James Price Point Gas Plant

Tracey & the kids joined the rally to Town Beach (I was exempt from service - had to work) to protest against the James Price Point Gas Hub. The protesters have stuck to their guns over the months and have had a recent win in the courts to halt the project thanks to the objections of Joe Roe - one of the traditional owners. We're hopeful the project may not go ahead after all. Will keep you posted.

Taipans win the flag!

The critics have been silenced. The Taipans bobbed up and won a the BJCA flag. After only losing one game for the season (not that extaordinary since there is only 6 games in the season) we very nearly got done in the semi, but scraped through and managed to win the big one.

End of school



The end of the school year has arrived at Broome Primary. The kids have had another great year there and have had heaps of great experiences. The end of year concert was fantastic. Another warm night out under the boabs! Ruby and Darcy helped to compare the night and did a great job.

Tracey worked with the kinder kids and loved it.

Athletics Carnival

last friday Anna, Darcy and I ( Ruby) had our annual school sports carnival. Our faction Riddell ended up coming 2nd out of four and Miller coming 1st with 702 points!!! Darcy and I had to run in the 200m 400m and 75m sprint. Anna came 4th in the 50m sprint and I think she was pretty pleased with herself about that! We all had a great day and slept like logs that night!

The mighty Taipans

After what Terry and I described as a year of rebuilding (code for "we didn't do that well"), the board agreed to renew our contract for 2011.

Nedless to say their confidence has been repaid in spades with two wins from the first two games. The detractors are saying it's more good luck than good management but we have once again given an undertaking to step down if we fail to make the finals (top 4 play off in a 4 team comp, so we rekon we might be right).

Be careful getting in the pool

This is what happens when you miscalculate on a bomb. Head first into the pool step. Blood everywhere. Brightened up everyones day in the casualty department though.

Before you ask, it was at 11 oclock in the morning and I was sober.

Not a bad one

There you go, a one metre Cobia caught from a 1.5 metre inflatable zodiac. Not a bad effort if I might say so myself (there was 2 of us in the boat as well - luckily the other bloke knew what he was doing!).

This place is called Middle Lagoon - Milargoon is the spelling and pronounciation used by the locals. It's up on the Dampier Peninsula & a great place to be.

Dress up day at school

That lovely little girl on the right is Ruby dressed up as Pippi longstockings for the "dress up as a book character" day at school.

The other little girl is her brother Darcy dressed as Goldilocks. And he won a prize! He did say he would go to school one day dressed as a girl - can cross that one off the list now.

Ultrasound training in Northam

I've been sent down to Northam for 5 weeks - by work, not the family. They assure me they will miss me alot, but it may take a few weeks.................

July Holidays - Leopold ranges

We visited tunnel creek which as the name suggests is a creek that goes through a tunnel. Fancy that.

We grabbed fading torches and wandered through. Very cold water which caused a fair bit of shrinkage. Had Anna sitting on top of my head most of the way through.

Then it was off to Windjana Gorge (think thats how its spelt) for a bit more wandering about. The play Jandamarra was playing at the gorge which was fantastic. The backdrop was spectacular and the true story of the Banuba resistance fighters in that area is very interesting.

July holidays - Hall Creek Rodeo

After my success at the Port Lincoln tuna toss, I was tempted to have a crack at the bull ride at Halls Creek. I sensed the other cowboys liked the "cut of my jib". But alas the organisers insisted on pre-registration. Very disapointing.

July Holidays - Wyndham & surrounds

Wyndam is a bit of a funny place. When I visited 20 years ago a chap proudly made the claim that Wyndam had the "largest Boab tree in captivity". Over the years I have often pondered this claim and wondered exactly how one keeps a tree in captivity. I eventually came to the conclusion that I had misheard the bloke or he was an idiot.

Fast forward to 2011. I'm having a chat to a chain smoking gravel voiced crone in the Wyndham second hand shop. She seemed pretty sensible. Making polite conversation I enquire after her swollen and bandaged toe. She replies that now Wyndham has the biggest toe in captivity as well as the biggest Boab in captivity! Remarkable.

Massive excitement over the big crocodile in Wyndham. First big thing since the crappy big camera down south.

There is some pretty nice scenery around Wyndham too.

July Holidays - Kununurra and lake Argyle

Kununurra was pretty cool. Accommodation was a bit tight but eventually found a bit of grass to pitch our tents. Took a cruise on lake Argyle. Pretty big bit of water - apparently 30 Sydney Harbours. Not 100% sure how many olympic sized swimming pools that is but I think you can wash your car whenever you want and water your lawn guilt free in Kununurra.

Visited the Durak homestead of Kings in Grass Castles fame. Luckily they moved it from the bottom of Lake Argyle befor it filled up.

Went to an art gallery, the girls went to the diamond shop where the world famous and very expensive pink Argyle diamonds are sold. Been checking the credit card statement ever since.

July Holidays - Gibb River Road

The Gibb River Road was as great as everyone said it was. We went from the Derby end and finished in Kununurra with Jess and the Stones. Not sure how far it was but I counted just over a billion corougations.

We visited numerous gorges and stayed at plenty of cattle stations, crossed rivers, swam in water holes, saw cattle being mustered with helicopters, lit campfires, got three flat tyres (one half way across a river), saw rock art, ate some camp food, drank warm and coolish beer, enjoyed the cattle stations that had a bar that served cold beer, saw spectacular scenery, played spotlight, toasted marshmallows, went horseriding, did some walking, packed and unpacked alot of times and watched Darcy do the whole trip without much concern for his personal hygene.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the trip however was the nifty little demo I did for the kids to show them what happens when you don't tighten up the wheel nuts enough. The rear wheel came off as planned in spectacular fashion, shearing off a couple of studs and buggering the rest in the process. As luck would have it, before the dust had settled a mechanic called Jason rocked up, got out his big toolbox (much bigger than mine) and his big jack (also much bigger than mine) and proceeded to repair what to me looked like a lost cause. His wife served cold drinks for the kids (we only had coolish or warm) and "jobs right mate" off ya go! I owe the bloke a kidney if he ever needs one or at the very least a carton of warm to coolish beer.