Friday 19 August 2011

Car Boot Sale

Yesterday we took the plunge and bought ourselves a car. It was the first time we'd ever bought off the lot and to make it more special The Car Mine had an official Big Australian Icon - the Big Boot - sitting on top of the showroom.

It's a Hyundai Lantra "Sportswagon" and will do us nicely. Body work is fine, mileage is 50% of what it should be and it smells a little doggy inside.

Snakes On A Rig

Last week while out near Miles I was driving from the camp to the rig site and saw a rope across the road. After pondering the mystery of a big piece of rope wiggling across the track I reported the snake to the toolpusjer and then went about my day.

A couple of hours later I saw the same piece of rope but this time it was inside the rig's perimieter - in fact it was in the middle of the lease and about 5m from me. I got the attention of the same toolpusher who stopped all the work and scared it away.

Where's Samuel L Jackson when you need him?

Sunday 7 August 2011

Gone Bush Again

Tonight I'm up in Emerald, smack dab on the Tropic of Capricorn, looking for the Wizard. There's plenty of Oz around me so he must be close by. Tomorrow, after a spot of shopping to pick up supplies and materiel for the crew I've come up to visit, I shall be driving onwards to Dingo where I will stay for 2 nights before returning to Brisbane. While I am here I'm hoping to see a sign along the road for the Tropic of Capricorn (good chance because the road I'll be driving on is the Capricorn Highway).

Nothing else to report except I saw the biggest, scariest wasp carrying a 3cm long centipede in its - for lack of a better word - talons. I will admit to experiencing a moment of fear when this behemoth flew right up to my face to check me out.

Thursday 4 August 2011

Hey You Guys!

Last weekend Rae and I had one of those rare Oscar-free evenings when Heidi volunteered to babysit to give us a night off. And as luck would have it the Tribal Theatre had a Goonies retropacum on so we went to see our favourite film in the cinema for the first time ever. It had always been on TV previously, so to see the big screen 35mm original version was so awesome I wanted to go up to the balcony, pour fake vomit onto the audience below and make a "hurrrr, hurrrr, hurrrhhh!!!" noise. Check out Rae's blog for the full and frank review.

We. Are. In!

The Beckett's are firmly ensconced in their new home in Brisbane. You can read Rae's write-up or browse the pics below to learn more.

From left to right - living room (with Indonesian furniture), dining area (no table yet - shipment #2 due Aug 25th), master bedroom (Oscar says the duvet is a bit girly), Oscar's bedroom (presenting his very first bed of his own), the kitchen (appliances care of Gumtree, K-Mart and Big W) and the sun deck (with a proper Aussie BBQ).

A big thank you to Brian, Heidi, Max and Ewa for helping us move in, build BBQs and beds and (most importantly) distract Oscar