baby, what's in that satchel?

not the prettiest map in the world

ok! photos are up on flickr. i won't go into blow-by-blow accounts here because you'll be bored titless by day 2, so just head on over to the photostream and i've got captions and everything there.

the highlight of the trip was definitely kalbarri though. i think i may actually move there! it's a coastal town with a population of about 1800, but because the town centre is pretty small, population density is actually ok.

anyhoo, we did this bush safari tour thing at the murchison house station. actually the station only makes up 1600sqm of the place. the entire piece of land that the station sits on is about 1 million acres, and is owned by the one person. the remaining 998, 400sqm is unadulterated WA outback, which is where they conduct the tour.

now, the loo family is not outdoorsy at all, so the thought of a bush tour is actually a big big challenge. during this tour, we had to walk barefoot in mud and on rocks and i think we even stepped on roo poo. but no complaints! if you have a look at the photostream, there's a pic of us sitting on a big tree trunk. that bit behind the tree used to be filled with water and was therefore unaccessible by canoe or foot. however, since this winter is been non-rainy, we managed to walk some way in. and then tour-guide frank got trapped in quicksand momentarily, and sank to about his waist before managing to scurry out unscathed. and then the rest of the way was too deep to wade through so we left it at that. WOW !!

our next challenge is the 3 day-2 night camp =DD i am sooo up for it!

also on this trip, while drifting in and out of sleep in the car, i kind of got an idea of how my parents get along without us. pretty well actually! not that they are disgruntled and angsty when we're around, but they do talk about a lot of non-parental things when there's no bills or household troubles to think about. i don't quite know how to put it exactly, but it's just seeing them in a different light just gave me a warm fuzzy feeling that was not lynne's toes poking me from the seat behind.

and finally ... quotes of the week

day 1
mum: come on dad, look sharp!
dad: [very bewildered] huh?

day 2
lynne: [kinda flustered] hey, where've my pants gone?

day 3
lynne: c'mon guys, hold my hands! i'm a maypole!
me: um .. phallic symbol?
da: HAHA! lynne's a large penis.

day 4 - during a game of cranium
lynne: [frantically circling a picture of male bits she drew (very badly)] the hint is "expression" dad !!
dad: um .. c*ck? um .. balls? huh?
lynne: NO! argh ...
mum: time's up
lynne: it's a WILLY, dad. the phrase was WILLY WILLY

day 5
da: [pointing to a fenced-off empty field] what's that?
me: rock farm
da: yeah right.
me: really! see that sign? it said "rock farm" (it really said "over-taking lane 500m ahead")
da: oh. why'd anyone want to own a rock farm? how boring must that be

day 6
dad [in a very cheerful voice]: did you girls sleep well last night? i think i had a bad dream. or maybe it was real. there was this figure standing over my bed saying someone was dead. i didn't hear who it was, but he did say the name.
[awkward silence]
da (or maybe lynne): oh. um. eew?