Our Houseboat Holiday

For James's 30th, I organised a houseboat trip for us and 5 friends for 4 nights, departing from Paringa. The trip didn't go as most of us hoped it would but such is life, I guess.

It was my first time on a houseboat and I had a brilliant time - it was awesome to cruise along the Murray, pull up for a night, have the boys build campfires, and just relax with some drinks. The Murray is spectacular and if you're someone who likes getting into nature, getting your hands dirty, and being away from civilisation, you'll love a holiday like this one.

And we're off!

This was where we pulled up for our first night. It was cool to see all the water lines on everything from when the river peaked earlier in the year.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip - crusing down the river on Day 2, we found another houseboat that was stuck on a sandbar. Luckily they had a dinghy, so they motored over to us, tied up and we eventually pulled them off the bar. They thanked us with a 6 pack of Melbourne Bitter, which we found as more of an insult than a reward!

After an eventful few days we started heading home. The reflections that were in the water just looked amazing!

Holy Sheep

Today is my 26th birthday and as a present to myself, I had a day of exploring Innes National Park yesterday. It was terrible weather - cloudy, humid, barely any wind. Yuck! So I didn't get quite the stunning photos I was after... one of the last stops I made was at the Cape Spencer Lighthouse. I think I had my eyes shut when I drove past the turn off on my way into the park, but noticed it on my way out. I was walking along the little walking trail out to the lighthouse, taking my time enjoying the views and trying to get photos. My most favourite part of the park has been closed for years due to safety - The Gap. I'd forgotten exactly where it was, but on the eastern side of the Cape Spencer Lighthouse walk, I could see gorgeous cliffs that reminded me of The Gap. So I did what any clever little photographer would do - gingerly left the walking trail and tried hovering closer and closer to the cliff's edge so I could get an incredible photo. In hindsight, it was stupid of me. But I did however notice 3 sheep in a cave in the cliff. Yes, you heard me - sheep. In a cave. In a cliff. In the national park.

There are actually 3 that I saw, but one had gone back into the cave by the time I got my super dooper lens out and ready to go.

To put it into perspective, in the top left corner of this shot, you can see two dark lines at the top of the cliff. Those are both caves, and the sheep were in the one on the right.

I was surprised when I got to Ethel's because it had changed so much since I'd last been there. The boiler from The Ferret was entirely under sand - you wouldn't even know it was there. But the ribs of old Ethel were still poking through.

Something else I was disappointed in besides the weather, was my lack of timing. I didn't get to Ethel's until about lunch time, so there were footprints everywhere (plus someone had clever written a huge word in the sand). As I was making my way down the steps, a group of people pulled up and started to get their surf rods ready so I knew I didn't exactly have much time to snap my footprint-less pics before they came down. However, I did manage to find a sneaky little spot where no one had walked yet that day.

Another thing that had changed about the beach was how steep it was. Its kinda hard to see it in the photos, but from where I was standing, the sand dropped away very steeply. It'd be easy to slip and be swept away by the ferocious waves. I like this next photo because the wave is just starting to crash onto the shore.

Sorry for all the wave photos, but they were just so wild and I loved it! I could've easily sat there for hours, just watching the intensity of the sea.

I took so many photos but unfortunately none were quite as spectaular as I'd hoped. Might have to make another trip on a nice day before the photo competition is over!

The Past & The Present

This afternoon, my cousin Shane took me for a drive to show me where our Pop had grown up. I didn't know about his childhood and had no idea he grew up around here - I assumed he grew up in the Riverland. Apparently not. There's not much left of the old house and shed, but upon scuffling through the weeds and old roofing sheets from the shed, I found this old gem.

Our next stop was at the old Bublacowie School (I think its Bublacowie? WIll check and edit if needed). Apparently it was where Pop went to school and I think nearly every person on the peninsula has carved their name or initials into the wall, so we were keen to see if we could find Pop's.

After that spot, we went back to Shaneo's where I got to take some happy snaps of his gorgeous girls.

Little Chloe

Hayley was very impressed with my pop up flash! :)

Proof that bean bags rock for all ages.

Skippy

Talk about unexpected... this evening, I opened my front door on a mission to check out the sunset, and instead I was greeting with this lovely skippy at the edge of my driveway. I don't know who was shocked more! And for those wondering, that's a hare in the background. He's my friend!

Happy New Year

I was treated to a trip to Moomba for New Years and it was just amazing! My first surprise was that James's boss gave us permission for me to go out the gate and see some of the field. James had to go and do a little job, but that was fine since I was allowed along for the ride.

This is the Moomba plant itself. All around this is the rest of Moomba - the yards for all the different companies, the facilities such as the dining room, cinema, and swimming pool, and the accommodation for everyone. This photo was taken on the go as we left Moomba.

After a quick stop at Dullingari, we continued out into the field and crossed the Queensland border. My first trip to Queensland! We pulled up at the end of the road that James had to look at and this pretty much shows what the majority of the country is like - deep orange sand just full of vegetation. In some places its really hard to even see the sand because there's so much greenery around it.

Lucky this road was built up! You can't see in the photo, but this water stretched for kilometres and was only from when it rained (not part of the floodwaters that came down from Queensland).

Our next stop was Innamincka! I've been wanting to see Innamincka for years now because James often talks about it. I had my very first beer at the Innamincka pub, then we went to check out the causeway. As you can see, the Cooper Creek is flowing very well, and the causeway is currently under water. There was a ute on the other side of the creek, and they had to turn around and detour because it wasn't safe to cross.

Further up the crrek near the campground, its quite peaceful and placid. Still, I wouldn't like to swim in it - you'd be swept away pretty quickly.

After Innamincka, we returned to Moomba to celebrate the New Year. We didn't make it even close to midnight and were sound asleep by 10:30pm. We had a good reason though - I was being treated to a helicopter ride the next day and had to be up bright and early for a 7am take off!

Apparently this is the desert! I was very fortunate to be able to go up in the chopper and see the desert in flood and so green for the first time in 40 years. Its such an awe inspiring sight.

This isn't the most focussed picture, but all those birds are pelicans. Yes, pelicans in the desert! This was just a small flock - there are hundreds!

Again, not the best photo because of our lovely pilot Jeff's reflection, but it gives you an idea of how big this huge body of water is. This isn't draining anywhere, its just waiting to dry up.

It was funny to see all those trees poking out of the floodwaters. When we drove to Queensland, you can see Coolabah trees everywhere - some are new, but most have waited a very long time for their next big drink.

James's boss and his wife were with me in the chopper, and Richard (the boss) asked Jeff (the pilot) to spin around in a circle over Walkers Crossing so his wife could take a photo, then to spin the other way for me to take a photo. Jeff is an extraordinary pilot - he's been flying choppers since he was 19 (he's now in his 50s) and is an American who has served with the US Air Force. He's incredible - there's no other way to describe him. He can turn a chopper like you wouldn't believe. Which is why we ended up landing - I started to get a bit green! After a quick walk around, I was fine... sort of. Walkers Crossing is on the track from Birdsville to Innamincka and was named after one of the Field Services (who James works for) guys, Syd Walker who was responsible for rebuilding this crossing. Shortly after the project was completed, Syd died from a heart attack so Field Services named the crossing after him.

There's a memorial plaque here for Syd as you can see - they actually had to set the plaque into the rock because the original plaque was stolen. Unbelievable.

Our chariot awaits.

After visiting Walkers Crossing, we swapped seats so that I could have a turn in the front. The desert is just alive!

We landed again near Tirrawarra so Gail (the boss's wife) could have a go in the front as well. Then we flew over the Tirrawarra swamp (as you can see in the picture), and returned to Moomba.

It was such a priviledge to be invited to go up in the chopper and a once in a lifetime opportunity. I was really nervous having never been in a helicopter, but I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't go. Even though I got nauseatious, I had the best time and couldn't have had a better pilot or better passengers (well, it would have been nice if there'd been room for James, but never mind). After the chopper flight, we had a short break, then it was time to board the tiny 8 seater plane to take us chicks back to Adelaide (quite a difference from the 100 seater jet that brought us up!!). In case you're wondering, we came back on a plane because it was on a Saturday - the jets only run on weekdays, and we were only allowed to stay one night, so they chartered a plane to fly us back. I personally think it would've been cheaper to let us stay til Monday! But it was a wonderful and amazing time at Moomba and I've been very lucky to have experienced it the way I have.