Adelaide to Perth- the Nullabor part I

Well, time had come for my holiday and to leave my girls behind. Leilani and Ruby and Bump, with my sister-in-law Paula on her way from New Zealand to hang with Leilani. Mean while I fly to Sydney then to Adelaide and the adventures begin......well as soon as my mate Caza arrives from Brisbane. So Caza arrives and we get our rental...and drive.....all the way to a hotel (about 2 km's) away from the airport and near the city centre. We start the evening with dinner at the local that are serving TUI (my local beer from NZ) and a schnitzel the size of a large plate.... life couldn't be better, that is until we lost the Try Nations Cup to Australia. We still held on to the bledisloe cup... but hey still a great start to the trip.

Adelaide on a Sunday morning is pretty quiet so a cooked breaky and its off to Port Augusta for a look and fish & chips at the pier but not before stopping at Port Germain for a walk along its long jetty.... officially opened in 1883 and 1676 meters long, a very impressive looking jetty.

Now the pic below has a tractor way out from the sea as the tide is well out. Upon return from walking the jetty I saw the wife on the tractor heading out to the sea to pick up her hubby after a day of fishing. one call on a mobile and there she is....now that's what I call awesome.

On the way we came across a few signs we thought interesting, what do you make of these

Don't drive like a what?

Don't drive like a ????

Caza relaxing in a small village and waiting for me to stop taking photos :-D 

Sunset at Port Augusta

Anyway its off to Port Augusta, which we stay in for a night. I am amazed that Port Augusta is just not set up for tourists at all. Very disappointed we have our dinner on the pier and then the next day take off heading to Ceduna but instead carrying on to the Nullabor roadhouse. With the sun setting we finally make it after a nine hour drive.

Sunset- The Nullabor Plains

And so the Nullabor begins....... see ya at part II.

Tumut, Gundagai & Ganmain.

So we got out of Wagga for a day and head of to Tumut and Gundagai. We arrive in Tumut and its a beautiful little town of about 6000 population. We have a great day with Ruby eating a bit of lunch by the river, going for a walk and just generally chilling.

Ruby loved getting her yellow gumboots on and wading through the long grass by the meandering river and enjoyed a little rest time amoungst the up and comi9ng spring flowers.

After lunch we left Tumut after a beautiful morning and headed to Gundagai and checked out some of the old bridges...

This is the Prince Alfred Bridge (built in 1867) which was once part of the Hume highway, now to unsafe to walk on need alone drive but it makes for a great picture and measures 921 metres maikng this the longest wooden bridge in Australia. The other bridge next to this one is the Gundagai railway bridge now not used either but is Australia's longest wooden railway bridge, reaching 819 metres and was constructed in 1902. A little peice of Australian history right there in a little town.

Anyway we move on to Ganmain a week later for the Ganmain show.

The sheep herding is great to watch.

The dog is well controlled and watchful of both his master and the sheep. There was also a pie eating compition amoungst other things. They had rooster compitions (which was the biggest and best looking) also farm animals chicks, and grain and wheat comps too.

This guy didn't win but he gave a great effort!

I took a photo in a harley wheel rim of me in action with the old faithful camera!! After much oooohhing and awwwing and ahhhhing Ruby Leialni and I head home. The end of a good day out and one tired 18 month old girl.

Cooking time & Ruby time

Well have not been doing much other than lots of cooking and spending time with Ruby whilst Mama went to Melbourne for a little break. So what has been going on lately, well I have been experimenting with cooking deserts and dinners....

 

Twice cooked chicken with ninety second vege and steamed rice

Enjoying my second attempt at Brownies..

Rosti's with poached egg and toast &

 home made relish on the side. I call it farmers breaky!

Deep fried spicy quail with smashed cucumber salad

Beef & onion & red wine pie with potato & kumura mash

Pancakes are a great way to start the day!

Anyway I am trying allot of new recipes and eventually think I might make a little cook book of my own. So apart from the new experiments Ruby and I hung out, as you see below she is a very busy girl!

She got her own glasses and then went cruising in her beemer...

To get away from her fans she hides in the toilets with her glasses as a disguise...

So off to the park for some fun and counting numbers then playing naughts and crosses.... for now that's it but a big trip coming up....

Whats new?....

So, I am sorry its been so long since I did my blog. Well whats new? Well Ruby is getting a big brother or sister in December... yep big news and lots going on. Ruby, my girl is nearly 17 months old, how time flies. I have had my birthday....another one and another year of wisdom to add to my life's calender. Of course Ruby and Leilani are playing well with each other and we fall more in love with our girl as we go.

Soon it will be Leilani's birthday (the 13th July) and have not yet got her anything but have a few ideas.

So the autumn leaves have gone and Ruby much enjoyed playing with the leaves, but now the winter has set in....the days are bright and sunny even though its cold, its bearable.

So for my birthday I got lots of goodies, but one I like from a friend (Andrea, a.k.a. W2, Rubies godmother, aunty Andrea), and as reads.....

Of course Ruby is growing fast and is determined to walk everywhere, so now we have the monkey leash to slow her down.

Of course Ruby thinks she is going on 12 years of age and drinking from Mama's water bottle, but hey at least she is enjoying water!

Left: Ruby on the "leash" with Mama...

I am also getting out on the bike, (this was a few weeks ago and had rained quite a bit). I burrowed a friends to test the difference between his and mine...his beats mine hands down. anyway needless to say I only got half way this day...and yes I contemplated wading through but it was about up to my waist!

Anyway I am still cooking up a storm and enjoying all the stuff i cook. I am no where near masterchef level but am not too bad... below i cooked up a chicken breast stuffed with chilli and pistachio and bacon wrapped in bacon placed on a salad with sesame and soy dressing.

I have cooked loads of different food to see have a look on my facebook. Anyway that's it for now, will try to catch ya sooner this time. I am also planning a holiday for beginning of September so will have allot of photos and adventures to share. Catch ya.

Canberra, just getting away...

Well I had enough of Wagga for a bit (and so did Leilani) so it was off to Canberra for a bit of a break. Its amazing what 3 days away will do for the soul. we book into a motel not far from the Dickson shops. Now for those who do not know the Dickson shops have a great array of Asian cuisine, from Japanese to Thai, Korean, Chinese, Indian and more... yum! first its Japanese then Indian, then Chinese TWICE! you just can't beat it after some of the places in Wagga (they are just not that authentic). During our stay we took Ruby to the War Museum, which by the way is so worth going to. There is a section for the unknown soldier that is totally surreal and 1st and 2nd WW sections.



War memorial



The memorial for Iraq soldiers lost is still not finished due to ongoing war.
Below, the names of soldiers and poppies placed there by families of lost soldiers of past wars. (the wall is on both sides just like this.

















Looking out from the War memorial to Parliament in the distance

 

Leilani & Ruby

 So then we move on to the tower that goes
about 880 metres high with amazing views of Canberra.


The Telstra tower, Canberra

 



Looking out towards the highway!
 Then the next day we head to the Bus stop markets where there
is everything to be bought!

  

The funkiness of of the markets!

Food everywhere, just deciding what to eat is the challenge!

So we finish the weekend away with a lunch and a browse around the markets, with many
an idea to think about and let Ruby have a run around outside much to her delight. Then its off
home and feeling ready for work again.

The original Ettamogah pub

So its easter weekend and we go to the Ettamogah to check it out...Famous for the type of pub it is.



 

The sky diving team are ok but the pilot might need a plaster!





Inside the pub alot to look at!




The barman serves






 

Leilani in the Ettamogah lock up....



Ruby and I...Ruby doesn't like to be in this photo!





For all the coutry lovin hillbillies out there

For all the holden lovers out there!

Well thats the Ettamogah pub for ya!