Have a Happy and Peaceful Christmas

~ My very best wishes for a Happy and Peaceful Christmas ~

I've totally enjoyed being a blogger over the past few months and meeting such interesting people.  
I'm taking a little bloggy break and will catch up with everyone again in the New Year.

Seasons Greetings, Susan

This is on my mind Friday

An old photo of me milking my beautiful cow. 
Quite often, no tether, leg or tail restraints were needed 
- she had the sweetest nature.  

I still remember the feel of the warmth of her hide, 

and her gorgeous big eyes covered by long lashes. 

There are Friesians in the paddock adjoining our block, 
so I can indulge in a bit of cow gazing now n then :)

~ my contribution to the This is on my mind photo feature organised by Rhonda Jean on her Down to Earth  blogspot

Recycling at its very best

In 1924 an avenue of Monterey Cypress trees was planted in honour of  26 local men of Lakes Entrance who lost their lives in WW1.

Over the years, the odd tree had been removed for various reasons. In 1997 the shire council, unaware of the trees' significance, planned to remove the remaining trees. However, following a campaign by the local historical society, supported by the community, the trunks of 6 of these trees have been preserved and transformed into memorial sculptures by chainsaw artist John Brady.

I just reckon this is such a beaut way to keep the spirit of the trees as well as the Avenue of Honour. My phone camera photos don't do them justice but here are some of them.

This one is called "Waiting for Dad"

Here's some more of John's work at Paynesville. I can't find any information about this Sea Captain, but I guess it's self-explanatory.

Please Note: These photos are mine, however, source of the text and information came from the following website Lakes Entrance Avenue of Honour WW1 Memorial Statues 

This is on my mind

This poor unfinished wild bush girl has been sitting around being ignored by me for far too long.

~ my contribution to the This is on my mind photo feature organised by Rhonda Jean on her Down to Earth  blogspot

Cherry Pickin' Time

Tloml disappeared out the door with my best quiche dish under his arm.  "Where are you going with that?"  says I, not resting until I'm assured it wouldn't be put to use for one of his projects in the shed ........ and,  by so doing,  I spoilt the surprise of his first harvest of bright red cherries being brought to me on a lovely white dish!  Ah well, such is life when you've got a wife ....... ha ha ;-)

Injustices quickly forgotten, the past few days have been happily spent nibbling home grown succulent cherries - delish!!

Oooooh my tummy hurts !!

found ... in the washing basket!

Ha ha ;-)  

Love from Grandma xx

My favourite form of meditation

Aimlessly picking my way through the garden is but one of my forms of meditation, however, it's the one I enjoy most.  Took my camera along to capture some of the things I saw, and definitely appreciated, after a recent shower of rain.

Our spent Foxgloves still look beautiful with their
raindrop adornments

Tloml's Orchard is alive with fruit

My favourite eucalypt the Argyle Apple is even more attractive 

The good old Oyster plant flower

These Hakea seed pods were just dripping with excitement ;-)

Our Willow-Leafed Peppermint wearing its strings of jewels

The prostrate Pink Lady Grevillea looks frozen in time

My favourite photo - a spent Flanders Poppy


Cheers :D

My Garden Pics (one)

say please

This was the delightful view right outside our lounge room window
one sunny morning.  Triplet baby Wattlebirds waiting for Mum to
gather nectar from the Grevillea flowers for their brekky.

Such a peaceful scene........

....... until  Mum came back, then all hell broke loose.
It was every baby bird for itself !!

Screeching and fighting .....

In the end, Mum did what all good Mums do.....
gave them a lesson in manners -

"Not until I hear the magic word"

froggie .... vegging out amongst the violas

Ah .... finally, I get a look-in !!
There's only soooooo much of those old nomads ramblin' on
about their desert adventures that one froggie can take !

Across the Simpson Desert (Final Day)

In the Simpson, To Birdsville, Little Red and the defacto, Big Red terrors, you've got mail and a bit fruity.
~ Off to Birdsville, but the challenge of Big Red - a dune to be feared, was looming!


A bit of vehicle swapping was going on, turned around and it was not Tloml sitting behind the wheel. What!! he'd handed over the Defender? The new driver informed me he hoped I knew how to drive this because he didn't. (No tachometer in the Defender apparently!). Off we go, up another dune and it became apparent to me how much I actually did know about driving our beauty - guess it was by osmosis.  See, all that passengering has its advantages ;-)
I'm totally showing off now, but I was able to tell the new driver when to put the Defender into low range third gear by the sound of the revs!  Pat on the back to me - not bad old girl :D 
Anyway, back to the defacto driver ... we advance up a dune we later called "Little Red" because it was a taste of the terrors ahead!  Defacto gets nearly to the top ok but forgot about the twist that can sometimes happen right at the top of a dune and, for a few awful seconds we keep going straight ahead (ulp, heart in mouth), then he swings the wheel and we shoot to the right on two wheels. Horrifying, but it was a thrill! The people watching us at the top were also a bit taken aback for a few seconds. 
Ah, welcome back Tloml - now for "Big Red" which loomed into sight. CB went quiet, everyone goes into deep concentration.


Only one person made it to the top at the first go - ambled over it like on a Sunday drive, and that was tail end charlie! We tried and got more than three quarters of the way up but took the wrong line and just ran out of power so rolled back down the bottom. Others were getting more and more frustrated. 

Conquering Big Red - oh, he was a biggie!

Tloml had a bit of a think, then lowered the tyre pressure right down to 16 psi and we were successful in getting up and over. Yay!
We then parked in the huge blowhole just over the other side and watched others have a go with their even further deflated tyres. Made for an exciting finish to dune driving that's for sure!


45 minutes after the last one over, we arrived at Birdsville. It felt a bit strange to see houses once again! It was very windswept and the first thing you see is the airport on the left, across the road from the pub. The camping ground area looked like a bulldozed tip with papers and stuff blowing around or half buried (leftovers from the Birdsville Races the week before). The facilities had all been recently upgraded, so with a bit of landscaping it'd be looking pretty good in the future we thought.

Susan in front of the Birdsville Pub

Went over to the pub that evening, halfway through some drinks at the bar and a voice booms out over the crowd with my name in it. My Dad had sent a letter to us addressed c/o the pub! What a lovely surprise too :) 


Next morning, just before we all departed, one of the group members very kindly gave us a packed morning tea, some fruit cake and candied nuts as a farewell gift...thinking about it later on, it occurred to me that was how it was all through our trip, friendliness, lots of surprises, a bit fruity at times and in the end we all went a bit nuts (in a nice way)! 


Mileage for the day 171km
Total mileage for the trip 1,382km  


By the way, a big thanks for everyone's comments. Our enjoyment in reliving our adventure was immense and made more so by your interest.  Ooroo!

Across the Simpson Desert (Days 10 & 11)

In The Simpson to Kuddaree Waterhole and a Rest Day, trail blazing, orphan, afternoon tea on the verandah and a simply grand campdinner - with a tablecloth!
~ All packed up and ready to move out well before 9.00 am. Everyone's  so much quicker at getting organised.
We're having a go being second in the convoy today, which is so interesting especially when they're trail blazing, which is what went on for this section - it took a full 3 hours to do only 37 kms. First of all, we drove up the Eyre Creek and then headed West over about 4 sand dunes. Some vehicles had problems getting over the dunes, one in particular had to give it 6 tries. Various reasons - the vehicle, the driver, tyre pressure. Our Defender got us up them time and time again. Of course Tloml's driving skills should be mentioned, as well as my magnificent passengering skills ;-)


We arrived at Kuddaree Waterhole about noon and saw more flocks of Brolgas, twice as many as the day before! Many head of cattle too, looking in prime condition, except for one poor calf whose mother was dead. No one was in a position to help it. One solitary emu by the water too. 


The water here wasn't up to much so no hairwashing! It was very pleasant though and we all looked forward to not having to pack up the next morning.  We set our tent under a grove of coolibahs. Overlooking the billabong, it was just perfect. Woke up from an arvo snooze in the tent to the delightful sight and sounds of a flock of (I think) Corellas arriving on the water. Some things just stay with you don't they... this was one of them.


Mileage for the day 37km

~ Rest Day so a leisurely cooked brekky was the order of the day. Slices of bread with holes cut out into which an egg was broken  and then fried on the bbq with bacon - delish! Even the discarded toasted holes were wolfed down!


The day was spent getting up to no good. Good senses of humour abounded in the group, so we had fun. Lots of things to do, good walks to be had and the photographers revelled in the wildlife they'd captured on film (no good having regrets about things I know, however, do wish I'd been more keen on photography back then!!!!!) Of course, the inevitable group of men became involved with their pride and joys, either in, under or around them. As well as all this, the dunny received more than it's normal share of attention - no, I'm not being crude ..... it was decorated to the point that it became known as the Throne Room and received an 11/10 rating!


The group leader offered Tloml a chance to take part in a future convoy they were putting together - a fairly difficult expedition, hence only a few selected invitations were being offered. He was interested and a year later had himself an amazing adventure.  

Tloml firing up the bush billy

As we'd set our tent up a little away from the rest, we started to receive a few visitors who'd come to survey 'Our Selection' as they called it:)
Therefore, afternoon tea, taken on the verandah, overlooking the water, was definitely in order.
Tloml boiled up the water in our ingenious  bush billy - only needed a handful of twigs to get the job done! I made some very rough and ready pikelets and we all spent an enjoyable arvo under our tarp verandah.


In all, a very pleasant last day in camp was had by everyone.


The last camp dinner achieved the impossible - it outdid all the other dinners. Served on an actual tablecloth (triggered memories of being civilised!) with native floral arrangement we feasted on pumpkin soup, roast lamb and beef followed by a sherry soaked chocolate log. Everything was devoured with extreme pleasure :D


Mileage for the day nil.

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 9)

In The Simpson To Old Annandale Station Waterhole, emu bobbing, brolgas, abandoned steam engine and best ever hair conditioner. 
~ The dingo is still around, and on the morning walk it decided to follow at a comfortable 5 - 10 metres. We did 1.3 km which included a sand dune so had worked up a sweat by the time my ride arrived.


Also, when packing up, a fairly ferocious looking spider, same colour as the sand, appeared and reared up on its hind legs in attack mode. Tloml was up on the roof rack and I wasn't going to take it on, so gave it a wide berth. 


Back in convoy and the scenery began to change as the dunes became larger and further apart. We all took part in some emu bobbing - an activity I hadn't mentioned before, but the group did it every so often when needed. The convoy parks alongside the track, everyone has a stretch of legs and if any rubbish is seen it's picked up.  I guess, at a distance, we looked like a lot of emus with all that bobbing up and down!  Lots of exercise this particular day, plenty of empty stubbies found along this section of track - probably "hair of the dog" contributions after the Birdsville races a few days previous.


The flora is starting to change in this area, it's mainly Old Man Saltbush and Eucalypts. 

Crossing Eyre Creek

53 km from camp we arrived at Eyre Creek and it was time for another break. 


After leaving the Creek the road was smooth driving - such a treat, "smooth as a baby's b.." someone was heard to say. However, it lasted for only about 27 km when some difficult dunes were encountered. Or perhaps they just seemed difficult because everyone had been spoilt by the smooth ride. 

All was well and after a bit of a search found the right road to Ruwolt's Bore and cattle yards where we were able to gratefully fill some water containers.

Filling the water containers

Upon arriving at the supposedly dry Annandale waterhole, the convoy stopped and observed with immense pleasure about 30 brolgas near the water. We sneaked up to them but they flew off - the sound of their wings beating over our heads was quite amazing. 

The Annandale homestead ruins was on a sandy rise overlooking the waterhole. They're a real eye opener to life in the pioneering days. Stuck out, miles from anywhere, they established their little home and yards in such difficult conditions. The remains of the house still showed enough of the construction to indicate the degree of care and pride taken. The exterior wall was all cement rendered, so smooth, with filials around the chimney top. Over the years, steam engines had been brought up to assist in the running of the station, and the remains are now half buried in the drifting sand. All that toil, sweat and the eventual heartbreak when the place had to finally be abandoned.

l'll just pretend I was going for a
silhouette shot !

Hard yakka hauling all this machinery to Annandale.
Must have been a busy place in its time.

Still had to observe water rationing but a lot of us were longing to wash our reddirt-caked hair. It just hadn't been possible when you consider that our version of a 'shower' was standing in a bowl and (slowly) pouring one cup of water over ourselves! So the group leaders arranged a big container of waterhole water (a white clayey sludge) which was heated up on the campfire and left to cool for a couple of hours.  After dinner we were invited to fill our bowls and to enjoy.  Now, every single one of us were fairly skeptical at what our hair would be like but, hey, couldn't be any worse than it already was!!  Now, I'm not kidding, but we all came back to the campfire, absolutely glowing! That water was something else, our hair was so soft and silky feeling and looking - no conditioner could compare. Seems because it's content was mostly clay, once it had been boiled and the solids allowed to settle, the remaining water contained certain minerals which had softening properties. This is something I've always remembered - some more enterprising person should follow up on this perhaps, give Pantene a run for their money!


We really look forward to our campfire dinners - get so ravenous. This night's was chicken soup, beef stroganoff and trifle. Tloml and I each had two helpings of the trifle, yum. (Made a special note in my journal that I hoped my darling realises it'll be back to the one pot stews when it's just the two of us on the road!)


Mileage for the day 129km

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 8)

In The Simpson to Gidgee Patch QAA Line, a dressing down, Ephemeral Lakes, hungry dingo and a dunny like none before.
~ A very windy night and everyone seemed to be packing up before brekky.
Last night's dunny crew were told they had to do it again but to make a better job of it. Also, there were a couple of group members grizzling about having to write today's group journal.Do it or you'll be writing it again the next night were the orders!! No holiday camp this!!  Our group leader tells it like it is, has a good sense of humour and treads a fine line of making sure everyone pulls their weight. 

We moved along the AAK Line (another of the tracks made by oil exploration companies from the 1960s -1980s), had a look at the Approdina Attora Knolls. They are fragile gypsum outcrops and are of great Aboriginal and scientific importance. They give a good view of the surrounding countryside from the top. They were important landmarks to the early explorers and settlers. It had been necessary to fence them off though, as some people were driving to the top, doing irrepairable damage. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the Knolls.

The water count is getting low, not many have much left - we had a fair bit so our contribution for the night will be about 40 litres. Fortunately, everyone can have a major refill at one of the cattle stations tomorrow where permission has been given to use their supply. Always have to conserve though because permissions, as we'd already experienced, can be withdrawn and for valid reasons.

The convoy across the Simpson - a treeless section

After a long stretch of pretty much treeless plains, a beautiful shady Gidgee patch was found for a lunchtime stop. Quite hot so it was welcome. Beautiful wattles and cassias all in yellow bloom - the effect was stunning.


Lots of sand dunes to conquer again. Spotted a white dingo but it was too far away to show up in a photo. Ha ha, when a lot of my photos were developed there'd be a tiny spot in a far corner - I'd barely remember, perhaps a camel, or maybe a dingo, so small it was unrecognisable. Whilst others I just couldn't, for the life of me, remember what they were!! 

Passed over about 6 lakes today, all dry and sparkly with their salty crusts on top. They're part of the Ephemeral Lake System. 


Stopped at Poeppel's Corner and took photos. They're the borders of SA, NT and Qld, it was funny actually standing with a foot and a hand in each State and, of course, we all made the obvious jokes. 


Re-dressed Tloml's cut which is healing up well, then it was off to gather around the campfire. Mostly, we all get along very easily with one another. It's funny, but we never really socialised as much back home as out there. It is nice to roll up to the fire and have a chat. Perhaps it's because we all have pretty much the same interests.

We were visited by a dingo whilst dinner was cooking. She came in closer and closer. One of the group gave her some chicken, vegies and water which she enjoyed (the peas and carrots were ignored however). Lots of photos were taken.  After we'd all gone to bed she re-visited and lapped up the remaining bit of soapy washing up water, only a short distance from the group leader's swag!


The dunny rating was 10/10, the reasons for a perfect score were innumerable - far too many to list here. A condensed version included "beautifully positioned" "tucked away in sylvan solitude" "in perfect harmony with the environment" and "such comfort that when seated and gazing out the door, one can really feel comfort and peace of mind and have that inner feeling of minding ones own business".


Mileage for the day 113km