Road Conditions
We’re stopped at roadworks on the Sturt Highway just out of Hay when a voice comes over the radio…”this is a stellar effort considering that the rest of the road is rooted!” Continue reading Road Conditions
Pity the Entertainer
Being Friday evening the caravan park has an entertainer, a one man band Canadian called Moose who draws most of the camp down to the lakeshore. I couldn’t picture a better setting but I’m sure Moose could because every time he swallows a bug he has to stop singing. Ironically in his day job he monitors fruit fly numbers. Continue reading Pity the Entertainer
Eating with Brolgas
When we’ve pulled into the Kynuna (Qld) Roadhouse the two very funny ladies who run it have warned us not to feed the brolgas and no sooner had we parked the van than a brolga wandered over and took ownership of us. We were warned “When you leave the toilet close the door the brolgas poop in there and then people complain when they step in it. They don’t like brolga poop between their toes.” Thus I’m now eating lunch while a big grey brolga peers through the window at me, I daren’t eat outside or else I’ll lose my … Continue reading Eating with Brolgas
Skimpies
In Kalgoorlie, this city of pubs each one has a chalk board out front advertising the “skimpy” of the day. A skimpy is a scantily clad barmaid and today’s skimpy at The Metropole is Ebony Rose, good on ya luv Continue reading Skimpies
Reminds Him of Home
On the Yardie Creek gorge tour we see corellas, egrets and a Nankeen night heron. When everyone jumps out of their seats to photograph the corellas the bloke behind us says “they’re only bloody corellas I’ve got a backyard full of ’em.” Continue reading Reminds Him of Home
It’s a Long Walk
In 1897 they built a jetty in Carnarvon, WA for the shipping of supplies and live cattle from the inland. The town has an unusual situation on a blind bight beside the river and well behind the dunes and mudflats. Thus to reach deep water the jetty is one mile long and a small train now runs the length of it. The jetty is well worn and rusted but a great walk. When we reach the end we chat with a woman who is fishing for tailor. She tells us that the water which is quite brown is still murky … Continue reading It’s a Long Walk
A New Angle on Racing
Did you know that Lightning Ridge has the only straight racecourse in Australia? Well it is just a little bent but certainly not the usual oval shape. That gives a whole new slant on things for the poor old race callers. As soon as they leave the starting stalls the call could well be ” as they enter the straight….” Continue reading A New Angle on Racing
A Turkey Shoot?
We were wandering about Central Queensland when I heard a story on ABC National about the mating habits of brush turkeys. Brush turkeys are those curious native chooks that inhabit coastal NSW and Qld. The interviewee went on to describe that the nesting mound is made from several tonnes of leaf mulch piled up by the male bird to attract a mate. The guy with the best pile of leaf litter gets the girl basically. A few days later we are watching clay target shooting in Roma and I ask one of the club members mothers what the odd shaped hill … Continue reading A Turkey Shoot?
Newey Recreation Reserve, Cobar, NSW
We camp the night on the other side of town at the Newey Reservoir Reserve. There is a large sealed parking bay overlooking the reservoir. It is reedy, moody and filled with the chatter of a million birds. This is a wondrous free camp. Walking around the lake shore and on the lawns is a treat and campers sit watching the sky turn pink over the lake at sundown. Continue reading Newey Recreation Reserve, Cobar, NSW
Politics
Our friend Cee regales us with tales of his recent brief foray into politics. It turns out that he took up a petition to stop the tiny, one square mile East Fremantle council from being swallowed up by the much larger City of Fremantle and won. Initially East Fremantle council had sent out a questionnaire asking residents which council they would prefer to merge with, Cee replied “Peppermint Grove” (Perth’s wealthiest suburb on the opposite side of the Swan River). Continue reading Politics
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