The Rabbitts hit the road again last week, this time travelling North. Zoe was due to attend a hen weekend on the Gold Coast and wanted to see Ian to celebrate his recent birthday, so she flew up a day early and we took a short holiday in the same direction to meet up with her. Although I have visited Queensland before, I have not been further than two hours north of our home by road so far so this was to be a new experience.
We headed off up the Pacific Highway, which is the main motorway up the east coast. It used to be one or two lanes all the way and pass through town after town, which must have been really unpleasant for the residents as so many trucks use this route. It apparently took an age to get through the endless bottlenecks, but there is a huge construction project underway to upgrade it and to bypass the towns, some of which are now dying because of lack of passing business, while others are flourishing as they are more desirable places to live.
After about four hours we reached Coffs Harbour where we had booked an overnight stop at The Clog Barn. We chose this site as a bit of a laugh because it is right on the Pacific Highway and everyone who travels this road sniggers about it. The signs boast that they have the world's only clog shaped swimming pool and everything is Dutch themed, so we went in expecting the ridiculous. Well, it was delightful! Our pitch was on a riverbank and the cafe had a beautiful balcony overhanging the river where guests could enjoy breakfast, the facilities were excellent and the owners friendly and helpful. Admittedly there was the clog shaped pool and the kiddie pool had a giant clog above it which squirted out water but the children staying there loved it. 
There was also a gift shop, where they made their own souvenir clogs, and a charming model village that has been built entirely by the owners and is filled with replicas of Dutch buildings and a railway where the train is, yes you've guessed it, clog shaped!
Coffs Harbour is also home to the first Big Thing, the Big Banana. This stretch of the coast is banana growing country and there are banana plantations all around. However, the Big Banana is one of the slightly disappointing Big Things. They have made the most of it though, and now there is a huge Big Banana fun park surrounding the original tourist attraction.
Coffs Harbour is a very dog friendly town too with a dog park and, off leash dog beaches. All in all we wished we were staying a bit longer and will definitely go back again.

A couple of days after my last post about the Royal Easter Show, this delightful picture turned up in the newspaper showing a horse appearing at the show who had never seen rain before. The article did not specify where he was from but, even in New South Wales there are towns which see very little rain, like Tibooburra or Menindee, and in parts of the outback years can go by without any significant rainfall.
We have not ventured far afield this week but there has been plenty going on in our little township to keep us interested. First a 65ft prawn trawler sank in the bay, it was moored at the marina and was discovered one morning half underwater. The, already overworked, volunteers of the Rural Fire Service were called in to help and the hazardous chemical people came and set up a boom around the boat to stop diesel leaking out into the water. The area is home to several oyster farms as well as being a prime fishing area so luckily that aspect was made safe quite quickly. Not so refloating the thing though. The local marine repair company tried and failed over several days to get the trawler upright again, even temporarily sinking one of their own barges in the attempt! It seems they did not have the necessary equipment and were wasting their time so a big rescue organisation were eventually called in and it is now floating again. It doesn't look too good though, I would have thought a few days underwater would not be too much trouble for a boat but apparently that is not the case.
Meanwhile the local council have invested in an upgrade of our foreshore which involves replacement of jetties around the boat ramp and a new ocean pool with shark/jellyfish nets to take the place of the, rather tatty, old one. The pool is very popular with the local kids, some of whom get off the school bus and jump straight in still wearing their school uniforms on hot days. The uniforms here are just shorts and polo shirts, not blazers and ties, so not the end of the world.

As the old pool disappeared, the children were still jumping in off the remaining bits then there were a grim few days when the whole area was fenced off as the digging for the poles took place and they could only look longingly from the beach. Finally, as the new pool went in, they were sploshing around in it before the workmen and women had finished putting the nets up.

 Later on we spotted a procession of children with fishing rods heading in the direction of the pool, the way it is built now means they can sit on the edge and fish on the outside of it.

Ian had a Big Birthday this week and one of his gifts was a new fishing rod so I expect he will soon be joining them.
On a happy note to finish, the fires at the Tilligerry Habitat do not seem to have put off the wildlife, the plants are already growing back and this kookaburra did not seem to mind at all that the tree he had chosen to sit in was burnt to a crisp.

There was another early start for us this week as we set off at the crack of dawn on Friday to catch the train down to Sydney for the Royal Easter Show. We love a country show but this one knocks all the others into a cocked hat, it is sensational. Not only is this huge event impeccably organised and a brilliant showcase for everything that is impressive about country Australia but there is a nice big helping of the ridiculous too, which appeals to me no end.
The show is on for two weeks over Easter and, although most exhibits are on show for the duration, events like the wood chopping and the dog shows change every day. We realised we were in luck when we arrived at the fruit and vegetable displays just in time for the prize giving and things kept getting better. Last year the dogs on show on the day we visited were nearly all Labradors, pleasant but not much variety, this year we were treated to Old English Sheepdogs, English Terriers (never seen them before but they were very cute), Irish Wolfhounds, Deer Hounds, Airedales, Afghans, Salukis, Dogues Du Bordeaux and a variety of different Collies my sister in law Brenda would have loved. 
The best was yet to come though. As we entered the woodchop arena we saw it was set up for the tree felling competition! This is an event you don't get to see very often because it is not staged at the smaller shows (I'm guessing there are not too many wood choppers who specialise in it or maybe the event organisers just cannot afford the insurance) and, even at the Sydney show it is only on a couple of days and I have never seen it before. 

What happens is this; they erect 4.6 metre logs and the contestants chop out a chunk, insert a narrow plank, jump onto it and chop out the next chunk inserting another plank and jumping onto that. They carry on like this until they reach the top, then chop halfway through the top section, leap back down and start again on the other side. The first person to chop the top clean off their log is the winner. However, they are handicapped and counted in so the least able starts first and the others join in one at a time. When we were watching, the world champion was taking part and he started a full two minutes after the first contestant and still won! 

There are prizes for everything, including champion fleeces and eggs. The cakes and arts and crafts were the usual mix of staggeringly intricate and just plain weird (yes the biker is a cake)  and I was impressed as usual by the very young people handling rather large livestock. It really is very important for the livestock owners to do well in the show as to have an Easter Show Champion increases the value of the flock or herd enormously so all the animals go through the sort of grooming process we are only used to seeing at dog shows. The cow wash, in particular, was very busy as the owners made their cows and bulls pretty for the judges. 

Australia is currently experiencing a very long, hot, dry spell. We cannot really remember when we last had rain, it was certainly several weeks ago, and the temperature is hovering around 30 degrees which is higher than it would usually be in early autumn. When this happens, fire is never too far from Australian residents' thoughts, we all make sure we have taken sensible precautions like keeping our gutters clear and removing overhanging branches.
All towns have fire danger signs which serve as a reminder for everyone to be careful with cigarettes, barbecues etc, so it is astonishing that some people light fires deliberately as a way of getting their jollies.
This happened on Monday evening at the beautiful Tilligerry Habitat, where we volunteer. The smoke was spotted and firefighters got there in time to put out the flames, the koala who is there at the moment was well away from the affected area and we didn't spot any dead echidnas or lizards so everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Until it happened again at the same time the following evening!
Again the firefighters got there on time but another big black patch was left and one of the boardwalks had some damage. We all thought nobody could be stupid enough to try it a third time but on Sunday, when Ian and I were on duty we suddenly smelled smoke. Our hearts sank and Ian shot off on his bike to find out where it was coming from. He had only been gone a moment or two when he phoned to say the fire was quite big and right behind our plant nursery next to the information centre where we are based and is a straw bale building so I imagine it can't be terribly fire resistant. 
We called the firefighters, who are all volunteers and got the access gate unlocked ready for them. The fire was already too big for us to do anything about, the nature of bush fires is that the wind blows sparks from the main fire making lots of little ones and it is very easy to find yourself surrounded. The nursery manager turned up and put all the sprinklers on in the nursery and he and Ian set up hoses ready to defend the building if it came closer then we just had to wait for the emergency services with the roar of the fire in the background. 
Six fire trucks and three support vehicles turned up and managed to get the fire under control fairly quickly but it has left a huge black patch with no undergrowth. This is not as bad as it sounds or looks because Australian native bush has evolved to cope with fire and grows back quite quickly, the volunteers who work in the nursery have to bake some seeds at a very high heat to get them to germinate because they depend on fire to propagate. What is so dangerous is that the Habitat is right next door to a school and surrounded by housing, it has been warm and windy lately, so perfect bush fire conditions. I was shocked to hear that many bush fires are started deliberately, what a terrible thing to do! 
While all this was going on a visitor came to tell be he had just stopped an over enthusiastic tourist who he caught halfway up a tree trying to touch a koala! What is wrong with people?We are all keeping our fingers crossed for some rain this week, imagine that! I apologise for not getting better pictures of the fire but I was scared of getting told off by the firefighters.
On a happier note, our resident Lemon Tree Passage koala, Ella, is back. It turns out she did not need to be rescued as we feared as she has finally started ranging around a bit, not much but hopefully enough to get her daily quota of young leaves she needs to thrive.

Rainbow and Scaly
Breasted Lorikeets

Little Corellas

One of our favourite pastimes, when we are not working on the house, is going to look at houses for sale. This is not as sad as it sounds because real estate agents host open house viewings on Saturdays, where the house is opened up for half an hour for anyone to go and have a look. We get plenty of ideas for the renovations on our place when we do this but never miss an opportunity to have a nose around a really expensive property. This morning's trip out was to one such place, right on the waterfront in the koala park in a wonderful location. It was huge and splendid but the setting meant that, in order to enjoy the wonderful view, the residents would have to sacrifice their privacy as the koala park is a popular walk and an evening sitting on the veranda would be constantly interrupted by dog walkers and joggers passing by.

Galah

Pied Butcherbird

It got me to thinking how much we enjoy our, far more modest, little house. We can see the water through the trees from our balcony but one of the best things about it is that we are up in the treetops so the wildlife comes to us. There are plenty of bats circling in the evenings and, last night, Monty drove us nuts because he had spotted a possum in one of the trees, we occasionally hear a koala but best of all are the birds we can see without getting out of our chairs.
The Rainbow Lorikeets are our most frequent visitors and Ian feeds them by hand, they are sometimes joined by the smaller Scaly Breasted Lorikeets. Little Corellas (they are huge, not little at all) come by in a flock of about one hundred every evening, we try not to feed them because they are bullies and scare the other birds away, they will also start to eat your window frames and balcony if you stop feeding them once you have started. Beautiful pink and grey Galahs stop by too, I can never understand why, in Australia, a stupid person is called a Galah, they are gorgeous birds, but it is less bold birds we like to see the most.

Kookaburra

Eastern Koel

Pied Butcherbirds have taken a long while to get used to us but will come if there is bacon rind on the bird feeder, as will Australian Magpies, I'm not so keen on them as they are big with huge beaks but they sing with a lovely warbling sound. Bacon also attracts the occasional Kookaburra and it is always a treat to have one of those come to call.
There are other birds who will not come close while we are there but sit in the trees surrounding us such as the Eastern Koel, Tawny Frogmouth Owl, the slightly nutty Dollarbird who makes strange noises and flies in a very haphazard manner and, my absolute favourite, the adorable Eastern Rosella.

Dollarbird

Another little treat this week was to spot this nest a pair of Noisy Miners (I have spelled that correctly, a mynah is different) have built in one of our trees. It is very precarious and blows around terribly in the slightest wind. If you look closely you can see the second Miner sitting on the nest, it is Autumn now, so a bit strange they are nesting but apparently it can happen if the summer has been good.

Noisy Miner

Eastern Rosella

Tawny Frogmouth Owl

There was great excitement locally this week as the Queen Elizabeth was scheduled to arrive in Newcastle on Monday morning. Cruise liners do not usually visit Newcastle, there is no passenger terminal and the city docks are all dedicated to coal ships which come from all over the world to load up. 
Newcastle is about 40 minutes by car from us or a twenty minute drive then 5 minutes on the ferry, so we planned to watch from the ferry terminal. The ship was due to arrive at 7.15 am so we got up at a sparrow's fart, loaded up our bikes and arrived in plenty of time. There was quite a crowd gathering by the time we got there and several coal ships were being dragged out to sea by tugs in a mad scramble to get on their way before the Queen Elizabeth pulled in and blocked the entrance to the harbour for an hour or so.
Bang on time she came out of the sunrise into view. The gun at Fort Scratchley fired three times in salute as she rounded the lighthouse and headed into the docks. Because she is so huge, the ship had to complete a 180 degree turn right in front of the watching crowd before being backed into her dock for the day. It was pretty spectacular and well worth the early start,  when the ship was sideways on it became clear just how little room there was to spare and, if you look in the corner of the photo, you will see there was even a kangaroo joey watching the proceedings and taking pictures with his phone.

The visit was part of a four month world tour for the passengers and there was a little ceremony after to commemorate the original Queen Elizabeth carrying Australian service personnel during the Second World War. There is talk of building a cruise ship terminal in Newcastle which would be great for employment and the local economy if it went ahead.
We caught the ferry across and cycled around the headland after. The beaches in Newcastle are sensational and Surfest was beginning there this week, last year the event was badly disrupted by shark sightings but there has been nothing like that so far this time. As we cycled over the Anzac bridge a milestone was reached as Ian's bike display reached 1000km (I have only done 965), we have nearly cycled the equivalent distance to visiting Zoe in Melbourne!

A much bigger celebration was in order at the end of this week though as we laid the last concrete slab in our path and can finally get ourselves and our bikes in and out without scrambling up and down the grassy slope.

Our day on the Tilligerry Habitat volunteers rota is Sunday and it comes as a bit of a relief at the moment as it makes us take a break from the, seemingly endless, concreting. We try to arrive about an hour before we have to open up so we can have a good look around for any koalas because it is good to be able to direct visitors to where they should see one, they are very tricky to find but Ian has got pretty good at spotting them. We were out of luck this weekend but the following day,while at the Habitat again doing some work on their website, Ian phoned me to say there were two koalas there and to bring my camera.
Two koalas together is a bit of a treat and when I arrived we went to find them. We were happily taking a few pictures of a very handsome koala and his lady friend when we heard a third koala in the bush. Koalas make a terrible grunting noise which cannot be mistaken for anything else and the male heard it at the same time as us (you can tell he is a male by the dark scent gland in the middle of his chest which he uses to mark trees). Bull koalas keep about a kilometre distance from each other and don't take too kindly to other males encroaching on their patch so he climbed down the tree and set off to see if this was a female to make friends with, or a male, in which case a scrap was on the cards. 
There are loads of beautiful walks around our home and we are still finding new ones. Last week we stumbled upon yet another path and followed it as it took us along a fire trail (a manmade track cut in the trees to be used as access by the firefighters in the event of a bushfire) and past some ponds. It was a very hot day so we did not see as many birds as we would expect to and turned back because Monty was starting to complain. On our return journey we sat and had a beer in a picnic shelter overlooking the spot where a ferry used to run from our town across the bay to Nelson Bay. This is only a couple of kilometres by sea but a forty minute drive by road. The ferry was destroyed in a storm about a year before we moved here and there is no sign of a replacement.

Australia is all about outdoor living and they seem to think of everything, the shelter we were taking a rest in was specially deigned for wheelchair users, what a nice touch.