(Back)Come (to)from a land down under!

Well we have landed and are settling back in, and as I sat to start to give you a catch up, the Men At Work song came unbiddinglt into my head- now you, like me, will have it in your head all day....



"Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover."



I know your head is bobbing now and you can hear the anthem too.... shockingly enough though, it is terrible! Have you actually ever heard the lyrics properly? I just had to look them up- now you can too- pretty gross actually! lol



Anyway, we are safe and sound and finding ourselves sleeping well in our own little beddie-bye. It sure is nice to be home; holidays are great and we particularly had a sensational time but gosh it is good to be home.



Back into routine of home and work life has been a refreshing novelty after a month of decadence and indulgence.



I have to stop chair dancing now, people will start to worry..... it is a catchy tune!



Well we have sprung into spring, which I must say, in Bathurst, I absolutely adore.



The golden bloom of the winter flowering wattle trees is an indication that spring is just around the corner, but spring time in Australia is also heralded by the buzz of the blowflies gathering at the flyscreens that guard each window and door. ‘Close the door!’ is a regular reminder from parents to energetic children racing in and out.



As the piccaninny dawn fades, the magpies carol ‘good morning’, the ravens caa-aack in the eucalyptus trees and the honey eaters fly in to check out the latest blossoms on the grevilleas, hibiscus,bottlebrush and other nectar rich flowers. The Indian doves build yet another flimsy nest on a wispy tree branch - most won’t survive the high winds of spring– and the wagtails chitter chitter on the lawn as they search for bugs and insects.



By midmorning, tiny lizards are sunbaking on the warm surfaces of driveways, fences, tree stumps and window frames and the blue tongue goannas lurk under the bushes. Though perfectly harmless and less than ten inches long, they’re a daunting sight when on the defensive– wide open mouth sporting a dark blue tongue set against a watermelon pink throat. Both lizards and goannas are cold blooded and like nothing more than to sunbake on a warm, flat surface. Roads are favourite spots and the mortality rate high. Rather a bird brained sort, I feel, the poor lizard. I have stopped counting my sad and sorry road toll as I drive to Orange.



When the day cools, the pink and grey galahs and green and yellow ringneck parrots squabble over the dandelion buds growing on the road verges and overhead, flocks of ageing black cockatoos head back to their roosts in the pine trees.



Spring is also the time we are reminded to ‘slip, slop, slap’ to protect against sun damage, and for allergy sufferers, the daily pollen count is often more important than the weather forecast. Which coming from Newfoundland where you get a weather forecast every 20 minutes on the radio which takes a good 6 minutes (which is a LOT in radio-speak) and on television news, the weather features most prominent. Naturally, the move to Australia was an adjustment, particularly in the area of weather forecasting (and it's accuracy thereof)



The Australian continent is probably the oldest on earth and has more than 6,000 species of unique wildflowers that attracts visitors from all over the world. The best accommodation, coach and rail tours have been booked out months ago- some visitors even book for the next year as they leave– and newspapers publish regular updates on where to find the best display in the various regions.



My favourite is of course the Floriade in Canberra- which is taking place RIGHT NOW!!!
http://www.floriadeaustralia.com/



I can't wait to make a day trip for Floriade- that is the next plan.....



I just love spring and so, returning back home rejevenated and happy, is a great start to my favourite time of year.



Of course the kids were happy to see us, as fat as they are. Poor things. They certainly were not neglected! We now have a strict walking regime, which at least is now certain to continue which is good for Scott and I anyway!



Work has been exciting as I find my feet and now with a change of NSW Government leadership and a complete cabinet reshuffle I am awaiting any potential implications for us and our redevelopment.



We arrived home a mere 11 days ago- I apologise that it has taken so long to get around to writing! We had a lovely day together resting and doing odd jobs around the house; ie bathing the kids who were STINKY! Then we headed with Kerry and her Lab Dipity to the new dog park in Bathurst. It was great.



Saturday Scott was back to work, and I had a luxurious day to myself- I did the shopping and cleaning and normal Saturday jobs. I was very lucky to have 3 days before heading back to work. Scott had Sunday and Monday off and we spent that time recouperating and getting back to 'normal'.



Monday I was back to work and back to routine.



I started working 9-5 for a change- as I declared to Scott whilst away I would. And even took a lunch break and have been walking around our campus- which is delightful- at 12:30 daily.



Scott and I have walked the kids on non-rain days in the evening and they are now no longer scared when we go out the door that we will be gone for another month. God help us what will happen should the suitcases ever come back out!



So, as you can see we are settled back into routine and doing well. We will likely try to get away camping very soon and I am definitely going to try to get to Canberra!



Hope all is well with you- have a sparkling week!

Salmonier Nature Park

Well today (Friday before leaving), Aunt Bren, Scott, Trinity and I headed up to Salmonier.

The Salmonier Nature Park is quite different from people's perception of a zoo. The overall design and broad environmental education mandate sets Salmonier Nature Park apart from most similar facilities.
The layout of the Park is based on a nature walk. The animals are in large natural enclosures scattered along the park trail, which allow visitors to see animals that are part of their natural surroundings, not divorced from them, and which also encourage visitors to feel they are part of these surroundings.
Salmonier Nature Park takes people into the landscape where the animals are displayed in settings that are as natural as possible. The emphasis at Salmonier Nature Park is on quality, not quantity.



Unless an animal can be displayed well, it is not displayed at all.

Most display animals come to the Park injured and unreleasable. Because of the naturalistic displays and the need to balance the needs of the animal and the desire of people to see them, the Park does not guarantee that the animals will be 100% visible. Most visitors see about 80% of the animals.





We had a great day followed by a yummy picnic- Trinity then played with Scott's camera producing this self-portrait and a few other beauties.

Have fun!

Bowring Park

A trip to Newfoundland (and particularly to St. John's) would be remiss without a trip to Bowring Park.

Clearly we were by ourselves and so the photos are as far away from us as our reach would allow...
The only caribou or moose which Scott claims to have seen, aside from those on little yellow highway signs was this beast...
The park has been much changed since my last romp and the little pond at the entrance has new gazebos and it was good to see the fountain going, the fountains in Australian parks are no longer operational due to drought


Of course we had to pay a visit to Peter Pan and the duck pond



We had fun and enjoyed a nice afternoon- even if the canteen did not have ice cream.... this is a flying post as we are about to take off on the airplane back to Australia and I am running out of time...

Evelyn and Peter's- Friday night

Before heading to the cabin for a feed of fish and brewis, Scotty and I caught up with Evelyn and Peter and Maxine and Trevor.

We enjoyed a tour of Evelyn and Peter's gorgeous home and sat in the back deck admiring the oaks, the peace, and the wine and cheese!!!

It was so good to see you both again- sorry it was such a quickie. Hope to see you down our way SOON!

Elementary, My Dear Watson

I think I have worked out the conundrum- and I can not change it, I am afraid.

Because Scott has been organising the 4,700 photos on the laptop at the end of each day, when we got back from Gros Morne National Park, and I had 10 minutes to use the computer, I started a draft blog entry for each of my journal entries and took the photos I wanted to share and loaded them without text and saved it to draft.

In this way, Scott could return to his 5 thousand photos and I could use another computer to compose the blogs you are now reading out of order.

Although I am WRITING these in the order I wish to publish them, ie the order they HAPPENED, I have already somehow started writing them with photos and they are out of sequence. The photos were in folders alphabetically and I just started clicking away in my haste to get them onto blogger before Scott came back- so there you have it!

Unfortunately you will be getting a really strange order of events, but at least you will have the events!

Gotta run- we are going to Evelyn's tonight with Maxine and I am running behind....

Order of the blog

I can not quite work out why my Ocean Pond entry is BETWEEN my Rooms and Tattoo... obviously I wrote the Rooms and Tattoo together, but for some reason the Ocean Pond is in between them.... it should not be and I can not fix it- so please bear with my lack of computer skills....

Oops- the Tattoo!

I got so caught up in telling you all about the Rooms, I totally didn't include the Signal Hill Tattoo!!!

The Signal Hill Tattoo is an internationally known award winning historical animation program. Each summer, audiences thrill to the echo of the cannon, mortars and musket fire combined with the stirring tunes of the Fife and Drum Band which beckons visitors to a bygone age of 19th Century British military might.

Set atop famous Signal Hill, the Tattoo portrays the garrison life and duties of His Majesty’s Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Foot and the 27th Company-2nd Battalion-Royal Regiment of Artillery who endured the harsh conditions of the Newfoundland Station in the late 1790’s.

Fifes and Drums

The fife, drum and bugle were the three popular signal instruments of military service in the late 18th century. Those who played them were all referred to as drummers. These three instruments were chosen because their loud and distinctive sounds are audible even amidst the sounds of battle, and signallers were key to good communication on the battlefield.

In general, drummers were sons of soldiers who were on strength with the regiment, but anyone showing a talent or inclination for this job was likely accepted. Under the direction of the Drum Major the drummers would learn the appropriate rudiments and tunes. Young boys were considered the best candidates for this job because learning the drum was a skill best taken on while young and while the wrists were still supple. The drummer was paid more than a regular soldier as he held a role that was more specialised and entailed greater responsibility.
Quidi Vidi Battery

Given its relative proximity to the harbour entrance of St.John’s, Quidi Vidi was probably the site of some of the Colony’s earliest defence works as it formed a natural part of the outer ring of defenses of St.John’s. It’s most prominent role however was in the events surrounding the capture of St.John’s by a French force in 1762.



The Quidi Vidi Battery was reconstructed in 1967 to resemble a British Coastal Battery of the turn of the century period.


In 1967, the 56 Field Engineer Squadron decided to rebuild the Quidi Vidi Battery as a project to mark Canada’s Centennial Year. All that remained of the original site was partial sections of the foundation which were uncovered in the initial digs. Exploratory trenches were dug in order to determine the outline of the original facility.

Excavated materials were screened for artifacts and the process of clearing the overgrowth was begun by up to twenty sappers a day.

The Guard House, which measured 30’ X 15’ was rebuilt. Many of the bricks found on the site were used to reconstruct the fireplaces, ovens and chimneys. Doors and fasteners were forged at a local foundry.

Having completed the Guard House, the Engineers next laid the gun deck constructed of two by eight planking butted with ten inch square timbers. The gun platform, when completed, measured seventy feet by twelve feet and featured four gun ports where two carronades and two six pound cannons were mounted. Finally the powder magazine was completed with fourteen inch thick concrete walls and a reinforced wooden door.