Painting at Menindee

James drove us to some lakes that are about an hours drive from Broken Hill. They were very high due to the amount of rain they've had this summer. We drove through a flooded road (good job he had a 4 x 4). It was very peaceful and we had a go at a bit of painting.

Golf with the Emus

Sunset at the sculptures.

We shrunk!

Flying Doctors

Silverton

Broken Hill

We've been here just under a week so far and already we've done so much!
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert:
After the long journey to see James it was great to finally arrive. He has an amazing house in a great area. He already has a few pets; Susie, a 'Large Black House Spider' who lives just outside the toilet in the laundry room, she is poisonous but not deadly (comforting!) And loads of red backs in the garage, John was in his element. The first evening (Saturday) James took us to a quirky pub, it was a pub used in the film 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert', on the staircase and up to the balcony it was covered in the most beautifully painted murals.
BBQ with the Flying Doctors:
Sunday was a big BBQ held for the new members of the Flying Doctors Team to get to know each other. John and I were also invited and made to feel very welcome. It was steak all round! Vegetarianism doesn't really exist in outback areas such as here but even so they made me delicious stuffed mushrooms (my emergency cheese sandwiches stayed wrapped up in my bag).
Silverton:
Later that afternoon we ventured out to Silverton, it had a real 'Wild West' feel to it. The town was originally populated by a mining community in the late 1800's but has now reinvented itself as a prime location for the shooting of movies and adverts and is also the home of 2 Australian artists and their galleries. One film made out there was Mad Max 2. They had a Mad Max 2 museum there but we decided to postpone going in, although John had seen the film James and I hadn't so on our way home we picked up a copy from the Video shop. Unfortunately both James and myself fell asleep half way though, John who was a fan of the film when he was younger sat through the whole film for the tenth time and we didn't bother going to the museum in the end.
Flying Doctors:
Whilst we've been her James has been having his induction to start his role as a Flying Doctor'.
One of James's colleagues arranged for us to go on a tour of the Flying Doctors base and Museum including getting to go inside the plane. Some people having a look around with another guide were most put out that they weren't getting the same special treatment as us. We felt very privileged (..it's who you know!!!). It was fantastic to see where James will be working. From talking to people and seeing clips from the videos in the museum it looks like an amazingly rewarding job, we can't think of a better person more suited to this challenge. Other Doctors have said in the past that their new jobs have paled in comparison after finishing with the flying doctor service. One Doctor said in a morning he was dealing with a serious car crash, then he was rushed to deliver a baby. That followed by a usual GP clinic and then giving advice over the phone to patients at night. Not your usual 9 to 5! The Doctors are very well thought of in the outback and as they are a charity people will do lots of fund raising to keep them flying.
School of the Air:
From speaking with Anna about the School of the Air we were keen to see how it works. We went to watch one of the lessons. It was a Kindergarten lesson. It started with the teacher logging on for 9 o'clock for register. She could see on the screen which other children had logged on and then she said good morning to them individually .Their responses were so cute. It took them a while due to air delay and also them being so little and they would reply “Good Morning Mrs ###... 'Over'”.
They went through different activities each one with the children ending everything with 'Over'. It was like a virtual school (Simon do you remember the kind of school our year 6's imagined would be in all schools in 50 years time) only with fairly primitive ICT being used. It was fantastic to see.
We shrunk:
We went up to a lookout point on a big slag heap left by the nearby mines, it's now a beauty spot with a cafe overlooking Broken Hill. A resident Canadian artist had made a HUGE bench.
Sunset at the sculptures:
One of James colleagues, Adona, took us up to 'The Sculptures', a place close by, famous for it's beautiful sunsets. We went up there with wine and nibbles. Although we were a bit late for the start of the sun set the lower it got the redder the sky became, it really was beautiful. We gave Adonas's 12 year old son artistic license with the camera and think he did a great job.

Journey to Broken Hill

The 13 and a half hour journey (not including stops) to see James in Broken Hill was a fun adventure in itself. After making the spontaneous decision to set off mid morning on the Friday we travelled over a beautiful area called 'Kangaroo Valley'. It was slow progress to start with as it was very hilly but with amazing views at the high points. We hit some heavy rain and fog and at times the journey resembled a wet trip across the M62. The further inland we got the flatter the ground and the straighter the roads became speeding up the journey. We saw Emus and started to see a lot redder soil, although due to all the rain this year it is a lot greener than it would normally be. We stopped regularly to switch drivers and have a stretch. One rest area we stopped to use the toilet and I (Ruth) could hear the camera snapping away in the cubicle next to mine. John had found the first Red Back Spider we'd come across so far.

Not a Bad View to Wake up to at Bendalong Beach.

Moving On

After finishing up painting Anna treated us to some lovely pizzas and bubbly. The next morning she took us on a walk around the surrounding bush land, crossing creeks and we came across some huge trees that had been uprooted after some crazy winds last year. Anna told us to watch out for leeches when walking through the long grass. After finishing the walk I (Ruth) felt a nip on my ankle, a leech had attached itself. After picking it off and having a closer look we realised we both had quite a few of the little rigglers on our trainers. We picked them all off...or so we thought. A few hours later when we started to get changed for a surf John went to undo his trainers and saw a leech at least 10 times it's original size stuck to the outside of his sock. This one had had a great meal and through his sock.

Bluey and the black snake

Wallace and his Son Andrew are two great guys resurfacing the road down to Anna's house and moving the huge fallen trees. Wallace is extremely knowledgeable about the Australian widelife and Aboriginal History, he's fascinating to listen to. As they were working they found a Blue Tongue Lizard (A Bluey)and a Red Bellied Black Snake. They found us to come and have a look, the snake was huge with a beautiful red belly, it was shedding a layer of skin. Although the snake has a poisonous bite they told us they are good to have around your garden because they eat the more deadly snakes. His friend got bitten by one once, he asked “What's it like?'
He replied, “I just saw a lot of pretty colours'.
Wallace handled the snake to move it to safety but we took a step back to watch, although we like to see a rainbow of beautiful colours we didn't fancy getting bitten.
The Lizard is also good to have around the home and it eats snails and other garden pests. They don't have a poisonous bite so Wallace showed us how to hold it. Both the lizard and snake were very sluggish due to the cool, wet weather, Wallace described them as being like solar powered.

Exploring the grounds after work.

A well earned beer

Rain, wind and heat stop play

We have worked through some very different weather conditions. From temperatures in the mid 40's, winds that we thought would blow us off thed ladders, and heavy rain. One day it was 33 degrees at night and the next day was 15 degrees.

Good Honest Grafting

We were now staying at the house in the beautiful loft conversion. It's been great sleeping in the van but felt good to be in a bed again. Our first job was to attack the weeds. Anna was arranging a tractor to come in and 'slash' the paddocks but where the tractor would be unable to go Ruth and I worked to remove the weeds and tidy up. It was great – The work was hard but it felt so good to be working outside. The only problem was that we had started work on the hottest week we had seen in Australia so far (one day was 42 degrees).Because of this we tended to work early morning and then go to the beach for a few hours before returning to work again in the evening. We have now moved on to painting the back of the house. I (John) always wanted to be a painter and decorator when I was a kid, so was in my element. We both were. It is quite a job as the wood needs 2 coats but it's very satisfying. We tend to get paint all over ourselves including in our hair but we are very happy. It has been wonderful to spend time with Anna and her girls. They are lovely people and have made us feel so welcome. Anna is also a teacher and has told us some amazing stories about When she taught for a year in the Kimberlys in North Western Australia. It was called School of the Air and lessons were taught over a CB radio. It is aimed at children that are living in very remote areas and cannot get to school.

Funny how things happen

We will soon be heading west to see James in Broken Hill, where he is starting his job as a flying Doctor. We have had a few minor problems with the van so decided to check it in to the garage for a check up before we start the big journey inland. We were planning to move on as soon as it was fixed. Whilst waiting for the mechanic we looked around the shops in Milton. We found a shop selling Ruth type clothing. The lady that worked there was lovely. We asked her to save some trousers behind the counter for us both saying that if the van repair was cheap we would buy them. The van was a very easy cheap fix so we happily returned to make a purchase. The lady said she thought we were a lovely couple and asked us if we were looking for some work. Her friend was looking for backpackers to do some work on her house ready for selling. We thought it would be a good experience and a bit of cash in the back pocket would be nice too. We met Anna and her two daughters Daisy and Lucy, that evening and also 2 Border Collies called Beetle and Jedda. They looked a lot like Ruth's families old dog ,Ben.
They are a lovely family and live in an amazing home (26 acres). Anna explained that the wet summer had caused some pretty huge weeds to grow (they looked like they were on steroids), which needed removing and the house needed painting. We started 2 days later.