Post for post sake

I'm posting a quick blog entry now because it's been nearly two weeks since I've written anything and I hate it when my blog stagnates.

So some things that have happened.

• 4 year old birthday party
• Week 2 of new job (Now riding about 20km per day to and from work)
• Retrieved bike from police station
• The Patch has received a grant (Congratulations guys, Ladies)
• The Dry season hit and in one week everything green began to wilt and turn brown
• ANZAC day dawn service
• Started reading 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy
• Visited the Territory Wildlife Park
• Sat outside in the morning and looked at the moon

A (Dummer) Hummer taking up some road


Couple of Willies Jeeps at Dawn Service



Some Darwin Street Art... (Sad but true depiction)



Tank maintenance at Territory Wildlife Park, or Mermaid display


It's the dry and we can see the moon again

Ch..ch..ch..changes

Monday was an eventful day!
I started my new Job which has put me on a learning curve to rival Mt Everest and we received a phone call from the police advising that they'd found our bike!

Cool eh? With the new job our whole family routine is changing but things seem to be working out OK. No time for blogging though. :(

In my new job I'll be working as an admin-assistant and support worker for Aboriginal People in outback communities. Heavy stuff considering I don't yet have any language to speak with...
First priority is learn Yolngu Matha and Yolngu world view! Immediately

Bicycle Anatomy for Beginners from Quickrelease.tv on Vimeo.

This great bicycle anatomical tour Courtesy of C.Y.C.L.E

This is not my work but I thought, if you're into fixing stuff or even asking for the shop to fix something then it'd be pretty handy to know what that bit of the bike is called... (I'll have to watch it a few times)

Theft

Stolen...
This morning I went down to The Patch to water in my tomatoes and re-plant some Pandan plants. It was a lovely morning and I was so happy to be out in the fresh morning air with the Scrub fowl for company and the smell of fresh soil and tomato plants in the air.

When I got home I left my bike out the front of our flat because I'd locked the gate to keep the children in and the thieves out. This morning, however, I was a bit slack didn't go straight around and put the bike away. Instead I left it un-locked for about 3 hours in the drive way... Remembering it was there I sung out to Sam that I was going to bring the bike around the back. When I got to where I'd left it I found nothing. No sign of our beautiful cruiser! Some little mongrel had stolen it!
The bike that is my primary mode of transport and the only way I had to collect my daughter from pre-school! Doesn't that stink? I'm trying to take a positive attitude toward the situation but slide into moments of resentment. The connections for both our We-rider and the Aleycat trailer were both attached! Now both of these will be useless!



Cruiser and alleycat: In better days




The Cruiser at The Patch this morning (stolen soon after photo taken)


If you live in Darwin and happen to see our bike somewhere please contact me... Even if we can get the attachments back I would be grateful.
(you can find my email contact on my profile page)

A drive in the country

Lately we've felt a bit stuck in a fairly predictable routine so on Sunday we decided to just get in the Car and go for a drive... (sometimes it just has to be done)

We headed down the track to Howard Springs to visit the nature reserve and had quite a nice time showing the kids all the fish and turtles that live in the spring fed pool. For a while we were the only ones there and could watch the giant Barramundi cruising the slightly turbid water. This place used to be packed with people by 11:00 am but since a dangerous bacteria has been found in the water and people can't swim it has been mainly left to the fish.


A fish


While leaning over the pool to get a better shot through my polarizing filter I accidentally unscrewed it and dropped it in the water! I could see it but was forbidden from jumping in because of the health risk. So we spent about fifteen minutes trying unsuccessfully to fish it out with a pool scoop. "Oh the cleverness of me".

Thankfully the Ranger was very kind and persisted scouring the murky bottom of the pool and caught us as we were leaving. What a girl! I didn't want to bother her because she had her hands full shooing people out of the water, (nobody reads the signs you know) but she was determined to reunite me with my gear.

Two wild Hibiscus
(Native Hibiscus meraukensis and the introduced Hibiscus sabdariffa)


On the way back to town we saw some beautiful native Hibiscus meraukensis flowers and caught a great shot of a Yellow-spotted monitor. All up it was a pretty cool trip, although I'm still trying to get the grit out of my lens filter...



Yellow spotted monitor