SYDNEY!

It has been a while, but as we promised here is a little taste of what we got up to in Sydney!  We stayed in a brand new apartment in Chinatown (Haymarket), right in the heart of the city which enabled us to walk the streets of Sydney as we tried to find the best bits.

In the first day we managed to stumble across The Rocks. What was once the underbelly of the city -full of pubs, dockworkers and crime - has now been tastefully restored and free from major development. Behind the strip of galleries and pubs is the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge - what a back drop.

Sydney's  beaches and the bay were spectacular and we were kept busy taking in the sights of Manly, Clovelly, Bronte and of course Bondi. With Sydneys beach climate and thirst for a tipple,  there is nearly a pub on every corner - sporting stunning brick work and tiled facades.  So it was without complaint that we partook in a few beverages along the way.

We just happened to be in Sydney when the 20 - 20 cricket was in full sing, so on a balmy Tuesday night we ventured to the SCG with 25,000 other Sydney siders to see the Sydney Sixers taker on the Perth Scorchers. And we weren't dissapointed with the Sydney Sixes winning on the final ball.

How could we go to Sydney and not see the Harry Potter exhibition?  We were well and truly the oldest couple there (that weren't accompaning children), but that didn't stop us.  First part of the show was the Sorting Hat!  We were a bit shy and three eager kiddies jumped in before us, but Nic is sure she would have gone to Hufflepuff and Gus is pretty certain he would have followed in Harry's foot steps! Great exhibition - if a little expensive - but fabulous to see the amazing costumes and props up close. Gus' favourites were the Quidditch outfits - so much detail! Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed and so our only photo of the exhibit is this one of the flying car that was hanging in the entrance.

It finished to be a great trip - we were both very impressed with Sydney and are already looking forward to heading back!

Rain in Meekatharra

Greetings from wet, humid Meekatharra!  The spin off from the cyclone up north dumped a whole heap of rain last Friday night - 46mm at Meekatharra Airport.  As I'd been working on the Air Core rig out at North Andy Well, Joe (one of the Geo's) and I headed out first thing Saturday morning to assess the damage.  There were about 10 water crossings on the Great Northern Highway, some pretty hairy! 

With just managed to get to the Air Core drillers camp, which was underwater and the safety officer had gotten bogged (typical) so we lent them our snatch strap and they owed us a slab of beer.  So we headed back to Meeka for a quiet day - majority of hte people on site ended up driving back to Perth as not much can be done when wet.

The Diamond Rig - They started drilling today but won't be able to move holes for quite sometime!

The Great Northern Highway

Lots of water!

Wet Wet Wet!

The AC Drillers Camp. Needless to say all their swags were soaked..

So on Sunday morning Mark (another Geo) and I headed out to assess the damage and see how wet the tracks were.  Most of the water was off the Highway, so we headed out towards where we were drilling and came across the Driller who had gotten himself bogged.  To cut a very long story short, we ended up bogging all 3 utes and the truck so there were 8 of us stuck with no way to get out but walk!  The drillers are a motley crew, a bunch of cowboys really, which means they pretty much do what they want and therefore don't listen to our suggestions of leaving the utes and getting the hell out of there!

A very stuck truck!

What three bogged utes look like!

After a long, hot (and hungover!) day, we decided to call it a day, leaving two Utes behind and a very stuck truck.  Luckily our ute was the only one that wasn't bogged, so Mark and I finally returned to town for an afternoon nap!

In a totally unrelated matter... Angus has always asked me what the pubs in Meekatharra are like.  I've been avoiding them of late (something to do with a wedding dress!!) after getting 'rained in' on Saturday, we all headed down for dinner followed by a blowout.  We have 4 drill crews in town so they were all out, along with all the locals who had Sunday off (not us!!).  But after dinner at the 'Commie' we pub crawled to The Royal Mail, where the jukebox was pumping out Lee Kernegan (not kidding) and everyone was getting stuck in the full strength beer, as due to liquor restrictions wasn't available anywhere else.  


So here are some snaps to give you a bit more of an idea of what the Meekatharra night life is all about.. Bundy, Pool, Darts and swearing.  Literally!

Think the RC boys might have had something to do with this!

Playin' some darts

The busiest I've ever seen it!

Life in Meekatharra

Greetings from sunny Meekatharra.. A pleasnant 26 degrees today!  I took some photos last swing and have been meaning to show them off for the few of the McAllisters who aren't Facebook savvy.

Meekatharra from the air.

The Meekatharra tank which welcomes all the truckies coming down the Great Northen Highway

The main drag.  Majority of the stores are empty.. apart from the three pubs of course!

Andy Well - Where all the action is.  With any luck, this time next year this will be a massive pit!

Dusty work on the RC Rig

A bungarrow that was lurking around the sumps near the RC rig

I Spy: Can you find the bush chook?

Some of the action from the Meekatharra Races, of which Doray was the main sponsor

The Doray team at the Races

That's all for now.. almost 9pm so my bedtime!  Will take some more photos around the yard etc to give you a bit more of an idea of what Paradise looks like!

TASSIE GOLF TRIP

Last weekend the boys (Hatsy, Dale, Bones, Skinny, Stribley, Locky) and I took a trip to Australia's No 1. golf course; Barnbougle Dunes, located right on Bass Strait in the top right hand corner of Tasmania.

All seven of us managed to get Friday off work, so we headed up Thursday night in the mini bus to the nearby town Bridport.

The 10th @ 7am

Warming Up

It was an early start and we were at the course by 7am.  I took the opportunity to get this snap of the 10th.   We then paid our $100 for a round and took some practice balls to the fair way. 

We got off to a flying start but it didn't take long to realise that once the balls were in the rough there was no chance of finding them.

Careful golf was a must, with hundreds of emails being pinged around leading up to the event - I was focused.

Trying hard not to hit it in the rough took all of my concentration but  my efforts paid off - in 18 holes I shot an 88.

The weather was mild and the infamous winds held at bay and we were fully able to appreciate the stunning course. 


A boozy lunch ensured my good round was not to be replicated, and my tee shots started spraying into the vicious rough.  Everyone was finding it difficult - as seen the by the photo of Skinny (Rhys) getting out of the bunker (3rd attempt)!

I managed to find the biggest bunker on the course on my second 18 - lucky it only took me 2 shots to get out!

After 36 holes of golf  we were all exhausted, ad it was an early night for another 20 holes of golf at Barnbougle Lost (Ball) Farm the next day.

When they designed this course they allowed for 20 holes - by the time they were finished they couldn't decide which ones to leave out so there are 20 holes!

Another stunning course with plenty of rough to consume lost balls and it did!  I managed to lose 20 balls!  It was a long day we were all keen to hit the 21st hole.


Sore head Sunday but totally worth it,
I hope you enjoy the pics..

Angus

As seen above

Prue & Don's FIFO alternative

Had a visitor today, Steve Ware, and Don and I took a turn over Bonnie Brae ( one by one!)   Apparently I am the first female to venture up with Steve!  Pretty amazing views, but got a tad high for me - just out of the clouds so Steve said when we landed.
It's a bit like being on an airborne motorbike. WIll make riding pillion with Don a breeze!

Bonnie Brae from river

As you can see - pretty rudimentary steering!

There's not much to it!

Looking down drive - at this stage I thought we were a little too far off the ground for my liking.

Don at Daylesford!

This is one of two photos that we managed to take at Daylesford - Don forgot to charge his new camera. As you can see, it was a beautiful day and the Lake was looking just gorgeous.  After such a big hike, we had to stop and recharge the batteries with scones and jam & cream at the Lakehouse.



We met this duck on our lap around the lake!

Photo number 2!

Thanks everyone for a great day! I loved Don's birthday and can't wait for the next one!! (Don loved it too and is looking forward to my birthday!)



Stuart & Elizabeth's Wedding