My Ramblings

Uluru and Beyond.

Once we turned off the main highway onto Lassiters Highway toward Uluru, the sense of anticipation started rising.  OK, we knew it was approximately 260 kilometres to Uluru, but we were on the road leading to it, and that meant something.  Around 160 kilometres in we noticed something and we started to get a bit excited; but surely we wouldn't be able to see "The Rock" this far out?  But it also looked different, not quite right.  Checking the map we noticed there was a Mount Connor in the area, so this must be what we could see now.  On we went.  Eventually, another significant mound greeted us, and this time you could "feel" the difference; a sense of something, almost a pull.  It really took my breath away, even from a distance.

Up close it was even more incredible.  The second photo was taken at the sunset viewing area.

This photo shows the "climb' area.  For the first 10 metres or so you are on your own, but then there is a cable which you can hold onto to help with the ascent and descent........not that I was ever going to try it.  Natalie, her husband and older children, Ron and Leah were all going to do the climb but unfortunately the wind gusts were too high so it was never opened that morning.

Here's Ron, Natalie and the children taking a walk around the base of the rock, well I think that at this stage some are taking a rest, but you know what I mean.

When we left Uluru we decided to travel on to Tennant Creek where we stayed for two nights.  By this time we were getting reports of flooding in Queensland, and that some roads were cut into Townsville and surrounds.  Once we left Tennant Creek we were going to push on as much as possible so that if we did have to do a detour we were still going to be able to make it to Townsville by our deadline.  With that in mind, we only planned one more stop prior to Townsville, and we stopped at a place called Julia Creek.  Not much there, and we were told that some minor flooding had occured there, but that they were expecting the main waters in a few days.  Great that we were able to pass through in between.

We did make a stop at the Devil's Marbles though, how could we not?  Some kids, (not all little one's) couldn't resist climbing them.....

      

while others just stood back and took photo's

Close to Julia Creek we were blessed with a gorgeous sunset which I managed to capture from inside the car while travelling along at around 100K per hour.

The heavy cloud cover coincided with a big increase in humidity of course.

And so, into Townsville.  Having been to both Cairns and Townsville I have to say that as a place to live, I would prefer Townsville.  Cairns is great, but it's much more of a tourist town, whereas Townsville is more family orientated.  I particularly liked the rock pool, which is built out into the sea, uses sea water, but is filtered to keep out any stingers.

In the background is Magnetic Island, which is apparently magnetic and interfered with Captain Cooks compass, hence the name. 

When I told Natalie about the pool, we decided to take the children, but when we got there it was empty for cleaning and maintenance.  Sad, especially when it hadn't been announced anywhere that I noticed the day prior.  Ah well, they are there for at least 2 years, so I'm sure they'll get there sooner or later.

Well folks, that's the trip, now back to every day life, and hopefully my knitting now that we seem to be past the worst of the hot weather.

Take care, and happy knitting.

Our continuing adventure. WARNING, lot's of photo's

After the long, dusty road we stayed overnight at Norseman
before setting off next morning to cross the Nullarbor                                                      
where we saw some amazing "trees"
with some fantastic "foliage"  These trees are known as Nullarbor Trees, and it's interesting to see the things that people leave on them.  One was covered in plastic drink bottles, and glistened beautifully in the sun.
Once across the Nullarbor, we stayed the night at a place called Nullarbor, again setting off early the next morning. We stopped for lunch at Ceduna and the kids went off for a swim only to find that there was broken glass everywhere.  This didn't seem to bother the local Aboriginal folk who were happily splashing away in the water.
After a short sojourne here we were off again and that night stopped at Kimba.  We next stopped for a break at another "beachy" area at Port Augusta.
This time the water was safe for swimming.  Not too long and we were off again, stopping that night at Glendambo.
That turned out to be the worst night of the trip.  It was very hot, and not a bit of breeze.  It didn't cool down till around 0530, and we were placed next to large lamps which were not only very bright, but put out a lot of heat.  The tent was like a sauna and I awoke the next morning dehydrated, with a migraine and feeling very sorry for myself.
You can see the lamp behind us in this photo.
Thankfully it was only a couple of hours to our next port of call, Coober Pedy, where we booked into an underground motel and I very thankfully took myself off to a lovely, cool and very dark room for a couple of hours till I was feeling better.
The outside,
the inside,
and inside Natalie's rooms.

That night all the adults except Natalie's husband (who stayed home with the kids) went to an underground pub, where some of the adults played at the worlds only underground pokies. We stayed 2 nights at Coober Pedy, and then headed for Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock.  As this is already very heavy with photo's, I will leave the rest for next time.

Take care everyone, and happy knitting.

The Road.

I wrote this at the end of the first days travel.  Hopefully you will be able to appreciate what I am trying to signify here.  This is my impression of the road between Hyden and Norseman, Western Australia.

The road. Long. Very long. Very straight; well, mostly straight. As far as the eye could see; one single, solitary road. On either side, sick and dying land; not a single animal or bird to be seen or heard. Desolate.

 

A little ahead of us and a little behind us were the two other vehicles travelling with us. Suddenly we are enveloped in a thick, swirling cloud of dust, obliterating our vision as the car ahead hits the dirt road. We quickly drop back till the car in front is only visible as a dust cloud ahead. No doubt the car to the rear had a similar experience, and can only recognise two dust clouds ahead. Eventually we notice that the dust cloud ahead has disappeared, and so has the one following, leaving us alone in this inhospitable, almost alien landscape. The eerie silence is broken only by the sound of our own car engine.

  View to the front,

and to the rear.

Each rise brings hope of a changing vista, but heralds only more, much more, of the same long, straight, dusty road, broken only rarely by an oncoming vehicle; the only other sign of life. Until now there has been no indication of distance to our destination and I had just remarked on this when we saw a sign indicating N 200. We had only completed 100 kilometres, one third of the distance, and this could have been a source of disappointment had we not already worked that out. Still the road stretches ahead, lonely and dusty, with still no sign of our travelling companions. Gasp!! What is this? Life. A single, solitary, dusty lizard crossing the single, solitary, dusty road.

 

The road is long; very long. Very long, very dusty, and mainly straight. Aha! A road sign indicating a winding road ahead. Around a fairy significant bend, then a long straight road ahead. Perhaps a single, solitary, honest to goodness bend constitutes a winding road in these parts.

 

Nature calls and necessitates a stop. Very soon our companions to the rear catch up with us, a very welcome sight.

Soon after resuming our journey we come across our leading group who have stopped to wait for us. A quick chat and we are on our way again. N 100. I know at least one person would have been disappointed to see that.

 

As we continue along the long, straight and still dusty road, we come across a more welcome sign, N 50. Our journey is almost over and not long after the road becomes less straight as it wends its way through the stark, dead, whiteness of salt pans on either side. The road is very narrow here, and I imagine trying to pass an oncoming vehicle and sliding off the road to sink into the salty mire. Vehicle tracks on the salt pans soon prove my imagination wrong, but I still can’t shake my feelings of nervousness and I really wouldn’t want to be travelling this road in the dark, especially alone.

 

Bliss: we see a town ahead and know that our journeys end has arrived. More importantly we are on a sealed road again and can leave the dust behind. Today’s journey is but a mere hop, skip and jump in the greater, 5,600 kilometre journey we have undertaken; from

Perth

in

Western Australia

, to Townsville in

Queensland

.

 

The fun has just begun.

That is enough for today.  I will tell more of our journey, and show more photo's over the coming days.

Take care, and happy knitting everyone.

Travelling

We spent 2 and a bit days in Perth before we set off on our travels.  On the Sunday we went to the Royal Kings Park Tennis Club where Natalie's sister-in-law is a member.  We sat out on the terrace and had a sumptuous brunch.......one could really get used to this sort of thing.
Natalie, at the tennis club.

          

Natalie's parents-in-law, Bill and Leah.

   

TPH (Natalie's hubby Aaron) and Gage, Declan and Maisy.

      

Reece.

Natalie's sister-in-law, Heidi who is the member at this lovely club.

      

We left Perth on the 7th January and spent the first night in Norseman, still in Western Australia.  We had to travel to Norseman via Hyden as the road we originally planned to take was still closed due to bush fires.  This added a bit of extra distance to our trip, but all was fine.  The next day we crossed the South Australia/Western Australia border, otherwise known as SA WA.  The second night we originally planned to stop at Border Village, but decided to travel further and eventually stopped at Nullarbor.  Next night was at Kimba though we had meant to get as far as Port Augusta which was a big ask. Finally made Port Augusta next day, and stopped for fish and chips for lunch. That night we stopped at Glendambo, which so far has been the worst night of our trip.  Hot, hot and hot.  It didn't cool down and it was like sleeping in a sauna.  I was quite dehydrated the following morning, plus I had developed a migraine.  I was no use to anyone at all.  We travelled on to Coober Pedy where we spent the next 2 nights in relative luxury in an underground motel.  I managed to get a couple of hours in bed in darkness, which made me human again.  Folowing Coober Pedy we went to Ulury (Ayers Rock).  Unfortunately, our party wasn't able to make the climb (I was never going to anyway) due to high winds.  After one night's stay we headed for Alice Springs which is where I am writing this.  It was hot during the day, and I can feel the sun heating up already, even though it's only just after 0730, but it was cool enough to sleep overnight.

I have taken lots of photo's, but haven't yet loaded them onto the computer, so you will have to wait a while to  see  them.

May I suggest you go to this great site  to see where we are travelling.  Go to the map maker (or plan your journey, it may have changed) type in the start point and the destination, and it will give you all the relevant details such as direction, distance, places of interest etc.  For the first day, it would normally show you via Coolgardie, but as I said, that was was closed, so you would need to type in via Hyden.  It's a great Aussie trip planner site.

Knitting.......hahahahahahaha.  Some was planned for Natalie, Leah and I, but so far just hasn't been suitable.  Maybe when we get to Tennant Creek tonight we may be able to manage a bit......we'll see.

OK folks, that's it for now.  Take care, and happy knitting.
The Happy Traveller.

Christmas is over for another year..................

I hope that everyone had a wonderful day, with lot's of good food, fun and laughter with family and friends.  For those of you who also enjoy the occasional (or more) alcoholic beverage, then I hope that that was good quality too.  I myself started my alcoholic "inhalation" at breakfast, and I have to add that that is only the norm on Christmas day, but hey, that is the day when normal "norms" are put aside.  I didn't make egg nog this year, much to the disappointment of my sons (will have to make sure to make it next year), so started the day with a glass of champagne along with the other females while the men imbibed their beer.  We finally ate breakfast at around 11, so really more like brunch.  After breakfast my lads went off to their various in-laws for lunch (we did pare breakfast down a bit this year so they would still be able to eat lunch), while Ron and I stayed at #3 sons house to clean up after the breakfast assault. When we got home, I went to have a hot bath (and a sleep, my usual activity in the bath) while my menfolk (the MOTH, #1 son and his son) had a light lunch, then it was off to visit my parents.  Mum and Dad live in a retirement village and can use the community room for family functions if it is not needed at that time.  Another family had used it for lunch, and we had use of it from 4:30 onwards.  It was great as it's a very big room, with lots of tables and chairs, so room for everyone to sit and chat.  My Dad was looking great, and was getting around so much better (but still not as good as he thinks he is) and managed the short walk from his unit to the hall with no problems at all. He didn't join us in our nibblies as he still needs his food vitamised and his fluids thickened, but he did have a drink with us.  He had some thickened milk drinks, so Mum chose a vanilla flavoured one and added a nip of brandy for Christmas cheer.  Dad enjoyed two such drinks, but not long after felt a bit woozie, so went back to the unit for a rest.  That was fine as we partied on in the big room and took it in turns to go over to the unit to spend a bit of quality time with Dad.  We finally left there after 8:30, but still our day wasn't over. My boys and their friends partied on at #4 sons house while the MOTH and I went to visit friends.  It was at our friends that I had my first "gooeys" for the day.  I had been very sensible all day, but was finally defeated when I entered their house which was full of glorious goodies to eat.  All the sweets (I had some pavlova), all the Lollies (couldn't resist the fudge and after dinner mint chocolates), all the pudding ( I did resist).  I stuck to water here as I felt I had already drunk my fill for the day.........and I have the head this morning to prove it, lol.  The MOTH and I finally got home at 11:50, followed about 10 minutes later by #1 son and grandson.  All in all it was a great day, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

The MOTH and I weren't going to give each other gifts as our funds were otherwise allocated this year, but when I went into the bedroom on Christmas Eve night, there on my pillow was a wrapped package.  The MOTH asked me to open it then re-wrap it to be opened again with the family the following morning. He wanted to make sure it was something I wasn't going to be disappointed with.  What he had bought was a small document laminator along with some laminating envelopes.  I was very pleased as I've often looked at these sort of things thinking how useful they could be.  When I re=wrapped it and put a gift tag on it, I was cheeky enough to put To Sue and Ron from Ron and Sue. hehe.

Now, the reason our funds are otherwise allocated: well, for one t hing, we have our ongoing football club membership (which I pay for for us both), then there is the trip we are taking and the MOTH had just paid for our plane tickets.  We will also need money on the trip itself.  So, what is this trip?  Well, I think I have mentioned it before.  My "gawjus" daughter  is moving to Townsville and the family is making a holiday out of the move, driving from their current home in Perth to their new home in Townsville.  When I was in Perth I told Natalie I'd love to do the trip with them, and would have to run it by the MOTH, although I was sure that he would love to do it too.  Of course money was always going to be the main sticking point, but we managed to work around our finances and he made the plane bookings while I organised accommodation at the start and end of the trip.  SO, we leave home on Friday 4th Jan to fly to Perth.  We are staying in a caravan (trailer) park for 3 nights, then it's off on the marathon drive (some 6,000 kilometres), then 4 or 5 nights in a caravan park in Townsville before we fly home.  Hopefully we'll still be there to help Natalie and family move into their new home too, so that will be great.  Now that our flights and stuff are booked I am finally allowing myself to become excited, and we are both really looking forward to it.  I have been fortunate enough to have already done a similar trip (again with Natalie), but this will be the first one for the MOTH.  I will have my camera and also plan to take the lap top along too so that I can put the photo's onto it.  You will then be bored by the travellogue no doubt.......but hey, I'm excited by it.

No knitting news at the moment, still working away on a couple of things but not worth writing about or taking photo's of at this stage.  For now, take care, happy knitting, and have a great New Year.

Tonight the MOTH and I are going to the Christmas break up for his Lions club.  I was fortunate enough to draw a woman in the Kris Kringle, which is meant to be between $5.00 and $10.00.  Yesterday afternoon and this morning I was industriously knitting...................
a leaf patterned bath set with facewasher,
soap sack (including a bar of nice soap) and
a back scrubber.

To add a little bit of luxury I also included a lovely wax candle from Sugar Creek Scents.  I have bought 
quite a few products from here, and have always been impressed at their quality.

On Saturday the MOTH and I will be attending the Christmas breakup of my Lions club, and once again there will be a Kris Kringle, similar costs.  This time however we are to take something "unisex", so I don't think I can utilise my knitting talents and will have to actually go out and search for something that can be for a man or a woman.  I'm not one who can easily source such a gift, so this is going to be quite a bit more difficult for me.  I'd much rather buy for a definite gender.  Ah well, we'll get there, I'm sure.
If anyone has any ideas I'd be grateful to hear them.

Well, this is just a short post isn't it?  Better than far too long though I guess.  Take care everyone, and happy knititng.

It is always wonderful when you get positive feedback from the recipients of your knitting efforts. In July I gave my Dad a pair of socks for his birthday.  Sometime later I asked Mum if he liked them and the reply was that he loved them, and wore them all the time.  One of the times when I went to visit him in hospital I noticed the socks in the clothes to be washed pile, so knew he had recently worn them, which was a great feeling.  The other day I was chatting to my daughter in MSN (she had been staying with Nanna for a few days) and Mum asked her to ask me if I could knit Dad some more socks, and also if Natalie could too.  Of course, we both said yes and promptly looked for similar yarns to the one I had used.  We both ended up at Royal Yarns and found lots of lovely Regia sock yarn as well a lots of other lovely stuff........more to spend our hard earned money on.

Dad has done quite well, and Mum has been told that he should be coming home around the 13th or 14th of December, and she was supposed to have a home visit from the Occupational Therapist today to make sure the unit was all in readiness.  However, the therapists are all on strike now, so that has had to be delayed, which will also delay Dad's homecoming.  It is interesting to note that these people have gone on strike now, just over a week since the elections threw out the Liberal government and put in Labor who are very pro unionism; infact many Labor politicians are ex union officials.  Sign of things to come I wonder?  Hopefully though this strike won't go on for too long and Dad will still be able to get home well before Christmas.

Whilst all this was going on with my Dad, I was aware that a close friend was due to go into hospital for surgery on her bowel on the 24th November.  Diverticular disease was causing blockages and these had to be resected.  The surgery was successful and thankfully she didn't need to have a colostomy (temporary or otherwise), but post-op wasn't so good.  The operation was on Saturday 24th and on the Sunday night she apparently suffered a double stroke followed by a hear attack the following night.  Her family were called in on the Tuesday morning and advised to say their goodbyes as Lyn was critical, however, they didn't count on her fighting spirit.  Lyn is now due to go home tomorrow morning (Saturday) and the only residual effect from the stroke is a slight slur and mouth droop and some weakening of the right arm.  All in all she too has done extremely well.  It is likely that I will go to stay with her for a couple of weeks as her nurse and rehab therapist, so once again I will be away from home.  Hopefully though my knitting won't be affected too much.

On the knitting front, there has been precious little due to constant visits to hospitals etc, though my shawl is coming along.
According to the pattern, the second lot of fan patterns should have had 6 repeats, the another increase row followed by 4 pattern repeats, then the boarder.  That would have made for an extremely small shawl, and as I'm a big girl, a small shawl would look rather ridiculous.  Instead, I made the second lot only 4 repeats, then the increase row and the next series of patterns will be 6 repeats, followed by another increase row then I'll take it from there.  As I have plenty of yarn, I will make it as large as I feel like making it, probably finishing when I've had enough of knitting this particular pattern.  It WILL be big enough to wrap me up all snuggly though. hehe

BTW, I am typing this on my lap top.......yep, the one that got dropped at the hospital.  Lloyd (my #2 son) was thankfully able to fix it.  Apparently it was just the power outlet jack (female) that was bent and not able to accept the plug (male) so no power was getting through.  I had tried to manipulate the plug and  jack, but being pretty much computer illiterate, I didn't want to go too far in case I damaged it further.  All that Lloyd needed to do was bend the jack back into place and hey presto.  The plug is now a little looser than it was and is more likely  to come loose, so I  have to make sure it is in properly, but apart from that, all is well.  Lloyd will still bill the hospital though, for his time, and for my fear and suffering. heehee.  Perhaps $100 - $150 dollars.  That will teach them to be more careful around the patients things.

Darn,I nearly forgot.  I was visiting Deb's blog when I came across this great swap.  Now I know I said I wasn't going to participate in any more swaps for a while (well at least to myself I did), but how can anyone resist this one?  Go on, I dare you.

 

Well, that's all folks.  Stay well and happy knitting.

I'm back enjoying my knitting, although the warmer weather is creating havoc at times.  Since finishing my HRB I have knitted this.............
a halter top for one of my granddaughters, knitted in Lily Sugar 'n' Creme.

I have also received some goodies from Amazon;
and 
  both of which I have wanted for a while.

I have a book on Folk Socks, sent by my lovely SP10 Pal  and she also sent me the yarn and needles to knit one of the socks.  In Favourite socks I have found another pair, so now I want to knit both of these;
I think both will look best in white or cream.

Some time ago, Gina  sent me 3 skeins of Knit Picks Bare 4 ply yarn, too loosely woven for socks but perfect for this
a half circle shawl I found in my new lace book.  It's knitting up really nicely, and will be a lovely light shawl, but will give some warmth on a cooler night.

All is going well with my Dad.  He is at a rehab facility now, but so far doesn't seem to be getting much in the way of therapy.  He is improving though and is now permitted to  walk around the ward assisted only by his walking frame.  He's still not permitted to go into the shower on his own, and still needs thickened fluids and pureed foods, but hopefully that will change soon.

I loaned Dad my lap top  so that he could excercise his brain by playing some games, and it has certainly been good for him.  The other day though, a very careless member of the cleaning staff knocked it off the table and onto the floor.  All she said was "ooops".  Yeah, oops is right, the bloody thing is broken.  It turns on, and will run on the battery, but when you put the power cord in, the bracket is obviously bent and the computer doesn't recognise that it on mains power, so I am unable to recharge  the battery.  I have informed the hospital that I expect them to pay for repairs to the computer as it was the negligence of one of their staff that has caused the problem.  We'll see what happens.

Take care folks, and happy knitting.

HRB

Just  a quickie...........................
Having its first bath, I'm sure it enjoyed it as much as I always enjoy my baths, though it didn't get to stay in as long as I do, and it didn't get a good book or a glass of wine.

Out in the sunshine having a good stretch (or on the torture rack if you like). I'm rather pleased with the way it has stretched out, just a few little rucks, but all in all it's ok. It's very warm today, and it was drying as I was pinning it out, so it shouldn't be too long before I'm able to unpin it and bring it inside.

Addendum:

Just after writing this post I went and checked the blanket, and sure enough it was dry so I brought it in and threw it on my sofa.  Guess who has fallen in love with it????......................

That's it for today.  No other news at this stage. Happy knitting everyone.

Things are much better.

My back only gives me pain now when I move suddenly or wrong, or when I hiccup (yes, true).  I'm able to walk, drive and knit with little or no pain which is a relief.

My HRB has progressed well too................................

Binding off is in progress, but still a long way to go.

Finally off the needles, and a sad and sorry sight much in need of blocking.

Off today to Spotlight to buy some blocking pins and dressmaking pins............

.............then I saw this and couldn't resist.  So much for going to ONLY buy the pins.

I will be blocking the blanket tomorrow hopefully as it's been a bit wet today and the only place I could really do it is outside on the lawn.  I will definitely get photo's to show you.

Now for my Dad.  He is doing superbly well, but he is being typically him and not listening to the nurses. He wants to do it all NOW thankyou very much.  Since the strokes, he has had to have a minced diet and thickened fluids, so even tea and coffee have to have a thickening agent put in, and if any of you have ever had to drink thick tea, coffee and water you will know how unpleasant that can be.  Yesterday Mum tried him with ordinary tea, and told him to sip it slowly.  He did, and didn't choke or cough.  Brilliant.  He later enjoyed a cup of unthickened coffee too, so things are looking up.  Next we will try him on food that he actually has to chew, so hopefully he'll soon be able to eat normal foods and not have to have everything vitamised.  He is walking well too...............perhaps not quite as well as he believes though.  Yesterday he rang Mum while she was home to tell her that he couldn't use his bedside phone as the company mistakenly thought his time was up.  Mum then spoke to the company and they re-connected it for him.  Mum thought he had gone to the nurses station to phone her, but when we got back to the hospital we found out that he had actually gone to the receptionist at the front door of the hospital, some 300 metres away.  THAT is a seriously long way for him at the moment, and no doubt he would have been very tired before he got back, and of course that is when he can have falls etc.  Luckily no harm was done, but the nursing staff hadn't even realised he'd done it.  We will have to keep an eagle eye on him.  Hopefully a rehabilitation bed will become available very soon, and they will keep him busy.  I'm sure he will work extremely hard to get back to a state where he will be permitted to return home.  Perhaps he will even make it home before Christmas, what a great present for both he and Mum.

left to right, Mum, Dad, youngest sister Janet and me.  Middle sister Dianne is in front. 

Take care everyone, and happy knitting.