i wish i did this all weekend

what a week!  trying to get everything done for the office and my caseload and then there was ANZAC day of course mid-week.  great to have a holiday but not great for getting my work done.  i spent my anzac day cleaning...how fun...not. and then madly orienting the new locum while trying to also finish up my handover documents and other various things to tie up.  oh well.  i did get a little nap with miski, which was lovely. but most of the weekend was spent nursing a terrible headache and cleaning every nook and cranny of this house. talk about an ordeal. after only two months here - it's amazing where pindan dust goes.  we're pretty much ready to roll now but miski is freaking out - very anxious and will be until she gets into the car to go early tuesday morning. just one more day of work and errands to go and then we're camping to albany! 

jose made ceviche!

jose has been missing peruvian cuisine and decided to make himself ceviche this sunday.  from his moans of gastronomic pleasure i gathered it was very tasty :) i didn't try any because it still seems weird that lemon can cook sea food even if i understand the science of it.  maybe next time :)  i like the spork personally!

getting set to move in a week!

 

 well our move date is almost here...just 9 days away.  it feels like just yesterday i still had two months left!  where did the time go?  we had a great day yesterday in broome and at our friends house last night (see post below) and today we've been madly packing and sealing and labeling boxes for the moving van that comes tomorrow.  yikes!  i'm not ready yet!  also having our going away bbq tonight with a bunch of friends. i'm so bad at goodbyes...they make me really sad.  so for our move we got all our gear, the esky above, and have this huge pile in our living room of all the stuff to be moved down south by the moving van.  we came to derby with 4 bags of clothes....and are leaving with about 35 boxes worth of???? not sure. we even had a garage sale and got rid of TONS of stuff. unreal what you can accumulate in 18  months.  anyway we have a huge pile of stuff to go in the car too - and on top - plus us and a dog.  should be interesting.  and fun!  check out our awesome new car awning! i never knew these existed until we moved out here. but now that i've looked i see they sell them in the us too. who knew? i highly recommend them.  portable shade.  

last broome day trip and 12 mile cafe binge

made a day trip to broome yesterday (saturday) to pick up our longer awning for the car, a mozzy net for that, and to scope out more camping supplies and do a few bits and bobs before leaving town.  got down there at about 9am and went straight to the camp shop. turns out it was their biggest sale of the year!  how awesome :) we ended up getting tons of stuff - a huge esky, driving maps, camping books, camp pot, more tarps and bungee cords, a special chair for me with a footrest (it's amazing) and a few more things.  then got and put up our new awning! it's so cool!  and the mozzy net and some tools to adjust these things.  grabbed some meat and drinks for our going away bbq today and then went to eat at 12 mile cafe. i am really gonna miss this place. got my favorite - lemongrass noodles with tofu. superb. and my all time favorite cake there - the kaffir lime polenta cake with the most amazing, smooth, delicious vanilla ice cream on the planet. heaven.  then, rotund, we drove home to shower, unpack, and dress up in japanese garb and head to our neighbors house for japanese dinner night!  which was awesome - see the amazing food platters above.  one girl made sweet potato mochi balls for dessert.  how i have been missing mochi!  a great day. 

miski and mango at the golf course

miski and mango have become the best of puppy friends. and though mango is already better behaved than miski (she's only 5 months old) i try to console myself with the knowledge that miski is likely brain damaged from fetal alcohol syndrome.  or it could be my laziness.  either way - they love to play and rough house together and today callum and i took the dogs to the golf course for a romp. miski was in heaven - she loves grass, grass clippings and tackling mango, oh and running into peoples golf games and chasing boab nuts.  the dogs went swimming in the murky ponds at the back of the golf course which left them very very muddy, dirty and stinky.  it was a bittersweet doggy playdate though because it was the last time the dogs get to play together before we move out of town. callum and caitlin (mango's parents) left for a lovely holiday after that and aren't back in town before we leave for our new adventure in albany.  we're really going to miss them, but hopefully i'll convince them to move down there...or at least come for a holiday! we start our very long road trip next tuesday the 1st of may. sad to leave friends but excited about camping on the way and seeing the southwest! 

gnylmarung camping over easter weekend

talk about awesome.  i'm so glad we got to experience this place before we leave town.  too bad we didn't know about it last year.  our friends found out about this camp spot that allows pets and we jumped at the chance to spend easter weekend camping at the beach with miski and friends. the community is called gnylmarung (pronounced nulmarong i think). it's up the cape leveque road (turnoff just past broome) about 20kms past the beagle bay turnoff and then down another dirt track for quite a while until you hit the ocean. we were given a great, private, shady camp spot with an ocean view. talk about heaven. the people were lovely and even with several people staying there we often had the beach entirely to ourselves.  miski became very comfortable swimming in the ocean, no longer showing signs of distress when in deep water.  we took walks and swam about 4-6 times a day. one of the best things about this place is that there are no crocs here because the water is too clean and clear.  we basically spent the weekend napping, eating, walking, swimming, exploring the tide pools, fishing, reading, and generally relaxing.  it was wonderful.  the only downside was the intense heat, the insane number of mozzies (i think i have about 200 bites), and the torrential downpour the first night.  one very nice local woman gave us a "pity" fish because we were unable to catch any...it was a coral trout and was the best fish i've ever had in my life. we cooked it whole, stuffed with garlic, onion, chili, and lime over smouldering coals. we also made beef roast, roasted veggies, avocado/tomato salad, and had easter eggs for dessert :) miski got to play with her best friend mango and i got to practice my 4 wheel driving skills! what a great weekend holiday.  see more photos - mainly of miski and the beach and the critters i spotted in the tide pools in the album linked here