November 2008
Cover Page
Map of Trip-2006.
Map of Trip-2008.
Map of Trip-2009.
Map of Trip-2010.
The silly season is nearly upon us and we are starting to make plans
for the long drive home for Christmas. At this stage we will be
returning to the 'Rock' for possibly up to 6 months next year, then we
will go to Vietnam for 5, maybe 6 weeks around June/July and then
possibly head south to SA and Vic to do the 'Great Ocean Road' and up
the
NSW coast back to QLD before heading off again. The trip home this year
will be a bit rushed as we have only given ourselves a week to drive
home, get the caravan packed up and
head for the Sunshine Coast for the holidays. We will need a holiday
after that!!
It has been yet another great month out here in the middle of the
desert. We continue to do 'Sunset' out at the Rock at least once a
week, a view you could never tire of. Socially things have hotted up
significantly, with a number of social activities keeping us on the go.
Last weekend we were actually out 3 nights in a row. Now that is
overdoing it a bit.
Of late we have had the most unusual weather. It has
been raining almost every few days for the past 4 weeks, and at times
has been rather cold. The days in between are hot and clear, some days
being 40 C and over. You don't come out here and expect to see so much
rain, and we're told this is not the usual weather pattern. Of course
with rain comes one of the most sought after views in
Australia, and one that very few get to experience and enjoy. Of course
I refer to water running off Ayers Rock. In fact as I sit here writing
this, Chris is out at the Rock again taking a few more photos of this,
for most, a once in a life time opportunity.
A couple of weekends ago we had a huge down pour, so we headed straight
out to the Rock to see it first hand. It was funny as there was hardly
a tourist to be seen, but plenty of staff and residents, all out there
for the same
reason. It was an amazing view, and although the waterfalls were
flowing, we would still like to see it with the water really cascading
over it. Maybe one day.
What
a difference a day makes.
The sound of the frogs in these ponds is now deafening.
Enough of the weather. For those regular readers you may remember while
we were living at Kings Canyon I mentioned that a lot of
'Priscilla Queen of the Desert' was filmed there. Well we have
discovered that the rest was filmed at and around Uluru. The other day
we were down at the oval for touch footy and there on the oval was the
actual big pink shoe that was on top of the bus in the movie. The shoe
had been donated to the resort when the filming was finished.
Never let a chance go by, so in the shoe Chris went doing her 'Drag'
impersonation. There is a striking resemblance you must agree. The
things you find lying around the resort at Yulara
Well the next most exciting thing to happen was with 'Evil Kinevil',
alias Alex and his new riding tricks. All was going well, and in fact I
was expecting phone calls from the producers of Mad Max and Indianna
Jones, requesting Alex for their next production, WHEN......... the
inevitable
mega stack occurred. Did he break an arm or leg, a huge laceration
requiring 50 stitches, NO, of course not. Instead he snapped off half
of one of his front teeth. Why couldn't it be a cheap old broken arm.
Do you have any idea what this is going to cost us to get it fixed? We
will be accepting donations and will be opening up a bank account to
receive all your generosity!!!! The dentist will be having a jolly old
Christmas this year when he is finished with us.
Next on the social calendar was the yearly 'Billy Cart Bash'. This is a
fund raiser for the local Day Care Centre. It starts with a Ball on the
Saturday night. This year the theme was ' Back in time' or 'Black tie
Masquerade'. Most of the staff go to a lot of trouble, getting clothes
or costumes
sent in from all over the globe. It is a large event with the Resort
going to a lot of trouble and expense for the evening. As you can see
from the photos I went to a lot of trouble getting my costume fine
tuned. My outfit certainly was the one to beat. The night was a lot of
fun but bloody freezing. It was held under a huge marque on the oval
and the cold coming up through the grass almost made it painfully
unpleasant. But we battled on regardless and spent the evening chatting
to all and sundry. This is a strictly 'Resort Resident' only affair.
Then it was up again early for the beginning of the billy cart bash.
There were only six carts this year, with a circuit about 2 kms long.
There is a lot of cheating, bribing and corruption. The Firies shot
them with water, the police pulled them over and demanded money (all
going to a good charity of course) and the teams are made to do
revolting things along the way. The kids line the road and throw water
bombs, flour bombs and anything else they can get there hands on. If by
some chance we are still around next year (most most unlikely), I will
definitely be putting in a Health Clinic cart. Following the race is a
fete with stalls, food and entertainment for the kids.
We had a good day doing a bit of our Christmas shopping and I even
managed to get myself a nice Billabong jacket, that looks very trendy
for $2.00. Chris picked up a few pairs of pants for $2.00 each.
We certainly are big spenders.
The next social event around good old Yulara was the 'Starmaker' talent
evening. Now here is the picture. You put an act together and get up on
stage and make a complete fool of yourself. Sounds fun, but I can do
that without getting on stage!!!
Each class at school did a performance which was of course fantastic. I
worked behind the bar with Murph and George (that is one of George's
snakes draped over Murph and me) while Chris ran around getting the
kids ready
for their performance. Harry was great standing at the front of the
stage doing his thing. Alex the show pony was also excellent with his
class winning 1st Prize. It was a simple but fun evening and we are now
really starting to know lots and lots of people so these outings are
even more fun.
So that pretty much is November. We leave here on the 4th December and
start the 3,500 km trip back to Bundy. The trip was going to be much
shorter until recently when we had some huge storm cells go through
here and Alice Springs. Other than a lot of local damage the Plenty
Highway (which is nearly all dirt) flooded and was closed.
Bugger. It re-opened within a few days but the general feeling is
that the damage will make travelling on it unpleasant at best, down
right dangerous at worst. Probably not worth the risk as we are on a
time line. So now we have to decide whether to go north to the 3 ways
and
across or south to Port Augusta, up to Broken Hill and across to home.
We think at this stage we will go up as it seems psychologically the
shorter way to go. We will be back in QLD until late January and then
head West and do the 3500kms all over again. Is it really worth it I
hear you mumble, absolutely, every single inch of it.
For those readers that we won't see and to those that we don't even
know, the Parfitts hope you have a great Christmas. Have a great time
and we hope the big fat fella in the red suit finds you whereever you
may be. We hope that the New Year brings everything that you wish for,
and if it doesn't, you will just have to make it happen. Until next
month.
Merry Christmas to you all.
This month I am going to break from tradition and finish with some
actual quotes from American Courts, that have been written down word by
word.
Here are some very good reasons why we
as Australians should not follow in the American way, but stand
proud
as Australians, and do things our way.
ATTORNEY:
Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for
a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you
began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and
practicing law.
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ATTORNEY:
Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30
p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an
autopsy on him!
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ATTORNEY:
Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Would you repeat the question?
I rest my case Your Honour.
