Saturday, July 9, 2011
Weight Loss
I stepped on those wonderful scales this morning to find 32kg GONE! 32kg (for those of you who don't know or remember) is 70lbs or 5 stone or, a lot of weight. I started out 110kgs and a very snug size 24, now I'm a very loose size 16. I never dreamed I might get to a 14 when I started this healthy eating plan (it's NEVER been a "diet")! There's a little way to go, but I try not to think about that, preferring to set myself small goals along the way. The next one is 35kg cos it's a nice round (or no longer so round!) figure.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Shopping, shopping, shopping
I'm glad we're leaving Carnarvon tomorrow because if we stayed any longer, we, have no money left to move on with!!
We haven't seen a decent supermarket, charging reasonable prices since we left Port Hedland about 5 weeks ago and won't see another for a month, so we spent up big in Woolies supermarket and bottle shop last night. We also bought ourselves 2 new reels, a rod, 200 fishing hooks, some squid jigs and a BOAT SEAT for me. After 5 years my back is starting to ache really badly as we sit out fishing so it was time to do something about it.
This morning we did our fruit and veg shopping at the various plantations and market gardens along North and South River roads. A huge chunk of both roads was washed away in the floods so we had to go in one end, back another way and out onto the highway along another road. One of the stall owners told us it'll likely never be re-opened which is something of a shame as it wrecks a really enjoyable round trip!
Right now, our van smells of the beautiful basil I bought at Morel's along with heaps of other herbs and asian greens. We have kgs of tomatoes at various stages of ripeness and around 3kg of bananas so I really feel rich! I don't think you could fit a credit card into either fridge or freezer at the moment as we're so well stocked with food.
We did a bit of shopping in Target too-I got some new (smaller) undies and Russ got a pair of shorts. Shane Warne has put his name to a line called Spinners sold by Target. For any of you who remember my 4XL husband, these he bought today were size 82 and look really good on him!
We haven't seen a decent supermarket, charging reasonable prices since we left Port Hedland about 5 weeks ago and won't see another for a month, so we spent up big in Woolies supermarket and bottle shop last night. We also bought ourselves 2 new reels, a rod, 200 fishing hooks, some squid jigs and a BOAT SEAT for me. After 5 years my back is starting to ache really badly as we sit out fishing so it was time to do something about it.
This morning we did our fruit and veg shopping at the various plantations and market gardens along North and South River roads. A huge chunk of both roads was washed away in the floods so we had to go in one end, back another way and out onto the highway along another road. One of the stall owners told us it'll likely never be re-opened which is something of a shame as it wrecks a really enjoyable round trip!
Right now, our van smells of the beautiful basil I bought at Morel's along with heaps of other herbs and asian greens. We have kgs of tomatoes at various stages of ripeness and around 3kg of bananas so I really feel rich! I don't think you could fit a credit card into either fridge or freezer at the moment as we're so well stocked with food.
We did a bit of shopping in Target too-I got some new (smaller) undies and Russ got a pair of shorts. Shane Warne has put his name to a line called Spinners sold by Target. For any of you who remember my 4XL husband, these he bought today were size 82 and look really good on him!
Carnarvon
We left Coral Bay this morning and moved on here to Carnarvon where we'll spend two nights shopping, shopping, shopping (food, alcohol and fishing gear to go on to Denham with).
Our last night in Coral Bay was wonderful. After 6 visits to the place, we finally discovered how much fun happy hour is at the pub. We went on Friday night and again last night with our fishing neighbours Kylie and Wayne and our non-fishing friends Borys and Janenne. We met some friends of Wayne and Kylie's and ran into our friends Ron and Irene, so it was a really good night. Happy hour starts at 5.30, finishes at 6.30 and we got home sometime after 8! I'd had the good sense to make a chicken curry and Wayne had made a fish curry before we went to the pub, so Russ cooked some rice, Kylie made a salad and we put it all together and ate around 9pm.
Coral Bay was lots of fun-great fishing, but a bit cool to do much snorkeling, so we have decided go back up there for 4 weeks in September so we can do some more! We'll be in Denham a month, go into Perth, fly to Bali, come home and head back up a few days later!
Carnarvon was really hit hard by storms earlier in the year-it suffered huge flood and most of the crops and plantations were damaged or destroyed. It's slowly recovering, but you really see evidence of the floods still. There used to be 3 service stations right near this caravan park-two are gone and the third next door is being rebuilt right now.
The Gascoyne river normally flows underground for most of the year so it's amazing to see water flowing on the surface, but also amazing to see the destruction it's caused as it flooded through the plantations.
Our last night in Coral Bay was wonderful. After 6 visits to the place, we finally discovered how much fun happy hour is at the pub. We went on Friday night and again last night with our fishing neighbours Kylie and Wayne and our non-fishing friends Borys and Janenne. We met some friends of Wayne and Kylie's and ran into our friends Ron and Irene, so it was a really good night. Happy hour starts at 5.30, finishes at 6.30 and we got home sometime after 8! I'd had the good sense to make a chicken curry and Wayne had made a fish curry before we went to the pub, so Russ cooked some rice, Kylie made a salad and we put it all together and ate around 9pm.
Coral Bay was lots of fun-great fishing, but a bit cool to do much snorkeling, so we have decided go back up there for 4 weeks in September so we can do some more! We'll be in Denham a month, go into Perth, fly to Bali, come home and head back up a few days later!
Carnarvon was really hit hard by storms earlier in the year-it suffered huge flood and most of the crops and plantations were damaged or destroyed. It's slowly recovering, but you really see evidence of the floods still. There used to be 3 service stations right near this caravan park-two are gone and the third next door is being rebuilt right now.
The Gascoyne river normally flows underground for most of the year so it's amazing to see water flowing on the surface, but also amazing to see the destruction it's caused as it flooded through the plantations.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Tea at the Pub
Last night we went to the pub for a counter tea with the kids in the bus and the twins mum and dad Boris and Janine. We had lots of fun. The highlight of my night was running into one of the people who inspired me NOT to have lap banding and to lose weight all by myself. Her reaction to my weight loss made it all worth while-she oohed and ahhed, told me I looked so much younger, gave me a hug and asked very quietly "have you had IT done". I was rapt to be able to say "no, I did it myself"!
The bus is on its way to Broome today-the place will be very quiet with them gone!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Neighbours
I noticed our previous neighbours Rob and Amy give others around us fish a couple of times. When I commented on how kind they were, Rob said "any time you catch a trevally fillet it and give it to your neighbours-they'll love you for it". Russ caught a good sized trevally last thing yesterday, so he did just that-giving it to the 7 kids camped behind us in a coaster bus.
There is 7 of them aged between Erin 22 and Trousers 31, 8 people own a share in the bus, 4 of them are away on this trip. They are off to Broome, leaving here Saturday. It also happens mum and dad (Boris and Janine)of the twins Mark and David are here for a week, and we met them too.
So, Russ gave them the fish, they gave him a beer for the fish, then Annika (Estonian girl) sent over some of her delicious Estonian potato salad for us, then after dinner all of us sat round and had a lot of drinks and laughs. Right now Russ and Trousers have taken the boat out fishing, then after lunch Russ will take Mark out for the afternoon shift. Hopefully they'll get more than the tiny taste of fish they got last night.
The bus is amazing. They bought it 4 years ago to drive to Sydney for Youth Day. They bought it as a shell and put in big padded seats in a "U" shape. All those seats fold out into beds. It has a huge built in Esky and they carry chairs and cooking gear in the boot. They eat off plastic plates or (for breakfast cereal) out of zip-lock bags. All very simple. They really are a nice lot of people and fun to have as neighbours for a few days although I wouldn't like to many nights like last night or too much more Estonian potato salad or I'd end up right back where I started weight wise!
There is 7 of them aged between Erin 22 and Trousers 31, 8 people own a share in the bus, 4 of them are away on this trip. They are off to Broome, leaving here Saturday. It also happens mum and dad (Boris and Janine)of the twins Mark and David are here for a week, and we met them too.
So, Russ gave them the fish, they gave him a beer for the fish, then Annika (Estonian girl) sent over some of her delicious Estonian potato salad for us, then after dinner all of us sat round and had a lot of drinks and laughs. Right now Russ and Trousers have taken the boat out fishing, then after lunch Russ will take Mark out for the afternoon shift. Hopefully they'll get more than the tiny taste of fish they got last night.
The bus is amazing. They bought it 4 years ago to drive to Sydney for Youth Day. They bought it as a shell and put in big padded seats in a "U" shape. All those seats fold out into beds. It has a huge built in Esky and they carry chairs and cooking gear in the boot. They eat off plastic plates or (for breakfast cereal) out of zip-lock bags. All very simple. They really are a nice lot of people and fun to have as neighbours for a few days although I wouldn't like to many nights like last night or too much more Estonian potato salad or I'd end up right back where I started weight wise!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Coral Bay
My friend Wendy wrote and said I hadn't blogged recently but the days in Coral Bay get to be pretty much the same.26 of a day, 12 or so of a night, we fish, if we don't fish we swim. We were excited to see a big manta ray leap about 2 metres clear of the water the other day whilst we were fishing. We never get tired of seeing all these wonderful things
Friday we took a day off both and went North up the sealed road then into Ningaloo Station. Our neighbours Rob and Amy suggested we go look at the old whaling station just 3ks beyond the homestead so off we went. Rob gave us very specific directions but after travelling 15ks (almost to Yardie Creek) we admitted defeat and turned back. It seems CALM have taken over the station and we should have registered, paid and taken a key to unlock the new gate put up! Next year!!
We still had a lovely day out, stopping along the way to fish (caught a nice trevally off the beach) cook a few sausages on the beach for our lunch, and take some photos at my favourite sand dune.
(This bottom one was taken at the same place 12 months ago)
Yesterday Rob and Russ had planned to go octopus hunting. It's done on the reef at low tide with hooks to haul the ockies out of their holes. The skies opened up, down came the rain and Rob and Amy packed their tent up a day early and headed home to Newman where they both work for BHP. We've been invited to visit them at their farm in Nannup as they'll be living back home after Christmas or we'll meet again up here next year.
We've been catching and eating lots of fish. I've had the best time finding interesting recipes to use them in-whole fish, filleted fish, crumbed, curried, grilled and over stir fries. The end result of all this fish is me managing to lose 31kgs!
Russ and I have almost decided to do the boring old people thing and book here for 3 months next year. I had never really thought why I'm so happy here but Russ pointed out the fact I can swim in the sea or the heated pool and that the weather is just so right for us pleases me.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Ohhh
We both went "Ohhhh" as we drove around the bend and down to the boat ramp to launch our boat yesterday. The reef seen from the top of the ramp is amazing when you haven't seen it for a year.
Out fishing yesterday, we saw a number of turtles and a dugong went by our boat about 5 metres away (the closest we have ever been to one!).
Happy to say our 9 noisy camping neighbours are on their way this morning. I'm not at all sad to see them go. Now, if the crying baby (on our other side) that arrived yesterday moves on too, my life will be complete (until the next noisy group moves in).
The weather is ging to be around 12c over night and 25c through the day for the next week. Perfect for a couple of Southern Victorians!
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