A FEW HOLIDAY PHOTOS

Well here I am back home .
After a wonderfull holiday with Joanne .visiting friends and and for me to revisit
a few places that Alan and I loved so much.(happy memories Of our time together ). Joanne wanted to see the places her Dad talked about so much now she knows why .

First Stop BERRY SPRINGS

***********************

During World War II, Berry Springs was part of a rest and recreation camp set up by the armed forces for the 100,000 personnel based in the area. A number of huts and weirs were built at Berry Springs during this time and you can still see the remains around the main pool. Berry Springs continues to be popular with locals and visitors as a place for rest and recreation.

Joanne just come from top of cascade sitting on water .

My favorite swimming hole Berry Springs (no crocs)

THen on the road to Litchfield Nature Park

Magnitic Termite Mounds

One of Litchfield National Park's unique sights is the hundreds of termite mounds standing up to two metres high in a wide swathe of empty ground. The mounds are like enormous magnetic compasses with their thin edges pointing north south and broad backs east west minimising their exposure to the sun, keeping the mounds cool for the termites inside. Nearby, a large cathedral termite mound stands..

Jeanette and Joanne At the Termite mounds

Jen's back

Hi everyone I'm back

Arrived back in Melbourne at 6.30am Thursday morning, very tired.. seeing I had to put up with kids in the next row, a dog barking in the hold and my daughter snoring next to me.. I didn't get much sleep. My son-in-law (Joanne's husband) not impressed as we were supposed to ring him on arrival to pick us up.. Thinking we were doing the right thing, we caught a taxi home unknown to us he was invited to attend at official Richmond Football Club function at the Crown Casino in Melbourne , all drinks and food included, which he would have loved to attend.

On another note I would like to say what a fantastic job my daughter Carol (caz) has done on the site whilst I've been away. I love the music what a lovely Aussie touch.

As you have read in Carol's previous post on our flight out of Melbourne where I had my hair mouse confiscated and Joanne was drug and explosive tested on the way in. I should not have laughed as it always comes back and bites you on the bum as I was drug/explosive tested on the way back "to my disgust" thinking who might have been watching me, Joanne had the last laugh on me.

Update from Carol (having computer withdrawals) computer still in the shop under repair and should be up and running over the weekend, keep your fingers crossed all goes to plan.

Currently still at Joanne's planning to be home on Monday the 1st August.

Like always glad to be back.

Lots of photo's to come standby

Cheers Jen

Oh No ... MELTDOWN !!

G'day everyone,

Just a little note to all, my computer decided to go into meltdown (fried motherboard) on Friday night, so I will not be able to to any postings. Heading down to Melbourne tomorrow (Tuesday-RDO) to get it repaired under warranty, but have to leave it for a few days .. grrrrrrr....OH WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT IT !!! I am feeling lost and lonely already.

Spoke to Mum & Jo, all going well, nothing to report on that front at this time. They are due back on Friday, so you might be hearing from mum before me !!!

Peter,

If I could retreive my emails sweety I would, I'm sorry. Will do them as soon as possible.

I am currently doing this post from work, hopefully the boss wont walk in !!! I must get back to the grind stone and earn an honest $$

Stay safe, and keep on smiling
Caz
xxoooxxx

Cazz's Friday Prayer !!!

Music .. Get The Toes Tapping !!!

G'day everyone,

I've just added a little music .. boost up the feeling of well being!! It's a rather catchie little number sung by one of Holties favourites and I must admit one of mine also. The song is titled "G'day G'day" and sung by Slim Dusty.

Slim died a dew years back (2003), but his songs remain and are legendary here in Australia. Another of his best known songs is "A Pub With No Beer". There are many web pages out there dedicated to Slim, so if you are wanting a little more insight, you can click here

The Slim Dusty Story - The Age

By the time you leave here today, I can guarantee you will be humming, whistling or singing this as you go about your day.

If, by any chance you find it annoying, simply click the stop button on the player located at the top of the page.

The Truth About Showering !!

How To Shower Like a Woman

Take off clothes and place them sectioned in laundry basket according to lights and darks.
Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown.
If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.
Look at your womanly physique in the mirror - make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.
Get in the shower.
Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone.
Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.
Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.
Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner enhanced. Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.
Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.
Rinse conditioner off hair.
Shave armpits and legs.
Turn off shower.
Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower.
Spray mould spots with tile cleaner.
Get out of shower.
Dry with towel the size of a small country.
Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.
Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.
If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

How To Shower Like a Man

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.
Walk naked to the bathroom.
If you see wife along the way, shake willy at her making the 'woo-woo'
sound.
Look at your manly physique in the mirror.
Admire the size of your willy and scratch your bum.
Get in the shower.
Wash your face.
Wash your armpits.
Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off.
Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.
Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.
Wash your bum, leaving those coarse bum hairs stuck on the soap.
Wash your hair.
Make a shampoo Mohawk.
Wee.
Rinse off and get out of shower.
Partially dry off.
Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of bath the whole time.
Admire willy size in mirror again.
Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.
Return to bedroom with towel around waist.
If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake willy at her and make the 'woo-woo'
sound again.
Throw wet towel on bed.

I KNOW YOU'RE LAUGHING CAUSE MOST OF IT'S TRUE!!!!!!

A Few Small Changes

Nothing like a few small changes .....

What do you think mum .. looks good .. don't ya think !!! Would love to see the look on your face right now !!

Welll, why the cat is away the mouse will play !!!

Now.. if all changes have been made correctly, my name should appear in the title and below this post, hopefully will stop any confusion as to who is doing the postings, can view either profile, and new pic in the title. Oh and I changed the width of the blog postings & sidebar, so if this causes any problems for anyone, please let me know via the comments because it views okay this end.

Caz

Cute and Nice, You decide !!!

As promised to mum, I would TRY my best and keep things "nice".. and I thought these few little pics where cute !!!

*******

******

And she did ask me to be informative, well I think this is rather "informative" it does depict other cultures and there food !!

*****

Update #1

G'day everyone,

I put in a quick call to Jo & Mum around 8.30pm tonight, just checking in to make sure they made it safe and sound and all was well. At the time of speaking, they were both sitting back outside their cabin, applying insect spray having a drink, Mums a brandy & dry and Jo a Southern & coke, and doing puzzles from the "That's Life" magazine. All relaxed after there flight. Our conversation went something like this:-

Caz: Hey sis, just a quick call .. All settled in okay.. did you have a pleasant flight?
Jo: Welllllll .. we got here eventually .. let me tell you its was interesting.
Caz: Oh god, do tell .. didnt go smoothly then?
Jo: Well, was running a little later than expected leaving home, you know kids and last minute stuff .. anyway, Colin drops us off at the airport, doesnt come in, as it was late and he wanted to get kids home to bed, anyway.. mum and I make our way to the check-in / departure lounge, check in baggage etc, normal stuff, well they pull mum aside, and go through her stuff, and to our amazment took out her "moose" (hair product) and said it couldn't be taken onboard as the little bloody plastic lid was missing .. well as you can imagine, mums flustered, not at the fact of the moose, but the thought that they thought she was trying to blow up the plane .. well that all got settled and after further searching of her bags .. she went through okay. (Please note that there was laughter in the background from mum, just listening to Jo relate this story)
Caz: Bloody hell sis, glad it was you there and not me !!! (laughter in my voice)
Jo: Oh.. it doesnt end there ... They pulled me aside and did a random drug test, and then checked all my baggage for drugs etc .. (at this point mum is nearly wetting herself laughing in the background).
Caz: Youve got to be joking?
Jo: I just couldnt believe it, so I ask them if we, pointing to mum and myself look like druggies or terrorists, to which they answered .. dont know, what do they look like .. well I must admit that stumped me, so anyway we eventually got cleared and was allowed to board the plane. By this time it was just after 7.45pm the plane was due to take off at 8pm.
Caz: (laughing at this point, because I could visualise all) Well, all that aside sis, you got there and you got something to have a good laugh over.
Jo: Oh, thats not the end of it .. (at this point mum has laid a few eggs, (an aussie saying) laughing so much) we are sitting on the plane, Pilot voice over, you know normal shit, we start to taxi out to the runway when all the darn power goes out, and the plane stops, along with my heart. I yell out "SHIT", mum yells "Bloody hell" and other passengers were all doing the same, and we both grab each others hand. So we along with the other passengers are sitting on the runway in total darkness, with a thousand thoughts running crazily through our minds, and I can tell you mine was of drugged out terrorists taking over the plane !!!
Caz: (laughing at this point, not being able to hold it in) Oh no .. what was wrong?
Jo: Well, because there was no power took a bit to relate to everyone, but there was a fault in the planes electrical crap, welll dooh, so we are all just told that ground crew have been alerted and just to sit back and relax !!! I myself wanted off this darn plane, and turned to mum and said, I told you we should have driven!!! Anyway, 1/2hr goes by and the lights etc all come back on, pilot announces all has been corrected and was ready once again to take off. Well you know me, my mind is creating all sorts of scenarios, and I think I might have held my breathe for longer than was normal, I look over at mum, and she's just sitting back, all relaxed, as if nothing had happened. She even started to stir me up, you know teasing me etc. Anyway the plane takes off, I get myself a "drink", and we finally land at Darwin aiport around 1.30am instead of the expected 12.10am. Then collect the hire car, drive up here, got in around 2am.
Caz: So the trip went well then (laughing so darn hard)
Jo: Yeah, guess you could say that, we got here !!!! I'll put mum on
Mum: hey love, (because thats all she could get out, she was still laughing so darn hard)
Caz: Interesting trip (she still wasn't able to talk), mum, will ring in a the next couple of days, will let you get back to your drinking and relaxing. Give my love to Greg, Dell and will talk soon.

Im sorry about the length of this, but I just didnt know how I could shorten it and still relate all the happenings !!!

Until the next update
Keep on smiling
Caz

What Do I Do !!!!!

*** UPDATE from Colin:

JO, if are are reading this ..... PLEASE come home, I need help !!!!

Tell me what you would do to these two little "darlings"

Up Up and Away !!!

G'day everyone,

Well, it's Carol here, Jens eldest daughter. Mum and Joanne (youngest daughter) have headed off on a bit of a holiday together, yep.. gone north .. is that a surprise to her readers and friends !!! This is mums first trip away from home since Dad passed away, and it has taken a little to get her going, but having very close and good friends awaiting her in Darwin, I'm sure she will relax and enjoy herself. She was very apprehensive the night before the departure, I think just facing a trip without Dad beside her was a very emotional time, but a hurdle that we wanted her to cross. Hopefully, it will get her going again. NOW the real person in this little note to be concerned for is Colin, Jo's hubby !! He has been left "home alone" with the rug rats.. OH BOY !!! What a job he has infront of him for the next 14 days, Haden well he is pretty self sufficient, as teenagers go.. but the younger three from ages 7-2, that is another story. Needless to say when speaking to Jo on the phone just a few hours before they headed off to the airport, she was feeling apprehensive about leaving the kids for 14 days, as she has never left them for anything more than an overnight visit, to excitment at seeing her dear friend Megan, who also lives in Darwin, they havent seen each other for over 10yrs, but have constantly kept in touch.. well I guess there wont be alot of sleep happening for a few days, and if I might add a few Southerns' (Southern Comfort & coke .. alcohol beverage for those that do not reside here in oz). I will kept you all posted as news filters back.

Now, as for Mum, she has packed her camera, along with additional memory cards, so we can all expect MORE photos upon her return. She was planning what to shoot even before she left !!!! It seemed to me that her main concern, after family etc, was this blog, which she has entrusted to me !!! She has asked me to add a post here and there and when possible, to keep everyone updated on her movements or add a few tid bits, ... BUT I had to keep it nice, but interesting .... OH BOY .... letting me loose without her moderation, a very risky but brave move, even if I must say so myself!!!!!

Well enough rambling from me, and I will keep you all posted as time permits, until then

Have fun, stay safe, and remember to smile !!
Carol

The Majestic Katherine Gorge

Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park covers an awesome 3,000 kilometres of magnificent escarpment country, Katherine Gorge is the jewel in Nitmiluk’s crown and one of the Territory's top tourist attractions. The Katherine River flows through 13 spectacular gorges separated by rapids and carved through the Arnhem Plateau before heading north west to the tidal Daly River and the Timor Sea.

A 2 hour slow cruise along the Gorge is a must do, and don't forget the camera!!!

I have picked out a few of my favorite photo's.

The start of many magnificent sights along the gorge.

In the film "Jedda" this is the cliff were Jedda fell to his death

This is one of many rock faces that display Aboriginal art, depicting stories of animals, hunts, and other various symbols. The climb is a lot steeper than it looks, and is very rough underfoot, but well worth the experience.

.

I tried to take a picture of one of the Aboriginal drawings, unfortunately it's not very clear.

another beautifull veiw of the gorge.

============================

A LITTLE PRAYER

A father put his three year old daughter to bed, told her a story and listened to her prayers which she ended by saying:"

God bless Mommy,

God bless Daddy,

God bless Grandma and good-bye Grandpa."

The father asked, "Why did you say good-bye grandpa?"

The little girl said, "I don't know daddy, it just seemed like the thing to do."

The next day grandpa died.

The father thought it was a strange coincidence.

A few months later the father put the girl to bed and listened to her prayers which went like this:

"God bless Mommy,

God Bless Daddy and good-bye Grandma."

The next day the grandmother died.

Oh m gosh, thought the father, this kid is in contact with the other side.

Several weeks later when the girl was going to bed the dad heard her say:

"God bless Mommy and good-bye Daddy."

He practically went into shock.

He couldn't sleep all night and got up at the crack! of dawn to go to his office.

He was nervous as a cat all day, had lunch sent in and watched the clock.

He figured if he could get by until midnight he would be okay.

He felt safe in the office, so instead of going home at the end of the day he stayed there, drinking coffee, looking at his watch and jumping at every sound.

Finally midnight arrived, he breathed a sigh of relief and went home.

When he got home his wife said "I've never seen you work so late, what's the matter?"

He said "I don't want to talk about it,

I've just spent the worst day of my life."

She said "You think you had a bad day, you'll never believe what happened to me.

v

v

v

v

v

This morning the milkman dropped dead on our porch."

=====================

Welcome to Mataranka

The ‘Never Never Land’ of Mataranka was the setting of the famous Australian novel, We of the Never Never by Jeannie Gunn. Mataranka township is located 100 kilometres south of Katherine on the Explorer’s Way (Stuart Highway). Jeannie Gunn ‘The Little Missus’ lived at nearby Elsey Station for just a year but her affection for the area and its characters has been immortalised in her famous book.

The old Elsey of the WE Of Never Never Homestead.

The Mataranka Homestead is a replica of the home the Gunns lived in as no remains of the original exist

Here's Alan taking a little R&R in the thermal underground springs.

The Mataranka Thermal Springs are an added bonus for travellers in need of rejuvenation. The warm, crystalline waters of this natural pool have the power to soothe aches and pains after a long day on the road. The water in Mataranka Thermal Pool is spring fed and bubbles up from deep within the Earth at an amazing 30.5 million litres per day and at a fairly constant temperature of 34°C.

Now here's something you dont see very often, an Albino Peacock.

Your "everyday" Peacock. They just wander around the camp sites.

A termite mound in the gardens in main street mataranka.

===============

A LITTLE QUOTE

To realize

The value of one minute:

Ask a person

Who has missed the train, bus or plane.

===============

Outback Pubs

On our travels heading up the Stuart Highway, we decided to have a few "one night" stop overs at the local Bush Pubs, they are all very unique and quite different.

An old outback pub in the bush, complete with a talking cockie out front.

When travellers from other countries visit these Pubs, they traditionally get asked to leave a postcard or business card which get stuck to the walls, ceilings, notice boards etc. Alan is looking at a postcard board.

After a long drive there's nothing better than pulling over, stretching the legs then "cracking a tinnie" or in Alans case a stubbie

The Daly Waters Pub was very unique, in that you only paid $10 at the bar for overnight stay and $14 for bbq dinner. The hot water system here was a little rustic, it consists of 2x44 gallon drums with a roaring wood fire placed under them, and amazingly it never runs out of hot water.

Same Pub, different angle.

A "road train" full of cattle, pulled over outside the Daly Waters Pub. Driver inside having a well earned beer!!!

I would just like to add that the publicans, and locals are very hospitable and always have a good yarn or two. A very enjoyable, and interesting part of our trip.

Barrow Creek

Barrow Creek is situated 283 kilometres north of Alice Springs on the Stuart Highway. Set against the backdrop of the Forster Ranges, Forsters ranges driving into Barrow Creek
The Barrow Creek Hotel is also a welcome pit stop for travellers along the Stuart Highway and contains an interesting collection of memorabilia gathered over the years. It provides basic accommodation, fuel, meals and refreshment.
A close up view of pub
Visitors stop at Barrow Creek to visit the Telegraph Station completed here in 1872.