They grow up so fast...

I just dropped B15 off to our local Community Club. She is doing a couple of trial nights to see if she likes the work, doing kitchen duties and waitressing. She will be doing dishes and vegetable preparation tonight and learning where everything is and memorising table numbers. She will work again on Tuesday and then if she likes it and they are happy with her, she can take some shifts. A couple of her friends work there so hopefully she does okay - (Added later - B15 enjoyed her first experience at waitressing. She helped deliver meals to tables as well as running the industrial dishwasher to get the dishes done. One more trial then she can decide).
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I'm sitting here, all alone...in an empty nest!
Now, where did I put than wine...
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Joolz

Around my home...

I stayed home this morning. I usually head in to work at 10am each day but I love being able to stay home and clean and tidy, going from one job to the next. I did 3 loads of washing and gave Brianna's room a mini-autunm clean. Her dressing table and chest of drawers were in need of a very good dust. She has so many knick-knacks on them that it is a chore to do. Never the less, I did it today.
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I finally got some photos printed off and into this big frame. I've had it for about 6 months.
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We have been away nearly every weekend since we returned from our 2 week holiday at the end of April so I finally emptied my suitcase (which I seem to have been repacking over and over) and put it away. Likewise with my makeup case (my face-case as Gus calls it - I'm not a pretty face if I don't use the contents!).

So our bedroom is once again tidy - my next job is my walk-in-robe. My clothes are in disarray and summer and winter clothes are all mixed together. I have already done my shoes, putting the summer ones away in clear plastic shoe boxes. The clothes, I need to get them all out, toss old t-shirts etc then refold/hang items neatly. Not looking forward to this job!

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The spare room is pretty good although I need to strip the beds and wash the sheets again for when Kirby comes home for swot vac in June. The built-in robes are full of treasures that could be sorted out. There's no hanging space at the moment. She will be home for one week then when Uni holidays start in July, she will be home for a month. Yay!

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We are off to netball training at 4.45pm so dinner will be bought lamb shasliks, salad and home-baked potato wedges and sour cream. Pretty easy but tasty. Not much on TV tonight so perhaps an early night and bit of reading, snuggled up.

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The study needs a birthday too. The cupboards are chockers with anything and everything that has been stashed in there. I am way to precious with keeping things and need to have a good chuck out. I tend to keep cardboard boxes that appliances come in, just in case. We never use them so I am going to start culling them. I will be ruthless!

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Here's a list of 10 minute jobs that need doing:

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1. Front door - wash down and sweep step.

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2. Clean lead light in front door. - done 8/6/09

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3. De-cobweb front porch area.

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4. De-cobweb porch lights and clean glass.

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5. Sweep out garage - lots of dust/dirt has blown in lately.

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6. Rearrange CD collection in garage. Someone doesn't know how to

put them back in their cases (Angus!) - done 8/6/09
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7. Go through Brianna's wardrobe and re-stash her summer clothes so

there's room for winter clothes to hang.
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8. Go over skirting boards with damp cloth to remove fluff build-up.
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9. Clean out under kitchen sink - there are lurkers! - done 8/6/09
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10. Sit down and have a nice cuppa in my neat home. Phew - done 8/6/09
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Cheers for now, Joolz

150 posts and counting...and a small giveaway...

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Just looked and I'm up to 150 posts already. Time flies when your having fun, eh? So ladies, a few questions to get those blogs blogging...
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When you have commented and posted the following answers on your blog, I will draw out a random number and send a small gift gift your way pronto!

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# 1 What's for dinner tonight? (photo if you like - we're having Pasta Bake, lamb chops and
small tossed salad)
# 2 What's your favourite cute animal picture? (mine is pictured above and I borrowed it from Aunty PittyPat, apologies but it is so bloody cute!)
# 3 Who does the dishes in your house? - Usually me and with a broken dishwasher I am especially grumpy.
# 4 One a personal note, regarding toilet paper - Are you a Scruncher or a Folder... or a
Fruncher/Scrolder, he he! - Scruncher! You ladies sure are shy!
# 5 What jar (brand) of (tomato based) Spaghetti sauce do you use for Spagetti Bol?
- I do make my own sometimes but usually I have Bertolli Five Brothers 'Summer Tomato Basil' sauce. You really don't need to add anything but mince or chicken pieces for a real easy meal.
# 6 Do your children make their own beds and put out their clothes or do ... you?
- Are you kidding? The girls just never embraced smooth, wrinkle free beds and we have top sheets under the doona so IF they get made, I usually do it. Otherwise I just shut their doors.
# 7 Can I have your favourite recipe for a dessert you love?
- White chocolate cheesecake and I love a good trifle. Blog coming up.
# 8 My ironing board is permanently set up - do you labour over baskets of ironing or
do you fold, put away then iron as you need.... like me? - I used to get earwigs and spiders
in my baskets. Not nice!
# 9 Do you wear makeup each day or go Phhhffft! Stuff it! How often do you go to the
hairdresser? - Every 3-4 weeks because my hair is real short. My niece owns a salon and she looks after me nicely. Hi Bianca!
# 10 What is your ultimate personal indulgence eg. relaxation/treat

- I have my nails done (Bio Sculture Gel) every 3 weeks. It is my one hour where it is all about me! I have Bowen Therapy once a month to keep me aligned and I just love foot massages!

" I'm high maintenance, but I think you gotta be!"
- Kath (Jane Turner) from Kath and Kim

I'll post my answers in a different colour in a day or two - now answers please!

Cheers - Joolz

A glitch...

Is anyone experiencing problems with Internet Explorer not being able to access mainly American blogsites? I have had this problem on and off over the past couple of weeks. It lets me in then a box appears to say it can't access that blog.

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I have also removed my Kitty Clock widget and the Bubbles game that was at the foot of my blog. When I was having trouble with the above access, both these widgets would not load on my blog so they may be the cause. Pity - I liked Bubbles! I'll see how things go from now on.

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I am especially happy for Margaret (Minnesota Mom). At 42 years of age, mother of 5 children and after many heart breaking miscarriages, she has given birth to a beautiful healthy baby boy - Anthony. I have followed along the pregnancy with her from the day she announced (on her 42nd birthday) that she was expecting. I am so happy for her!

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Have a lovely day, won't you?

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Love Joolz

Nasi Goreng...

We're having Nasi Goreng for dinner tonight - I'll be back later with pictures and the recipe. It looks yummy in the magazine picture so I hope it turns out nice.

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NASI GORENG (translates as Fried Rice - a staple food of Indonesian Cuisine)

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2 eggs, beaten

1 bunch coriander, chopped

1 small onion, diced

400gms chicken breast tenders, chopped small

2 small red chillies (mine were mild)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 carrot, grated

1 small zucchini, grated

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup frozen green beans

2 cups of cooked brown rice

handful of bean sprouts

juice of 1 lime

1/2 bunch spring onions, sliced fine

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3 tbspn sesame oil

2 tbspn olive oil

4 tbspn soy sauce

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Cook (by boiling in water) the brown rice(a cup and a bit should make 2 cups of cooked rice) until tender. Drain and let cool.

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Whisk 2 eggs together. In a non- stick frypan, sprayed with a little olive oil spray, pour the eggs in and let flatten out. Cook like an omelette on one side, them flip over when just browned. Remove from pan onto plate, roll up then slice rounds to make ribbons of egg.

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Heat sesame oil in wok or large non-stick pan. Fry off onion then add chicken until browned. Add olive oil then chilli and garlic, stirring through for a minute or so. Then add carrot, zucchini, beans, peas, continually stirfrying through. Add brown rice then soy sauce, keep tossing mixture to stop from sticking. Finally, add bean sprouts, egg omelette and coriander and lime juice. (I hope I haven't forgotten anything).

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Serve in large bowls, garnished with coriander and spring onions. Add more soy sauce if you like.

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Verdict: We really enjoyed this dish - next time I might try 1/2 white rice and 1/2 brown and maybe a dash of sweet chilli sauce and/or a bit of palm sugar (1 tspn) - (it was a little salty). You live and learn and everyone's tastes are different. What do you think?

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Cheers - Joolz
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Catching up in Ballarat...

(Sunrise 6.45am)

After a lovely, tiring day at the Mount Gambier Cup Racing Carnival on Friday, I was up bright at early on Saturday at 5.30am ready for a 7am departure for Ballarat. We (my 4 sisters, my mother and me) were off to meet up with my uncle and aunty from Melbourne. My mum hasn't seen them for over a year.

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L to R: Julie, Janine, Marilyn, Sue & Leanne

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L to R: Julie, Leanne, Mum (Dorothy), Janine, Marilyn & Sue
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L to R: Colin(76), Lynette, Mum(79)
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L to R: Maz (57), Neen(55), Sue(52), Fred(50) & Joolz(44)
(I still don't really know why I grew so tall - they were all wearing higher heeled boots than me and I still tower over them!)
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Mum had a lovely time catching up with Colin & Lynette. On Saturday afternoon, they took a drive around Ballarat while we girls went for some retail therapy. We then came back to the motel and enjoyed some wine and had the photo session. Later in the evening we had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant. There was lots of laughter and giggles! After a big day, we had quite an early night, interrupted only by snoring (moi, Joolz apparently!), dripping pipes and howling wind. We were a little bleary eyed this morning and some had to endure cold showers (not Joolz who was first up, bright eyed and bushy-tailed!). A shared breakfast bought on more laughter (Uncle Colin is a dag(#) and both he and Lynette are good story tellers!) then it was time to say farewell and travel home again.
A great weekend.
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Cheers - Joolz
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(#) Dictionary meaning - DAG - bits of manure that stick to the long wool around a sheep's bottom forming small dangling balls. Lol! Also a (colloquial) term for a funny person, nerd or goof. In this respect it can have either an endearing or disparaging meaning, although it is usually used for a likeable fellow - like my Uncle Colin!!!!!!

Another busy weekend...

On Saturday, Gus and I flew to Melbourne for a weekend with our friends, Kelvin & Lyn. I made some Melting Moments to take as a gift. We stayed in their lovely home and enjoyed their company (not to mention lots of Kelvin's wine collection and their home cooked curry and pasta sauce).

This is how I gift wrapped the biscuits with a few nice chocolates. A $3 box from the cheap shop, some tissue and cellophane and ribbon recycled from Mothers Day.

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We went to the football at the MCG and watched Carlton flog Collingwood. Yay!! Lyn was devastated, being a true black and white magpies fan. Her excuse...1o players out with injuries. She kept saying that all afternoon. Ha ha.
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Another busy weekend coming up for me - Friday I am off to the races at Mt. Gambier then Saturday I am off to Ballarat for a reunion weekend for my Mum and her brother.

I have to make more biscuits for afternoon tea so I wil do Melting Moments and some Anzacs.

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Cheers - Joolz

20 of my favourite things....

...for today Thursday, May 14, 2009

20 of my favourite things...

1. Colour -navy blue

2. Dessert - sticky date pudding

3. Smell - Mum's roast lamb cooking

5. Animal - cat

6. Month - July (winter in Australia)

7. Beverage - red wine and sweet black tea

8. Pair of shoes - black Havaiaana thongs with diamentes on them & my new black ankle boots

9. Snack - Cheddar cheese and red onion on Jatz crackers

10. Song - currently 'Under the Boab Tree - Angela Little'

11. Book - currently 'Shantaram' - Gregory David Roberts

12. Fruit - fresh cut watermelon

13. Hairstyle - short, spiky and streaked blonde

14. Piece of clothing - quilted vest

15. Store to go clothes shopping - Dizzy Lizzy's

16. Season - Autumn

17. Hobby - baking yummy biscuits for family & if time allows - cross stitching

18. Things to collect - small pieces of blue & white china (Spode)

19. Movie - One Fine Day (Michelle Pfeiffer & George Clooney) *sigh*

20. Restaurant - Concubine (fine Chinese cuisine, Adelaide SA)

This was fun, now you try.

Cheers - Joolz

Chalk and Cheese...

Caroline asked - what is it with kids and tomato sauce? Well I have two cherubs and one goes through a bottle a week and the other one will not have sauce on anything! They are like chalk and cheese, oil and water, night and day, black and white....

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The blonde likes LOTS of tomato sauce and for as long as I can remember, has smothered any poor thing that I have cooked with it (very nearly icecream!), peas, broccoli, gravy covering everything, baked beans, milk chocolate in, on or around anything, spag bol, lasagne, schnitzels parmie, tacos, enchiladas, plain cheese/tomato/bacon pizza, basically anything snacky. Will steer clear of vegetables if she can (don't tell her I grate carrot and zucchini into anything that I can). Dislikes eggs, fresh tomato (go figure), green beans, stirfries, peanut butter, therefore satay and casseroles where "everything tastes the same".

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The brunette likes green beans (3 per serve only), cucumber & raw capsicum, tossed salad, stirfries, dark chocolate in, on or around anything, eggs, spag bol, lasagne, schnitzel with dianne sauce, tacos, enchiladas, satay flavour, exotic gourmet pizzas, basically anything snacky. Will steer clear of vegetables if she can (ok, so she wised up to me grating carrot and zucchini into anything I can, but she does eat it). Dislikes baked beans, peas, gravy over everything, prefers it in a blob on the side, prefers if her foods don't touch each other on the plate. Oh, for the love of.....

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Love you my babies,

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Cuisinely challenged,

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Joolz =)

A lovely Mothers Day...

I had a lovely Mothers Day with both my girls.I received this lovely box of goodies - a satin nightie, a silver bracelet, Haigh's Chocolates and

a copy of the Lake House DVD. I visited my mother in the morning with the girls then she was off to have lunch with my two sisters.
It was a good day for a paddock fire as there was no wind so Gus built a fire and we tried out his camp barbeque grill plate.
* We have an old washing machine tub on legs which holds wood for a camp fire.
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Steaks set to sizzle over the coals and fried onions.
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Ahem...this is how Briannas likes her steak! Disgusting, isn't it!

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Angus' mum came out in the afternoon and we just lazed around, keeping warm by the fire.
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Bri got a bit of driving practice in, scooting around the paddock. This car is a manual and she can change gears no problems. In 6 months time she can get her 'learners'.
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Big sister was not so sure of her driving skills! Lol!
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We had a lamb roast for dinner. It was lovely to spend the day home after quite a few busy weekends. I felt very spoilt.

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Hope you all had a lovely day too!

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Cheers - Joolz

I think I need a drink...

I went out to check the toadstools this afternoon and look what I saw....

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...okay yep, maybe I have too much time on my hands!

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I am one happy lady because my big city girl just drove 400kms and knocked on the door at 5.30pm, home from Adelaide for the weekend. Surprise!!!

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Should have smelled a rat - Bri requested their favourite mexican potato casserole dish for tonights dinner.

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I hope all you Mothers out there enjoy a lovely restful and pampered weekend with your loved ones. Happy Mothers Day!

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Cheers - Joolz =D

So pretty...

Thinking of the pristine waters off Cape Le Grande, Western Australia.
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-Joolz

Same but different...

This is a pic of the same toadstool but its hood has shrunk and eeeek, look at those cob webs!

Cheers - Joolz

Look what popped up...

There's been some 'fungi' things going on this week in SA. This rather large mushroom has appeared in our front lawn since Sunday.

Over at Pips at http://restisnotidleness.blogspot.com/ and Kris at http://lifeatrosemaryhill.blogspot.com/ and also Caroline in Qld http://caroline-thesimplethings.blogspot.com

you can see more mushrooms and fungus.

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Drizzling rain here today - have a good day...

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Cheers - Joolz

Our trip to Western Australia...

Thanks for being so patient waiting for this final instalment of our trip. Work waits for no-one.

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You can go to this link to see a map of the area where we toured.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&q=Esperance+to+Eucla&ie=UTF8&ll=-32.778038,126.463623&spn=4.110171,11.206055&z=7

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Saturday 11th April - Drove to Adelaide then flew to Perth.

4 nights in Perth - We went to Cottesloe Beach, took a ferry to the Fremantle Markets, drove up to Guilderton to see some people we know and shopped in Perth.

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Wednesday 15th April - drove to Busselton (population 24,000 in the Shire). We loved this place and could have stayed a week but only had 2 nights here. We did the Margaret River area over and went to some nice wineries, Chocolate Factory and Cheese Factory - so yummy! Had lunch at Cullen Winery and caught up with an ex Millicent girl at Sandalford winery. Thanks for the tips, Miffy.

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Saturday 18th April - Off to Albany. Our 2 nights accomodation here wasn't so good and I think this made us not too fond of Albany. We drove back 100kms to the Valley of the Giants trees at Denmark.

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Monday 20th April - To Esperance. We had 3 nights here and once again could have stayed much longer, had time permitted. Cape Le Grande was lovely and I am sure there was much more too see but we took it fairly easy.

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Wednesday 22nd April - to Eucla via Norseman, Balledonia, Caiguna, Cocklebiddy, Madura & Mundrabilla.

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Thursday 23rd April - to Ceduna via Border Village, Nullabour Roadhouse, Yalata (Aboriginal outpost now closed and boarded up), Nundroo & Penong. These places are all basically just fuel stations with food available.

2 nights in Ceduna resting up before our final drive home. The Foreshore Hotel/Motel is a nice place to stay and meals are very good. Try the King George Whiting.

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Saturday 25th April (Anzac Day) - Ceduna to Adelaide via Kimba, Pt Augusta, Port Pirie, Crystal Brook, Snowtown, Port Wakefield, Dublin, Two Wells & Virginia.

Phew! Overnight in Adelaide and one last dinner out with both of our girls - Chinese cuisine at Concubine. Delicious!

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Sunday 26th April - Home Sweet Home!

We travelled 4,912 ms visiting all these destinations. Wow!

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This is the Giant Treetop Walk at Pemberton. Don't do this walk if you don't like heights!

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Another picture of the Gloucester Tree which you can climb via large steel spikes driven into the trunk.
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Two lovelys that I found on the walk....
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Cape Le Grande beach. Someone said the skies are big in WA, this is what they meant I think.
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Norfolk pines along the shore at Esperance.

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This was heading out of Norseman towards Ballendonia. Balledonia is where part of SkyLab fell to earth in 1979.
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I took a photo out of the car window every hour or so. Not much to see.
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Cocklebiddy consists of a Petrol service station and not much else. The big road trains refuel here and the truckies can get good hot food.
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These are Australian Dingo's. They were roaming around the car park so I think they were tame pets.

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Click to enlarge this sign. We didn't see any camels but did see some emus off in the distance. Plenty of kangaroos later in the evening too.
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More salt bush and not a tree for miles.
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When we got to Eucla, after Angus drove 900kms, we had a hearty dinner - chicken schnitzel parmie and 'roast of the day'. Eucla has a population of about 50 people and is the largest stopping station between Norseman and Ceduna. It was pouring heavy rain when we pulled into the motel. I think they were booked out that night and they hadn't had any rain for over 6 months.
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This is Angus standing on the cliffs of the Great Australia Bight.
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The Great Australia Bight

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Another one of those big skies and 'Nullarbour' - no trees.
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We finally got to Ceduna after another 780km drive. To relax and rejuvenate a bit, the girls thought a face mask might do the trick. Angus would not participate!
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Sunset off the Ceduna jetty
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Our last day of driving took us through Port Augusta to Adelaide. Once again, the rain had set in so we didn't see much of this city. I think once you are headed for home, you can't wait to get there.
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After an overnight stay in Adelaide, we farewelled Kirby once again and made our way home. I stopped about 40 kms from home to take this shot.

We had a busy two weeks and it was great to see a part of our great land that we hadn't seen before. We will definitely return to Esperance as we thought the beaches and area were really pretty. Hope i haven't bored you to death...

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Cheers - Joolz

Okay....we went to Perth !!!!!!!!!!!!!

..and when you look at the room, it is a miracle that I survived! This was the girls room after just 1 day in Albany.

So sorry to take so long posting about our trip but I had to go straight back to work and now its month end again . We are off to the Coonawarra with friends for 2 nights this weekend so no posting will get done until next week. I will edit the previous posts (in blue writing) to show where the photos were taken.

Cheers until then, Joolz