A wedding on Magnetic Island

For the second time this year we have had the pleasure of attending a tropical wedding, this time on the lovely Magnetic Island.  Magnetic Island is just a half hour ferry journey from Townsville although we took our car on the vehicular ferry that takes a lot longer.
Most of us arrived on the Island Thursday afternoon for the get together at the Marlin Bar at Horseshoe Bay.  We had a delicious meal and then all made our way back to our accommodation at Peppers Blue on Blue.  Some partied on but most had an early night in preparation for the wedding then next day.

Peppers Blue on Blue at Nelly bay and the wedding reception venue

Friday we woke to a glorious tropical morning.  Winter is just a suggestion in the tropics and there is hardly ever a need to wear a jacket of any description.   As breakfast was included in our accommodation package we made our way downstairs to the restaurant to enjoy the delicious buffet.  After breakfast we visited Philips mum who has been living on the Island for many years.  She loves Island life and said she can't imagine living anywhere else.  There is a very good HACC (home and community care) service on the Island that we are very grateful for.
At 3.00pm the wedding ceremony commenced at Picnic Bay.  This used to be the place that the ferry stopped at and is still a beautiful bay that looks towards Townsville.  The groom looked a little nervous as he waited for his bride but once he saw her his face lit up.  The ceremony was lovely and as Zoe and Dave became Mr and Mrs we all applauded.
We made our way back to Peppers Blue on Blue for the reception.  Pre dinner drinks and nibbles were served on the boardwalk and we were all called for dinner at 6 pm.  Philip and I were once again privileged to sit at Table 1 with the brides mother and father......our lifelong friends.  We had a wonderful night with fantastic food and wine and afterwards we danced well into the night.
It was a lovely wedding that we will remember for a long time.

The bridesmaids looking lovely in blue

Zoe and Dave

A few adjustments by the bridesmaids

Preparing for the group photo

Me and my boy!

The Drought

The third year.  Who would ever have thought that we would be heading into our third year of devastating drought.  Our records show that we have never experienced three straight years of drought so we are heading into new territory.  We started the year with over 3000 head of cattle and by the end of this month we will be down to just 600 females.  The most heart wrenching decision of all is to sell your breeders. It takes many years to get to where you want to be with your breeders and we were, sadly, at the point where they were almost perfect for our requirements.

I don't want to go on about it because it is part and parcel of living on the land that we face adverse times as well as good.  We always plan for the worse and pray for the best.

I took this photo at our branding earlier in the year.  I think this photo really tells a story.  The temperature that day was 42 degrees and this photo was taken as my son and husband were walking over to the donga for smoko.  The newly branded calf in the foreground doesn't have any idea why I am crouched on the ground and neither of the men have seen me so that always makes for a good photo.

A Round Up of the last month

One word.....busy.  I used to think that I was good at time management but lately I have come to believe that I need more lessons in it OR stop saying yes to everything.  Since the beginning of April we have:

• Flown to Phuket for a wedding
• Driven to Magnetic Island for a Hens Party
• Flown to Brisbane for the Billy Idol Concert at Siromet Winery
• Hosted lunch for friends on Good Friday
• Driven to Woolgoolga (north of Port Macquarie) to pick up our Slide-On Camper
• Driven to Julia Creek for the Dirt and Dust Festival
• Completed the muster of sale cattle at "Caleewa"
• And the saddest of all, having to drive to Townsville to say goodbye to a friends little boy - just 1 year old....

In between all of that is the everyday jobs of running our little stud, maintaining a house and garden and of course keeping the business bookwork up to date.  Whew!  No wonder I feel tired.

I have already posted about the wedding in Phuket and in coming weeks I will write a little about the things we did and saw.  The highlight for me was the elephant ride and visiting the Big Budha.  They can now both be ticked off the every growing bucket list.

I arrived back from Phuket with a bad head cold but after dosing myself with every drug I could lay my hands on, just two days after we arrived home I drove to Townsville and then caught the ferry to Magnetic Island for a hens party.  I'm glad I made the effort because I had a lovely time with my lifelong friend, Karen.  There were just a handful of us that stayed the night on the island so we rented a three bedroom unit that was truly lovely.  We enjoyed dinner that night at the "French Restaurant" at Nelly Bay that I can highly recommend.

Lovely venue for a hens party

Its not a mexican theme without the Piñata

Breakfast with the birds at Nelly Bay.

The following weekend we boarded the plane to fly to Brisbane for "A day on the Green" at Siromet Winery.  The star attraction was Billy Idol.  He was amazing and both Philip and I commented on the electricity in the air when he arrived on stage.  The other acts were good:  Cheap Trick, Choir Boys and The Angels but Billy Idol had everyone on their feet within minutes.  We stayed with our friends Jack and Kim at their lovely home at Mount Cotton.  We sat around and told tales and enjoyed champagne in their enormous spa.  They are great hosts and we enjoyed our stay very much.  xx Kim and Jack!

Tens of thousands at the concert

We were very close to the front

Life is never slow for us so the following weekend (Easter) we invited our good friends up to our place for a seafood banquet on Good Friday.  It is always lovely to catch up with them and the day passed all to soon.  

We had to start the long drive to Woolgoolga on Easter Sunday to give ourselves plenty of time to drive the 2000 km to pick up our Camper.  The first night we stayed at a motel in Rockhampton and the second night we made it to Toowoomba to stay with Mum.  The next day we drove through to Woolgoolga so that we could be at Active Campers by 8 am on the Tuesday after Easter to have the camper fitted to the tray of our Landcruiser.  After a very "in depth" lesson on the ins and outs of our camper we set sail again by about 3pm and arrived back at Toowoomba at 9pm.  It was a long day and we didn't enjoy driving in the dark but we wanted to spend a little more time with Mum.  The next day, after a beautiful nights sleep, we drove on to a spot just south of Maryborough.  Our first night in the camper!  It was so very comfortable and we patted ourselves on the back for our purchase.  The next day we made it to Bowen and stayed at a caravan park on the beach.  The camper was comfortable but unfortunately the people beside us decided to have a party that went from 10pm to 3am.  It was not nice and we decided to try and camp in isolated places when we travel.  We finally arrived home on Friday evening after travelling almost 4000km!  We love the camper and have nicknamed it the "Tardis".  Anyone who has every watched Dr. Who will know what I'm talking about!

The following week (Thursday) we packed up the camper and drove the 1100 km to Julia Creek for the Dirt n Dust Festival and our cattle muster at Caleewa.  I have already written about the Dirt n Dust and won't bore you again with the details, but needless to say we had a great time.  Straight after the Dirt n Dust we drove out to Caleewa so that we could start the huge job of mustering in cows and calves for sale.  It was heartbreaking.  The drought is relentless and the worst in our history.  Having to sell almost all of your breeders just seems the last straw and I have been finding it extremely difficult to deal with.  But living on the land means that sometimes you have to make some very hard decisions and selling the cattle rather than smelling them is one such choice.

The sale cattle being mustered into the cattle yards.

I am going to stop here as I have so much to fill you in on but I have jobs to do so.......To be continued..........

Dirt n Dust Triathlon 2015

Well.....its done and dusted, and what a great weekend it was.  This was Philips 16th Dirt n Dust out of the 21 years that it has been going.  The first one, if I recall, had just 20 competitors and this year there were almost 400.  The little triathlon has now grown in to a full blown festival swelling the little township of Julia Creek from a population of 400 to almost 4000.  The festival begins on Friday afternoon with the Junior Triathlon.  This has also grown in strength from tens to hundreds of little ones. Some of the youngest competitors still have trainer wheels on their bicycles!  Proud parents and grand-parents watch and cheer on the young athletes and it is a joy to watch.

The smallest triathletes lined up for the swim leg

On ya bike little one!

A proud grandad watches on

Friday night at Dirt n Dust Central is a free night of entertainment with live music and a carbohydrate rich dinner for the triathletes.
We stayed at the Julia Creek Caravan Park for the duration of the festival and we watched it slowly fill on Friday to full capacity.  The park had a great atmosphere as the triathletes and family prepared for the Dirt n Dust Triathlon on Saturday.
The senior triathlon starts from Eastern Creek (20 km west of Julia Creek) where the swim leg is completed and then the gruelling ride back into the township where the transition quickly takes place into the 5km run leg.  The triathlon is sprint distance but anyone who has completed in the triathlon will tell you it is one of the hardest triathlons in Australia.  This year the athletes were spared the devastating head wind in the cycle leg but had to endure the relentless heat radiating from the bitumen. The overall winner of the triathlon did it in a time of 59 minutes 40 seconds.  I can't recall the hour being broken too many times over the past 21 years to it was an excellent result.

Cool, calm and collected before the race

And they are off!

The winner!

Philip arriving into town

The main street of Julia Creek is lined with spectators

Philip starts the run leg

The finish line.

The end is near!

On Saturday afternoon, after everyone has cooled down it is time to put on the glad rags and head to the Julia Creek Race Course for the running of the Artesian Express Race Meeting.  Many thousands of people attend this race meeting and it is standing room only if you don't have tickets to the Red Claw Luncheon....which sadly, we did not....but next year we will!
After the races it is another quick shower and change into comfortable clothes and shoes for the PBR Bull ride and concert.  This bull ride is renowned throughout Australia as one of the most visual for spectators. The yard is quite small and the committee have built a "hill" around the yard for maximum viewing pleasure.  It is really quite spectacular to be so close to the action.

Thousands of spectators enjoyed being up close and personal at the bull ride.

The bull ride finished around 10pm and that is when the band started playing.  Ten years ago we might have stayed and partied into the night but our bones were weary so it was off to bed for us.

Anyone ever considering a trip to the outback should really try and incorporate the Dirt n Dust Festival into their itinerary.  It is a great weekend in a little town where the locals open their doors and hearts to visitors.  The community is heading into the third year of a devastating drought so it has been hard for them but you would never tell from the welcoming smiles on their faces.

Katathani Resort Phuket

To say that we were impressed with the Katathani Resort is an understatement.  It was truly wonderful.  The resort itself is huge and at a guess I would say that there was one staff member for every guest.  The rooms were spacious, the restaurants top class, the three pools and gardens were incredibly well maintained and god help if a a dead leaf may fall from a tree onto the lawn!

The resort has it own private beach that is called Kata Noi Beach.  The water was warm enough to enjoy and we spent many hours lazing by the ocean.  Philip had a go at paddle boarding and thoroughly enjoyed it but it is incredibly hard work.

The food at the resort was excellent although we tended to eat outside the resort for most meals. There were three restaurants within a block of the resort so that is where we would usually meet the friends and family that were also there for the wedding.  One morning we hired a "Tuk Tuk" and did a little bit of shopping at Kata Beach.  I am not good at bargaining but still managed to get a couple of good deals.

A few photos:

The sticky rice was the best I have ever tasted

This was our wing at the resort

Magnificent beaches

Chris and KC

A

A GLORIOUS sunset

View from our room

Mango Slushy that actually made me quite sick.  I was warned.....don't drink the water!

A wedding in Phuket.

My poor neglected blog.  It has been a long time since I have given you some love.  To say we have been busy is an understatement, but busy because we choose to be.  We have travelled many thousands of kilometres in the past month and over the next few days I will fill you in.  But for today I want to tell you about the wedding we went to in Phuket.

Philip's stepbrother, Chris, has been living in Singapore working in IT for many many years and during his time there he met and fell in love with Katherine (KC).  After an extremely long courtship they finally decided to get married in March in Phuket.  It was a no brainer for us to make the decision to travel there for the wedding.

We have never been to Thailand before and we were so very pleased that we made the effort to go.  We flew from Cairns to Brisbane and then from Brisbane to Bangkok.  From Bangkok it was just an hour long flight to the island of Phuket.  Our flight did not arrive into Phuket until midnight so I had pre-booked a motel room close to the airport.  The motel I chose had a shuttle service from the airport to the motel so we were well and truly tucked up in bed before 1am.

The next morning we hired a taxi to take us to our accommodation at Katathani Resort at Kata Noi Beach.  After the hour long drive we arrived and were greeted by the bride and groom who were eating lunch across the road at a little restaurant that became our favourite.

We arrived on Thursday and the wedding was on Saturday.  We did not have any pre-planned sightseeing so we relaxed by the ocean and worked on our tans!

The wedding was everything that the bride and groom could have wished for.  A perfect day in a perfect setting for a perfect couple.  The bride asked that we all wear white/cream/khaki and now I look back at the photos I can see why.  The photos look stunning with the backdrop of the blue ocean.

We all enjoyed a beautiful three course banquet with more food that we could ever have possibly eaten and so delicious.  The night was balmy and the company around our table was jovial.  We danced well into the night and finally said our goodnights around midnight.

Some photos:

My family.

The groom, his sister and her husband

A walk down the aisle.

A very happy groom.

The grooms niece and nephew

A most beautiful dress

The bride and groom being showered with red flower petals.

Philips stepsister and her family

Artisan Bread

Since we have been following the Paleo way of eating the thing that I have craved the most is bread.  I love it.  Mind you, I don't eat a lot of bread but tell me that I can't eat it any more and I almost become obsessive in my need for it!
I started doing some research and found some Paleo Bread recipes.  Most of the recipes called for lots of eggs.  One recipe had ten eggs so you can imagine that it really did not taste like bread at all!
Now I started thinking about perhaps making my own bread using good quality organic flour.  I know it is not Paleo but as I have said before we only follow Paleo "loosely".
I stumbled across a blog that talked about making five minute artisan bread.  I was intrigued.  The blogger would not give the recipe but instead posted a link to the website to purchase the book.....which I did immediately.  (I have since found the recipe on another website and if you google "5 minute artisan bread" you will also find the recipe)
The bread is a miracle.  Only flour, yeast and a small amount of salt.  Definitely no sugar.  No kneading and the large batch can happily sit in your fridge for up to two weeks.  Mind you, it has never lasted that long for us.  Each day I break off a piece of the dough, let it sit for awhile and then pop it into the oven.  The hardest part is letting it cool before eating!
I know it is not Paleo, but I do believe if you are going to eat bread, this is the healthiest option.

Just flour, yeast, salt and water.  This is the mix that has risen and goes into the fridge for up to two weeks.

Artisan Bread straight from the oven.

The taste and texture is very much like sourdough and so delicious!

A new addition to the family.

Last year we purchased a donkey to protect our calves from wild and domestic dog attack.  Donkeys really hate dogs and will kick, bite and chase any dog that comes near them.  The donkey bonds with the cattle that we run with her and so far we have not had any more dog attacks.
When we purchased her the previous owner said that she was pregnant but as the months have rolled on we were beginning to wonder if she really was pregnant.  Some days her belly looked like she was pregnant and other days not.
Yesterday when Philip went to move the mob of cattle that "Milly" was running with he found all the cows huddled around a very distraught donkey.  You see she had given birth during the early hours of the morning and the cows, being very inquisitive, had gathered around Milly to check out her baby.  Philip quickly moved the cattle into the next paddock and left Milly and her foal behind.
We have checked on the foal quite a few times to make sure she (yes it is a Jenny) is OK and we are still not sure that she is feeding properly.  We cannot of course get close enough but the foal seems strong enough and Milly seems contented so that is always a good sign.  We will continue to check on the progress over the next few days.
Here are a couple of photos that I took yesterday, a good safe distance away from the very protective mother and her baby.  The little girl seems to be all ears and will look that way until she grows into them!