Goodbye to Cunderdin

Well.... Here I go... Back to the world of travelling! I'm nervous, sad, excited…. I’m OVERPACKED!!!! Far out! I make the worst backpacker! Oh well, it’s manageable.

I catch my train to Kalgoorlie in less than an hour. Brian has lent us his car, Cat (Catherine, the Irish backpacker that’s been here almost 4 weeks) will drop me off at the station before work. Tasha (Natasha, from England, just arrived Friday afternoon to be my replacement). I am extremely stoked that I won’t be walking my bags to the station!!!!!

Anyway… as I hoped in my last blog – here are some pictures. First are pictures from my going away celebration Friday night. I don’t have any pictures from Saturday night, because there wasn’t much on in town or at the pub. We closed the doors near 10 maybe? Brian bought us girls rounds for over an hour. It was a great time to chat with Brian, Backy (co-owner of pub), Cat, and Tasha. We had lots of laughs!

Aaron (Tomo), Will (the butcher), and Craig (Fish)

Adrian and Me

Claire and Me

Lynn and me in front of the Pitstop Diner (she gave me a free ice cream cone after that!)

Lynn and Glynn, next to their Harley. They own the Pitstop Diner (cheap internet, good coffee, friendly service ;-)

Brian

Tchae's Kitchen (she wouldn't let me photograph her)

Tahsa (left) and Cat (right, obviously)

Two birds that will dive bomb you if you get to close to the nest next to the bottleshop ... Just met them today!

Ooops - I somehow lost the two pictures I was going to post with Flat Eli! :( I can't add them now... to little time to move things around. Guess I'll just have to post another Flat Eli update sometime!

Flat People around the world

I acquired a new travel partner last week. He arrived direct from the U.S – Idaho actually. His name is Flat Eli. Flat Eli is the outline of my mom’s 8 year old neighbor boy – Eli. Eli’s 3^rd grade class has just read a book called “Flat Stanley”. In the book, Stanley gets flattened by a bulletin board. The benefits of being flattened are his ability to fly like a kite and to be posted through the mail to see his friend.

As a class project, the Purple Sage Elementary kids outlined themselves on paper, cut their flat selves out, and posted them to friends or family. As a caretaker of my “flat person” I am requested to take pictures of my flat person at various places. The class would like to receive postcards, pictures, and memorabilia from the adventures the flat people have for the next 8 months. I have every intention of keeping up with the responsibility – I even sent a post card right away; it had pictures of all the various animals in Australia (including the platypus, kangaroo, and koala) and told them how long it took to arrive in Cunderdin from Caldwell (13 days). I really look forward to taking Flat Eli around Australia and back to NZ with me. Before I send him back in May, Flat Eli should have seen South Australia, Sydney, Tasmania, Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), and various areas of northern New Zealand! I’ll probably send some Aussie candies back with mom too!

I must say – I’m really quite excited. I haven’t taken Flat Eli around town for pictures yet – it’s been SO windy, but I do have pictures of Flat Eli attending a class presentation with me!

My friend, Adrian, is a teacher of a mixed 6/7 class (age 10/11). He thought the class would enjoy having an American backpacker come in and talk to the class. I tried my hardest to put together an interesting PowerPoint – with lots of pictures. The presentation went over really well, I had many questions and I think the kids really enjoyed the photographs. Before launching into my PowerPoint, I introduced my travel companions; both Dominic (my teddy bear) and Flat Eli. A few of the kids had heard of the “Flat Stanley” book, but many hadn’t. I explained a bit about the flat person project, but I’m afraid the kids interest in my presence might have been more for my being American than my traveling with a flat person; I didn’t get to many questions about Eli. But that’s okay, the important part is that Flat Eli has started his journey – and has made his first appearance in my blog!

I am going to try my hardest to keep this blog updated for frequently from here on out. I’ll be leaving Cunderdin in 3 days!!!! Yep, only 4 more shifts (2 shifts a day) and I’m out of here!!! WOOHOO, onto travelling!!!

P.S....

I now only have one shift left!!! WOOHOOO. In less than 24 hours I will be on the train! I had a GREAT night out with friends after work last night. I have some pictures to post, but will wait until my final goodbye tonight. Hopefully I will get a chance to post a blog (even if it's all pictures) before hitting the train tomorrow afternoon. Big loves to everyone! I'm SO HAPPY!!!

Friendly Folk _ Cunderdin

I know I’m not doing this blog properly – in sequential order of Dave and I’s trip… but, oh well. Blogs really are just about what’s on the writer’s mind at the time – and I just haven’t been able to pic out my favorite cave pictures for the next installment…. So, here’s another tangent.

I’m feeling quite blessed today. Not because I’ve been hit, again, by a stupid bug I’ve been fighting for WEEKS now; though I am quite fortunate that my ear is not hurting from the bug settling there. No – I’m feeling quite lucky because I have spent my time in a town filled with lovely people. While I am good friends with only a few, every person I talk to in the pub or on the street is a genuinely good person.

A few examples:

My friend, Craig, took us up in a “cherry picker” last Tuesday (8 Sept). Cat (my new Irish co-worker and roommate) and I had the day off, Craig had mentioned taking me up to the heights the week before. Craig’s boss had a big smile on his face when we met him; he was happy to let us use the machine to get a view for miles over Cunderdin.

A few weeks previous (28 August), Aurelie (the French co-worker/roommate Cat replaced) and I spent the morning checking out tractors at the shop by the pub. The manager there was happy to let Chris (Craig’s brother) spend some time showing us the wares and letting us hop in the brand new rides (half million dollars at least).

My boss, Brian, took me to York on my day off this last Wednesday (9 Sept). He had no business there, but he took me anyways. The rain stopped while we looked in the shops, we walked around town and over the swing bridge under beautiful weathered skies. (okay - this doesn't show the sky, but it's the inside of an sweet shop. They even had some American candy!)

That same Wed. (9 Sept), Adrian and Claire took me out towards Meckering. We all finally got to take the pictures of the yellow canola fields – I got my artsy pictures……

While they got their colorful portrait ones.

I was surprised on Thursday when my co-worker, Tchae, gave me a small souvenier from her 3 day vacation north. It was only a simple bookmark – listing various “Aussie Lingo” phrases – but it was such a thoughtful gift (especially since I’d been using napkins and paper scraps to mark my place in books). Or course, it would be greatly helpful if the definitions to a few of the phrase were on the other side of the bookmark – but I guess I know have a mission to be sure I know what each one means by the time I leave. I do know now, however, that “chuck a wobbly” is like “having a go” or going off on a rant.

Despite such a great week, I was really quite over the whole place by Friday. I know! Talk about taking life for granted (how easy it is to forget the happy times of a few days back!). But really, I’m just so ready to travel again and – well – we all know how work is. Just ‘cause it’s not bad doesn’t mean you really want to go everyday! Anyhow, after a great day of feeling healthy (for the first time in weeks) on Friday, I was a bit unhappy at feeling sick again on Saturday. I was letting it get to me, when one of the pub’s semi-regulars (and well known about town) gave me a gift! I didn’t know what to say. “Lofty” and I had discussed (during my first stint in Cunderdin I think) an old doll that used to be popular in Australia. It’s quite fallen out of favor these days – being classed as politically incorrect and possibly racist. However, Lofty was surprised I hadn’t heard of “golliwog” and though he explained well enough what it was, he still wanted to find one for me. So – I was extremely surprised and humbled when I opened the bag and found the small, black doll with spikey (but extremely soft) hair inside. Talk about not knowing what to say! I put the doll in my tip jar and it made a good conversation piece throughout the day. Several people remembered having large “golywog” dolls of their own when they were kids. They are quite out of fashion and frowned upon now as they are considered a derogatory and racist representation of the black people. (I thought it was regarding Aboriginal people, but my internet search has found it's really African descendants). However, if one has an open mind then one can appreciate the doll for what it is – a piece of cultural history.

I don’t have a picture of my next lovely gift, but the brief account is an example of how nice and lovely even the young kids are here. Macey is the daughter of a regular here (really – the pub is a meeting place for many families and it’s quite common for babies to be crawling while kids are on the playground; whether it’s during a family dinner or dad’s few cold ones during “footy”, the town pretty much grows up in the pub!). Macey turned 8 yesterday (12 Sept). She had a “lolly bag” (lollies are candy) full of candy and prizes from her party. She had helped me fold napkins during the long, slow time between lunch and 5 o’clock beers. We talked about her birthday, school, and aspirations to be a chef (where “Mister Backy said I could work in the kitchen when I was 18”). She gave me a pink pencil decorated with fairies. She said she had two and I could have one if I wanted! How sweet is that!

While I took my little black doll home that afternoon, to keep it from getting covered in alcohol, I left the unsharpened (easier to travel home with me) pencil in my tip jar – as a reminder of all the friendly folk that live out here in the country.

Living Fossils, tall trees, bounty of the sea, ocean sunset

Continuing the adventures of Southern Western Australia (WA) with Dave:

SUNDAY 26 July (Day 1) continued: Perth to Dunsborough

After Dave and I finished playing in the circus of sculptures and walking the waterside walkways of Mandurah, we continued south to Lake Clifton.

Lake Clifton is “one of the few places in the world where ‘living rocks’ (microbialites) grow. It is the largest ‘lake-bound’ microbialite reef in the southern hemisphere”.

I wasn’t actually sure what to expect of these prehistoric creatures. I had read about them while planning my aborted trip to Northern WA, so I was stoked that there was a place I could catch them again. Apparently, these small creatures are somewhat like coral? “As the microorganisms photosynthesise, calcium carbonate is drawn out of the lime-enriched lake water to form rocklike material”. So, that should explain why, when we walked down the wooden jetty into the lake, it appeared we were really just looking at lots of rocks under the water! LOL (laugh out loud).


It was a beautiful lake though! Through the clear water, we could see baby fish (no idea what species) swimming along. We also noticed that the shape of the “living rocks” changed as the water depth increased. In the shallows, the rocks appeared to be flattened on top; which makes sense, as they wouldn’t be able to grow ABOVE the water level. In the deep area the “rock” appeared rounded and bubble like.

I LOVE the picture Dave took of me with the rounded rocks stretching behind me, like beautiful stepping stones leading into the reflection of sky and clouds.

We stopped briefly at the Tuart Forest. Apparently large expanses of these native forests have disappeared, they can only be found in a few places of this southern area. I am afraid to say, though, that I really didn’t notice a massive difference in flora composition from any other area of bush land! I know! How horrible a naturalist am I? Part of the problem is that the trees here (generally all some sort of species of eucalyptus (aka gum tree)) are tall enough to great a screen through which you cannot see far. So, picking out the even taller Tuart variety was near impossible. The other problem was – well, it’s the only place on our entire one week tour that the rain actually. We did get out of the car and walk around a bit, but we really couldn’t tell if there was supposed to be a trail we stuck to or if we were supposed to just wander. It’s really too bad, as the water began to fall (in decent sized drops) just as we got off track and found a very tall giant indeed. I would have loved to wander some more… as the area is supposed to be home to quite a few birds. But, I imagine the birds were hunkered down as well. So – we got back in the car and headed south again…. Just as the sun came out!

The day was getting fairly late, so we didn’t bother stopping in Bunbury. When we arrived in Busselton

we headed straight through town and to the jetty. We had both really been looking forward to the underwater viewing experience at the end of the jetty. An old, REALLY long wharf has been fitted out with a viewing enclosure beneath the waves. Supposedly a person can see fish, invertebrates, and the occasional sea lion move within their watery habitat. Unfortunately, the managers of the wharf had chosen this winter to upgrade the jetty – apparently it was becoming a bit dilapidated and dangerous. So, no underwater views for us. Instead, we were able to get a good view of the weather out to sea and watch some of the locals fish.




One lady was nice enough to answer a few of my questions – such as, what kind of crab is that. She looked at me a bit funny when I didn’t know it was a blue crab and she looked at me even more funny when I asked if I could take a picture – LOL! I would have liked to snap many pictures, capturing the bright blue coloration under the front appendages and the purplish tint on the tips. However, I didn’t want to push the women’s patience – I had already started drawing a crowd of tourists! When we left, the women went to measure her catch; on our way back down the wharf I asked – the crab was large enough to keep, it would be dinner.

As we made our way back to the car, we passed other people that were line fishing. One person had apparently forgotten to throw their catch back in…. I got a FANTASTIC picture of this remarkable fish…. Note the turquoise color on the head spine and the electric blue spots running down the top and bottom of the fish. As I finished my photo ops, a buy came wandering down the jetty with a pole. I asked what fish this was and why it was on the dock (I felt REALLY bad for the thing, struggling for air). He said it was a throw back, but for the life of me I CANNOT remember the name of this fish! I was greatly relieved when the guy toed the poor thing back into the water.

Dave and I ended our explorations in Dunsborough. We had an overpriced motel room for our anniversary night. Before getting all dolled up and going out to a Thai restaurant, we used our remaining daylight to make a quick run up to the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse. Unfortunately, the grounds were closed for the day and the sun was setting – so we didn’t have time to explore the trails or lighthouse.

Instead, we headed back down the road and took a detour to Sugarloaf Rock. Here, we were able to watch the crashing waves as well as see the lighthouse over the hills. Dave took this fantastic picture of Sugarloaf at sunset.

It’s funny, we probably wouldn’t have taken the time to note Sugarloaf on the map, except I had found a beautiful card at the Busselton Jetty souvenier shop. It had such lovely colors that I HAD to buy it for someone (Dave’s grandma just got my belated mailing last week). Since we had bought the card, I made a point of trying to see it – why by the card if we weren’t going to? I was pleased we were able to find it on this evening, as we wouldn’t have had time to come back – our trip really was too much of a whirlwind tour of an area that could be luxuriated in for weeks on end.

International Holidays .... a tangent

Happy Father’s Day…. Well, Australian Father’s Day.

I find it quite interesting how far off holidays can be world wide. Christmas and Easter – yeah, they are the same time internationally. Halloween, not really celebrated in NZ or Australia – but random costume parties are had throughout the year. Thanksgiving, obviously, is a uniquely American holiday – though a lot Americans forget that and ask what I did for it (I think I’ll celebrate it this year in NZ – it’s a good excuse for a green bean casserole!) Then there is “Queen’s Birthday”, which is celebrated in the UK, NZ, and Australia (I’m not sure about Canada). However, Queen’s Birthday in NZ is like 2 months before Queens Birthday in Australia. And even within Australia the public holiday date is different; with each state/territory taking the day off at different times of the year! How bizarre!

Two other “holidays” that are celebrated in NZ/AUS as well as America are Mother’s and Father’s Day. I left the US on Mother’s Day 2008, only to arrive just before Mother’s Day in Auckland…. “I (heart) Mum” t-shirt s were displayed in all the stores. While I find myself occasionally slipping, and calling my mom “mum” in conversations with people, I typically try to keep the term mom separate from mum. Dave and I use the difference to distinguish which of our mother’s were referring too (particularly useful in texting): his mom = mum, mine = mom. So, while the actual dates are different for Mothers Day between continents, they are still within the same month. Not Father’s Day though.

Father’s Day in the USA was on June 21. I know because I travel with the Idaho calendar I was given for Christmas. I wasn’t sure when Aus Father’s day was, but I knew that in NZ it was Sept. 6 (I wrote the NZ holidays on my calendar). I hadn’t thought much of missing the American version – I figured dad would get a kick out of a random fathers day card from Australia – or a random call (I think I did FB messages for Mother’s Day – which was the same day in NZ and America this year). I hadn’t even given a thought to missing Father’s Day, until my sister mentioned it was one of the last times she visited with dad before he went into hospital….. Then I got really sad I had missed it – why didn’t I at least call!?

When I returned to Australia, I was eating lunch in the Northam Mall with Dave. I looked up and saw an ad for the upcoming Father’s Day gift giving (still a month away at that time). I got a bit sad, but luckily Dave was there to cheer me up. I have been really pleased that hearing the Father’s Day radio ads since then hasn’t bothered me much. I still have my periods of grieving and sadness, but I’m able to comfort myself in knowing that dad was proud of me. I am so very fortunate – when I came home mom showed me the binder containing my NZ blog. It was MASSIVE – more than a book! Dad had taken the time to copy by blog (pictures and all) into a word document. With pictures properly placed, dad then printed it all out! Mom showed me the binder and thought I could come up with headings and “chapters”. Dad was really looking forward to my Australian blog, wondering if he would need a whole new binder!

Dad was proud of both his girls! I am just fortunate enough to have such a tangible reminder of how much dad enjoyed my travels, stories, and writing. It guts me that he isn’t around to read about the caves and trees Dave explored. It brings me to tears to know that he will never see the purple carpet of flowers blossoming on Cunderdin hill. While dad was never going to travel to Australia, I always feel closest to him when I’m in nature. And that’s the important thing…. He may be gone in body, but his spirit lives on in all our hearts

Happy Father’s Day dad!!

Carnival of Steel

THE SOUTHERN CORNER of WA (Western Australia)

Anyone that has been keeping up with my blog knows of the recent loss in my family. Even those that haven’t been keeping up with my blog have recently checked and learned of the tragedy. I had one person comment that they were surprised I was in Australia again already. It certainly felt weird to be half way across the world less than a month after my dad died; it still feels weird, another month later. There are times that I feel guilty for leaving mom, times that I want to be back home (for myself), and then there are times where my life away feels “normal”. Who knows how long I would have stayed in Idaho with family if I hadn’t already had prior commitments. But, I did have prior commitments. Dave and I had already purchased tickets for his travel to Perth (Australia), from Auckland (New Zealand). If we hadn’t have had this pre-arranged meeting already set up, then Dave most likely would have flown to the states when dad passed, to be there for me and my family. However, we decided that having him in Australia would be the best way for me to transition back to life abroad. I’m more than certain that I couldn’t have faced being alone and far from home without this transition.

So – I flew into Perth on Saturday, 25 July – the day before the one year anniversary of when Dave and I met (in New Zealand). Dave flew in about 9 hours later. The next day, we set off on a one week, whirlwind tour of Southern Western Australia (WA). It involved A LOT of driving, with Dave doing 99.7% of it. While Dave and I felt like we saw a few great things, we also felt like there was heaps more that we were missing from our ultra fast schedule. However, when we recounted our travels back to my coworker (we looped around and up to Cunderdin), she was surprised at how much we had actually done! So that was good!

SUNDAY 26 July (Day 1:) Perth to Dunsborough

It was a lovely day to be in Perth. The sun was shining and the sky was blue. Heck – even if it wasn’t I wouldn’t care! Dave and I strolled, hand in hand, from our motel to the airport. It was a decent walk, though flat and non-tiring. At Budget car rental we were hoping to cash in our free car upgrade – from small to somewhat large. However, the upgrade was never brought up and we were given a set of keys and told what number we would find our car. It was easy to see why the upgrade hadn’t been mentioned – the contract obviously stated “when available”; well, looking at the lot of little white spaces filled with LITTLE colorful cars we doubted whether availability was ever an option! There was one large car – a Holdon Commodore. I don’t remember the type of Commodore (where is Dave when I need details?), but it was a new enough and flash enough version to make Dave drool… I’m pretty sure V8 was written on it somewhere. If that had been our upgrade, I would be glad not to get it – I don’t think I could have afforded the gas!

Dave worked out the intricacies of the car on the short drive back to the motel (Formule 1 – a budget place made up of a large building divided into many, many SMALL rooms – with REALLY small bathrooms – and filled (near completely) with a double bed beneath a single bunk - family style I guess). Dave determined the brakes were sensitive, the wheel alignment edged to the right (I think), and that, despite its small size, the car had some pick up and go to it.

It took Dave no more than a minute to figure out how to fold the back seats out of the way. He just looked at the set up, pulled a lever (as if he knew exactly where to find it) and bam, more storage space! My large backpack, the massive suitcase mom had given me (crammed with clothes I’d unearthed in Idaho for Dave to take back to NZ with him), and Dave’s small bag (so small, he used it as carryon for the trip home) fit perfectly in the back of the car – just room for us in the front two seats.

We left the hotel and headed down the road, thinking we would come across a nice little café to have some breakfast and fuel our first day out. We passed a couple bakeries, but this being our first day together (and our anniversary) we wanted to make the entire day special; starting with breakfast.

After what seemed like way to long of a drive through suburbia (yes, we really could have been somewhere in the US – but then we would have been driving on the wrong side of the road!), we found a cute little place called “C15”. Really – that’s its name C15! Wow – note to self, never name any of my possible future businesses with letters and numbers. I nearly went insane trying to figure out where this “C15” receipt was from and what I could possibly have bought for $46.69 (yes – dining out isn’t cheap in Aus, especially Perth – but it did include a smoothie and coffee). The food was good though – and the company better. As can be proven by this picture of me, holding a demonized napkin in front of my face.

Our first real stop was Mandurah. While we technically stopped for breakfast in Fremantle, we didn’t actually walk around or see much – aside from the blue sky that looked warm until the cold breeze hit. Mandurah was a nice little town (city) on an inlet of water.

We parked at the visitor center. We started to look at maps, thinking we were definitely going to need more than the tourist brochure maps I’d collected from Perth airport. Ha, ha, ha. We were nearly decided on what map to choose, when the pictures on the map reminded me of something…. Those illustrations looked very much like the illustrations I had on my map of Western Australia; huh that’s funny – it must be a good map then…. OH! What!!! WAIT!!!! I HAVE A MAP!!!! Ha hahahaha. Dave rolled his eyes all the way back to the car and laughed with me as I pulled out my map booklet of the entire state of WA. It was as detailed and informative as the map we were about to buy, so we opted save our money and just chuck my map up front where I was navigating! LOL

After perusing the Mandurah visitor center (and choosing a really cute pink, fuzzy wallet (with a small grey koala holding onto the corner) for my niece) we decided to walk down the waterfront a bit. I had read about the “Stretch Festival”, an arts festival to stretch the community’s minds (I think). Apparently this little patch of waterfront public space was occupied by “The Cluster”, left over from one of the stretch festivals. It was “A group of portable interactive curio art works that form a carnival”.

Dave and I didn’t catch onto the interactivity of the objects until we finally read one of the plagues. However, we were already taking pictures of ourselves in an oversized photo frame (aptly entitled “The Frame”), when we read “The viewer need only step through the frame to be in the picture”.

In this picture, Dave is initially trying to figure out what the blowhorn looking sculptures are – he can be seen though “the frame” sticking his head inside it! LOL. We later read the “View-finders” rotated and were there for us “To frame and see as though for the first time that which is familiar”…. Not that Mandurah was familiar to us! It was fun to create little mini postcards in our minds anyway.

(Well, I had a photo here, but it got lost.... after 20 minutes of haggling with google Chrome, I'm done.....).

We had no need for the “The Secret”, two tall rocket-like objects that had rotating centers. By this time, we had figured out that all the sculptures were meant to be touched and played with, so I greatly enjoyed spinning the centers and watching the beautiful brushed steel designs catch the sunlight. Since my relationship with Dave is based on honesty (as all relationships should be, in my opinion), we had no need “To be liberated from the burden of a secret you need only to whisper the secret whilst turning part of the object. The object is the keeper of secrets”. I suppose it you wanted to entrust a secret to anyone/thing, a metal object pointing skyward would do just as well as your favorite teddy bear!

We did, however, greatly enjoy sitting in the heart shaped bench of “The Wish”. We have fun just being two love birds that share everything, so we didn’t need instructions (“A place two people whisper their wishes and are then bound through the object to those wishes”), or a special place, to share our wishes. We did manage to set the self-timing camera on one of “The viewers” to get a picture of us sitting in “The Wish”, but I would have loved to have had the picture taken THROUGH the viewer!

In the end – “The Cluster” really was kind of a like a carnival. The designs in the brushed steel sculptures and the interactivity of them meant a person couldn’t help but touch, play, and smile.

…. Day 1 to be continued……

P.S . I'm not sure some text is highlighted and under lined as if it's a link. Google is playing silly buggers with me :(

Shake that thing

The ringneck parrots make such a racket, as they fly between trees across the lawn. I cannot describe the sound of the chatter the 4-6 of them make. Several pair land on the fence at the back of the yard. I can see them, from the couch, strutting and talking down the line. One of the squawking pair wiggles its long tail back and forth, causing light blue feathers to fan out from under the long emerald green tail. The other of the pair, gives a couple calls and edges closer. The tail shaker stops, moves away, and quickly waggles it again. I watch through the glass, windows open to the full sound of their calls, and am torn between watching the end of the performance and running to get my camera. I opt for just enjoying nature, and trying –most likely ineffectually – to relate it in words.

(This event played out on Sunday, 9 August. The included parrot pictures were taken in the forest near Gloucester Tree – Pemperton, Western Australia. I have yet to begin writing about my travels with Dave…. I am not sure yet whether to write in my customary way – diary like, day by day – or to create small stories/anecdotes – like the one above – to go with pictures from the journey. At the moment, I am sufficiently lacking in motivation/energy for either!)

Australia Interrupted

25 July, 2009

I am sitting on the final airplane of my trans-world journey back to Australia. I have only 2 more hours of boredom to bear, so I’ve decided to try to be productive!

Wow, it actually feels like ages ago that I was tearily saying goodbye to Idaho. The poor guy next to me on my first plane; he actually patted my back and asked if I would be okay! I just nodded and he went back to his book. Ha, he was such a sweet guy. Never talked to me (I don’t usually like talking to people on planes), but when I woke up from a brief rest I saw the beverage trolly going by. I put my tray down and then realized she’d actually passed already. I just put my tray up again, not worrying about it. The guy didn’t say anything to me, but got the stewardess attention and told her I was awake! How nice was that! He just went back to reading again when I said thank you. I think I read my book for most of my flight to keep my mind off things, but – funny – I don’t really remember now! Maybe I slept a bit too?

I slept for most of my pacific ocean crossing from LA; eating dinner, watching a movie, sleeping awkwardly and brokenly, watch another movie, have breakfast, watch TV. I was slightly worried that my 2 hour layover in Sydney would put me close to missing the plane, as I had to go through customs. However, the long, slow line moved consistently and soon I was declaring my dive knife and American confectionary treats to officials (Dave LOVES Reese’s Miniatures, and I brought some small Butterfingers to introduce him to also). The quarantine guy asked if I had hiking boots and I just lifted my foot and said “just these”. To my surprise, he said they would need to be washed! Serious? I hadn’t even worn them in America, except through airports! When I took them off and looked, the dirt stuck on one sole looked red and sandy-ish….. I’m guessing it was Cunderdin dirt – traveled all the way to America just to be washed off in Sydney! LOL.

On this leg of the journey – Sydney to Perth – the entertainment leaves much to be desired. I’m sitting on an aisle row in the center column of the plane…. So no view out the windows ;( Apparently the left side passengers had a view of the snowy mountains too! I would have gotten up to look, but they had just served breakfast…I really couldn’t be bothered moving all my food just to peer over someone’s shoulder and out their window! I don’t have a personal TV and remote on this 5 hour journey, so I finished reading my book (the third in the “Twilight” series “Eclipse”) and watched the last half of a fairly dumb movie (17 Again).

As for me…. I think I’m doing okay. I get a little panicky when I let myself feel the hole in my heart to much, but thankfully I have seeing Dave to look forward to. Unfortunately, I’m already not looking forward to seeing him leave! LOL. I know, I haven’t even said hello to him and I’m already dreading the goodbye! I haven’t actually clarified with the Cunderdin Pub if I have job next week, when Dave and I have finished our travels. Assuming I do have a job, as a bar maid, I’m going to try working for another 6 weeks or so in the small farming town. I’m going to try very hard not to go running back to NZ. Afterall, it’s only 3 months until mom is in Australia too!!!! Yep, just 3 months and she lands in Sydney!!

ANYWAY – enough with the boring stuff! What I really need to share is the fun times I had visiting my family! If only I had HALF the pictures documenting those times! Wow, the pictures would describe so much better than the words I’ll write! LOL. Most of them are on facebook…. For those of you that aren’t on facebook yet, it really is a good way to share embarrassing moments! LOL.

So – yes, despite the extremely unhappy circumstances that brought me all the way from the other side of the world, there were quite a few good times.

The first I can think of was while dad was in the hospital. The doctors had just put him on high sedation (so we didn’t have to worry about his waking up and trying to comfort him) and he was making such good progress by being put on his stomach. Mom and I were feeling quite optimistic, so we left our vigil for the afternoon and went to the mall. Mom wanted me to get the next “Twilight” book I’d been craving for months (since she’d left the 2nd volume with me in New Zealand actually!). So, we opted for having a small bite to eat at the Cheesecake Factory first. We chose a few appetizers before we tried to choose just one cheesecake, out of the 50 plus decadent choices, we would want to try for dessert. Well – as I savored the delicious and unique food I told mom “This food is blog worthy”. LOL. So, here it is: I had to try the beet and goat cheese salad, as beets are a very New Zealand and Australian flavor (which I’d actually been missing lately!). The goat cheese with the beets was lovely, and the light vinaigrette and baby spinach finished it off nicely. The avocado egg rolls were extremely delicious, and rich, but contained twice as many as mom and I needed! The “Pièce de résistance” was the stuffed dates. I started eating dried dates as snack in New Zealand, but I’ve never had them fresh. These dates were first stuffed with mozzarella, then wrapped in bacon, and finally fire grilled until the bacon was virtually carmalized! Oh, it was so unique and so decadent – I had to close my eyes and eat slowly! All three dishes combined were the exact culinary experience I’d been craving for a good month or so…. So different, so interesting and decadent. Unfortunately, the eggrolls were so filling that we ended up having to split one slice of cheesecake instead of each getting a different on. ;-) The white chocolate caramel macadamia cheesecake was the perfect end to an indulgent afternoon. It was so creamy and yummy. Ugh, I was so full though! By the time we met my sister and aunt for dinner, several hours later, I was only able to order soup - I was still so full! LOL!!!

The second happy time was seeing my best friend Melinda. I know she arrived the day after dad passed and came over to the house in the afternoon, but I don’t remember many details. I just know it was so good to see her, she half grew up at my house since middle school; so she was like another daughter in the family. I had a really good time going through pictures with Melinda, trying to decide which ones of dad to use for his memorial movie. We had lots of laughs putting the movie together too – dad’s choice in final musical selection probably helped with that (“Joy to the World”, or as dad entitled in his paperwork “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog”).

Seeing Melinda’s kids was another joy. I hadn’t seen Miss Olivia (Livie) for well over a year (possibly 2?) and had never met her baby brother, little Richie. The first time I saw Livie was at dad’s memorial. She wanted to sit with her mom, and her mom was sitting with us Dohner girls. Livie kept looking at me like she kind of recognized me but didn’t know what to say. She got a real kick out of my cousin Ron, turning around in the pew and flirting with him. It wasn’t until the wake that Livie and I got to hang out. Her mom would let her come find me and ask if I would play with her. She would then lead me to “her room”, where all the toys and the “horsey bed” were kept (it took me a while to figure out the horsey bed derived it’s name from to the big BSU Bronco logo on the blanket and not from the fact that the blow up mattress bounced like riding a horse!). Melinda brought Livie and Richie over another time or 2 before I left. Livie and I got on really well and I was even able to entertain Richie long enough for mom to do adult things (how was it my idea to sort out the garage and then barely lift a finger before I was off playing with kids?). I was quite proud of my abilities as an auntie when I was able to get Richie to stop crying (after the cat declared enough play by using a bit too much claw) while his mom was on the phone! The day Melinda flew back to WA (Washington that is, not Western Australia!) I visited her and the kids at her parents place. Livie and I had fun rough housing on the floor and Melinda and I just enjoyed trying to keep the gravel and sand out of Richie’s mouth at the playground! It was a great time of remembering how much fun being an auntie can be.

One of the best events with the funniest pictures (which I don’t think I own copies of!) was dad’s wake. Dad’s reasoning for ending the ceremony with “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog” was to help people not waste time lamenting his loss, but to rejoice in the life he had and to keep living ours. So, we had one hell of a wake! It was really a typical get together for most of it, lots of people eating and drinking, kids running around, etc, etc. But, it’s always the ending that gets good – when people start thinning out and the remaining adults start playing (and riding motorized toys). The kids had been having water fights throughout the hot, sunny day. Pretty soon, all the kids the neighbor boys had been playing with were gone, but they weren’t ready to stop playing! I’m not actually certain of the whole chain of events, but somehow mom suggested they get me with water! As if I was going to take a face full and not do something! LOL. Luckily I was already done riding motorcycles (and, apparently ATVs – though I don’t remember that bit and therefore still say it didn’t happen) with my cousins (they were sober and driving, I was inebriated and hanging on). So, I had nothing else to do but chase the kids (literally) around the house until I could catch them and douse them back. There really are some compromising, and amusing, pictures on facebook. Thankfully the parents were right there laughing at their kids as they tried to keep the hose out of their face while I sat on their backs! LOL.

A week later found me in nearly the same position, only with kids I was related too! One advantage of my being in town was that I got to catch up with heaps of my family. If I didn’t catch them at the memorial then I saw them at the family reunion my cousin held. There was, again, lots of food and drink and kids running around. I had heard that people would be bringing water guns and “water balloon volleyball” equipment. I was intrigued with the volleyball idea, but that never got going. It turned out to be just the kids that were squirting each other with guns and the occasional balloon. Near the end of the night, some of the kids got bolder and started getting the adults wet. I’m going to have to implicate my mom again – as I watched her point me out of the crowd sitting in the dry zone! Pretty soon I was at it again; chasing kids around the yard, wrestling for control of water guns and hoses, and pinning them down as I put it right in their faces (or ears if I had to). Thankfully, I was actually dressed for the occasion this time! Instead of a nice skirt and blouse, I was getting wet in fast drying swim top and shorts. Oh – and I must also admit that my wrestling wasn’t just limited to children…. Nope, in my somewhat inebriated state I got schooled by one of my cousins. He may be miles older (I remember him carrying me around as a kid), but he’s still strong as a bloody ox! In the end I had to resort to biting him! LOL. I know, low blow, but it’s usually my last defense! His daughter said he had a bite mark for a couple of days --- oops. But it was a blast anyway. Really made me realize how NOT strong I am! LOL.

While we were at the reunion, mom and I set up a date with one of my cousins to ride horses the next morning. So, after a very restless night of waking up every hour or so to guzzle more water, I was up at 7:30 am. Mom and I met my cousin at his house, where he had us ride around the ring and arena to get a feel for our horses. Dick was pleased with how well Dusty behaved and handled (I hadn’t ridden Dusty in near 2 years and I’d pretty much been the only one riding her then!). He left us to it while he got his horse warmed up. When we are all set the horses were loaded and we headed to the Owyhee desert. I learned a lot on the ride to the trail. Dick told us about his first impressions of dad, his change in thinking, and of the good times he had riding horses in the desert with my dad. It was really neat! The ride itself was really cool too! It was the first time Dick’s horse was ridden in the desert, so it was productive training ride to. I can’t describe the whole journey – the brown, dry, sage covered hills with crazy rocks cropping up in interesting formations. Oh! And the “morman crickets”! Holy smokes! Those things are MASSIVE, and so very black. The crickets were EVERYWHERE – definitely looking biblical in their plague-like numbers! The ride itself was great too – the cool, light breeze kept the direct sun from heating us to boiling temperatures. While we encountered a couple of ATVs at the end of the trail, the rest of the time was spent listening to the silence and enjoying nature that probably hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years.

After getting the horses back to Dick’s place mom and I were off to meet my sister for some river floating. We didn’t have time to drive all the way back to the house to get our stuff (neither of us had the presence of mind to pack before leaving that morning, and the riding took longer than we had expected). So, mom and I did a ninja strike mission on the Walmart swim section. We got some good deals as we quickly picked some suits and lunch up before heading to Boise. Any girl knows how difficult finding a new swimsuit can be, so it is amazing that the first (and only) suits we took to the dressing rooms fit nicely! We figured they didn’t have to be ultra perfect, it was just the Boise River after all, but both our sets looked quite good! After a bit of stress about parking and getting our raft and tube rented, we finally got ourselves sorted and onto the river. Despite the heat of the day, the water was still extremely cold! Mom and I piled the life jackets and our bag in the raft while Kristi chilled her bum in the tube. Half way through I took a turn letting my lower bits freeze while Kristi and mom kept us out of branches and leaves. Back on the raft again, I did a far worse job of keeping us out of the low lying trees – Kristi let go of the raft a couple of times while mom and I ducked for cover and let the branches scrape by! It was a really good time.

My last night in town was celebrated with a few cousins, an aunt, and my mom. We all went to Tucano’s for dinner. I had heard of this place, where they bring you meat selection after meat selection to pick and choose from. My cousin had warned me not to bother with the salad bar, as it was to filling. We got our drinks sorted and then waited for our first round of meat. Basically, the waiter brings you a freshly done meat – such as filet mignon, teriyaki beef, or even chicken heart – and slices a bit off his skewer and onto your plate. I tried everything once (yes, even the chicken heart – which was a bit dry for me), but only had seconds of one thing; the mango fish, it was light and so flavorful. My sister joined us after work for dessert. I certainly didn’t need dessert, but I was already painfully full, so I didn’t see why a bit of Crème brûlée couldn’t fit too! It was a nice night of good company and interesting food.

The day I flew out was bittersweet. I hated to leave my family behind, but I did look forward to getting back to my life (and seeing David). As much as I wanted to stay with mom and support her through everything, I also knew jobs were scarce and that eventually she would have to get on with being alone. So, we packed up the car and headed to Kristi’s place. Kristi would be working when I got on the plane, so we were saying goodbye at her apartment. Mom and I brought the bottle of year old champagne from the fridge (I had bought two bottles for mother’s day mimosas the morning of my last departure – but we only used one). We also picked up some decadent chocolate to go with it. Mom didn’t drink much, as she was driving, and Kristi had to work soon so she had little too. That left most the bottle to me to finish with the pineapple orange juice! While we all had our sadness to carry, it was a lovely goodbye to family. Mom and I killed time at the airport café – she having a cappuccino, I having a bloody Mary. I was glad Kristi wouldn’t be seeing me off at security, as it would have made dad’s absence obvious and unbearable. As it was, I didn’t even shed a tear until I was on the plane. Nope – I went directly to the airport bar and drank a bloody Mary while I retreated into my book… and vaguely I hoped that I really would stop hiding my hurt in alcohol someday.

P.S.
I am posting this on 6 August – a Thursday. It is my second day off from work – yes, the pub took me back – after only 2 days of work (one of which was half day anyway!). Dave and I had a fantastic trip around Southern Western Australia, but I have yet to even begin blogging about it! I am doing well here and am happy to say that any alcohol I drink is purely for social purposes

and not related in any way to grief! I even kept myself from drinking alone yesterday after a very cathartic break down – I brushed my teeth and went for a walk instead! LOL.

Oh - and these are the only pictures I have. I'm sorry that they are at the end, but Internet Explorer 8 won't easilty move them for me!!! GRRRRR! Heee, I added color to a few words, just to make up for lack of pictures through out :-)