnet but when we got to town by 2pm everything was closed. Only store open was the gas station so at least we got gas - but I don't recommend gas station pies. Everyone is Australia says you have to try the meat pies - and yes a good meat pie is a great thing - but not the kept-warm-for-hours variety at a gas station. What can you do when you are hungry though. Continuing on we actually started to head east towards Sandstone. By now we had entered the "Southern Outback" also known as "Northern Goldfields" and sure enough there was a lot of evidence of gold mining along the road .JPG)
- from big open pits to large processing plants. We also learned that 3pm is Iguana time - how those animals know it is 3pm I don't know but sure enough for the next few days at 3pm they all started to crawl out into the middle of the road and just sit there. .JPG)
Should a car come towards them they started hissing at it but didn't move whatsoever. Until of course you stopped to take a picture of them. There sure was enough evidence that most people are unimpressed by the hissing and didn't stop. Otherwise the drive was pretty unspectacular and the country side changed little. In Sandstone we just about had enough of HWY driving and turned of onto gravel road again towards Lake Ballard. Since you drive slower on dirt than on hard surface you also get to see more stuff - Kangaroos and Emus and more Iguanas. The setting sun also gave the landscape this mystical glow of red sand and it changed from boring to "wow that's what I came here for". Nevertheless, sunset also meant we needed to find a campsite in a hurry. There wasn't much of anything along this track. We tried to find a suitable turn-off but it took a while. When we finally turned off onto a tiny track we ended up in some abandoned old mine pit or quarry of some sort. There we finally did found a flat enough area not covered in medium size boulders or thick bush. It was also protected on one side by a small ridge but pretty open in all other directions. Not really what I dreamed off but at least no big semi-truck could pull in here. The temperatures this far south were noticeably lower than up north and I had to put on a long-sleeve shirt and pants. The night was much quieter. Except for the wind rustling in the leaves of the eucalyptus tree above our tent and some wicked bird singing for an hour or so under the full moon.
.JPG)
guides talk about but I doubt we would have found it without them. Walga Rock should get more attention though because it is almost as impressive as Ayers Rock. Okay it is smaller and a bit overgrown in sections but it is one of those lonely red monolith sticking out of the otherwise flat landscape nonetheless. It also features some weird aboriginal paintings - although I have seen better once in Kakadu NP 15 years ago as well as later on on our trip through Queensland. .JPG)
On this trip though those were the first signs of aboriginal culture we saw (except for some aboriginals hanging out on a bench in a parking lot in Newman where we had lunch). You can walk or even drive around the rock. I started to walk but Jeff headed back for the truck. The flies were really bad at this spot again and started to annoy him seriously. It took him a little while to catch up with me again (I am sure he had a quick nap) even though I stopped a few times to look at the many kangaroos around the rock - these specimen seemed larger and the fur redder than the ones we had seen along the coast. There was also impressive thunder and lightning in the sky and the dark clouds over the red rock lit up by sunshine from behind made for some great shots. When Jeff caught up with me I finally surrendered to the fly attack and crawled into the truck. Jeff quickly regretted catching up with me. Naturally, I had to continue taking pictures every few seconds. Since the windows were really dirty I had to roll down mine for each shot. Word traveled fast in the world of flies and soon enough we had quite a few keeping us company. But they really only bother you as long as you drive slow. Once you speed up with open windows they get blown to the back and eventually die. Don't call me cruel saying I enjoyed seeing flies get smash when we accelerated - you have NOT been there and can't judge how bad it can get. Instead of back-tracking to Cue we decided to continue on on dirt road to stop in at the .JPG)
Dalgaranga Meteorite Crater. Never been to one and though that might be a cool thing to see. Again finding it was a challenge our GPS - often helping us to find the way - quite often lost the track completely and we had no idea if we were on the right track, there were so many - well at least we knew the general direction we were driving towards and that helped. But at the end it was luck and another small hand-painted sign on the road that led us to the right spot. Ah and then there was the sign right at the crater explaining how it was discovered and when. Without that sign we would not have known that the little dip in the dirt in front of us was a meteorite crater. Well it said on the sign it is the smallest known one. How they know it's a crater and not just a little depression in the ground (like many other we had seen all over) I still don't know. So if you ever go to WA - Walga Rock is a yes, Dalgaranga Crater not so much. But at the end the dirt road got us to Mt Magnet - past some beautiful dessert areas covered in tiny pink or yellow flowers -were we joined the HWY again. We meant to have lunch in Mt Magnet but when we got to town by 2pm everything was closed. Only store open was the gas station so at least we got gas - but I don't recommend gas station pies. Everyone is Australia says you have to try the meat pies - and yes a good meat pie is a great thing - but not the kept-warm-for-hours variety at a gas station. What can you do when you are hungry though. Continuing on we actually started to head east towards Sandstone. By now we had entered the "Southern Outback" also known as "Northern Goldfields" and sure enough there was a lot of evidence of gold mining along the road .JPG)
- from big open pits to large processing plants. We also learned that 3pm is Iguana time - how those animals know it is 3pm I don't know but sure enough for the next few days at 3pm they all started to crawl out into the middle of the road and just sit there. .JPG)
Should a car come towards them they started hissing at it but didn't move whatsoever. Until of course you stopped to take a picture of them. There sure was enough evidence that most people are unimpressed by the hissing and didn't stop. Otherwise the drive was pretty unspectacular and the country side changed little. In Sandstone we just about had enough of HWY driving and turned of onto gravel road again towards Lake Ballard. Since you drive slower on dirt than on hard surface you also get to see more stuff - Kangaroos and Emus and more Iguanas. The setting sun also gave the landscape this mystical glow of red sand and it changed from boring to "wow that's what I came here for". Nevertheless, sunset also meant we needed to find a campsite in a hurry. There wasn't much of anything along this track. We tried to find a suitable turn-off but it took a while. When we finally turned off onto a tiny track we ended up in some abandoned old mine pit or quarry of some sort. There we finally did found a flat enough area not covered in medium size boulders or thick bush. It was also protected on one side by a small ridge but pretty open in all other directions. Not really what I dreamed off but at least no big semi-truck could pull in here. The temperatures this far south were noticeably lower than up north and I had to put on a long-sleeve shirt and pants. The night was much quieter. Except for the wind rustling in the leaves of the eucalyptus tree above our tent and some wicked bird singing for an hour or so under the full moon. Day 14/32: It was cold in the morning getting up. We were up before the sun reach our little camp. It didn't look that much more inviting in the morning either. But the cold kept the flies away - definitely a bonus. I walked around a bit to 1) warm up and 2) find some GOLD. Number 1 was taken care of as soon as the sun crested the little ridge but number 2 never happened. We continued on on the dirt track through some nice bushland, unusual sandstone formations and red dirt all the way to Lake Ballard - a must see in the "Goldfields" as per the travel guides. The .JPG)
word lake is somewhat misguiding since Lake Ballard doesn't have any water in it - it's a salt lake, not too surprising being in the outback of Australia. From a lookout hill you get to see how large it is - or actually you don't see it because the white salt crust and the sky kinda melt together at the horizon and you don't know where one ends and the other one starts. Pretty cool sight but that's not the reason why it is in every travel guide. A world renowned artist .JPG)
named Anthony Gormely actually planted 51 sculptures across the lake - apparently modeled after the citizen of Menzies, a nearby gold mining town. If you like art this might be worth a visit. Walking out onto the lake surface you could see the mirror effect along the horizon - on a hot day that sight alone would make you thirsty. When we were visiting the lake early in the morning a freezing cold wind was blowing across the expanse of the lake (I am sure the wind was coming right from Tasmania) taking away from the "alone in the dessert" feeling. Instead of continuing on into Menzies and hitting the sealed HWY going south we decided to stay on the dirt road following the "Golden Trail" in the footsteps of the countries gold mining history. Lots of small attractions along the way such as old abandoned gold mines, small settlements etc. We stopped at "Ularring Soak" - an important aboriginal site but also a watering hole for the early explorers and gold miners. Not a surprise t.JPG)
hat there were large battles fought about that place. In reality it is a big flat rock that sticks out of the bush or forest - eucalyptus trees became more frequent again the further south we went. It's only a few tens of meters high at the highest point but quite wide across. Those rocks are important because they collect rain water in some of their crevices which stays for quite a long time - those were called Gnamma Holes by the settlers I believe - providing drinking water for people who lived in the area or were traveling through towards the gold mines. Since we got there just at the beginning of spring most of the Gnamma holes were dry. At Ularring Soak the settlers also dug a deep well to have permanent drinking water - well today it was a hole in the .JPG)
ground covered up with corrugated steel to prevent dumb tourist from falling in. And a very modern looking outhouse nearby. Back on the road we headed towards Rowles Lagoon - the map we had promised a fresh water lake to swim in. Since the temperatures came up rapidly as the sun climbed higher into the sky the thought of having a quick dip in some nice fresh water was fabulous. Well, it turned out to be a very shallow lake with lots of cow tracks around it and murky light brown looking water - we skip the swim. More dirt road driving got us past a couple abandoned towns - although we drove right by not seeing anything but trees and holes in the ground - and the ruins of the Grand Hotel at Kunanalling abandoned in the early 1960. So much about Australian history :-). Finally the dirt road spit us out at Coolgardie, a small mining town .JPG)
close to Kalgoorlie-Boulder were the "Wild West" is still alive. Well if that is true, Coolgardie sure didn't show any of that. Okay, the buildings looked like being out of an old Wild West movie (so did most of the mining towns we drove through for the past 2 days) but nobody was on the roads - no horses, no cars, no people. The grocery store only featured the minimum on culinary luxuries like white bread. No cafe to grab one last tasty meal before we headed off road again for another 2 days - outback adventure #2. But hey the town had a gas station and we stocked up on gas and ice for the cooler. What else would we need? It was still early afternoon when we left town and started out on our next planned outback adventure ala ExploreOZ. The "Holland Track" - a piece of Australian history. In 1893 a team led by John Holland cut the original 500km cart track from Broomehill to Coolgardie as an alternative route from the coast to the Eastern Goldfields in just over two month. The northern section of the track was re-opened in 1992 and is now a popular 4WD route. We only did the section from Coolgardie to Hyden - about half way and through real remote country. Past Hyden the track mostly goes through farmland and finding the right turn is the main challenge. The first part of the track out of Coolgardie followed a well maintained 2WD gravel road towards Victoria Rock - another one of those monolithic rocks that stick out of .JPG)
the ground, is only a few tens o meters high and collects water. Victoria Rock actually provided you with a great view over the surrounding area - mostly covered by eucalyptus forest or heath. Some of the pools on the rock had actually water in them and tadpoles!!!! Victoria Rock also features a campsite and is popular with people from Kalgooorlie-Boulder on weekends. Luckily this wasn't a weekend. Shortly after Victoria Rock we hit the "real" Holland Track - from here on 4WD only. And the track was quite rough and VERY narrow - just as wide as the truck most time, although it is not a one-way. We put in a couple light scratches due bushed taking over again or trying to get around the largest potholes but didn't see another car for a day and a half. Max speed would be less than 40km/hr for the next 200km. The landscape was mostly tall eucalyptus on white sandy dirt or thick bush. .JPG)
We get to see our first snake of the trip - almost running it over with the truck. But man they are quick - we hit the breaks hard and jumped out to have a closer luck - but the snake was gone. We stopped at Thursday Rock for the night - another of those rocks that .... you get the picture. Nobody else around. While sitting on the rock we watched the sun set in the west and the full moon rise to the east of us - very cool. We set up camp under a couple eucalyptus trees on a nice flat sandy spot with even an old picnic table nearby - we didn't have that much luxury since ... I can't even remember. Romantic dinner at candle light if not for those mosquitoes - this adventure started out nice. It got cold at night though but that didn't matter once I crawled into my nice sleeping bag. Poor Jeff though - since we were going to sunny and warm Australia - had only brought his fleece insert. So we both shared my sleeping bag.
.JPG)
word lake is somewhat misguiding since Lake Ballard doesn't have any water in it - it's a salt lake, not too surprising being in the outback of Australia. From a lookout hill you get to see how large it is - or actually you don't see it because the white salt crust and the sky kinda melt together at the horizon and you don't know where one ends and the other one starts. Pretty cool sight but that's not the reason why it is in every travel guide. A world renowned artist .JPG)
named Anthony Gormely actually planted 51 sculptures across the lake - apparently modeled after the citizen of Menzies, a nearby gold mining town. If you like art this might be worth a visit. Walking out onto the lake surface you could see the mirror effect along the horizon - on a hot day that sight alone would make you thirsty. When we were visiting the lake early in the morning a freezing cold wind was blowing across the expanse of the lake (I am sure the wind was coming right from Tasmania) taking away from the "alone in the dessert" feeling. Instead of continuing on into Menzies and hitting the sealed HWY going south we decided to stay on the dirt road following the "Golden Trail" in the footsteps of the countries gold mining history. Lots of small attractions along the way such as old abandoned gold mines, small settlements etc. We stopped at "Ularring Soak" - an important aboriginal site but also a watering hole for the early explorers and gold miners. Not a surprise t.JPG)
hat there were large battles fought about that place. In reality it is a big flat rock that sticks out of the bush or forest - eucalyptus trees became more frequent again the further south we went. It's only a few tens of meters high at the highest point but quite wide across. Those rocks are important because they collect rain water in some of their crevices which stays for quite a long time - those were called Gnamma Holes by the settlers I believe - providing drinking water for people who lived in the area or were traveling through towards the gold mines. Since we got there just at the beginning of spring most of the Gnamma holes were dry. At Ularring Soak the settlers also dug a deep well to have permanent drinking water - well today it was a hole in the .JPG)
ground covered up with corrugated steel to prevent dumb tourist from falling in. And a very modern looking outhouse nearby. Back on the road we headed towards Rowles Lagoon - the map we had promised a fresh water lake to swim in. Since the temperatures came up rapidly as the sun climbed higher into the sky the thought of having a quick dip in some nice fresh water was fabulous. Well, it turned out to be a very shallow lake with lots of cow tracks around it and murky light brown looking water - we skip the swim. More dirt road driving got us past a couple abandoned towns - although we drove right by not seeing anything but trees and holes in the ground - and the ruins of the Grand Hotel at Kunanalling abandoned in the early 1960. So much about Australian history :-). Finally the dirt road spit us out at Coolgardie, a small mining town .JPG)
close to Kalgoorlie-Boulder were the "Wild West" is still alive. Well if that is true, Coolgardie sure didn't show any of that. Okay, the buildings looked like being out of an old Wild West movie (so did most of the mining towns we drove through for the past 2 days) but nobody was on the roads - no horses, no cars, no people. The grocery store only featured the minimum on culinary luxuries like white bread. No cafe to grab one last tasty meal before we headed off road again for another 2 days - outback adventure #2. But hey the town had a gas station and we stocked up on gas and ice for the cooler. What else would we need? It was still early afternoon when we left town and started out on our next planned outback adventure ala ExploreOZ. The "Holland Track" - a piece of Australian history. In 1893 a team led by John Holland cut the original 500km cart track from Broomehill to Coolgardie as an alternative route from the coast to the Eastern Goldfields in just over two month. The northern section of the track was re-opened in 1992 and is now a popular 4WD route. We only did the section from Coolgardie to Hyden - about half way and through real remote country. Past Hyden the track mostly goes through farmland and finding the right turn is the main challenge. The first part of the track out of Coolgardie followed a well maintained 2WD gravel road towards Victoria Rock - another one of those monolithic rocks that stick out of .JPG)
the ground, is only a few tens o meters high and collects water. Victoria Rock actually provided you with a great view over the surrounding area - mostly covered by eucalyptus forest or heath. Some of the pools on the rock had actually water in them and tadpoles!!!! Victoria Rock also features a campsite and is popular with people from Kalgooorlie-Boulder on weekends. Luckily this wasn't a weekend. Shortly after Victoria Rock we hit the "real" Holland Track - from here on 4WD only. And the track was quite rough and VERY narrow - just as wide as the truck most time, although it is not a one-way. We put in a couple light scratches due bushed taking over again or trying to get around the largest potholes but didn't see another car for a day and a half. Max speed would be less than 40km/hr for the next 200km. The landscape was mostly tall eucalyptus on white sandy dirt or thick bush. .JPG)
We get to see our first snake of the trip - almost running it over with the truck. But man they are quick - we hit the breaks hard and jumped out to have a closer luck - but the snake was gone. We stopped at Thursday Rock for the night - another of those rocks that .... you get the picture. Nobody else around. While sitting on the rock we watched the sun set in the west and the full moon rise to the east of us - very cool. We set up camp under a couple eucalyptus trees on a nice flat sandy spot with even an old picnic table nearby - we didn't have that much luxury since ... I can't even remember. Romantic dinner at candle light if not for those mosquitoes - this adventure started out nice. It got cold at night though but that didn't matter once I crawled into my nice sleeping bag. Poor Jeff though - since we were going to sunny and warm Australia - had only brought his fleece insert. So we both shared my sleeping bag. Day 15/33: It was cold when we woke up in the morning just after sunrise. At least there are no flies about at these temperatures and we could have breakfast again outside out tent again. It did warm up considerably during the day. Today we spend 95% with crawling along at 30km/hr .JPG)
along the narrow and badly eroded or sandy Holland track - good thing it was dry .JPG)
and sunny. I would not want to navigate though those potholes when they are full of water and mud. We stopped in at a few more rocks - getting smaller and smaller each time until they barely rise up over the heath at all anymore and are more like just open spaces in the .JPG)
bush. The bush around us changed little switching between small eucalyptus groves and burned bushland back and forth. It was a bit monotonous except for every so often the recently burned bushland turned into a sea of flowers: yellow, purple, white... blossoms as far as you can see. Just stunning and the air smelled like a mix of Jasmin and honey. As for animals we only saw .JPG)
reptiles sunning themselves on the sandy sections of the track or on the rocks. The highlight was a Thorny Devil - they are soooo .JPG)
cute and completely rely on their spiky appearance to defend them against all possible foes. He didn't run off at all and we had to push him of the track to not drive over him. .JPG)
Once off the road in the bush he was INVISIBLE. No wonder we never saw them hiking before, they blend in so well into their natural habitat (not so much roads which is a good thing). After about half a day of driving we cam across the Holland Track Logbook - off course we signed in as well. People from all over the .JPG)
world use this track and it looks like cars come by every 2-3 days. We didn't see anyone until almost the end of the trail a few kilometers out of Hyden. 3 big trucks - even bigger than ours and squeezing by was a bit challenging but hey it's only a rental. We .JPG)
were getting into the more cultivated areas of the southwest with bush being mostly replaced by agricultural fields. As dirt road was replaced by paved highway again we also saw another brown snake - this time we got a picture. .JPG)
In Hyden we did a quick stop at "Wave Rock" - it was already late in the day and the sun was going down. They still wanted some money to see it but we cheated and while Jeff stayed in the truck I found a side trail to get to the "Wave" without paying. It is impressive but not really worth paying for it. We stopped in Lake King for the night - after spending so many days in the bush we decided to actually camp at a real campsite tonight with a real shower. Nothing special to that town but they did have a pub - burgers and beer for the tired travelers, what a treat. The next day will get us back to the coast. Good bye Outback - Southern Ocean here we come!!!
.JPG)
along the narrow and badly eroded or sandy Holland track - good thing it was dry .JPG)
and sunny. I would not want to navigate though those potholes when they are full of water and mud. We stopped in at a few more rocks - getting smaller and smaller each time until they barely rise up over the heath at all anymore and are more like just open spaces in the .JPG)
bush. The bush around us changed little switching between small eucalyptus groves and burned bushland back and forth. It was a bit monotonous except for every so often the recently burned bushland turned into a sea of flowers: yellow, purple, white... blossoms as far as you can see. Just stunning and the air smelled like a mix of Jasmin and honey. As for animals we only saw .JPG)
reptiles sunning themselves on the sandy sections of the track or on the rocks. The highlight was a Thorny Devil - they are soooo .JPG)
cute and completely rely on their spiky appearance to defend them against all possible foes. He didn't run off at all and we had to push him of the track to not drive over him. .JPG)
Once off the road in the bush he was INVISIBLE. No wonder we never saw them hiking before, they blend in so well into their natural habitat (not so much roads which is a good thing). After about half a day of driving we cam across the Holland Track Logbook - off course we signed in as well. People from all over the .JPG)
world use this track and it looks like cars come by every 2-3 days. We didn't see anyone until almost the end of the trail a few kilometers out of Hyden. 3 big trucks - even bigger than ours and squeezing by was a bit challenging but hey it's only a rental. We .JPG)
were getting into the more cultivated areas of the southwest with bush being mostly replaced by agricultural fields. As dirt road was replaced by paved highway again we also saw another brown snake - this time we got a picture. .JPG)
In Hyden we did a quick stop at "Wave Rock" - it was already late in the day and the sun was going down. They still wanted some money to see it but we cheated and while Jeff stayed in the truck I found a side trail to get to the "Wave" without paying. It is impressive but not really worth paying for it. We stopped in Lake King for the night - after spending so many days in the bush we decided to actually camp at a real campsite tonight with a real shower. Nothing special to that town but they did have a pub - burgers and beer for the tired travelers, what a treat. The next day will get us back to the coast. Good bye Outback - Southern Ocean here we come!!! Statutory Holidays never felt so good
It has been a while since my last blog - being back at work takes some adjustments. Having today off is sooo nice!! Jeff and I planned to go for a paddle but unfortunately a big storm is blowing up and down the BC coast with strong gust up to 60km/hr. Hey wait a minute - that's no worse than what we had to race in at the World Masters Games in Australia, except that the air and water temperature was up by at least 10 degrees.
And we had the construction guys come in this morning as well - they don't seem to get Good Friday off. The end to our "flood" ordeal is finally in sight. No more holes in walls or ceilings. All that is missing is a bit of paint on the walls. So by next Tuesday we should be DONE. My friend Krista loaned me a couple boxes when it happened in which I store all the non-perishable food items I had to move out of the cupboards. I promised her she would get them back in a week. Hah - what a joke, it's now over a month. But she'll be glad to get them back next week because they are moving in a couple weeks.
I have gotten so used to my 8hr sleep at night that my time after work is too short to do all the things I'd loved too. I know most of you think - "8hrs!!!!, I never get 8hrs" - but after being off for 9.5 month one can get used to a lot of nice things. Like sleeping in and exercising in the middle of the day. Now I am back to do stuff either before or after work, sigh. At least it's light now till 8pm so I can go for a paddle on the lake after work. Currently I am spending my work hours at two different locations - one close to home, the other close to the lake (until end of April when the close to home location will be the only one). So if I work close to home I can ride my bike (sad to say I am counting that as part of my daily exercises) or if I work up the hill close to the lake I take the car and go for a paddle in the evening. I also manage to go swimming still twice a week in the mornings. Since my new job doesn't require me talking to Europe all the time I can start later and stay later which suits me just fine.
On top of working, sleeping and playing (can't really call that training anymore) I am also organizing a training camp for our Canoe & Kayak Club next week - organizing boat, coaches, trailers etc, coming up with a schedule and handling all the registration. Never thought it would be so much work. My former coach Catherine, made it look so easy when she did it in 2005. I miss her!!! She is enjoying life in Sweden these days - another of those postdoc adventures which might turn out to be a permanent move maybe?
And we had the construction guys come in this morning as well - they don't seem to get Good Friday off. The end to our "flood" ordeal is finally in sight. No more holes in walls or ceilings. All that is missing is a bit of paint on the walls. So by next Tuesday we should be DONE. My friend Krista loaned me a couple boxes when it happened in which I store all the non-perishable food items I had to move out of the cupboards. I promised her she would get them back in a week. Hah - what a joke, it's now over a month. But she'll be glad to get them back next week because they are moving in a couple weeks.
I have gotten so used to my 8hr sleep at night that my time after work is too short to do all the things I'd loved too. I know most of you think - "8hrs!!!!, I never get 8hrs" - but after being off for 9.5 month one can get used to a lot of nice things. Like sleeping in and exercising in the middle of the day. Now I am back to do stuff either before or after work, sigh. At least it's light now till 8pm so I can go for a paddle on the lake after work. Currently I am spending my work hours at two different locations - one close to home, the other close to the lake (until end of April when the close to home location will be the only one). So if I work close to home I can ride my bike (sad to say I am counting that as part of my daily exercises) or if I work up the hill close to the lake I take the car and go for a paddle in the evening. I also manage to go swimming still twice a week in the mornings. Since my new job doesn't require me talking to Europe all the time I can start later and stay later which suits me just fine.
On top of working, sleeping and playing (can't really call that training anymore) I am also organizing a training camp for our Canoe & Kayak Club next week - organizing boat, coaches, trailers etc, coming up with a schedule and handling all the registration. Never thought it would be so much work. My former coach Catherine, made it look so easy when she did it in 2005. I miss her!!! She is enjoying life in Sweden these days - another of those postdoc adventures which might turn out to be a permanent move maybe?
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