Crikey and Stone the Flamin’ Crows time seems to have whizzed by the last couple of months and may have left you wondering what ever happened to Baz…
You were wondering weren’t you?
Well I haven’t been hiding under a rock in the Outback, although there has been some appeal to that at times…
In fact, there has been little in the way of Outback travel at all since my long sojourn deep into Australia’s Gibson Desert late last year, and nothing on that faraway horizon at this time. It will be more a case of getting out into the Australian Bush when we can snatch a weekend here and there.
Mind you, we are heading to London mid-year for a couple of weeks rest and recreation!
However, I do want to share with you that I am working towards resurrecting that ridiculously big dream I have to climb some of the world’s largest mountains. You may recall my ambitious plan to attempt a summit of Cho Oyu, an 8,000 metre peak in the Himalayan Mountains.
For one reason and another, the plan got side-tracked over the past couple of years, life tends to get in the way, hey! But I’m going to give it another shot and see where it lands me this time around…
And yes, I’m hearing you, I will need to get fit and rest assured training is under way.
Well, let’s call it moving forward for now and to give me a goal to press towards and to build strength and endurance for the mountains I have entered the 2017 Coast-to-Coast Race in New Zealand’s spectacularly beautiful South Island.
For those who have been following my journey from the mountains to the Australian Outback these past few years you may recall this is billed as one of the world’s toughest adventure races that I competed in five years ago in 2012.
Ahead of the Coast-to-Coast there are a number of other events that will lead me towards the start line at Kumara Beach On New Zealand’s west coast.
This will include a short-course adventure race, the Hawkesbury Classic kayak race taking in 110-kilometres of the Hawkesbury River and even a run to the top of the Sydney Tower, a gruelling climb of 1,504 steps and 310 metres of vertical ascent (and yes – I’m using the term run loosely). But I’ll be in good company on the Tower climb with TomO and Janet-Planet joining me in the race to the top….
Oh, don’t get sucked in by the long time line between now and the start of the Coast-to-Coast next February, TomO the Crown Prince turned 16 years of age yesterday, which left me and Janet-Planet wondering where all that time went…
The climbing ropes are beckoning, the kayak is itching to get out onto the water and the running shoes are screaming out for some action – I just prayer the body holds up this time around!
But you know my philosophy on life – You just wouldn’t be dead for quids, hey!
A great part of being Out and About in this great southern land of ours is the opportunity it gives to prepare food over an open fire – campfire cooking.
Mind you, I’m no gourmet cook, far from it and besides, Janet-Planet cooks up the best food ever.
Um, yes, you’re right, my waistline is starting to confirm that…
But let me say, there is nothing better than sitting around a fire on a lazy Sunday morning, the bacon sizzling away in the pan, coals glowing as the aroma of the smoked hickory bacon wafts on a warm and gentle breeze…
And for sure, I’m hearing ya – every morning is a lazy one in the Australian Outback…right?
By-the-way, I’ll have my eggs poached in an orange thanks!
What?
Get out of here…you’ve never tried it?
Tell you what, scoop out an orange, crack an egg into it and sit back, relax, it’ll be cooked soon enough – you’ll never look back.
Orange poached egg, its got to be the best thing since sliced bread!
A Ray of Light, in paradise… in love – who are with and what are sipping on as the sun slips gently below the horizon on a balmy South Pacific evening…?
Photo; Baz – The Landy
(With Janet-Planet, a gin and tonic with a twist of lemon, and a champagne, bubbles, for Janet of course… 😉 ) Oh, and I just spotted TomO, the Crown Prince…
Ps: We do get away from the Outback every so often!
The pub was in operation until the 1950s, but apart from the cellar there is little evidence of it these days. The cellar door was closed during the day, and opened at night to allow the cooler air in.
Having spent much time sitting in the cockpit behind the controls of many aircraft over the years, I have to say the Super Constellation gets my vote as the “coolest” aircraft, ever…
Photo: Baz – The Landy, Narromine, in the Australian Bush…
The Elders and traditional lands of the Birriliburu People of Australia’s Gibson Desert…
Photo; Baz – The Landy
The Birriliburu Lands are an Indigenous Protected Area not open to the general public. I visited at the kind invitation of the Elders of the Birriliburu People.
Who remembers the days of real milk bars and real milkshakes – milkshakes made with malt and filled to the brim with real milk and dispensed in the traditional metal tumbler?
As a young lad growing up in Far North Queensland, FNQ to the initiated, I can remember my father taking me on a Saturday morning ritual to check the mail at the post office followed by a milkshake at our favourite milk bar.
I suspect Dad was never interested in what the mail brought, in fact I don’t ever recall him opening it, but boy did we savour those milkshakes.
So it was to my great surprise that I discovered Bell’s Milk Bar in our iconic Outback town of Broken Hill. Now I have written often about the rich history of “The Hill” and on sojourns to and from the Outback we always take the time to stop over, if only to stand on the western edge of this great town as the sun cast its last rays on a red ochre coloured landscape.
But somehow I had overlooked this gem that is caught in a 1950s time warp.
Needless to say I wasted no time in ordering a chocolate malted milk which I savoured with great pleasure as Janet and I wandered around looking at the memorabilia that has been collected over the years…
Plastic tables, plenty of chrome, even the old heavy black phones!
Without a doubt it is now on our must-do things when passing through “The Hill” in fact we’ve made a mental note to ensure it is the first thing we do as “The Landy” heads into town…
Crikey, I’d drive the 1,200-kilometres from Sydney any day to fill-up at Bell’s; to reminisce of days long-gone, of those moments with the “Old Man” in downtown Townsville drinking our liquid gold through a paper straw, the silence punctuated only be the slurping sounds of a quickly disappearing shake.
So take my tip and be sure to include Bell’s on the itinerary next time you are passing that way, you won’t be disappointed!
Xplore 