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Its that time of the year again when the dreaded "Council Rates" appear. They seem to go up the maximum allowed each year. Bearing in mind that I live in a small remote country town the rates on my place which does consist of two villa homes on the one block have escalated this year to almost $3400. The single house next door attracts a rate of nearly $2500. All this in a small country town. Meanwhile council has grandiose plans of a new airport terminal $7m and upwards, A new administrative centre, yet to be costed ( many million) and other "monuments" worthy of some of the giant egos which seem to abound. Not for our employees the the ordinary run of the mill base model motor cars. Oh no, we must have either the top of the range or midrange with lots of extras. All with funds supplied by the long suffering rate payer. I often wonder if these fellows would be so extravagant with the funds if it were their own business and they had to work to supply the money. Employment positions on council seem to be created whenever some one needs a job and the rule seems to be that more likely than not  a vehicle will accompany the position.
    On the bright side Ceduna will hold its annual Oysterfest on the 3rd 4th and 5th of October when we eat lots of oysters and other seafood and wash it all down with beer and white wine while listening to music, being entertained, ride the sideshows and much, much camaraderie. We are only 750 kms from Adelaide so why not drop infor the weekend.

A month in Bali; what more can I say.

      Because we can no longer fly direct to Denpasar from Adelaide and we had never been to Kuala Lumpur, we decided, against our better judgment, to fly with Malaysian airlines. (Sorry "Singapore", it wont happen again). It seems that they squeezed an extra row of business class in at the expense of those of us in cattle class. My knees only barely fitted behind the seat in front and as soon as the person in front put their seat back (which the person in front of me always seems to do the minute the seat belt sign is switched off) it became necessary for me to put my left knee in my wife’s space and my right into the aisle, where of course it was in constant danger of being severely damaged by the meal/drink trolley. At the same time, the TV screen on the back of the seat moves to about 300mm from my eyes so that even with my glasses on it is too close to focus on. That aside the trip was as good as can be expected and we arrived in a very warm KL. and following a 65 km taxi ride we arrived safely at our hotel. A pleasant surprise, we were "upgraded" to a club? room on the 20th floor. Very nice.

       During our stay in KL we tended not to do anything too strenuous and used the underground and the monorail to take the pressure off our legs. We did of course visit the Petronas towers but declined to join the rush to go up. The highest one can go is only to the bridge between the towers and after the Empire State it seemed a bit passé. Very impressive from the outside and in a beautiful setting of lakes and parks. A wander across the road from our hotel brought us to the Berjaya Times Square, which is 2 skyscrapers of hotel rooms and a shopping centre to die for, though not for us as we seldom shop. Built into the shopping complex is a fun park with lots and lots of rides including a roller coaster, which makes use of the whole 10 floors. Coming from little old Ceduna we were to say the least, in awe.

     After 4 days we taxied the 65 km back to the airport for a 3-hour flight to Denpasar, which was uneventful except for the half hour delay while they tried (successfully fortunately) to start the starboard engine.

     At Ngurah Rai we realised we were back in Indonesia and it was time to change mode to rubber time. There were more than adequate desks available to help remove the $25 visa from each visitor, but only 3 desks available to process the immigration papers. Before too long we were outside at the taxi counter, paid the money and into a cab and away. Too easy.

 You wont find the Adika Sari Hotel in any glossy tour brochure. It is located in a back street about a 5 min walk to the beach, clean, friendly, nice pool and only

360,000 Rp per night including a cooked brekky. It suited our needs very well, being a short walk to many excellent restaurants, the beach and shops if you want. A 50,000 Rp taxi ride would take us from our hotel to Carrefours and back. Carrefours is a giant French conglomerate who have built a huge supermarket which sells not only groceries etc but TVs and all things electronic, toys, homewares etc in fact just about everything. Even though we buy very little it is an interesting way to spend a couple of hours.

   We spent the first week or so on our own and a typical day would be as follows. Bob arose around 7am and went for a walk on the beach, returning about 8am with a copy of the Jakarta Post. By this time I had done the chores (raised the blinds and tidied the room ready for the cleaners who moved in the moment we went to brekky about 8.15. Sauntered to the dining room, read paper while eating “makan” and by 9.00 ish, back in our freshly cleaned room to finish the paper and very likely a short nap as well. The rest of the day was spent either at the beach on a lounge under a brolly combined with time spent in the surf with a boogie board, lunching around and swimming in the pool, walking the streets or sleeping in preparation for the afternoon and evening events. An hour before sunset saw us at the beach, Bintang in hand watching the sun disappear before walking home in the dusk and dressing for dinner. Then it was off to find a restaurant of which there are many, all serving food with which we were seldom disappointed. Found it difficult to make the evening last much past 9 ish so were usually in the cot by around 10.

    The second week we were joined by Shane and his family

   who came down from Kalimantan for part of the school

  holidays. More on that later.

 I see that it is 8 weeks since the last update. Time certainly slips by quickly. To quote Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes " The days are just packed". The holiday after Italy took in Split Dubrovnik and Zagreb in Croatia, Montenegro, Mostar in Serbia, Budapest in Hungary, and Vienna in Austria and completing our trip in Switzerland. The whole trip was wonderful but the highlight would have to have been an overnight trip in Switzerland with Tommi & Simone up into the Alps. The day started early when we boarded a train in Listal for a 2 hour trip to Chur. T & S were already on the train which filled rapidly to the stage where even the stairways (double deck carriages) were occupied. At Chur we changed trains and boarded the Glacier Express in brilliant sunshine for a 2 hour ride through fairy land in a panorama carriage, complete with a silver service meal and surrounded by more snow than either of us had ever seen. That experience alone would have been enough, but that was just the beginning.  Leaving the train at  Brig, a delightful large village covered of course in snow, we boarded a bus for an exciting trip up the mountains, on a road barely wide enough for two cars let alone a bus, to a smaller village named Blatten higher up in the Alps. Alighting from the bus in Blatten we were once again faced with a picture postcard situation. But there was still more to go and we boarded a cable car capable of carrying 80 people for a 700 mt trip straight up. (almost)  We shuffled of the cable car with the other 78 passengers, most armed with skis and ski poles capable of taking out an eye in such a confined space, to be confronted by a sight in which one fully expected to see Santa Claus drive past at any moment. It was then that Tommi and Simone explained where we must go to find our hotel. We could not see it from the cable car terminus but we were assured it was just over the hill.We set off, sqeaking our way through the fresh powdery snow, along a narrow track swept flat by a "snow plough" and after about twenty minutes walking through alternating sunshine and light falling snow, Tommi announced that the building on the hilltop in the distance was to be our home for the night. Another twenty or so minutes and we reached our destination, The Bel Alp Hotel, which according to the plaque , had its beginnings around 1856. A delightful,quaint building, our room in the roof on the 3rd floor, stairs only,no lift. Absolutely fantastic, a beer or two, dinner in a packed dining room, slept like a log ,all in the same room, (it was last room available), brekky and then the walk back to cable car, stopping on the way for a coffee at a ski lodge/ hotel. The sun was still shining most of the time and the snow fell ever so gently when the cloud moved in. To see families out skiing together, some of the children on skis no more than 4 or 5 years old, was wonderful to behold, but at the same time made one feel a little inadequate. All to soon back down the mountain for the trip home to Basel which only took a couple of hours by train. This was the highlight but the whole time spent in and around Basel with T & S and the friendship and hospitality lavished upon us by Urs and Sylvia, (Simones Mum and Dad), from the "Bar Rouge" to the "Hasenburg" and the "Chez Sylvia" and "Chez Tommi" to name but a few. The snow fell for us every day and to wake in the morn and peek out across the fields from our bedroom in the attic was so wonderful. All good things must come to an end so with much sadness we farewelled our friends and caught the train to Zurich where we boarded our flight for home with an 8 hour stopover in Singapore. Back in Oz we went on a 4 day trip with friends to Mt Ive station and retuned home for a few weeks "at home". Then to Fraser Range Station for 3 weeks, Pt Lincoln a couple of days and home for two weeks before leaving for a month in Bali via Kuala Lumpur. More on all that later. tjilpi

As we will be away for about 4 weeks I might as well bring the blog right up to date. The 3 weeks we spent at Fraser Range sheep station/caravan park was just sooo good. Fraser Range is on the Eyre Highway about 100 kms east of Norseman. It is a working sheep station where they have Damara sheep which do not need shearing as they have no wool.The station also has a caravan park, camping area, a self contained cottage, bunk accomodation and 5 rooms in the old shearers quarters which contain q. size beds. There are 2 ablution blocks and a well equipped camp kitchen in the old shearers kitchen as well as an undercover BBQ area with 3 barbys.It is in a very pretty location in a small hilly range with plenty of almost resident roos and emus. A nice quiet place to prop for a couple of days, for those travelling Australia. The traditional evening campfire is usually well attended and makes for interesting and diverse conversation. The only downside for me is the fact that I tend to have a beer or two more than normal. The drive from Ceduna to Fraser range accross the Nullarbor and back is a round trip of around 2200 kms and on the way home we broke the journey up by staying the night at Eucla at  Rasa and Skinnys Motel. Great room and great feed.
       Home for one day and then off to Pt Lincoln for some xrays, staying the night in Roo's pub, this time the cheaper rooms overlooking the town instead of the Bay. A very nice place to stay, a little dearer than most others but as it is all new it feels good. The Pier hotel, just down the road, is still a good option for a feed however.
       Back home with just about enough time to bring the house and gardens at home and the Seahorse villa back up to scratch before departing for a month in Bali, including a 4 day stopover in Kuala Lumpur. Shane and family are coming from Kalimantan for a week of the school holidays to see us in Bali and my brother Clive is also planning to join us for about a week.      tjilpi

Been back a few weeks now from a wonderful 5 week tour around a small part of Europe. We landed in Zurich after the 14 hour flight from Singapore. This followed the 7 hour trip from Adelaide to Singapore. Long periods in the air is the price we pay for living in Oz. Off the plane in Zurich, through customs and immigration in the wink of an eye but then a 4 hour wait for our train to Venice, an 8 hour trip through the magnificent Alps, complete with large areas of snow. Changed trains at Venice Mestre  for the short trip to Venice Santa Lucia and after a 5 minute walk from the station we were at  our hotel right on the Grand Canal. www.hotelprincipevenice.it    An adequate hotel with a great location. Venice was cold and foggy for much of the time but this added to its charm and when the sun did peek out the temperature was quite pleasant. We walked ourselves into the ground during our 3 day stay, saw most of the highlights and included a day trip to Murano. Venice is of course an expensive place to visit but when we went in late Feb. prices were much more realistic and it was not too crowded. We would both like to return to Venice one day but I dont think we would like to be there in summer. Caught the train to Florence where we stayed for 3 nights with a day trip from Florence to Pisa to see, of course, The Leaning Tower. It was exactly what we expected but there were many things to see in the area beside the Tower. Back in Florence next day we went to the Academia to see Michaelangelo's David among other things.We walked quite a lot and saw the Ponte Veccio, The Royal Apartments and the Del Duomo Cathedral. On leaving Florence we headed for Naples, once again by train, on which we sat next to and chatted with an interesting couple from Argentina. We were warned that Naples may not be an attractive place but they were wrong. It was a sh*t hole, rubbish everywhere, filthy streets and dog sh*t by the ton. Fortunately we only used Naples as a base to visit Pompei which was just so fantastic. Herself has had a wish to visit Pompei since childhood and she was NOT dissappointed. We spent the full day there and walked till our tired old legs would walk no more. The following day we caught the train to Rome where we caught up with our friends from home and with whom we were to spen the next 3 weeks. More later.

  Well Chrissy is over once more and its almost back to normal, whatever that is. We had a great Christmas and all the family were able to get here for a while and even managed a one day overlap where we were all together. Went to the new hotel for dinner (check photos) and a triple birthday celebration, (mine, Fiona’s and Hannah’s). The little kids were that good I’m sure the pub hardly knew we were there, not so sure about the “big” kids though.

   The weather was fairly kind to us except for the ubiquitous Ceduna wind. Many days were spent on the water or on the beach and we even managed to reduce the snapper and whiting population a little. A couple of snapper off the beach along with a mulloway which was assumed wrongly to be too small and released. Bad luck Tracy. Three of the girls got fishing rods for Christmas and they were given a thorough try out and proved most successful. Typically most of the kids got presents for the beach and the pool and the weather was too cold to try them out for a while. Went to Mexican Hat near Fowlers bay for the day where No3 son was camped with his family. Blew its ring of in the arvo but still managed to be a good day.

   Put Darrens boat in about 5.00 one morning to try for a big red and a gear in the helm stripped and put paid to that mornings fishing. Local marine agent happened to have one in stock (good on you Ricey) so spent the day adapting it to fit. No2 son headed out again around 5 next morning, only to discover that when reassembling the helm if you put the steering cable in the incorrect hole the boat turns left when you turn right and vice-versa. Quite an interesting morning apparently.  Fixed it properly the next day.

   The Seahorse Villa , ceduna_vic@bigpond.com the holiday home we have for hire next door has a nectarine and a mulberry tree. The nectarines were not too plentiful but the flavour was divine. By contrast after last year when a week of 40o plus days burnt the fruit off the mulberry tree and we got nothing, this year the tree has been so laden that there has been more than enough for us and the bloody starlings.