Sorry that we have not put photos up lately! I will try to put some up tomorrow. We will see how that goes. But for now....We have a couple cool things!
First off...this morning Catherine told us we were famous...and we found out that our photos had been put on a blog from the website of the market we had been to at Hillary's Market. Catherine told me I should share the website with my dad.. But I was one step ahead of her... Sharing it on my blog! ha.
This is the blog of the markets.
And this is the Photo Gallery where you will find our photos under the title Regans Ridge.
We will be helping her out with this market again this weekend...So you can check the website for Week Seven of the markets and find our photos.
Finally, we have been hooked to Australian Idol as one of the finalists we actually met at the Hillsong Conference in July. We were so excited to see him get as far as he did.... Who am I kidding! HE WON!!!!!!!! He had the Good Charlotte brothers, Pete Wentz, Liza Minelli, and Michael Buble marvel over his singing voice and joke about their jealousy towards his singing compared to their own. He is a soul singer but during the past weeks in Australian Idol he has sang anything from Miley Cyrus to Beyonce to Hallelujah and been good at all of them. So, I thought I would show one of my favourite performances from him and you can feel free to check him out further!! Stan Walker - Hallelujah
Well that is my big news for today!!
Take Care,
Holly and David
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Rockin' Rottnest
David and I have had quite the busy past four days! Saturday and Sunday we did two markets. We did not do as well at these markets than the other one. Tough Crowds. The first market was at Hillary's Harbour. Just five minutes from Catherine's house. It was a beautiful area. The second day was in the city area of Perth. It was a hotter day. In the morning David and I took time to go to the Art Gallery and in the afternoon we popped into the Museum. They were both really interesting. In the museum, they had a room dedicated to The Lost Generation of the Aboriginals here in Australia. I found it fasinating. They pretty much have the same history as our Aboriginals. The white people came over and tried to assimilate the kids out of their culture and other nasty stuff. This happened up until the 70s. There actually wasn't a formal apology until last year. The prime minister before the current one refused to apoligize and the government agreed.
On Monday we spent the day in Fremantle. This day was much better than the other day that we went when it was pouring rain. It was nice and hot. In the afternoon we went to the Fremantle Prison and did a few tours. This prison had been running up until 1991. The second tour we did there was only David, Juli and I so we got some special treatment and went to some of the places that larger groups do not get to see. When we eventually get caught up with photos you will get to hear some pretty crazy stories about the prison.
Today, was a hot 35 degrees..But this is nothing compared to the heat wave that Eastern Australia has been having. We got up early in the morning to catch a ferry to Rottnest Island. There ended up being construction on the highway and what was only supposed to be a 35 minute drive ended up being an hour drive and we almost missed our ferry. We caught it will 2 minutes to spare. Yikes. Now, Rottnest. This island is probably one of my favourite things that I have seen in all of Australia so far. David and I rented a snorkel and a bike and we biked around the whole island and snorkelled a only a few of the 63 beaches!! I only had to get off my bike and walk up a couple hills. I think this is pretty good for not having ridden a bike for quite a few years. But going uphill and down hill was ALOT of work! We are definitely pooped now. The water is beautiful and the snorkelling was fun. It was not quite as good as the Whitsundays but still pretty fascinating. The pictures we took are wonderful...But they still do not do justice to the real thing. We also saw some dolphins swimming along the island a few times as well!
Along the coastal drive home we decided to stop at a few beaches along the way. Cottesloe is one of Perth's bigger beaches. It is actually a pretty nice beach. We were spoiled up north by the farm with all of these secluded beaches. Cottlesloe is busy. Not close to as busy as Bondi though. We stopped at a couple others and then pulled into one to see the sunset. It was a dog beach... there were dogs every where... But the sunset.... it was sooooo beautiful.. Probably one of the first times we have seen a sunset over the ocean without clouds(and we have seen our fair share of them since Catherine has a fish tank of a living room overlooking the ocean.) AND to top it off..There were dolphins playing right close to shore, right in front of the sunset. Awesome!!
Anyways, we are now at Catherine's and are about to watch a movie and then call it a night since we are back out at the farm working tomorrow!
tata,
Holly and David
On Monday we spent the day in Fremantle. This day was much better than the other day that we went when it was pouring rain. It was nice and hot. In the afternoon we went to the Fremantle Prison and did a few tours. This prison had been running up until 1991. The second tour we did there was only David, Juli and I so we got some special treatment and went to some of the places that larger groups do not get to see. When we eventually get caught up with photos you will get to hear some pretty crazy stories about the prison.
Today, was a hot 35 degrees..But this is nothing compared to the heat wave that Eastern Australia has been having. We got up early in the morning to catch a ferry to Rottnest Island. There ended up being construction on the highway and what was only supposed to be a 35 minute drive ended up being an hour drive and we almost missed our ferry. We caught it will 2 minutes to spare. Yikes. Now, Rottnest. This island is probably one of my favourite things that I have seen in all of Australia so far. David and I rented a snorkel and a bike and we biked around the whole island and snorkelled a only a few of the 63 beaches!! I only had to get off my bike and walk up a couple hills. I think this is pretty good for not having ridden a bike for quite a few years. But going uphill and down hill was ALOT of work! We are definitely pooped now. The water is beautiful and the snorkelling was fun. It was not quite as good as the Whitsundays but still pretty fascinating. The pictures we took are wonderful...But they still do not do justice to the real thing. We also saw some dolphins swimming along the island a few times as well!
Along the coastal drive home we decided to stop at a few beaches along the way. Cottesloe is one of Perth's bigger beaches. It is actually a pretty nice beach. We were spoiled up north by the farm with all of these secluded beaches. Cottlesloe is busy. Not close to as busy as Bondi though. We stopped at a couple others and then pulled into one to see the sunset. It was a dog beach... there were dogs every where... But the sunset.... it was sooooo beautiful.. Probably one of the first times we have seen a sunset over the ocean without clouds(and we have seen our fair share of them since Catherine has a fish tank of a living room overlooking the ocean.) AND to top it off..There were dolphins playing right close to shore, right in front of the sunset. Awesome!!
Anyways, we are now at Catherine's and are about to watch a movie and then call it a night since we are back out at the farm working tomorrow!
tata,
Holly and David
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Bull Ants Suck!
Hey All!
Time for a blog update!! This past weekend we took Occy's car up north a couple hours to Nambung National Park to visit the famous Pinnacles. It was a sight to see. It really is hard to explain. We just have to show you pictures.. There was formations of limestone everywhere. Big ones, little ones, in between ones. We spent the afternoon there and then headed up to Jurien Bay. When we got there we found out that every accomodation was booked because of the Blessing of the Fleet festival that was going on. This is a festival that is well known in these parts. It is to celebrate the starting of Rock Lobster season and saying farewell to all of the fisherman for the season. So we joined in on the festival for a bit and then head to Cervantes, right next to Nambung National Park. For supper we ordered some fish caught fresh that day and then headed down to the beach to watch the beautiful sunset. We went to bed around 9:30 as it was dark and we had no torch so we couldn't do anything. I woke up around 2 in the morning FREEEEEEZING...luckily it got warmer by 6 oclock and was able to sleep comfortably.
The next morning we packed up and headed out to a beach and walked along it for the morning...collecting beautiful seashells and coral...and then putting the coral back :(. After walking for a bit at this beach we decided to take off to Hangover Bay and spend the afternoon there. It was pretty empty at first, then it seemed like a good place for families to hang out..so it got a bit busy. It also got pretty windy and chilly. So we decided it was probably time to pack up and head back to home. This was a good thing as when we got home we realized that David had burnt his face, neck and back of his legs.
Monday was a day of pruning and yesterday David and I went out to do some fencing. Yes, I am a woman of all trades...haha. Well, I must say though, the fence looks pretty darn good! David finished off with only a few barbwire nicks and a finger full of blood. Blah... I was not so lucky. First of all...after many bending downs to do pruning and bending downs to twitch the fence...my shorts decided to retire themselves...and split...I wanted to cry. I have wrecked all my shorts being out here in some way or another... :(. THEN, let me tell you. They have these HUGE bull ants here. They are about...3 times the size of a normal ant. It's like looking at a little ant through a magnifying glass. They have these huge pinchers and the top of there heads and they are sooooooo UGLY...Massive things...Anyways, we tried to be very careful of them because we had to remove a colony to get to a picket...and after a few rows down I guess one managed to travel along with us and get his revenge. I looked down at my finger to see a DISGUSTING Bull Ant on the tip of my glove, I tried to get him off but he didn't move...so I tried to take the glove off to prevent him from biting but it was too late! OUCH!!!! Boy did it hurt at first...luckily David grabbed the cold water from the UTE and poured it on the bite.. The pain was annoying for a bit and then slowly went away and I could get back to work. I never want to be bit by one of those again. I can now say I know what it feels like to be bit by a Bull Ant.
Today is a not so beautiful day out at the farm. It is windy and cloudy. Catherine is coming out and we will be working in the cool room, I believe. I must go get dressed and ready as Daryll and Catherine could arrive anytime!
Cheers for now,
Holly and David
Time for a blog update!! This past weekend we took Occy's car up north a couple hours to Nambung National Park to visit the famous Pinnacles. It was a sight to see. It really is hard to explain. We just have to show you pictures.. There was formations of limestone everywhere. Big ones, little ones, in between ones. We spent the afternoon there and then headed up to Jurien Bay. When we got there we found out that every accomodation was booked because of the Blessing of the Fleet festival that was going on. This is a festival that is well known in these parts. It is to celebrate the starting of Rock Lobster season and saying farewell to all of the fisherman for the season. So we joined in on the festival for a bit and then head to Cervantes, right next to Nambung National Park. For supper we ordered some fish caught fresh that day and then headed down to the beach to watch the beautiful sunset. We went to bed around 9:30 as it was dark and we had no torch so we couldn't do anything. I woke up around 2 in the morning FREEEEEEZING...luckily it got warmer by 6 oclock and was able to sleep comfortably.
The next morning we packed up and headed out to a beach and walked along it for the morning...collecting beautiful seashells and coral...and then putting the coral back :(. After walking for a bit at this beach we decided to take off to Hangover Bay and spend the afternoon there. It was pretty empty at first, then it seemed like a good place for families to hang out..so it got a bit busy. It also got pretty windy and chilly. So we decided it was probably time to pack up and head back to home. This was a good thing as when we got home we realized that David had burnt his face, neck and back of his legs.
Monday was a day of pruning and yesterday David and I went out to do some fencing. Yes, I am a woman of all trades...haha. Well, I must say though, the fence looks pretty darn good! David finished off with only a few barbwire nicks and a finger full of blood. Blah... I was not so lucky. First of all...after many bending downs to do pruning and bending downs to twitch the fence...my shorts decided to retire themselves...and split...I wanted to cry. I have wrecked all my shorts being out here in some way or another... :(. THEN, let me tell you. They have these HUGE bull ants here. They are about...3 times the size of a normal ant. It's like looking at a little ant through a magnifying glass. They have these huge pinchers and the top of there heads and they are sooooooo UGLY...Massive things...Anyways, we tried to be very careful of them because we had to remove a colony to get to a picket...and after a few rows down I guess one managed to travel along with us and get his revenge. I looked down at my finger to see a DISGUSTING Bull Ant on the tip of my glove, I tried to get him off but he didn't move...so I tried to take the glove off to prevent him from biting but it was too late! OUCH!!!! Boy did it hurt at first...luckily David grabbed the cold water from the UTE and poured it on the bite.. The pain was annoying for a bit and then slowly went away and I could get back to work. I never want to be bit by one of those again. I can now say I know what it feels like to be bit by a Bull Ant.
Today is a not so beautiful day out at the farm. It is windy and cloudy. Catherine is coming out and we will be working in the cool room, I believe. I must go get dressed and ready as Daryll and Catherine could arrive anytime!
Cheers for now,
Holly and David
Friday, November 13, 2009
To Infinity....and beyond!
What do you know, after a really quiet period we have some wicked exciting events happenning all at once.
Yesterday, Thursday started fairly ordinary, we spent the day cleaning the house and removing the oodles of spiders that seem to have taken refuge among our living space. In fact, just tonight we shared around 1.5 hours driving time with a huntsman spider. That's a big ugly hairy harmless spider to you guys.
So at around 3 in the afternoon David (I) was mowing the lawn when raindrops the size of your little fingernail started to slap on my head. So I ran to get the washing in, being the domestic god I am and ran into the house just as the heavens open and seemed to release some water reservoir in the sky on the farm. Thunder then came striking directly above the farm with deafening claps of thunder. We raced to shut off both pump sheds to prevent the electronics from being fried.
Today, we had an early morning taking a swim in our pool and returning to have some breakfast. Daryll arrived at around 11 and we played around with some organic fertilizer. Seaweed powder and fish protein liquid (Made in Canada). I nearly heaved and my hands still have a nasty gross fish odour. I'm sure the trees will love it. Later on we went to the farm next door and got some fencing equipment to build a bordering fence. While having our after work drink Daryll's wife Donna called, after a conversation he suddenly mentioned that we might like to head down to where she works at the Gin Gin Observatory. We of course jumped at the chance and raced down there for our evening with the stars.
Now this observatory is one of the most important places is the world for Astronomy. It houses the largest telescope in the southern hemisphere with has been built to look into gravity. Too complicated to explain here, but fabulously interesting. The Telescope is called the Zadko Telescope. Go Here for some more info. We had our own personal tour of the telescope and all the gizmos involved in making it work. It isn't open for public viewing but Donna hooked us up with a guy named Timo. This guy, who was very passionate and knowledgeable about his work, gave us a quick talk and demonstration of what this thing could do. He also showed us that in about 20 years there will be a big meteor (I think) that will come along the same line as the earth....heading straight for the India region. On April 13, 2029, which is a Friday. He says that they will hopefully find a way to solve that problem before it arises. If you click on the link ("Go here for some more info") you will find out more to what the big telescope can do with watching our galaxy and saving the earth from possible future harm.
Other than this amazing telescope we also had a presentation of the sky which Donna and her knowledgeable colleague Grant presented using the crazy green lasers we played with when we went over for supper at Daryll and Donna's a few weeks back. We looked through three different telescopes one was a refractor lens relying on mirrors and reflection, and the other two were GPS locators programmed to find anything in the night sky. We saw Jupiter (and you could even see the rings around it), the Silver Coin Galaxy in the east sky and a heap of star clusters to the south of us. A truly fascinating night which will remain with us for a long time. We can now tell the difference between orbiting satellites, whether they are spinning or simply orbiting the earth. And get this, shooting stars are not always what they seem. Apparently you can mistake a shooting star for a container full of space poo from the space station. It was a beautiful night....no moon so the stars were bright and it was a clear sky. What a beautiful thing. They also had a computer program that was like Google Earth...but it was the whole universe that we know of so far. We cannot even begin to comprehend HOW BIG this whole universe is. We are just a speck in our whole galaxy....that is just one of many galaxies...Ah, Amazing....
Well....what a fun night!! Unfortunately, the camera was left at home so we have no photos...We could of taken one with the massive million dollar telescope!!!!
tata for now...
Holly and David
Yesterday, Thursday started fairly ordinary, we spent the day cleaning the house and removing the oodles of spiders that seem to have taken refuge among our living space. In fact, just tonight we shared around 1.5 hours driving time with a huntsman spider. That's a big ugly hairy harmless spider to you guys.
So at around 3 in the afternoon David (I) was mowing the lawn when raindrops the size of your little fingernail started to slap on my head. So I ran to get the washing in, being the domestic god I am and ran into the house just as the heavens open and seemed to release some water reservoir in the sky on the farm. Thunder then came striking directly above the farm with deafening claps of thunder. We raced to shut off both pump sheds to prevent the electronics from being fried.
Today, we had an early morning taking a swim in our pool and returning to have some breakfast. Daryll arrived at around 11 and we played around with some organic fertilizer. Seaweed powder and fish protein liquid (Made in Canada). I nearly heaved and my hands still have a nasty gross fish odour. I'm sure the trees will love it. Later on we went to the farm next door and got some fencing equipment to build a bordering fence. While having our after work drink Daryll's wife Donna called, after a conversation he suddenly mentioned that we might like to head down to where she works at the Gin Gin Observatory. We of course jumped at the chance and raced down there for our evening with the stars.
Now this observatory is one of the most important places is the world for Astronomy. It houses the largest telescope in the southern hemisphere with has been built to look into gravity. Too complicated to explain here, but fabulously interesting. The Telescope is called the Zadko Telescope. Go Here for some more info. We had our own personal tour of the telescope and all the gizmos involved in making it work. It isn't open for public viewing but Donna hooked us up with a guy named Timo. This guy, who was very passionate and knowledgeable about his work, gave us a quick talk and demonstration of what this thing could do. He also showed us that in about 20 years there will be a big meteor (I think) that will come along the same line as the earth....heading straight for the India region. On April 13, 2029, which is a Friday. He says that they will hopefully find a way to solve that problem before it arises. If you click on the link ("Go here for some more info") you will find out more to what the big telescope can do with watching our galaxy and saving the earth from possible future harm.
Other than this amazing telescope we also had a presentation of the sky which Donna and her knowledgeable colleague Grant presented using the crazy green lasers we played with when we went over for supper at Daryll and Donna's a few weeks back. We looked through three different telescopes one was a refractor lens relying on mirrors and reflection, and the other two were GPS locators programmed to find anything in the night sky. We saw Jupiter (and you could even see the rings around it), the Silver Coin Galaxy in the east sky and a heap of star clusters to the south of us. A truly fascinating night which will remain with us for a long time. We can now tell the difference between orbiting satellites, whether they are spinning or simply orbiting the earth. And get this, shooting stars are not always what they seem. Apparently you can mistake a shooting star for a container full of space poo from the space station. It was a beautiful night....no moon so the stars were bright and it was a clear sky. What a beautiful thing. They also had a computer program that was like Google Earth...but it was the whole universe that we know of so far. We cannot even begin to comprehend HOW BIG this whole universe is. We are just a speck in our whole galaxy....that is just one of many galaxies...Ah, Amazing....
Well....what a fun night!! Unfortunately, the camera was left at home so we have no photos...We could of taken one with the massive million dollar telescope!!!!
tata for now...
Holly and David
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Living it Millionaire Style
Ok,
So after a few weeks of not doing much at all we have done heaps in just half a week. Friday was a day putting olives into buckets and a short trip after work we ended up at Catherine's house. Mansion is a word I'd use, set in a stunning area. I woke up to the Indian Ocean every morning and my room was like a fish tank so I had an amazing view.
Friday Night Catherine had a family birthday party for her youngest daughter, Sabrina. So we got to meet her brothers, sister and their families. They all welcomed us happily and loved getting to know us and our cultures. Three of them were teachers so we found a lot in common to talk about and Catherine's dad could not stop talking to me about Canada and North Dakota. He actually had a friend who had been to Regina. You do not hear that very often over here. People usually cannot even pronounce it properly. Catherine's sister in law had a confession to make to me. She was in love with the show North of 60 and she had all of the seasons on DVD.
Saturday was the first day of the markets. We had horse rides in front of us and camel rides behind us. So people had to come and taste the olives and oils when there was no wind. Otherwise they got a nice waft. David and I tried out a few strategies and in the end we did really well. I don't think Catherine makes as much as we did the first day very often. We had planned to double our makings for Sunday's market. Oh, as a reward for doing so well that day, Catherine paid for us to go on a Camel ride. It was pretty fun. There were four camels and David and I were the only ones on the ride. We each got our own camel.
Sunday we did not double our profit but we did beat our Saturday profits. We were pretty proud of ourselves. Catherine had given us some money, we had refused as we are wwoofers but she knew that David had been eyeing a proper Aussie farmer hat and told him that she would like him to use the money to get one. He's a pretty dashing farmer. We enjoyed the suppers that we had with Catherine and her three girls. They are shy at first but once they start they could talk all night. We had lots of fun with her girls. The two youngest spent a fair bit of time with us.
Monday, was an interesting day. I had gotten ahold of the Clerk's (of the W.A. Government) email and emailed him right away as we were going to be in Perth for Monday, Tuesday. It worked out for him on Monday. But he warned us that David would have to wear a shirt and tie. Uh-Oh...we only have backpacker clothes. Luckily, David had a shirt so we just had to pick up a tie right before meeting him. We got off at the station we were told to get off and tried to catch a taxi. There were none in sight so we started to walk down the street that we were told it was on and hoped that we would finally catch a taxi. After walking about 20 minutes, we decided to stop and ask for directions to the Parliament Building. We find out that we are totally in the wrong area. AHHHH...So he tells us to go back to the train station we got off at and take a bus up to the City Centre from there. We have now missed the tour and we had no phone credit or number to call. So, we bought credit, called Catherine and she told us to call 1234...the operator. I got ahold of Peter's secretary and she was able to tell him we would be late. Ah, what a headache. Finally about an hour and a half after we were supposed to be there we arrived. (We didn't make him wait as he told us to do the public tour and then meet him for lunch). I prayed and prayed that we did not make him wait. Luckily, he was just finishing up a meeting. He was sooooo nice! He showed us the chamber and then took us to the big lunch room where all of the Members of Parliament eat. Also, he was wearing the Saskatchewan's Red Lily on his lapel and wearing a New Brunswick tie. David and I both ate swordfish for lunch. It was delicious. Peter asked lots of questions about Canada and Wales (he has been to both) and what we were doing in Australia previously and in the next few months. He really enjoyed the time that he had spent with Uncle Don and had a few stories. He was so easy to talk to and it was such a good time. He also had two girls join us for lunch. I think he was rewarding them for a job well done in planning a conference. It ended up being a great day! We then met up with Juli and checked out the Harbour Town outlet mall... I refrained from buying anything..
Tuesday, we headed off to see King's Park, King's Park is the eqivelant of Sydney's Botanical Gardens and Hyde parked rolled into one. This place was beautiful. The Main area overlooked Perth city and it's surrounds. There was a monument to the Bali bombings in which a number of Australians were killed. On the 12th October every year (The bombings anniversary) the sun follows a path accross the sky. it's a sacred place for those who were affected by the bombings. The Street leading to the park was lined with sugar gum trees and enourmous fig trees. We spent most of the day in King's Park reading and exploring the Botanical area. Our friend Juli came and met us around 2 and we went and had a look around the gardens. The Botanical garden is made up from a heap of area's broken up into seperate areas from all over Australia. There was the desert region Katherine, Kimberleys and NSW. We walked over a really high bridge that spanned between two areas of the park and had some photos. It was a tree top walk and the views were awesome. We even saw the route we had taken on monday when we were trying to get to the parliament house.
As a treat for it being our last night at Catherine's house we went to a restaurant called Sizzler's. Which David had seen on a commercial and was salivating over. We went with Catherine and the Girls and had a fun filled evening spending around 2 hours talking and eating waay too much. Sizzlers has an all you can eat Salad Bar with has some hot items too. We ate as much as our stomach's could contain and rolled out. This was a fitting end to a very enjoyable few days in the city, it was great to be in a family environment again and a great change of scenery from the farm.
Catherine's family room had the best sunsets, the redness of the sky filling the house. It was all so great, nice to live a millionaire lifestyle for a while. Untill we go back ;)
I think that's it... I'm sure we'll remember something to add later.
Laters..
David & Holly
(A very belated Happy Birthday message to Dad (Mr Crompton) I didn't forget )
So after a few weeks of not doing much at all we have done heaps in just half a week. Friday was a day putting olives into buckets and a short trip after work we ended up at Catherine's house. Mansion is a word I'd use, set in a stunning area. I woke up to the Indian Ocean every morning and my room was like a fish tank so I had an amazing view.
Friday Night Catherine had a family birthday party for her youngest daughter, Sabrina. So we got to meet her brothers, sister and their families. They all welcomed us happily and loved getting to know us and our cultures. Three of them were teachers so we found a lot in common to talk about and Catherine's dad could not stop talking to me about Canada and North Dakota. He actually had a friend who had been to Regina. You do not hear that very often over here. People usually cannot even pronounce it properly. Catherine's sister in law had a confession to make to me. She was in love with the show North of 60 and she had all of the seasons on DVD.
Saturday was the first day of the markets. We had horse rides in front of us and camel rides behind us. So people had to come and taste the olives and oils when there was no wind. Otherwise they got a nice waft. David and I tried out a few strategies and in the end we did really well. I don't think Catherine makes as much as we did the first day very often. We had planned to double our makings for Sunday's market. Oh, as a reward for doing so well that day, Catherine paid for us to go on a Camel ride. It was pretty fun. There were four camels and David and I were the only ones on the ride. We each got our own camel.
Sunday we did not double our profit but we did beat our Saturday profits. We were pretty proud of ourselves. Catherine had given us some money, we had refused as we are wwoofers but she knew that David had been eyeing a proper Aussie farmer hat and told him that she would like him to use the money to get one. He's a pretty dashing farmer. We enjoyed the suppers that we had with Catherine and her three girls. They are shy at first but once they start they could talk all night. We had lots of fun with her girls. The two youngest spent a fair bit of time with us.
Monday, was an interesting day. I had gotten ahold of the Clerk's (of the W.A. Government) email and emailed him right away as we were going to be in Perth for Monday, Tuesday. It worked out for him on Monday. But he warned us that David would have to wear a shirt and tie. Uh-Oh...we only have backpacker clothes. Luckily, David had a shirt so we just had to pick up a tie right before meeting him. We got off at the station we were told to get off and tried to catch a taxi. There were none in sight so we started to walk down the street that we were told it was on and hoped that we would finally catch a taxi. After walking about 20 minutes, we decided to stop and ask for directions to the Parliament Building. We find out that we are totally in the wrong area. AHHHH...So he tells us to go back to the train station we got off at and take a bus up to the City Centre from there. We have now missed the tour and we had no phone credit or number to call. So, we bought credit, called Catherine and she told us to call 1234...the operator. I got ahold of Peter's secretary and she was able to tell him we would be late. Ah, what a headache. Finally about an hour and a half after we were supposed to be there we arrived. (We didn't make him wait as he told us to do the public tour and then meet him for lunch). I prayed and prayed that we did not make him wait. Luckily, he was just finishing up a meeting. He was sooooo nice! He showed us the chamber and then took us to the big lunch room where all of the Members of Parliament eat. Also, he was wearing the Saskatchewan's Red Lily on his lapel and wearing a New Brunswick tie. David and I both ate swordfish for lunch. It was delicious. Peter asked lots of questions about Canada and Wales (he has been to both) and what we were doing in Australia previously and in the next few months. He really enjoyed the time that he had spent with Uncle Don and had a few stories. He was so easy to talk to and it was such a good time. He also had two girls join us for lunch. I think he was rewarding them for a job well done in planning a conference. It ended up being a great day! We then met up with Juli and checked out the Harbour Town outlet mall... I refrained from buying anything..
Tuesday, we headed off to see King's Park, King's Park is the eqivelant of Sydney's Botanical Gardens and Hyde parked rolled into one. This place was beautiful. The Main area overlooked Perth city and it's surrounds. There was a monument to the Bali bombings in which a number of Australians were killed. On the 12th October every year (The bombings anniversary) the sun follows a path accross the sky. it's a sacred place for those who were affected by the bombings. The Street leading to the park was lined with sugar gum trees and enourmous fig trees. We spent most of the day in King's Park reading and exploring the Botanical area. Our friend Juli came and met us around 2 and we went and had a look around the gardens. The Botanical garden is made up from a heap of area's broken up into seperate areas from all over Australia. There was the desert region Katherine, Kimberleys and NSW. We walked over a really high bridge that spanned between two areas of the park and had some photos. It was a tree top walk and the views were awesome. We even saw the route we had taken on monday when we were trying to get to the parliament house.
As a treat for it being our last night at Catherine's house we went to a restaurant called Sizzler's. Which David had seen on a commercial and was salivating over. We went with Catherine and the Girls and had a fun filled evening spending around 2 hours talking and eating waay too much. Sizzlers has an all you can eat Salad Bar with has some hot items too. We ate as much as our stomach's could contain and rolled out. This was a fitting end to a very enjoyable few days in the city, it was great to be in a family environment again and a great change of scenery from the farm.
Catherine's family room had the best sunsets, the redness of the sky filling the house. It was all so great, nice to live a millionaire lifestyle for a while. Untill we go back ;)
I think that's it... I'm sure we'll remember something to add later.
Laters..
David & Holly
(A very belated Happy Birthday message to Dad (Mr Crompton) I didn't forget )
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Just living out the Farm Life
And another night of listening to the kookaburras laughing at each other in the tree outside our house...Must be around 7pm again...
So it's been a little while since our last post. At present I'm sitting on this chair roasting hot. The air conditioning is on and it's still hot. Today was a beasty 36 degrees, we spent most of the day sorting olives and putting them into jars. We had to go outside a few times to fetch more olives and man it was hot!! We got pretty cold sometimes in the Cool Room but soon warmed up after a few seconds outside.
So The Heart, Kidney, and Liver we had from our slaughtered lamb provided us with a meal during the week. We cooked them into a casserole and with some mash, I (David) would prefer not to eat this again, though Holly seemed to enjoy it. It smelt good looked and seemed to taste nice, though eating heart is not my idea of enjoyable food. It was an experience though, I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't squeemish about what they eat.
Last night Daryll and Donna invited us out for Supper at the Tavern which is a nice seaside bar/restaurant by the bay in Lancelin. Donna is an animal lover and raises orphaned Joeys and on our way to Lancelin there was a kangaroo standing on the side of the road which she slowed down for, she honked at it to make sure it didn't run into the road. As we passed Holly and I looked back and the cheeky beggar looked like he was giving her the finger! He raised his arm as if to express frustration at her for honking her horn.
We had a great evening talking and laughing over drinks and some really tasty food. We had a great night view of the bay, the town and the aftermath of Australias biggest sporting/gambling event of the year. They Melbourne Cup. I can never understand the fescination of gambling and racing horses but it was fascinating to watch. We watched the main race during our lunch break and the winning trainer nearly had a baby I think.
On Saturday, we headed to our Irish friends' place for a small gathering before they left to continue travelling. Along we travelled through the winding bush road untill we arrived at SoulHaven. Dellis' place, we have heard so much about this lady and we finally got to meet her. We had the impression she was a battle axe but turned out she was quite a sweet and very sociable mature lady.
After work today we headed down to see lamby on the bike and had a little treck around the property. It was prime time for Kangaroo activity at Dusk and we saw heaps of them. There were families of them hopping around and some who just watched you ride by with their hands tucked into their chest. Cute as!! Funny creatures...
We're heading to Perth this week-end to work the week-end markets and joining in on some family celebrations at Catherine's house on friday. Her mum is looking forward to seeing us after we spent an afternoon with her when she brought Prince up to us.
The next blog will probably be when we're back at the farm next wednesday.
David and Holly
P.S. Tomorrow is November 5th for us which is Holly's grandma's Birthday.
SO, Grandma if you get a chance to read this: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Love you and miss you Lots!! I hope your Day is Special.
So it's been a little while since our last post. At present I'm sitting on this chair roasting hot. The air conditioning is on and it's still hot. Today was a beasty 36 degrees, we spent most of the day sorting olives and putting them into jars. We had to go outside a few times to fetch more olives and man it was hot!! We got pretty cold sometimes in the Cool Room but soon warmed up after a few seconds outside.
So The Heart, Kidney, and Liver we had from our slaughtered lamb provided us with a meal during the week. We cooked them into a casserole and with some mash, I (David) would prefer not to eat this again, though Holly seemed to enjoy it. It smelt good looked and seemed to taste nice, though eating heart is not my idea of enjoyable food. It was an experience though, I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't squeemish about what they eat.
Last night Daryll and Donna invited us out for Supper at the Tavern which is a nice seaside bar/restaurant by the bay in Lancelin. Donna is an animal lover and raises orphaned Joeys and on our way to Lancelin there was a kangaroo standing on the side of the road which she slowed down for, she honked at it to make sure it didn't run into the road. As we passed Holly and I looked back and the cheeky beggar looked like he was giving her the finger! He raised his arm as if to express frustration at her for honking her horn.
We had a great evening talking and laughing over drinks and some really tasty food. We had a great night view of the bay, the town and the aftermath of Australias biggest sporting/gambling event of the year. They Melbourne Cup. I can never understand the fescination of gambling and racing horses but it was fascinating to watch. We watched the main race during our lunch break and the winning trainer nearly had a baby I think.
On Saturday, we headed to our Irish friends' place for a small gathering before they left to continue travelling. Along we travelled through the winding bush road untill we arrived at SoulHaven. Dellis' place, we have heard so much about this lady and we finally got to meet her. We had the impression she was a battle axe but turned out she was quite a sweet and very sociable mature lady.
After work today we headed down to see lamby on the bike and had a little treck around the property. It was prime time for Kangaroo activity at Dusk and we saw heaps of them. There were families of them hopping around and some who just watched you ride by with their hands tucked into their chest. Cute as!! Funny creatures...
We're heading to Perth this week-end to work the week-end markets and joining in on some family celebrations at Catherine's house on friday. Her mum is looking forward to seeing us after we spent an afternoon with her when she brought Prince up to us.
The next blog will probably be when we're back at the farm next wednesday.
David and Holly
P.S. Tomorrow is November 5th for us which is Holly's grandma's Birthday.
SO, Grandma if you get a chance to read this: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Love you and miss you Lots!! I hope your Day is Special.
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