the tooth fairy

The tooth fairy didn't come Saturday night....She must have been too tired..or stayed up too late drinking with friends...Luckily it snowed, which meant she just couldn't go out in the cold, and made up for it the next night. She was fortunately forgiven, we collected lanterns from the tomatilla tomatoes, which will be perfect for her to see with on long dark nights. The kids in the fairy club at school are making her a throne. They raced to school last week as one poor kid had dropped his tooth out into the edge of the sandpit. They couldn't wait to see if there was a bounty left there. I feel a bit sad (and slightly nauseous) with all these little perfect teeth raining down around me, as though theres a little piece of childhood that's getting lost each time one comes out.

Apple and blackberry electric shock pie

I took off with my 4 year old to collect some sun kissed blackberries to make blackberry pie. Life was good as we diligently picked berries and pricked ourselves. We were just topping up the last of our buckets on this quiet country road, when a couple of Telstra technicians turned up and parked next to us. They got out with all their gear, saying a friendly G'day back to my son. They paid no mind to us leaning over the bushes right next to them, trying desperately to get the best of the fruit. They pulled open a metal post that was perched on the grass, exposing the disarray of cables inside. One of the young fellas leapt back with a cry, he'd been electrocuted. We looked around in dismay. He seemed to shake it off though, much to our bemusement and they very quickly packed up and left again. The blackberries mixed with some apples straight off the tree, with home made buckwheat pastry made for a yummy pie though, and I reckon we had a much better day than him!

new pictures!

so yay there are finally some new pictures up. I really wanted to take some photos of special moments about the place, but was cooking dinner and.....So I asked the kids to head out with the camera and take some photos of beautiful things around the place that they loved. They piled back in in time for dinner, saying "it's all done Mumma, here are your photos.' 'Oh did you get some good ones?'' 'Oh yes, great! We took lots while we were riding our bikes, I had the camera in the basket!' 'Hmmm, well, thats great, thanks.' So these are the photos I've added. I might swap them with some that are in focus soon, but I think they capture beautiful moments.

in search of fairies

The kids at school (age 6), have made a fairy club. They spend their lunchbreak searching through the flower beds for evidence of fairies. Sometimes they find the queens crown, sometimes her throne. They include anyone who wants to join in, and refer to a book on fairies to ensure the accuracy of their finds, just as we did with reptiles in the desert. Today after school we went to the garden to pick everything that we could find that is red for dinner. Asha discovered a ripe tomato with awe. She said in a half whisper, 'When is Elsie coming over? She has to see this?' I asked her what it was and she said 'it's just what we've been looking for. It's a certain fairies tomato, exactly the right shape, it's in my book!' I remember being six. I thought it was the best age in the world to be. I think I might still agree.

First day at school

Clay is starting school tomorrow. His first day of kindergarten. I feel like I'm launching him into the world, 'off you go, you'll be right, see you at three.' I just don't think I'm ready! He is 'very excited about starting school.' so fingers crossed there will only be tears from me. He is so proud in his school uniform, with his bag. His school overlooks the sea and is made up of small white buildings with little gardens and big swings. Now if I was still in the desert, I would have him all to myself still, but I would hate to deprive him of this moment. He's just learning to fly.

cucumbers and babies

Alright I am making a promise here for all those lovely people who are patient with me enough to keep reading these words. I will put photos on from our Tasy life, very soon..., and as long as people keep reading this from Russia, I will continue to write to you! PS I would love to know about your life if you're willing to share it! Anyway, back in Tasy.... As much as we missed our planting season here as we were kicking back in the Simpson Desert, our greenhouse has still flourished. Imagine tomatoes clawing their way to the roof, lettuces filling every spare patch of bare earth, basil sending its pungent scent through the moist warm air (thats right, warm, greenhouses are awesome!) So Zave is now cracking 18 months, and flat out refused to eat his lunch. Tottering behind me, he 'helped' while I hooked up the sprinkler to water the garden. Looking behind me, I saw he had his head deep in a cucumber plant that cascaded well over his head. He managed to pull off our first beautiful cucumber. He looked at it, showed me, then took a bite. he proceeded to march off, slowly eating the whole thing, prickly skin and all. Thats why I have a garden.

a morning in Tasmania

Feeling very fortunate with my place in the world this morning, I travelled 2 minutes down the road to visit our new family day carer for the baby (now 18 months old). She is an amazing woman in a beautiful bush setting, who we are very lucky to have helping us care for Zavier. I then went around the corner to the inspiring property that is Paulette and Matts. Vegetables and flowers burst from the seams of this home and business from which they sell incredibly small but yummy flowers to the top chefs in Hobart. I stared around with a glazed look for a while, drooling a bit. Just as I was starting to think about moving into their greenhouses just so I could look at the flowers some more, she wheeled me out a full wheelbarrow load of fruit laden tomatoes to plant. Steering me carefully towards the gate, she pointed out the most enormous pumpkins I have ever seen, hiding in the massive green floating leaves. We loaded the plants into the boot, then I loaded my older kids into her house, where they were in heaven playing with their mates. I then drove down to my sister in laws, another minute away, and dropped off some boxes of books for her kids, from mine, and had a cup of tea. Picking up the kids on the way home, I arrived back at our house in time to send off a job application and then greet Bob Brown and partner Paul, who came to drop off work gear and have a cup of tea. It was a priviledge to talk to Bob and Paul about Tasmanias beauty and the Simpson deserts fire, and to hand them some freshly made apricot jam. Life is good.

Kite festival

Al and I managed to get leave from the kids to ride our bikes together the hour or so to Hobart over the mountain. Sure was beautiful, and the temperature change was awesome. It seemed to go from 40 degrees up the hill to minus 20 degrees as we dropped down the other side, in about 2.5 seconds. Riding down the mountain, the city was spread out below us, flowing off the mountain before stopping, teetering on the edge of the bay. We met family, friends and our kids at the kite festival, which perched on a grassy hill overlooking the water. I imagined the kite runners in Kabul, and wondered if they are still making their kites fly and dance while cutting each others strings. The Hobart version was a bit tamer, but so beautiful. Kites filled the sky and everyone permanently ducked and weaved to miss or untangle themselves from the kids strings. Family, friends, good times in an easy life. Sailing ships of the air mingled with japanese fish and elaborate eagles, while the kids $3 kites danced in an uneasy truce below them. Life is good.

born just in time

Yesterday I was about to throw away my broody chooks eggs from under her. She was way overdue, and seemed like she was about to cark it. Her comb hung low and her head rested to one side. Surely she couldn't sit on her eggs any longer and stay alive. I felt terrible that such a commited mother, sittting for well over three weeks, and running herself into the ground, was about to be pulled off her treasured eggs, It seemed that her time as a mum was over before it had begun.I moved her wing aside and picked up an egg that looked cracked. It was warm and  vibrating. I very carefully placed it down again,and peeked under her other wing. A cute small yellow head peered around her tired mum at me. Today there are three gorgeous chickens, and she is still determined to sit on the rest. Her commitment is amazing, but well worth it in the end.

living in the skirts of Mt Wellington

Life can be so full, and so rich, yet I long for more. I am trying to tear my heart from the red dunes, and remind myself over and over how hard life was out there! I am however still blown away with what an incredibly beautiful place Tasmania is. Despite the fact that there are way too many people buzzing around the streets like flies on a dead camel, I am in awe of my surrounds. The stunning convict built sandstone buildings that frame Salamanca Place seem suddenly miniscule as my eye is drawn up onto the beauty of Mount Wellington that looms undeniably behind the city. No matter how city life consumes me in the the trivia  of christmas shopping, it all goes into perspective when I get a glimpse of that Mountain. Our house huddles under its back skirts, and we are blessed with its protection from the worst of the howling winds, yet I can glance up now and admire the soft evening light shining on the dead stags of long ago forest giants, almost but not quite perched on the dolerite rich summit. The Aboriginal name for Mt Wellington is Unghbanyahletta or Poorawetter. Maybe it should be Poorawetterdude...(sorry, couldn't resist). Anyway, we are so lucky to live here, and give thanks to the Aboriginal spirits that still seem to dwell in this land. So, I will try to embrace the fortune that is ours. I dug up 110 garlic yesterday, crisp purple and white bulbs. Planted last April, they came up like buried treasure from the weed bed that is my garden. Two chickens are sitting patiently on clutches of eggs, and Dad who is visiting has made me a worm farm out of a fridge, which I can't wait to deposit some worker worms in. So, I may need to change the name of this story to tassiedwellers instead of desertdwellers, and my children will learn about socialising and hatching chickens rather than dodging rats and eating camels....

open arms

Looks like we only just got out. The rains came 3 days after we left, and poured down, bringing flooded roads and bogged vehicles. We would have been stranded in the desert- last year they were cut off for 4 months, but we are out of it now. It seems so surreal that all our movements depended so solely on nature, and now we agin live by schedules, school runs and traffic lights. Two weeks of travel have brought us back to the endlessly green incredibly steep Tasmania. It feels like someone pushed with all their might against the side of the island and heaved it all up towards the sky. I need to remind myself that we do live on the side of Mount Wellington, and despite the biting cold, can watch the clouds roll across the mountain each sunrise. The people here are as beautiful as ever. We have been welcomed back with open arms, meals, a stocked fridge, kidsitters, cookies, bbq's, a happy dog. Our 'property' was even brushcut for us by some ever giving souls. We are so lucky, to live in utopia, but to also be able to experience another sort of utopia in the Simpson Desert. My heart is full, and yet aches to still live by natures rules...

photos

oops, I forgot, I put some new photos up at last. I should probably put some disclaimers in but never mind...

a crescent moon

So here we are, all ready to grab our bags of recently acquired cowboy boots and hats and head off out of the sunset!!! I've got to say a big thanks by the way, you helped to keep me sane out here, and linked to the other way of living by knowing that people want to know about us out here. Our last few days of painful packing was eased in a big way by our lovely neighbour taking on babysitting duty all last night and today. Apparently the kids went to sleep at 3:30am last night, then went hard playing again all today. They got back tonight a little deranged and very bleary eyed, but completely in love with their friends. We all threw together some emuburgers and home made sausages, and Shae even brought some lettuce over, which I couldn't stop staring at...it's been a while in between shops and green stuff! So our last night was spent laughing till I cried with our neighbours and the Field Officer, Mo, and trying to rein in the kids very vaguely. Shae and Mo even kicked Al and I out of the house at sunset and we drove off, this time into the sunset, to the dunes. We dodged the 50 or so roos that were around the water trough, then Al called out 'Look behind, it's attacking the car!' 'Uh, what is?' I thought maybe an emu, or a goanna... I craned my neck over the open window to see a snake right below me darting out from under the car into the spinifex. It had a dark head and a red body, and was fired up! 'Jeez you could have told me it was a snake, some warning would have been good! Did it really go for the car?''Yeah, it looked like it went right for it!'  Al pulled up on the next dune, 'the sunsets beautiful, and look at the light in the spinifex.' He was already playing with lenses on his camera. 'Yeah, it's lovely, but I'm not getting out there, it's snakeville.' I stared gloomily at the ground from my window. 'Oh, don't be silly, get out.' I did, and it was beautiful watching our last sunset, and  seeing the soft orange glow bring the true desert beauty into play, and turn the harsh 44 degree day into a world to beautiful to truly comprehend. We stood on the crest of a burnt dune, looking onto waving dry spinifex, but at our feet in the blackened sand were hundreds, no thousands of green shoots. The rain has brought new life, and the cycle will of course go on. On waving goodbye to our neighbours for the last time, they pulled away from the gate, sillhouted by the glowing orange clouds and watched over by a shining white crescent moon. It's time for us to say goodbye and give thanks for being welcomed and watched over in this great landscape. I only hope we will return some day.

Christmas party

So even out here in the desert we found enough people for a little christmas party. The neighbours came over with their kids and the new Field Officer was there. We had an awesome feast  with sunset and starters at Mo's pool, then moved to the house verandah for chicken camp oven roast (went down very well) with my quinoa salad (which was very doubtfully poked by the meat, bread and spuds crew!). This was followed by pavlova and trifle, with copious amounts of alcohol to wash it all down. We all managed to relax together after working our 'rings' off with the fires, and laughed well into the night playing fact or crap card games and telling stories. It was awesome to spend a last good night with the neighbours, who have becom good friends. All the kids slept over, and Zavier was kind enough to give us a 5:30 am start, so we are all a bit bleary eyed today. I am starting to dream of being home among friends, yet my heart is aching a bit. Time for another big pack up and clean...

we are all connected, and cut off...

Hey thanks to everyone who has been reading our stories, including those people in Brazil, Latvia, Russia, Indonesia, Germany, USA, the UK, Albania and Guyana, and the 500 or so of hits in Australia. It makes the world seem so interlinked when people from all those amazing countries could be reading about our Simpson Desert. We have a week to go but have been rained in. The roads are all currently cut off, we can't get any mail, or of course leave the house paddock. Its cold too. It's dropped from 45 degrees to 25 degrees, and we all had to come inside this morning as we were too cold to stay out! I am wondering how we'll go back in Tasmania. Unfortunately the airstrip is also innaccessible, and Zavier the baby had a bad fall yesterday. It sure made our hearts drop as we knew it was bad and the rain came thundered down, cutting us off from help. His eyes were rolled back in his head and his body shut down momentarily. His cries were gasping. Everything is OK now. Thank goodness we could call the Flying Doctors, who described the effect and said there were no long term effects and he should be fine.

bogged to the axles in the dunes

We swagged it that night at the Field River, the kids washed the dust off with a swim in a plunge pool made by the bore water washing into the dry river bed. Then we watched cringing as a storm flashed great bolts of lightning in the distance, but then breathed in some relief as the rain came with it, putting out any fires. We spent a soggy but beautiful night under the coolibahs, then packed up camp to head home. 80 or 100 dunes later we were again heading North up through Carlo Station. All was going so well. We had a young camel in two pieces strapped to the back of the ute, hopefully not dripping onto the portacot, and our spirits were high as we were heading home. Thats when we saw the water. The road had long muddy pools on it. Al gunned it as we were already in it, and careened around the road, the tyres sucking up the mud as we slid. We tried up on the bank, which was good for a bit, until we heard the radio call, 'come back'. We were travelling with two work colleagues, and they were stuck. On trying to get back to them, we bogged up to the axles. Two cars stuck, middle of nowhere, hours from anywhere, more rain on the way, 3 small kids. At least we had meat! Also it wasn't hot that day, probably only about 35 degrees, as opposed to the 45 degrees it has been. We spent nearly four hours getting out. I was starting to twitch, thats for sure. Two winches broke, one was patched together enough to drag us out with the sides of the tray under the wheels. The car was jacked up onto these and dug out first. Finally we were out, and I spent the next kilometre racing back out of it with my heart in my mouth. I just wanted my kids out of it! We got there though and drove back only two more hours back home, stopping for some very welcome beers at our neighbours place on the way back. Just a week or so left and we'll be leaving to head home to lovely cold Tasmania. Sometimes I can't wait!

Go west...

We decided to make the most of a window between fires, and storms, to rediscover our Western boundary. Cravens Peak and Ethabuka adjoin the Northern Territory on both of their Western borders, so we were able to skirt the neighbouring property in the middle and drop back into Ethabuka. We cut out West a few hours through the incredible Painted Gorge with petroglyphs aplenty, then South another few hours travelling in the Territory. On the way we drove through the burnt areas, Cravens Peak has about 80% burnt, and Ethabuka probably has about 70% burnt. Thats around 900 000 acres of the properties we manage that have burnt! Its been declared a disaster zone so hopefully Bush Heritage will be able to recoup some of its costs from fighting them. Where a few mm of rain had fallen was incredible, green shoots spred a lawn across the blackened earth. Seeds from the trees are lying in chaotic piles, some scorched black from the heat, but others looked good, having all cracked open from the heat and are lying waiting for moisture. We ended up at an amazing swamp with coolibahs poking out through the still expanse of water, the sounds of water birds in the distance was amazing. There were storm clouds brewing though so we didn't linger, as we would never have gotten out of there with wet ground. Hundreds of kilometres of dunefields lay to the west of us, and there were more to the East, and South, and a few North also. The riverline that we followed to our campsite was dry, but edged with red gums, coolibahs and desert poplars. at one point we drove through a thicket of a tall, spindly plants with a delicate purple flower. It was so tall it hung right over the roof of the car, and went on for a few hundred metres, before disappearing into the endless spinifex.

Swim camp

Swim camp was great, lots of work in the kitchen and kid juggling, but Asha loved it. She even got to play the fairy godmother in the finale! Working and mixing with the other station women and teachers was a privilege, especially in talking to them about raising kids out here. I asked one lovely woman if she preferred being here or in the Kimberleys where she was stationed previously. 'Oh The Kimberleys she said without hesitation. It's way too suburban here!'  Granted, she lives on a property only half an hour from town, but the town consists of about 100 people, and she backs on to an expanse of millions of uninterrupted dunefields!
We probably seemed like we came in from the sticks. A 2.5 hour drive got us there, we didn't get bogged, and Al shot an enormous pig on the way. The last night in Bedourie was a good night but messy. We all needed a wind down after the camp and especially the fires. Despite my claim of not wanting to shame myself and starting the night drinking only xxxxgold! (Don't tell anyone from Adelaide), it soon deteriorated.  The night continued with copious amounts of vodka, country music, big hats and great yarns. Unfortunately the next morning was very shameful, and we all limped the hours home, only to see great plumes of smoke yet again. Al pulled an all nighter that night, and none of us got much sleep the next 2 nights. Fire has ripped through cravens peak now on the eastern side. coming too close to the house. The sky was aglow with red that night. the kids were asking me what the red was outside their window as they were going to sleep. 'Umm, its fire kids" I had to say. I finally got onto Al on the satellite phone, he was somewhere out there and the fire looked very close. He was stuck the other side of the fires and couldn't get through, the car was overheating and he'd done a shock absorber. I had a tantrum and packed woollen clothes in a bag, just in case... alls good now though, and Al is having a day off at long last. School goes on regardless though, so back to it!

I spoke way too soon...

So our bags were packed, portacot was in, cars were fueled up, and kids had big smiles on their faces ready to go to the swim camp in Bedourie when we saw the smoke. 'No way! we were so close to making it out!' We drove up to the neighbours, on whose property the fire currently is, and who were also driving to the camp with us, worked out that there was no way we could go. Then drove home and piled out of the car again. 'Sorry kids theres more fires'. Al has disappeared off into the smoke again, to be seen again hopefully unsinged who know when. The kids and I and our neighbours will try in the morning to head to town. The clouds are building again though so maybe it will rain and put the fire out. Maybe then the rivers will be up too high to cross to go to town...These fires are a lot closer to both our houses, and in areas of high fuel loads, so this time we are all praying for rain.

Emu hamburgers

A poor emu got its leg stuck in a fence and broke it the other day. Al dispatched it and brought it home in pieces. We minced it up today (you should have seen the drumstick). Pulling off the odd feather brought back memories of a rooster cull in Tasy... They were yummy hamburgers and supposedly very lean, high in protein and iron, so all good. It would be easy to grab another, but they are too lovely, and native for that matter. All you have to do if you do ever want to get near one (to take a photo maybe), when you spot an emu, is run around for a moment then fall on to your back, waving your arms and legs in the air as much as you can. I like to add the odd stick up of a leg or head to keep them interested. Being curious creatures, they'll saunter up as a group, heads outstretched, trying to work out what on earth is going on. They can get really close, until their strong legs look a bit too close for comfort anyway.