The Crystal Pen from Farmers

I have forgotten about this post which I didn't finish before, from our trip to Cairns, but was reminded of it with the purple crystal pen from Farmers. We drove into the Tablelands and went to a crystal museum. Its was a reconstruction so you put your hard hat on with your light beaming and walked through a series of

tunnels

Where a variety of exhibits were displayed. As a Geology 1 student I was thrilled to see these fossils that I had only read about on books - the ammonites, an extinct marine snail, and the trilobites an extinct marine - probablity a prerunner of insects. What was so amazing was the recall I had on this information whereas I forget so many peoples names!!

The main standout was the gems - geodes of amethysts - just like the giveaway pen in Farmers, however I think  theirs was synthetic!

As you can see some of the exhibits were huge, and very spectacular.

We also went to the Mango farm and tried some of their mango wine - it was suprisingly good! Then we went to a coffee plantation, unfortuntely it was just about to close, but Duncan can still recall the REALLY fresh coffee we had there. We looked for platypus in the wild but didn't spot any and did a short walk to see this Fig Tree Curtain which was huge. Lots of interesting places like Mareewa "where the sun shines 360 days a year"

Santa Toes are coming to town!

 Here are the fruits of my labours - wouldn't you know it - done on the day we got to 30 degrees. Still the taste is magnificent and it is very difficult to get tins of nectarines whereas it is easy to get apricots and peaches.

 And the best thing of all is that out of two buckets of fruit this is all the waste we had.

Had my yearly pedicure indulgence this morning and now I am all ready to join Santa in the merry red outfits! I have just made the mint and pecan stuffing for the lamb and I'm off to the butchers so that he can organise that with better knife and knotting skills than I have. Holidays must be soon as even Duncan has written a list of what clothes he wants to take up (so that they can be washed in time to take them up clean)

Stoned

I saw an ad in the paper for PYO nectarines, so this afternnon we went out to do just that! I said to Duncan "Just the one bucket" but of course we came back with two. As I was leaving I said to the lady "I hope the stones come out easily" . "Oh" she replied.
Yes, Oh, indeed - I cant even twist them in half.
Fortunately they are not large - mostly the size of large plums, so I will experiment with cutting off the "cheeks" and bottling the stone parts separately, but as well - or maybe just do them whole. Thoughts as I assembled my jars and bottles take me back to Grandma sitting at our kitchen table in Wylie Street peeling away - even though her mind was going she still managed to peel. Then often Mum would come down at bottling time to give me a hand. And I remember Phyl (101 today - Happy Birthday, Nana) and Alf sitting at the breakfast bar in Stout Street peeling pears.
Still I am all prepared to start early tomorrow morning. Our peacharine tree seems to have succumbed to the incredibly wet winter and I dont think we are going to be able to keep it alive. I was a wonderful crop last year, but we are struggling to keep the leaves on the tree this year

Thoughts on a wedding

Yesterday we went to a wedding. It was Julie Mettrick - the daughter of a golfing mate of Duncan's. The ceremony was in Holy Trinity church then out to the beautiful gardens at Bushmere Arms. There were quite a lot of young people in the congregation and I was a little taken aback by their lack of church ettiquette. Phones beeped, people took photos during the prayers, they didn't know when to stand - eg for the hymn, which very few even attempted to sing. Even bowing your head for a prayer - and only a few seemed to know the Lords Prayer. However the marriage was successfully concluded. The brides dress was white lace in a 60's style with afitted bodice, satin belt and flared skirt. She had also done her hair in a bouffant style with a little chignon at the back. It was a brilliant concept and so different from anything else I've seen lately.
A good night was had by all, and now Duncan and I have just had little naps - midnight is getting late for us old codgers!!

Our Big Back Yard

Yes! we have budburst in the one row of grapes that we now own, but the more impressive changes have occured further up the paddock. All the Back Block has been plowed up ready for sowing of the watermelons.

The loam looks rich and moist as it glistens in the sun.

The pile of posts - about 4,000 I reckon are slowly being farmed out for a pittance. Farmers are using them by putting them in upside down so that they dont have to spend hours taking the nails out. Because they are treated they cant be burned, and they decompose very slowly in land fills so they are expensive to dump.

But the vines can be burned. Here they are in two huge piles - I'm glad we didn't have to get rid of them all ourselves - 11,000 vines is a lot to have to pull out, and given that each one cost between $3 and $5 each it's sad to see them go.

The last part to be ploughed up will be the main block by the house - its all gone ahead quite painlessly for us (although we have had to remortgage - which should keep us here for another 8years!)

I'm addicted

Every morning I rush up and turn the computer on to see what the picture is today. Sometimes there isn't a picture, and I check every few minutes until I go off to school. Then I have to rush home and see if they were VERY late putting it on. The day is not complete without my boy. Here he is with the new chair in his bedroom. However this seems to have changed its format and is a bit blurry. But the cuteness still shines through. Its tough being long distance grandparents but this does ease the pain.

Out to the reef

The next morning was quite cloudy with a bit of a breeze. We drove into Cairns and joined the line for the catamaran. Lots of Asian tourists on board - and soon a collection of people were throwing up as the winds became more brisk as we headed to Green Island which is the island of the Great Barrier which is closest. Our promised morning tea was not allowed as the seas were too rough, so it was with relief that we arrived at the long wharf. We were whisked off to do the glass bottom boat trip, and I must say the fish were huge, but what I loved the most was the turtles. This is a picture of a turtle just out of view. They were massive too. The coral was very varied, but quite muted in colour. And massive too.

Next we set off to do the snorkelling off the beach. Unfortunately the fish close in weren't as spectacular and as soon as you ventured out the water became quite hazy with the disturbance of the wind.

Here's Duncan just setting off. He has the confidence to go a bit deeper than me, but there's nothing better when you are relaxed into a steady breathing rhythm with the seafloor and lots of fish - mainly small (but I was massive) swimming around you.

By this stage we had worked up a good apetite and headed to the food court which was inundated with birds. I had to be very brave. We then went for a walk around the resort part. It was lovely in the bush area with a good path, but as soon as you poked your nose out onto the beach area the wind was whistling.

The trip back was much smoother however and once back in the car we decided to investigate Port Douglas. It was a much longer and more testing drive than we thought and we were pleased we had not stayed there as it would have been quite a trip to get to the sights that we had done. We quite liked the look of Palm Cove, so maybe in a few years we might go there.

It was with very high hopes that we set out to the Blue Moon Cafe for dinner (that's what Jill and Simon always called their cafe) as it is regularly booked out. However the lighting was not good, the service was not good, but all the same I was dumbfounded when the waitress asked Duncan how his meal was and he replied "Its dry and its tasteless" It was Kangaroo - although we've had very tasty Kangaroo before. My crocodile puffs were fine. But the whole experience was a disappointment! Maybe I feed him too well.

Tjapukai

The next day was still drizzley so we got the local bus onto Cairns. It took us on the scenic route so it was quite late in the morning when we arrived. We went and organised our trip to Green Island which is the nearest part of the Great Barrier. We decided to take this shorter trip because of the weather. the nice young man from Christchurch on the information desk did advise us that the trips to the outer reef had been a bit disappointing because of the weather. The Green Island trip was quite heavily booked so we made our mind up to go the next day. After an early lunch we set out to track down a rental car. This was proving quite difficult as Cairns was very heavily booked with the Coral Reef Symposium and also some states still on holiday. We managed to track one down at the third place but would have to pick it up at 5.00 so I suggested we go to the Aboriginal display village Tjapukai, say Jab - u - kai. We got the bus out there. Our first activity was in the Theatre with Didgeridoo and dancing.

They showed us how they made fire - this proved a little more difficult than usual because of the wet weather, but they took turns at the rubbing sticks and eventually the smoke became fire. They also did so dancing which tells story - the central performer here was the rainbow - which was quite hypnotic.

after a talk on the foods and medicine they used we went out to the field to try our hand at the boomerang throwing. And lets just say we would not have killed an enemy, or a kangaroo with our throws. some of the young kids were suprisingly good. Obviously it was a knack, not brute force and ignorance.

We then went to a very informative video. There are over 500 tribes in Australia and all speak different dialects and/or languages, and unlike the white inhabitants they are spread all over the country, not just on the coastal areas. We had a browse in the gift shop before a multimedia production combining people with video visual effects about the dreamtime - the beginning - as all of the tribes throughout the land have very similar legends regarding this.

We then went out to catch the bus into town.
And now we see the flip side of the aborigine story. The poor behaviour of the children with their families, and we drop them all off at a big liquor outlet.

We have a rental car to pick up. And the bus winds through the suburbs, caught in rush hour traffic. We ring the rental car and tell them of our progress. Cut and paste that sentence again. Duncan is so worried that we will miss out.

Eventually we make it and to our great relief we pile into the squashed tomato. We are squashed and it is red. However Duncan masters the gears quicker than the indicators, so we are continually having the windscreen wipers turned on.

Tonight we go to the Lime Tree, a wonderful restaurant were we end the poshest of tapas - washed down with decent kiwi wine!!

Train Trip from Kuranda

After the butterflies and the Venom zoo we tackled lunch. I thought a panini with ham and some sort of acacia seed mustard sounded interesting, so we both chose panini. Unfortunately there was a tourist party just about to be served when we arrived. "I've just gotta do a food run, darl" shouted the waitress so we sat down and waited with our beers. When it arrive it wasn't a panini, but two slabs of focaccia, making putting it in your mouth almost impossible. So were were very full when we boarded the train which takes you back on a very historic railroad. It was one of these engineering feats that had cost many lives, but which really came into its own in getting injured troops up to the cooler Tablelands as they were fearful of Japanese attack on the coastline.

The commentary was very good and there were historic photos on a screen as we passed by places of note.

The seats were a vinyl bench type, so not all that comfortable. It was a long slow haul up and then we rattled quickly down the slope to the depot at Freshwater and met a bus which took us back to our accommodation.

Of course, the waterfalls were spectacular again!

Tonight it was a Thai Restaurant. Our experience with a glass of Australian reisling tonight meant that we paid the extra and bought NZ wines the rest of the trip.

Sanctuary

Once we reached Kuranda we decided to split up. I went to the butterfly sanctuary, and Duncan went to the Venom Zoo. This is particularly daring on two counts - 1. we make to make a rendezvous at a certain time, and 2. I am well known for my inability to cope with birds flapping inside - how would I cope with Butterflies??? I was entranced from the moment I entered the enclosure! The butterflies are feed syrup from large white discs with artificial stamen on them.

As you can see they are quite large. Why a sanctuary? Butterflies only lay their eggs on one specific plant - a bit like the monarch butterfly and swan plant, so this enclosure is full of plants that each species likes. As the landscape has been farmed or forested in other trees, these particular trees have been destroyed leading to the reduction in habitat for butterflies to lay their eggs on. The caterpillars are voracious feeders and in terms of body weight its like a 6month old baby having eaten 9 elephants!!!!!

The Ulysses butterfly with the iridescent blue wings looked fabulous when it was flying, but the wings folded together when they were at rest so it was very hard to get a good shot of them. Attached to the butterfly enclosure is a museum with all the different types on display.

Each day they collect up any laying of eggs they can identify and they are removed to the nursery where the lepidopterists made sure that they had enough of the correct sort of leaf to chew on. They are allowed to stay in the nursery until after they have spent time in the chrysalis hatched out, and then they need about 24 hours until their wings dry out. Then they put them in the enclosure. I was lucky enough to be there just after a release.

It isn't long before they start to get a bit raggedy. How long they last depends on how much flying they do. Some last a few days, others live for about 9 months.

A great place to visit and the rendezvous with Duncan occured without a hitch!

A Wet Start

We had a good flight from Brisbane to Cairns and a very pleasant man met us with a board saying Gwen and Duncan Bush on it and whisked us through the drizzle to Trinity Beach. Our apartment looked out on the surf with this lovely, if grey view. After an Italian meal we chose our bedroom - it was a two bedroom apartment with a very supportive kingsize bed which did wonders for my back. But the exciting bit was that we also had two bathrooms so I never had to wait for Duncan to finish, and he never had to wait for me to get my makeup on!
Next morning it was still raining so we thought it would be appropriate to visit the rain forest. they have a sky rail over 7km long which whisks you over the tops of the trees. It stops 3 times for you to get off and take a walk on boardwalks which weren't to slippery. Here we are amusing ourselves with the other people in the pod by taking photos of one another.

And here is the view out the window........

However we have to say the waterfalls were most spectacular, so we just had to laugh and make the best of a bad situation.

By the time we arrived in Karunda the rain had almost stopped so we set off to explore. More news tomorrow!

Obsolete

There's nothing quite like finding yourself obsolete to make you feel old.
This weekend we took the caravan up to Tolaga Bay to try towing the caravan with the new car. It has a backing camera so I dont need to stand there and make all those funny hand signals and shout Right hand down - whatever that means. Duncan can line it up himself.
We even used the Tomtom to give us directions - even though we knew the way.
It even has a seat warmer!!! so I'm not needed for that anymore either.
No wonder Duncan says "I love my new car"

Brick Bay Sculpture Trail

We stayed with Colin and Helen Beckwith during our trip at Queens Birthday Weekend, and while the boys were out golfing Helen and I went for a walk through the Brick Bay Sculpture Park - the ideal combination of a gentle walk with something to see on the way. A bit like golf really. We were so lucky that the weather was fine and still. These are "Go Lightly" by Virginia King. They are arches, but because of the still water we are able to see them as circles. The autumn foliage was beautiful in the background.

A boardwalk took you up through a stand of native bush including these kauri with this very interesting and beautifully coloured pattern on it. (Helen in shot here)


These are just resin sheep but very intriguing! They are left-overs from the World Cup when all major teams colours were depicted and all numbers from 1 to 15 were made.

Just a few All Blacks left.

This is a protest piece about deforestation . It is done by Konstantin Dimopoulos, who is doing similar installations all around the world. The aquamarine paint is biodegradable. It was so carefully done, I found it quite stunning despite its weirdness.

A shot looking back to the cafe over the pond shows the quiet reflections of Aiko Groot's Disks. Again we are seeing double the height through reflections. The stack of disks are mobile so they would turn and be different in the wind.

There were other installations like an audio one down by the edge of a brook by the roots of a gnarled old tree "Spoken Indexes" by Dean Roberts. The eerie voices were supposed to be safe and assuring, but trees speaking is never that!

The ground was a little bit slippery in some parts but I'm glad we did it all at a leisurely pace.

Evom eht no s'eH

Its always great to see what little Ted has mastered as each week goes by. Watch this sequence of photos: 1. At the front of the rug.



2. Up on the arms and pushing....

3. ...and moving back on the rug!! Despite the temptation of that finger to grab.

When the computer comes on Little Ted watches with great interest. He is watching the screen not the camera, but he definitely takes a great interest in the antics of the two old fogeys making funny noises on the other side of the world. Unfortunately our skype has a habit of freezing when I start taking pictures, and then we become very boring.

Good Progress, Little Ted!!

Isyte updated

Duncan has decided it was  to update his car. Since one of his investments was losing money we decided we might as well lose it ourselves while enjoying a new car. It is a KIA Sorento. It is diesel, can be converted to 6 seats, which are leather and has many bells and whistles we are yet to figure out.

It has blue tooth. "What's Bluetooth?' asked Duncan when the salesman was out of earshot. "**ggered if I know," I replied "but I think its a technology rather than a thing." Or that could be Blue Ray.
This is the first step for preparing for the great South Island tour in the caravan next year - or might be the year after.
"The last big car I'll buy" he says. We'll see.