A very goldfields Christmas. Alternatively titled: holiday season wrap up

Hoping everyone had a lovely Christmas/New Year and 2013 is going well so far. Here's a wrap-up of our festive season, in point form and pics:

* Christmas Eve: proceedings started off a little bit glam, at least as far as my feet were concerned. I wore these pretty heels out to dinner with my sister and her work mates. We had a great time, save for one slightly embarrassing moment when Rosie swiped a piece of garlic bread out of a girl's hand and shoved it in her gob. By the end of the week my feet were much less glamorous thanks to the polish being chipped and the skin stained by sun, sand and dirt. 

* Christmas Day: Was a fantastic day. Was the first time I've had it with my family in several years, and of course was Rosie's first ever, so it was a special time. She especially liked the wrapping paper and ribbons. I especially liked the wine. Paul especially liked the dessert selection.

* The following week: Was beach time! We headed south with my parents to the Esperance region for a week of seaside camping. As did about half of the rest of WA - we picked one of the more remote sites (Seal Creek campsite in Cape Arid National Park) and even it was full for most of our stay. 

Highlights included the stunning beaches, hooking a tasty mulloway that fed us for two nights (Paul's efforts), a couple of hours all to myself one morning while the others went to the beach, a reprieve from the heat of the goldfields and the general lazing about one does while on holidays. Rosie took to camping quite well and was keen to sample the local fare: 

I think someone's been watching too many survival shows on the
Discovery Channel with daddy.

Lowlights included a) getting bogged in the sand and b) getting bogged in the sand. This was all Paul's fault of course - he was driving - but he felt so foolish I didn't even really have the option of properly berating him. He particularly felt like a grade A buffoon when we'd walked part of the way back to camp and upon leaving the soft sand part for the gravel road part he realised he'd left his shoes at the floundering ute. He soldiered on until he could go no further and dived off the road onto his back, his smoking feet waggling in the air like those of an upturned turtle. 
Lowlight #2 was finding a live ginormous biggish spider in our tent when we packed up. Not sure I'll ever feel secure in that tent again. 

Then we came home to 45+ degree weather and the cool sea breezes and frigid ocean (it was so bloody cold it took me to the last day to work up to having a swim) seemed like a distant memory. It was worth it though to be back to a sand-free bed in a spider-free room. 

How was your Christmas season? Do anything exciting? 

Thankful for... public holidays

Once again, I forgot we had a public holiday this week. I'm not one who often remembers them, other than the obvious dates like Christmas, Anzac Day etc. I'm usually alerted when I overhear people discussing long weekend plans, get curious, check the calendar and sing 'woohoo, a public holiday!'  
Apart from the possibility that I have a shocking memory, my inability to remember public holidays stems mainly from the fact that I've rarely actually gotten the day off. Working in firstly the media, and then the mining industry, took care of that. 
And now that I'm at home with a baby, every day is a day 'off'. Or a day 'on', depending on how you look at it. 
The husband too works in the mines, so trotted off to his job early Monday morning. 

But even though public holidays may not mean sleep-ins, back yard barbecues and a shortened working week in our household, they still have advantages:
* Penalty rates. More dough isn't something to sneeze at. 
* Relaxed atmosphere at work. Management (generally) takes the day off. Need I say more?
* Free parking. Totally irrelevant now, but this was a huge bonus when I worked in Cairns. We loved days when the parking inspectors stayed away. 
* Casual clothes in the office. Hello shorts and flip flops! On the mine site, well, it's still boots and hard hats. 
* I got to whine about having to go to work when almost everyone else in the country was still in their pyjamas (conveniently omitting the fact that I got either extra pay or extra annual leave as recompense).

Do you love public holidays? Or are they just another day for you?

Linking up with Kate from Kate Says Stuff for this Thankful Thursday. 

Wordless Wednesday - Escape from the desert

We finally drove down to visit the Esperance region last weekend. After a dreadful start, weather-wise, we got some magical days.

Blue, blue sky. blue, blue water and white sand.

One of the gorgeous bays.

Our unsuccessful attempts at a sand handprint to mark Rosie's first beach visit.

More white beach and blue water.

Rocky beach.

Paul enjoyed putting the ute through its 4WD paces.

Sunrise over the bay.

Seaside wildflowers.

More wildflowers.

Linking up with Trish for Wordless Wednesday again. Thanks Trish!

Have you been anywhere nice lately? Or do you have a trip planned?

WA road trip 2011 - days 6 to 8

With the sun deigning to make a return, and the canvas sealant applied, we were able to pack up a dry tent on day 6. That day we went as far as a little seaside village called Cervantes.
We just overnighted there - and enjoyed a bargain seafood platter at the local bowling club thanks to a voucher from the caravan park. Honestly, where would this country be without its bowling clubs?
From there Paul and I made a quick trip into a mad little pocket of coastal land called The Pinnacles. It's a funny little mini-desert, virtually right on the coast, and completely dotted with small rock formations rising out of the ground. Quite intriguing. And as I was feeling very lazy-bonesy that morning, I was delighted to learn you could drive through it, instead of having to walk. Hurrah! (You can walk through it too, if you're feeling even remotely energetic.)

Various shots of the Pinnacles. See, I didn't just sit in the car the whole way.

At one point we advised a gent on his camera, who wanted to know whether megabytes or gigabytes were bigger.
The road from there took us north, toward Geraldton and through beautiful lush farmland. Until, just south of Geraldton, we found a gorgeous stretch of beach and decided to make it home for the following few days.
We were happy with it, anyway. I can't say the same for the fish that ended up in our bellies. Other campers who came along and discovered we'd nabbed the best spot may not have been quite as impressed, either.
We'd been on the move almost every day since leaving home and it was finally time to kick back in one spot for a while. And kick back we did. There were walks along the beach, a brief, ankle-deep paddle in the wintry Indian Ocean, drinks as the sun went down over the water, fishing expeditions and morning sleep-ins.
I made a dent in the stack of magazines that had been building up at home and I'd bought along. I baked a cake. And, with the smidge of network coverage available, I even caught up on a couple of emails.
The most arduous part was trudging through the thick sand to get anywhere. Well, it was until our final night there. Then circumstances became decidedly more arduous...

Beautiful Flat Rock beach. Photos courtesy of my mother. Thanks Mum.
The orange tent is ours. No idea who the surfer is - quite a few turned up during the weekend we were there.

To be continued...

WA road trip: days 4 and 5. Part II

Once back in New Norcia, where we spent our fifth night, Mum and I trotted off to photograph what has to be one of the country's most photogenic towns, and Paul and Dad got to it with applying the sealant to the roof of our tent. (I'll fill you in on the success, or otherwise, of the exercise later. Suffice to say, it was not the last damp night of the trip.)

Inside one of New Norcia's glorious
churches (above and below)

Photographing this amazing place wasn't enough, so the Thursday morning we joined a guided tour of the town.
As a fact generally only stays in my head for as long as it takes for another one to enter, I don't recall 100 per cent of the info our guide imparted. Some of the more interesting bits I do remember include:
* New Norcia is Australia's only monastic town. It was created by Spain's St Benedictine monks.
* currently eight monks live there. They employ about 70 people.
* miracles involving bush fires and an angry Aboriginal man come in handy when you're a band of pioneering, missionary monks working to convert the local indigenous population.
* the early monks didn't agree with the government-appointed term of 'orphanage' for their home for Aboriginal children, as many of the children did have families living in the area.
* the monks have to get up before 5am six days of the week (meaning I shouldn't complain about having to do it nine days of the fortnight).
* but they get to maintain the Spanish tradition of an afternoon siesta (which I do not).

I cannot express just how amazing this town is. If you ever go to Perth, make sure you get up there for a look.

Some more photos:

Coming up: we head to the beach!

WA road trip 2011 - days 4 and 5. Part 1

Right, so I managed a whopping one holiday post while on holidays. Whoops. Click here if you'd like to read it. This one follows on from it.

Have you ever been camping in a leaky tent? Yes? No?
Nor had I, until this road trip.
I had once spent a wet weekend camping when someone, who shall remain nameless but whose initials are Paul Mayall, decided we didn't need the tent. And subsequently got dripped on all night thanks to a leaky tarp hastily erected over our swag.
But I'd never had a tent leak on me. Not even when the most ferocious thunder and rain storm I've ever seen cracked open over us while in Kakadu late last year.
The same tent that survived the Kakadu downpour decided enough was enough this time, and began to leak on night three of the holiday. We were not impressed. Though there was a couple of saving graces - we noticed before we even got the swag unrolled (putting a tent up in the driving rain is handy that way), and we had just enough room in my parents' camper to sleep.
We were near a place called Bindoon that night, and were on our way to Perth for the Wicked musical/show.
So, luckily, we did sleep warm and dry, and were able to book into a cabin for our night in Perth. Where it continued to rain intermittently, I might add.
Mum and I saw the show and loved it. If you didn't get around to seeing it, give yourself a smack. It was worth it.
First port of call the following morning, on our way out of the city and back to the fascinating monastic town of New Norcia, was BCF (Paul's second favourite place ever, after Bunnings) for some canvas sealant.
Second port of call, and almost as important, was morning tea at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory near Midland. If you're ever in that area and are even a mild chocoholic (though I have my doubts that mild chocoholics actually exist), make sure you visit this place. Beautiful chocolate, a huge range, and the best hot mocha Paul says he's had in years. Dad gives the thumbs up to their ice cream, too.

The front of the boys school at the
monastic town of New Norcia.

Some more photos of New Norcia (exteriors. Stay tuned for pics of the insides of these beautiful buildings).

To be continued...

Out with the funk, in with the blog (again)

Hello everyone, 'tis me again. Sorry for not posting for so long. Despite appearances, I didn't actually forget that I had a blog. It just got pushed a little towards the back of my mind for a while.
Don't worry, not by anything major. Not anything minor, even.
Firstly, I had about a week with no internet coverage while traipsing about the WA never never on holidays, which kind of broke my blogging (reading and writing) habit. Then I got a bit wrapped up due to my parents visiting, and organising the final stages of settling the purchase of our house. Not that either of those made me busy, but they sound like convenient excuses so I'll run with them.
And I was in a bit of a funk - you know the kind where you go back to work after a couple of weeks off and subsequently lack motivation for anything because you wish you were still on holidays? I was in that kind of funk.
But, lately I've kind of been hovering around the fringes of the blogosphere. Have read the odd post here and there and checked in with twitter and Facebook occasionally.
And now I'm back to feeling like myself so hopefully can breath some life into this blog again. I have a couple of posts already written about my holidays, which are obviously outdated now, but I'm going to use them in the very near future anyway. It's my blog and I'll make it look old and tired if I can't be bothered doing otherwise want to.
Hope you enjoy!

Road trip 2011 - Days one to three

Regular readers will know we are on long-awaited holidays. For this holiday we're on a road trip with my parents. Internet service has been patchy, so here is a brief rundown on days one to three.
We traveled from Coolgardie to Bindoon, just south of New Norcia.

Beringbooding Rock

Sights include Karalee Dam, Elachbutting Rock (any advice on how to pronounce it would be welcomed), Beringbooding Rock and a brief stop in New Norcia - we will return to explore it properly.
The landscape has morphed from scrubby red desert, to blackened burnt-out desert to languid, stretching farmland vivid with green and yellow crops.
Almost every mile features wildflowers in shades of pink, white, yellow and purple peeking out from the undergrowth, refusing to let the wattle steal the show.
We encountered one wildly windy, dark night with bursts of rain, and one frigid but peaceful, moonlit night.
We have also:
* had a minor mishap with our brakes (resolved).
* had a mishap with with Mum's SLR camera (not yet completely resolved)
* dined with 20 gazillion flies.
* developed a system where after each trip to the campground facilities you report on the state of the toilet paper roll, for the benefit of the next person paying it a visit
* retrieved the kettle from the fire. Twice.
* found a pocket of vegetation atop Elachbutting Rock that was like coming across a secret garden on the rooftop of the world.
* sat back and drunk the requisite number cups of coffee and glasses of wine stipulated in Holidays 101.

Happy hour. Paul gives it the double thumbs up,
so you know it has to be good.

Canola fields.

Elachbutting Rock.

We are actually on day four now, and are at Perth. Tonight we will be in the audience of Wicked the musical. Well, Mum and I will be; the guys don't really go for "that kind of dancey, la-la caper" quality entertainment.

Here is a quick slideshow of some photos taken so far:



And a couple of brief videos. Which aren't all that interesting and were only recorded because I wanted to play with my iPad.






Coming soon: Day four to whenever I get to do another update

< Previous post: Taking a break. But hopefully not a bloggy break

Taking a break. But hopefully not a bloggy break

Image from here

At long last, I'm about to go on holidays. OK, so I had a holiday last September-October. And it was a pretty big one. (You can read about it here, here, here and here.) Nor have I exactly been been worked to the bone since. But it sounds better saying it like that. Because after months of the blasted, blaring alarm blasting and blaring at 4.40am, it feels like this has been a long time coming.
So, the Desert Rambler will finally do some desert rambling. And a bit of beach rambling. Even a tiny slice of city rambling.
I'm not sure yet what it means for this blog for the following couple of weeks. We'll be traveling through the region between Perth and Kalgoorlie and I've no idea what internet service I'll have. So, while I hope to use my days away from this thing they call work to write some drafts, things might go a bit quiet around here in the interim.
There is one thing you can expect: lots of photos. I love taking photos. My parents are traveling with us and they also are fond of taking a snap or six thousand. So much so that Mum has joined a camera club - and I fully intend to appropriate borrow some of hers to pretty up my posts here.
So be prepared for many, many pics, uploaded either during the trip or once we're back in civilisation.
Which leaves me with just one more thing to say for now:

 - I'm. ON. HOLIDAAAAAYYYZZZ!! (Yes, mispelling this word goes against my grain, but what the hell, I'm on holidays. I don't care about mangled English).

< Previous post: Wordless Wednesday - I'm a wildflower

Wordless Wednesday - Summer Holiday

I have had enough of winter. It's not fun anymore. So I've dug up this photo I took a few years ago while on a summer holiday. When it was, you know, warm.

I'm joining in Wordless Wednesday with Trish from My Little Drummer Boys. Head on over for some great pics.

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