First Outing

We went for an overnight stay to the coastal area of Hawks Nest to officially mark our first camping trip of the season. The weather was picture perfect and we had a fantastic campsite under a huge gum tree. The boys did some moonlight fishing, the girls relaxed with a few cocktails and the kids had a play on the beach and a swim. I thought about a dip in the deep blue myself but when I heard Nick mention he had seen some "blue bottles" (poisonous jelly fish) I quickly decided to stay high and dry. What a great getaway this turned out to be! 



The Lewis Clan with their new enamel plates from America - no more plastic!



A beautiful moolit night to do some fishing! Only one fish caught but well worth the quality time spent with your mate!



Pondering tackle options!



Changing of the Seasons

After returning from a wonderful vacation (too short of course) in America, we were greeted with the seasonal change towards summer as temperatures began to rise. This naturally triggered the need to start making preparations for the hot weather to come. Bindi was the first one to get her pool, then us. Ahhhhh!

Round em' Up!

The Happy Campers crew set out once again for another winter getaway this past weekend to a working sheep and cattle ranch in Scone known as Middlebrook Station. Our gracious hosts and owners of the property were the Henderson Family.

The Henderson Work Rig - a family affair!

We set up camp among the gum trees on a lower portion of the property just in case we had to make a quick exit if rain were to pour down as forecasted. Luckily we had beautiful weather all weekend.

We assisted with cattle mustering which was an exciting opportunity for me since I've never been around animals like that before. As you know, I'm just a crop and bug chick. I found it quite fun but also a little scarey at times, especially when one of  those "cheeky bulls" (line from the movie Australia) is looking you straight in the eye and you're not sure if he's going to run past you or over you!

We also ventured out on our quad bikes to have a look at the new crop of baby lambs, retired farm equipment, the old homestead, wombats and take in the incredible view of Scone from the top.

Baa, baa, baa...where's my mommy!

A wombat making a dash for his hole!

....and what BIG holes they are!

Part of old homestead on the property

View of Scone from the top of the range

 With probably the biggest campfire I've ever seen or made, we had plenty of coals for our campovens. On the outback culinary menu this trip was beef stroganoff and a chicken stew - yummo!

A great time was had by all and we thank our gracious hosts for a fantastic weekend at Middlebrook Station. Cheers!

The Happy Campers on the front steps of the old homestead.

Little Miss Georgie Henderson and Nick stricking a pose.

Miss Maddison proudly displaying her latest find...goat horns!

What do have there Nick?......the cover off of a goat horn....cool!

Miss Belle Henderson deep in thought.

B-day for Ben

Yesterday we celebrated Benjo's birthday. Unfortunately he had to work all day but the birthday fairy made sure the special occassion didn't go un-noticed with a delivery of a balloon bouquet and a red rose to his desk. He was the envy of all his workmates!

The Traditional Birthday Champagne Cake

Yum Yum!

FrOZen

Last week we had the biggest frost and I think it might have been the coldest day I've experienced since I've been living in Oz.... -4C (that's 25F)! Brrrrrr! I took these photos on my way to work but things had warmed up to about -2C by then.

Queen Lizzy's B-day

To celebrate the 3-day weekend for the Queen's Birthday, our little convoy of campers headed out towards the Liverpool Plains for a relaxing getaway on a property just outside of Karoona.
We made a brief stop along the way to have a "sticky beak" (look-see) at a late cotton harvesting operation.

 I can tell you now just the smell of a mature cotton "paddock" (field) along with the sites and sounds of a JD picker rolling through a sea of white gold and a module builder rumbling the earth beneath my feet, brought tears to my eyes as I thought of home and life at JGB. Oh, how I miss California farming. I always did find cotton harvest my favorite time of the year on the ranch.

The operator was gracious enough to give Nick a ride on the cotton picker as the equipment gurus (Adam & Ben) and the agrono (me) analyzed the obvious need for adjustments to the picker heads as money was being left behind still dangling on the plant. Yes, "I will forever be a farmer's daughter"!

Our first night was a tad chilly as we awoke to a frosty morning. Thank goodness our campfire was still alive and ready to stoke for some instant heat to warm our bodies and boil the "billy" (pot of water for coffee).

On Saturday our host Scott (owner of the property) and his two children Belle and Tom joined our little cast of campers.

The kids stayed busy riding "quaddies" (quad bikes) all day while the adults relaxed and thought about what they wanted to drink and eat next.

 Our after dinner entertainment came in the form of pest control "spotlighting" (kangaroo and fox population reduction) around the property with the entire crew in one vehicle. Fun was had by all except for maybe those unfortunate critters who met the business end of a 243 or 22 caliber rifle!

Sunday included a scavenger hunt for the kids which I think was a big hit - even when their list included dead bugs, animal bones and roo poo!

Maddi, Belle, Tom and Nick

Girls just wanna have fun and a giggle!


Maddi looking quite "cheeky" !

For afternoon tea, Chef Adwar (Adam) baked up a scrumptious damper and then a tasty beef stew for dinner. Even Chef Lulu joined in on the culinary bandwagon and whipped up a batch of her famous outback apple cobbler for dessert - yummo!

Benjo taking a break to watch another beautiful sunset

Monday came around too fast, of course, but we made the most of our day with a ride through the Doona State Forest.

All-in-all the weekend was a memorable one as it often is when quality time is spent with good friends.

50 Something!

I awoke this morning a year older.

(actually, I still have another day with the time difference - yeah!)

Beautiful cards, text messages , a box from home, Facebook greetings and all sorts of b-day goodies were there waiting to greet me as I brushed the sleep out of my eyes at dawn.

I'm feeling very special today with all the love coming my way from friends and family near and far. I am so thankful and blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.

My friend Adam e-mailed a poem he had just written for me this morning. His genius with the pen is truly a gift and always a delight to read. He has defintely put a smile on this birthday girl's face which also brought a little sunshine into this very rainy day.

Thought for the Day
by Adam Lewis

As time will unwind, we suddenly find,
that we’ve come to the end of the week.
With the cold & the wet, the weekend will be met,
by a forecast decidedly bleak.

Though someone will shine, a good friend of mine,
for today is her Birthday you see.
So Lori I’ll say, you’re our ‘Thought for the Day’
with Love & Best Wishes for free.

The ILs (mother-In-Law & father-In-Law) treated me to a scrumptious italian dinner at a lovely little restaurant that had scenes of Tuscany painted on the walls. Our hosts were also the entertainers (keyboard and vocals) that lured me, along with another b-day girl in the crowd, to dance by ourselves (husbands suddenly became shy) to the tune of "Sweet Sixteen"! Too funny!

A late night celebratory homemade chocolate cake was presented and devoured (yummo) in minutes as a another fabulous and memorable birthday came to a close.

Pizza-azzz!

Inspired by a recent episode of Masterchef Australia, Ben and I decided on Monday night to "have a go" at making our own pizza base. I'm sure we'll get better with practice, but we felt our first attempt was a success. So much so that I think I heard Ben say "we'll never have to buy another take-home pizza ever again"!

We had a great time creating our own topping combinations but most of all, eating the results! I even made a dessert pizza that was like an open-faced apple pie - yummo! One thing I've learned from Waddy's create-a-pizza gatherings in Corcoran is that the ingredients you toss on top is only limited by your imagination. Yeh baby!!

Masterchef Benjo!

They may not have looked pretty but they were darn tasty. We'll make sure to get some tips from our friend Troy, the professional pizza-man, on our next visit back home so he can show us how to make an "Awesome" pizza.

The only unfortunate incident of the night was that the oven was way too hot and it cracked my pizza stone in 3 pieces...bugger! I guess we'll have to do as Masterchefs do and try cooking our next pizza on a terracotta tile. Hmmm?

Chandelier of Stars - Warrumbungles N.P.

Over the weekend, Ben and I went camping up in the Warrumbungles National Park which is also the home of the AAT (Anglo-Australian Telescope).

Warrumbungles National Park, New South Wales

Wow - what a beautiful area this is and the night sky is absolutely incredible and unbelievable! In the words of the fabulous Australian balladeer (singer) John Williamson, it was truly a "chandelier of stars"! I have never seen the Milky Way so brilliant and distinct in my entire life not to mention the trillions upon trillions of even more stars that are visable in the Southern Hemisphere. I will have to say that Oz produces some of the most breathtaking sunrises and sunsets you've ever seen and they are not to be out done by the night sky out in the bush. Now I can see why they chose this location for a telescope/observatory.

One of the views from our campsite

We had sunny, bright and beautiful days but once the sun went down the temperatures plummeted as well. The first night after we arrived the temperature dropped down to a cool -2C (28F)! Brrrrr - welcome to winter folks!

I really didn't want to get out of bed that morning, not even to pee! Of course Ben was the hero here and braved the frozen tundra to built us a toasty little campfire so we could thaw out. Once the sun hit our campsite, Jack Frost disappeared in an instant.

Firestarter Ben - note the frost on the table and the newspaper insulation/barrier underneath his butt!

Once we defrosted and changed into tee-shirts and shorts we made our way through the park and up to the telescope at Siding Spring.
Our campsite with the telescope visible high on the mountain

Feral boy posing for the camera!

Not having my campoven instructor Adam on this trip, I was a little reluctant to try and make my first damper solo, but I "gave it a go" anyway. The good news is that the result was actually edible, maybe a little heavy, but any kind of hot bread with butter and honey tastes good. I even tried a little "cockies joy" (aka - "golden syrup" or light molasses) on mine and it was very tasty - yum, yum! I did come to the realization though that it will take alot of practice to master the art of making a true Aussie damper.

Lulu's freshly baked campoven damper - hot off the coals!

Chef Lu with her hot loaf!

Even after 5-years in Oz (can you believe that?) the incredible blue skies I see everywhere I go never do cease to amaze me. Beautiful!