Blogs from New Norcia, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania

It was time to head off in another direction after leaving Australind. The next part of the journey we have pencilled in will take us up the coast to Geraldton.....probably as far north as we'll go for now given there are still cyclones touching down in the far north. There was some strategic thinking required given we were amongst the elements again and there is another heat wave across WA; from yesterday through Monday it is not expected to be any lower than 38 degrees! Thursday we moved through to Guildford in the Swan Valley and checked into a nice caravan park with one essential item....a pool. It was not the biggest pool I had ever cast my eye on but it was icey cold; just what the doctor ordered. After having lunch in town we ... read more

The Australian outback cultural history since the arrival of Europeans is generally thought of as settlers battering heat and adversity in a hostile environment. Closely associated with this is the heavy drinking guys - miners and farmers etc. European culture has placed an overlay that seems incongruous with the harsh country. The Catholic Church established many mission centres in WA. In the region behind Geralton there seems to be a couple of highlights. In the early 1900 MS Hayes, an itinerant Catholic Proest built a number of churches accross the inland towns as well in Geralton itself. His skill at designing and building these churches are well worthy of recognition irrespective of ones beliefs. The other outstanding centre is New Norcica, Australia's only Benedictine town. When I look at the history it is sad to see ... read more

Easter was a mad rush of people all weekend as Anzac day fell on the day after easter as well. Anzac day is similar to our remembrance day in Canada. Anzac stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps. So, we had 5 days of easter/anzac madness in the hotel. It didn't really feel like easter for me as it was so busy and I was working all the time. On the Thursday Anne who I had only met when I first came here but became a really close friend was leaving. It was a sad day for us all! Our little Irish firecracker! In her place a boy named Oliver from Mauritius came. At the same time the owners two sons Richard and James were also leaving. So, 2 new girls also started. Ashliegh and Laura ... read more

Oh man, I can't even tell you how freaky it is to see a BIG spider looking at you!!! Well, this happened to me one night in the staff "cottage". I was getting up from my chair when I noticed the big SPIDER looking at me with it's beady little eyes. Anne decided the best thing to do is Raid the bugger. So as she sprayed raid on it all these little black things started coming off of it. We thought the spider might be dead but then it started to move and ran into the hallway. All three of were freaking out by this point. We went into the hallway but couldn't find it. We have a big inflatable crocodile in the hallway for the pool as I lifted it as Anne was ready to ... read more

I packed up all my belongs, said goodbye to the girls I had met in my room who I can say are now friends and headed down to the bus depot. My bags thrown on to the bus and I was off to New Norcia. My friend Jo who I worked with in Southern Cross has been out in NN since January and had told me about the job. By 11:30am I was being dropped off at the roadhouse in NN. Rick, my new boss was there to pick me up and drove me around the tiny town before we drove up to the Hotel where I would be working. I threw my bags in the staff "Cottage" and headed into the bar to see Jo. We last saw each other back in January as I ... read more