The Pilbara

Aussie word of the day: chuffed = British slang used by Aussies meaning delighted; pleased; satisfied. My boyfriend said to me the other day, "my dad is going to be chuffed about his birthday cake."

Yes, we celebrated SM's dad's birthday with him in Port Hedland last Thursday, which was also Gina's birthday. Unfortunately, my cell phone reception wasn't the best in the Pilbara so I gave up after a few times calling to wish her a happy one and left her birthday wishes on the answering machine instead. SM's dad said it was the biggest birthday he'd had in a long time and it was only the three of us. We celebrated with a store bought chocoloate mud cake topped with two candles in the shape of a six and a four, a lotto ticket, Chinese take-away (carry-out), two bottles of red wine and some chocoloate covered peanuts. It was really sweet that we could spend it with him and it kind of gave us something to do on our last night in Western Australia's northwest.

So here's my story about the Pilbara... There once was a vast place called the Pilbara with scrub covered hillsides some might call small mountains. Although rich in mineral resources like salt and iron ore and full of overworked yet well paid miners, drillers, geo's (geologists) and dozer drivers (my man), the Pilbara isn't the most beautiful place in the world save for a few hidden treasures that I got to enjoy on my week of holiday. I arrived on Friday night in Parburdoo just as the sun was beginning to settle into the hilly horizon. The plane was a regular sized aircraft, but it only had one landing strip to land on. As we taxied down the runway I noticed a small steel shed-like building by the side of the runway. It was surrounded by several white work ute's (utility trucks) with tall orange flags attached to their front bumpers that wiggled and waved with the slightest breeze almost as if welcoming the airplane's travellers. I thought the shed with its many ute's must be the maintenance building for the airport. But as the plane made it to the end of the runway and began to turn around I realized that the shed was the airport! Unfortunately, I didn't want to look like too much of a tourist getting off the plane as most of the people there had come for work so I didn't get a picture of the airport and I regretted it later.

We dismebarked down stairs straight onto the tarmac and proceeded through a gate in the chain link fence that separated the runway from the airport and parking lot. On the other side of the fence we waited for our luggage to be unloaded and brought around on the luggage carts. The first thing I noticed as I stepped from the plane was the smell of the air - it was fresh like springtime, which it is now, but some of the freshest air I've ever smelled. The second thing I noticed was that my boyfriend was not there! I stood around waiting with the rest of the arrivals occasionally looking around for SM and feeling a bit silly because it was obvious I was meeting someone who wasn't there. I was just hoping I wouldn't be stranded in the outback! After about 10 minutes or so I saw his truck pull into the parking lot - LV69 in neon yellow across the door. His dad's thinks the 69 is a joke... nobody else really finds it funny, but I think SM is a little embarressed by it and he's going to hate me for blogging about it. Sorry babe! :p

Tom Price was the first stop on our journey. Tom Price is known as a modern mining town, unfortunately, no one seems to know why it was named after Tom Price or who he was and the tourism sites offer little insight either. However, TP is where SM's sister and her family live. Her husband is a blaster (?), they're the ones that get to blow up the ground with big sticks of dynamite which I guess allows for easier drilling of the hard iron ore rock. The town is nestled at the base of Mount Nameless and is situated only a few k's (km's) from Karrijini National Park where we enjoyed a morning of site-seeing and skinny dipping - just joking, but I did go swimming in my knickers and tank top.

We climbed down the steep stone steps into Dale's Gorge where lots of tourists had already begun gathering for their morning dip in the tepid waters of Fern Pool and Fortescue Falls. For some reason I had thought it would be a quiet, serene and unsuspecting sanctuary where few people would go, so I didn't bring my bathers, but I was soon proven wrong. Oh well, into the water I went in my underwear and white camisole top. It was more than worth it. I felt like a hippie, I was communing with nature. I didn't know the tourists there, would probably never see them again and didn't care if they saw me for two minutes in my wet undies. Fern Pool was my favorite and the first place we went when we got to the bottom of the gorge. It had two beautiful waterfalls streaming down over a rock ledge into the blue-green water. The water temp was just right and perfectly refreshing. Although slippery, the rocks below the ledge where the waterfalls were was the perfect place to sit and bask in nature's serenity. Our quiet spot under the waterfalls didn't last long as we were soon overtaken by a group of young German backpackers who were eager to test out a broken rope swing that was hanging from a nearby tree. We languished in the cool milky waters for a while longer before moving on, soaking up a few rays of sun that were breaking through the tree branches and dappling the water with their light. We then went back down stream to Fortescue Falls, the site of a most amazing happening!

When I first arrived in WA I received an email from someone that showed a photo of a 14 meter python hanging down a rock ledge and pulling a kangaroo out of the water with it's mouth (at right). Look closely at where the snakes body is all along the rock ledge to the right of where it's hanging. The photo was reportedly taken in WA, so I promptly forwarded it around to many of my family and friends to see. This same photo is on display at the Karrijini Nat'l Park visitors center because it was taken in Karrijini at what I'm sure was Fortescure Falls, the very place where SM and I went swimming. Again, I missed out on a valuable photo op to show everyone the ledge in which the python would have been hanging.

At left is a photo looking down on Fortescue Falls from the top of the gorge. The dot in the middle of the water is a raft with tourists laying on it. It was a looong rocky walk down. The snake would have been on the rock wall near the pool at the left of the photo.

Besides getting to visit these beautiful places in Karrijini, we also spent a morning four-wheeling it to the top of Mount Nameless (at left) where the only way to the top is on foot or by 4WD - lucky us we had the 4WD.

From the top you could see for miles. Me and my man and a view of Tom Price from the top of Mt Nameless.

You could see across the mining operations of the Hamersley ranges to Karrijini and look down over the whole town of Tom Price. I think the funnest part about that was the rugged track getting up and down the mountain. It was so bumpy my head would get tossed from side to side. I felt like a rag doll and it made me laugh. We also watched SM's nephew's t-ball tournament - they didn't win, but better luck next time. It was still enjoyable to watch something resembling American baseball and to do something family oriented. We relaxed in SM's sister's swimming pool and enjoyed a delicious barbeque prepared by SM's brother-in-law's brother and his wife. After meeting and hanging out with SM's fam, we headed out to Dampier. SM couldn't wait. On our way to Dampier, SM told me we wouldn't see much on the road other than a few dead kangaroo's or some stray cattle. Well, I was not to be disappointed. We didn't see any kangaroo's or stray cattle, but we did see...

a huge goanna lizard or 'bunga', as the Aboriginals call it, crossing the road. Unfortunately, by the time we stopped so I could get out and take this photo he had already crossed into the camoflauging scrub on the side of the road. He was about two feet long. SM told me not to get too close because they pack a nasty bite.

We also saw a hawk with a long snake in it's grip flying just above the road and these GIANT termite mounds were everywhere.

and best of all... this guy!

From a distance this modern-day camel drawn buggy looked like a stalled car on the road because it was going so slow. Then as we approached it I thought they were horses, but better yet, it was this guy and his camel drawn carriage. What a trip! Along the way we also saw several trains transporting iron ore to the coast. The trains are typically around two and a half kilometres long (about a mile) or 200+ coaches. You didn't want to get stuck at a railroad crossing with one of those.

SM had visited Dampier once before when he was in grade school and I think he might have remembered it a bit differently. Of course, when you're a kid everything's an adventure and you can make fun even when there isn't any... and that's just about what you would have to do in Dampier. Dampier, like anywhere else in the Pilbara is full of industry. It serves as an industrial port where Rio Tinto exports its iron ore to China. There's also a salt mining industry surrounding the area and an ammonia plant on the nearby Burrup Penninsula. Paradise? No. But we had a good time anyway. Stay tuned for the next installment of my week away in the Pilbara... coming soon and photos too!

It's a good day

Despite the howling winds and miserable rain outside, it is a good day. So far today I have found out that I don't have my thesis meeting with my advisor tomorrow which means I can change my flights and go on holiday a day early *squeals!* (I guess I just threw my priorities out the window), I also got a message back from a friend in KC who works at Hallmark and says there is a communications coordinator position available, plus she's got friends in the PR industry that she can get in touch with on my behalf. I'm also working tonight for the first time in over a week so I will have a little cash in the bank when I get back from my vacation. I'm a happy girl!

Study break

Aussie word of the day: bird = nickname for a girl/ chick. "My boyfriend watched a movie with a bloke and some bird the other night."

I've just spent the last two and a half days with my ass glued to my desk chair, staring intently at my computer screen as I typed away on an essay about a communication theorist (who isn't really one if you ask me). The essay was actually due last week - oops! Last Friday was my friend Debbie's birthday party and one of the girls at the party is in the same class with me. When the girl asked me if I turned the essay in the response went something like this: "What essay?" Then "Shit! Was that due today!?!?" Yeah! Big uh-oh, so typical of me. I wish I was better organized. Only 5 more weeks.. that's right, 5.. then I don't have to worry about this crap anymore. So after I hit the send button on my student email account today that officially submitted this quasi-masterpiece to my lecturer, I hit up the video store for some oldie but goodie movies and a bag of 'mixed' M&M's (my fave) to get me through this rainy weekend. On my ecclectic list of movies to watch are The Flamingo Kid, Thelma & Louise, Capote, Blow, and Shattered Glass - a recommendation by a fellow journalism student, it is a movie about... wait for it... journalism. I know you're just thrilled, but it can't be all fun and games. I still have to act like I'm studying, even if it's only watching a movie about the subject I am studying.

The Flamingo Kid is an 80's flick staring a very young and very hot Matt Dillon. The movie takes place at a swanky beach club on Long Island in the summer of '63 where Dillon works as a cabana boy - can't get any hotter than that! But wait, all those songs from the 60's that they played in the movie made me a little nostalgic of my younger years when my parents and I would listen to the same oldies tunes on the car radio. It took me back to a time when I was in pigtails, wearing Strawberry Shortcake t-shirts and thick gum-soled shoes - mom claims they were the height of fashion. I wasn't a child of the 60's, but they were probably some of the most volatile years in American history and of which probably carry a few important memories for my parents inlcuding their marriage in 1967. Whatever sentimental importance the 60's held for my parents they certainly imposed on us kids by exposing us to the music of 'their day'. I know most of you are not as far from home as I am, but does it ever make you want to go running home to mom and dads place when you hear an old familiar song on a movie, TV or radio?

Other things that are making me a little homesick right now are more of my friends are getting married. Besides the wedding I was in this past July, my cousin and three other friends have or are tying the matrimonial knot. In about six weeks one of my best friends from college is marrying a guy I introduced her to (on my birthday) and Gina and her husband, whose wedding I was in in July just bought their first house together *squeal*! Soon they might be giving a housewarming party and then at Christmas a sweater party - so fun! and I will miss all of these things. If I was there, I wouldn't miss them for the world.

Life moves quickly, but seems to stand still at the same time. These are big developments and changes in our lives, but once they happen things slow down and when you visit with your friends or talk on the phone, it seems like nothing has changed at all. Maybe there's a few extra little people crawling around at their feet or your friend is suddenly starting to sport a baby bump. Maybe it's a marriage, a new house, job, or a move across the ocean that changes us, changes our lives. Despite the changes and the distance that comes between you and your friends and family both physically and emotionally, the ties are probably the strongest that they'll ever be. The ability to stay in touch and maintain your relationships throughout life's major changes is the truest test of the strength in those bonds.

Things I will miss about Perth

Hi again. Yes, it's me and I'm still alive and thriving in the great land of Oz. I dropped off the radar there for a few weeks and didn't even realize that I had completely stopped blogging! I thought about it on many occasions - in fact, I always think about writing when I'm taking my walks in the park. I have a favorite place I go for excercise called Hyde Park just a few blocks south of my house. It's a big beautiful park with lush mixed gardens where you can find English flora and deciduous trees (yay!) budding and blooming in their seasonal splendor amongst the leafy palm trees and tropical plants that never seem to shed their leaves or lose their color. The deciduous trees - I don't know what kind they are - surround two great big ponds in the center of the park and shade the walking path that encircles the ponds. One of my favorite parts of the park are the giant Morton Bay Fig trees with their far reaching branches that stretch for what seems like miles and their massive roots that grow out of the ground and make climbing around on them fun. My other favorite part of the park are the baby ducks and swans that have recently hatched and look like big water bugs scuttling around the top of the water behind their parents.

Today I actually had to stop and let a duck family scurry across the path in front of me. I watched them approach in haste, one adult duck and three babies, in a hurry to reach their watery destination and perhaps their lunch. As they ran towards me and the footpath, their little webbed feet eagerly slapping the grass, I realized these little ducklings and their duck parent were quite determined to get to the water and nothing was going to stop them. If I hadn't stopped in my tracks when their feet hit the pavement, they may very well have run straight into me. Every time I go for a walk there I find things that I should take pictures of, but I never take my camera.

On weekends when the weather is fine the park is filled with families and groups of friends barbequeing and young couples picnicing, taking leisurely strolls, or just laying about in the grass. Aside from this little oasis I have started noting the other things I will miss about Perth, among them are the beach, the ocean, and being able to see the Milky Way and all the other trillions of stars visable in the southern hemisphere.

I moved into a new room this weekend; same house, different room. My French housemates moved out - Yay! and I took one of their rooms. This room is twice as big as the shoebox sized one I was in before. It lacks a few minor amenities of the other room, but has plenty of storage space for all my things. I made a few IKEA purchases to cozy it up a bit more, it's just too bad I will only get to enjoy it for a few more months.

I also participated in City to Surf this weekend with my friend Gail and the Curvetts - a group of 30 or so Curves gym members. City to Surf is one of Perth's largest fundraising events each year and it topped out with 37,000 participants this year. We walked 12k (7 miles) which literally stretched from the start line in the city to the finish line in a park near the beach. Gail and I achieved our goal of arriving at the finish line under two hours by just 30 seconds and that's because we decided to jog in the last minute. Although we felt quite accomplished in the end, we were sore, tired and hungry and our feet ached with blisters. I only wish I was fit enough to have run it - NOTTT!!!

After my walk this morning, I spent the afternoon leisurely. I shopped and met up with my friend Pierre for coffee and more shopping in the city - he helped me pick out a sexy cologne and fun printed tee for the BF. Hope all of you spent your Labor Day weekend soaking up the last bits of summer... mine is only beginning!