I’m in a really good place at the moment. Life is serene and contented.
Quite happy to enjoy the peace and quiet, frankly.
Where I’m going:To the backyard.
I have an old friend who I haven’t seen to 20 years, and she’s coming to dinner on Saturday night. Got to make the garden look pretty!
Where I’ve been:to the hydrotherapy pool with Mum.
My sister Kate usually takes Mum to the pool every Tuesday but I’m on duty for the next 3 weeks, while Kte and her husband go to Sri Lanka on a Trip-A-Deal 2 for 1 holiday. I’m interested to hear about their experience with this company when they get back. This company has lots of low-cost tours… tempting!
After an hour spent watching Mum bob around in the pool doing her exercises, we went out to a café for lunch and a catch-up without Dad hearing eery word we say. Not that we were saying anything he wouldn’t want to hear, but sometimes it’s nice to just be one-on-one.
Tom31 has a friend from high school, who is married to the author of this book. Naturally, when I heard about it, I got the library to buy a copy. It sounds like a good thing to spread the knowledge and love around to as many people who need it. I did the same with Strong Money Australia’s book too.
I quickly came to the realisation that I’m not the target Demographic for Edwards’ book. Even in my teems and twenties, I still had a handle on my money, though I was always better when I had a definite savings goal in mind. This book is for people who want to learn how to handle their money with intentionality.
Well, when I say ‘people’, I mean young women. So if you’re a cranky old man who simply wants people to get off your lawn, then this book isn’t for you. But if you know someone in the target group, there are a lot of good exercises to enable someone to understand why they spend the way they do, then strategies to start digging themselves out of the hole. I’m only halfway through.
What I’m watching:I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…
… Survivor Australia is SO much better than the US version. The gameplay is next-world level. Only one more week to go, sadly.
What I’m listening to:the dishwasher.
One of the good things about solar panels is that you can run all the machines like dishwashers, washing machines etc during the day when they’ll be running on free power.
What I’m eating:Fresh tomato and feta pasta.
With basil, oregano, tomatoes and garlic from the garden. Yum!
What I’m planning:When to see the Northern Lights.
Working out which destinations are bucket list ones for me.
Who deserves a ‘thumbs-up’:The people who work at the hydrotherapy pool.
So hot and stuffy!
The pool, not the people.
What has made me smile:Seeing that ‘Life After Life’ is on ABC Freeview.
Life After Life is one of the best books I’ve ever read. And now it’s a BBC series.
Although I grew up in a suburb not too far away from Ripponlea, I’ve never been there. I know…!
The National Trust runs it, and as I’m a member because of my England/Ireland trip, I decided to take advantage of the free entry and get myself over there. It was a beautiful sunny morning and I wanted to get out.
Here’s the information page. It’s worth a quick read as it gives the history of the house. It’s worth it to see how many servants (and children) the family had!
Parking was as hellish as I feared it would be. I was only able to grab a 1 hour park, so I figured I’d just have a wander through some of the gardens, (there are 14 acres, apparently), and I’d do a tour of the house another time.
After going through the gatehouse, triumphantly waving my National Trust card at the woman behind the counter, I set off along the gravel driveway towards the house.
It’s lined by Narnia lamp posts!
After what seemed like a fair trudge, I got to the house. I could just imagine horses and carriages turning in front of the house, and ladies with elegant long dresses stepping out.
Here’s the front entrance. Ornate, isn’t it? I got closer to look at the statues on either side of the door and look!
The one on the right is reading a book. I definitely have to come back on another day and inspect this house.
Looks like there’s a conservatory tacked onto the side of the house.
When viewed from the side, it’s disappointingly small.
I walked around the back of the house, had a quick chat with a gardener, who said, “The dahlia patch is in fine bloom.”
I suppose it was. But gee – all of that staking of the flowers!
They’re undeniably pretty, but too much upkeep for me.
Behind the dahlias, I saw one of the things I was keen to see – the fernery. Alice, one of my friends from work, was proposed to here a few years ago.
I set off towards it, though my hopes of getting a proposal in there were very low.
Then, just before I left the back of the house, I turned around to see this:
Simple, but very pretty. Imagine living here and seeing this out of the window every day?
The fernery was a place where I could have stayed longer. It was lovely.
It has lots of winding paths, with the lush green of the ferns and other plants all around. I chose the left path and set off.
This massive bird’s nest fern made me feel guilty about the poor little one that I’ve got at home. I planted it under a tree fern, thinking it’d get enough shade, but it’s struggling. This one looks really happy.
The reason for all the lush greenery is that they’ve got a little creek running through the place. This is where there’s a bridge to let the water run under the path.
Clever.
The roof is open. It’s just slats, which I wouldn’t have thought would give enough shade, especially in summer.
But the ferns were proving me wrong.
After a look at the time on my phone, I decided to exit and found myself near the lake. There were lots of happy ducks, along with some VERY happy arum lilies. Again, I thought guiltily about the patch of arums I have at home.
I made a mental note to give them water more often.
Pretty, isn’t it? I waited for two groups of people to finish taking photos of themselves on the bridge.
Huh. Such a touristy thing to do!
You’d never see ME doing any such thing in my home town!
Anyway, here’s what I was looking at.
The ducks were busily feeding.
I absolutely love it when they duck-dive!
Look at his little legs all splayed out.
I walked to the left of the lake, towards a lookout tower I could see.
I have a goal to do more exercise every day, before I get to ‘Heart Attack Hill’ on the Ghan tour I’m doing in September. This was it for today.
Getting closer!
There we go! The stairs!
I thought of all the stairs I had to climb in Blarney Castle, back when I was in Ireland. Compared to that, this was a piece of cake!
It was a nice view, up among the trees.
I also saw some train tracks. I didn’t realise that the train was so close here. Maybe next time I could come by train – using my Senior’s card = cheap – and stay here for as long as I want?
With another glance at the time, I knew I had to get back to the car.
The walk back to the gatehouse reminded me of all the walks I’ve done in stately gardens in England with Scott, Deana and Kathleen.
It easily equals them. And to think I grew up only a few suburbs away!
I strolled past the lake.
I saw an enormous aspidistra.
Actually, one of these would look great in the Man Cave. I must track one down.
If you peer between the trees you can see the fence.
I’m nearly there.
And here it is. There’s a small nursery behind here, along with a little café.
I bought myself a little rubber plant as a souvenir and I got 10% off for being a National Trust member.
I saved a whole dollar on that plant. Bargain.
What with England and now here, I’ve more than made up the purchase price of the membership. I’ll be renewing next year.
I thoroughly enjoyed my gallop around Ripponlea. I’ll be coming back one day to spend longer here. Next time, I’ll see the interior of the house.
What’s top of my mind:How much I love my floorboards.
Well, last night made me glad yet again for my wooden floors. Poppy, pictured on the left in happier times, was walking around and around the room at 4 AM. Then I smelt something BAAAD, I leaped up and put her out. The poor girl had been trying to hold in diarrhoea… well, let’s just say that I was reminded of a fire hose when she got out onto the grass. She spent the rest of the night in the ensuite with a dog rug, but like MacBeth, my sleep was murdered for the rest of the night.
The clean-up on floorboards of the bit she couldn’t hold in wasn’t pleasant, but on carpet? I don’t even want to imagine.
She’s not in great spirits this morning, poor love. It’s hard when they can’t speak to tell you what’s wrong.
Where I’m going: I booked another holiday.Oops.
I have a timeshare that I bought back in 2006 that, until now, I’ve never used. It uses points and has various properties the timeshare owns that I can stay in, plus access to lots more. This is how I stayed at Kangaroo Island and how I was able to give David30 and Izzy a week’s stay in a very swish place in New Zealand for a week.
I was musing that I get back from the Ghan trip in the middle of September but then I didn’t have anything booked until February next year. That’s a big gap. I wanted another holiday but I didn’t want to spend any more money.
I decided to jump onto the Accor Vacation Club website to see if there was anything interesting available in Nov/Dec.
Turns out that there’s a place in Lake Crackenback (near Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains) that people have been raving about for years and others whinge that they can never get a spot. There was a 1BR available for a week.
I’ve never been to this part of the world. My geography was a little hazy about where it was exactly. Turns out it’s only a 6-hour drive from my place!
The real surprise was when, after I locked it in, I decided to go on the website to see how much I’d be paying if I was just Patricia Public booking from the website.
$2,300,
omg.
My club fees for the year are $1,200. It was exxy to buy into the club at the time, but I think Past Frogdancer did Present/Future Frogdancer a solid. I’m going to have a week of quiet contemplation among the gumtress, kangaroos and koalas. It’s right near Mt Kosciuszko, (not going to lie… I copied and pasted that name!), which for overseas readers is Australia’s highest mountain, rising to a dizzying height of 2,228m/ 7,310 ft tall.
Now you know why I was so very impressed by Switzerland.
Where I’ve been:in the backyard.
It’s getting to the stage when the veggie garden is beginning to wind down from the summer. I’ve started ‘chop and dropping’ spent plants and loading up some of the garden beds with mushroom compost and mulch for the winter. I need to get to Bunnings to buy some more animal manure to really beef up things.
Since I’ll be gone for 5 weeks in May/June, I’m not going to have a winter veggie garden. Poor Georgia29 will have enough to cope with by looking after the little woofs, commuting to uni and getting home in the dark without worrying about veggies. Watering the potplants will probably be enough to send her over the edge!
I bloody love these books. When I heard that the new one was out, I immediately raced to put a hold on it at the library. I was something like number 80 in the queue.
I’m a patient woman. I knew my time in the sun would come.
It’s a 900-page whopper! I’m nearly finished and I’m loving it.
What I’m watching: Sleeping dogs.
I’ll let them lie…
What I’m listening to:the dishwasher.
We’re so lucky to live in these times, aren’t we?
What I’m eating: Soup and home-made bread rolls.
On Monday Blogless Sandy came around after her volunteer stint of walking dogs at the nearby shelter. I made bread rolls, and chicken and veggie soup from the carcass of a roast chook Georgia and I had been chomping our way through.
This is such a delicious thing to make. It’s different every time because it’s dependent on which veggies you have in the garden and fridge, but it’s the sort of food that’s delicious and at the same time you can FEEL it doing you good.
There was a bowl left over. Lunch for me!
What I’m planning:maybe Hawaii?
Megan is thinking that we might make a stopover to Hawaii on the way home from Alaska. This place has never been on my bucket list, but if it isn’t too expensive we might do it. She wants to be somewhere warm for her birthday.
Has anyone been? I’m not a beach person so is there anything else to do but sit and look at palm trees?
Who deserves a ‘thumbs-up’:
The guy we met at the beach yesterday who knew what breed Scout is and didn’t think she was a mongrel cross-breed.
What has made me smile:Seeing zucchinis that are growing and not dying.
It’s ridiculous. Who would ever think that I’d be glad to see zucchinis growing at this time of year? Normally you can’t give them away! This year we’ve had the grand total of 1 zucchini slice from our own garden. Looks like, if we’re lucky, I’ll be able to change that total to 2.
When I picked up my reading glasses from Specsavers, I had lunch with Izzy while I was there. It occurred to my brilliant brain that this might be a fun thing to do every now and then, so in a couple of hours I’ll be heading off to where she works.
Sushi and a chat on a Wednesday lunchtime with my daughter-in-law. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
Where I’ve been:in the backyard shaving my dogs.
No, that’s NOT a euphemism.
It’s been a weird old summer so far, but now the hot weather is here and the cavaliers needed to get their spay/neuter coats off. Poppy, in particular, was beginning to look like an explosion.
My sister isn’t doing this for me anymore, which is fair enough as she intends to let her new dog grow his coat. So it was up to Georgia and me to do the deed.
The little woofs were surprisingly good. It was all done and dusted in about an hour which coincidentally was around the same time that Scout was preparing to DIE from jealousy at all the attention the others were getting.
The photo is Poppy, now looking sleek and lithe. It’s amazing how much dog is NOT under all that fur.
I’ve always loved Sam Neill, so his memoir was an absolute ‘must-read’ for me. I enjoyed it – particularly two stories. One about Judy Davis (where NO punches are pulled) and the other about James Mason.
Some people have the most incredible lives.
What I’m watching:Australian Survivor.
We just passed Day 26, which was Merge. On US Survivor, that’s when the show ends. And the poor things think that they’re doing it tough!
What I’m listening to:Nothing.
Most days I keep the house really quiet. No music, no podcasts; just natural sounds. I think it’s a reaction to being in a large, noisy school for so long.
What I’m eating:Wraps.
It’s supposed to be 37C today, so I’m thinking that salad wraps will be just the ticket for dinner tonight. Georgia has their first on-campus day at Uni today, so I think they’ll appreciate that too.
Plus sushi for lunch!
What I’m planning:Travel Insurance.
Today is a ‘Spend’ day, because sushi, so I’ll be buying my travel insurance for the Ghan adventure today. I should have done it on the day I booked it, but I can’t help that now!
Who deserves a thumbs-up:My cousin.
My aunt on my Dad’s side has two children, but they both live in the States. She, however, moved back here when her marriage broke up.
She lives near my cousin R, (also on my Dad’s side) who, over the years as my aunt has grown increasingly frail, has taken our aunt under her wing and kept and eye on her.
My cousin is a very compassionate person. She looked after her mother’s husband for years after her Mum died, and is now doing the same thing for my aunt. There are lots of decisions and day-to-day things that simply can’t be attended to from the other side of the world when it comes to the care of an elderly person.
My US cousins are very lucky that R is around.
What has made me smile:The tomatoes are finally coming to an end.
Yes, I know that I was ecstatic to have tomatoes to harvest after 3 years of nothing, but my freezer is full. I can’t take much more!!!
Yesterday in the morning I had to plug my phone in because it had run flat without me noticing. When I had some juice in it, I realised I’d missed two phone calls from my doctor about my recent submission of the bowel cancer test that our government sends out FOR FREE for people over 50 to try and pick up this disease before it goes too far.
I’m glad I live in Australia.
I had a sister-in-law, when I was married, who died of this when she was 36. I remember visiting her in hospital 2 weesk before she died. I was pregnant with Ryan then and she was the only person I told the gender to. I initially said, “I’m not telling anyone” and she replied, “I’ll probably be dead when the baby’s born. I’d love to know if it’s a boy or a girl.” She was correct. I’m keen not to go down the same path.
After my phone was charged, the receptionist from the medical clinic rang, ascertained my details and said that the doctor was “working from home today but he’ll be ringing you in a few minutes.”
Now I’m no hypochondriac, but in my book, no doctor calls unless they have bad news. So many calls in the space of 30 minutes? Yikes.
I’ve got trips I’ve booked. I’ve paid upfront for my Ghan trip to save $1,500. I’m bloody going on that trip, even if I have to drag a colostomy bag with me.
Anyway, the doctor rang and said that everything was fine. The results came back as normal.
oof. Couldn’t he have told me that in a text or email?
Anyway, good to know that my body’s still behaving itself. Still, it was a useful lesson on how everything turns on a dime. My plans could be upended at any time. Still, it hasn’t happened yet, so I’m happy.
Where I’m going: To the US consulate.
Yes, because I’ve been to a Naughty Country I have to apply for a visa and have an interview. I was going to not say anything, but then the thought of being turned back at Anchorage, of all places, and being sent home while Megan merrily goes on with the cruise was too much.
The absolute dog’s breakfast of a website meant that it took me HOURS to finally fill in all the paperwork, pay for my visa and book an appointment. It (almost) made me regret my trip to North Korea.
Almost.
Where I’ve been:to Spotlight.
Ryan29 gave me a $50 voucher for Spotlight and today I saw that they have 50% off for precut fabric bundles for quilters.
Ok, so I may have spent a bit over $50… well, quite a bit more. But I’m not looking at this as a failure to stay within a budget. It’s more like a canny action to take advantage of a really good bargain.
Now all I have to do is get into the sewing room to start using it.
Wow. This is about George Orwell’s fight to complete ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ before he dies. I know ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ very well, as I taught it for years and also had 3 of my children study it and ask me for help. (The youngest one got to read ‘Animal Farm’ instead.)
Glover has done an extraordinary job of bringing Orwell’s life… well… to life. He shows the experiences and influences that Orwell then used in the novel.
It’s bleak, but then his life was pretty much that way. But if you know ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ then it’s very much worth the read.
What I’m watching:Junk TV.
Australian Survivor – such a GREAT season so far! – and Love is Blind, with a little bit of Ru Paul’s Drag Race thrown in.
Loving every second of it.
What I’m listening to:the purr of the aircon.
It’s finally time to put the air con on. It’s been such a strange summer so far. It’s been great for me, because I hate the heat and actively look for ways to stay out of the sun, but the heat was never going to stay away forever.
Poppy and Jeff were feeling it right from the start of the day, so when Ryan29 and I went out the door to see my parents, we turned it on for them.
I’m typing at the kitchen bench, with two happily sleeping cavaliers at my feet.
I’m noticing changes in them as they’re getting older. They’re now 10 years old. If I was showing them, they’d be in the Veterans class!
What I’m eating:Ugh. I have no idea.
It’s 5 PM and I have to decide what we’re having for dinner.
The eternal question.
What I’m planning: my travels.
I bought a vacuum bag kit to use for Canada if I decide to only take carry-on again. When I go on the Ghan I won’t have any choice. My room is too small for anything other than a carry-on, apparently.
I also bought a set of folding clothes hangers and pegs to use on all my travels. Remember when I was hanging my washing next to an open window on Kangaroo Island and I was scared things might blow away? The pegs will solve that problem.
I’m learning.
Who deserves a thumbs-up:My parents.
Something lovely happened today.
My trans girl has chosen her new name and it’s a throwback to their middle name, which was George. This was after their great-grandfather, (Mum’s Dad), who they remember.
They’ve decided to be called Georgia and to take my surname.
We went to my parents today so that they could take a drive in the car they’re going to use for their driving test in a couple of months. They told my grandparents the name they’d chosen, then when Dad was walking out with us to wave us off, he called out, “See you later, Georgia!”
My parents are in their 80’s. They’ve certainly come a long way since the days of the Marriage Equality referendum, when they were going to vote no.
With my youngest son’s permission, I told them that Evan was bisexual, so they might be blocking him from being able to get married someday to the person he loves. They voted yes.
Since then they’ve had another granddaughter move in with a woman, and now a trans granddaughter. They love the people who are theirs and that’s that.
I’m actually very proud of them.
What has made me smile:How Fortunate Frogdancer always gets what she wants.
It may not be for years, and it’s sometimes in an unexpected way, but when I look back over my life, I always seem to get what I’ve wanted.
A grey cat? Sure! Along comes Maris. (This is one in a long line of tiny things.)
Financial Independence? Thought I’d have to work until pension age but no. Fantastic.
Contentment and happiness? Back in the day, I couldn’t see how that could happen but bingo! Here we are.
One thing I always thought would not be a possibility is to have a daughter. When I was having babies I REALLY wanted a daughter. Why else would I have had 4 kids in 5 years? Instead – boys.
It occurred to me over breakfast this morning that again, Fortunate Frogdancer has got what she wanted. Getting a daughter this way is certainly very unexpected but there you go.
Yesterday I booked a trip to Vietnam for Feb 2025. It was totally spur-of-the-moment… you know, these travel companies really make it far too easy to book things online.
When I was telling my sister about it later in the day, she told me about the travel company Trip-a-Deal. I spent lots of time down that rabbit hole! The company specialises in ‘2 for 1’ deals, but there are ways around it if you’re a solo traveller. I rang their hotline to ask.
Anyway, it’s slowly dawning on my mighty intellect that I don’t have to go away for months each time. Maybe several smaller holidays could be fun, too?
Where I’m going:to take Dad to the dentist.
I wouldn’t mind except he booked an 8:45 appointment on a weekday in Armadale.
Lovely.
Where I’ve been:vacuum packing my veggies.
Rhonda from Down To Earth, a blog I’ve been reading for nearly 20 years, recently bought a Zwilling vacuum sealing kit and she absolutely loves it. She says that it has increased the storage of food, especially fresh veggies, by up to 5 weeks.
I caved and bought a beginners set for my Christmas present to myself. They’re not cheap, but so far I’m loving it. We have many cucumbers safely zwillered away.
🙂
What I’m reading:Nothing.
I finished a book this morning but it wasn’t much chop so I won’t bore you with the details.
What I’m watching:Mr In-Between.
And Australian Survivor, of course!
I’m late to the party with ‘Mr In-Between’, but now that I’ve got Binge I started watching it last night. I’m loving it!
What I’m listening to:Jeffery snoring.
It’s lovely to go away on holidays but hey, it’s great to be back with the Little Woofs. His snores are so peaceful.
What I’m eating:Cucumbers.
It’s The Year of Cucumbers in the veggie garden. We’re knee-deep on the things. Ryan29 and I are eating them with almost every meal but we still can’t seem to make a dent in them.
What I’m planning:Whether or not to take a massive Central Australia holiday next year.
I’m tempted… but it’s expensive. But then, I suppose it’s never going to get any cheaper, is it?
Who deserves a thumbs-up:Ryan29.
Ryan29 looked after the dogs, garden and house beautifully again while I was gone.
What has made me smile:Ryan29 asked me which of the dogs I thought missed me most when I was gone.
I guessed Jeffrey.
Turns out it was Scout. The Cavaliers adjusted very quickly to me being absent, moving in to spend their days in the bedroom with Ryan29.
Scout, on the other hand, took days to join them, preferring to spend her time looking out of the front window. She got really excited when Ryan29 mentioned the word “Mum.”
After seeing the Kangaroo silo painting, I stopped in at a little café for a coffee. Before I knew it, it was nearly time for my gin-tasting class at the distillery. Wouldn’t want to be late for that!
Originally, I was interested in doing the gin mixing class, but they wouldn’t run it for only one person. Participants end up taking home a bottle of the gin that they designed themselves. What a perfect souvenir! So the gin tasting class was the next-best thing for a single girl to do.
My friends Helen and Rick, who I went to North Korea and China with, love trying new gins. This place is tailor-made for them. I can just see Helen mixing flavours together like a mad scientist.
Look at this… only ONE CHAIR. The gifts that retirement brings keep coming and coming. I had a private masterclass, just for me!
A Spanish girl called Mar was my teacher for this class and she had 9 different drinks for me to try.
I’ve trained all my life for this moment.
As I settled myself on the chair, I could see that there were a few different aromatics for me to try with the different varieties I was going to taste. Some of these were from the extensive herb garden that surrounded the public café. I walked around and had a sticky-beak before the class started.
I had such a good time. The gin-tasting was amazing. There are such delicate flavours between them.
Here are the six that were on the original tasting. I had my mind blown by the very first one, which I ended up buying – the O Gin. As I went further down the line the gins kept tasting better and better. By the time we got to the 3 extra-special drinks at the end, I was having a VERY good time.
So I would’ve bought most of them, but you know I am but one woman with only one liver. I walked away with three bottles and one of them was vodka. I’m definitely not a vodka drinker, but this one was flavoured with such beautiful aromatics that I had to take one with me. I can see it being used sparingly, just a little bit poured over an ice cube…
The other type I bought was the First Harvest Juniper Gin, which is made with juniper and herbs from their garden and it was absolutely delicious.
They’re also in the process of making whiskey. Due to our climate, 3-year-old Australian whiskey tastes like 9-year-old Scotch/Irish whiskey. Interesting – this is something to keep our eyes peeled for.
I would imagine their Mixing class would be excellent, so if you’re ever on Kangaroo Island then definitely do the gin mixing class if you’re a couple or are with a group of friends.
After the class finished, I headed back to the car. Where to go now?
After driving 20 minutes over rocky, corrugated unmade roads, I arrived at a big shed, and a café surrounded by rows of lavender bushes. Every row was labelled with the name of the variety of lavender.
I went into the shop, where one of the first things I saw was Lavender Gin. I backed away… I’d definitely had enough gin purchases and tipples for one day. I bought some foot moisturiser and a tub of something called ‘sleep balm’ – you put a smidge on each temple and you drift off to sleep like a baby. I can’t report as to how effective it is because I keep forgetting to use it.
I decided to sit here for lunch. I bought a lavender scone with strawberry jam, lavender jelly and cream.
The scone was about as big as my head.
I sat there, people-watching and also enjoying the sparrows and blue wrens that were darting in and out, picking up crumbs. It was cool in the shade.
I was looking around at all the lavender and I thought, ‘This can’t be the lavender farm. It’s too small. They must have another lavender farm or they buy their lavender oil from somewhere else.’
Before I’d ordered lunch, I’d given my phone to them to plug in because I was running low on battery. When I went to collect it, I happened to strike the owner of the place, so I asked her, “Where’s your main farm?”
She said, “This is it!”
I looked at her and said, ” It doesn’t seem to be big enough.”
She laughed and said, “Have you been to Tasmania?” and when I said that I’d just seen pictures of the massive farms there, she went on, “We cut our lavender by hand not by machine like they do. When you upscale and start using machines then you need the massive great amounts of plants.
“We don’t sell anywhere else. Because KI is such a huge tourist place, we don’t need to expand. We harvest our lavender by hand and we make all our products here”, gesturing behind her, “in this kitchen.”
Well of course this is music to my ears! I went back into the shop and bought some more things. I’m happy to support a business like this.
After lunch, I decided to have a look at the Eucalyptus Oil distillery, but to be honest, this was a bit underwhelming. I think I was a bit distilleried out, after Ireland and now here. I bought a cake of dog soap for the little woofs, then decided to make my way home.
Come to think of it – I’d had a very early start to the day. Coupled with the day drinking – I needed a nap.
The next day was an early morning ferry ride back to the mainland and then a full day’s driving. I took the 8:30 ferry and I didn’t get home till 9 PM. Thank goodness for podcasts and audiobooks.
Along the way, I saw a couple of very pretty houses in the same town in South Australia.
I stopped to take these shots, just like when Scott and I were in England.
Hours later, I was driving through Nhill when I saw a sign outside a shop saying “PATCHWORK.” I needed a break anyway, so I stopped the car and went inside.
I selected some fabric to buy – I was running low on reds and purples – and I ended up having the most fantastic conversation with the woman behind the counter. She was like ME! We talked for almost 20 minutes about all the travelling that we’ve done. We swapped recommendations and travel tips. It was fantastic.
Then, on the outskirts of the next town, I came across this.
The Pink Lake.
My friend Helen, you know, the gin-tippler, (haha!) – talked about this place to me a couple of years ago, saying that we should go up there. The pink that you see is SALT. You can harvest the salt.
I didn’t realise that the Pink Lake was on the way to Adelaide because when I went there a couple of years ago, I went via the Great Ocean Road where I met Loretta. A blogmeet is always a good thing.
So if I’d known I was going to be driving straight past here, I would have brought something substantial to scoop the salt into.
But all I had was my faithful coffee mug.
I brought the salt home, spread it out on a dinner plate and let the water evaporate away. It’s now in an empty Vegemite jar in my pantry, as a little reminder of this Little Adventure.
Look at the salt glistening in the sun.
That’s it for this Little Adventure. I had an excellent time on Kangaroo Island and can highly recommend it. It has a lovely blend of beaches, nature, foodie experiences and pure beauty.
This picture was taken at Stokes Bay at 8:01 in the morning. I woke up that morning at 5:30 and remembered what the guy in the Sculpture Walk told me about the beach. I needed to be at a gin distillery at 11 – no way I was going to miss that! – so I had plenty of time to spare for a drive.
Besides, I thought it might be nice to be on a beach soon after sunrise. I can’t do this at home. The little woofs bark so much as they’re getting ready for a walk that I’d wake the neighbours.
The drive was a little over an hour and I was a bit worried I’d skittle a wallaby, but that didn’t happen. Though I DID see one bounding beside the road as I was coming out of American River, so that was exciting.
The top photo is of the beach that the Sculpture Park guy said that people assume is the real beach. It’s pretty enough, but over to the right, just in front of the cliffs, I saw a yellow sign.
When I got out of the car I met a man coming back from that way. I asked if that was the way to the beach.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, ” you gotta go over there through the tunnel. It’s a bit hard to know where to go at the moment because there’s no one here . Normally it’s swarming with tourists.”
“Ah, tourists. Hate those guys!” I said.
Then, like the tourist I am, I set off towards the tunnel.
I thought you might like to come through the tunnel with me, so I snapped shots as I went along.
Here was where I took off my sandals.
…
I’m short.
It was fun squeezing through and under the rocks.
This walk went on for a while…
… but could it be???
Yes!
This is what I saw as I emerged from the rocks. A secluded stretch of beach.
And not a soul in sight.
I began walking. Slowly, just drinking it all in.
Look at the colours!
I looked back at where I’d emerged from the rocks. Just as I did, the clouds parted and the sun shone.
All I could hear was the waves rolling in.
It suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t know what time it was, so I grabbed my phone and saw that it was 8:01.
If I was still at work, I would be driving along the freeway. I would have been aiming at that time to be at the end of the freeway, ready to turn right onto Warrigal Road. My car wouls be surrounded by hundreds of other cars, their drivers all intent on gettig to work as fast as possible.
Instead, I’m on this beach. By myself, in total peace and quiet.
It’s glorious.
I’m the only one on this beach. It’s crazy. People are driving to work right now, and then there are other people doing things like this.
To be fair, I suppose I couldn’t have been here if I didn’t drive all those years to work. But walking along the sand, watching the waves roll in and the clouds floating along the sky, it made all the frugal sacrifices I made in years gone by absolutely worth it.
I’m glad I played the long game of delayed gratification.
This is a real treat. It’s something really special. I’m really glad I stopped to talk to that guy in the sculpture park otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered coming here. As you know, I can go to the beach near me anytime I want.
I’m glad I came.
I created a memory.
As I was driving back to town towards the gin distillery, I saw a sign and turned off the main drag. Kangaroo Island as its own painted silo!
Ok, we’re back on my Little Adventure to Kangaroo Island.
For those who may be new here and are wondering my I’ve used capital letters for ‘Little Adventure’… I decided that after I retired I was going to go somewhere new or do something new every month. When I go on big trips like Antarctica, North Korea or England, then obviously it’s a bigger adventure and they don’t count. But 4 nights in Kangaroo Island?
Little Adventure.
So where was I?
Oh yeah! I jumped in the car, rattled my way along over 20 km of dirt roads and got back on the main road to Penneshaw, which is where the ferry comes in. My goal was to see the sculpture walk, whatever that is.
I vowed to walk loudly along the trail in case any of them were hanging around.
As you can see, it’s set out in loops, with a ravine running right through the centre. I picked the left-hand path and set off.
The paths were lined with white rocks that made it easy to see which way you were meant to be going. The sculptures were arranged alongside the paths.
The sculptures range between your traditional types and haikus like this one. Some are made by professional artists and others are by the Kangaroo Island community.
Here’s one where passers-by are encouraged to add something to the nest.
There was no one else around, though I could hear a saw working somewhere in the middle of the area. Other than that, all I could hear were birdsounds.
My footsteps crunched on the path as I walked, casting my eyes around for the next sculpture or poem.
There was a section along the top of the sculpture walk called ‘The Orchid Garden.’ This is only part of it. One of the founding families on the island donated the money for it.
This was my favourite sculpture. It’s a Boobook owl made from forks and spoons. I didn’t take a great photo of it, so I’ve changed it to black and white so you can get a better idea of what it looked like.
He was just up in a tree by the path. If you were looking the wrong way you’d miss him.
I was walking around and I could hear somebody working. As I came around the corner there was a guy there putting together what was obviously going to be the base for another sculpture, so I stopped and talked with him.
And it turns out that the town has clubbed together to raise $35,000 for a 5-metre-tall sculpture representing the island’s pioneering women, the strong women of Kangaroo Island. It’s going to have big skirts that as the wind blows, they will move. It sounds amazing.
They put all this together in grief because one of the women who organised the sculpture park had died in a car smash a couple of years ago. This woman was his wife.
She was instrumental in setting up this whole park.
“I don’t know how many ute-loads of rocks she dragged up here to line the paths,” he said.
This made me blink. I’d never thought of how the rocks would come to be here… I’d just walked along the paths, oblivious. It’s a shame I was too early to see her memorial sculpture. It sounds amazing.
After a while, I asked if there was anything else that I MUST do while I was here.
He told me about a beach at the top of the island called Stokes Bay. I’ve seen it on the maps, but I wasn’t going to go because… well… a beach is a beach is a beach, yes?
“It’s always on the top list of best beaches in Australia,” he said, “and a lot of people drive there. They see a little beach and go, “Ok that’s it,” and then they drive away, but they’re missing out on the actual beach. You’ve gotta go through a tunnel of rocks,” he went on, ” and then you see the beach.”
A beach that you have to go through a tunnel to reach? That sounds intriguing. I thought I might do that tomorrow. Anyway let’s see if I do or not, but it sounded interesting.
This is the first suspension bridge to be built in South Australia for over 100 years. It goes over the ravine that slices the sculpture walk in two. I tell you what – they’ve done a good job with this bridge. It’s sturdy as.
This is the view I could see on the other side of the bridge. Kangaroo Island is a pretty place. But then I had a bit of a thrill…
I was walking quietly along a track, completely forgetting about tiger snakes, when suddenly there was a noise to my right. I turned to see a wallaby crashing through a little tunnel under some shrubs.
Yay! I saw a live kangaroo (or wallaby) on Kangaroo Island.
The same thing happened to me when I went to the Aussie Botanical Gardens at Cranbourne on another Little Adventure. It’s crazy that we can be so close to wild animals and we’d never know it if they didn’t move.
The Sculpture Walk is only 6 years old, so over time it’ll fill up with more artwork. It was a lovely way to kill some time without having to pay for a tour.
Then I decided to take a look at the town. I found a lovely shop where I bought some linen clothing and a wind chime. It sounded beautiful, but when I got home and unpacked it I realised that it was big. Too big to hang from one of the fruit trees. It’s now waiting for Tom32 to come over and drill a screw into the front verandah so I can hang it. I may have been carried away when I bought it…
Anyway, that was all well and good. I had a lovely time buying the clothes and had a great chat with the woman who runs the shop.
After this, I decided to set out to see the other lighthouse on the island, because why not?
I drove for miles, again on unmade roads. After a while I felt like I should turn back, but I then thought, ‘You’ve come this far, Frogdancer! You might as well see it through to the end!’
I finally reached the car park. The lighthouse was poking out from the top of some buildings. I felt a bit thirsty, so I reached over to grab my faithful Antarctica Pee Bottle. The one I had to buy in case I needed to pee when I was out on the ice. I never used it as a receptacle for urine, so when I got home it became my water bottle.
I’ve taken the Antarctica Pee Bottle every day to work, to England, to Ireland. I left it in a shop in England and the woman came running to hand it to me just as I realised I didn’t have it. I left it hanging from a toilet door at Tullamarine airport, was nearly out of the terminal before I noticed I didn’t have it and I retraced my steps for nearly 20 minutes to retrieve it.
That Antarctica Pee Bottle and I have been through a lot together. How could I have been so stupid as to leave it in the shop???
Here it is in happier times, when Jenna’s parents and I were having lunch a few days before in Adelaide.
I grabbed my phone to look for the number of the shop. I tried to call, but there was no reception for calls in this isolated spot. I walked up to the buildings in front of the lighthouse, hoping that there might be a landline or something. It was getting close to 4 PM, when I assumed she’d be shutting up shop for the day.
The very bored man behind the counter said, “You’ve missed the last tour. Feel free to look around at the exhibits, but if you go out the back door there’s a $5.50 charge.”
“What’s out the back door?” I asked.
“You can walk around the base of the lighthouse,” he said.
Well, you and I both know that I wasn’t going to waste that money. I walked around the base of the other lighthouse in the national park only the day before!
I looked at the (dull) photos and decided that my time would be better spent racing back to see if the shop was open. I needed to be reunited with that Pee Bottle. It has so much history attached to it.
I drove. And drove. That road seemed never-ending.
When I got back the shop was shut. Of course it was. I peered through the window at the little table in front of the cash register where I knew I’d left my precious. There was nothing there.
There was a phone call and an email on the front window. I called and left a voice message, then left an email as well. I was really annoyed at myself. I wanted to look at an entirely different part of the island on Wednesday, and instead, I’d have to backtrack to come and get my Antarctica Pee Bottle. Assuming the shop owner hadn’t piffed it in the bin.
I was leaving on Thursday morning…
Then, just as I was trying to find something to write on so I could shove my phone number under the door, a car pulled up next to mine. In it was a Great Dane, a chihuahua and the woman from the shop.
omg.
She got out of the car with a dozen eggs in her hand, saying, “Well, its lucky I needed to buy eggs for the dop!”
Ten seconds later my beloved and I were reunited.
Fortunate Frogdancer strikes again!
Before I finish this post, I thought I’d talk about how I’ve been keeping my food and laundry costs down on this holiday. As a Valuist – a person who ruthlessly cuts down on expenses that aren’t important to me in order to be extravagant with the things I truly value – food and laundry is waaaay down the list of things I want to spend money on when I’m on holiday.
Usually, when I travel in Australia I use my holiday club, where every place has a kitchenette at the bare minimum. I’m used to taking a box of groceries with me to save on having to buy expensive meals. With a stovetop and microwave, it’s easy to whip up food when I’m back in the room.
Clearly, I’m not a foodie. I don’t travel specifically to try exotic food… I’m more into the sights and the wildlife a place has to offer. Obviously, you don’t come to a place like Kangaroo Island without trying the seafood, but basically… all I care about is keeping my stomach full without going overboard on price.
I figure that if I buy myself a nice lunch, then who really cares what I eat for the other two meals?
This room I was staying in, even though I used timeshare points, is not part of the timeshare properties. All I had to work with was a mini fridge, 2 teaspoons, 2 cups and a kettle.
I decided I’d have Vita-Weets and vegemite for breakfast, without buying butter. I didn’t want to have to buy 25g of butter to use for 4 breakfasts and then have to throw it away because it wouldn’t keep in the car on the long drive back.
One thing I forgot to think about was cutlery. I didn’t have a knife to spread the vegemite on the crackers. A little quick thinking and the spoon handle became my ‘knife.’
I did bring a plate (because I left for this holiday so early in the morning I ate breakfast as I was driving) and a big coffee mug that fits my Aeropress. A proper coffee first thing in the morning is a must. I brought my Aeropress with me and my morning brew was assured. All in all – the breakfast of champions.
Though I prefer to have butter with my crackers and Vegemite. Still, I can live without it for 4 days.
But what about dinner?
Sandyg from Simple Savings came up with the answer. She and her husband take a jaffle maker with them when they go on holidays. If you’ve had a lovely lunch, you don’t need something spectacular for dinner. A jaffle fills you up, can be cooked in a motel room and is yum.
What’s not to love? All I had to buy was a loaf of bread and a couple of tins to fill the jaffles with. And the amazing thing? I had a brand-new jaffle maker stored in the top shelf of my kitchen.
I was set!
And it worked like a charm. I used to like egg and cheese jaffles, but I couldn’t risk the eggs overflowing and causing a mess. I bought a tin of baked beans and a tin of braised steak and onion (as an experiment. Never had it before.)
The baked beans lasted me three nights. I actually enjoyed eating the jaffles at night while I was watching Australian Survivor. Felt like I was roughing it with the cast.
On the fourth night I used the braised steak and onions. This was NOT a pleasurable experience. Most of them got flushed down the loo. Definitely can not recommend.
One brilliant thing about my room was that I could open a window to let the sea breeze in. I brought three wire coat hangers with me and I was able to manoeuvre them to hang over the curtain rod. I’m so pleased I thought of this, as most places have the type of clothes hangers that can’t be removed from the wardrobe.
Pictured here are my blue linen trousers drying in the breeze. I washed shirts and underwear too, just making sure that I only hung things in the window when the pool area was empty at the end of the day.
Things to include next time I’m staying in a non-holiday club place:
Some basic cutlery and a couple of plates.
Some pegs to make sure things are held securely on the clothes hangers. I was worried things might fall off the hangers and out the window.
An appetising filler for jaffles that isn’t just baked beans. I may not be a foodie but it’s still nice to mix meals up a bit!
My portable battery for my phone. I always forget one thing when I pack, it seems, and this trip was spent keeping an eye on my phone battery.
I have one more day on Kangaroo Island… this holiday is going so fast!
Today’s first stop was just a few metres from my door. I went to the oyster farm.
I didn’t realise, but the bay that my hotel is on is also where they farm the oysters on the island. When I saw how close it was, of course this was the first stop for the day. There are big advantages to being retired. The only people on my tour were a Danish tourist family and me. Everyone else is back at school/work.
The first stop, after meeting at the oyster café, was to walk across the road to the bay and feed the pelicans. We weren’t given the chance to have a go, and I could see why when one of them tried to swallow our guide’s entire hand in his eagerness to snare the oyster.
Look at those weird eyes! It doesn’t seem that there’s a lot going on behind them…
While we were here, we were directed to look out to the mouth of the bay. There was a dark line along half of the bay opening. These were the oyster cages.
You can’t get fresher oysters. They bring them in from the bay, sort them in the shed directly on the beach, and then bring them across the road to the café.
On our way into the shed, we passed these scrappy-looking trees called She-Oaks. The seeds are a staple food for the island’s endangered Glossy Black Cockies, and the oyster farm also uses them to smoke their oysters.
This is an intertidal bag which will be filled with baby oysters. They roll around with the tides. A baby oyster takes around 2.5 years to grow big enough to harvest.
They start off with hundreds of tiny baby oysters in bags like this, with small holes, enough to let the sea water in and keep the oysters from falling through. Around twice a year, the bags are hauled up and the growing oysters are decanted into bigger crates with larger holes. as of course the oysters need ready access to seawater to thrive.
Each time, fewer and fewer oysters are put into each crate to allow them enough room to grow. If they’re too crowded, the poor things grow into each other, which would probably feel horrible.
Interestingly, spawning baby oysters swap genders throughout their lives.
There are two types of cages – the deep sea ones which lie on the sea bed and get very little disturbance, and the intertidal ones that get buffeted by the tides every day.
The deep sea oysters develop thin shells and have to be manually graded.
The intertidal oysters, on the other hand, have developed massive thick shells and so can be graded by machine to save time.
Normal oysters can stay in the fridge for 7 – 10 days.
The indigenous variety – the Angasi – only lasts 3 – 5 days. The fridges are run at warmer temperatures than we’re used to, at around 9C. This is because the oysters are still alive and if the temperature is too low they’ll die.
Any that aren’t sold by the end of this time are put back into the sea again.
The Angasi oysters used to be plentiful along the coastal regions of Australia, but of course the white settlers nearly foraged them out of existence. They’re slowly making a comeback, but they’re more delicate than the usual oysters farmed here.
After this, we walked back across the road to the café, where we had a tasting.
The shell on the right is an Angasi shell. It’s a milder taste than the oysters we usually have.
She shucked those oysters right in front of us and we dived in.
Seriously, the best oysters I’ve ever had.
It was almost lunchtime and I saw that the café had marron on the menu. When I was in Adelaide, Jenna’s uncles told me to be sure to try the Kangaroo Island marron. It’s between the size of a crayfish and a yabby and it’s freshwater.
I decided to try one for lunch.
So good. It was served on a bed of coleslaw, with a slice of garlic bread. The marron was the perfect size for lunch. I enjoyed every bite.
Then I had to decide where to go. The girl behind the counter recommended Clifford’s Honey Farm. There was a different honey farm that allowed you to get all suited up and harvest honey from the bee hives and I definitely would’ve been up for this, but unfortunately they weren’t open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which were all the days I had left.
So Cliffords it was!
This was where I discovered that Kangaroo Island has many, many roads that are completely unmade. You certainly don’t want to be precious about your clean car when coming here! After a sometimes jaw-rattling ride in my trusty Golf, I arrived at the farm.
Apparently, their claim to fame is their Honey ice cream. I decided that dessert for a lunch on holiday is almost obligatory, so I grabbed a sample. It was ok, but seeing as I’m a person who doesn’t like milk or cream, it was a bit too creamy for me. I’m guessing most other people would love it.
They had three different types of honey to try and surprise, surprise! They had all three in a pack to buy.
Which I did.
I don’t use a whole heap of honey in my kitchen but hey. It’s never going to go off, is it? I also bought a bottle of Honey Mead. I have no idea what it tastes like but I figured thousands of Vikings can’t be wrong.
At the back of the shop they had a working hive, with the queen bee marked with a white dot. I looked for ages but couldn’t find her. The hive was open to the outside and it was interesting to see all the bees flying back into the hive.
The following paragraphs are from the Clifford’s Honey Farm leaflet.
Before the 1880’s there were no honeybees on Kangaroo Island. When importations were made between 1881 – 1885, the intention was for them to breed up and provide a future source of purebred queen bees for the beekeeping industry. These bees originated from Italy in the province of Liguria, and are known as Ligurian bees.
In 1885the South Australian government proclaimed Kangaroo Island to be a bee sanctuary for these bees and no more importations have been made. So today we are believed to have the purest strain of these bees left in the world. The island is out of range of bee flight from the mainland.
There are big signs at the ferry terminus telling people that they can’t bring any honey products onto the island. This is obviously to protect this pure strain of bees.
Here are some handy hints and tips for you. Never say I don’t give you anything.
Fortified by the honey icecream, I decided to take a look at something that I read about on the ferry coming into Kangaroo Island: The Sculpture Walk.
