First Days

Hi Everyone,

View from my window

   Let me describe my temporary home.  We are about an hour drive from the nearest town and the station is up in the midst of the “bush” country with lots of trees and scrub.  We live in a one floor ranch house with three bedrooms, a sitting room, large kitchen, bathroom, mud room, and adjoining bunk room.  There is a large porch that goes around two sides of the house. 

Wild Brumbies

The station is situated on a gentle hill, and the house is on the lower end.  Behind the house are the dog houses which house six adult dogs and four puppies.  We also have three cats which sleep wherever they want.  Up the hill from the house is the garage, small garden and chicken coup.  And up the hill from that is a large work shed and a hay shed with most of the tractors parked around.  Across from the sheds is the orchard.  There are also holding yards which are currently holding wild horses, called brumbies, which were trapped for training.  Cows and goats are the main livestock on the station, but there are also lots of horses that are not brumbies which are used to help herd the cows and goats. 

Nanny goat with her kid.

     On Saturday we checked brumby traps and herded goats into the yards so that on Sunday we could commence de-horning the youngest goats.  The goats had horns that are shaped like fish hooks and they manage to get them stuck in the fences.  We de-horned the goats by burning around the base of the horns to kill the horn cells.  The horns will supposedly fall off later on.  Today we again checked brumby traps and then moved goats up to the upper pasture.  This involved saddling up horses and using the kelpies (type of Australian herding dog) to help herd the goats.  I got to ride Sambo, a caught and trained brumby.  But today I started pushing him too fast too early into our ride and he decided that he didn’t want to do that so he started running and when he felt my balance slip, he gave me a helping shove.  So I have now been thrown off my first horse.  I have a bruise on my backside and a bit of pride dented.  But I got back on and for the rest of the day Sambo and I did just fine.

Sambo and I hearding goats with help from Chickadee the dog.

 

    There are plenty of interesting native animals to be seen around the station.  There are white cockatoos with yellow head feathers.  There are parrots with red and blue and some with green and yellow.  There are kangaroos which jump along beside the road.  There are also wombats, which are like large badgers, samba deer with dark fur, and at least one poisons snake that we have seen so far.  Oh and there are plenty of little bush flies. 

Patty and Danny the cats

Hana

Australia!

Hello from Australia!

In front of the Syndey Opera House

We have finally arrived.  The flight was wonderful.  Japan Airlines has superior service to any American Airlines and they serve wonderful food.  Once we arrived in Sydney, early Wednesday morning Australian time, Mom and I spent the day walking around downtown and sight seeing.  I will have pictures soon.  Then Thursday morning we got on the train to Cootamundra.  It was a beautiful four hour ride.  Once in Cootamundra we took a bus to Tumbarumba.  When we arrived we were picked up by a former neighbor of Kathrin’s, Heather.  Heather took us back to her house until Kathrin could come to get us, because she did not get our phone call about coming in time to meet us.  We had trouble with the Australian pay phones in Sydney, and eventually Mom was able to get a call through on a helpful railroad employee’s cell phone.  Once Kathrin picked us up, she had to pregnancy test some of Heather and Rob’s cows.  That was a process I was glad to watch rather than do. 

Farmers discussing the best types of grass to plant for cattle.

The next day Barry and Kathrin took us with them to a meeting of their local cattle group.  The group discusses ideas and techniques to have to do with raising livestock.  It was interesting, but way out of my agricultural range of knowledge.  After the meeting Barry had to run to town. 

Tulip, Mom, and Kathrin at the Country Round-Up

On the way he dropped Kathrin, Mom and I off at a Country music Roundup festival that was going on in one of the small towns near-by.  The music consisted of local singers who have written songs about life in Australia.  There were a few people who also did re-makes of other country songs.  At the Roundup, we met up with Tulip, who is a friend of Kathrin and Barry’s.  Tulip is his nickname because while his hair is now white, it used to be bright red.  After the Roundup we went back to Tulip’s for an authentic Aussie BBQ which consisted of steak, onions, potatoes, and fried eggs.  It was delicious.  Then we went back to the Roundup to watch the dance.  There was a DJ, but he played an electric piano and all of his songs were waltzes and other dancing songs.  The pianist was quite the character interacting with the audience, and dressed in bright red with a keyboard tie and matching ski hat.  The dancing was fun to watch.  The dancers were older couples who danced country couples dances out on the tennis court which sufficed as a makeshift dance floor. 

Authentic Australian BBQ

Hana

Final Step

Hi Everyone,

   I am writing this entry on Monday, October 17, 2011, but I won’t be able to post it until we arrive in Australia Wednesday. 

Working on Karate while enjoying Hawai'i

   On Friday, Mom and I did some more hiking and sight-seeing.  We climbed up Diamond Head, which is on the rim of a crater.  The view was beautiful, we could see all the way down to the water, with all the different shades of blue, and we could see the whole south side of the island. To climb up to the top we had to follow a rough trail, and then we climbed lots and lots of stairs.  The trail and stairs are part of an old gun battery that over looked the coast.  After Diamond Head, we took a scenic drive up the eastern coast to another trail head.  This trail was paved and led to the top of a mountain overlooking parts of the eastern and northern sides of the island.  From the top view point we could see Rabbit Island, and look down on a small lighthouse.  This lighthouse is probably the shortest lighthouse in the world.  The top with the light is the same size as a regular light house, but the body is only about five or six feet tall. 

Shortest Lighthouse

Our climb down the cliff to the tide pools below

Colorful parrot fish that was swimming in the tide pools.

 On the way back down the trail, we stopped at one of the vantage points and saw that there were some very large and very neat looking tide pools at the bottom of the mountain.  So we climbed down the side to check them out.  There was one tide pool that was particularly deep and had some of the most beautiful fish.  Some of the fish were pink, some yellow, green, blue, and black and white. 

As I write this I am sitting in the Honolulu International Airport waiting for our commercial flight out to Australia.  The military flight we wanted to be on left Saturday/ early Sunday morning.  We waited in the terminal for roll call for the flight until one thirty in the morning on Sunday, but when they finally did roll call there were no seats available. Bummer.  So we have purchased tickets on Japan Airlines.  Our flight will take us to Tokyo first, where we have a two hour layover, and then we proceed to Sydney.  From Sydney we will take the next train out to Cootamundra, and from there we take a bus to Tumbarumba.  And our host, Kathrin, will pick us up at Tumbarumba.  If you would like to see where I am staying, you can see the layout of the land on Google Maps.  We are staying near the town of Tooma in New South Wales, and the cattle station is called Jagumba.  It is right next to a Kosciuszko State forest preserve.

More when we get there.

Hana 

Step Two!

Aloha,

 We have finally arrived in Oahu, our second stop on the way to Australia, after waiting for a flight out of Travis for a week.  After our arrival on Wednesday the prospects for getting a flight out soon seemed good.  But several flights were canceled due to mechanical problems, and those flights that did go out either did not take passengers, or were full of active duty families trying to get to Hawaii either for vacation, or after visiting the mainland for a weeklong school break.  Since flights are always changing, we spent most of our time in the terminal, or walking around the base.  Thankfully, we did not have to lug around our luggage each time we went to the terminal in the hope of a flight because Travis has the one and only Stan's Shuttle service owned and operated by Stan the Man. 

Stan and his van.

Stan was wonderful because he always had a smile and loved to talk with us.  We even got to take a ride into Concord with him while he dropped off another passenger.  While we were in Concord Stan stopped at a local pastry shop and we got delicious apple fritters.  

Enjoying San Francisco, rain and all.

On Monday, we decided to rent a car and go see San Francisco.  We were accompanied by Karen and her four year old son Trevor.  Trevor, like many young kids was very excited and ran everywhere.  We saw the Golden Gate Bridge, watch the sea lions, and ate some wonderful clam chowder in bread bowls.  Our rental car was a Prius and Mom really enjoyed driving it, especially because for our whole trip to and from San Francisco she only had to put two gallons in the car. 

Mom and her Prius

It rained for most of the day, but our trip was still fun and a relief from waiting on base.  But good things come to those who wait, and we got on a flight to Oahu late Tuesday night.   



  Wednesday Mom bought a guide book about places to hike, snorkel, and surf.  We are mainly interested in the hiking places, but the snorkeling and surfing beaches are also excellent spots for just hang out and beach walk.  So we spent part of the day at Barber’s Point Beach and I took a lot of pictures of the waves and the small lighthouse that is there.  Then Mom and I got take-out from a local place and ate our dinner on the watching the sunset on the beach until we had to hurry back to the car because of the rain.   

Barber's Point Beach and Lighthouse

Today we went to Wa’ahila Ridge State Recreation Area.  It is park with a small parking lot tucked up behind the houses on one of the mountains surrounding Honolulu.  There is a trail that goes across the ridge line of the mountain that divides two valleys, and hikers can hike along this trail all the way up to one of the highest tops on Mt. Olympus.  This whole trail is six and a half miles.  Mom and I walked about half way up to a nice observation spot on one of the taller ridges.  Once we had hiked back to the car, we had lunch.  Then we drove to the Lyon Arboretum and had a wonderful time walking around and looking at all of the different tropical plants.  But next time I am going to bring bug spray, the mosquitoes were plentiful and voracious. 

View from top of the ridge

Tomorrow we plan to do some more hiking.  There is a flight leaving for Australia this weekend and hopefully we will be on it.

Hana

First Step Accomplished!

Hi Everyone,

   We made it to Travis Air Force Base in California, the first step on our way to Australia!  The flight we took had plenty of seats and we got in early this morning at around 1 am. Tonight we hope to take a flight to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, and from there we hope to catch the Australia flight as it comes through. We are trying this route instead of getting on the Australia flight in Travis because we were told that it is very rare for passengers to board the Australia flight in Travis (where we are right now).   Usually any tentative seats are taken up at the last minute with cargo. On Air Force planes, it is not so much room that counts, as it is weight. So while there may actually be room for passengers, the cargo usually takes up all the weight that is allowed.
   
 One of the best parts about traveling is meeting new people. Most of our fellow passengers from last night's flight are also trying to get to Hawaii. Luckily, the flight that is suppose to go out tonight also is suppose to have a large number of seats, so we will probably get to share a ride with our travel companions again. Hawaii is the final destination for most of our fellow travelers, but at least one of them is traveling farther, on to Japan. Hickam is often the jump off point for flights across the Pacific.
   
There are a few differences between commercial flights, and riding Space Available on Military flights. I have already mentioned a few of these differences, such as the loud noise, and the cold. After proceeding through security, passengers board a blue school bus out on the tarmac and are driven right out to the plane. No hats are allowed because normally the plane is already warming up and the engines are running. Passengers climb up stairs and into the main cargo hold. In the plane we took last night, a C-17, there are canvas jump seats folded down along the length of the plane. Passengers sit in these seats facing their fellow passengers along the other wall. Each seat has a seat belt, but not much else. These seats do not have any extra padding, and the metal parts are usually very cold. But the crew on the plane does hand out small pillows and blankets in vacuum sealed packs for the passengers.  Ear plugs are also handed out to help protect against the noise. After everyone is seated, a member of the crew goes through the safety review about oxygen masks etc.. Then the crew finishes the final pre-flight check and the plane takes off.  The ride last night was a pretty smooth one, and, as you can see in this delightful picture Mom took, I managed to catch a nap. 

More news soon,

Hana

Waiting

Happy Fall to All,

I apologize for not updating the blog sooner, but unfortunately there has not been much to tell.  For the last three weeks Mom and I have been cleaning the house and packing for the trip.  Mom also had things she needed to organize and finish before leaving since she will be staying with me in Australia for over a month. 

But the good news is we have finally started our journey!  Saturday morning, Dad and Chris drove Mom and me with all our gear over to Tacoma.   Dad and Chris spent four hours on Saturday sailing aboard the 90ft. vessel Odyssey, which is manned and maintained by the local Sea Scouts.  Then on Sunday afternoon, Dad and Chris dropped Mom and me off at McChord Air Force base.

In order to get to Australia my Mom and I will be attempting to take Space Available Flights on Air Force planes that happen to be going the same place we are with extra seats or room for passengers.  This system is only for active duty or retired armed service people and their dependants.  The flights come and go without any set schedule and without any definite number of seats. So if there are more people who want to get on the flight than there are seats to hold them, then there is a ranking system to decide who gets on the flight. You must be in the airport ready to leave when the plane is ready to go.  And they can sometimes leave at very strange hours.  The cabins, while pressurized, are not heated and the planes are not insulated against the noise of the engine, so passengers usually wear ear plugs during the flight.  But the advantage to Space A flights is they are free. 

 
     So here we are waiting for the next flight out to Travis Air Force Base in California, or Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu, Hawaii.  Our preferred flight plan will take us to Travis, and from Travis we will board a plane that travels to Hawaii, then on to Pago Pago, and eventually arrives in Australia.  If we get on the flight in Travis, we are almost guaranteed seats all the way through.  For Plan B, we can also board the flight at Hickam, but this is a little riskier since anyone who is already on board has priority over us.  According to the latest update of the flight schedule, we think we will be able to get a flight to Travis sometime Wednesday.

I have also added some pictures of my open water dive. There were so many amazing creatures, and breathing underwater is really cool!

A note about a new blog feature I have added: on the right hand side of the page, underneath the “followers” spot, is a small box that says “Follow by E-mail”.  This gadget will send an e-mail to your inbox every time the blog is updated.  To sign up for the gadget enter your e-mail address into the box underneath the heading, and click submit.

I must admitt that waiting for a flight has been a serious test of my patience.  I feel very fortunate to have such luxuries as internet and netflix to pass some of the time.  But I guess I just have to remember: "Winds blow in clouds for rain, but they also blow the clouds away again.  So do not blame the winds when it rains, but rather pick up an umbrella and be patient."
Hana