We Have Possums In Our Roof

The last couple of months have been very busy and exciting.  Here are some of the highlights.

Oscar and his team won their basketball grand final.  This is a new club and at the beginning of the year we didn’t even have enough players to field a team!  Every week I would have to go scrounging for extra players to help us out.  And here we are.... theU14 boys champions!!!  Go North Lakes Hawks!!!  

Oscar had a dreadful head cold on the day and did really well to get into it!  He had been on his school trip to Canberra a week previous and had brought the cold home with him.  He had such a great time down there however he’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.  In fact he wasn’t home 24 hours before he told me that he missed Canberra!  Of course, while he was having the time of his life in Canberra, Neil and I were sitting at home moping, missing him terribly and thinking how weird it was that the house was so quiet!  Missy, however, seemed much more relaxed than usual....  I’m hoping that Oscar will write his own blog on his experiences in Canberra but in the meantime here are a couple of his photos.

Cockington Green (minature village)

Sculpture at Australian Institute of Sport

Oscar Doing an Excellent Einstein Impersonation at Questacon

Just last week we had some friends of ours from the UK out to visit, Chris & Helen, and we all went to Australia Zoo.  It was fabulous!  We patted koalas and lizards, fed kangaroos, ooohed and ahhhed over dingo pups, pretty birds, baby koalas and the tigers.  As for the “Africa” section of the zoo, well I could have spent hours there watching the giraffes, rhinos and zebras.  We were really lucky that a mother rhino and her calf came right up to the fence in front of us and we could get a good long up close look.  We were also very lucky to come across a couple of handlers with a cheetah on our way back to the main part of the zoo!  Oscar was especially awed and said he couldn’t believe he was only standing a few metres away from the Earth’s fastest land predator!  So a wonderful day was had by all and we thoroughly enjoyed having Chris & Helen (and Wobbles the Penguin) to stay.  Hopefully they had a good time too!

Us With Blue Tongue Lizard and Shingleback Lizard

Oscar With Barking Owl

I'll tell you what we jolly didn’t ooh and aah over at Australia Zoo, and that’s possums!  Rotten little buggers have been thumping in and out of our roof for the past couple of nights keeping us awake.  Fortunately for Oscar they’re not galloping around his end of the house.  Unfortunately for Neil & I they come in directly above our bed!  Love it.  Neil is outside right now with the chainsaw.  Those possums are gonna get it man!  Actually, as they’re a native animal they are a protected species so no chainsawing the possums.  We can however chop down the vine that leads them to our roof.  We’re hoping that they’ll jump out tonight onto the fence but not be able to climb back up the fence and into the roof without the vine.  And we can get a decent night’s sleep! 

Enough ranting about possums, what else has gone on since my last post?  We’ve had Neil’s birthday, whereupon he very thoughtfully purchased his own birthday present so that I didn’t have to go to the bother.  I didn’t even have to wrap it for him.  Isn’t he generous?!  We’re currently in the middle of school holidays and last night Oscar and Neil went go-kart racing.  Check out Neil’s video:  

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i6bajenRfB0&feature=c4-feed-u   

Super fun!  In a few days they plan to go again with a couple of Oscar’s friends.  We’ve also been to the museum, the Science Centre and the movies.  Not quite sure how I’m going to keep Oscar busy next week but I’m sure I’ll think of something.  Maybe we’ll just do it all again!  

Oscar's 12th Birthday!

The Cake

  

Some Friends Sleep Over

They're all very tired the next morning.  Except for Naaman.  

Opening Presents

Book from Gus & Anne

Birthday card from Nan & Grandad.
With a banana.

Ok, ok, I'll pose seriously for this one with the book I got from Uncle Brian & Aunt Jeanne.

Then I'm going to have myself a glass or two of this wine while I read it!

Happy 12th Birthday Oscar!

Rowena, Oscar and Grandad’s Dinosaur Trail Expedition (also known as known as Row & Dad's Pie Tasting Tour) - Part 3

After our awe-inspiring experience at Lark Quarry we drive back to Winton, through town and out the other side on the road to Longreach to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum.  Walking around outside the museum we find the stunning views spoilt by the flies constantly bothering us.  Note to self:  If I ever come back here, slather myself in some sort of fly repellent first.  Inside is very pleasant however and probably the second most interesting place we’ve been after the Quarry.

 

Comparing Elephant Femur to Dinosaur Femur





Grandad with Dino Claw



 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 The next day we head into Longreach.  It’s been a while since we had a pie so first stop was the Merino Bakery where Grandad gave his pie only a 5 out of 10.  I couldn’t really give my pie a score because it was, very disappointingly, missing most of its filling.  The pastry was alright I suppose.  Oscar had a sausage roll however, and declared it was the best he’d ever tasted.  The bakery was doing a roaring trade so they must’ve been coming for the sausage rolls rather than the pies.  We then go off to the Qantas Museum only to find that it’s a bit cost prohibitive so we wander around the outside of the museum instead. 

After that we went into the Stockman’s Hall of Fame.  Another place you could spend all day in.  Without a child.  Like Oscar.  Although even he found it fascinating, he was just ready to move on more quickly than Grandad and I. 



Oscar Piloting the Royal Flying Doctor Plane

 

That evening we had smoko with the caravan park owner and other caravan park patrons.  All very friendly and interesting for a city boy. 

Day 9 and we head through Ilfracombe on our way to Emerald again.  Oh goody for Grandad!  Another old machinery display at Ilfracombe! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Whoa!  We stumble across a new friend as we round the corner of one of the machinery sheds.

Anyone want a ride on my motorbike?

 

 

That night at Emerald we manage to catch up with Richard and Denise.  They look great and Denise cooks a magnificent three course dinner in which Oscar eats Minestrone soup for the first and last time declaring it’s delicious and practically licks the bowl.  Won’t eat it anywhere else though.  Only Denise’s is good enough!  We’re all so relaxed and enjoying ourselves that I don’t even think to take out my camera and grab a few snap shots.  Doh!  Kicking myself now!

 Day 10 we leave Emerald and drive through Dingo, Duaringa and Dululu and we stop to climb Mt Scoria which was the site of an active volcano about 20 to 26 million years ago and is covered in unusual basalt rock columns.  The number of sides each column has is an indication of the speed and evenness of how the lava cooled, with columns having between 5 and 8 sides.  Only the 6 sided columns formed from a slow and regular cooling process. 

 

We pull up for the night at Cania Gorge in a rather flash caravan park.  The price is a bit steep for Grandad’s taste but Oscar thinks it’s the bees knees! 

 

Big, Bouncy Thingy - Oscar is on the left on a yellow stripe

 

 

Oscar Tells Me the Water Slide is "Awesome!"

 Later on we enjoyed an outdoor movie and fell asleep to the crackling of camp fires.

Day 11 and Oscar’s on the waterslide again while Grandad and I pack up for the final stretch home. 

 

We drag Oscar out of the pool, dry him off and head to Monto where we visit with some close friends of Grandad’s, one of whom happens to be the celebrant who married us. 

We then go into Mulgildie and see where Great Grandma & Great Grandad used to live and we stop by the mysterious Bunyip Hole where stories abound of disappearances, animals shying away from the watering hole even when thirsty and lots of other odd goings on. 

 

Artist's Impression of the Mulgildie Bunyip

We carry on down the road and detour into the teeny, tiny town of Abercorn where Grandad grew up.  We then proceed on through Eidsvold, Mundubbera and stop in Gayndah for our last pie tasting.  We’re tempted by the “best pies” sign in one direction but decide to check out the bakery in the other direction instead.  I think the pie is brilliant, it has an unusual hint of herb that almost tastes like lavender (which sounds weird I know but I think it totally worked).  Grandad likes the pie too but it's not his favourite and he wouldn’t give it more than an 8 out of 10.  Oscar says the custard tart is the best he’s ever eaten.  We wander over to check out a tank and some playground exercise equipment to work off the pies and tarts! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We then jump back in the truck to head on back to Childers.  End of expedition.  Oscar exhilarated by the whole experience but now ready for his own bed and some modern technology (ie computer games).  Grandad unfortunately has a bit of a cold now and is no doubt also ready for his own bed and for us to go home and give him some peace and quiet!!! 

Rowena, Oscar and Grandad’s Dinosaur Trail Expedition (also known as Row and Dad’s Pie Tasting Tour) – Part 2

On day 4 we headed into Hughenden to the FJ Holden Cafe which, according to Oscar, had awesome hotdogs and the Flinders Discovery Centre.  Lots of interesting displays at both of these places, with the Flinders Discovery Centre containing other local historical information in it beyond dinosaurs.  We then headed off to Richmond which was I think, my favourite town on the Dinosaur Trail. Once upon a time (a hundred million years or so ago), Richmond was in the middle of an inland sea, so there are plenty of marine fossils to see here.  This is Kronosaurus Corner. 

 He’s a big boy isn’t he?  We stayed next to Lake Fred Tritton that night in a nice caravan park.  We wandered through the Bush Tucker Garden and then Oscar lost his basketball in the lake and nearly fell in whilst retrieving it.  What fun!  The next day we went fossicking.  We were very excited about the possibility of unearthing previously unidentified dinosaur remains!  

Unfortunately, the best we did was find some pretty stones and what looked like a fossilised fish tail imprint.  Better than nothing and a great experience!  To Winton we now go forth where perhaps we’ll fossick for opals instead.

Yes!  We find a convenient place to “dig” for opals right on the main street.  Fancy that!  Oops, mum has to get out of the dig pit – it’s only for kids. L  Oscar having barrels of fun though (stoopid kids, grumble, grumble) and we have to drag him away to find a place to camp for the night.  He’s hammered out a couple of good samples to bring with him though.  

In the morning we hit (quite literally) the Musical Fence and then onto the Diamantina Heritage Truck & Machinery Museum. 

Oscar liked this old fire truck the best.

Grandad is as happy as a pig in mud!  Much more interesting than those silly old dinosaurs!  Next, we headed on into the Waltzing Matilda Centre.  The first thing we saw was a performance enacting the Waltzing Matilda song.  Great show but why anybody would say this should be our National Anthem is an irritating mystery to me – it’s about a thief who commits suicide!   Anyway, the Centre was very interesting but I think we all got a bit of a case of brain overload.  There was just too much to take in all at once.  We probably should have split it across two days. 

We motored off towards Lark Quarry that afternoon, hoping to spend the night at Windermere Station.  Sadly the roads into the station were poorly signed and maintained, and proved impassable for the 5^th wheeler.  Happily though, this spot right near the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Stampede National Monument where we did spend the night was spectacularly beautiful.  

Well, what can I say about Lark Quarry?  It’s in the middle of nowhere, over rough roads and there is no food or fuel out there.  Is it actually worth the dusty drive?  YES!!!  Wow.  Just amazing.  Even Grandad found this dinosaur place fascinating!  Big footprints, little footprints, medium sized footprints and teeny weeny footprints all right there together.  It somehow feels “real” here.  The centre itself is a bit of a marvel too, being architecturally designed to maintain atmospheric balance to allow optimal preservation of the fossilised trackways whilst being ecologically sustainable.  In such a harsh climate (temperatures range from 0^oC-50^oC) and in a location with no infrastructure of services available, it really gives me hope for an environmentally responsible future.  All buildings should be like this!