Skipworth Reserve near Jamieson in Victoria is a bird watchers paradise. Fairy Wrens, King Parrots, Bower Birds, Wattle Birds, Black Cockatoos, Magpies, Kookaburras, Wonga Pigeons, Currawongs, Tree Hoppers. Big fat Wonga Pigeons scour the grass for tidbits. Fairy Wrens hop … Continue reading The Birdlife of Skipworth Reserve
We’re waiting at the Mansfield hospital to see a doctor. Both full of a chest infection and coughing our heads off it is indeed nice to lie down for a few minutes and just doze. In the opposite corner of the ward a woman’s voice complains to the nurse “Me back’s buggered.” It’s funny how things are triggered in your mind and my mind suddenly lurches back to Christmas Day in the late 90’s when we took our sick friend to Cobram hospital up on the Murray River and we returned to camp laughing our heads off at someone else’s … Continue reading Me Back’s Buggered
The Rusty Shed cafe in the port of Wyndham, WA is advertising Barra and Chips nite. So we find ourselves sitting under the gum trees on a large timber deck listening to a guy called Brad Martin play guitar and … Continue reading An Often Overlooked Treasure
The one commercial fisherman sells fish from his home in Wyndham and we have a hankering for a prawn lunch. We walk through the cyclone wire gate, across the dirt yard, between the mangrove tree, dog and an old bath tub on the right and the front end loader and dead car body on top of an orange shipping container on our left into the workshop. We step around the trail bike in bits on the floor and there’s the fisho’s missus packing up fish for the freezer. “Welcome to the processing works” she says. And this front yard is … Continue reading The Fisho’s Missus
Winter 2015 At Barn Hill, WA there is a rock cairn atop the hill that was erected by Alexander Forrest when he passed through here in 1879. It is reminders like these that make our journeys inconsequential compared to the … Continue reading Barn Hill
The famous Bell’s Milk Bar in Patton Street, Broken Hill, NSW has been on the same site since the early 1900’s and hasn’t been altered since the 1950’s. They make their own cordials so they certainly have quality control over … Continue reading Bell’s Milk Bar
Whilst camped at Skipworth Reserve just out of Jamieson, Vic the boys from the DSE (Dept of Sustainability and Environment) have lunch with us as they do their rounds of cleaning the park. They suggest that we check out Granny’s … Continue reading Granny’s Flat
A meal in an Aussie pub has always been somewhere that one can get a decent steak with chips or a damned good roast. The fish and chips have always been a mainstay but in more recent times, over the last 20 years or so, there has been an interloper. The Parma. Based on the Italian Veal Parmigiana the Aussie Parma has morphed into a square meal of grand proportions. It is best described as a flattened and crumbed chicken breast smothered in a tomato based sauce and topped with grilled cheese. Sometimes you may find a thin slice of … Continue reading Explaining the Aussie Parma
We’ve just returned from Jamieson in the Victorian high Country. It is one of those places that we find grabs us and calls us back annually. A place where the world can be forgotten for a day or two or … Continue reading Jamieson, Vic
A trip is imminent. The heart is starting to beat faster. No you fool, that’s age, time for your medication. OK, we bring up the checklist spreadsheet and check it against the food in the van pantry cupboards, yep we’ve got enough rice noodles to feed China but we’re out of tomato sauce, that’s right I borrowed it for the house a few weeks ago, damn. Beds made, most of the clothes are on. The All Blacks beanies and warm gloves for winter, sunscreen and broad brimmed hats for summer are all packed. Now it’s Woody’s turn to fill the … Continue reading Stocktaking
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