Adventures with wildlife on the way to Mt Gambier

It’s been quite an eventful week. As we set off through Coonawarra and Penola, towards Mt Gambier, there were signs of some wildlife pecking about at the tissues and the rubbish bag in the car. Presumably the birds had had a skerrick around while the doors had been left open. Nothing more sinister came to mind until later in the day when, at snack time, the container of nuts was found to have been chewed through. A mouse.

A plan was needed for a trap (it was Sunday and we were not in hardware store territory), so the now useless container was drilled through to become a spinning wheel on which to balance some cheese. The rest of the nuts, along with some apple cores, were placed in the bottom of a big bucket, which was squeezed onto the front floor of the car. What mouse could resist?

Later in the evening the trap was checked and the cheese had fallen into the bottom of the bucket. Could the mouse have been that smart, or did the trap move when a door had been slammed shut?

Next morning everything was just as it had been left. The mouse had obviously vacated the car. That was the supposition until fresh droppings were found in a place where there had definitely been none the night before…

The whole car was emptied – not a small task for a car as jam packed with gear as ours. The mystery of the tissue bits was solved when a lovely little tissue nest was discovered in between where the back seats were folded down. Some wiping down and a bit of disinfectant spray and all traces were gone. There was just the one minor problem of the mouse, which was obviously hiding up under the dash with absolutely no chance of being spotted.

A proper trap was going to be necessary, and today. There was no way the mouse was going to be left to its own devices for another night in the car. Fortunately we were headed to Mt Gambier, so one of our first stops was the hardware store. After much discussion and testing of the wooden traps in the store, it was decided they were not sensitive enough for a mouse as cunning as ours. A more expensive ‘sticky trap’ was decided upon.

And the outcome? Suffice it to say that it was barely dusk when the trap was retrieved with the rodent helplessly stuck in the middle. The other half of the sticky trap is mounted behind the gear stick with a nut nicely placed in the middle. Apparently there is a bit of a mouse plague around, so we aren’t taking any chances.

The weather was less than perfect for seeing the Blue Lake in Mt Gambier, with a grey sky and a few showers while we were in town. We still enjoyed the gardens in the sinkholes and the area around

the lakes though. We also climbed to the rim of Mt Schank on our way down to Port MacDonnell (and saw a skink eating skink!). One benefit of the weather was a beautiful rainbow over the sea.

Bound for South Australia...

After almost a week of uneventful marking, odd jobs and a general lack of photographic opportunities we’ve certainly made up for it in the past few days. The usually dull and boring trip across the Hay Plains was incredibly pleasant. Not only was it green, but there was water lying around.

Our destination was the Pink Lakes in Murray Sunset National Park. The park books and website made it sound interesting but we really didn’t know what we’d find. There was a forecast for rain the day after we arrived, so as soon as we got there we went for a walk and found the lake was a salt pan. The pink hue comes from carotene in the algae that lives in the water underneath the salt crust (according to the book). We were treated to lots of spectacular views later in the afternoon and the next day as the rain came through. The rain formed a lovely thin layer of water on the salt crust and produced some great reflections.

Now we were so close to the South Australian border the itch to get moving couldn’t be kept at bay. Our first stop has been Naracoorte Caves National Park, and we weren’t disappointed. We did a tour of the cave where they have found fossils of the extinct mega fauna. The tour was very interesting, with explanations of how the animals fell down pit fall traps, as well as the types of clues they use to try to figure out more about the extinct animals’ diets and foraging/hunting habits. There was the usual array of cave decorations, and some pretty native gardens above ground too.

A few more days of marking await us, and then it’s further south to Mt Gambier.

The return of the gypsies

We were allowed a brief passing visit to a family that Darren was banned from last time (I guess it's my good reputation that gave him permission to sneak in). According to their blog (http://oldmillie.blogspot.com/) the verdict is:

http://www.youtube.com/user/moklh#p/a/u/0/FAaCMvS7tq4

(Sorry couldn't work out how to embed the You Tube thing.)

Melbourne from a car window

We were in Melbourne for four days and spent a few hours of each of those days in the car (between the caravan park and the wedding venue, to and from the airport to pick up/drop off a friend, and visiting other friends). We really like our new car, and it is now much more pleasurable driving in traffic knowing we can accelerate at the same pace as the cars around us! We are also a lot more confident getting around Melbourne, with only a few minor incidents with missing turns and exits.

We had a great time catching up with friends and family in Melbourne, Geelong and Castlemaine, and are now in Bendigo. One of the great things about travelling is being able to visit people and take time for relationships, rather than being caught up in the busyness of work.

A quick update on the way to Melbourne

After a couple of long days of driving we were able to reward ourselves with a day in the high country in Victoria. We spent yesterday in Mt Buffalo National Park. We did a few short walks (including to the Dicksons' Falls!!) and then stopped in to have a look at a lake. An older couple were putting their kayak in, so we thought 'why not?'. A few minutes later we were paddling around the beautiful calm lake enjoying the birds and the reflections. Magical.

Decked out and almost ready to go

The car is ready, the van's getting some spring work done tomorrow, I have a day of presentations and portfolios to mark and then we'll be ready to leave on Saturday morning! We're getting excited and are looking forward to hitting the road again.

Too many titles

I know it's been a while - too long, in fact - but we're back. Over the last few months we've had a few 'gotta blog that' moments, but teaching and marking have taken precedence.

Title 1 - Semi-retiring, again

We only have three weeks of teaching left before we hit the road again. It will be almost two years to the day since last time we 'semi retired'. We decided that semi-retiring is such a great feeling that we'll keep doing it! We have a wedding in Melbourne on 20 March, and so we'll make the most of being down in Victoria and spend a few months poking around the high country and the east of the state. Knowing we were about to embark on another long trip meant we had to work out what we were going to do about a car, because we weren't confident that the old 'faithful' Jackaroo would be so faithful....

Title 2 - Once in a lifetime!

This is probably an accurate description of how often we will own a brand new vehicle! After much discussion and debate, toing and froing, umming and ahhing, adding up repair bills for various ages of 4WDs, researching different models and going around in circles, we decided that the best option for our motoring needs would be to buy a new 76 Series Landcruiser and plan to keep it for 25 years. We're really happy with our purchase - it's a very similar size and shape to the Jackaroo, so we'll be able to fit all our travelling necessities. The old roofrack bolted straight on, and many of our accessories have been (or are in the process of being) transferred over. The man of the house keeps saying how much he is enjoying driving it. No more clunks, rattles, shakes and shudders, and the power.... it even accelerates up a hill!!

Title 3 - Just in the nick of time...

The day we brought home the new car we were putting some of our stuff out of the Jackaroo into it. Dazz was looking under the bonnet of the Jacka, and now that we had something to compare it too, we decided it was really looking very sad. As he closed the bonnet he heard a rattle and a bump and looked down to discover the indicator assembly had fallen out. A sure sign that it was time for it to be put out to pasture! It's now been taped back into position so we can keep using the car to get us around the days that the Cruiser is in the shop getting accessorised.

So the next three weeks will be filled with teaching (for Leanne), marking and working on a few other uni projects (Dazz), and getting through a long list of things jobs so we are ready to go on 13 March. Well, I'd better get to it!

Happy Christmas!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-5, 14).

May the Light that shines in the darkness shine on you this Christmas.

Apparently Dazza is good for kids after all

Finally a ‘good news’ story about Dazz’s influence on children: We had an email this week from friends in Turkey. They were having tacos and little Mr Grade 1, who does not normally eat lettuce, asked for lettuce on his taco. When questioned by his surprised mother he replied that he had lettuce on his taco with Uncle Dazza and it gave it a good crunch! This may not make up for all of the bad influences that have occurred over many years, but at least there’s one family in the world that doesn’t think Dazza’s bad for kids!

A distant memory...

We've been back teaching at uni for two weeks now, and our time at the beach is fast becoming a distant memory. We're enjoying the students, and the air conditioning, but it's hard to beat life on the road. Here's a few more pics from our time at the beach to keep the memory alive.