A trip to Karratha

The rocks on the beach,
where Karratha port is 

We had a beautiful day trip to Karratha and the Dampier archipelago. We set off about 6., and settled in for a 3hr drive. We had some brekky in the car, so rubbish appeared everywhere. All our rubbish magically appears in the step up to our car. The when we open the door it all spills out, and we look like......I'm not sure, you decide.

Just imagine:

A nice quiet town, then we roar into the car-park (yes, you can hear us coming at least maybe 1 block away) and the door pops open. Rubbish spills all over the ground, out of the car, followed by 5 kids, 2 maybe in their nighties, and the other 3 at least with untidy hair and crumpled clothes. One or two may not be wearing shirts. Just imagine. Then we have to clean up from all our mess.

You will know us when you see us.

Did I forgot to mention that when we had the problems at Sandfire, the girls walked around in their nighties the whole day. Walking around at Sandfire, made us look great (see full story here: Just Trying to get to Sandfire was a headache). 

Anyway (yep that is 100% true),

The visitor information centre was really good, and recommended several places to visit. We also planned to visit the shopping centre (not everyone's favourite sugge

stion). We first headed out to Dampier, and saw the Karratha processing plant for the North West Shelf Gas Project. A big place, and apparently important, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a blight on the landscape.

I wonder what it looked like without all that???? Probably a stunning place

We saw pictures of the 3 platforms that are offshore pumping all the gas and learnt about the ships that transport all the LNG gas.

We the went down to Henderson Cove, which was a beautiful swimming spot with crystal clear water, my favourite, think Whitsunday's (from the pictures anyway, never been there), and plenty of little fish around. We got the snorkelling gear out, and started to practice for when we headed down to Exmouth and snorkel in that wonderful area.

Why did we go there (yeah good question)??

Henderson Cove

Swimming at Henderson Cove

We headed out to Karratha, as our plan doesn't include Karratha as we head down the coast, planning to go down to Karijini National Park, and bypass that whole area together. A shame an extremely enormous shame, but necessary as we don't have enough time (time machine anybody?)

We had some lunch after shopping, and then we headed out to Port Samson. On the way to Port Samson, we had a detour out to Cossack, an old heritage town. We took the drive out to the lookout, and saw some stunning views of of the ocean. That's what we like about the oceans up here, you can actually swim in there without being in danger of being eaten (stingers still).

The view at Cassock

What is it about oceans that look so inviting, and you can't swim there without being eaten by a big saltie? Swimming with salties ≠ being able to get out healthy and whole (Warning in there = Don't swim with saltwater crocs.).

At Port Samson, we had a swim at Honeymoon cove, and Joel had a good fish, no fish (as usual, *joel protests* which happens sometimes). Chloe and Tahlia built a few sandcastles and built a dam, which soon ended up stranded halfway up the beach.

Honeymoon Cove.

We were there for about an hour, and the tide had dropped so much that it was at least 3m up to the dam Chloe built, which originally was just out of reach of the water (no frantically building to protect from waves here- the funnest part).

I had a snorkel (again)- I love it!

We then had some lovely dinner at the Port Samson Tavern, and Josh got to drive home, the driving hours slowly adding up. We arrived home salty, tired, and needing a shower, and then we had to clean up mess no.2 of the day.

But, it was a great day, with plenty of lovely views and swims around the day.

Trip Planning........ and other things

Pretty Pool in Port Hedland, a fitting name for a pretty
place

We did our first advent into hand washing today. You may think it is weird as we are in the middle of a town, but Port Hedland doesn't have a single laundromat and we are not staying in a caravan park, thus no washing machine. We all sat down, with three buckets, and the girls enjoyed agitating the water where the clothes were. They were then passed to the next person (me) and I rinsed it out and put it in a tub to be hung up. Pretty good system. If you want to learn how we normally do our washing, click here: Washing, Washing on the line, Mrs Wishy-Washy

Playing on the play equipment after a good dinner
at pretty pool.

Joel tried to find an old tin can, as Bush Tucker man had a really good way of washing, but tin cans were also very scarce. We also spent the whole day ringing around to find the cheapest place to get wheel bearings greased, and new tyres ordered in. The cheapest is about $170/h at about 4 hrs, just to get wheel bearings done!!

Then we had dinner at Pretty Pool. The name fits the place!! It is like Urunga, back home.

One another note, we have been planning our trip down the coast. It reminds us of when we started to travel, we made a big plan about where we would like to go. Our list of places that we wanted to see included:

1. Uluru, and the Red Centre

2.South West WA

3. Jindabyne and the high country (in summer)

We highlighted our intended route in highlighter in our Camps Australia Wide book. We did follow the plan to a little extent, but then we went off on our own, and the plan flew out the window. To give a quick example, the planned trip was: down to about Dubbo, through Coonabarabran and Tamworth, then Forbes, Grenfell and Young. We then were going to go to Jindabyne and then the plan stopped. We actually went to Dubbo, then to Condobolin and to Mildura through Hay and Robinvale. We headed down to Ouyen and up to Renmark. We then went to Adelaide, and went back to the snow via the Great Ocean Road. To see a full map of our travels see here: Where we have been

So, the best laid plans always go astray. We used to laugh at our first plan (and still do), considering we even wrote down all the place we were going to stop. A big waste of time!! We have a plan at the moment, …............but we will see if we follow it.

We're there!!

The road that keeps on going.....

So..... we made it to Port Hedland.
No more punctures (just as well) and the tyre seemed to go fine (the one with the slow leak).
We stopped at Pardoo Roadhouse for breakfast,. Having left Sandfire at about 4:30am, we managed to travel in the cool of the day and save tyres. We are staying at the Anglican church in South Hedland, and we arrived there about 10:00am. We managed to navigate the streets pretty well. We haven't seen traffic lights for a while, and it was weird to see them. Darwin was the very last place where we saw traffic lights.

Sunset over Port Hedland

Port Hedland is a big mining town. There is a big salt pile which you drive past on the way from Port Hedland to South Hedland, and the girls were very interested in how the salt farm works. The trains are some of the longest, and if you get stuck at a railway crossing and two trains cross, one after the other, you can be stuck there for 10 minutes. We saw a train coming, and got across pretty quick!!

When we parked in the car park to go shopping, it was a sea of fluro ( due to the flouro stripes on the mining utes.

The big salt pile at Port Hedland

Sunset over the port.

We also went on a shopping spree. When you haven’t been to a big town for a while, with lots of shops, you are apt to snap up bargains, especially when Kmart decides to sell off summer stuff, before summer has ended. We also got some more shirts for the boys and Dad (yes they are in the same size now!).

 We have a  1-2 weeks of work at the school, and that will bring us to the school holidays. We then will start heading down to Margaret River, ready for our Permaculture course in May.

1 jack, 2 tyres, 1 USB, 13hrs of driving, and 7 unhappy people... and were still not there.

Stopped and waiting No.2 time

So the plan was simple. Get from Derby to Sandfire. Simple, and then everything went wrong.

Our original plan was to leave at 5 o'clock, and reach Sandfire Roadhouse before the road got extremely hot, thus saving tyres. It all went well until just before we left, when we realized our door no longer closed, and stayed closed. Something to do with the catch had broken, and we had to rely on a latch to hold it closed. We then headed off without any more dramas.

Changing No.1

We drove for several hours, while listening to talks and napping alternately. Soon however, the road began to heat up, and our tyres began to heat up badly too. Then the fatal pop came, and we had one tyre down. This tyre was the same one that we had popped before, and it was a new one. We started to change the tyre, but we had a stubborn nut and a lot of grunting and heaving went on to loosen it. One of the worst things is that the tyre gets so hot you cant touch it and hold the tyre still. We finally got it free, and we had one tyre changed.

Mucking around while waiting

We headed off (again) only to get ten minutes down the road and pop another one. We were only carrying 2 spares, and we were all praying that we could get away without any more spares. When we came to put the second spare one, the on just yesterday received, was flat and we couldn't drive on it. Still 100km from a roadhouse, with no spares. We made the decision to leave the caravan and the two boys and go to Sandfire and pump up the tyre. Leaving the boys with some water and the caravan, we headed off to Sandfire.

Our broken Jack
(sitting on a flat surface)

While at sandfire we grabbed some lunch and pumped up the tire. Dad also called NRMA, to check that the caravan was covered for towing and what they should do if something was wrong with the tire. Luckily we have premium (covers all Australia) and the caravan was covered as well as accommodation and towing costs. The drive back was uneventful.

Our first flat tyre

We got back to the boys, fine and dandy, and the boys were all living, so we counted it successful in picking up a spare. Then the trouble started again. The caravan rolled as the handbrake wasn't holding properly and our jack broke. Luckily (saved us more than once) we have two jacks, and the tire was successfully put on. We then realized we had lost a USB with movies on it, and we had to go back to try and find it. The USB had vanished into thin air.

The cattle at Sandfire Roadhouse

So, 1 jack, 2 tyres, 1 USB, 13hrs of driving, and 7 unhappy people was the total of all our misadventures!!

Sunset, just after arriving

So, halfway there! How's our next half going to be? We have no spares, and a slow leaking tyre that we have to drive on to Port Headland. Come again for a trip report.

The road awaits............

Our favourite again!!

We had our favourite for dinner again today (well at least pretty high-ranking). Jumbuck Stew is one of the nicest stews we've had, especially as most (never, never all) like it. Tahlia's the only exception in the Jumbuck Stew fan club, and that is caused by the pumpkin. Tahlia had the veggie pains come again at the sight of the dreaded vegetable- pumpkin. They apparently appear at the sight of pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, and basically every other vegetable. We have now christened them the Veggie pains. They seem to pass round quite badly, many things triggering them off, including washing up, school-work, and getting out of bed time as a brief list, They're really contagious.

But anyway, here is the recipe for our favourite stew:

Ingredients (Feeds 7):

1.5kg Lamb chops

2 tablespoons flour

Salt and Pepper

1 Teaspoon curry powder

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 large onions (sliced)

2 tablespoons brown vinegar

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

½ cup stock

Pumpkin pieces

Cooking:

1. Mix flour with salt, pepper, curry powder and ginger. Coat chops with mixture

2. Heat butter in frypan and heat chops. Remove to plate once browned

3. Add onions and butter to pan and cook until soft. Add lamb back to frypan

4. Mix vinegar, sauces and stock and pour over lamb and onion.

5. Add pumpkin pieces(and any other vegetables you want).

6. Cover and bring to a simmer, then cook for 1 hour (or as long as you like down really low), stirring occasionally

We use an electric frypan for cooking the stew, and it comes out nice. This can also be cooked in your camp oven, which we did try at first. We cant really have a camp-fire at the moment, so we have to rely on our electric frypan to do all the work.

Another favourite recipe of ours is Tuna or Salmon rissoles. This is really easy to whip up, and tastes great too.

Ingredients (feeds 2):

½ cup surprise peas

1 cup Deb potato

1 cup boling water

2 tablespoons flour

½ onion, finely chopped

425g tin of tuna or salmon, drained

Cooking:

1. Cook peas and drain well

2. Add boiling water to potato and stir, add peas.

3. Stir in the flour

4. Add the chopped onion and the tuna/salmon. Add more water if mix seems dry.

5. Heat a frying pan and spray well with oil spray. Form into rissoles and put into pan. When ready to turn, spray the top of the rissoles before carefully turning them over. They burn easily, so watch carefully.


All these recipes are from The Ultimate Camp Oven Companion, compiled by Yvonne Kadwell and Anita Knight. Recipes from members of Dubbo 4WD club.

Intricate Bible Details

Recently, we have started watching Bible in 24 Hours. This DVD set by Chuck Missler, is absolutely fascinating, and the things that he picks out that we wouldn't even think about are amazing. We are up to Hour 7, are are learning about the monarchy. As he says: The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed, and The Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed. After all I have been learning, my head is bursting with little things and I thought I would share them with you.

Did you know?

• The genealogy of David is written in Genesis (albeit hidden)
• Have you ever wondered why David picked up 5 river stones, when he only required one to bring down Goliath. David was simply being prepared, as Goliath had 4 other brothers. He was ready to take them all on. The 4 brothers of Goliath were later killed by David's mighty men
• Did you ever wonder what would have happened if Saul had completely destroyed the agagites? There would have been no Haman
• What about if David had killed Shimei, the man that curse him and his troops? There would have been no Mordecai
• What about this: Adam         Man is
  Seth                                    appointed
  Enosh                                 mortal
  Renan                                 sorrow but
  Mahalalel                            The Blessed God
  Jared                                  Shall come down
  Enoch                                 Teaching (that)
  Methusalah                         his death shall bring
  Lamech                              The despairing
  Noah                               Comfort Rest
  That is a prophecy about Jesus, hidden in names of people, all the way back in Genesis
• 40 hours to get out of Egypt, 40yrs to get Egypt out of Israel
• Joshua vs Ephesian:
  Entering and Possessing                  Entering and Possessing
  Earthly Inheritance                            Heavenly Inheritance
  Given In Abraham                             Given in Christ

• That Ruth actually goes against what the laws require show a parallel to Jesus. The law requires Ruth to go to the kinsman redeemer, but Boaz goes instead is one such example.
• Saul’s early promise vs. later decline:
  Striking Physically     Impatient
  Modest                    Violating priests prerogative
  Direct
  Generous

What do you think?

Get up and Go!

Have you ever noticed in the Bible, that Jesus requires the person to act before they can be healed? What about the cripple at the Pool of Beersheba, the beggar who had been a cripple for 38 years was told to pick his mat up and walk. And he did it. He had been a cripple for 38 yrs, and he simply obeyed an order to get up and start walking, after not being able to walk for 38 yrs! It requires real simple like faith to just trust in God like that. (Read the full story in John 5)

Mark 10: 13-16 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.


Sometimes, we don't need answers, we just need to trust in the Lord our God. Its hard, yes, but if the kingdom of heaven belongs to little children, why shouldn't we become like little children in our faith?

Luke 18: 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

Mathew 11:25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

Just want to share a funny story with you. I was lying on mums bed yesterday, and Tahlia was starting to clean up all the mess she had made while playing. Deciding that she needed her big sisters help, she marched up to me with her hands on her hips. All of a sudden comes out “If you love God, you have got to help me pack up”. That puts a new twist on things doesn't it.