Western Australia or Bust!

As we heading north from Alice Springs my mind returned to 1957 - the first time I had traversed the Stuart Highway between The Alice and Tennant Creek.

Then, the remote Northern Territory was much more remote. The “highway” was slightly wider than a large vehicle and trees, shrubs and spinifex lined each side providing a high potential for road surprises - that instant when a kangaroo or cow walks onto the road in front of you. Many a vehicle had arrived at its destination with damage resulting from an animal strike. The worst cases were, of course, towed in or transported home on the backs of trucks. On rare occasions, there would be a fatality - no seat belts in 1957.

When two vehicles approached, both had to put their outside wheels off the bitumen so they could pass. This presented an additional hazard given that much of the road edge was badly broken and pot-holed. However, I can recall occasions when we had done the then eight hour trip from Tennant Creek to The Alice and never pass another vehicle.

Today was much different. Although there is always the potential for a road surprise, the Stuart Highway is now a real highway with wide cleared edges, defined lanes and with a general speed limit of 130 km/hr. In some places the speed limit is unrestricted - drivers can drive as fast as they wish, and many brave souls do.

With two tonnes of caravan behind my car, I chose to drive at a steady 100 km/hr along that stretch I had travelled perhaps hundreds of times. Although the scenery is very ordinary, there is a meditative aspect to sitting looking out the front window for hours on end. There are many more fellow travellers on the road today too, which provides at least some intermittent break from the tedium.

We stopped at Prowse Gap rest stop overnight as it has toilets and ample parking space for larger caravans. After a busy few weeks and under the clear, sparkling Central Australian sky, we had the best night’s sleep for weeks. As I dozed off, I thought of my long lost parents and brother and the good times we had had living here when it was like Australia’s Wild West.

Robin

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012

The forecast for Christmas Day in Central Australia is 39 degrees Celsius ... so much for a "white" Christmas. It's a tad hot for roast meats and vegies straight out of the oven, so we plan to do our cooking Christmas eve in an outdoors barbecue after dark and then have cold meats and salads for lunch.

We usually start with a pancake breakfast around 10 am after we have opened our presents. Our pancakes are topped with jam, cane sugar syrup and cream (for anyone keen enough to bolster their cholesterol levels) accompanied by fruit juice, coffee, and a variety of seasonal fruits.

Around 2 pm we begin to feel hungry again, so it's back to the table for another round, this time pork, chicken, turkey and beef roast and a variety of salads eg, potato salad, bean salad, , prawn salad, and that green leaf stuff that has no nutrition, tastes like cardboard and doesn't seem good for anything ... lettuce. (By now I expect you will have guessed I don't like it).

At lunch we will probably crack a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine or Champagne depending on how much we have already consumed and who wants what. We have quite a collection for a family that doesn't really drink all that much (in comparison with other Territorians that is).

After lunch I usually get the job of cleaning up, (thank goodness for dish washers) have a nap for an hour if time permits and then in the evening Christina and I are off to Ilparpa (five or six kilometres away) to have dinner with friends. By then we probably won't care what our son, daughter and grandson are doing. All the excitement tends to wear us out these days.

It's a good thing Christmas only comes annually, although I seriously think that in Australia we should have it in July, not December. I may start up a Christmas in July Lobby Group to try to change our traditions. There is another group hell bent on eliminating Christmas, so my pressure for a change in timing shouldn't be such a bad deal.

We hope you and yours, wherever you are have a wonderful Christmas and New Year if it is part of your tradition and if not, we wish you all the best for 2013.

Robin

A Long Cold Winter

As I write, it's been raining again overnight and golf for this morning is cancelled. With the rain, it's not as cold as it has been, but is still cold enough to have a heater on and the doors and windows closed.

This winter seems to have been colder than previous. In fact, we have had the coldest day ever recorded in Central Australia this month. The temperature never went about 6 degrees Celsius for the day. Now I know some of you who live in places where it gets really cold, will have a giggle at that. However, remember that Central Australia is an arid, dry environment that also gets very hot in summer. We're accustomed to it getting cold in winter, but not that cold for so long. I recall a minus 6 degrees once, but it usually occurs when one is wrapped up in bed ... or should be.

For only the second time in our 38 years together, Christina has been very sick with influenza and bronchitis having had about seven days of it. So much for the innoculations we had for swine flu and normal flu. I had a dose that kept me away from work for two days, but it wasn't anywhere near as severe as the dose Christina has ... probably one of the dubious benefits of working in a hospital.

Anyway, I'm off to Darwin for a few days next week where it will be warmer and I can soak in some sun beams and return home feeling all the better for it.

Robin

Counting Down - Two Days to Go

Well, we are almost at the end of our tour of the UAE.

Our "Permanent" Residence Visas have been cancelled and I have only two days to go to work and on Friday, we fly out to Johannesburg.

Last night we had a Last Supper for what has become affectionately known as the "Group of Eight" ... four married couples who spent lots of time together, visited Syria and other places in and out of the UAE together.

Christina and I are leaving, so the group will now be six. Maybe they'll find a replacement for us, who knows.

It's sad to be leaving our dear friends and colleagues, but nobody is permanent here as an expat. Some day we all have to leave. No job, no visa.

In our case, we have other things to do, places to see and after three years away, need to spend time with our kids and grandson.

In the future, I will place some photos of our South African tour and eventually will write about some of the great sights of Central Australia.

Hoping to keep in touch with you.

Robin