four wheel driving gals

photos taken from our trip to Timber Creek and Bulla. Bulla has lots of Boab trees - amazing shapes - they look like people that are putting on weight in their lower body only. The sign to watch out for people is a common one as you enter different Aboriginal communities. Its most important to look out for people at night of course, when they're harder to see or could be sleeping on the road - why not!

safely back in Katherine - oh the relief!

Approaching Katherine Airport - how green the wet season makes everything!

And with my flying companions, Frances on the left and two people from the store at Lajamanu - who hadn't left for 4 months - they were heading straight on to Darwin and first stop, McDonalds, apparently. That's what some people consider a treat when they get back to 'civilisation'! Each to their own - I don't mind a good coffee when I get back. Even the idea of a good coffee will do - Katherine coffee seems ok to me now.

Trips

Frances and I have done two trips together recently, to Timber Creek and to Lajamanu.

Here's a couple of aerial shots of coming into Lajamanu (the dirt airstrip!). Note how in the middle of nowhere it is!! It is just crazy after two hours of flying over land to see a teeny tiny collections of houses on the horizon and an airstrip. The houses get bigger as the plane flies lower and starts to sway and bump as it gets into the thermals created by the hot air (something like that). You can compare how much greener the landscape is compared to my previous pictures, which were taken at the height of the 'Dry'. The flights were good but I still get darn scared in those little planes that defy logic in my mind, getting so far off the ground (the big ones are just as illogical but one feels slightly more vulnerable in a small one with no cargo space underneath your feet, just a few pieces of metal).

hello - its been ages since I wrote - little and often is my intention but... it hasn't happened. Got my favourite tunes on and playing around editing photos ....

Decided a little while back to stay another 6 months at least - the first 6 went so quick and there's plenty to like and learn and enjoy up here so, why not.

I've moved into a new house called the Taj. We have new folk at work needing the flat they put me up in intially. After camping at my gorgeous new friend Sarah's house for an interim month and eating lots of good food (that's sarah with the bags of rubbish we created from eating heaps!), I moved in with two other girls, Sarah and Eugenie. Its called the Taj because of The Taj-like architectural features of the house, more specifically the driveway entrance. Its very out of place in Katherine, but makes it very easy to direct people to. Its a block from work and a block from the shops. Most people don't like to be that close to work but with my car out of action and having given up on fixing bike tyre punctures, easy walking distance suits me just fine. Plus everyone is close to work in Katherine. Its just that I could hardly live much closer. And apart from super house mates, The Taj also has a pool ..... sigh.... could I be happier with my pad? I think not.

Tripped up to Darwin last weekend with Frances (new speechie, also from Melbourne) to see "Skipping Girl Vinegar" play at an intimate little venue, Happy Yess. Were we happy? Yes, we were. A great night out - lots of melbourne folk turned out, including other Melbourne folk temporarily residing in Katherine.

Off to Darwin again this week to do a 2 day - four wheel driving course and then flying to Gove/Nhulumbuy for Easter. The course is to prepare me for road trips but it sure is gonna be handy when we hire a 4WD and explore the beaches around Gove, in East Arnhem Land. I'm told that even though I should naturally try not to get bogged, I should also expect to get bogged driving on the beaches and prepare for it by taking a shovel, cardboard etc.

So I'm not coming home for Christmas...
It got rediculously expensive.
And my car's still out of action.
I'm going to spend it with some other Christmas orphans in Darwin. I've stayed a night already at the house where Christmas will be - and they're lovely folk. And there's a pool. A recipe for a happy Cazz.

I had a lovely weekend in Melbourne a month ago. Michelle and Brad's wedding was a great excuse for a flying visit home. And it turned out to be the last weekend before Liz and Joleen flew out to the mid-West for a snowy white Christmas. I enjoyed a bit of shopping under pressure to find an outfit for the wedding. I always work best under pressure and in my usual style took it right to the line. 2 yummy breakfasts melbourne stylie with some special folk (dear to my heart kinda special) topped off a short but sweet weekend in the homelands.

The car saga...
On the way back I spent another day and night in Darwin, having the car serviced, staying with a new OT friend and enjoying the sights and sounds of Darwin museum (stuffed snakes and cyclone Tracey footage were highlights). Unfortunately on the same day as getting the thumbs up from the car service, I drove back to Katherine and got as far as 15kms from Katherine, when the engine failed. The car overheated so quickly that I cooked the engine of my second hand car in minutes apparently and at the moment its going nowhere without a new engine - ouch! Apparently when you lose the coolant that quickly, its possible that the temperature guage barely registers the temperature rise before it has no hot coolant to register and a then registers cool. That may or may not have been what happened. But the water pump definitely failed, it was dark and I was driving in the rain and I certainly didn't see any warnings. I'm told its just really really bad luck. No kidding! The car is under the dealer's 3 month warranty but the initial response from them was that they would happily repair the 'defect' - the water pump, but not the damage caused by that defect - the engine. I'm fighting them and now have the local women's legal service arguing for me that I was not negligent. We'll see how it goes. Spent the last month back on the bike, which isn't such a bad thing.

There's been almost daily rain the last two weeks. Its cooled things down a bit and I haven't been sleeping with the air con on. Today I found it super muggy and its back on!

Happy Christmas everyone - I miss you and home. Perhaps a trip home in a few months when I find a cheapish deal - keep your eyes peeled for me heh.

its gettin wet

This is my backyard during a downpour last week - there's been a few of these. Can't believe how quickly this amount of water appears in just minutes. In my naivety, the possibility of my flat flooding crosses my mind. But as quickly as it starts it stops and then most of the water disappears somewhere.

And back to Katherine..