Wombling

Went to Kmart today (the tip). We were after plant pots and milk crates and were 50% successful. Freya has started collecting stuff for a 'sculpture', watch this space!

Our recycling centre (no yellow top bins in TP but a recycling 'pod' in town)

Esther picked up a Powerwing, score!!

 

 

 

 

 

Karijini

Freya, after she'd finished sooking about swimming in 'dirty' water (!)

Fortescue Falls, ahhhh!

Days off, wooo! We headed out of town to Karijini for a dip at Fortescue Falls, far more appropriately shod this time. It is h-h-hot so a water hole is just the thing!

Ade made me take this pic, he loves a big puddle.

Joffe Falls (didn't climb down)

Storm: a retrospective

And now for some weather:
November to April is Cyclone season in the Pilbara and Cyclone Bianca has just skipped past the Pilbara coast, as of 55 minutes ago she may make her way down to WA's South West corner, although cyclones are very unpredictable. Bianca is currently a category 3 cyclone; there are 5 categories, 5 is the highest. Exmouth and Coral Bay have just been on red alert i.e. take cover and stay indoors until the all-clear but they have just suffered heavy rain and strong winds, little or no damage. I completed my cyclone preparedness training yesterday (online), essential training if you work in the Pilbara or Kimberley and the reason I am now so knowledgable about cyclones!
Because cyclones tend to weaken over land it is unlikely that Tom Price would bear the full force of one of these angry ladies or gents (cyclones alternate male and female names); however the town is sometimes subject to cyclonic conditions and the houses are built to cyclone proof standards. We have been advised to have torches, spare batteries, tinned food and a first aid kit to hand so we are ready if a cyclone heads our way.

Storm damage photos by Freya!

While it wasn't a cyclone, last Tuesday a big ol' storm passed through TP, knocked over a heap of trees and made a fair mess of the town centre. The storm came through at about 1515 and we watched the wild wind and rain through the lounge window, local council workers are still busy with the clean up. Fortunately this storm was just Mother Nature practising a bit of self-harm, fingers crossed Bianca runs out of puff soon.

Australia Day

Today we had lots of fun on the inflatable. Breakfast was divine, you could have lamb, sausages, bacon, eggs and a bun. There was mango juice with ice and out the front they gave away balloons, balls and flags. We saw our friends Shia, Kira and Mia and I made a new friend called Janelle. She is going up to year 4 in Central. I only just met her at the last minute.                                           
BY FREYA

The pool was fun, we loved it. I weared the flippers and I went in the race when we were doing the race and I winned every time. When I went on the inflatable I falled off a few times. The pool was nice and cool. I had for breakfast lamb, a sausage and bacon and eggs in a roll. We love all of the things that we did.
BY ESTHER

Hamersley Gorge

Last day of the holidays for me, I start my new job at TP hospital tomorrow: 1 part nervous, 1 part excited, 1 part indifferent (it is still a job after all). To celebrate our last day of family holiday we went to Hamersley Gorge.

Hamersley Gorge is located on the North-West edge of Karijini, about a 40min drive from our house. We went in our stupid tourist footwear but, fortunately, this is one of the easier gorges to access (rudimentary steps) and I was relieved to be spared the embarrassment of having to be rescued wearing bathers and thongs.
As is usual with the Jonkers, Esther and Ade did the adventuring; Freya and I lamented not bringing the fly nets for our hats.

I had suspected foul play from the tourist bureau until Ade pointed out that the seasonal rains had washed the red dirt into the rivers and the glossy pictures in the brochures were undoubtedly taken in the dry when the water is crystal clear. The orange opaque pools were, however, very refreshing, shame there wasn't one at the top of the gorge because the trek back up was gruelling!


This afternoon we went to meet our immediate neighbours. To our right are F & S. He is the manager of Gumala Aboriginal Corporation, she is a part-time nurse at the hospital, they have a 2.5 year old son. Opposite is J, a plumber on the mine and a keeper of chooks, he welcomed us with a dozen eggs. J has been here 9 years, he reckons it's a great street, so far I've no reason to disagree with him.

The last box

Our last evening in temporary accommodation was marked by a spectacular electrical storm. From Esther's bedroom window we watched the distant lightening flash and crack through the clouds on the horizon.  Ade and I thought it was better (and longer lasting) than any firework display we'd ever seen, the girls disagreed... not enough colour (!)

Last night was our first in our new house and today another milestone...the last box was opened! I say "opened" rather than "unpacked" because it turns out we have brought a lot of stuff with us that there is no room for here. The girls' schoolwork which I can't bring myself to ditch will remain in its cardboard confines until we move back to Perth, at which point I will probably decide that I can live without 12 terms worth of 'daily writing' and it all goes in the bin.

3 Ingerup Place, pretty ugly from the front.

So unpacking and cleaning this morning with hot cross buns for morning tea, it pains me that they are available in January but I do love a hot cross bun and was unable to resist. Coles is TP's only supermarket but so far it has everything we've needed, and fresh turmeric which I haven't seen in Riverton Woolies for a long while.

Ade's having trouble without his fan forced oven...his oven?!

Ade blogging...nah! Girls resting after cleaning up...nah!

This afternoon we left the rest of the cleaning and went back to the pool for some fun on the inflatable. On our third attempt Esther and I managed to get all the way to the end. On our last effort I nearly sank the inflatable, embarrassing but true.

F & E take over the hose

Pool

As promised we all took a break from unpacking and went to the TP pool for the morning.
Tom Price has a 50m pool that was refurbished a couple of years ago and so is a little bit fancy. Half the pool is covered with shade sails, there is plenty of shade on the grass around the pools and we met the most delightful man at the counter on the way in.

Unbeknown to me, lots of country towns hold a Rottnest swim. On February 11th when swimmers leave Cottesloe Beach for Rottnest Island, teams and solo swimmers will also swim 20km in the Tom Price pool!  Ade is too late to join a team this year but is keen to get back into his swimming and will undoubtedly swim to Rottnest, in the middle of the Pilbara, in 2012.

The pool hosts a water polo club on Thursdays, has water aerobics with a gorgeous male instructor (so the man at the counter assured me), has a mega inflatable on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the school hols, runs kids swimming classes and will be the place to be in Tom Price on Australia Day.

All in all we think that we'll spend a lot of time at the pool and that our half-season family pass is a good investment!

Max is back!!

This post should have appeared yesterday but the stupid pc went offline and I hadn't saved anything I'd written...an important lesson that I should have already learned.

The rain continues, mainly overnight, but more than is usual for a TP wet season (apparently), and so the humidity is high. The mosquitoes are digging the conditions and enjoying the fresh blood (mine). The insects here are large: huge grasshoppers (locusts?), moths the size of baby eagles, inch-long ants, haven't seen a spider yet...

Max the cat jetted in yesterday and spent a secret night with us at the caravan park (no pets). We all moved out this morning and into a hospital townhouse for the next 3 nights while the tiler and electrician finish their business at 3 Ingerup Place.

Our chalet at the Caravan Park (I've been calling it that but when we left today I noticed that we had actually been staying at the Tourist Park, which is far fancier!)

 Ade attempted the 4WD track up Mt Nameless yesterday but the rain has made the track impassable at present. It is an impressive and colourful rock that my photo does no justice.

Mt Nameless or Jarndunmunha

F & E at the TP skate park

The hard work of unpacking started today. Allied Pickfords transported 216 items for us so it will take a while to get through all the boxes! We are back for more tomorrow but have promised the girls a morning at the TP pool on Thursday if they can make it through the day with minimal fighting.

Jonkers hit Tompers!

ade says hi to everyone.
Ahem, and on with the post...

The Tropic of Capricorn marks the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead. We were in Nanutarra roadhouse, just above the T of C not long after midday and it was a scalding 44 degrees.

Yesterday, late afternoon we arrived in Tom Price. It had rained heavily so there were a few water crossings to navigate on the way in.  We picked up house keys at the hospital and went to visit 3 Ingerup Place only to discover that it was still in the process of being renovated and cleaned!! So we find ourselves in a chalet at the Tom Price Tourist Park (which has a pool, to the delight of the girls). Not sure how long we'll be here, our furniture is in one room of the house and Max the cat arrives tomorrow so I hope it won't be an extended stay...

First impressions of the town are all positive though: friendly and helpful nurses at the hospital; LOADS of sporting clubs and facilities (F & E want to join the pony club); well stocked Coles (I'll get my shopping fix any which way); tidy and pretty streets and open spaces; a heap of 4wd opportunities. Will take some pics in the next few days.

Missing all our buddies but confident that we'll be able to settle in and enjoy TP xx

Made it!

On the road.

It wasn't the early start that Ade had planned after a number of farewell/ birthday drinks with Silke and Mark last night. However, it was the friendly, non-dramatic send off we had wanted :)

See you in September boys!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have had a fairly uneventful drive up so far.  We had our picnic lunch in Northampton (51km north of Kalbarri).  The girls climbed a tree (and looked angelic even though they have squabbled and bickered almost constantly and I am pretty sure they are not related to any angels).  They watched their portable DVD player a lot (great Christmas present Nonna), although they argued about which movies to watch...

Monkeys

 

 

 

 

 

Our journey was in danger of being ruined after lunch as we got further North and the temperature rose.  The landrover, whose 15 year old radiator and air-conditioning works beautifully in the cool climes and short journeys around Perth and South-West WA, started to overheat at a constant speed of 110kph.  We spent a while with the air-con off and the afternoon sun burning straight through my non-tinted window.  After an hour Ade worked out that the car could be appeased by a constant 105kph; after that same hour I was in a foul mood and planning other damage to the stupid car.

We haven't seen much of the red earth that this part of WA is known for.  Recent rain, and floods :( , have greened up The Gascoigne and it is, I imagine, about as lush as it gets.

Grass verges!

And so we have made it 904km to Carnarvon for our overnighter.  Ade has already hit the sack and the girls and I should follow his lead...

This is what happens to landrovers that misbehave!

Up Lift

Today started with another goodbye, see you soon Nanny and Pop :)

See you in TP xxxx

The day then rapidly went to poop when, forgetting that our car had an already packed roof rack, I endeavoured to park it in the shade of our car port...

A taster of the damage I did :(

I have killed the roof of the car and put paid to transporting anything to TP on the roof rack.  I felt sick and Ade was furious (he luuurves the landrover).  The good news is that the car is drivable and we are still on track to leave Friday; and, though we are still a long, long way from laughing about this, it is just a car and no one was hurt.

On a happier note, our native front garden continues to flower (despite Edward Scissorhands' pruning efforts) and our tenants (yes, we have some!!) will enjoy some late Summer blooms.

Beautiful coral gum

The movers arrived and emptied the house into 1.5 sea containers; who knew we had that much stuff?! So we are officially "up-lifted".

Freya was particularly in need of an up-lift this arvo after saying goodbye to A, her bestest friend and the Jonker family's third daughter.  It was a very sad occasion, for Freya and for yours truly (who was still emotionally fragile after the morning's debacle). 

We'll all miss you A!

We finished our day eating well and resting up at Liesl's place which feels fitting since she was so kind and reassuring when Ade hated me this morning ;)

Tomorrow...cleaning (sigh).

Count down...

Only 4 more sleeps until we leave! The goodbyes continue and the hard work starts (for me at least, Ade has already cleaned the oven and the range hood- God I love him!). 
This morning Max went to Blu Ice Cattery to await his transfer to TP which will happen next Monday.  He is flying with Jet Pet.  Ade has told the girls that Max will have his own cat pilot and cabin crew, F rolled her eyes, E wanted to know whether cats could fly planes, I told her that the pilot cats received lots of training.
Today we have moved everything out of the house that we don't want the Pickfords person to pack,  including our children who are spending the night with Nanny and Pop. I get an hour off this evening to hang out with Anita and Ainslie, but then I have to come home and clean :(

TP, the Wiki version

I spoke to Matt & Cathy yesterday, M&C are an Anglo-American partnership that has produced 3 of the cutest little girls outside of Western Australia.  We are looking forward to entertaining them in WA one day. 

It occurred to me after chatting that some of our non-WA chums might have no idea of where on earth Tom Price is and what on earth happens there.  I'm not sure why it took so long for me to have this revelation since I had to google "Tom Price" before I applied for the job there... so information in this post might also offer revelations for some of our WA pals as well. 

Consequently... 

Thank you Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tom Price Western Australia
Entering Tom Price
Tom Price
Population:	2,721 (2006)
Established:	1960s
Postcode:	6751
Coordinates:	22°41′38″S 117°47′42″E / 22.694°S 117.795°E / -22.694; 117.795Coordinates: 22°41′38″S 117°47′42″E / 22.694°S 117.795°E / -22.694; 117.795
Elevation:	747 m (2,451 ft)
Location:	1470 km (913 mi) from Perth 570 km (354 mi) from Karratha 277 km (172 mi) from Newman
Mean Max Temp Mean Min Temp Annual Rainfall 33.3 °C 92 °F 18.7 °C 66 °F 280.8 mm 11.1 in

Tom Price, situated in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, is an industrial town. The town is located inland, at the edge of the Hamersley Range. Tom Price is the highest town above sea level (747 m) in Western Australia, and is consequently dubbed "Top Town in WA".

Overview

Primarily an iron ore mining town, the Mount Tom Price mine (situated approximately 5 km out of town) is under the control of mining giant Rio Tinto. Due to the recent resources boom in Western Australia Tom Price is currently the most affluent non-metropolitan region in Australia, with the average Rio Tinto employee's wage being significantly higher than the Australian average. Tom Price has a population of 2,721, the median age being 29 reflecting Tom Price's relatively young family-orientated community. The town is named after Thomas Moore Price, the vice-president of the U.S. based steel company Kaiser Steel. Tom Price is the closest town to the pristine Karijini National Park and is serviced by the nearby Paraburdoo Airport.

Recreational Activities

Tom Price is a very sports-orientated community, partly due to the young population and the lack of other facilities within the town. Tom Price has a range of recreational activities including motocross, speedway, BMX, and many sporting facilities including an Olympic-sized pool, well-equipped gym, tennis, squash, netball, volleyball and basketball courts and three ovals used for football, softball and soccer.
The town also boasts an unusually high level of artists. Artists in Tom Price often focus on painting and photography, such works often focus on landscapes or linked with Aboriginal heritage.

Attractions

Being situated in the Pilbara, Tom Price is in a close proximity to many popular attractions, including Karijini National Park, Millstream, Wittenoom and Mount Nameless.
Tourist season usually goes from May through to October. This is due to the heat in Australian Summer, and the irregular cyclones from October to April.

Gallery

Tom Price Senior High School

Fern Pool, in Karijini National Park is a popular destination for tourists

Mount Nameless, the highest peak in Western Australia with vehicle access is located in Tom Price

Good start to the new year

Wishing everyone a safe, happy and prosperous 2011

LAFE xxxx

E has magic hands

Harry Potter's wand backfires