ABC WEDNESDAY

F IS FOR........FLIES

Ah yes, the great Aussie salute....the graceful swish of the hand across the face, to deter those pesky bush flies!

From our 2003 adventure, across northern Australia, three beautiful places loom large in the pantheon of bush fly-plagued camp-sites - Limestone Gorge (in Litchfield NP, Northern Territory), Bell Gorge ( along the Gibb River Rd, Western Aust) & Walcott Inlet ( also WA).

In the photo above is Ian ( yes, one of the 3 great cooks from last week) baking at the Limestone Gorge camp....if the flies have settled on your back, DO NOT disturb them. If they're on your back, then they're not buzzing round your eyes, nose & mouth!!


The must-have accessory is your fly-net, which automatically goes on at sunrise ,when the flies arrive, and doesn't come off till sunset, when they all miraculously disappear.

For other equally-rivetting F posts, buzz on over to Mrs Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday blog & click on the links.

STAMPHAPPY 1-4-1 SWAP

It's been a bit remiss of me not displaying the ATCs I've received in the StampHappy 1-4-1 swap that is currently running. Time to put things to rights. Hope you enjoy looking at the art made by others in the StampHappy group. These Artist Trading Cards are all 6.4cm X 8.9cm.

Opening the show, above, is an ATC by Carolyn Weiss. Those below are by Dorothy Leach & Danielle D'Onofrio.


The next three are by Roz Veevers, Barb Dare & Lynn Gosney.


Below are ATCs by Melanie Smith, Julie Price & Kaeren Sutherland.

The next three are by Janet Hamblin, Vikki Whittington & Linda Aldred, who's organised the on-going swap.

The final three are by Dorothy Leach, Diane Whatford & Dorothy again.

Thank you everyone for playing with me, & looking forward to more swaps.

NEW-ISH JEWELLERY

It's been ages since I've put up any of the jewellery I've been making, so thought it was about time.

The charm bracelet above I actually made for myself. It uses little mille fiore beads & Swarovski crystals which have been attached by wire-wrapping. I love it...it's really colourful & musical as the charms ting into each other.


Bracelets seem to have been on my list recently. Above are some made from Swarovski crystals & either Japanese or Czech seed beads. The sea-green bracelet below is made from resin beads & the other one from semi-precious stones....hmm,maybe carnelian?


Lastly, two necklaces .The first one uses pearl shell, agate, Czech glass & brass. The second one is made from clear quartz chips & nuggets.

ABC WEDNESDAY

E IS FOR ..........EATING and drinking

A huge part of our 2003 adventure across northern & north western Australia was eating & drinking. Heather, Rob & Ian are all incredible cooks & my then 15 y/o nephew Tim a very willing apprentice. My role....kitchen aid, & Peter's...bar attendant.


We ate the most amazing meals, and truly, there is nothing those 3 can't cook in a cast-iron camp oven.....Turkish bread, friandes, 40-cloves chicken, Moroccan lamb, apple crumble, Old Cork pork, Black Forest cake, bread loaves & rolls!


At Darwin's Mindil markets, there is an eye-popping choice in satays & burgers when you check the selection available.

We ate meals in the most incredible and mundane locations....empty beaches in a tiny patch of shade & car parks with picnic benches.

If you munch your way over to Mrs Nesbitt's, you'll find links to more ABC Wednesday posts.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Our special girl turns FOUR today!! Happy happy birthday Darling Caitlyn.

2008 Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Art Award

The winner of this year's award is Makinti Napananka, a Pintupi woman from the tiny western desert community of Kintore in the Northern Territory. Kintore is one of the communities in the Papunya Tula Art Movement.

Although Mikinti is probably in her late 70s, she has only been painting for about 12 years.


Her untitled picture depicts a rockhole near Kintore.

MOVIE TIME

Thanks to Julie's gentle encouragement, once more I embark on my plan to visit the cinema more regularly. If visiting monthly was too difficult, why on earth have I decided on a fortnightly visit?? Am I setting myself up once more for failure??

"The Band's Visit" is a gentle little film that tells of the unplanned visit of a Police band from Egypt to an Israeli town out in the middle of nowhere. It's one of those quiet films where not a lot happens, but it completely absorbs you into the telling of the story. The messages of tolerance, friendship & commonality are very subtly imparted & at times, I also found myself laughing out loud at the droll humour.

A terrific film.

SKY WATCH FRIDAY

SNAPPER ROCKS


It was a wild and stormy day at Snapper Rocks.


What are these blokes looking at?


You make your own judgement about the wisdom of their behaviour. In the picture below, you can see that 2 of them are holding glass stubbies of beer.


For other thought-provoking SWF posts, visit the home of SkyWatch Friday.

ABC WEDNESDAY

D IS FOR..........DIAMANTINA RIVER

The Diamantina River flows through central Queensland, in a SW direction, through the Channel Country, becomes the Warburton River, journeys on into South Australia, and, if there is enough flow, eventually into Lake Eyre.


We first glimpsed the Diamantina in 2002 and returned in 2003, to camp on her banks at Old Cork Station, on our way to The Kimberley. I'll quote from my diary...

"Sitting in peace & solitude, high on the banks, overlooking the coffee-brown waters of the Diamantina...budgerigars feed nearby, gorging on grass seeds...this place is so beautiful,peaceful, redolent of history in the abandoned homestead."

Breaking that peace, above, are Tim & Peter, zipping around the river in the tinny.

Most of the country along the Diamantina is flat & rough, and is used for grazing cattle. The photo below was taken in 2002, along the Diamantina Road, when the country was in the firm grip of drought.



Old Cork Station was featured in my post "Loo With A View", just below the Divas' post, and will appear again later in ABC Wednesday.

Mrs Nesbitt does a wonderful job hosting ABC Wednesday and in this link,you'll find links to loads of great D posts.

Duo Divas

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about our Northern Rivers Symphony Orchestra, mentioning soprano Liza Beamish. That's Liza on our right in the picture above.

Liza has joined up with Kathleen Procter-Moore and they are performing together under the name Duo Divas. About 100 fortunate people gathered together in the Tweed River Art Gallery, at Murwillumbah, this morning, to listen to a fabulous program of duets, with a couple of solos thrown in for variety. Such a bewitching combination....soprano, mezzo and the backdrop of the magnificent Tweed Valley!

If you visit here, you'll be able to listen to the Duo Divas signing the Flower Duet from "Lakme" while reading a little more about them.

LOO WITH A VIEW!

In her Daily Rabaul Photo blog today, Jules post a photo of some gorgeous outdoor dunnies near Goroka.

This is a 'sister' post...of our fantastic loo with a view, built by Peter & Tim high above Cork Waterhole, at Old Cork Station, in western Queensland. Below, is the view from 'the throne'.

Old Cork Station is one of my favourite places in the universe.

PS In answer to a query, all waste is collected in a tin drum and then thoughtfully buried well away from water-courses.

SKY WATCH FRIDAY

CASUARINA SCULPTURE WALK

An outdoor sculpture competition is held every two years at Casuarina, just along the beach from the coastal village where I live. Artists are invited to submit work which is then installed along the board walk & in the parks. This piece really grabbed my attention in 2006, & ,actually, really unsettled me. Sorry, no idea who the artist is.

If you go to Casuarina Domain & click on "sculpture walk" in the drop-down "Activities " menu, you can see some more past winners.

To see more SWF pictures, & read a very thoughtful post about 'taking time', visit the home page for SkyWatch Friday.

A WEEK IN TOWNSVILLE

If you're visiting to see SkyWatch Friday, it's not here this week....and ABC Wednesday will be late!

I'm spending this week in Townsville, the regional capital of North Queensland. My sister has just be appointed to a position here, & so she and her husband have moved from Bundaberg.
These photos are just a quick trip around the city. Above is the view from their balcony.

Townsville was originally settled to provide services for the the farming industry of NQ in the mid 1800s, and quickly developed into a busy port. There are some beautiful historic buildings dating from the 1880-90s, though bizarrely many of them are now nightclubs & bars! Above is the magestic old Victorian railway station, while below is the HM Customs.

Around the port area of South Townsville, where the wharfies live, there still exists some of the gorgeous original workingmens's pubs. Below is the Commonwealth Hotel.

The most distinctive feature of Townsville is Castle Hill, quite literally in the middle of the city. In the early mornings & late afternoons, it seems that almost everyone is walking up or down the hill! Here's the view from the top, out towards Magnetic Island.

We walked it on Sunday morning before breakfast.

Just a 20minute ferry ride away is gorgeous Magetic Island, named by Capt. Cook in 1770. We spent the day over there yesterday, doing a bit of bushwalking and relaxing! Here's the view from the ferry, back to Townsville.

Below is Alma Bay.

Some of the beautiful lichen-covered boulders scattered through the hilly interior of Magnetic Is. is pictured above.

Townsville also played a significant role in World War 2. A post about that history is 'coming soon'!

As always, if you click on the highlighted words in my text, you'll be taken to more information.

ABC WEDNESDAY

B IS FOR ..........BOAB TREES

Boabs, or adansonia gregorii, belongs to same family of trees as does the boabab. It is the only variety of boabab found in Australia and is thought to have derived from the boababs found in Madagascar.

In Australia, they are native to the Kimberley area in the NW, and in some parts of the Northern Territory. The majestic boab above sits on the north coast of Western Australia at Murragurra, and has withstood countless summer cyclones.

They also grow in little groups too, of 2 or 3 trees, & many clumps look like friends having a communal hug! Boabs are deciduous & bear white flowers in summer, then huge woody seed pods. Juicy, young boab roots can be chopped up & used in a stir-fry too!

The above boab we camped near in the Gregory National Park in the Northern Territory. In the pre-dawn it filled with Little Corellas, all squawking & carrying-on an awful treat.

On my 'B' list were 13 different things from our 2003 adventure, but , following the 'KISS' principle, just one will do!

However, to see what others came up with, wander over to Mrs Nesbitt's ABC WEdnesday site & click away!