Category: May 2018

Col and I headed into Exmouth to do some shopping and some blogging.

Our first stop was to grab a coffee at a place on the town beach called the ‘Short Order’.  It was a funky little van and they sell some great sounding food too.  Denver, Jen and Indya recommended it.  They have a little grassed area set up next to the van and music playing, it was a great spot to stop for a while.

Then we did some errands and picked up some stuff for the others back at the station.  We went to the library and did the techie stuff then the shopping.

Erin kindly organised for my kids to get together for dinner and to do the quiz for my Mother’s day present.  Anyone who knows me well has usually been forced at some stage or another to do the Brainwaves quiz in the Advertiser on a Saturday.  You may think that I would be a Trivia Whiz by now, having done this so often over the years, but this is not the case!  I still get excited if we pass, and that is usually with very flexible rules on multiple answers being accepted.  We do it just for the fun of it.  So we called them to facetime them and do the quiz together over the phone.  Unfortunately we were having issues with coverage, so it took a few goes of driving and moving to try to get good enough signal but we got there in the end.  Jemma and Ryan kindly had everyone at their house and they made homemade pizzas for dinner.  Definitely made me miss being home and hanging out with these guys.  Love them to bits.  But really good to see everyone’s faces and get to share the quiz with them and just appreciate my family and the amazing people they have grown into.  So thankful.  It is a privilege to be their Mum and I will be treasuring that on Sunday.

We then dodged sheep and roos on the way home but made it home safely.

I met Joyce at 8am and we headed out to the Airstrip to do a 30 second run/30 second walk, which sounds a whole lot easier than it actually is, let me tell you.  I was happy with my first attempt, I did 7km in total but didn’t manage to maintain the run the whole time.   Still, happy with my first attempt.  It is a really great way to improve your fitness and get back into running so will continue with this regime.  Indya joined in today too so that was fun to have another exercise buddy join in the gang.  When we finished our run we headed up to the grassed area behind the homestead to do a yoga stretching session which was a great way to end the workout.

Well when I say that the workout ended, it doesn’t really end here haha.  We then went to work on the path we are doing between the Toilet block and the Camp Kitchen and began transplanting grass divots from the path to the grassed area.  Grass is a very precious commodity here and we didn’t want to sacrifice it without trying to save it.  So we were digging holes and replanting grass for a few hours in 39 degree heat.  I have lost my fly net too but managed to deal with the flies.  So far Col has swallowed 3 and I have swallowed zero.  I really hope I can maintain this for the rest of the trip and that I am not jinxing myself by keeping score!

Denver and Jen put on morning tea for the workers so we break and go up to the Homestead for a coffee and biscuit late morning to recover a little then head out again for a while in the afternoon.  After that was some washing and a full clean of the camp kitchen which Col helped me with.  Col and I are planning to head into Exmouth on Friday and we have had a few people through the camp so the floors were looking a little worse for wear.  He then headed over to the workshop to do some welding and fix a post on the tray of the truck while I cleaned our ensuite.  While Col was there welding he also gave Jen and Indya a lesson on how to weld so they can use it for their artwork and other jobs around the station.

Joyce is super fit and works out everyday.  I have been a bit at a loss here of where to exercise as I am a bit put off by snakes walking on my own.  Joyce decided to walk 4 days a week and run/walk 3 days a week on the nearby Airstrip which is quite wide and snakes don’t tend to cross there as they are quite exposed.  So I was excited to have an exercise buddy and decided to join her.  The Airstrip is 1.2km long and we walked 3 laps, so about 7km in total.

After that we headed to the Quarry to do some more rock collecting.  I was impressed when Jen jumped into the seat of the front loader at one stage and dropped the load of rocks into the back of the truck.  I thought that Col would have been itching to get behind the wheel and give it a go, but he hasn’t asked for a turn yet.

Late afternoon we had a large number of campers turn up at once as they were part of a 4WD club from Renmark, there were 6 cars in that group alone and a few other campers around the station as well.  So the decision was made to get the campfire going and we were excited to have the first fire of the season.  It kicked off at 5.30pm but most people came out to sit by the fire after dinner and at one stage there were about 20 people gathered around.  Nige you would have been proud of us, both Col and I chatted up a storm!  We are trying hard to fill your shoes, you have taught us both well.

When Joyce arrived at Giralia she mentioned that she was excited to have an oven and be able to make home made bread.  My ears pricked up as I was planning to download a recipe and attempt this on my own, but asked Joyce if she would be happy to teach me.  So glad I did!  Joyce shared her recipe with me and helped me to make a small loaf and a plait.  The plait was amazing with a mexican chilli sauce on top, grated cheese and spaghetti bolognaise herbs, soooo good.  I was really excited and the end result was fantastic.  we are going to make another batch soon and try to master this skill.

Continue reading “Day 115 – 8th May 2018 – Giralia Station”

There is currently a project underway to edge all the grassed areas with rocks to prevent campers driving over and camping on the grass.  We are working as a group to collect rocks from the nearby quarry and then place them around the Station.  It is amazing what a difference it makes and the place is starting to look really tidy with the camping areas clearly marked.

Continue reading “Day 114 – 7th May 2018 – Giralia”

I booked Col and I onto a Coral Bay snorkeling and glass bottom boat tour that goes for 2 hours and leaves at 10am.  We needed to get to Coral Bay by 9.30am to book in at the office and then head over to the boat.  Coral Bay is about an hours drive from Giralia Station.  All went smoothly with the preparation and drive to Coral Bay and I am pleased to report that it ‘felt’ so much better now that School Holidays has finished.  There were still many people around but it was not jam packed and you had room to park the car and move around.

Continue reading “Day 113 – 6th May 2018 – Giralia Station, Trip to Coral Bay”

Col and I planned a fishing day today as the weather was fantastic and the winds were low.  We also wanted to get some footage of the beach camps at high tide.  Col was keen to try out his new cast net throw and try again for some prawns.  He caught up with Denver to make sure he had the right spot and we headed off for the boat about 8.30am. Continue reading “Day 112 – 5th May 2018 – Giralia Station, Fishing and Prawns”

Fun and games with Joss the cow – woke us up about 6.30am banging around the van.  She then went over and entered the annex of another couple of Bush Camp Hosts who had just arrived.  They have an open annex that they can’t zip up, so Joss is very happy about this and went promptly over to stand under it.  She also went into John’s and did a couple of poos to surprise him when he woke up, how sweet of her.  She is annoying but it makes me laugh.   So glad we have a zip up annex.  She had her nose pressed up to the fly screen just looking in at the annex longingly.  She is obsessed.  Joss is scared of the horses so Jen can ride the horse and round her up and she runs back to the enclosure.  Otherwise she totally ignores you no matter what you do to try to get her to move. Continue reading “Day 111 – 4th May 2018 – Giralia Station”

Denver suggested that we could set up in the Receiving Room to work on the blog and videos, so Col and I came up to the Room near the homestead to base ourselves today.  It was funny because we had jumpers on this morning and commenting on how chilly it was.  We later worked out it was a 30 degree day, haha.  We have gotten used to the 40 degree days and this feels quite cool. Continue reading “Day 110 – 3rd May 2018 – Giralia Station”

We spent the afternoon at the Homestead with Jen and Indya.  Jen asked if I could help resolve an issue with Denver’s iPad where he could receive mail but not send.  I spent a bit of time looking into it and Col and I managed to resolve it and get mail flowing again. Continue reading “Day 109 – 2nd May 2018 – Giralia Station”