Hidden Riches
We were on a mining tour when we learnt that outback soil is red because of the iron content. In future I’ll consider it as mining when I’m trying to get the damned stuff out of our socks. Continue reading Hidden Riches
Category: Well Bugger Me!
Please Explain?
I had been waiting for ten years to see the Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool in WA, they are supposedly the oldest living organisms on earth at 3,500 million years (that’s a lot of zeroes). After staring at them for a full half hour I must say that I am still none the wiser. Woody wanted to know if they light up at night! Our mate Dee called them tomatolites. Stromatolites, Hamelin Pool, WA Continue reading Please Explain?
Did You Know?
That Western Australia produces and exports both diamonds and talc. That is both the hardest and the softest minerals on earth. BASF extract beta carotene from the pink lake near Port Gregory in WA. It is the world’s largest beta carotene production plant. That Broome has the only RSL Club in Australia that doesn’t have walls. Which is not as silly as it sounds as it is a high roofed pavilion like those that you see in tropical resorts. Derby is close to the halfway point between Sydney and Kuala Lumpur. Which is ironic as Geraldton to Derby was our … Continue reading Did You Know?
A Valentine’s Recipe
I stumbled across an old family recipe book recently. The Woman’s Mirror Cookery Book from 1937. I thought this may recipe be just the thing for a heart winning dinner. Anyone who goes to this amount of trouble is surely … Continue reading A Valentine’s Recipe
Poetic Justice
We’re scooting across the Hay Plains, when the phone rings, it is the sergeant from Dareton Police Station ringing to tell us that the fellow who let loose with gunshots in the caravan park at Buronga last year has been in custody ever since and has now been given a two and a half year sentence. Apparently his exploits were known to the police. Here’s a link to the original story: You Should Try Caravanning… and the resulting poem There’s Movement at the Van Park . Well isn’t everyone prompted to write poetry when someone is running amok with a gun? Continue reading Poetic Justice
A Stitch in Time
We decide to turn a wedding invitation into a caravan marathon, Melbourne to Margaret River and return home via Darwin. After 3,500kms we check into a van park, borrow an iron and find where the makeup and hair dryer have been stowed. We scrub up and join the other guests at the wedding and reckon that we look pretty good. Until we talk to our old mate Rose from NZ and she tells us that her gorgeous ‘new’ dress was once a fifty year old curtain. I guess they don’t have problems with the sun fading the curtains over there … Continue reading A Stitch in Time
What Have We Done Wrong?
“Roo shooters and caravans not allowed” says the sign at the car wash in Mt Isa, Queensland. In Winton we notice 4WD’s rigged with rows of stainless steel hooks on the back. When out walking in the early morning Woody … Continue reading What Have We Done Wrong?
Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a …
As I flip through the weekend paper from the urgency of Page One to the relaxed Magazine lift out one topic is discussed over and over, drones. Drones for the military, drones for agriculture, drones for real estate sales, drones … Continue reading Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a …
Fish and Chips Anyone?
Camped at Rollingstone, Qld we can clearly see the Balgal Beach fish cafe from our caravan window and it’s only a few hundred metres away, how good is that? We can see its lights blinking temptingly as we close our blinds at night. But it’s not good at all because it’s a fourteen kilometre drive to get there. Huh, 14kms? Well, thanks to the crocodile who just happens to live in the creek… between us and the cafe. Continue reading Fish and Chips Anyone?
Free WIFI?
We spend most of the afternoon in the ‘phone’ shop with much heated discussion about data usage. We are told by said staff that we should make our communications using the free WIFI at McDonald’s. Well doh! We’ve been on the road 3 weeks and the only icons we’ve seen on the horizon are grain silos not golden arches …..I guess they just don’t understand the life of grey nomads. Utterly frustrated we make it back to our camp for happy hour and meet a great bunch of travellers who also spend very little of their time in large towns. Continue reading Free WIFI?
