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Published: December 27th 2011
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Our "grass"
Look closer, that's not grass, thats a writhing mass of bodies! Firstly a very Merry Christmas to everyone, hope you had a brilliant day and that Santa left some nice goodies, except for you naughty boys & girls...you know who you are!!! Hope a top 2012 is on the way for us all.
Well, here we are almost 5 months in, and still not a drop of rain! Instead we have the worst grasshopper plague you have ever seen in your life (they arrived about a week ago now, and are slowly mowing their way through every living bit of greenery on the station), we've had a week of well over 46 degrees every day and now we are threatened by a bushfire that is burning in a neighbouring station.......welcome to life in the outback!
Our Christmas was certainly one to remember, or rather forget, depending on how you look at it. Tab ended up on a drip in Onslow hospital from severe gastro and was discharged the morning of Christmas eve after throwing up for more than 12 hours. Needless to say we both spent the whole next day in bed just catching up on some seriously needed shut-eye, and of course Christmas lunch was a non-event with Tab
Big Boys Toys
Lining em up for repairs/tyre changes outside Jeff's man-cave just managing to slurp down some chicken broth (lovingly made by B & Margs...thanks gals!) and head back to bed. Jeff managed to factor in a feed of prawns & hot chips, washed down with a couple of beers at the kitchen with B & Margs. That's Christmas day in a nutshell.
We got some awesome pressies from our family & friends, thank you all so much, we know it's hard to buy for a couple of gypsy's but everything was brilliant and will come in handy both on our travels and while we are here.
Since our last blog we have pretty much just been working, however we did manage a long weekend out to the Mackerel Islands, well Thevenard Island to be exact. It's located 11km off-shore from Onslow port and we headed off on the shuttle-boat "Thevenard II" about 10am on a calm, sunny day. It took about an hour to get out there, disembarking into the crystal blue water (yes literally, should have worn shorts, not jeans!) and were taken around the island in a troop carrier, then dropped off at our villa for the next 3 nights. It was awesome! Each day we
Frankie
B & Margs little guy paid us a visit after poor B got bitten by a snake & flown to Port Hedland by the RFDS spent either fishing, swimming (there was the amazing clear beach and also a pool), drinking cold beer in the shade while reading, watching the local wildlife, including hundreds of mating turtles, reef sharks & stingrays, and even managed to go out for dinner one night at the restaurant on the island. It was very "dorm style" with a set menu and plastic chairs, but the food was nice and we were in and out, back to our villa verandah with a bottle of red within the hour! Quickest night out ever! But considering we haven't been out for dinner since we lived in Margaret River it was a cool change. (P.S. Thanks Jen & Andy for getting us a gift voucher for xmas for Onslow's ONLY restaurant, Nikki's. We can't wait to go soon!)
A couple of weeks ago we took Boris on a run up to the BIG SMOKE, Karratha. We took an extra day off work (still trying to use up that time in lieu we have racked up from when we first started!), finished off our chrissy shopping, did some window shopping and got freaked out by the number of people/cars/sights! We are just not used
Ahhhh the life
Our new little unit offers such comforts as queen sized bed & aircon...perfect for thise days you just don't wanna remove yourself from the mattress! to seeing anyone or anything out here, it was such a change. We spent one night in the gorgeous little Dampier Caravan Park (only has about 20 sites), with a plan on going to the local restaurant for a seafood dinner. Little did we know the restaurant also fed the local miners (so again, dorm style), finished serving tea at 8pm, so after a round of drinks at the bar we cross the road to the restaurant only to find out the chef locks the door at 7.55pm!! So promptly back to the bar, several more rounds of drinks, a packet of porky bits, twisties & chicken crinkle cuts for our dinner and we had a beaut, although not late (bar shuts 9.30pm...WTF?) night. On the way outta town we stopped at the Red Dog memorial and looked around Karratha for a little 4WD to buy before having a pub lunch and heading south back towards Onslow. On the way home we stayed the night on the Maitland river, watched the full moon rising over the water and even enjoyed a full lunar eclipse later that night, quite magical. We swam in the river the next day, wondering about the
Look, we've had our teeth whitened!
Phil & Di go the Paris Hilton "dust tan" after a long hot day of mustering croc status, however it was SO hot we got in anyway. Further google research has not found any evidence of crocs in the Maitland River, lucky that, it certainly looks like one of those perfect rivers for croc inhabitation!
Have you seen Red Dog yet? We were so blessed to see this beautiful movie in the perfect outback setting...Onslow Outdoor Cinema. We took Boris in on a recent Saturday night, along with B, Margs & Frankie and stayed the night at the caravan park. It started at 7:30 on the local oval, so we dragged our camp chairs, esky's and beer snacks onto the oval and settled in under the stars. It was a balmy evening, just perfect for sitting outside for such a top Aussie movie. If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you do soon!
In other station news, Roy and Kathy are no longer working here so the cooking duties have been shared among Tab, B and Di also has taken on the role of making the Corned Beef once a week/fortnight! After we leave here, we never want to see beef ever again, or at least not for a year!
We moved
into a little 1 bedroom unit a couple of months ago, so Boris has gone back into semi-retirement for now ( however we do fire him up on the odd weekend to get a change of scenery). It's full aircon, we have our own bathroom, bigger bed, little fridge and a TV. It's quite comfortable, and Jeff built a beaut cat run for the boys so they are loving life. Well, with a choice of bed, couch or cat run, what lazy cat couldn't be happy? The main thing with the cat run was to make it snake-proof as we have had an influx of snakes the past couple of months. Poor B got bitten on the toe not long after her and Margs arrived. It was a whip snake, which although not lethal, give serious poisoning, so she ended up being flown from Onslow to Port Hedland to receive treatment. It was very scary, but moreso for B I'm sure. Since then, there have been heaps of sightings (thankfully no bitings) of more whip snakes and also deadly brown snakes. We just all have to be very careful.
We are also on high alert watching a bushfire burning
Our supplies
Just our luck it was the same day of the weekly grog delivery out to the island! We sat on cartons of beer all the way (and at least we knew they weren't gonna run out while we were there!) in a neighbouring station. The fire started on Christmas Eve closer to Exmouth, but has come steadily closer to some nearby Stations. We caught up with all these stations only a week or so ago for a Christmas shindig so our thoughts are with them at the moment, and hoping that the weather stays calm so the DEC can make some progress into containing it. At the moment we have not been told to evecuate, nor do we hope to be, but with these stupidly hot days and windy afternoons, anything could happen. Will keep you posted.
With no plans yet for New Years Eve, we will see what the universe throws at us...hopefully not another bout of gastro! Hoping you all have a fab night, and will update again in 2012. Happy New Year!!!
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