Advertisement
Published: February 10th 2009
The Christmas dogs....
Lulu in her bandanna and Kat looking worried at the thought of having to wear those antlers that Sandra bought for her ...Hello all!
Christmas & New year... Our first Christmas in Oz was 'different' .. No snow, no cold nights by the fire, no carol singers.. but my goodness it was good!!!
Hot days, warm evenings, we even bought a 8ft x 4ft inflatable pool to dip in and out of as a break from the heat - much cheaper than the olympic size pool we are planning on putting in later this year but just as effective when your out digging in 40 degrees and in need of a dip!
We took the dogs down t the dog beach for a couple of hours on Christmas morning, it was like taking 2 disruptive children on a day out.. they ran around chasing the other dogs, barking at the 'nice' people out enjoying a morning sandy stroll and at one point had a poor labradoodle shaking like a jelly as they surrounded it barking and jumping.
Not meaning any harm or wanting to hurt it, but Kat (the doberman) is not use to other dogs and because she is a guard dog, she spends her day patroling our land, warning off anything or anyone that comes within 10 foot
Boxing Day Spa!
CJ n Oggy getting cosy... of the driveway gate.. so when she saw all these other 'small fluffy' things she had a ball :-)
We had promised ourselves that we would not do any work on the land or in the house on Christmas day, just for one day.. so after we had dragged the dogs off the beach we headed home, prepared lunch and watched mindless TV for the afternoon - just like any other christmas really! By late afternoon, we were like caged tigers, itching to get outside and rip up some more bushes or knock more walls down or cupboards out.. but we stuck to our deal.. and around 6am on boxing day, we were up awake and raring to go!!
CJ & Nicky had invited us to theirs for lunch and we even took Lulu with us, dressed in her new Christmas bandanna and prepped to be on her best behavoiur as we headed to the quiet and rather posh suburb of Subiaco, the place where all dogs are small and fluffy (usually white) they live in handbags and when they are taken out for 'walkies' they are dressed in doggy sunglasses, diamond collars and only the best designer
Working girl!
Carli gets to use the ride on mower, and still managed to miss bits!! doggie coats. Needless to say when we took Lulu out for a walk near the lake, you could tell she was a 'hills' dog - red bandanna swinging round her neck and an attitude that a rotweiler would be envious of.
Another good day, we spent time in the spa, had a great Bbq and a few beers, and Lulu still barked at CJ every time he moved..
Carli's visit Carli arrived out on Dec 31st at daft o'clock in the morning and was not ready for the humidity and warmth that met her as we walked out of the airport doors towards the car.. it was August when the kids were here last - winter and raining.. a far cry from how it is now! We had a few good days together over the new year hols before going back to work and even had her out cutting the grass with the ride on mower. Well, whats left of the grass that is, its so hot that most of the grass out on the land has dried and looks like straw - the garden area is still green and in need of a weekly mow' because of Oggy's
Outdoor movies
We rented the big squashy chairs so we didn't have to park on the grass! great retic' set up, he has spent hours lay down in the grass with the ants biting him to perfect it..
Ang took a week off to spend time with Carli (nice break away from work!) have added a few piccys of the travels, not the shopping ones of course :-)
There is a large complex just outside the city overlooking the Swan River called the Burswood - there is a hotel, casino, concert dome, retail outlets and an outdoor cinema - it seems an odd thought to go to the pictures and to be sat outside on the grass doesn't it? But there is a huge screen, big comfy beanbags, wine, food and its warm!
It was great! apart fro teh insect bites and the fact that we had to watch 'Beverly Hills Chiuahuahua' a typical Carli film..
We spent a day at Perth Zoo chilling out with the animals, nice relaxing lunch.. the roos wander around the zoo grounds, well when I say 'wander' they spend most of the time sleeping and lazing in the warmth..
I even got Carli in the sea on one of our beach days.. there have been a couple of
Cuddles all round
The ferry to freemantle shark attacks on the WA coast and a number of sightings along the shores from Hillary's to Freemantle.. so getting her to just get her feet wet took a while!
We all went down to Freeyo for the day and instead of going by train, we took the ferry from Perth city down along the banks of the swan river where some of the houses are stunning, worth a couple of million $ and all with boats, speed boats, cruisers.. very nice.. if we lived nearer the water a boat would definatley be on the list, but a tractor comes first..
We have been to Freeyo a number of times now, its the Hebden Bridge of WA, more craft shops than you can count and a palm reader on every corner, but its still a good day out and away from the city, and the best thing about it? the indoor market with all the weird and wonderful stalls.. and of course Little Creatures mini brewery (if you can ever get a seat or get served that is!)
Ang's Bush Bash! It was my birthday mid January and to celebrate, and use the excuse to have a
Bbq and play loud music, Oggy sent out invites (yes he did use THAT title) and arranged a 'Birthday Bush Bash' for me..
He re-arranged the driveway stones to make way for a temporary parking lot, complete with sign posts, he fired up the barby and transformed the water fountain into a 'beer chiller' ... fantastic...
With about 30 people turning up, Oggy was head chef and DJ, CJ was photographer and Carli was the waitress and hostess with the mostess' the music was loud, there were children running around, beer and wine in abundance, we had a great day.. and the pool was a god send! Was being the key word... we emptied it after the Bush Bash to clean it, didn't weight it down and unfortunatley the wind caught it, threw it over the fence and it ripped on the wire...
Day trip to Rottnest Island We have been here for nearly a year now and as everyone seems to rave about 'Rotty' and the large number of quokkas that roam free around the island, we packed up our bikes, left the house at 6am and caught the 8am ferry from Hillary's across the water... 45
Chief cook & DJ..
Oggy sorted the day, fed the hundreds and kept the sounds going! minutes later we arrived at a rather bare looking welcome jetty and headed straight to 'Dome' for a strong coffee and a good breakfast to set us up for the long bike ride ahead..
All was good, the sun was out in full force, it was one of the hottest days so far with temperatures reaching around 42 degrees, we slapped on the sun screen, put on our 'compulsary wear' helmets and set off in search of the hidden bays around the island.
We had been going for about an hour and when I say going, I dont mean non stop bike riding.. there were hills..and the bike that we had hired for Carli was not the best so she did spend some time pushing it.. and that was a little too much for Carli, the heat, the pushing and to a student.. the word exercise is enough to break a sweat.. she stopped at the side of the road and launched her pancake breakfast...!
In order to give her some relief, we pulled in at 'Little Parakeet' bay, a small cove tucked away with about 6 people on it. We found a nice little spot, hung the camera and
SNAKE!!!
Yes its real... this is the snake that was about a foot away from Ang's hand!!! shoes on a jagged rock near the waters edge and just as I put my trainers on a ledge, Oggy said.. 'there's a snake there'
Knowing what Oggy is like I just said yeah, sure there is and didn't flinch... until Carli said the same..and there it was, sticking its head out of a crack in the rock about a foot away from where my hand was! Oggy sprung into action, reaching for his camera while the snake was slithering across the sand pit in the rock, trying to get away into the bushes below. But Oggy had other plans for it.. he grabbed its tail and tried to pull it back onto the sand pit!! But snakey was not having any of it.. we did at least get some pictures, our first snake sighting!!
There are many lovely bays around the island but you either have to bike ride to them or take the 'tourist bus' as there are no cars or motorbikes allowed on the island, apart from the few residents that is, and when you are biking, the island seems twice as big.
We managed to run out of water after a few hours out on
the roads and even managed to go off the roads too.. we decided to follwo the old railway track, through the bush and sand and had to push the bikes most of the way.. Carli was not a happy camper when we eventually got back to the road and found a bay but alas no drinking water in sight.. no little booth selling over priced cans of cold Coke or small expensive bottles of tap water dressed as 'Evian' - nothing.
We were parched, I could feel the skin peeling off my back, Carli was crying at this point and Oggy must have lost pounds as he pushed his bike while carrying the backpack with all our stuff in it and still had the energy to shout like a drill sargeant to drive us on..
We threw the bikes into the parking rows and made our way down the stairs to the cool inviting water of the bay, and fell in.. it was so tempting to drink the sea water, imagine being without any fluid for over 2 hours in 40+ degrees, riding and pushing a bike.. Honestly it was harder than the Chaing Mai mountain trek we did
Damn seaweed gets everywhere..
Oggy looks strange as a redhead...! There was not much to look at within the coral, a couple of small fish but nothing colourful or large.. the sharks must have eaten them all.. in 2007!!
Oggy saved the day when he swam out to a large boat that was docked out in one of the lagoons, and came back smiling while dragging a 5 litre bottle of water that the very kind people had given him.
It must have taken us all of 10 minutes to drink it.
The final leg back to the starting point was the best bit.. knowing that civilisation was just around the corner and coffee and late lunch was minutes away.
The final part of the beach we went to was full or 'tourists' not an overly pretty setting but as we waded around in the water, we came across a sting ray, not huge but large enough to spot in the seaweed.
We caught the 5pm ferry back to Hillarys, home for 7pm and asleep by 9..!!!
Carli headed home on 21st Jan, she had a good holiday out here with us and got a great tan this time!
Before she went home, we introduced a new addition to the Ogangelo' ranch... an 8 week old kitten called.... Mouse!!
He is a lively little thing.. Kat is not so sure what he is and
The new arrival -Mouse the cat..
The cat called 'Mouse'
He really liked to sleep on Carli's neck and Lulu thinks he's a toy.... tries to play with him but unfortunatley her paws are bigger than he is and he tends to get 'squashed' Lulu on the other hand has taken to protecting him from anyone and everything, I think she sees him as 'hers' !!
We are now back to work and routine, it was Australia day a couple of weeks ago, a national holiday and we took time out away from the digging and planting and took off to the beach for the day, armed with body board to attract the sharks. We even managed to get CJ in the water on his too!
Tom is coming to join us for a 3 month trial at the end of February, he will then return to UK late May after he turns 18 (Yes 18!!) and if Oz is what he wants, he can apply for a working visa and return to us for a year.
Finally,
Carli - well done for getting through stage 1 of the A&F interview x
Tom - Looking forward to you getting here... Dad needs a hand with digging :-)
Gangster & Yvonne - Make sure you do visit the ranch if you come
out here, will not forgive you if you dont!
Sam & Abs - Happy birthdays x (better late than never)
Sharon - get a bl**dy PC and e mail sorted will you sis?!
Mum & Dad - Take care and get rid of those colds - a trip here will sort you out x
Clappers - The 'Gizmo' sounds adorable - send some piccy's !
Take care & Love to all
keep in touch - the e mails have started to reduce and we've only been gone 11 months!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.109s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 13; qc: 60; dbt: 0.0525s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Pops
non-member comment
Dad !!
Dad why have you got BRIGHT ORANGE CROCS?? Haha Love You Both xxx