She’s old, 23 years in fact, but she looks to be in reasonable shape. She’s small, so she fits into the available space we have in our unit. At the moment, she’s pretty well lacking in any character, as are most of the Avan Aliner’s. Hence, the older van – it seems more appropriate to be adding our own stamp to an older van, than it does to a newer, more expensive one. Not to mention the cost of a newer one in the first place.
The interior of Avans are quite cold and characterless in appearance. It’s going to be a challenge to transform this one into something that has warmth, style and character. We will be picking her up next week-end. Be sure to watch this space as she shed’s ‘her dowdy feathers and flies’.
As 2024 draws towards its end I can’t help but feel relieved. What a year, not one I hope to repeat anytime soon that’s for sure. As anyone who knows me well, I’m very adaptable to change (with the exception of changes to technology). 2024 though has seen more changes than even I can adapt to easily.
First we sold our home of 2 1/2 years in Nova Village. Thank goodness we moved into ‘one of those places’ whilst we were still young enough to recover from both the experience, and the financial loss. That’s not to say those places aren’t well suited to some people, it just didn’t suit us. At the time we sold the real estate market was at the peak of the biggest real estate boom I’ve ever seen. Finding a house, any house at all wasn’t easy. Fortunately we found a place to rent on a periodical lease whilst we looked for a place to buy. We knew the rental propert was going to be short term so we needed to pounce on anything remotely suitable. Houses were going under offer before they were even listed. It was manic!
We did find a place that suited both us, and our budget, and moved in on Paul’s birthday, the 8th of May. We’ve done a few things to it since, but at a much slower pace than is usual for us. We’ve both been tired from the two moves, not to mentioned our strapped finances after our estimated loss from the move out of the retirement village in excess of $300,000.
Our enthusiasm for home renovations has been unusually slow, but is recovering now though I’m pleased to say. We’re making plans for how we can really put our own stamp on this little villa to make it our own. I’m sure I’ll have a few changes to show you in 2025, but let’s just see the back of this God-damned awful year first.
Above is one change we’ve made so far. The kitchen needs a bit of makeover, it’s been designed poorly, but for now Paul has built a small half wall across the end of the kitchen so as to give us a place to put our microwave, and we’ve painted the dark drawers white. (I only do white kitchens).
Below is an image of one of the planned changes to come. A double Velux roof window into the kitchen – with one window opening. It will provide ventilation and light, as well as giving a sense of space by adding some height to the low ceilings.
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We did manage to fit in a couple of little holidays this year. I went to Bali for a week with a small group of ladies from my walking group. Then Paul and I flew up to Darwin for two week break from the winter.
We bought a swag, tried that out in the forest, and loved it. Carting it along with enough camping gear in our little Toyota Hybrid though wasn’t easy. We had a tow ball fitted to the car, and looked for a light weight trailer. The most suitable one we found happened to be camper trailer – which created another dilemma for us. Anyway long story short – the camper trailer won out. Out with the swag, in with the small camper trailer, which we tried out with Mr Tilly as soon as the weather permitted.
What a nightmare that was. We’ve since decided no more mobile homes for us until Mr Tilly goes. He’s such a stress freak when away from home. He’s only 7 1/2, so that’s a good few years away I should imagine. We have still kept the camper trailer, but have removed the tent section. The trailer is very useful for our little home hobby business.
Ah – now there’s another little snippet of news for you. You may remember Paul has upcycled a lot of furniture in the past. It’s become somewhat of a hobby now. Much of our own furniture is old pine furniture that’s been saved from land-fill with an up-cycle, and we’ve done quite a bit for friends as well. We decided a couple of months ago to try to put our spare time to good use, and try doing some up for sale. We hate the throw away mentality of the world today, so prefer to re-cycle and up-cycle for ourselves wherever possible. This has evolved from that.
We look for furniture pieces that are around 15 – 30 years old. You know the old dark stained rubber wood or pine pieces that were popular, the pieces that are now being discarded, often to land fill, as the owners replace them with the latest furniture trend. After many, many hours of sanding, filling, repairing and painting we move them on via the local face book market place. It’s become a bit of a labour of love, with enough profit to allow keep us investing in a few more pieces that we can save from the scrap heap. It gives us a sense of purpose, and we both love seeing the old transformed into something new.
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That’s not all though – you may remember a good few years ago I wrote a post on the Bunbury Farmers Market. It’s a place we love to shop at, and a place I worked at for a short time. It was a fabulous place to work, and a job I enjoyed immensely. Unfortunately the travelling distance did prove to be to great, so I didn’t stay long. When I left though, I said, “if ever you open a place in Busselton, I’ll be back”. Guess what – a new Bunbury Farmer’s Market opened in Vasse, a suburb of Busselton, this month. And guess what else – yes, I’m back there working as Food Presenter once again. I’m in my element!
I’m thoroughly enjoying it again. It’s a wonderful, business, and quite unique for Australia. It’s grown to be quite big, so much so that I believe it attracted the attention of Gina Rhinehart, who has now invested into its future growth. I hope it doesn’t grow in way that changes what makes it so special. At the moment there are of course quite a few teething problems, but on the whole it’s running fairly smoothly. I’m a bit torn. I love working there, but I also find breathing new life into an old piece of furniture very rewarding. The furniture – well that’s really a two person job, and one which Paul and I love working on together. As we move towards the start of another new year, I’m sure my way forward will become clear. Let’s see where 2025 takes me…..
Yep, that’s me, ‘The Devil’s Advocate’! I often go out on a limb saying what other’s either dare not say, or dare I even say it, other’s dare not even think it. Social conditioning is such today that the right to freedom of speech, a right considered ours if we live in a democratic country is no longer a right – that is if you dare to think any misogynistic thoughts, or any thoughts such as ‘toughen up Sunshine’, or ‘just get on with it’.
I woke early today and couldn’t get back to sleep so did something I never do, I went into the living room and turned on morning TV. The first item was about Australia’s shortage of teachers. Apparently today’s kids are misogynistic, sexist, homophobic, bully’s……… And guess what the teachers aren’t getting the support they want from the board (or whomever it is that deals with teacher’s problems), so they’re leaving the profession. WELL DAH!!!! They’re kids, and just like kids from every generation, some will always push boundaries. Admittedly today, in some instances, it is harder to reign in bad behaviour without the inappropriate punishments that were available to teachers when I was at school.
So, here I am, playing Devil’s Advocate. And before you all start yelling at me, I’m not directing this at the really, really bad behaviour, as no doubt there is enough of that in schools, just as there is in any workplace. I’m directing this question at any behaviour in any workplace, my question is “why does every little slip of voiced misogynistic, or homophobic, or sexist, or racist behaviour need to be addressed to the perpetrator?” Sometimes is the victim at the receiving end really a victim, or have they just grown up feeling a little to entitled to perfect behaviour from everyone around them. Quite honestly, I’m sick to death of feeling like I’m treading on eggshells everytime I dare to think, or voice an opinion that isn’t supportive of some minority. Why can’t someone say occasionally, ‘toughen up Sunshine’! I’m not advocating a return to last century’s mindset. I just think we’ve gone too far the other way. Can we please, please reach a comfortable balance where freedom of thoughts and speech allows for some of those spoken words to sometimes be not censured by political correctness, a comfortable balance were battles are kept for really bad and unacceptable behaviour, and a comfortable balance where sometimes we can actually to say to someone, ‘toughen up Sunshine’.
Let’s get the balance right between what it’s reasonable for someone to be able to shrug off, and what’s totally unreasonable and unacceptable behaviour, and let’s pick our battles accordingly. Teacher’s are leaving in droves apparently, and I get that some have probably left for very good and justifiable reasons. But are some leaving because all their lives mummy, or daddy, didn’t dare say, ‘toughen up Sunshine’, did mummy and daddy fail teach their child one of the fundamentals lessons of life, ‘shit happens – deal with it’, it’s not always someone else’s problem.
We’ve been in our new home now for nearly four months. We moved in on 8 May, which in our southern hemisphere means we moved in as we were nearing winter, and what a winter it’s been. We’ve had rain, showers, or storms almost every day, so not very inspiring weather for any household decorating, or garden tasks. We’ve made very few changes as yet, which is a bit of a slow start for us. Normally we would have re-vamped the garden by now at least, and we would have at least begun to put our own stamp on the inside of any house that has become ours.
A couple of weeks ago an acquaintance from Bridge asked me how we were enjoying our new home. I answered without a lot of enthusiasm, which is unusual for me. Despite having moved house quite often, I usually love my homes. I think that’s because I love decorating. We usually buy run down places and we quickly get to work fixing everything up. After putting our hard work into transforming the places we buy we’re usually proud to call the re-newed places, ‘home’. My lack of enthusiasm this time took me by surprise.
There’s lots of changes I’d love to make to the house, but most of them would end up too costly, as each would have a domino effect. For example, I think the layout of the kitchen is terrible. I’d love to change it, but what a can of worms that’d open – not only would it mean re-aligning plumbing, and a total rebuild of the area, but it’d also mean all the floor tiles that extend through the entire living area would need to be lifted and replaced. A $40 – $50K new kitchen would end up snowballing to an horrendous job, a job which I’m sure would end up costing in excess of $100k. Not only is that money we don’t have lying around, it’d also be over capitalising for our little unit. So – the kitchen layout will remain as is. We had a good think about what we reasonably could do though that would put our own stamp on our little unit, things that would make the place feel like it belongs to us.
Consequently we’ve made a start. The first job was sorting out the TV alcove. As the recess isn’t very deep, we had temporarily adapted a couple of shoe cabinets to use until we decided how we’d furnish and decorate it. However the shoe cabinets fit the place so perfectly we decided that with a few adjustments they could stay. Paul’s butted them up together properly which meant shaving off a little bit of the wood, and he’s topped the white cabinets with a lovely piece of raw, light coloured timber. With the offcuts from the wood top he’s put up two offset shelves over the TV. We styled it mainly with coastal bits and pieces we already had around the place. The only thing we had to buy was a little stack of small books, and two tall vases in which to put the white reeds which we already had. Just that little change has already added a heap of ‘Paul and Chris’ type character. Paul’s done such a good job, I love it!
Next is the kitchen. Apart from the layout of it, there is really nothing wrong with it. All the laminated cupboards and drawers are in good condition, but they’re beige and brown in colour, and I’m a ‘white kitchen’ person. The exhaust canopy is good quality, and is reasonably new. The gas stovetop is fine, but induction will be better down the track a bit, and the oven, well that was appalling, so it’s already been replaced. The dishwasher works well, but it’s not a great dishwasher so that’s on the list for replacement too in the not to distant future. But for now, well with the grey floor tiles, the greige coloured walls and the beige and dark brown coloured kitchen cabinets, it was all feeling a bit to – well ‘beige’ I guess.
This was the way the kitchen looked when we first bought the unit. All very tidy, but a bit to ‘beige’ for us.
So what to do – paint it of course!
At the moment our kitchen is in bits. All the drawers are emptied with their contents all over the bench tops. The dining room table has paint sheets under it, and paint sheets over it, and all the cupboard doors are off, and are laid out wherever we can find a space for them. Within a couple of days they’ll all be re-fitted but instead of being beige and brown, they’ll all be gloss white. Then in the not to distant future, the beige panelling backing onto the cupboards will be re-done with white shiplap panelling. I’ll post progress photos as we go.
After we’ve replaced all the appliances and the single sink with a double one, we’ll probably get a new bench top. Apart from the cost of the new appliances, and a new bench top, it’ll cost us very little really in the scheme of things. When our spring weather starts we’re also going to go through the entire house and repaint all the ceilings, and will freshen up the walls changing the colour from greige to a warm white. It should make everything feel lighter and brighter, and it’ll make it feel like it’s ours. Then next time someone asks me, “how do you like your new home?” I’ll be able to answer with an enthusiastic, “I love it!” Won’t that be a pleasure!
After much research and soul searching, we’ve bought ourselves a swag. The swag is big, bigger than the little pup tent we used when first camping when only 25 years old. In fact, you could easily mistake this swag for a small tent.
As we’re nearly 45 years older than we were when we first used that little pup-tent, you would be forgiven for wondering if this little venture isn’t a bit of a mid life crisis. I’m not going to lie to you, it has crossed our minds as well. Only time and experience can answer that question. If the reality isn’t what we’re hoping for, at least the planning is proving to be lots of fun.
We’ve experienced lots of different tents and camping set ups, so we had a pretty good idea as to what’s important to us. Heavy canvas is a must. Good canvas insulates well against all weathers and temperatures, and it feels sturdy and homelike to be inside. When packed up it needed to be light enough in weight to be carried around by two old codgers with relative ease. This ruled out a lot of full sized canvas tents. We did however weigh up buying a small tent as opposed to a big swag. For those of you unfamiliar with what a swag is, it’s an enclosed shelter with a mattress inside. It all rolls up together into one bundle. A tent requires a seperate mattress to be carried. We decided on the simplicity of the swag with its included mattress for ease of set up. Then, last but not least, was that whatever we chose had to have good ventilation. Good ventilation is important for minimising any condensation. The 23 Zero Outbreak swag fitted all our criteria perfectly, and especially in relation to the ventilation. Nothing compared to the ventilation options in the Outbreak.
It arrived last week, less than a week after having placed our order. Coming all the way across country and with free delivery, that is amazingly quick. We had expected it to come across country on a truck, but 23 Zero air freighted across.
Living in a unit we don’t have a garden, so having just a small patio we moved things around as best we could so as to be able to pitch the swag. It was so easy to erect, taking us less than five minutes on our first attempt. Pitching it on our paved patio though meant we couldn’t peg it down, so that’ll take an extra minute or two when camping in the forest. My biggest concern had been as to how easy it’d be to get in and out of. I have to say, it was really, really easy.
Tills thought it was pretty good, however he won’t be included in our camping trips. He’s prone to anxiety, so when away from home life with him becomes a bit of a chore.
We had a bit of a trial run on Friday night. It proved to be spacious, yet cozy, and the mattress comfortable, but not quite as comfortable as we would have liked. As we hadn’t been able to peg the swag out properly we also couldn’t open the windows for ventilation correctly. This meant we ended up with some condensation forming under the mattress. We had been debating what, if any, ground sheet we’d place under the swag, so last night’s trial run has determined that for us – we’ll use the clip together heavy foam mats that campers often use. This should add that tiny bit of extra cushioning for our hips when sleeping on our side.
We had hoped to fit everything into our small Yaris Cross hatchback, so on Saturday we had trial run at loading the car with the exception of the gazebo which hasn’t arrived yet. Whilst we plan to be relatively minimalist with our set up, and although everything will fit inside the car, we think it’ll make life much easier to tie the swag and gazebo onto roof bars, even though it’ll affect fuel consumption a bit.
As soon as we get a couple of days forecast without any rain on the radar, we’ll drop Mr Tilly at our friends place, get some wood for a fire, and head down to the forest near us to try it for real. Each day I get up and look at the forecast for the following seven days. Showers everyday so far, so we watch and wait. Will let you know if a few nights in the swag is ‘pleasure or pain’, just as soon as I can, watch this space….
Berry Springs, approximately 50kms south of Darwin, is a favourite picnic spot for both tourists and locals alike. Not surprising really, IT’S JUST GORGEOUS! We visited Berry Springs twice on our recent visit to the top end.
The swimming areas, considered safe and opened to the public, consists of three main pools known as the upper pool, the middle pool, and the lower pool. The upper pool has a short, but powerful flowing waterfall cascading into it. In busy times the crowds will gather on their pool noodles (available for hire or purchase from within the park), waiting their turn to venture under the cascade for a free massage. It wasn’t so busy on both occasions when we visited the park, so we stayed under the water until our skin was tingling and red from the power of the water. Just beautiful!
The water flows downstream towards the middle, main, swimming area. There’s steps that lead down to the water’s edge in all pools, with ladders into the water to make getting in and out safe.
The lower pool was the quietest of them all. At first we were reluctant to venture into the connecting waterways between the pools, fearing crocs could be lurking in those narrower, rocky areas. However, it didn’t take us long to lose our fears as we saw others venturing into the more secluded, connecting streams. The rangers do a pretty good job of monitoring for dangerous predators and have all sorts of traps, and warning devices for any Salties (Estuarine Crocodiles) that may venture into the swimming areas earmarked for safe public swimming. Please note, these areas are not considered safe during the wet season, and the swimming areas are generally kept closed. I would never venture into any of the water holes during the dry, or the wet season though until at least mid-morning after I know the rangers have had a chance to check things out, and there are at least a few other people in the water. There’s no way I want to be the only main course on offer for any big croc that’s lost his or her way in the water ways. At least if one has managed to evade all the warning devices, I can at least hope that I’m one of the less appetising courses on offer in a smorgasbord of swimmers.
Being strong swimmers, Paul and I started off in the lower pool and swam upstream, through the beautiful, and more secluded connecting waterways. We’d stop and float around for a bit of a rest in the busier middle pool before tackling the faster flowing current up the upper pool where the falls are. Then after getting our free shoulder massage courtesy of nature, we’d slowly drift effortlessly down to the middle pool, then through the last magical waterway and back into the lower pool.
On one occasion we braved a short swim a little further down from the lower pool, but didn’t go far. It was a bit to isolated for most people, us included, but we found a nice, big, half submerged branch to hang onto for 10 minutes or so. Bush turkeys were grazing on the nearby banks, and blue dragon flies were landing on the tips of the branches we were hanging onto. It was such a peaceful place, a little bit away from the crowds, a place where we could just immerse ourselves into the tranquil nature that’s Berry Springs. Our favourite spot in the Northern Territory, and what a pleasure it was to visit it twice within a few days of each other. Just gorgeous!
It’s just over 10 years since we first visited the Northern Territory, just over 10 years since our first, and only visit to Litchfield National Park, until now that is.
Our first visit to the beautiful Litchfield was a one day only trip, but in 2014 we never did anything slow. We always promised ourselves we would slow down, but at that time we still buzzed around like blue arsed flies, and our visit to Litchfield was no exception. Berry Springs, Buley Rock pools, Florence Falls and the Magnetic Termite mounds all within a few hours of each other….. Total madness!
Finally, we’ve slowed down. This time we’re spending a week camped near Litchfield with the intention of exploring the natural wonders within the park and nearby surrounds, and doing justice to each and every place we visit.
Today was Buley Rock Pools, a favourite with the local Darwin Population. Litchfield is a far more popular holiday, week-end or even day trip place with the local population that the more famous, Kakadu National Park. In fact the locals often refer to Kakadu as ‘Kakadon’t’. Having visited both ten years ago, I can understand their sentiments.
Anyway onto Buley.
As you can see Buley is a series of crystal clear pools, each fed from a short cascading waterfall from the pool above. Visitors find a lovely spot to stretch out in the cool, running, water to catch some sun, or they find a torrent under which to sit, the water pounding their shoulders like powerful spa jets, or they’ll find a nice ledge to sit on in a calm stretch of water and chat for a while.
The above photo was taken of Paul and I on our first visit ten years ago. Funnily enough, I was wearing the same bathers today as I was wearing then. It was my first pair of Funkita bathers, bought in a little shop in Broome that year, and they’re still almost as good as new. They’ve been great value. So ladies if you’re looking for a pair of bathers that will stand up to years of swimming in chlorinated pools, and beaches, I can certainly attest to Funkita as a brand to look out for. Same rock pools, same Funkita bathers, only ten years later.
And that’s it from Litchfield for today folks. It’s close to happy hour and I want to have a shower first, and do a few a chores (yes you still have to do washing, even when on holiday).
After spending four nights at an hotel on Darwins waterfront, we picked up our hire camper van yesterday and headed towards Litchfield National Park. Our chosen place to camp for the week is in a powered site at the Litchfield Safari Park. By the time we picked up shopping on route it was mid afternoon when we arrived. A quick sort out of our hired camper, food and clothes away, and we headed to the pool for a quick dip, and then begun to make plans for the rest of the week.
There’s quite a few walk trails in the park, along with waterfalls and swimming holes. Of course there’s always a bit of a danger of crocs, but generally in the dry season the water holes are reasonable safe, and the rangers put out all sorts of traps to ensure none move into tourist swimming areas. Any sign of them and the areas get closed quick smart until the croc is caught and re-located. Of course, the fresh water crocs are around, but they’re timid and usually keep well away from people. If I saw either in the water of course, I’d be walking on water faster than Jesus Christ and I’d be back on dry land faster than lightning.
Today we chose the Wangi Falls walk. It was graded as a moderate walk of around an hour, and true to its description, it was in fact only a moderate walk, and it did only take approximately an hour. The walk starts at the Wangi plunge pool and water falls, and then meanders up and around the back of the falls in a circuit finishing back at the swimming hole. It’s a steep walk in places, but it’s not to difficult for a couple of old ducks like us. Mind you, Paul is a bit of a mountain goat, I definitely am not. I’m okay going up hill and can hold my own, but when it comes to the downhill sections I take my time and pick my way carefully.
Wangi falls
The walk went through shady areas of green pandanas with hundreds of bats hanging from the trees overhead, then onto to rocky inclines with very little shade. I had been a little worried that a moderate grade walk may have been a bit too difficult (thinking back to moderate grade walks in Karijini – walks that had me wondering at the time, moderate for who, a fell runner). I needn’t have worried. The walk was indeed true to the grading assigned to it (in this writers opinion anyway). Very pleasant indeed.
Sturdy boots and trustee walking pole
Paul manages the steep sections easily. I pick my way, wearing my sturdy books and leaning on my trustee bush walking pole. I couldn’t do it without either, as well as my trusted walking companion Paul. Paul knows my limitations well and is intuitive to the places where a balancing arm or shoulder doesn’t go astray.
The walk finished, we made ourselves a chicken and salad roll in the camper, grabbed a bottle of water and headed back to the Wangi picnic area to eat it. Then into the water hole for a swim. It was cool to get in, but lovely and refreshing. I tried hard to get under the falls but they were just a tad too powerful. I got close though.
Then came the promised ice cream from the cafe. At $8.75 each, $17.50 for two, this won’t be the first of many, a one time treat only. I savoured and enjoyed every lick!
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I can’t conclude this post without a bit of a whinge. Bloody WordPress has done some sort of an upgrade AGAIN. I wish they wouldn’t fix what ain’t broke! Now it’s all difficult to use again. Photos won’t go in where I want them, they go in at sizes I don’t want them to be, hence a photo of an ice-cream beside the Wangi plunge pool (I know the two don’t go together it was either that or have an image taking up a column space only on the page…… Grrrrr!!!!
Life of Riley - on whatever 