how funny are alpacas?

i mean really.

how had i never noticed before?

goodness knows i am a lover of all things in the animal kingdom..

but how funny are alpacas!??

in fact, i’d go so far as to say they’re freaking hilarious!!!

silly heads on long necks, twitchy ears and bug eyes.

i mean, what were the gods thinking when they created this comical tribute to all things mismatched??

how can a drive through the serene country outback not be broken into fits of hysterics when beasts such as these dot the hillsides?

aaah, the world surely is a funny funny place..

may the alpacas in your fields have upright ears flapping in the breezes of happiness!

hmm… come to think of it…maybe i will head to south america sometime soon in search of the fountain of happiness…which i am now convinced is kept by the gods of the alpacas and llamas and vicunas and gnu’s… (i mean how could it not be there??)

the summer getaway continues…

how do you find the words to capture the experiences that even your senses cant fathom..

those summer holidays full of moments of heat driven hysteria…when happiness brews from somewhere deep within and bubbles like a champagne from the inside out till you think you may just burst with the passion of this memory…

how do you describe the green felt of a snooker table hillside dotted with the 8 balls of fresian cows and the vividness of a blue sky that strecthes forever.

the heat of a sun that warms the soul…

the summer holiday just kept getting better..and at last the sun did come out..

so…car loaded to the hilt once more, we set adrift “seat of the pants style” for a laurie bush camp holiday… no map, no matches, no torch..

the road as our guide..the path to adventure…

destination one..

barrington tops national park….

(after a few **slight** directional detours…)

a constant changing world…of alpine, rainforest, pine forest and the blackened aftermath and death of bushfires gone before..

a playground of discovery..

and a campsite so isolated and spooky one might be forgiven for thinking we were filming the new series of the blair witch project..

tents erected, beer consumed…dinner gourmet..

heavens opened..

sitting huddled in an information shelter just smiling at the world before us..

sleep to the sound of rain pounding the canvas.

blinded by the light show of an electric night sky…

hysteria at the evil 8 legged beast taken shelter from the storm…

and at last…daylight..

to pack and to move… to explore and to frollic and to be let out of the park by the rangers as it was apparently closed due to incriment weather…oops….

destination 2…led us over the mountains, down the valleys, through the splendour of true aussie country side.

roadside feats on wild blackberries,

beer stops in country towns…basking with the glory of sunshine on our faces…

red dirt roads… rescue stops to free rogue turtles…

and the deep delving drive into the mysteries of goulburn river national park…

bliss.

a true bush oasis in the middle of heaven itself…

a beer in the river as it bubbled over us..

the river stones pumicing away the dirt build up of a few days craziness…

the pink sunset and gentle rustle of swaying trees.

the midnight attack by a mob of angy kangaroos who for whatever reason decided to closely inspect our tent and the ensuing hours of not sleeping, listening to the wild thumping of frightened hearts intermittent with the thumping and grinding of untold beasts just beyond the tent walls…

a new day

sun shine

birds singing…

the bubbles of happiness fizz and brew again, despite the lack of sleep.

new towns to explore..

the “architectural historic tour” of kandos.. a site to behold in itself.. starting at the communal toilets and getting little better as it progressed…

the retail therapy of a random hat shop…

and the general freedom of a life on the road…

historic kandos rotunda

these are all experiences locked away in the treasure chest of my heart and mind..

memories i want to paint in the wildest colours for the world to share…but moments that in words lose meaning…

and in photos show only that fleeting second…

the days end…the dusk comes and sets…and with it the end of this adventure…but always, the memory… and the bubble of excitement that tomorrow is a new day..

a new adventure..

new colours to paint

new worlds to see….

life is good.

just dont be afraid to grab it!

always and ever.

l

summer adventures continued….

The great summer escape…

day 2…

so the day started off much like any other on a typical aussie summer’s morn…
rainy, cold and blowing a gale…
but we were not to be disheartened…
due to the extreme tentativeness with which I approach decisions..once it had been agreed that day 2 was fishing day… we braved the forces of nature and commenced packing the boat…
food, drink, jumpers, life jackets… all the essentials should the howling breeze force us to relive a robinson carusoe moment somewhere, blown off shore in all the craziness…
and of course, stinky bait, crab traps, rods and the usual tangle of a tackle box…
and off we set…

while the wind driven waves kept our ride as parrallele to a z grade rollercoaster as imaginable, my travlling companions received quick lessons in boat driving…and we were off…
zipping between frollicing dolphins, winding our way through the splatter painting of moored boats and trudging up the lemon tree creek to the fabled crab fishing whole…

wrestling with blunt knives to prise open the putrid slimy jaws of our mulloway head bait and rescue its dismembered eyeball from becoming embedded into the seat,
untangling the spider web of rusted traps and of course trying not to add out own burleigh into the mix as the boat rocked and bobbed constantly on the changing tide…

crab traps set, pants awash with the guts of mouldy fish and hearts aglow wit the hope of our future catch we ventured forth to a spot for fishing…

tangle, untangle, unravel, cast, nibble, baited…
and thus it went on..
the waves slowly lapping at the side of the boat..
the wind tussling gently at our hair…the sun, slyly burning those missed patches of un creamed skin…
nibble, yoink, bait, nibble, yoink, bait…
as lazy hours slipped peacefully away,… oblivious to our summers plight…

like professionals drifitng with the tide, trawling our rods behind us…a well practised scooting back to the start of each run again as the tide pushed us into the cavernous openings of an underwaterplayground for which we were not prepared…
but in true professional style… of course the bait was the first thing to go overboard as the motor lurched into gear and sped us off to our starting drift… hair flying and all hands diving as we watched the bait fly gracefully up up into the air and overboard to the benefit of a sea of hungry fish…

and thus the cry was heard… last fish caught on your bait remaining on your hooks is declared the winner…
all eyes to the open sea, hands at  the ready to reel in the vistory
ears pierced to take in the tell tale whir of an angry reel being dragged out to sea by some mighty foreign submerged beast
and then its on..
the tussle, the to the fro the back and forth
the wind, the sigh, the release and re wind,
the buzz, the thrill the jumps of excitement as my travelling companion landed the fateful last fish and was subsequently declared winner with a specimen no bigger than my pinky!!!!
how it ate the bait, which was in fact larger than itself, we will never know. It was in fairness bait itself..
but as the fish flipped its baby little tail in all its glory it is almost as if it knew its pride of place in the fishing hall of fame.
The worlds smallest fish capped off our day by whole heartedly being declared. “winner”

the fish that won!

this somewhat piscean anti climax was also the followed up by a thrilling 7 crab pot retrieval of no luck….  until then it happened..
in a moment of stillness between the howling winds and calmness between the lapping waves, the pot was pulled complete with blue swimmer..
a fine specimen who nipped and clawed his way in a dire panic into an undisentangleable state of dissaray…

ginger fingers holding still and steady the fiersome nippers,  only to be out smarted by our spiny crustracean friend and blood spilt…
nursing a blood soaken hand as the final knots were untangled over the crabs claws, more problematically than the fearful sight of tangled clotheshangers…
my friend was right however… ultiamte revenge would be ours.
Penalty for nip to fingers.. death, served with salad.
.
and thus it was, amidst the excitement of lazing about on the boat, day 2 simply swept away…
the rain is clearing and tomorrow holds hope for a new day of fun filled summer adventure!

May your fingers be clear of the claws that bite, wherever you may hold them,
always.
Hugs
l

the great summer escape

christmas and new years behind us… my friends and i decided to take full advantage of this blistering aussie sun and plan the ultimate summer getaway…

a week of chilling out by waterholes, rivers and beaches, wrestling with tents and sitting back for a sundowner after a long day…

sounds like bliss right….

so on day one…as i arose at sparrows fart…nursing the culmulative hangover of the 3 days post new years and painfully aware of my 6 hours sleep across the last 72 hours i trekked across town to our starting point..

my friends of course, were late…. damn…why didnt i think of that!

but after a marathon tetris style packing session we had the car filled to the hilt and hit the road…

cranking the tunes… karaoke all the way… wrestling over car radio surfing ettiquette and hysterical that our driver had not copped on that the recently overplayed pussycat dolls song “hotel room” (“forget about your boyfriend, meet me at the hotel room, i’m going to bring my girlfriends, meet me at the hotel room”) was not in fact about an innocent convention of hotelier workers having a tea party…

until at last we arrived at our first destination…

the conveniently placed township of Karuah…ideal as a stop off point for both us and our friends traversing in the opposite direction to hook up for a g’day drink…

karuah..

beautiful seaside resort village

car stops..

open the door…

to howling winds and sub zero temperature…

somewhere between good god its early and we’re here summer appeared to have vanished behind a never ending grey cloud and a constant drizzle…and thus… still early on a very grey, wet and windy morning our summer adventure began..

not to be disheartened we did the obligatory walk along the waters edge…as we looked for oncoming tsunamis in the rivers swolen tide and squelched our way through the tannin water broken above the well worn banks…

we admired the creaking wreck of a jetty and paused for a photo at the scenic photo spot (the poop shute… or boat sewage dump drop off)

and after this gorgeous waterfront stroll we picked the most (open) happening place in town to let the adventure begin (and await or friends) the karuah rsl..

all i can say…

go there…

from the weather beaten blue exterior to the original paisley design carpet it truly is a masterpeice to behold…

the gentle clinging of poker machine in the background and the familarity of fishermen with leather faces, worn by the winds of time over a thousand sunny days  sipping quietly their 10 am beer….

the hustle and bustle of the entire town as it vies for the best tickets in the sunday meat raffle..

and the true existence of “genuine 1970′s prices” with our 3 drinks weighing in at a whopping $6.80 TOTAL

how’s the serenity huh?

and despite the fact that we didnt win the keno nor the meat tray.. the company was great, the mood at peace and the decor ideal.

summer may have evaded us…

but the sumer adventure will press forth regardless!

may your tent stay dry…wherever it may be pitched.

hugs

l