OZ Jan 27++

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Jan 27
Today was a down day again. I searched the internet for a new camcorder and then tom and i wet out to camera shops in perth. No luck though, Everything is so expensive over here.

That night was interesting though. Toms mom made a sweet coccus. Then we collected the honey. Yes toms family has a bee hive as well as a vineyard and a olive plantation i guess thats what youd call it. Any way Tom's dad got all suited up, aka long sleeves gloves and a bee hat, and began smoking the hive. He would grab one brush some bees off and then hand them to us to brush the rest of the bees off to bring inside. It was comical with Andreas little brother running around Andrea and myself trying to swat bees with a broom and not let many get inside or sting us. Once all of that was finished Toms dad cut the wax off the combs with a knife that had boiling water running through it by way of a hose and a pressure cooler. The next step was to spin the honey out, which we used a old washing machine drum some racks and a drill to spin them. It took forever and the drill kept knocking out the power because we had to run it so slowly. Apparently they used to have a motor but his dad claimed it was harder to use but tom thinks he broke it haha. After we collected the honey the next step was just to boil it so all the wax and debris would float out and congeal on top to be scraped off when it cooled. The honey was delicious ive had honey straight from a honey farm but this was even fresher amazing. After all finished we packed up and went to bed.

Jan 28
Tom and i were headed to his farm today in Albany. But first we picked up some spear gear at his friends house and tom bought his own gun. We were going to the farm because tom was having his last cow killed to sell and we were supposed to round it up ad help out. But when we arrived there the job was already done, so all we had to do was help move it from the farm to a cool room. Seemed simple enough. First sign of warning was Jake Snakes, cowboy/cow killer, told tom he might want to change since hell get "dirty.·" Then Jake told tom to bear hug the cow and let it rest on your face, in order to carry it into the cool room, as jake used pulleys to hoist it up. Mind you the cow was cut into 4 pieces the front legs and back all separate with the skin off all of it. So tom hugged this massive carcass and i tried to assist best i could but trying to stay as clean as possible at the same time. That was disgusting tom was covered in fat and blood and the carcass was still warm which added more effect to it. I love meat but i dont know why anyone would want to be a butcher. After that experience tom and i went to town to do some errands and then we headed back to the farm. Where i got to shoot my first gun a 22 shotgun. Wow an empowering experience truly amazing. Then i shot the rifle even more power and loud wow. You get a shot of adrenaline it was crazy cool. Unfortunately there was no roos or anything around to shoot except for the decapitated cow head which i took some target practice on. Resting my elbow on the post of an electric fence i took aim baaammm right between the eyes nice took a few more to make sure it was dead. ha
After my kill we headed back to have dinner and i found he had a grapefruit tree outside, awesome. They were so juicy and delicious. We had sausages for dinner chatted a bit then went to bed.

Jan 29
Today we drove from his farm in Albany to his olive farm Olio Bello in Margerate river. We made a few stops along the way. First was Green Pools a beautiful beach completely protected from waves by rocks so the inside was literally pools. It was gorgeous. From here we headed on to a tree top walk in Walpole. These trees, Sheaoak, Jarah, Marrai and Tingle, were quite impressive must have been 30 or 40 meters tall and some 7 to 12 meters round big enough to walk through and some to park cars in, pretty amazing. From here we headed to Pemberton to do a tree climb. It was a massive Kerry tree must have been 40+ meters. It had massive spikes slammed into the side in a spiral pattern so up and up we went. We made it to the first landing fuuuee there was a sign that read " That was the easy part it gets narrower and steeper from here." We finally make it to the top slightly dizzy from the stairs but that soon went away replaced by adrenaline shot from realizing how high we were. Some 40+ meters up above all the other trees we could see for ever, even see the beach off in the distance. It was spectacular. Apparently these trees were used for fire spotting back in the day.
From here were headed to our destination in Hamlin Bay to do some spearing. Tom just bought his gun so he had an itchy finger. It was looking murky and choppy so we swam to the middle island. After about half an hour swim and not seeing many fish we made it out there. There werent many fish out their but we were able to bag a few. Tom got 2 Duskys and i got a Queeny, which we ate for dinner that night and was quite good.

Jan 30
We had a early wake up and went into town to get some supplies. Then headed to Cosy Corner another spearing spot. The wind was on it hard but we decided to give it a go anyway. But came up with nothing. So we headed back to Hamlin Bay. We didnt go out as far as the day before just to the end of the old jetty and to the smallest island. I bagged a Dusky.
After spearing we checked out some wood furniture stores to try and find a present for dad. The things in the stores were beautiful dad would have loved them but they were kitchen tables, dressers, desk, ect. going for $3,000-12,000. Sorry dad that would have ended my trip on the spot. We went back to the house were we tried smoking the dusky with a camping smoker but we didnt have the right fuel so tom tried Jack Daniels it burned but wasnt hot enough to burn the wood chips so we made a small fire which worked nicely. However the fish was horrible it came out to smokey i guess from the fire and the special wood chips from sheaoak. Which I dont think they make for good flavor. We decided to fry up one of the other fish and make some rice.
Ruth and Andrea made it down we all hung out a bit then hit the sack.

Jan 31
We all went for a walk in the citrus section of the farm. Where there were all types of fruit but the only things that were half ripe were the oranges and some plums, which i dont even like plums but they were really good and my god the oranges were amazing. After our little walk about tom and i went spearing again. However, Tom got his spear jammed into the coral and we werent able to get it free so tom swam in to try and get something/one to help, I stayed out fishing. I snagged a Striped unknown fish, a harlequin, and a wrasse. By now alot of time had passed and my mind started playing with me. I couldnt stop thinking about sharks i even thought i saw one, it turned out to be a person in a tiny boat but it made me swim to the nearest shallow reef to stand on and take refuge for a while. Tom finally made it back out in some guys little boat with a screw driver and a hammer. We tom gave a go twice and i said might have to cut losses and leave it there but i gave it one last go pounding on the reef and pulling hard it finally broke free,Tom was so happy and thankful. We continued to fish a bit so tom could nab a few. Then we hauled back to the house to meet the girls for lunch. After lunch we hit the Olio Bello shop chock full of Olive oil and sauces and beauty creams. We then headed to another wood furniture shop again beautiful things and super expensive but worth the look and drive. Absolutely amazing tables made from the cancer bits of tress really really neat. From here we headed to Margerat river main break so i could see the surf and we all would go for a swim and a body surf. It had some decent waves wish i had my board and got to surf more but i did some really cool amazing stuff so i cannt complain.
Ruth made us stop at the farm dam to go for a swim on the way home. The water was crystal clear but the bottom was super mushy mud. After wards we all made dinner and got to taste test Leather jacket, Harlequin, Stripy aka unknown, and wrasse. I think the harlequin was the winner but the unknown wasnt too bad either. We had a lovely dinner and Ruth told us of some scary/amazing/crazy stories from South Africa. We all polished the night off with Andreas special some marble cake and sorbet.

Feb 1
We all had another early wake up because we had to head back to Perth for Big Day Out an all day music festival. I didnt know many of the band but i had an awesome time just dancing about and carrying on. I managed to squeeze us pretty close to the front of each show we hit. Im sure everyone got a kick out of me acting crazy and dancing bout all day. I particularly like Bullet for Valentine a hardcoreish band that i got into the mosh pit and had a good ol time and came out with a partial black eye a few days later. haha Im sure mike and Joe were amused watching me go nuts. I also enjoyed Living End a OZ punk band and got to see some of Neil Young and then ended the night with Kates favorite Drop Kick Murphys a Boston Irish punk band they were sick. Unfortunately Prodigy was on at the same time as Drop Kick so i didnt get to see them but i heard it was crazy. At the end of the night Joe Mike and myself were in charge of rounding everyone up always a mission. We finally make it home and tom, joe, jack, and myself dove into some of their moms bday cake, which was delicious and rich. I then had to pack till about 2 am only to wake at 5am to get my plane to Bali. Needless to say Big Day Out was a great way to end my OZ journey.

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