The cute green frog again

I know, I know, big sister, you have seen enhough pictures of birds, frogs, toads and flowers. But this little fellow is too cute not to share.
Very comfortable resting on the rose near our varandah, but very alert and ready to jump if we would get too close.

Garden

Looking after Kim's house means that we have quite some fun in maintaining the garden. And because we are in Queensland, the weather is said to be: "one day it's beautiful, perfect the next".
Greetings to all.

King parrot

At least I know their name now: it is a King Parrot. Not shy at all.
Quite special to have a pretty wild bird come and feed out of your hand on an early Monday morning.

Colourfull

Nature supplies some nice colour combinations.
This fellow was on the bird feeder this morning. I was able to get within a meter distance to take this picture.

And in pink too

Nature at its finest.

ONE shower of rain

Last Tuesday we had at last a decent shower of rain. After weeks and weeks of dry weather, bush fire, dust storm, Mount Perry got 50mm of rain in a few hours.
Look what happens two days later: the wild fresia's were just waiting for it, and here they are. The town is white. The figtrees decided to join the party.

Cane toad

The wildlife is not all beautiful and sweet.
This is a cane toad in our back yard. These ugly toads (dutch: padden) were introduced into Australia to control the grayback beetle in the suger cane fields back in 1935. There were no pesticides yet at that time. The grayback beetles did not suffer very much though, because they live high up in the sugar cane leaves, and the cane toad feeds on the ground.
The toads don't have a natural enemy, because they are toxic, and now they are a real pest themselves. They are responsible for the deminishing of many native animals (frogs, birds of prey). Millions and millions of dollars are spend, and will be spend, to get rid of them.

Galah's

Last weekend I made a birdfeeder on a pole in the garden.
And yes, the galah's have found the water and the seeds too. Aren't they pretty?

Green frog

Hidden behind the timer for the outside lights, safe for other predators (dutch: roofdieren), a cute little (3 cm?) green frog.
Welcome to our home mate. You can eat as many bugs as you like around our place.

Grosvenor Cemetery

Pam's uncle, John Mesner, passed away last week. He lived to be 98 years old. Never sick, until the last half year.
He had a very respected country life, grew up, lived and died in the area that he was born: Eidsvold, QLD.
He was burried today in Grosvenor Cemetery, a few km out of Eidsvold. An absolutely magic spot for a country man to rest.
His horse saddle and his hat were burried with him, he was never without them, he will not be.

Mount Perry wood chop 2009

The big event in this little country town. The woodchop (dutch: houthakken). Big guys, big axes, and lots and lots of power.
Logs of solid hardwood cut in pieces in less then half a minute.
Big fun, impressive to see, and a great gathering of people from all over the country.

And I managed to get a little video on Youtube. have a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjkpRNYZjKM
a little explanation for the dutch readers: the first axeman (the one in the back) starts at count number 10, and depending on their handicap, the next axeman on his own count. The last person (big Pete) at count 33.
It is measured that a single blow from the axe can reach up to 35 ton pressure !

Kookaburra

I wanted to share the sound of the kookaburra with you. This morning they were laughing in the trees behind the house and I finally got their "song" on my videocam, although I could not see the birds themselves.
I could have posted this video here, but that makes no sense. There is nothing important to see, and besides that, a normal video is too large (we are limited in our up- and download capacity).
I ripped just the sound from the video I just made (using AoA Audio Extractor) and saved it in a separate mp3 file. But discovered a new problem: Blogger does not allow to upload mp3 files.
So I got a single picture of a Kookaburra I made before and in Windows Moviemaker I added the just recorded mp3 file and made a new movie with just one picture. Nice and small file compared to the original movie.
I hope this works (press the little arrow under the picture and have your volume up).

Jacaranda

No doubt in my mind that these Jacaranda trees have the most beautiful colour I have ever seen. Like the Lavender in France, but as a tree it is very impressive.

Kim's house

Things can change rapidly. Last week Kim, Pam's doughter, got a desparate phonecall from Tanbar Station: "please come back, and work for us". She could not refuse, and decided to take the offer. Within three days time she packed her possesions and left on Friday morning for a 1300 km drive to Tanbar Station, near Windorah, outback Western Queensland. She will be there for the time (years?) to come.
Why do I tell you all this? Well, her house is empty again, so we have gladly become the babysitters. It gives us an excellent base to realise our own building plans. We can have a normal phone connection, broadband ADSL internet, 3 bedrooms (did you read this Rein and Marein?), a three bay garage, the garden, the varandah.
We will move from the caravan park propably next Wednesday for a 1 km drive.

K-59 Geleen

I grew up In Geleen, the Netherlands. In 1959 ( I was ten) K-59 was founded, a "youth association". Although I was too young to join the more interesting activities (dance evenings; the soos), I became a member of the tabletennis team. We played serious competition for many years.

Last weekend there was a reunion of many members and some old pictures showed up.
(K'59 Geleen ).One of the pictures is of the tabletennis team from 1966.

I recognize Ferdi Kuzmic (top 2L), Jan van Dinteren (top 3L), and of course myself (bott 2L)

Other names that I remember were John Bovendeerd; Jos ???(top 5L).

Is there anybody who knows the other names? Please leave a comment on this blog.

The house (2)

And this is the view from the block of land we have in mind. The house will be just to the right of the fig-tree (dutch: vijgenboom).

The House

Something like this.

Sloppy me

Yes I know, I am already 2 weeks back in Australia and there is still the story about Narita Airport as my last post.

I am sloppy, I have always been, and I propably will not change.

This does not mean that nothing happens, I just don't take the time to sit down and type. Ok, a little update then: The trip was nice, it was even better to be back on the ground. An overnight stay at Pam's mothers place, and back to the Perry. Unpacking, relaxing.

Last weekend we had the anual camel races in town. One of the major events: Not just camel races, but also dunny races (dutch: wc-pot racen), goat races, toad races (dutch: padden racen), lawn mower races. All of this surrounded by betting, eating and drinking. As usual, a great day.

In the meantime we are working towards a more final settling here in this country town. There is a block of land for sale that we realy like and we did some homework in designing our little house. Now its up to the builders (aannemers) to give us an acceptable quote (offerte). Exiting !!!

Its now the 11-9; tomorrow is Pam's birthday, and we will make it a nice day out to Mundubbera where they celebrate the 100 year existence of the township. that will be some country fun again.

Narita Airport Tokyo (again)

I am on my way back to Brisbane.

Yesterday morning I said my goodbyes to the kids and grandkids. It was a nice lunch. Strange and a little emotional to leave them behind (for how long??). Maartje dropped me off at the trainstation, witch was not to easy again.
I had a good flight in a very crowded airplane from Amsterdam to Tokyo. A shower and a massage, and fresh again for the second leg of the trip: 9 hours again.
Tomorrow morning will Pam pick me up again. Looking forward to that !!!

Thank you all folks in Holland for a great time. I realize I did not meet everybody I wanted to, but I hope we keep in touch.

Narita Airport Tokyo

Yesterday, late afternoon, safely　arrived at Narita Airport, Tokyo. The　plane was half empty, so i could take three seats and strech out. Bloody good ! The hotelroom was OK, with a good internet access, so I was able to have a chat with Pam.
This morning I took off to the airport early in order to buy a few gifts. Right now i am sitting in an airport Internet lounge to update this blog. I will fly out around 11:30. So plenty of time for another coffee and smoke. See you tonight folks.

Preparing to travel

Next Saturday I will take the train from Bundaberg to Brisbane, stay Sunday at John and Val's place, and fly via Tokyo to Amsterdam on Monday.
The times in the picture are local times. It is 4:40 hours flight between Tokyo and Amsterdam PLUS 8 hours time difference!
My (little) bag is packed, only cabin-luggage this time. That will save a lot of time in Tokyo and in Amsterdam, not having to wait for the rest of your stuff.
In the meantime, there is a problem with our car. Propably an exhaust gasket (dutch: uitlaatpakking), or even worse, a head gasket (koppakking), although I do not think it is the last. I have an appointment in Gin Gin tomorrow morning to have this looked after. I hope it's not going to be too expensive. But Pam needs a reliable car while I am gone.
See ya soon folks!

Mount Perry

A drive through the countryside yesterday. Fresh and windy, but very clear views. Down in the valley you see the town of Mount Perry and in the background you see....yes, Mount Perry.
Life here is very simple and relaxed. Plenty of time to do the things you want to do : I made some decent storage shelves in the back of our car, to make packing and unpacking a little easier; covered with some carpet. Also plenty of time to pospone the things you do not want to do.
I am looking forward to travel back to Europe in two weeks. Catching up with the kids and grandkids, family and friends.
I will land in Amsterdam on the 4th of August.

Jan the whipmaker

Last Saturday Eric and his wife pulled up into Mount Perry's caravan park. Eric is a whip maker (dutch: whip=zweep). Beautiful, totally handmade, leather, stock-whips. used by the stockmen to control the cattle. So here is Jan, curious as he is, in a chair next to Eric watching, and listening to his explanations.
Eric asked me if I was a handy man, and on my yes, he told me that he could teach me to make my own whip. You do not get that chance often (or you pay a lot of money for a course), so i quickly replied yes please.
To make a long story short: I am the proud owner of a SELF made stockwhip. Sour fingertips, blisters, and cramps in my entire hands, but I managed.
A cane handle, plaited with 4 strand kangaroo leather, the end finished with a turks head (the knob); on the other end the keeper, connecting the handle to the "thong", the long redhide leather plaited part. To the end of the thong, I connected the "fall" and at the end of that is the "cracker". This is the part that actually makes the cracking sound by crossing the sound barrier.
I had a lot of fun, and I did it all myself.
And yes, the pictures above show MY whip.

SHIP...in capital

Terry and Ann have a beautiful ship. Wow......... (Ann is Pam's cousin). An 84 ft Monte Fino, called Elusive.
First time in my life that I have been on board of a boat like this. IMPRESSIVE !!!
Still in Maroochydore; all well !

Maroochydore

The weather in Northern New South Wales eased down on Sunday, and on Monday morning the highway to the North was open for all traffic again. We decided to leave as we originally planned, and headed towards Brisbane. We arrived there early afternoon and stayed overnight in a caravanpark near Eagle Farm. Tuesday morning we had an appointment with AussieTraveller to have the annexe (dutch: voortent) fitted. In the late afternoon we were able to get through the heavy traffic on the "Gateway Bridge" and reached Maroochydore around dark. This is how the caravan looks now with the annexe set up. Nice and spacious and an extra dry area.
Saturday we will celebrate the 85th birthday of Pam's mum.

Ballina (3)

There are a few million square kilometers in Australia to choose from to set up your camp. Yesterday there were a few hundred of them you better stay away. Guess where we are ? Yes, right in the middle of it.
We thought that if the wind is going to blow this caravan away (wind gusts over 120 km/hr), we better not be in it. So we locked the caravan, secured all windows and hatches, and went to the RSL club. We had a nice meal, watched the electric power to fail a few times, had a few drinks and returned to the caravanpark around 10:30. This was the worse wind I have ever seen. But the caravan was OK, so we hoped we would be alright. Half an hour later the power in the caravanpark went down too. Another half an hour later it was as if somebody turned the weather-switch: the wind and rain stopped, just like that. We went to bed and woke this morning: the sun is shining !!

Ballina (2)

Knock, knock at the caravan door, yesterday late afternoon. It was the park manager making a visit to everybody and distributing an official yellow warning pamflet about the weather to be expected. This is the main issue (Australian Bureau of Meteorology; http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/nsw/):
"Heavy rain and damaging winds are expected to develop over the Northern Rivers and northern parts of the Northern Tablelands during today, and will continue through until the end of week. Flash flooding associated with this rain and wind gusts in excess of 90 km/hr are likely. Mean wind speeds are expected to be in excess of 65 km/h at times. "
Because our "nice spot" in the park, we were expected to get the full blow. He advised to lock all hatches and windows and to roll in the awning.
It was a rocky night, but the worst is to be expected today and tomorrow. So this morning we moved to another spot in the park, a bit sheltered behind a large permanent caravan.
We will be OK here. I keep you informed!

Ballina

We left Bonny Hills last Sunday, and after a two-night stay in Woolgoolga we travelled this morning a bit further North to Ballina.
The weather is going to change, heavy rain and quite some wind expected for the next few days, so we wanted to be here before it might be too difficult to travel. We camp in the caravanpark at the river, just outside town. Nice spot with a good view over the river headlands. We propably stay here three or four days and move then to Brisbane where we want to be on Monday ( because our annexe (dutch: voortent) is fitted on Tuesday.) After that we will move to the Sunshinecoast, some 100 km north.