Hi Every one,
I know this has been a really long time, But I think I have some excuses!
Apart from skipping a few months since I posted the last blog, which I faintly think I didn't advise you all of? The family has had some troubles with our Mum. She turned 99 in late August, unfortunately she was in hospital, and on the day itself, she actually looked about as bad as you could get. happily she has now recovered , mostly, and is back in her nursing home.
So after I got back from my little jaunt up to the north west, including a visit to Onslow, where my husband Doug, passed away. That was a difficult visit, but having faced it once I can say I will probably feel able to return at a later date. Then I went back to Geraldton to mind Megs' dogs while she and her husband both went away for a week. Then back down south and over to Banksia Springs up at Dwellingup for a patchwork retreat with the Pinjarra girls. and finally heading out to this place, (a farm at Yarloop), where I am farm sitting for a few weeks now and then again for a couple of months in October to December.
I have 8 chooks to feed and collect eggs and a boisterous, very spoiled blue heeler, to feed. Luckily there is a handyman to look to the cattle!! I am putting my "pink" welly boots, bought in Qld last year, to good use. We have had over 3 inchesv of rain in the last 2 weeks and I am slopping through mud and cow poo to get to the chickens. The road into the farm has been under water and basically it has been pretty wet, but I am loving it!
So all this time Mum was hospitalised initially from infected shingles resulting in septicaemia, dehydration , low grade pneumonia and fluid on the lungs.My sisters and I took it in turn to be at the hospital daily, no mean feat as we all live away from Busselton, I took the motorhome down to a caravan park close to the hsopital for the worst few days and was able to walk to and fro. She was pretty sick for a while, and lost the plot for quite a few days. but she always knew us, so that was not as bad as it could have been. Anyway now she has been discharged back to her nursing home and she seems to be getting her mojo back. So maybe 100 is still a possibility! I hope you can forgive me for my tardiness with the blog, I should be back on track now! still working on the photos, I need a class to go to to work it out.
So until next time. Good health to you all Love Vicki
Monday, September 2, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Red Dirt and Spinifex
Hi All,
Well it has been a while, I was surprised to realise over a month! So sorry to those of you waiting withd bated breath for the next edition!
I am currently driving in the North West, the Pilbara to be exact. I have been revisiting old hauntsKath my travelling companion from Busselton , flew up to crarvon and we have been on a journey to our old towns we lived in in the seventies. First offf I drove to Shark Bay a beautiful spot actually in the Gascoyne, I had friends who go there for up to three months in the winter, to escape Donnybrooks cold weather. so I joined them for five weeks. Upon arrival it blew a gale and poured with rain! I am going , what the heck? it is suoposed to be good weather up here and I was still in the track suit! Luckily we got over that little hickup, but we had we had six inches of rain over two days. Anyway a big surprise, after organising Kath to join me in Carnarvon, she and a "friend" drove up to Shark Bay for a week . It was lovely to see her and because they were in a caravan, it meant we had wheeels to do a bit of sightseeing, especially as distances ar so big up there.The Bay is incredibly blue, the waters are so clear, we went over to Monkey Mia , where you can feed the wild dolphins, but we just lunched there. Shell Beach was another horgeous spot, where the beach is made of millions of tiny shells washed there over millions of years and in places is manymetres deep. but so white! against the incredible turquoise of the water, I could rhapsodise for hours!
I had a really good time relaxing there, and on my second last day I took a catamaran trip out on the bay to see the dolphins, turtles and also to a local pearling setup. just gorgeous. I restrained myself from buying any more pearls, but it was hard! We also did a couple of trips to the oceanpark shark aquarium, they do a mean lunch! and it is beside the water and the views are prettty special.
So off I went to Caranvon, checked in to a park and Kath arrived by plane about an hour after. I was waiting for mail, (still am), unbelievably australia post has managed to separate 3items my sister posted to me, on the same day, and I have only received one. Lickily it was the most vital, as it was my prescription. So we stayed another couple of days waiting , but no sign of any more mail, so we left for points further north. It is a bit of a squeeze with the extra person, but we have managed. the table reduces down and the two couches cushions become the mattress, and Kath is spread across the width of the van! Not necessarily a pretty sight but fairly comfortable. We leave it up and that means we eat outside regardless of the weather conditions! So we headed north and stayed the nit at Minilya roadhouse, beside the river, and drove into Exmouth next morning, I was remembering the road in and my days when I lived in Exmouth in the seventies, and used to kow the road like the back of my hand! It was so green. they have had plenty of rain up here! We drove around the town looking at my old houses, and marvelling at the changes, you could be in the city, the houses look so suburban now, not like the old norwesters we were used to! So we stayed three nights there and then drove out via Burkett road, which is bitumen, in y day it was a goat track past a couple of stations whose people we used to know. Now it is a wonrful road cutting off a lot of miles if you are heading north. Once again I was amazed at how green everything is. lots of water lying around on the ground so they obviously had huge amounts of rain as it hasn't rained for at least a couple of weeks .
Well it has been a while, I was surprised to realise over a month! So sorry to those of you waiting withd bated breath for the next edition!
I am currently driving in the North West, the Pilbara to be exact. I have been revisiting old hauntsKath my travelling companion from Busselton , flew up to crarvon and we have been on a journey to our old towns we lived in in the seventies. First offf I drove to Shark Bay a beautiful spot actually in the Gascoyne, I had friends who go there for up to three months in the winter, to escape Donnybrooks cold weather. so I joined them for five weeks. Upon arrival it blew a gale and poured with rain! I am going , what the heck? it is suoposed to be good weather up here and I was still in the track suit! Luckily we got over that little hickup, but we had we had six inches of rain over two days. Anyway a big surprise, after organising Kath to join me in Carnarvon, she and a "friend" drove up to Shark Bay for a week . It was lovely to see her and because they were in a caravan, it meant we had wheeels to do a bit of sightseeing, especially as distances ar so big up there.The Bay is incredibly blue, the waters are so clear, we went over to Monkey Mia , where you can feed the wild dolphins, but we just lunched there. Shell Beach was another horgeous spot, where the beach is made of millions of tiny shells washed there over millions of years and in places is manymetres deep. but so white! against the incredible turquoise of the water, I could rhapsodise for hours!
I had a really good time relaxing there, and on my second last day I took a catamaran trip out on the bay to see the dolphins, turtles and also to a local pearling setup. just gorgeous. I restrained myself from buying any more pearls, but it was hard! We also did a couple of trips to the oceanpark shark aquarium, they do a mean lunch! and it is beside the water and the views are prettty special.
So off I went to Caranvon, checked in to a park and Kath arrived by plane about an hour after. I was waiting for mail, (still am), unbelievably australia post has managed to separate 3items my sister posted to me, on the same day, and I have only received one. Lickily it was the most vital, as it was my prescription. So we stayed another couple of days waiting , but no sign of any more mail, so we left for points further north. It is a bit of a squeeze with the extra person, but we have managed. the table reduces down and the two couches cushions become the mattress, and Kath is spread across the width of the van! Not necessarily a pretty sight but fairly comfortable. We leave it up and that means we eat outside regardless of the weather conditions! So we headed north and stayed the nit at Minilya roadhouse, beside the river, and drove into Exmouth next morning, I was remembering the road in and my days when I lived in Exmouth in the seventies, and used to kow the road like the back of my hand! It was so green. they have had plenty of rain up here! We drove around the town looking at my old houses, and marvelling at the changes, you could be in the city, the houses look so suburban now, not like the old norwesters we were used to! So we stayed three nights there and then drove out via Burkett road, which is bitumen, in y day it was a goat track past a couple of stations whose people we used to know. Now it is a wonrful road cutting off a lot of miles if you are heading north. Once again I was amazed at how green everything is. lots of water lying around on the ground so they obviously had huge amounts of rain as it hasn't rained for at least a couple of weeks .
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Africa, Rivers and Home
Hi Everyone,
Sorry this has been so long, I got caried away with being home and all that means, catchin up with business, family and sorting out "things"! So here we go , back to last days in Africa.
Luckily I kept my diary up to date,So we were on our houseboat on the river bordering the Chobe National Park, "The Pride of Zambezi" I thought we were on the Zambezi river but we weren't, on an offshoot. It felt like we could have been on the Okavanga delta, it had lots of broad places with tons of water growing plants including acres of waterlilies, The boat was very comfortable, I had my own cabin, and ensuite, window lookingout oveer the water. The upper decks had the dining room and bar and outdoor living with lovely comfortable seating to lounge on. tere was a spa, but we didn't utilise it, it wasn't hot enough for us.
After boarding and haveing a quick unpack, we were taken out in the largeish outboard boats for a game viewing cuise. this was the equivalent to the land rover game drives at Inyati. It was most interesting seeing the animals from the water side. Victor our boat man was very knowledgeable, there were only Rob and Carol and I and an english couple who were bird watchers. I think the boat was capable of 12 people, not positive, but I think there were 8 cabins, some were singles. So we saw all the animals we had seen already but in bigger numbers, as they came to the river to drink, there were lots of babies again, and being on the water we were able to get really close to the hippos, there babies were really cute, very pink skinned, which I hadn't expected. On the second day, the house boat moved at a very leisurely pace along the river and off we went again in the small boat , we turned off down an off shoot and there were herds of cape buffalo, elephants, Giraffes, all with young ones, and they were doing a mini migration, across the river, complete with crocodiles watching. The giraffes were very cautious and one was obviously in charge , you could almost hear him saying ," come on, this is the way" and back and forth he went herding the nervous ons across, and looking out over the grasslands for some latecomer. The elephants were washing themselves and then they rolled in the dirt. It was fascinating.
There were a few lodges along the banks, with picturesque thatched roofs (rooves?), they all had these huge tall "aerials" on them. They are lightning conductors!!I thought it wass strange all these aerials!! I think we had the best of it on the river, I highly recommend it to anyone, 3 days are about right. The biggest hassle is changing countries, and all the imigration posts. The river meet at a 3 way point and that is 3 different countries! Passport in hand for ages as we hopped in out of 3 countries over abou an hour!very confusing.
Finally that part of our trip was over and we were picked up by vehicle to go on another game drive in Chobe Park, really felt sorry for the driver as we had already seen all the animals he could find for us, in greater numbers at Inyati and from the river, he did get us some lovely shots of very close up Giraffe. They are so elegant! I am turning into an africaphile, is that a word/, but you know what I mean. So the poor man drove us a round for 3 hours and we would just nod and say yes, when he found us a sighting. If we hadn't seen the others first it probably would hav been very exciting, but alas we had already seen more animals than he could show us, so I wouldn,t recommend paying for a game drive there if you had already done sabisands and the river, this was included in our houseboat package. After the drive we were taken to a depot and transferred to a coaster bus and drove to Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls , another passport post!
The hotel was very old world and victorian!, I had a room to myself again, huge with mosquito netting etc, they do the ambience very well.! One felt like you would see an old game hunter with topee walking through!The lawns have resident warthogs grazing the grass, I don't know whether they have to mow or not! Next morning we walked up to the township, Carol and I, and then about 11am we got a cab to the Falls themselves. We were advised to hire a raincoat, there are 15 scenic spots, and from 9 onwards it was too wet to take good photographs, I actually used mine to keep the camera dry. I got soaked at scenic spot 4. I thought it was raining bu t it was the spray, as the river was very full it was " full spate" I know the meaning of the word! you couldn't identify any of the divisions in the falls as the water was roaring over at full depth. fascinating!! I loved it. I got the cab back to the hotel, my walking limit was up, but Carol and Rob walked over the bridge to Zambia, put their toes over the border! After 2 nights there it was off to the airport for the flight to Johannesburg and then a 6 hour wait for our flight to Perth. There endeth the African Odyssey. wonderful, now when someone asks where is the best place I have been , it is a tie between Antarctica and Africa!
So back to Wa, stayed the night at Rob and Carols then they took me to a camera place who managed to ressurrect my photos, well some of them anyway. I could have kissed him, (dreadlocks and all), so I have some photos . They are coming!! Then I flew back to SA to pick up doigs donga version 2 and set off on Anzac day for WA. 2550 kms I think, I made really good time no wind to worry me, stayed first night at Port Augusta, next Ceduna, then freedom camped between Mundrabilla and Madura pass, then Norseman. Some friends of Carol and Rob said are you Vicki? they were on the lookout for me, they were heading east. small world!! Next stop was Merredin, then to sister Jeans. So that was quick, and I had no problems again, the Nullabor crossiing is reallythe easiest thing to do.
spent a night with jean then headed north for my patchwork retreat at Jurien bay. Important things first!!So I will stop there and finish up to date in a couple of days by that time I should have some photos to post to you all!! It will be worth it!!
love to you all
Vicki
Sorry this has been so long, I got caried away with being home and all that means, catchin up with business, family and sorting out "things"! So here we go , back to last days in Africa.
Luckily I kept my diary up to date,So we were on our houseboat on the river bordering the Chobe National Park, "The Pride of Zambezi" I thought we were on the Zambezi river but we weren't, on an offshoot. It felt like we could have been on the Okavanga delta, it had lots of broad places with tons of water growing plants including acres of waterlilies, The boat was very comfortable, I had my own cabin, and ensuite, window lookingout oveer the water. The upper decks had the dining room and bar and outdoor living with lovely comfortable seating to lounge on. tere was a spa, but we didn't utilise it, it wasn't hot enough for us.
After boarding and haveing a quick unpack, we were taken out in the largeish outboard boats for a game viewing cuise. this was the equivalent to the land rover game drives at Inyati. It was most interesting seeing the animals from the water side. Victor our boat man was very knowledgeable, there were only Rob and Carol and I and an english couple who were bird watchers. I think the boat was capable of 12 people, not positive, but I think there were 8 cabins, some were singles. So we saw all the animals we had seen already but in bigger numbers, as they came to the river to drink, there were lots of babies again, and being on the water we were able to get really close to the hippos, there babies were really cute, very pink skinned, which I hadn't expected. On the second day, the house boat moved at a very leisurely pace along the river and off we went again in the small boat , we turned off down an off shoot and there were herds of cape buffalo, elephants, Giraffes, all with young ones, and they were doing a mini migration, across the river, complete with crocodiles watching. The giraffes were very cautious and one was obviously in charge , you could almost hear him saying ," come on, this is the way" and back and forth he went herding the nervous ons across, and looking out over the grasslands for some latecomer. The elephants were washing themselves and then they rolled in the dirt. It was fascinating.
There were a few lodges along the banks, with picturesque thatched roofs (rooves?), they all had these huge tall "aerials" on them. They are lightning conductors!!I thought it wass strange all these aerials!! I think we had the best of it on the river, I highly recommend it to anyone, 3 days are about right. The biggest hassle is changing countries, and all the imigration posts. The river meet at a 3 way point and that is 3 different countries! Passport in hand for ages as we hopped in out of 3 countries over abou an hour!very confusing.
Finally that part of our trip was over and we were picked up by vehicle to go on another game drive in Chobe Park, really felt sorry for the driver as we had already seen all the animals he could find for us, in greater numbers at Inyati and from the river, he did get us some lovely shots of very close up Giraffe. They are so elegant! I am turning into an africaphile, is that a word/, but you know what I mean. So the poor man drove us a round for 3 hours and we would just nod and say yes, when he found us a sighting. If we hadn't seen the others first it probably would hav been very exciting, but alas we had already seen more animals than he could show us, so I wouldn,t recommend paying for a game drive there if you had already done sabisands and the river, this was included in our houseboat package. After the drive we were taken to a depot and transferred to a coaster bus and drove to Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls , another passport post!
The hotel was very old world and victorian!, I had a room to myself again, huge with mosquito netting etc, they do the ambience very well.! One felt like you would see an old game hunter with topee walking through!The lawns have resident warthogs grazing the grass, I don't know whether they have to mow or not! Next morning we walked up to the township, Carol and I, and then about 11am we got a cab to the Falls themselves. We were advised to hire a raincoat, there are 15 scenic spots, and from 9 onwards it was too wet to take good photographs, I actually used mine to keep the camera dry. I got soaked at scenic spot 4. I thought it was raining bu t it was the spray, as the river was very full it was " full spate" I know the meaning of the word! you couldn't identify any of the divisions in the falls as the water was roaring over at full depth. fascinating!! I loved it. I got the cab back to the hotel, my walking limit was up, but Carol and Rob walked over the bridge to Zambia, put their toes over the border! After 2 nights there it was off to the airport for the flight to Johannesburg and then a 6 hour wait for our flight to Perth. There endeth the African Odyssey. wonderful, now when someone asks where is the best place I have been , it is a tie between Antarctica and Africa!
So back to Wa, stayed the night at Rob and Carols then they took me to a camera place who managed to ressurrect my photos, well some of them anyway. I could have kissed him, (dreadlocks and all), so I have some photos . They are coming!! Then I flew back to SA to pick up doigs donga version 2 and set off on Anzac day for WA. 2550 kms I think, I made really good time no wind to worry me, stayed first night at Port Augusta, next Ceduna, then freedom camped between Mundrabilla and Madura pass, then Norseman. Some friends of Carol and Rob said are you Vicki? they were on the lookout for me, they were heading east. small world!! Next stop was Merredin, then to sister Jeans. So that was quick, and I had no problems again, the Nullabor crossiing is reallythe easiest thing to do.
spent a night with jean then headed north for my patchwork retreat at Jurien bay. Important things first!!So I will stop there and finish up to date in a couple of days by that time I should have some photos to post to you all!! It will be worth it!!
love to you all
Vicki
Monday, April 22, 2013
Africa, rivers
Hi again, I really though I had it , but no, it ceased and so I start again.
We had 3 days on th.e Chobe river, cruising along at a very sedate pace, it was quite fascinating seeing the animals from the river side. T
We had 3 days on th.e Chobe river, cruising along at a very sedate pace, it was quite fascinating seeing the animals from the river side. T
Africa 3
Part 3 cont.
The disaster, was my new camera failed!!!!! I couldn't buy a new card to keep going, at the game lodge, or from anyone present. so I charged up the mobile and this tablet and proceeded for the rest of the safari lodge trip using them. I am waiting to find out if I can retreieve my photos as it appears to have gotten corrupted. Kep your fingers crossed folks.
That afternoon during my "rest" at our chalet, a small group of vervet monkeys arrived to .play around the doors and windows, sitting up on the window sill and peering in , we had had a broken pane of glass in our door, it was caused by the baboons tipping over the outdoor setting and smashing the pane. We have to keep the door locked at all times as the baboons have learnt how toopen them. A bit later I had a visit from a Nyala, a type of antelope, hecame out of the bush by our room and wandered along eating the grass, just by our window. At night we have to have lodge staff escort us to and from ourrooms, it is an unfenced wild animal area!! Next game drive we saw more male lions, out in the grass,We watched them from quite close up, luckily their stomachs looked pretty full, then an amazing sighting of a python killing a small duiker antelope, by strangling it, but it is amazing that the guides can find these happenings, there are hundreds of square kilometres of land and it is like finding a needle in a haystack. Apparentlytheyheard the little animal squealing as the python caught it. Another African fascinating experience.Later we arrived at the same leopard ess site, , it was getting on dusk, but they spotlit her as she grabbed the kill, ( a coupleof daysold now) and dragged it up a tree, about 10 foot or so the cub leapt up also and grabbed a bit of meat, but as the leopard was getting the kill up higher in the tree, she dropped. The look on her face was priceless. Another great african evevning meal in the "boma", very tasty offerings, and then we were called out of the meal to see a hippo on the lawn grazing. They come out of the water in the night to eat grass. That was the end of dinner.
Another early morning start, straight to 3 male lions, using phone and tablet, so am hoping to put some photos into blog, but don't hold your breath! Long drive to the next animal sighting, a small herd of Zebra, more timid than the first days sighting and a lot ofwaterbuck, The male had good sized antlers, and it is the season, he was trying to mate with various ladies in his harem, but he never managed it! Saw lots more elephants, they are so structive, tearing down the branches of the trees and finally pushing them over to get to the last good bits. , at the end of this morning Carol and Rob nad 4 others from iur jeep, took a guided walk back to thelodge, while I drove back. They were toldthe basic safety instructions, George was carrying the elephant gun, but it was if he said run, you ran, or if hesaid climb a tree you climbed! I would have died! so just as well I drove back. He talked about tracking etc, and they didn't come across anything threatening, but still, it must have been a bit nerve wracking.
After doing most of our packing, we had an even earlier than usual start to leave in the morning, we went on our final game drive. George and Solly took us bush bashing, trying to find some more lions, but we neever found them, Then more elephants, and our final sundowner drinks on a small waterhole where there were hippos and crocodile? (not sure about that , the waterholes begin to blur!)
Up at 4am, for our departure through the Newington Gate, and driven to Kruger airport, we rode the 13 kms in an open jeep and it was bitterly cold! From the gate we went in a toyota pajero or something of that size , the other 4 west australians, were in a different vehicle, all leaving on the same flight, but they had a flat tyre and only just made it in time A quick flight to Jo berg and then a 3 hour flight to Kasane in Botswana, to join our river cruise. Pride of the Zambezi" of course I thought that with that name it must be on the Zambezi river but no, we were on the Chobe river.
The disaster, was my new camera failed!!!!! I couldn't buy a new card to keep going, at the game lodge, or from anyone present. so I charged up the mobile and this tablet and proceeded for the rest of the safari lodge trip using them. I am waiting to find out if I can retreieve my photos as it appears to have gotten corrupted. Kep your fingers crossed folks.
That afternoon during my "rest" at our chalet, a small group of vervet monkeys arrived to .play around the doors and windows, sitting up on the window sill and peering in , we had had a broken pane of glass in our door, it was caused by the baboons tipping over the outdoor setting and smashing the pane. We have to keep the door locked at all times as the baboons have learnt how toopen them. A bit later I had a visit from a Nyala, a type of antelope, hecame out of the bush by our room and wandered along eating the grass, just by our window. At night we have to have lodge staff escort us to and from ourrooms, it is an unfenced wild animal area!! Next game drive we saw more male lions, out in the grass,We watched them from quite close up, luckily their stomachs looked pretty full, then an amazing sighting of a python killing a small duiker antelope, by strangling it, but it is amazing that the guides can find these happenings, there are hundreds of square kilometres of land and it is like finding a needle in a haystack. Apparentlytheyheard the little animal squealing as the python caught it. Another African fascinating experience.Later we arrived at the same leopard ess site, , it was getting on dusk, but they spotlit her as she grabbed the kill, ( a coupleof daysold now) and dragged it up a tree, about 10 foot or so the cub leapt up also and grabbed a bit of meat, but as the leopard was getting the kill up higher in the tree, she dropped. The look on her face was priceless. Another great african evevning meal in the "boma", very tasty offerings, and then we were called out of the meal to see a hippo on the lawn grazing. They come out of the water in the night to eat grass. That was the end of dinner.
Another early morning start, straight to 3 male lions, using phone and tablet, so am hoping to put some photos into blog, but don't hold your breath! Long drive to the next animal sighting, a small herd of Zebra, more timid than the first days sighting and a lot ofwaterbuck, The male had good sized antlers, and it is the season, he was trying to mate with various ladies in his harem, but he never managed it! Saw lots more elephants, they are so structive, tearing down the branches of the trees and finally pushing them over to get to the last good bits. , at the end of this morning Carol and Rob nad 4 others from iur jeep, took a guided walk back to thelodge, while I drove back. They were toldthe basic safety instructions, George was carrying the elephant gun, but it was if he said run, you ran, or if hesaid climb a tree you climbed! I would have died! so just as well I drove back. He talked about tracking etc, and they didn't come across anything threatening, but still, it must have been a bit nerve wracking.
After doing most of our packing, we had an even earlier than usual start to leave in the morning, we went on our final game drive. George and Solly took us bush bashing, trying to find some more lions, but we neever found them, Then more elephants, and our final sundowner drinks on a small waterhole where there were hippos and crocodile? (not sure about that , the waterholes begin to blur!)
Up at 4am, for our departure through the Newington Gate, and driven to Kruger airport, we rode the 13 kms in an open jeep and it was bitterly cold! From the gate we went in a toyota pajero or something of that size , the other 4 west australians, were in a different vehicle, all leaving on the same flight, but they had a flat tyre and only just made it in time A quick flight to Jo berg and then a 3 hour flight to Kasane in Botswana, to join our river cruise. Pride of the Zambezi" of course I thought that with that name it must be on the Zambezi river but no, we were on the Chobe river.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Africa 2
Next morning it is freezing cold, misty but there ahead of us were 3 giraffem and then another, more elephants with their very cute babies and youngsters, evidently elephant young stick with the mother for many years. Then ome real excitement we were voyeurs at a leopard mating. ind you it was so quick you didn't think anything was achieved, but, according to George our guide they mate every 10 minutes or so for about 4 days, gettng longer as the tim goes along. I can't repeat here what Geoe told us about the mechanics, it could be read by underagers! But we were in fits of laughter.We followed them through the bush, to watch about 4 matings. it is the season as there were also waterbuck trying it on, too. The male leopard had beautiful markings on him. We moved on to a waterhole where a herd of Cape Buffalo came through wallowing and drinking they are very heavy animals and their horns are so huge they seemed weighed down by them they don't often lift their heads high. About a 100 or so animals, big bulls, females and lots of calves and a it older youngsters. They pass by really close within 6 feet of the vehicle sometimes. Saw somw more giraffe and then over the two way comes a sighting of male lions, so off we went "bush bashing' through the scrub to find four male lions. they also had recently killed, 3 were around in front of us but the other was out of sight, then as we were manouevering to let another jeep in to get close, we almost ran into one down in the grass!! The grass is really long at the moment so their camouflage is very good we rmained parked about the length of the ln away.Thank heavens they had full stomachs! Then disaster!! My amer
Africa
Hi, we had a good three days in Capetown, we took the hopon hopoff bus, two day ticket, and went up Table mountan, with beautiful weather, clear skies, not much wind, in other words perfect conditions for the Gondola. We queued for ages, along with half the QM 2 crowd! Who we kept seeing all over the place. not surprising as about 1500 aussies got of in Cape Town! It was very convenient our accommodation as we were walking distance to the Va wateront. i was determined to find a clothing shop that I spent up in 3 years ago, and after much diligence i found it, VA has grown since I was there so I felt quite pleased with myself. Unfortunately they didn't really have anything very different om what I already had so I left it. but it was a good shop as all the clothes are made in south Africa.
Then it was an early mornung pick up to get to the air port for the next adventure. A quick flight to Nelspruit, and the kruger Airport, and a pick up by a chatty driver, an ex Kruger park gui, now freelancing. It was good having him cause he told us lots of little details about what to expect and why things were done just so.
So we arrived abiut 3pm , were shown to our chalet/ room. Thatched, big beds, mossie nets, huge bathroom, and large (uncomfortable) chairs. A quick freshen up, even quicker unpack and then afternoon tea and off n the jeeps for our first game drive! WOW!!! 3 lionesses and 7 cubs with a Kudu (antelope) killed very recently hours earlier! We parked about 10 feet away!!! OMG!!! They were tearing into it and totally oblivious to us, all frantically taking photos as fast as we could. Evebtually we dragged ourselves away and went searching out more game. Elephant 1, lots of Impala these are the carnivores food! Wildebeast, Kudu, this time alive. Our driver heard about a leopard but we couldn't find it. That was the end of Day 1.
Day 2 began with a wakeup call on our door at 5 am, brekky by 5.30 and of in the jeep by 6 ish. Ve chilly and of course open vehicles, so the wind whistled through you as we drove.First up we found the leopardes up a tree with her cb strolling around on the ground with her kill, an Impala, just near by. We parkd almost nder h! It was gobsmackingly amazing, words can't describe it. We all took a million photos, there were 6 of us in the jeep at this drive, could seat 9/10. Next a herd of zebra, very close, elephants (plural) with babies, they were so cute, Hippos in the water, rocodile. e drove quite a long way, and passed by Richard Branson's place, which is nex door to Inyati, where we were. i think at this stage I have died and gone to heaven! Just fabulous, our driver and tracker were very good, once you start with a driver you stay with him for the length of your stay. Ours had been together for about 15 years and could almost ad each others minds. They discussed sightings etc in their native (?) Language, but we always found something. People left and more arrived, so your companions on the drives were frequently changing, evidently the average say is 3 days but we were there 4 and I would have enjoyed longer by at least another day. 4 West australians arrived and joined "our " jeep. One was an ex MP for applecross and lived a coupe of blocks om Rob and Carol, they were a group of two friends and a couple. Afternoon drive we saw more Elephants, up ally close with babies, very protective, One gave a mock charge, and then baby did the same it was so funny, A it nerve wracking when you are the one sitting on the outsi edge and are about 6 feet away. Thoe tusks look mighty big! Next off to a sandy river bed and there were our lionesses with their cubs all sprawled out in the hade with the cubs having a great time. Next 3 white rhinos, in a group near an airstrip, as we photographed them we heard a plane engine, and over he rise came a cessna, taxiing, needless to say, it turned and began its takeoff a goodway down the strip, luckily it was a down hill take off! A herd of Cape Buffalo, was the finale of another perfect day.
We had very strict instructions re the vehicle, we couldn't stand up or hang out the sides, we were costantly dodging thorny bushes as we drove, mobile phones coujld be used for photography, but had to be turned off for calls/texts etc. The animals a now used to the presence of the jeeps, have learnt that they are no thrat to them and know their "profile" this is why we coldn't stand up as it could alert the animal that it was somethhing different. Evintly when a new park is commenced it takes quite a long time for the animals to get used to the jeeps and of course they run away, but after a bit, they become used to the presence. Still it is pretty dangerous and you sign your life away with waivers etc!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Queen Mary
Hi to you all,
I have realized another tick off my "bucket list". I have long wanted to travel on the Queens with Cunard, and have achieved that now. I had high expectations as Cunard was supposedly up there with the best in my expectations, unfortunately it didn't quite make it. Don,t get me wrong it was a marvellous experience, but I thought it would be better. I had looked forward to the "gentlemen hosts - dancers" however they left a lot to be desired as they seemed to dance only with the same 15 or so women . I attended bsp;the ballroom dance classes, hoping that that would bring one to their attention, however although they danced with one during the classes, come the real thing and tada, only the same women got asked. Eventually when I was about to explo, I got invited up on the floor a couple of times. Otherwise dancing was a complete washout. I must be getting too old. One of the highlights was afternoon tea in the Queens Ballroom, complete with white gloved waiters, silver service sandwiches, cucumber salmon etc. And the most beautiful little cakes and gorgeous scones and strawberry jam and clotted cream,,,!!! VERY DECADENT. We only had 4 fromal nights in the 15 night cruise. Poor Rob hated getting trussed up in his suit and bow tie, of course Carol and I loved the dress up. In some respects there was not as serious formal wear as on Aurora, but I might be prejuidiced. On board it was hard to find places to sit and read (or sew) as in my case, most of the public rooms were bars, rather than lounges, and it was hard to get a seat. I only got to Trivia once and that used to be my love, but you couldn't get a seat. i joined the choir again, and we did a great performance in the main theatre, very nice too!, I also found a lovely bunch of ladies who met for "unhosted" craft gettogether, mainly knitters and crocheters, but I got 10 blocks of my "farmers wife" quilt done out of the 15 I took with me. 3 blocks I was missing bits from or cut out the pieces back to front! I indulged my self a little in the shops as usual, got a nice watch, and a new ring. (I had to buy it, it fitted me!) The layout of the ship was quite confusing, there were several half decks that meant you were going up a deck and walking along a bit and then going down in the next lift some parts I never got to find properly. One of the best bits was, I won the easter egg raffle! The casino sold tickets and I bought 3, as you do, and one time I was in the lift with a couple who were carrying this monster egg, and they said they had won, I said thats nice, and they said there were 3 prizes, and so off I went. the next night at 10 pm, the phone rings in the cabin, I am in bed in the top bunk, and Rob answers and they ask for Mees veeki, any way long story short. i won the main egg. It was huge about 2 kgs of gorgeous dark chocolate, beautifully decorated. And they delivered it that night. I don't have any face on, in my nightie and they want photos!!! I took it to dinner the next night for our table companions to help us eat it, we were on a table for 10 (actually the captains table, but he used it at late dinner and we were early!) I also gave a big chunk of it to our table stewards and the cabin girl, but still we are eating it here in Capetown,,,. So it was a great experience, but I probably won't be busting myself to sail with her again, I prefer P and O or other lines. A lot of emphasis is put on the "upper echelon" people, it might be a classless ship, but if you pay so much for your cabin you are entitled to different restaurants, and lounges, and if you are a "round the worlder" well!!! One of the comediens, a guy called Mike Doyle just was fantastic, he took the mickey out of the ship through his whole show. The upper echelons are called the Princess Grill or Queens Grill passengers, those are the restaurants they use, and he was calling them the mixed grills" I will never be able to see a mixed grill in the same light again. Any way all good things come to an end, and we disembarked at Capetown, South Africa on Wednesday, and we are in a most luxurious apartment with 2 bedrooms and bathrooms etc, very posh, right near the VA waterfront. So I will leave with something to tell you in a weks time as we go safariing during the next week. god bless all those who need it Love to you all Vicki
I have realized another tick off my "bucket list". I have long wanted to travel on the Queens with Cunard, and have achieved that now. I had high expectations as Cunard was supposedly up there with the best in my expectations, unfortunately it didn't quite make it. Don,t get me wrong it was a marvellous experience, but I thought it would be better. I had looked forward to the "gentlemen hosts - dancers" however they left a lot to be desired as they seemed to dance only with the same 15 or so women . I attended bsp;the ballroom dance classes, hoping that that would bring one to their attention, however although they danced with one during the classes, come the real thing and tada, only the same women got asked. Eventually when I was about to explo, I got invited up on the floor a couple of times. Otherwise dancing was a complete washout. I must be getting too old. One of the highlights was afternoon tea in the Queens Ballroom, complete with white gloved waiters, silver service sandwiches, cucumber salmon etc. And the most beautiful little cakes and gorgeous scones and strawberry jam and clotted cream,,,!!! VERY DECADENT. We only had 4 fromal nights in the 15 night cruise. Poor Rob hated getting trussed up in his suit and bow tie, of course Carol and I loved the dress up. In some respects there was not as serious formal wear as on Aurora, but I might be prejuidiced. On board it was hard to find places to sit and read (or sew) as in my case, most of the public rooms were bars, rather than lounges, and it was hard to get a seat. I only got to Trivia once and that used to be my love, but you couldn't get a seat. i joined the choir again, and we did a great performance in the main theatre, very nice too!, I also found a lovely bunch of ladies who met for "unhosted" craft gettogether, mainly knitters and crocheters, but I got 10 blocks of my "farmers wife" quilt done out of the 15 I took with me. 3 blocks I was missing bits from or cut out the pieces back to front! I indulged my self a little in the shops as usual, got a nice watch, and a new ring. (I had to buy it, it fitted me!) The layout of the ship was quite confusing, there were several half decks that meant you were going up a deck and walking along a bit and then going down in the next lift some parts I never got to find properly. One of the best bits was, I won the easter egg raffle! The casino sold tickets and I bought 3, as you do, and one time I was in the lift with a couple who were carrying this monster egg, and they said they had won, I said thats nice, and they said there were 3 prizes, and so off I went. the next night at 10 pm, the phone rings in the cabin, I am in bed in the top bunk, and Rob answers and they ask for Mees veeki, any way long story short. i won the main egg. It was huge about 2 kgs of gorgeous dark chocolate, beautifully decorated. And they delivered it that night. I don't have any face on, in my nightie and they want photos!!! I took it to dinner the next night for our table companions to help us eat it, we were on a table for 10 (actually the captains table, but he used it at late dinner and we were early!) I also gave a big chunk of it to our table stewards and the cabin girl, but still we are eating it here in Capetown,,,. So it was a great experience, but I probably won't be busting myself to sail with her again, I prefer P and O or other lines. A lot of emphasis is put on the "upper echelon" people, it might be a classless ship, but if you pay so much for your cabin you are entitled to different restaurants, and lounges, and if you are a "round the worlder" well!!! One of the comediens, a guy called Mike Doyle just was fantastic, he took the mickey out of the ship through his whole show. The upper echelons are called the Princess Grill or Queens Grill passengers, those are the restaurants they use, and he was calling them the mixed grills" I will never be able to see a mixed grill in the same light again. Any way all good things come to an end, and we disembarked at Capetown, South Africa on Wednesday, and we are in a most luxurious apartment with 2 bedrooms and bathrooms etc, very posh, right near the VA waterfront. So I will leave with something to tell you in a weks time as we go safariing during the next week. god bless all those who need it Love to you all Vicki
Friday, March 1, 2013
Antarctica part 4
We all thought it was going to be a "Yarn" as he was very entertaining and humourous. But no, it was a real story, He was captured by pirates off somalia,in this yacht, Le Ponant, in April 2008, with a crew of 30 luckily no passengers as they were repositioning the boat, held for about 4/5 days while negotiations went on between his company and the pirates with him in the middle, they were armed to the teeeth, fired shots into the ship several times, lots of photos, he was stalling to give the navy time to get close, very dramatic, Long story short, he got all his crcew off safely including himself, in exchange for 2 million us dollars, and they got the yacht back and the french captured 6 of them but only got back a tenth of the money. When he got back to France President Sarkovy awarded him the Legion d'Honouer. So not only was he handsome and soooo sexy voiced, but brave as well! Well we are back in Buenos aires now, and only got 2 more days left, This has truly been the best experience of my life as far as travel goes , so far! I will post the photos soon, but I didn't bring my cable and I have taken so many I need to prune them, but I promise I will post some and the rest you will have to wait until we meet and you can see them on my computer or the tv. Au revoir, and Bonjour.
vicki
vicki
Antarctica part 3
Carying on, THe penguins were very cute, we were advised to put aside the cameras and just watch, and carry the memories in your head. sound advice, as you can spend too long looking thru, the camera lens. The Captain had an open bridge policy, so we coild go up there at any time, and watch from there when there were icebergs, whales, penguins, seals, birds, more icebergs. really fabulous. I don't have the superlatives to describe all the experience, except to say it was the most wonderful trip. We land on mainland Antarctica, my 7 th continent, as well as various islands in the peninsula. We even found a shop! At Port Locroy, there is a british base mand during the summer, and they have some tourist stuff, postcards, maps, teatowels, etc, and a great museum of the early days. We all posted postcards, so some of you can expect them in a bout 3 months time! Some people had the chance to do a 3hour hike, across a peninsula, 27 elected to do it, there was no turning back as the ship moved on! some went for a polar plunge!! It was in an area where the sea was minutely warmed by volcanic heat, as a matter of fact, the pudles on shore were quite hot, but the sea quickly cooled it down, still some folk braved it while we all cheered!! I was sorry i didn't try it, but realistically the thought of stripping down in front of everyone was more than I could stomach!
So then suddenly it was almost over, we had a final gala dinner with the captain, oh how sexy was his voice, in his fractured english, when he gave us the Weather reports! all us old girls were swooning over him. Then he gave us a talk about piracy and Le Ponant, which is one of the ships from the line. It is one of those 4 masted sailing ships. We all thought it was going to be a "arn"
So then suddenly it was almost over, we had a final gala dinner with the captain, oh how sexy was his voice, in his fractured english, when he gave us the Weather reports! all us old girls were swooning over him. Then he gave us a talk about piracy and Le Ponant, which is one of the ships from the line. It is one of those 4 masted sailing ships. We all thought it was going to be a "arn"
Antarctica part 2
So where was I , yes 4 straight sunny days, as the Captain said we paid our dues to Antarctica in the Drakes Crossing, I will jump around as I will do this from my head rather than referring to my notes, We went out every day, twice, landing evry day and often twice, but sometimes a zodiac cruise, for example there is an area called Iceberg Alley, hundreds of icebergs, aground, huge, very spectacular, all that beautiful blue ice, arches, caves, flat ones low ones, high, one, and then I saw the first whale on our zodiac... talk about a thrill, we saw 12/13 Minke whales... Our zodiac driver, who was actually the expedition leader, Juan, id he had never seen more than 3/4 together at any one time. Special. we spent about 90 minutes out , which is plenty in those temperatures, I ran my battery flat in the camers, and we stopped in a seclu spot, turned off the motor and just listened to the sea and the ice it was awesome. Then we had champagne. They really knew how to celebrate the experience. Another time we stopped beside a huge ice floe and we were able to land on it and had photos takenetc. The expedition crew went out before us and marked out routes that werre safe for us to walk on, on the glaciers, and along the beaches so we didn't upset the penguins and seals. the penguins were in a moult stage, a lot of them, so they stay pretty quiet, so as not to use a lot of energy, as they can't go into the sea when they are in moult.The chicks were almost big enough to go i to the water,q and were just a little fluffy. Penguins are so funny to just watch for minutes at a time
Antarctica
Hi All,
I will write until the tablet gets tired and then start again!
WEll, I don't have the words to adequately describe this trip. It has been amazingî f rom start to finish. Of course the flight from Adelaide to Sydney was nothing, apart that it was a very hot day, and with parking up the motor hpme and getting to the airport, it was pretty uncomfortable. We spent the night at the Stamford Airport hotel, with a 4am call for the airport. No problems there we board a Lan Airways flight to Aukland, Santiago, and then Buenos Aires. The only food they fed us was bread and ham and cheese! We did get a very small (even by airline standards} meal of veal, but otherwise it was bread and cheese and ham, and bread and ham and cheese, all very stale. and not to my taste as bread stucks in my craw these days, oh well it saved me eating too much. They also weren't too keen to give us drinks either. Lan has gone to the bottom of my airline list.. We had a nice couple of days in Buenos Aires, a really good guide , who was easy to understand, took us on a city tour, including seing Evita's tomb, then we walked to a market and had a delicious and tasty and tender Argentine steak, melted in your mouth, good beef too. So after a walk around La Boca, an area known for where the Tango started, it is very colourful, with a lot of uildings made out of corrugated iron, but painted in all the colours of the rainbow. We were given lots of warnings of thieving and pick pockets etc, and not to wear gold jewellry on the streets, but nothing happened to us, at least. Then another early morning call 3.30am, and we were off to the airport for our flight to Ushuaia. VEry cold when we got there and rainy, they piled us into buses for a tour around the peninsula, including a great bbq lunch, lamb, and salads and wines etc. very tatsy, they bbq the whole side of lamb propped up around a huge fire, 6/8 sides at once, and they serve all the animal, not the heads, but you get the picture, some bits were more boney than others but really tasty . We finally got delivered to the ship about 5 pm.
Our cabin was a bit squeezy, with 3of us in it, but we quickly sorted ourselves out, unpacked and got organised. This is a very luxurious 5 star ship, but an Expedition ship, not a cruise, as they frequently told us. aSo lots of lectures etc, and no bingo! First evening the captain, Le Commandant, warned us of bad weather across Drake Pasage, so we were laying sailing until midnight in hopes of missing the worst!!! Ha! We all went to bed with great trepidation, but morning came and we could see, huge seas, and howling winds, oh mi god!! but, I was happy to be ok. sat and sewed my patchwork blocks, went to lunch, thought iI'll just take a Kwells to be on the safe si, and was very happy all crosing. Most I would say were not so lucky. Carol and I fared very well, but not so Poor Rob, He took to his bed and that was that. Apparently we had seas of 13 metre s, 160km hr winds, the wavees were washing the bridge 5 cks up!! #,and it was a force 9/10 gale. The worst the captain had had, all season! And on the third day it cleard and the sun shone, and we saw icebergs, and icebergs and we were nearly there. THE GREAT WHITE SOUTH LAND. Wow. Out came our Red Parkas, our zodiac lifevests, our rubber boots and every piece of clothing we had, we were going ashore!! Truly amazing, the expedition crew helped us in and out of the zodiacs, sometimes we had a dry landing and sometimes a wet one, always a bit nerve racking in case the water was deeper than my boots! but all the clothes worked, I was always dry and warm enough, except for the fingers during photography. The big warm ski gloves are a bit clumsy when trying to adjust cameras etc. So we saw penguins, in english and pinguines , in ench, and still more penguins. three types, Chinstraps, they were easy to tell as they had a little black chinstrap unr their chins, Adelies and Gentoos, which I still am not sure which are which, one has an orange beak, and the other is the tuxedo penguin. We saw hundreds and smelt lots of penghuin poo. every landing and return to the ship, you had to wash your boots in sea water first, then once on the ship, they had these big scrubbing buckets, for you to put your feet into and scrub offf the penguin poo, and your hiking sticks, then it was walk to a bath of very strong disinfectant, to walk through and put your sticks in, then walk up a deck to the boot puller offs. great things a "v" of wood you put your heel into and just as easy as that pulled your foot out of the boot and walked back to your cabin in your socks, carrying your boots. Outside each cabin was a mat where your boots lived until the next call to go out.
So we were incredibly lucky apparently, as we had 4straight brilliantly sunny days
I will write until the tablet gets tired and then start again!
WEll, I don't have the words to adequately describe this trip. It has been amazingî f rom start to finish. Of course the flight from Adelaide to Sydney was nothing, apart that it was a very hot day, and with parking up the motor hpme and getting to the airport, it was pretty uncomfortable. We spent the night at the Stamford Airport hotel, with a 4am call for the airport. No problems there we board a Lan Airways flight to Aukland, Santiago, and then Buenos Aires. The only food they fed us was bread and ham and cheese! We did get a very small (even by airline standards} meal of veal, but otherwise it was bread and cheese and ham, and bread and ham and cheese, all very stale. and not to my taste as bread stucks in my craw these days, oh well it saved me eating too much. They also weren't too keen to give us drinks either. Lan has gone to the bottom of my airline list.. We had a nice couple of days in Buenos Aires, a really good guide , who was easy to understand, took us on a city tour, including seing Evita's tomb, then we walked to a market and had a delicious and tasty and tender Argentine steak, melted in your mouth, good beef too. So after a walk around La Boca, an area known for where the Tango started, it is very colourful, with a lot of uildings made out of corrugated iron, but painted in all the colours of the rainbow. We were given lots of warnings of thieving and pick pockets etc, and not to wear gold jewellry on the streets, but nothing happened to us, at least. Then another early morning call 3.30am, and we were off to the airport for our flight to Ushuaia. VEry cold when we got there and rainy, they piled us into buses for a tour around the peninsula, including a great bbq lunch, lamb, and salads and wines etc. very tatsy, they bbq the whole side of lamb propped up around a huge fire, 6/8 sides at once, and they serve all the animal, not the heads, but you get the picture, some bits were more boney than others but really tasty . We finally got delivered to the ship about 5 pm.
Our cabin was a bit squeezy, with 3of us in it, but we quickly sorted ourselves out, unpacked and got organised. This is a very luxurious 5 star ship, but an Expedition ship, not a cruise, as they frequently told us. aSo lots of lectures etc, and no bingo! First evening the captain, Le Commandant, warned us of bad weather across Drake Pasage, so we were laying sailing until midnight in hopes of missing the worst!!! Ha! We all went to bed with great trepidation, but morning came and we could see, huge seas, and howling winds, oh mi god!! but, I was happy to be ok. sat and sewed my patchwork blocks, went to lunch, thought iI'll just take a Kwells to be on the safe si, and was very happy all crosing. Most I would say were not so lucky. Carol and I fared very well, but not so Poor Rob, He took to his bed and that was that. Apparently we had seas of 13 metre s, 160km hr winds, the wavees were washing the bridge 5 cks up!! #,and it was a force 9/10 gale. The worst the captain had had, all season! And on the third day it cleard and the sun shone, and we saw icebergs, and icebergs and we were nearly there. THE GREAT WHITE SOUTH LAND. Wow. Out came our Red Parkas, our zodiac lifevests, our rubber boots and every piece of clothing we had, we were going ashore!! Truly amazing, the expedition crew helped us in and out of the zodiacs, sometimes we had a dry landing and sometimes a wet one, always a bit nerve racking in case the water was deeper than my boots! but all the clothes worked, I was always dry and warm enough, except for the fingers during photography. The big warm ski gloves are a bit clumsy when trying to adjust cameras etc. So we saw penguins, in english and pinguines , in ench, and still more penguins. three types, Chinstraps, they were easy to tell as they had a little black chinstrap unr their chins, Adelies and Gentoos, which I still am not sure which are which, one has an orange beak, and the other is the tuxedo penguin. We saw hundreds and smelt lots of penghuin poo. every landing and return to the ship, you had to wash your boots in sea water first, then once on the ship, they had these big scrubbing buckets, for you to put your feet into and scrub offf the penguin poo, and your hiking sticks, then it was walk to a bath of very strong disinfectant, to walk through and put your sticks in, then walk up a deck to the boot puller offs. great things a "v" of wood you put your heel into and just as easy as that pulled your foot out of the boot and walked back to your cabin in your socks, carrying your boots. Outside each cabin was a mat where your boots lived until the next call to go out.
So we were incredibly lucky apparently, as we had 4straight brilliantly sunny days
Monday, February 11, 2013
SA Again Part 2
Hi To all my patient readers, After the tablet ceased doing what I wanted it to, here I am again.
We were up to the snake!! Of course we had to by more wine to calm our nerves! Needless to say, we keep seeing "snakes" every where now. Not any sightings have been proven. Thank heavens. Then it was back , ( for me), to Victor Harbor. a campsite I have been to before, the Uniting Church Camp, at Adare Park, basic, but clean , flat sites with enough trees to shade you when you want it. So here we are on countdown to Sth America and Antarctica, 3 days to go. We have been madly packing thermals and shorts. Madness trying to deal with two seasons. So far my luggage only weighs 13 Kilos, I must be leaving something out!! A small panic when I couldn,t find the binoculars, but they turned up, in a corner of the case packed there weeks ago so I didn't forget them. Also have to get more than one camera battery, as the cold shortens the life of them. Imagine the magnificent shot of a whale or anything and the battery dies! So I bought 2 more. Carol and Rob are looking after me really well, driving me to town for a haircut and waiting around. Tonight we go to dine with friends of theirs who I have previously met, that will be nice.
So there we have it, almost ready to leave for the great white continent. Probably won't have access down there, , so you will have to wait for march for the next instalment, hopefully with photos. Keep safe until March
Vicki
We were up to the snake!! Of course we had to by more wine to calm our nerves! Needless to say, we keep seeing "snakes" every where now. Not any sightings have been proven. Thank heavens. Then it was back , ( for me), to Victor Harbor. a campsite I have been to before, the Uniting Church Camp, at Adare Park, basic, but clean , flat sites with enough trees to shade you when you want it. So here we are on countdown to Sth America and Antarctica, 3 days to go. We have been madly packing thermals and shorts. Madness trying to deal with two seasons. So far my luggage only weighs 13 Kilos, I must be leaving something out!! A small panic when I couldn,t find the binoculars, but they turned up, in a corner of the case packed there weeks ago so I didn't forget them. Also have to get more than one camera battery, as the cold shortens the life of them. Imagine the magnificent shot of a whale or anything and the battery dies! So I bought 2 more. Carol and Rob are looking after me really well, driving me to town for a haircut and waiting around. Tonight we go to dine with friends of theirs who I have previously met, that will be nice.
So there we have it, almost ready to leave for the great white continent. Probably won't have access down there, , so you will have to wait for march for the next instalment, hopefully with photos. Keep safe until March
Vicki
Saturday, February 9, 2013
SA AGAIN! Part
Hi Folksf
Don't panic, I havn't got lost. I decided after taking charge of the new doigs donga, that I would travel back to SA and do the meet and greet with my fellow Antarcticans?
So I travelled across Victoria in fine style, , getting the hang of the new vehicle, doing plenty of swearing as I discoveredthe differences. STayed a night at Horsham, previously visited, then a couple of nights practising my "free" camping at Narrung, also previously visited. Thrn on to Adelaide with Carol and Rob. w attended the gathering at Glenelg, nibblies and wine, wearing name tags, and met a few of our fellow travellers. From there we moved on to Pt Parham, about 60 odd kms north of Adelaide, I spent 3 nights there as I was waiting for mail from the West to arrive at geoff and adeles, my sa postal address. Thanks guys. Carol and rob headed off a day earlier as they had iends to visit. We met up again at Langhorne Creek, my favorite spot, lovely free camp, oppositea joint wine tasting house. I actually belong to their club. great wines. Across the roadabout 200 metres isagood local pub with nice meals. Perfect spot to stay. I had a taste the afternoon I arrived, reminded them I was a club member, and as it was closing time, walked away with 2 neatly full bottles of my favorite bubbles. They apparently discard the opened botles after a couple of days. Nice one Vicki. Next day Carol and Rob arrived, and we went off to a few other wineries, for a taste or 2/3/4. Get the picture? Luckily Rob is a convinced beer drinker. All was well till we got to the almost final winery, to find we had let a small snake in thru the door with us,!! A bit of hysterics later, they were able to herd it out side again.
Don't panic, I havn't got lost. I decided after taking charge of the new doigs donga, that I would travel back to SA and do the meet and greet with my fellow Antarcticans?
So I travelled across Victoria in fine style, , getting the hang of the new vehicle, doing plenty of swearing as I discoveredthe differences. STayed a night at Horsham, previously visited, then a couple of nights practising my "free" camping at Narrung, also previously visited. Thrn on to Adelaide with Carol and Rob. w attended the gathering at Glenelg, nibblies and wine, wearing name tags, and met a few of our fellow travellers. From there we moved on to Pt Parham, about 60 odd kms north of Adelaide, I spent 3 nights there as I was waiting for mail from the West to arrive at geoff and adeles, my sa postal address. Thanks guys. Carol and rob headed off a day earlier as they had iends to visit. We met up again at Langhorne Creek, my favorite spot, lovely free camp, oppositea joint wine tasting house. I actually belong to their club. great wines. Across the roadabout 200 metres isagood local pub with nice meals. Perfect spot to stay. I had a taste the afternoon I arrived, reminded them I was a club member, and as it was closing time, walked away with 2 neatly full bottles of my favorite bubbles. They apparently discard the opened botles after a couple of days. Nice one Vicki. Next day Carol and Rob arrived, and we went off to a few other wineries, for a taste or 2/3/4. Get the picture? Luckily Rob is a convinced beer drinker. All was well till we got to the almost final winery, to find we had let a small snake in thru the door with us,!! A bit of hysterics later, they were able to herd it out side again.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
January 2013t
Hi everyon, I ope the new year is going well for you.
I am once again struggling with the "ttablet". Have settled back into life on the road again after my trip to WA for Christmas . I picked up my gorgeous new motorhome on Friday 11th. Have been struggling ever since with trying to repack all my stuff back into the new one! Carol and Rob came to Loch for a night and we christened the motorhome with my last birthday bottle of Moet! Delicious, thanks to Anne, naturally we drank it, not a drop went on the vehicle!
Then i did a little trial to Lake Tyers Beach to visit with Marg, who dates back to Exmouth days.A pleasant fw days, I spent half of it glued to the tv watching the tennis. earler i went down to Melbourne for a couple of days , I met Lyn from Graldton, and we spent a wonderful day at Rod Laver Arena, watching , among others, Sam Stosu, our Australian girl who can't win a match on aussie soil! very frustrating!Ut it was a fabulous experience just being ther, another tick on my bucket list. After going back to Lch, again, I managed to get a few more things loaded in, including my recent wine club delivery! I needed that, and it is consumable, so the space will be needed later!
This eekend, I have been visiting Courtney Hall, my Exmouh friend Merrilyn's daughter. She wasburnt out in the 2009 fires in Ictoria, but has rebuilt. She and her partner Rob have a new daughter, born in August, so I met her, and to my delight, but some consternation, I have been invited to their wedding in March. It will mean a squeeze wih my time, but I am studying routes an mileages to see if it is doable. Tight, but possible, I hope. I am on my way to Adelaide to go o the pre Antarctic meer and greet and info night, so that is only 19 days away! That could well be the next blog. so good luck and safe travellingfor the year.
Love Icki
I am once again struggling with the "ttablet". Have settled back into life on the road again after my trip to WA for Christmas . I picked up my gorgeous new motorhome on Friday 11th. Have been struggling ever since with trying to repack all my stuff back into the new one! Carol and Rob came to Loch for a night and we christened the motorhome with my last birthday bottle of Moet! Delicious, thanks to Anne, naturally we drank it, not a drop went on the vehicle!
Then i did a little trial to Lake Tyers Beach to visit with Marg, who dates back to Exmouth days.A pleasant fw days, I spent half of it glued to the tv watching the tennis. earler i went down to Melbourne for a couple of days , I met Lyn from Graldton, and we spent a wonderful day at Rod Laver Arena, watching , among others, Sam Stosu, our Australian girl who can't win a match on aussie soil! very frustrating!Ut it was a fabulous experience just being ther, another tick on my bucket list. After going back to Lch, again, I managed to get a few more things loaded in, including my recent wine club delivery! I needed that, and it is consumable, so the space will be needed later!
This eekend, I have been visiting Courtney Hall, my Exmouh friend Merrilyn's daughter. She wasburnt out in the 2009 fires in Ictoria, but has rebuilt. She and her partner Rob have a new daughter, born in August, so I met her, and to my delight, but some consternation, I have been invited to their wedding in March. It will mean a squeeze wih my time, but I am studying routes an mileages to see if it is doable. Tight, but possible, I hope. I am on my way to Adelaide to go o the pre Antarctic meer and greet and info night, so that is only 19 days away! That could well be the next blog. so good luck and safe travellingfor the year.
Love Icki
Friday, January 4, 2013
Happy New Year
Hello to all and a Happy New Year to everyone.
Can you believe it, it's 2013 already.? I hope everyone had a lovely time with family and friends over the Festive Season. Personally mine was a health disaster, but I am looking for the good in it!
Backing up to my last post ,first, I drove the motorhome to +glenda and +Ray's in Woodleigh in Victoria.There ''we'' proceeded to try to empty out the ''donga'' ready for the handover to my new motorhome. Oh . the things I found! stuff i had forgotten I had with me. The pressies I had bought ! you name it I found it! Finally I had reduced it enough! ( Well still a bit to go. you can't rush these things!) Then I packed for my Christmas trip home to WA. Monday came, and Ray drove me the 100km or so over to Bayswater, to inspect the new ''donga''. Ooh she's lovely. (you will have to wait for next blog and pictures!).
Tuesday i flew back to WA, picked up a hire car and spent the night at Jill and John's. That was great, to catch up with them. John is Genevieve's god father, and I certainly haven't seen as much of them .as I would have liked, although I see Jill a couple of times a year as she started patchworking with her sister in law, Dorothy, who is my sister's friend. (6 degrees of separation at work!) Anyway next morning it was off to Geraldton, to stay with +Meg and Geoff, visit with son, Ben and family, and have a dental extraction. (in that order!)
Thats about when my visit went to the pack! Major pain, alcohol free day after wards, and soft foods! What on earth was I thinking , to have a molar removed before Christmas? Well the short story is that I drove down south to sister Jean's and her hubby Lawries' place and then all hell broke loose. After a visit to Mum, in Busselton, and a couple of days with sister Maxine, all pretensions to a Happy Christmas was over. I developed an infection plus a ''dry'' socket. Went on a very nasty anti biotic, alcohol free for 5 days, and swallowed masses of painkillers and anti inflammatories, plus had 2 visits to Jeans' dentist for syringing out infection and packing etc. I tell you I would willingly have cut my head off if I thought it would reduce the pain!!! I am such a wuss, but Ihave never experienced such pain before. Next tooth can rot in my head before I have another extraction!,
So here it is just 4 days til î fly back and I am just getting back towards normal. down to painkillers only twice a day now. The only benefit was I lost 3 kilos, while i exsisted on yoghurt and Jeans homemade soup.
To those of you I thought I was going to visit this trip, sorry, next time. I hope everybody had a much better cHristmas Seasonthan I did, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy!
May you all have a wonderful, prosperous and healthy 2013. I will be in touch
Love Vicki
Can you believe it, it's 2013 already.? I hope everyone had a lovely time with family and friends over the Festive Season. Personally mine was a health disaster, but I am looking for the good in it!
Backing up to my last post ,first, I drove the motorhome to +glenda and +Ray's in Woodleigh in Victoria.There ''we'' proceeded to try to empty out the ''donga'' ready for the handover to my new motorhome. Oh . the things I found! stuff i had forgotten I had with me. The pressies I had bought ! you name it I found it! Finally I had reduced it enough! ( Well still a bit to go. you can't rush these things!) Then I packed for my Christmas trip home to WA. Monday came, and Ray drove me the 100km or so over to Bayswater, to inspect the new ''donga''. Ooh she's lovely. (you will have to wait for next blog and pictures!).
Tuesday i flew back to WA, picked up a hire car and spent the night at Jill and John's. That was great, to catch up with them. John is Genevieve's god father, and I certainly haven't seen as much of them .as I would have liked, although I see Jill a couple of times a year as she started patchworking with her sister in law, Dorothy, who is my sister's friend. (6 degrees of separation at work!) Anyway next morning it was off to Geraldton, to stay with +Meg and Geoff, visit with son, Ben and family, and have a dental extraction. (in that order!)
Thats about when my visit went to the pack! Major pain, alcohol free day after wards, and soft foods! What on earth was I thinking , to have a molar removed before Christmas? Well the short story is that I drove down south to sister Jean's and her hubby Lawries' place and then all hell broke loose. After a visit to Mum, in Busselton, and a couple of days with sister Maxine, all pretensions to a Happy Christmas was over. I developed an infection plus a ''dry'' socket. Went on a very nasty anti biotic, alcohol free for 5 days, and swallowed masses of painkillers and anti inflammatories, plus had 2 visits to Jeans' dentist for syringing out infection and packing etc. I tell you I would willingly have cut my head off if I thought it would reduce the pain!!! I am such a wuss, but Ihave never experienced such pain before. Next tooth can rot in my head before I have another extraction!,
So here it is just 4 days til î fly back and I am just getting back towards normal. down to painkillers only twice a day now. The only benefit was I lost 3 kilos, while i exsisted on yoghurt and Jeans homemade soup.
To those of you I thought I was going to visit this trip, sorry, next time. I hope everybody had a much better cHristmas Seasonthan I did, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy!
May you all have a wonderful, prosperous and healthy 2013. I will be in touch
Love Vicki
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