Warm razor fish salad

At the swimming beach of Port Lincoln there is a abundance of razor fish. Contrary to what their name suggests these are not fish. They are shells that stand up straight in the sand and if you step on them cut your feet (razor is a fitting name).  Currently there is a community project underway where volunteers collect the shells and remove them. You are allowed 25 per person per day and a group of people gather at low tide to remove their 25 each day. Tim and Hugo were with me when we came across this and we were oh so happy to lend a hand.  In about 5 minutes I picked our quota of 75 and with a box full of shells returned to the bus. Christel had taken the other kids to the pool for some serious swimming training. After lunch we cleaned the razor shells and cooked them up for diner. For the recipe of warm razor fish salad (and others) click here.

Victoria First

19/1-26/1 2015

After leaving behind our home turf it was a bit hard to decide which way to travel. Initially Collarenebri and Wilcannia where tossed around as options but the heat really killed those for us. Down south we went in search for the ocean and some cooler weather. We found both including an unusual amount of wind. 

The great ocean road is a true icon and because the children had no memories of the times we visited the 12 apostles before it seemed fitting to start with one of Australia’s true tourist highlights.  They were again as beautiful as we remembered and the parking lot in the park was our first night camping “wild”.  Lovely.

Christel had to finish off her research project in Hamilton and so we followed the coast and parked our bus next to the oval of Killarney. It was a short walk over the dunes to the beach where the waves were fun to ride boards on and we were even able to do some snorkeling. There was not much fish to catch despite our efforts and the weather had actually turned cold. Never did we think we needed coats on our travels around Australia but we soon went shopping for some in Warrnambool. During our time on the camping the kids had a great time riding their bikes around and Hugo could not stay behind. With a little help from Laura and Peter Hugo started peddling and he hasn’t looked back since.

On the 21^st we had our first birthday in the bus. Christel turned 39, which we celebrated with a hummingbird cake and a present for every one.  As a birthday outing we visited the shipwreck museum in Warrnambool which gave us more insight in the early settlers and the dangerous coastline of Victoria.  This sparked new interest in the lighthouses along the coast.  There is a nice walk to the one in Port Fairy. It was fun to climb to the top and look out over the ocean.

The time had come to leave Victoria to the West. Just before the boarder we realized that there are restrictions on what to take across. You cannot take fresh fruit or vegetables. This led to the great Australia day cook off. Parked next to the playground in Heywood we cooked up chili con carne, Tuna and leek pasta, as well as a banana cake and the biggest fruit salad our children will see in a long time.  Lessons learned for the next boarder crossing. No one complained, particularly not after tasting the banana cake. Please find recipe here.

Magical moments

Every one is still asleep when my alarm goes off at 6.45 AM

At our place this in itself is a magical moment. For the last few years the kids would find the television way before we would wake. Not so in our bus. No television and tired kids. Nice.

With some encouragement I manage to convince Laura, Jaap and Peter to join me for some morning fishing. We are at Tumby Bay on the Eyre Peninsula and the weather is in our favour. Very little wind! Which is nice if you want to take a small boat onto the ocean.

The plan is to try and catch whiting or flat head, or what ever else wants to bite. Yesterday Tim and Hugo already caught some squid while the rest was having school so now it is the others’ turn to try to hook into something.

As we head out of the harbor the sun is slowly rising and the light is beautiful. Straight to the end of the bay and out onto the ocean but not too far away from a sheltering island on the southern tip of the bay.

The anchor is dropped on a white spot and we put the burly out. Within minutes Laura and Peter are pulling in tommy rough and lots of leatherjackets. All small but fun to catch.  Jaap is trying to get more squid and he is super excited when he hooks into his first every squid. Wow, they really do make a mess of the boat! The water is so clear that you can see the squid chase the lure and then grab it followed by a big cloud of ink in the water.

We travel home with a dozen tommies and 6 squid.  What an excellent morning out. Then on the way home Laura spots a pod of dolphins. They start riding our bow and the kids are hanging over the front looking at them. Magic! You cannot ask for better. On a school day!

Back at the bus the kids have an education session on squid which Christel puts on You Tube. If you want to watch it click here.  (at the end is the bit with the dolphins)

We cooked up the squid the first night on the barbeque and the next night deep fried. The second night won hands down.

For the recipe of salt and pepper squid with garlic sauce click here.

Going, going, going, going, going… gone

Over the last few months there has been a lot of goodbyes.

After announcing our travel plans to our colleagues, friends and patients in Barham, a warming period followed of people applauding our plans and at the same time regretting our departure. We feel the same. Going is great, leaving is hard.  The support we felt both morally and materially was very much appreciated. We worked right up until New Years Eve.

We thank all our patients and the medical trust who have stuck with us for all the years in Barham as well as Ochre who we worked with for 8 and half years now.

There were a few things that needed done to Jack before we could leave.

The Vic road worthy was the first hurdle. After that we had Jack on the Grease pit of Lake’s busses and I learned all there is to know about Jack’s grease nipples. There are quite a few I now know.  (Just next to the red back spiders.)

I have been struggling to understand and work the electric system of solar, inverter, generator, shore power and batteries.  We replaced the bus batteries and added water to the house batteries. One of the cupboards has been removed and this is now our 3^rd bunk bed.  Then there was the issue with fitting our car with tie down points for travel in the trailer. 

It was impossible for me to leave without a boat fitted somewhere. After surfing the web and looking for options I decided on a Ridged Inflatable Boat (RIB). The benefit for us is that it can take quite rough water conditions and still keep us save.  Also it deflates, so it will take a little less space in the trailer. Downside is that crocodile teeth and RIB’s don’t match so it will not be very useful up north. After more surfing I found a RIB that has a solid hull made of fiberglass from Mercuri Marine: The Ocean Runner 340.  All it needed was a 15 HP Yamaha engine and little wheels on the back for transport. The first boat unfortunately had small holes in the fiberglass hull so a new one replaced it.

The boat is now suspended from the ceiling of the trailer and can be lifted up and down with a winch that is attached to the ceiling. For easy loading in and out of the trailer a ramp was made to fit as well. Anthony Thomas did all the work on the trailer and it could not have been done any better.

For 4 years we have been living in a great house just outside of Barham. It is part of the O’Neill’s dairy and has been a most amazing place for us to live. Apart from being out of town with all the freedom one could ever want, it also came with 8 mature stone fruit trees, apples, citrus and grapes. We have more than enjoyed the picking, eating and preserving of the spoils of the land.  Besides the fruit and extensive vegetable garden we also had 20+ chickens supplying us with eggs and meat and we fattened a few pigs at a time from kitchen and garden scraps. Then there was also our apiary of 15 beehives that gave us enough honey to swap for other people’s produce and sell a little on the local farmers market.  Living on a dairy meant an almost endless supply of fresh milk that we loved to drink and also sometimes made into soft and hard cheese. Between all that and the hams and bacon from the pigs we did not need the local supermarket half as much as most.  Leaving means saying goodbye to our house and to this life style. We have taken some produce but will soon run out and have to face the reality of unripe tasteless fruit and vegetables and questionable meat.

Packing up took a bit longer than expected (as expected). Christel’s initial estimate of leaving on the 7^th was not met, nor was my target of the 12^th. We weren’t in a great big hurry and wanted to pack things properly, throwing away things we would not enjoy unpacking in a few years time. Also we needed to draft off what we would take on the bus. Slow and steady particularly in the 42 degree heat. We had a few friends come to the rescue for packing things in boxes and then carting it all to our storage containers. We also had a lot of help cleaning the house as we cleared room by room.

The last few days of packing were rainy and we were worried that Jack would get stuck on our driveway so our first night in the bus we spent 150 meters past our driveway on the road. Not the most romantic first location. The third night we actually moved into town where we parked at the Barham footy oval. It was remarkably comfortable with even electricity hook up. We could have spent a few weeks there easily.  After two more nights Jack took us to Kangaroo Lake, because we had to stay close to Barham, because of electrical problems to the bus. Over the weekend we tried out the boat for the first time on Lake Kangaroo. Laura screamed ‘it was totally wicked’, the boys thought it was ‘awesome’ and I agreed with all of them.

On Monday the 19^th of January we had sorted out our battery issues and finally actually officially drove out of Barham/Koondrook to get our adventure officially underway.