Mannahill, South Australia…
Photo: Baz, The Landy
An Atomic Bomb Site (Strewth You’re Kidding – Right?)
Planning has been finalised for our next trip into Australia’s Outback which will commence in about seven weeks.
And if we are glowing after this trip it may not be just from all that sunshine we have in Australia, but may be from visiting “ground zero” at Maralinga.
Maralinga is famous, or perhaps it should be said infamous, for the British Atomic Bomb test program of the 1950s and 1960s. Between 1952 and 1963 the British Government, with the agreement of the Australian Government, carried out nuclear tests at three sites in Australia, including the Emu Field and Maralinga.
Maralinga was developed as the permanent proving ground site and was the location of all trials conducted in Australia and yes, we will stand on the actual site where the Atom Bombs were detonated!
The area also holds significance for Janet as her aunt worked for the Australian Weapons Research Establishment and spent time at Woomera in her role as a scientist.
The expedition will take us across some of Australia’s remotest country, covering arid desert lands to gorges flowing with life giving water.
The primary aim of our expedition is to visit the “bomb tracks” that were made by the legendary Australian Surveyor, Len Beadell and his team during the 1950s and 1960s in preparation for the nuclear testing program.
The Anne Beadell Highway, the first of Len’s tracks that we will travel covers a distance of 1,350 kilometres and traverses the Great Victoria Desert, from Coober Pedy in South Australia to Laverton in Western Australia.
And it is anything but a highway.
At best, it is little more than two-wheel tracks passing through arid desert and scrub country and punctuated by many sand dunes.
On reaching Laverton we will travel along the Great Central Road to the aboriginal community of Warakurna before heading along the Sandy Blight Junction Track. This will be a highlight of our western deserts trip and is another track built by Len. Completed in 1960 the track takes its name from the eye disease that affects many of Australia’s indigenous population and now referred to as Trachoma.
Len contracted the ailment and is most likely the reason the track took this name.
After a brief stop in the West MacDonnell Ranges, we will travel to Alice Springs and bid farewell to Janet and TomO before heading eastwards across the Plenty Highway and eventually down through the channel country to the well-known outback town of Birdsville.
Our departure from Birdsville will mark our arrival into the Corner Country which is situated in the north-east corner of South Australia and extending to the north-west of New South Wales.
And after four weeks of travel on corrugated roads perhaps the bitumen will be a welcome relief as we pass through the central west of New South Wales making our way home to Sydney!
So who said it is all work and no play?
And don’t worry, I’ll let you know before we go, and you’ll be able to track our progress across this remote and arid wilderness…
Strewth, Australia, you just got to love the place, hey?
Photos: Baz, The Landy
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It sure beats working (The Australian Outback)
Today we are making our way home and will pass through the major townships of Dubbo, Orange, and Bathurst.
Travelling along the Great Western Highway to the town of Lithgow were we will head down the Bells Line of Road and through the tiny apple growing hamlet of Bilpin.
We’ve spent a couple of great weeks Out and About in this great country of ours, drank a toast to Brian, my father who passed away last year, and who always longed to drive along the Birdsville Track.
But he was with us in spirit.
And as the years pass by we will recall this trip like it was only yesterday that we packed ourselves in “The Landy” and made the journey west…into the Outback!
Click here to see where Baz, “The Landy” is today…
Photo: Baz, the Landy
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Narromine (A town of champions)
Yesterday we bid Liz and Gary farewell and headed to Narromine, passing through the townships of Cobar and Nyngan along the way.
Located in the Macquarie Valley, Narromine is often referred to as the town of Champions being the birthplace of Olympian Melinda Gainsford-Smith and cricketer Glenn McGrath.
Our camp was on the airfield at the Narromine Holiday Park.
The airfield was established after World War 1 and is home to the oldest rural aero club in Australia and was used as a training ground for RAAF pilots in World War 2. Over the years it has counted Charles Kingsford-Smith, Charles Ulm, Chuck Yeager, Nancy Bird Walton, and Baz, The Landy as visiting aviators.
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Photos: Baz, The Landy
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The Dingo Fence (Across Australia’s Outback)
A remarkable structure that stretches across Australia’s Southern Region is the Dingo Fence.
Built in the 1880s, the fence is designed to keep the dingo, Australia’s native dog, out of the south-eastern part of Australia, and protect sheep in Queensland.
Today you won’t find too many pure bred dingoes in Australia, but there are still plenty of wild dogs.
The fence is the longest in the world stretching a whopping 5,600 kilometres from the Darling Downs in Queensland to the Great Australian Bight in South Australia.
On our journey into the outback we have passed through the fence on a couple of occasions, and we have gate boy, TomO, to open and close the gate…
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Photo, Baz, The Landy
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Trilby Station (Outback Australia)
Once a part of the million acre Dunlop property, the first in the world to undertake sheep shearing by mechanical means in 1888, Trilby Station today comprises 320,000 acres and runs up to 24,000 merino sheep and has an extensive goat enterprise.
The Station is situated on the Darling River near the small locality of Louth and approximately 125 kilometres south-west of Bourke.
The area is rich in aboriginal history and more contemporary Australian history. They say that time spent atop Mt Oxley nearby to Bourke, looking across the great expanse to the west rekindles the experience of explorers’ Stuart and Hume in 1829 where they felt that “this would never be the haunt of civilised man”.
Our hosts are Liz and Gary and the Murray family can trace their settlement on the Darling River near Louth back six generations to 1860.
We have a camp looking down onto the mighty Darling River, which is still flowing strongly despite being much lower than in September last year.
And being ANZAC Day we are heading off to a memorial service to honour our fallen at the small township of Louth, and of course, a few beers in the pub afterwards.
Lest We Forget…
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Photos; Baz The Landy
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Tibooburra (Explorers’ Country)
Our drive to Tibooburra was through some spectacular countryside, remote and vast, and we crossed through the “dog-proof” fence at Warri Gate, just to the north of the Sturt National Park.
Before arriving at the dog-fence we passed Epsilon Station a working organic cattle property set amongst the sand dunes of the Simpson Strzelecki Sand Dunes and not far from the country first explored by Captain Charles Sturt.
Numerous explorers’ have visited the Tibooburra region over the years, most notably Charles Sturt as he went in search of an inland sea.
And it has had its fair share of modern day visitors, including Clifton Pugh, a famous Australian artist, who actually painted a mural on the walls of he Family Hotel; in fact he even owned it at one time.
We are staying nearby to the hotel and will spend some time visiting the museum in town that has a wealth of information on Australia’s original inhabitants.
Photos: Baz, The Landy
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Cordillo Downs (And Innamincka)
This is one of my favourite outback drives, a road that weaves its way down past Cordillo Downs and the Cordillo Downs Woolshed.
A pastoral lease was taken up for Cordillo Downs in 1878 and not too long after this the property was running up to 10,000 sheep. By the early 1900s it had amalgamated with Cadelga and Haddon Downs and was running 85,000 sheep on about 8,000 square kilometres of land.
Today, Cordillo Downs still runs around 7,000 head of cattle in a good season, although when you view the landscape it is hard to imagine.
We’ve set up camp by the Cooper Creek!
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Photo: Baz, The Landy
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The Birdsville Pub (Quench your thirst)
Birdsville is a town that needs little introduction and its appearance on the horizon signified that our journey along the Birdsville Track was coming to an end.
There is much to see and experience in this small outback town, and of course we gravitated to its epicentre, the pub after setting up camp.
After bidding farewell to Mungerannie we continued along the dusty road towards Clifton Hills Station, and Pandie Pandie. Not too far south of Birsdville we crossed the border into Queensland and made our way to the caravan park on the banks of the Diamantina River.
Until 1882, Birdsville was known as Diamantina Crossing and was set up to collect tariffs on goods passing between South Australia and Queensland. A man by the name of Burt opened a store and it was given the name Burtsville, which was subsequently changed to Birdsville.
Of course the town is most famous for its annual race day and the running of the Birdsville Cup in the first week of September, a race that was first run in 1882!
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Photo: Baz, The Landy
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Lake Harry Ruins (Outback Australia)
At the turn of the twentieth century this site was part of a vastly different scene; an oasis of date palms, abundant bore water, camels and Afghan Cameleers.
The ruins are a reminder of that era and highlight a recurring theme in Outback Australia – the optimism and enterprise of the early colonists’.
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Photos: Baz, The Landy
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TomO (The Outback Mailman)
Remote communities in Outback Australia often rely on the goodwill of others to deliver mail and much needed goods and equipment.
Marree is the town at the start of the Birdsville Track from which the famous Outback Postman, Tom Kruse, headed off on his trip along the Track to deliver mail to the many Stations that dot the area.
And at the post office and refueling stop, we were asked to deliver some items along the Track.
So we had our own Tom, the Outback Mailman delivering mail to the Mungerannie Hotel.
Good work TomO, I reckon Tom would be pleased!
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Photo: Baz, The Landy
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The Birdsville Track (Outback Australia)
Heading north along the Birdsville Track we passed a number of stations that up until now have only been places on a map. These included Dulkaninna and Etaduna.
We called into Etaduna and obtained permission and directions to visit the Killalpaninna Mission Ruins, a side trip that took us for a short distance to the north-west amongst the sand dunes.
The Bethesda Lutheran Mission was established at Lake Killalpaninna, although I suspect there are long periods of time between the Lake seeing any substantial water, but on this visit we were fortunate to see water in it!
Continuing our journey north we arrived at the Mungerannie Pub where one of the first things we did was to have a thirst quenching beer! The pub and store where established by Richard Sullivan and his wife in 1886 and they remained until 1889. We enjoyed another few beers before the night was out and and we drank a toast to those who have passed this way in days long gone, and a toast to those who are absent…
Here’s to you, Dad!
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Photos: Baz, The Landy
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An Ancient Landscape (The Flinders Ranges)
Last evening we witnessed a lunar eclipse of the full moon as it was rising over an ancient landscape, the Flinders Range.
And the colours that the setting sun cast over the hills was breathtaking.
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Photo: Baz, The Landy
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The Flinders Range (Brachina Gorge)
Brachina Gorge has an amazing array of flora and fauna and today we took a scenic drive through this stunningly beautiful and ancient landscape..
We travelled along what is often referred to as “Corridor Through Time” on a self-guided tour of the gorges.
Hans Heysen, later Sir Hans, the German-born Australian artist spent a great deal of his life in the Flinders Ranges, capturing the beauty of the area in water-colours. He summed up the Flinders Ranges landscape when he said it is “the bones of the earth laid bare”.
It was great to see first-hand the landscape that inspired so many of his paintings prior to his passing in 1968.
This evening we are going to take time to watch the lunar eclipse as the full moon rises over the rugged Flinders Ranges landscape.
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Photos: Baz, The Landy
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The Flinders Ranges and Wilpena Pound
Wilpena Pound, set in the Flinders Ranges is approximately 430-kilometres to the north of Adelaide.
The landscape is breathtaking and dated to be over 800 million years old. The Flinders Ranges National Park offers a wide range of activities that you can undertake, including bush-walking and four-wheel drive touring.
Shaped like an amphitheatre, Wilpena Pound has an abundant range of wildlife, including emus, kangaroos, plenty of birds, and the endangered yellow footed rock wallaby.
There are a number of aboriginal art sites within the region, and the country is home to the Adnyamathanha people of the Northern Flinders Ranges. Adnyamathanha meaning “hills” or “rock people” is a term now used to describe the Kuyani, Wailpi, Yadliaura, Pilatapa and Pangkala, the traditional groups in the Flinders Ranges.
Today many Adnyamathanha people live and work in the area. Nepabunna in the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges, Leigh Creek and Port Augusta are central settlements for the Adnyamathanha people. Rock art, stone arrangements, occupation sites, graves and ochre quarries are reminders of the area’s cultural heritage and are of significance to the Adnyamathanha peoples’ connection to country.
Our camp for the next three nights will be at the Wilpena Pound Campground.
For certain, we will find a vantage point that will afford us a view of the sun setting on Wilpena Pound, the colours should be spectacular!
Speaking of spectacular, the drive from Broken Hill was just that, and we passed many ruins of an era long gone gone, along the way.
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Photos: Baz, The Landy
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An Artifact that survives in the Desert (Broken Hill)
Broken Hill is one Australian town that needs very little introduction. Growing from a small mining township in the 1880s it has developed into a large mining and tourism centre.
The town has been described as a living, breathing time-capsule – “an artifact that survives in the desert and waits to be rediscovered with its Art-deco shop fronts from a bygone age and many monuments throughout the town paying homage to the men and women who suffered and died so the town could survive.”
Our overnight stay has not provided us with much of an opportunity to truly explore the town or the nearby town of Silverton on this visit, but there are a couple of things worth knowing that puts some further perspective on the town.
The Great War visited Broken Hill on New Year’s Day, 1915, when two camel drivers loyal to the Ottoman Empire opened fire on a picnic train, killing five men, women, and children in what remains the only act of war to be committed on Australian soil. You can view where this occurred on a small lane not too far from the Broken Hill caravan park.
During the second-world war a large part of Australia’s gold reserves were transferred to the town and away from the coastal capital cities to protect it from the possibility of a Japanese invasion.
And surprisingly, in Sturt Park there stands a monument to the musicians of the ill-fated Titanic that was erected in 1913. It would seem extraordinary that an inland community in Australia has a monument to the tragedy that occurred in the icy-waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the other side of the world…
Standing on the urban boundary we looked westward as the sun drifted low onto the horizon, the town at our back and nothing but the red desert ahead of us, as far as the eye can see.
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Photo, Baz – The Landy
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The Australian Outback Beckons (Go West, Young Man)
Today we pointed “The Landy” down the driveway and bid farewell to Sydney for a couple of weeks.
Making our way west over the Blue Mountains via the Bell’s Line in a modern four-wheel drive vehicle we did give some thought to the early explorers’ who headed this way, journeying on foot, horseback and bullock dray.
Our drive took us through the larger rural towns of Bathurst and Orange before diverting from the usual route west, the Great Western Highway, to travel through the township of Parkes and the smaller rural towns of Trundle and Tottenham.
Situated 55-kilometres north of Parkes, Trundle is at the centre of a wheat, sheep and cattle farming area. Of interest is the Trundle Hotel, a majestic building in the town’s main street, which is National Estate, listed and has the longest verandah in New South Wales, coming in at a long 87.6 metres. The town’s main street is also the widest in New South Wales measuring 60 metres.
Leaving Trundle behind we passed through the closest town to the geographical centre in New South Wales, Tottenham. We varied our route to visit the geographical centre, which is located 34 kilometres west of the town along the Cockies Road.
Tottenham is also at the centre of large scale agriculture cropping and sheep grazing and boosts a large hotel, The Tottenham Hotel, which overlooks the main street.
We arrived at Nyngan to a tranquil camp next to the Bogan River at the Riverside Van Park.
In 1835, explorer, Major Mitchell was the first European to document a journey along the Bogan River, describing the area around Nyngan as ‘a long pond, with many birds, ducks, and brolgas’. The local aboriginal word ‘Nyingan’ is said to mean ‘long pond of water’. In 1882 the town’s site was surveyed and buildings from an earlier settlement at Canonba 30- kilometres away were moved to the present Nyngan Township.
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Photos: Baz, The Landy
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We’re off to the Australian Outback – (Saturday)
We’re excited, ahead of us is two weeks of soaking up the beauty of a red-ochre coloured landscape, an ancient landscape that stretches to the horizon, where it kisses a never-ending blue sky…
Sometimes it is simply impossible to capture it in a photograph, but we will be trying, and of course part of the attraction of touring the Great Southern Land is the characters you meet along the way; they are the heart and soul of the Australian Outback…
The Landy is packed full of Janet’s wine, TomO has claimed a seat in the front, Janet and Fay (me mum!) are strapped into the back.
And don’t forget to check in over the next couple of weeks to see what we are up to.
Bearing in mind, one of the attractions of the Outback is the inability to communicate, at times. Shoosh, that is the story I run with my boss at work, so we might be out of range every so often 😉
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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The Birdsville Pub (An Icon of the Australian Outback)
The Birdsville Pub is synonymous with the Australian Outback and has been the watering hole for many a weary traveller, both in days gone by and still today.
And over many years of outback travel we have often gone out of our way to quench our thirst in the front bar of the hotel.
A bar where you can hear the different accents of the many foreign tourists who come to wonder at the splendour of Australia’s Outback mixed amongst the laughter and our unique Aussie Drawl.
TomO is very accustomed to the Birdsville Pub.
Oh, but don’t worry, he is yet to quench his thirst with a beer, perhaps that will come in time, but he has made many friends over the years in the front bar. Plotting adventures with a local boy, playing snooker with the many visiting pilots, and even fallen in love with the policeman’s daughter, at the tender age of three!
And he tells me he is looking forward to this visit…
What do you think he will find this time?
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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A Walking Hat ( in the Australian Outback)
Strewth, a walking hat! (and crikey, where did time go?)…
We’ll pass by this spot in a couple of week’s time, I’ll update the shot, same TomO, different hat!
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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Touring the Australian Outback (Where is Baz – The Landy)
Whilst it may seem I have disappeared from the face of the earth, rest assure, I am alive and kicking, still larger than life, head-down and exercising…
And I have been preparing the troops, and yes, that would be Janet and TomO, for an upcoming adventure into the Australian Outback.
In about one week’s time we will be pointing ourselves westward towards the Flinders Ranges and the Birdsville Track.
In fact, this will be a sentimental journey, of sorts, for us as Brian, my father, longed to take a trip along the “Track” in the footsteps of Tom Kruse, The Outback Mailman.
Many may recall that Brian passed away last year and so as a tribute to him we are making the journey accompanied by my mother, Fay, the love of Dad’s life for near on 60 years! But he’ll be with us….for sure!
Our trip along the Birdsville Track will take us in the footsteps of the famous Australian Outback Mailman, Tom Kruse.
Tom delivered mail to the many cattle stations along the track in a “Blitz Truck” arriving at Birdsville, in far Western Queensland, before loading up for the return trip to Marree. His story is one of human endurance, courage, and perseverance. Despite facing considerable challenges each and every day out on the Track, Tom got the mail through, a lifeline to those who lived and worked in the area…
Before arriving in Birdsville, we will pass through one our most well-known outback towns, Broken Hill, and visit Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges.
Wilpena Pound is an ancient landscape over 800 million years old, a mountain range rising out of the landscape that has the appearance of being an old volcano. It is also home to the Adnyamathanha people.
After a couple of days resting in Birdsville following our trip up the “Track” we will head towards Innamincka, a small locality that is infamous for being the end of the ill-fated Burke and Wills Exploration.
Passing back down into New South Wales though Wari Gate, we will overnight in Tibooburra and visit the family hotel where the famous Australian artist Clifton Pugh, who once painted a mural on the hotel walls. In fact, he even owned it at one time.
A favourite place we like to visit is Trilby Station. Trilby is a working sheep and cattle property on the banks of the famous inland river, the Darling River, and as usual, we will camp by the Billabong. And whilst in the area we will take the time to revisit Toorale National Park to further our knowledge of Australia’s first people.
And as we make our way back to Sydney via Narromine, Orange, and Bathurst I’m sure there will be plenty of stories to recount from our couple of weeks “Out and About with – The Landy”.
As we tour I will put up some photographs of the Australian Outback, perhaps just to whet your appetite for a visit, Downunder!
So keep you eye out for those…
Photos: Baz, The Landy
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On the Evils of Smoking (And Puberty)
There is nothing better than hearing one of your favourite songs played on the radio, even better when it is a long time favourite and one that you hadn’t heard in ages, unearthed to tickle the airwaves once more.
Music has the ability to move your emotions. It can motivate you, it can take you places, it can make you laugh, or even cry, it can sometimes rejoin you with distant memories…
The other day TomO and I were out driving and one such song came on the radio, Most People I Know (Think That I’m Crazy), by Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, a great Aussie rock-band.
Initially formed in the 1960s, the band parted ways, but reformed again in 1971. It was during this second coming that I was growing up in Townsville, North Queensland, heading into puberty at the rate of knots and just as this song was released.
Crikey, those days were free and easy. You could head off on your bike with your mates in the morning, with strict instructions to be back for dinner. In reality we were usually back by lunchtime.
Food was required on a regular basis with all that testosterone sloshing around!
But I’m digressing from the story, testosterone and girls is for another time, much later…
Anyway, TomO says…
“So Dad, you like this song, hey?
“It’s fitting ‘cause Mum and me think you are just a little bit crazy, that’s for sure.”
I reminded him that he was a chip off the old-block and he might just be a little crazy as well…
“Sure, it is one of my all time favourites” I said, “it takes me back to a time when I was around your age, maybe a touch older.”
“Were you going through puberty”, he asked?
TomO tells me “Things are a happening down there, Dad.”
Geez, I wasn’t long out of Sesame Street at his age and I was still struggling with the alphabet…
But moving along…the song now in full swing, I said,
“Yeah, sure mate, I love that song, but it makes me feel sick!”
“How could it make you feel sick if you like it?”
A fair question I thought as I gave myself a mental smack around the chops…
“See, Dad you are crazy.”
“How could you love a song and say that it makes you sick at the same time, it doesn’t make sense.”
Realising I had just aroused an interest that would have him hunting down an answer like a pit bull terrier nipping at your heels I now had to share a story that had been holed up inside that little brain of mine, never shared with anyone before that moment…
If I was Homer Simpson, I’d be slapping my forehead and saying, DOH!
The song had finished and I vowed to find a quiet moment up in The Shed later in the day when I could crank it back up on my iPod.
Anyway, with him nipping away I thought this a good opportunity to reinforce the evils of smoking.
At school I’d heard some mates talking about how they had tried smoking, but I was shying away from these discussions as I was too scared to give it a go…
In reality, I did want to give it a go, but didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of my mates, I mean what if I threw up, or coughed, or whatever, I’d be the laughing stock of class 6E and maybe even risk being dropped from the footy team.
It was about mid-semester when that fateful day arrived, I just didn’t recognise it when I got out of bed that morning and headed to school, after all it was the same as any other day, at least I thought it was.
On the way home I passed Leong’s corner shop. You’ll know the place, full of lollies, ice-creams, chips, stuff I didn’t usually have any money to spend on, but still I passed by most days.
I was hanging around outside on my bike, not sure what I was actually waiting for as I was still a couple of years away from taking a more active interest in the girls that hung out there. And no I wasn’t looking at boys either, just on the off chance you’re wondering!
I see this bloke pull up in a flash car, well I thought it was flash anyway, a new Holden Kingswood sedan. As he gets out he toss’s a half-finished cigarette onto the ground.
The next couple of moments were a blur really, certainly impulsive, and isn’t that the story of my life.
I swooped on that smouldering cigarette, or durrie, as the older boys called them, with all the zest of two seagulls fighting over a lone chip, discarded uncaringly on a beach side promenade.
Quickly extinguishing it, I hid it in my pocket and was back on my bike.
Maybe that is where my athletic prowess, if I can call it that, started as I peddled faster and harder than I had ever done before, and probably ever since.
I swore the whole world witnessed this event and the police would be on to me before I got home, sirens blaring, handcuffed and dragged before my parents. Oh my gawd, the risk I was taking of being caught with this solitary piece of contraband.
Luck was seemingly on my side, I got home, there was still Mum to navigate past as I headed for the kitchen cupboard that stored the matches.
Would she miss a box?
The mind was racing, but I needn’t have worried. I should have been in the military, the task was completed with precision, I had the matches and the cigarette, there was an air of subterfuge about the whole thing, a tinge of excitement…
By now I was feeling like a fugitive running from the law as I headed down to the old sawmill a couple of kilometres from home.
In hindsight, I’m not sure why I didn’t do it the time old-fashioned way and light the bloody thing up behind the shed.
Anyway, I scaled an old sawdust pile and slid down the other side, careful to remain well out of sight.
Fumbling, I took that used cigarette, yep the one covered in someone else’s spit and saliva, probably contaminated with all kinds of germs and put it in my mouth.
For crying out loud, this thing had been between the lips of someone I didn’t know.
But it was far too late to contemplate now as the flame of the match was licking at my fingers like an out-of-control bush fire…
This was supposed to be a pleasant experience, or so they say. I tried to be sophisticated about it…
Sophisticated, hell, who was I kidding? I was covered in sawdust, sucking on a discarded fag, strewth what was I thinking…
As things stood I still wasn’t willing to kiss Debbie Kelly, our next door neighbour, despite her numerous advances for fear of catching girl germs. But I had someone’s used fag, durrie, whatever you want to call the damned thing between my lips…
I grew up with the Kelly girls and their father was a dentist, so surely they wouldn’t have too many girl germs swilling around in their saliva.
Okay, so I’ll just put it out there…
It was gross, yep, let me say it again, gross…
But hey, give me a break, I might have been all of thirteen, thinking I was going on twenty-one or something. I couldn’t even afford a packet of lollies from Leong’s store, let alone a packet of durries.
I coughed my way through that cigarette.
At one stage I was thinking that snogging Debbie Kelly couldn’t possibly be this bad, but as they say, the rest is history.
I got on my bike and headed towards home, I wasn’t feeling one way or the other on this smoking thing, I was indifferent at best, and maybe now I had gotten this out the way I could take Debbie Kelly up on her offer of a snog, just for comparison.
Crikey, about half-way home it hit me, my head started spinning and I felt the whole world was about to end.
I felt sick, I mean really sick.
I made it home and headed for the shower, I’m sure Mum was wondering how I came to be covered in sawdust, but she didn’t ask. Perhaps she thought I was stealing a kiss from Debbie Kelly down at the old sawmill?
If only that had been the case, maybe I would have a cheeky smile on my face each time I heard Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs belt out that song.
TomO listened on intently. I did notice a bit of a wry smile coming out the corner of his mouth, I thought perhaps he was weighing up what he would have done, a snog or the cigarette…
You see as I lay back on my bed, my head spinning faster than an out of control merry-go-round, Billy and the Boys were belting out that classic on the radio, and I felt so sick, so very sick…
But geez, I still love that song!
Footnote
Over the past three months I have been able to step up my rowing and fitness regime following the injuries I suffered in 2013.
Usually this is done up in “The Shed” and if it isn’t silly o’clock in the morning, but past the cocktail hour in the afternoon, I have a dose of good old fashioned Aussie Rock playing on the iPod.
A couple of days ago, whilst playing on random, this song came up, it brought a smile to my face, but turned my stomach as I was rounding off a 15,000 metre row.
Anyway, I thought I would indulge myself and share this story once again…
Cheers, Baz – The Landy
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Toorale Homestead (In the Australian Outback)
A once magnificent homestead, that one day will hopefully be restored to its former glory…
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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Sunset in the Outback (Over Cullyamurra Water Hole)
Innamincka, Outback Australia
Crikey, despite being colour-blind I’m always blown away by the amazing sunsets in the Australian Outback…
Strewth, you wouldn’t be dead for quids, hey…
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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Colours (Of the Australian Outback)
Mutawinji National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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Do not be fooled by simplicity (In training and life)
“Do not be fooled by simplicity, both in training and life.”
When you let this sink in you begin to realise how easy it is to over complicate life and training.
It is easy to get away from the basics.
It is easy to conclude more is better, or flashier is better.
Truth be told, the simple path is often the tried and true path.
Photo: Baz – The Landy
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Windmill in the distance (Outback Australia)
Outback Australia, sometimes a real place, other times just a state of mind, but just as real…
Photo: Baz – The Landy
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Quenching your thirst (In the Australian Outback)
Welcome!
Photo: Baz – The Landy
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Living the Dream (You have imagined)
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you have imagined…”
Henry David Thoreau
Sound advice Henry!
Photo: Baz, Climbing on Fox Glacier, Southern Alps, New Zealand
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No ordinary moments, no ordinary people, no ordinary lives (A note from a wonderful son)
“But there are men for whom the unattainable has a special attraction. Usually they are not experts; their ambitions and fantasies are strong enough to brush aside the doubts which more cautious men might have.
Determination and faith are their strongest weapons. At best such men are regarded as eccentric; at worst, mad…”
These are words penned by the legendary mountaineer, Walt Unsworth, and they have had a profound effect on me since I read them a number of years ago.
These words summed me up perfectly, I thought.
I’m sure many will be able to relate to them equally, regardless of what your pursuits are…
Over the years I have pursued a whole range of activities, some adventurous, others less so – but I have always been driven by a desire to simply embrace life…
And I have never considered myself an expert in any of them, but it has always been a fierce determination that has seen me through; a strong faith in my ability to grasp the key things, to put them into practice.
I’ve never considered anything I’ve done as a failure, but I’ve had plenty of learning experiences, set-backs that have helped me to learn, to grow, and to develop. I’m thankful for those set-backs, as they have made me stronger.
Eccentric; mad; yes, I’ve been referred in that way many times.
Today, I wear those comments proudly, like a badge.
Walt’s words have encouraged me to have the confidence to pursue my dream of climbing large mountains, to consider making an attempt on the summit of Mt Everest, in the least, to have the courage to admit that I want to climb it.
Every day on Wordspress, millions of words are written by ordinary people, stories about the challenges life has thrown at them, what they have done, and continue to do to overcome them.
About their dreams and aspirations; their highs and their lows…
Ordinary people who want to improve their fitness, to lose weight, to cycle across a city, or across the world.
Many have their sights set on a fun run, and others having completed one, setting their sights towards running a marathon.
For others, it is their challenge to become stronger, to be able to lift more, or about capturing that once in a life-time photograph, perhaps testing a new recipe to share with friends, or with people they have never met.
Others talk about health and lifestyle challenges they struggle with, that they have overcome.
I read as many of them as I can, they motivate me and they provide me with much needed inspiration…
Seemingly, there is always someone in this cyberspace community ready to reach out, to congratulate, to console…
Usually these people aren’t super-elite athletes, or neither five-star chefs, nor are they fitness gurus.
They have a much greater status than that, for they are simply ordinary people, the same people that Walt Unsworth wrote about when he penned those words…
To those who aspire to do their best, to challenge themselves, I say never give in, you’re not alone out there, dream big, and pursue your dreams…
But on ordinary people, yes I’ve referred to people as ordinary, but in reality, there is no such thing as ordinary people, we are all unique, we all contribute to the mosaic that makes up the world we live in…
It would be a boring place if we were all the same…
We’d never learn, grow, or develop as people.
Take the time to read over Walt’s musings a couple of times, because he was speaking about you…
Draw on the strength of his writing, it is powerful…
Above all else remember,
There are no ordinary moments, no ordinary people, no ordinary lives…
Baz – The Landy
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The Jungles of Papua New Guinea (The Kokoda Track)
Isurava Village, situated along the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea.
I am making plans to head back into the Papuan New Guinean jungle in April next year to walk the Black Cat Track.
I tried to get there a couple of years ago, but civil unrest in the area prevented it. So plans have been made once again, and will provide a great lead in for some climbing in Nepal later in the year!
This area has some of the most pristine jungle in the world…
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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By the Billabong (Reflecting on the Australian Outback)
Somebody asked me the other day, where is the Australian Outback, Baz…
I find it is a place that is often hard to describe, almost a state of mind, but here is how I picture the Outback, in my mind at least…
And we are on a countdown to our next trip coming up in April, The Flinders Ranges and Birdsville Track!
Photo: Baz – The Landy
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Sheep Skin Hut (In the Australian Bush)
I captured this photo while Out and About exploring the Hunter Range, just to the north of Sydney last weekend…
Crikey, old huts, you’ve got to love them!
Photo: Baz – The Landy
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Happy Australia Day (However you celebrate it)
I kicked-off the day with a 20-kilometre row and workout up in the shed to the sounds of Siouxsie and the Banshees and loving it!
Crikey, you just got to love Australia, hey!
Enjoy the day…
Big Bad Baz 😉
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Success Isn’t Permanent (And Failure Isn’t fatal)
Not a bad thought to keep in mind, and it is one of the things I like to remind myself of each day as I chase my dreams…
Picton, Australia
Waimak River, New Zealand
Climbing Sweet Dreams – Blue Moiuntains
Sweet Dreams, Blue Mountains, Australia
Tough Mudder
The Boys on a mud run
Southern Alps, New Zealand
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Travelling the Australian Outback (In Style)
Travelling and photographing the Australian Outback is a great privilege that I never take for granted.
As a family we visit it often and we have a couple of spectacular desert trips planned this year, the first one coming up in a couple of months time.
Recently we upgraded our touring vehicle to a Toyota 79 Series Dual Cab that we have modified to cope with the harsh environment it will be asked to operate in. It is also capable of pulling our off-road camper Trailer, a Track TVAN.
Plenty of Storage
The Landy + TVAN
Through its paces
We’re off – to the outback
The TVAN is the go anywhere camper trailer with suspension built to military specifications.
Depending on conditions, the vehicle has a range of approximately 1,700-kilometres and all electrical equipment we require is powered by two 120-watt solar panels on the roof charging a 150-amp battery.
It is also equipped with a High Frequency radio for long-range communications. For those not familiar a HF Radio is capable of transmitting over large distances and with the right atmospheric conditions we can speak with someone thousands of kilometres away.
Now I’m not going to “rabbit” on too much here and I’ll let the photographs do the talking, but a little while back I asked for you to submit some designs for a mural to go on the vehicle and I’m pleased to showcase the final product that was inspired by a design suggested by Sassy, who writes a blog titled Sasieology…
The mural reflects the travel the vehicle will do, across the Sydney Harbour Bridge from the Sydney Opera House and into the Australian Outback.
And I hear you ask what about the Crow?
Well Charlie, he travels with us everywhere!
We captured the photographs as we put the vehicle through its paces with the TVAN in tow in the Australian Bush last weekend.
It passed with flying colours, but I’m still trying to wrest the keys back from Janet who is a rev-head at heart, especially behind the big gutsy V8 engine!
Photos: Baz, The Landy – Janet Planet, and TomO
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Those who don’t think it can be done (shouldn’t bother the person doing it)
“But there are men for whom the unattainable has a special attraction. Usually they are not experts: their ambitions and fantasies are strong enough to brush aside the doubts which more cautious men might have.
Determination and faith are their strongest weapons. At best such men are regarded as eccentric; at worst, mad…” Walt Unsworth.
I’m gearing back up, slowly but surely…
Initially into the Blue Mountains, just to the west of Sydney, for some rock climbing to hone the skills and aiming for a Nepal trip to climb three 6,000 metre peaks in November.
Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth highest and one of fourteen 8,000 metre peaks, beckons in 2015…
This has been my goal for sometime I’m just one-year behind after the injuries and some personal setbacks over the past twelve months.
But I’ll be doing plenty of travel in Australia’s wonderful outback over the coming months also – so be sure to stay in touch!
And crikey, if all else fails, just remain out of control and see what develops…
Photos: Baz, The Landy, and Janet Planet
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Soaring like a bird (Over the ocean)
Newcastle, East Coast Australia.
Crikey, that looks like FUN…
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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Adventure and Youth (How good is this)
Adventure and youth, what a great mix!
TomO lead the way today heading off for his first scuba dive which he did at Clifton Gardens, on beautiful Sydney Harbour…
Despite Janet and I quite comfortably diving out of airplanes and loving water sports, we’ve never harboured the desire to scuba dive! So TomO has set a first for our family!
Crikey, adventure hey, good on you mate.
Bravo TomO!
Photos: Janet Planet
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Contemplation (Aussie Beach Culture)
Merewether Beach, Newcastle, Australia…
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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Early morning fun (Australian beach culture)
Another glorious start to the day on Australia’s eastern seaboard.
A 10,000 metre row on the C2 rowing machine in the pre-dawn darkness before heading to the beach for some fun with TomO, followed a breakfast of hot chips and tomato sauce; all before 8:00am…
Whoops sorry Janet, meant to say healthy muesli and yoghurt 😉
Photo: TomO
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The Shed (The Sweat Room)
The training shed up in the backyard was in full action this morning with a 10,000-metre row to the sounds of Deep Purple at silly o’clock…
As much as I enjoy strength and weight training, I can’t expect to be a 100-kilogram gorilla and climb mountains, but the weight training has kept me going over these past few months…
Hey, keep your fingers crossed that my Achilles tendon that I had surgically repaired earlier this year holds up!
And it seems to be as I start ramping up the cardio exercise and I must say it makes a pleasant change to the weight training.
As part of training for the mountains I am working towards a 100 kilometre-running race (I use the term running sparingly) through the mountains that I regularly hike and that takes place in September 2014.
And I’ll need every bit of that time to prepare, and the last mountain running I did was in one of the world’s toughest endurance races, the Speight’s Coast to Coast Adventure Race in New Zealand in 2012.
And yes, that Kiwi brother-in-law of mine is hot on my heels pushing me, again!
I’m also planning to cycle the iconic Birdsville Track in outback Australia in April 2014. It is roughly 500 kilometres in length and the aim is to ride as much as I can on my Canondale 29-er Mountain Bike.
Dream big I say, and of course, live to the motto that “those that don’t think it can be done shouldn’t bother the person doing it.”
Cheers, Baz – The Landy
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A Superb Fairy Wren (In the Australian Bush)
A couple of days ago we were “Out and About” in the Australian Bush at Gloucester Tops and what a glorious day it was.
Ham left over from Christmas lunch on freshly baked sour dough bread, a swim in a mountain stream, and company of family and friends.
Crikey, it doesn’t get any better than that, hey!
Anyway, while we where there I managed to snap a picture of this beautiful Blue Wren…
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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A Tawny Frog Mouth (Australian Wildlife)
I captured this picture of a Tawny Frog Mouth sitting in the backyard this morning. Standing tall and silent it kept a close eye on me as I clicked away.
Doesn’t it have such lovely textures that blend in so well with its environment?
Australia hey, strewth you just have to love it.
And by the way, Merry Christmas!
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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Nobby’s Beach (Newcastle, East Coast Australia)
How good is this, a bike ride to the beach and some lap swimming in the ocean pool just as the sun pierced the eastern horizon…
And boy, do I need to get some exercise and fitness back into me, after all there are mountains to climb, eventually!
But for now, two weeks of cycling, swimming and kayaking, strewth, it’s a tough life, but us Aussies’ are used to this tough life 😉
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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Temari Ball – Marion’s Artree
Temari is a Japanese art form that involves intricate weaving of fine threads and this wonderfully crafted example was offered for sale at Marion’s Artree.
Recently, I wrote about the work that Janet and her sister Leah were undertaking to raise money for a research and support group for Meniere’s Disease and it culminated last week with a stall they ran in Leah’s hometown, Newcastle, a beautiful city the north of Sydney, at the Hunter Valley’s Art Society summer markets.
Meniere’s disease led to the premature death of Marion, Janet and Leah’s sister a few years ago. She was much loved and had many friend’s in the art world…
Marion’s Artree Stall was the most popular of all the stalls on the day and they raised a substantial amount of money that will now be donated to the Research Foundation that is working towards a cure for this disease.
The local member of State Parliament, Tim Owen, spent time helping out the girl’s on the stall, and the local TV Station took an interest, which gave them some prominence to highlight what they are endeavouring to achieve with Marion’s Artree.
And there were some lovely pieces of artwork that was donated by artists’ from all over Australia in support of this project.
Bravo to the girl’s, what a great success!
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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A Seedpod (In the Australian Bush)
There are some wonderful things to see when Out and About in the Australian Bush.
There are landscapes that stretch from horizon to horizon under a never-ending blue sky, some unique animals, and some things you need to go searching for, or you just happen to come across.
A couple of weeks ago I was bush-walking up in Yengo National Park and the lovely contrast in this little seedpod caught my eye…
How good is it!
Crikey, you wouldn’t be dead for quids, hey?
Photo: Baz, The Landy
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Dope on a Rope (Over Australia)
How good is this… just hanging out, a dope on a rope…
Strewth I’ve got to get back to some climbing, and what better place than a climb on Sweet Dreams in the Blue Mountains just to the west of Sydney…now there’s a thought!
And hey, remember, if all else fails, just take a running leap at life, see what develops and live to the motto…
“Those that don’t think it can be done shouldn’t bother the person doing it”…
(Big Bad) Baz…
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Living Works Of Art (In the Australian Bush)
Perhaps this will come as little surprise, but today we were Out and About in the Australian Bush…
TomO was having a sleep over at a friends place, although the term sleepover is used merely to highlight that he wasn’t at home with us, because if I know those boys there would have been little sleep happening.
Hell, come to think of it, the poor bloke was probably cleaning up the aftermath of the dinner party we enjoyed with the parents of TomO’s mate last night…
Now nothing ever seems to happen in our house before a cup of tea has been taken, which shouldn’t be that surprising as Janet’s father, Archie, was a tea importer, so after our mandatory cup of tea this morning we boarded The Landy, camera gear at the ready, and headed about 50-kilometres to the north of Sydney into Yengo National Park.
This park is a favourite of ours and we have spent many hours atop Devil’s Mountain watching the sun set on the the park’s western horizon, or Burragurra as it is known by Australia’s first inhabitants.
The mountain has many aboriginal rock engravings etched into its surface, including the spirit footprints of Wa-boo-ee, the creator of heaven and earth. In aboriginal legend he stepped from here to Mount Yengo in one stride and then ascended back into the sky.
All this, just to the north of Australia’s most populous city, strewth, how did we Aussies’s get so lucky?
And you know how I tend to rave on about the Australian Bush and Outback, well just take another look at the beautiful example of a Fringed Lily. They are so minute and in flower presently.
And as harsh as the Australian Bush can be it is such a fragile environment producing what can only be described as Living Works of Art…just like the Fringed Lily!
Crikey, all together now, say it!
(Big Bad) Baz, we wouldn’t wouldn’t be dead for quid’s!
Photos: (Big Bad) Baz, The Landy
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Just Dreaming (In the Australian Outback)
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