Coffee Catch-Up #48

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If we were having coffee I would tell you I can’t believe how quickly this year is going. Since we last had coffee back in May I have been busy planning our Canadian/Alaskan holiday which we have just returned from. It was amazing. We worked out our own itinerary using the internet and were not disappointed.

On a previous Canadian trip 10 years ago, my husband and I visited the east coast. This trip we visited the west coast. So between both we have visited all 10 Canadian provinces and a small corner of the Yukon. We have also explored a large part of Alaska which was breathtaking. Not bad for a pair of Aussies eh.

20142024
Newfoundland & Labrador – St John’sBritish Columbia – Vancouver, Victoria
Nova Scotia – HalifaxManitoba – Winnipeg
New Brunswick – MoncktonSaskatchewan – Regina, Moose Jaw & Saskatoon
Quebec – Montreal, Old Quebec CityAlberta – Edmonton
Ontario – Kingston, Toronto, Niagara Falls & OttawaYukon- Suspension Bridge
Prince Edward Island – Charlottetown

Alaskan CruiseAlaskan Towns
KetchikanSeward
JuneauAnchorage
SkagwayFairbanks
Glacier BayArtic Circle/Coldfoot

If we were having coffee I would tell you that unfortunately the initial diagnosis for my hip was incorrect and I have needed regular physio to build up the muscles supporting it. I also have had a great benefit from orthotics to support my feet. Fortunately the effort I put in before we went away paid off and I had little trouble walking the 360 kilometers we covered in 6 weeks. On returning home however it is letting me know that it isn’t very happy at times.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that Ruby, our slide on camper has finally gone back to her maker to get repaired from the major water damage she has suffered. We are looking forward to getting her back and being able to take sneaky weekend getaways again.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I have enjoyed doing a number of puzzles this year. There was one however that I found quite challenging. It was in the shape of Mickey Mouse and made up of individual pictures of Mickey. No two pieces were the same. It took me a few months to sort him him out but in the end I was pleased with the end result.

Thanks for hosting Natalie #weekendcoffeeshare

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world?

K: Kimba

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Kimba is a small country town that is the half way point from Sydney to Perth. For our overseas visitors that is exactly the middle of Australia. It is also only a few hours from Adelaide, another Australian capital city. The towns folk in Kimba are very entrepreneurial. To help bring people to the town they have created Australia’s best free RV camp. As voted by those using it. They have also built a medical centre complete with housing to encourage a doctor to the town. They even advertised on Sunrise. A popular national morning TV show in Australia.

When we were travelling through we didn’t get to spend much time in the town but the camp was amazing. We look forward to staying a few days next time we are travelling to the west coast of Australia. The Big Galah and other sculptures at the Kimba roadhouse were fun.

J: Edward John Eyres Sculpures

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Today I have gone slightly off script as I have looked for a straight J word for over month and came up with nothing. Therefore I have used the blogging trick of having a J in his name.

Edward John Eyres and his aboriginal companion Wylie was the first European to explore the interior of South Australia. They explored the area around the Flinders Rangers s well as The Great Australian Bight and Nullarbor Plain.

This sculpture to celebrate them is very striking and overlooks the lands that they once explored. They can be found at Whites Knob Lookout outside of Kimba.

The Eyre Peninsula and Lake Eyre in South Australia are also named in his honour.

This area is very arid, lacks water and has extremes in temperatures so it would have been hard work to explore.

Coffee Catch-Up #47

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that this month is Inspiring Max’s 10th blogiversary. I can’t believe its been so long. I created my first blog post on Mother’s Day 2014. It was a celebration of mothers and what we are teaching our children. Interestingly, the current style of my blog posts isn’t that different to my first.

I can clearly remember the months before I started and the scary preparation needed to get her off the ground. Sending that first post into the blogosphere was such an achievement for me. Initially, I had no followers but slowly and surely I found my people. Over the years I have had approximately 40,000 views, nearly 22,000 visitors from just under 700 posts. Thank you for being part of my journey. I am grateful to you all.

If we were having coffee I would tell you in April we had a family getaway to celebrate a few significant birthdays. To make it a bit special we decided to make it an 80s party on the Saturday night. We all dressed 80’s style, ate 80’s foods and played 80’s music. It was so much fun. We were pleased that most family members could come for at least part of the weekend. We hired out a house in the country and despite the rain we had a great time.

I had a great time in the lead up creating 80’s themed props to add some sparkle to our party. I was pleased with how everything turned out.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that last Tuesday I as fortunate to go to Government House in Sydney for my step mother’s OAM investiture. This is a very special award given as part of the Australia Day Honours to Australians who have demonstrated outstanding service or exceptional achievement. It was a very special, well earned day. Her award was presented by Her Excellency the Honurable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that unfortunately I didn’t finish my A-Z challenge in April. I am not sure how I lost my focus but as I had already written most of my posts I will work hard to finish them realistically by the end of June. It was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy hearing about our unique travels in Australia.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I am in my final weeks of planning our trip to British Columbia, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. We will be exploring these areas from late August and our trip will include an Alaskan cruise. If you know any hidden gems in these areas, please let me know so I can include them in our plan. Being only 13 weeks away it is getting exciting.

Thanks for hosting Natalie #weekendcoffeeshare

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world?

I: I Love Op Shopping and Street Libraries

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One of our favourite things to do when we travel is op shopping. Small country towns in Australia always have opportunity (other known as charity) shops. Street libraries where you pick up and drop off free book are also always fun. Whenever we travel we take a stash of books that we no longer need to exchange and share the love.

This is some of the haul we picked up when we had a quick five day get away recently. Books are our main prize, followed by puzzles, music/DVD’s and other random oddments. I think that my favourite purchase on this trip was a 1980’s version of Trivial Pursuit. In a few weeks time my family is going away to celebrate family birthdays and we are having a 1980’s themed celebration. I didn’t know that it existed but I am now looking forward to giving it a go.

H: HMAS Whyalla

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One of the first tours we took on our trip to South Australia was of the HMAS Whyalla. The Whyalla was the first ship built at Wyalla’s shipyards in 1941. It was one of 66 ships built in Whyalla and one of 4 Bathurst corvettes built for the second World War. Whyalla, South Australia has a steel works which made ship building easy. After the war the HMAS Whyalla was sold to Victorian Public Works and became the Rip and spent 38 years working as a lights maintenance ship. In 1984, she was sold to Whyalla City Council to become the centre piece of the Visitors Information Centre and Maritme Museum.

Photo credit: Google Images

Nobody would have thought that 46 years after her birth on the Whyalla slipway, the HMAS Whyalla would go back up the same slipway as she began her journey to her new home. Moving the Whyalla however didn’t go according to plan and became an engineering feat initself. It took major planning, problem solving and machinery to finally complete the task. The teams were given many sleepless nights and in the end according to the following documentary it took 220 tonnes of trailers, 328 wheels assisted by 2 prime movers to take her the 2 kilometres from the slipway to her final resting place 2 metres above the ground.

https://youtu.be/L4CAlQU_PV0

The HMAS Whyalla has now been restored back to her former glory as a WW2 corvette. Our tour guide was amazing and she was filled with interesting facts about the ship. I was fascinated to see what life on board would have been like for the young sailors. It was definitely a unique experience and worth staying the weekend in Whyalla to see. The Maritime Museum is on site as well and was also very interesting covering all of the areas varied maritime history.

I loved that they have used the ships chain and anchors in the garden area.

G: Great Australian Bight

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The Great Australian Bight is the southern most area of land in mainland Australia. It runs from west of the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia to Western Australia. The area is made up of limestone cliffs, 60-120 metres high just off the Nullarbor Plain. The cliffs are about 820 kilometres in length and are said to be the longest cliffs in the world.

The following photos of the Great Australian Bight were taken at Head of Bight. This is the most northerly point of the Great Australian Bight. There is an amazing whale watching centre there for both Southern Right Whales as well as Humpback Whales. The Southern Right Whales come into this bay to have their babies and then stay around to months as the babies grow and develop. Unfortunately for us, we missed the last mum and calf by a day. Whilst this was very disappointing I am sure you will agree that the views of the Great Australian Bight were definitely worth the trip.

F: Flooding

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Australian weather is changeable. Floods can and do happen very quickly, sometimes without notice. On more than one occasions we have been traveling and have had to change our plans because of floods. I find it fascinating that a road that you could drive easily on one day, the next is totally cut off by flood waters.

It is also weird to me that as I wrote this blog post last weekend, New South Wales had a significant weather event and many parts of the state are again in flood. Watching the football on Friday night which was playing in my home town was very funny. It was pouring with rain and the players were tackling like they were on a slip and slide. the field was covered in water. Our team won as they held on very tightly to the ball and fortunately no-one was injured.

The excess amount of rain everywhere leads to the serious risk of life threatening flash flooding. The secret to dealing with flooding is always to

Be Prepared and Be Alert and Never Drive Through Flood waters.

The following photos are of Wannon Falls during floods. The water was very brown and smelt very earthy. The water was also flowing very hard and fast.

The other major problem that Truby ( our Iveco truck and slide on camper) has in the wet is that she is heavy. This means that the places we can stop are limited. We need either gravel or a hard surface so she doesn’t get stuck in the mud.

The following photos are of the Murray River in full flood. It is the longest river in Australia. We had been there six months before this and the river was several metres lower.

E: Elvis House

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For me I think one of the best surprises I have found whilst traveling was the Elvis Presley house, Whyalla. This hidden gem is not known about by many people. The owner, Peter Bleeze is a self confessed Elvis fanatic. His house filled with only Elvis souvenirs is a true monument to rock’n’roll. And he lives it. Yes, he also has neighbours like you and I.

Each room in his house has a theme and each item a story. My husband and I were fascinated. We spent hours there listening and asking questions. Peter had been collecting since he was young and has been to Gracelands on more than one occasion.

“There is no Elvis product that they don’t make.” Peter Bleeze

Peter was very specific as to the time we were to arrive. This was so we could hear his Elvis clocks ‘doing their thing’ on the hour. He states that he has the only Elvis themed shower curtain in the world.

I loved his two door 1961 gold Cadillac the same as Elvis’s which he drives around Whyalla. It felt amazing to sit in.

He has also brought blue suede shoes from the same company as Elvis.

Hearing his stories was extra special to me as Elvis died on my 15th birthday. The fact that he even had his own hound dog really made me smile.

D: Diprodons

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The Diprotodon was the first fossil mammal found in Australia. It is one of our megafauna. It is often referred to as the Giant Wombat. Naracoorte Caves in South Australia are World Heritage Listed and one of the world’s most significant fossil sites. Many bones from the Diprotodon as well as other megafauna have been found in these caves. When we visited we saw some that were being excavated by scientists, which was fascinating.

It has been said that the Diprotodon is the largest marsupial that ever existed. Looking at the Diprotodon head and jaw fossil at Naracoorte Caves was amazing. I still can’t get my head around animals this size roaming around our country. The Diprotodon fossil at Naracoorte was collected in South Australia in1890’s. Diproptodons weighed 2500 kilograms and became extinct about 45,000 years.