Wild Wild West

I could have been in Nashville but nobody was packing any heat. I was in in fact at Boyup Brook Western Australia  for their famous annual country music festival. The little town was packed with caravans of every shape and size, awash with folk in checked shirts, denim and assorted cowboy hats, and a wannabe Slim Dusty on every street corner with his twanging guitar. For those of you who know me well this was not my idea of heaven..........country and western music is my "bete noir" and is apt to push me over the edge if listened to when I am feeling low.........another sad song of "he gone and done me wrong, now the dog has died and I'm in jail" is enough to make me want to commit bodily harm to my person........however I am now married to a fan of all things country so compromise is the key. By the end of the week I was foot tapping along with the rest of them. My favorite a blind guitarist called Lorin Nicholson a man with real vision and speaking the universal language. Mind you......we had a young girl playing next to us at the street market, who moaned her way through every song in her repertoire and definitely needed to be put out of her misery.  I could have cheerfully shoot her myself , there is only so much one can take.

We stayed at Harvey Dickson's a few miles out of town, a rustic campsite, no power or water but at only $8 a night whose complaining We took lots of al fresco showers and enjoyed the dusty solitude.........and merciful silence. We went to a "brekky showdown" in his shed, the ceiling of which is festooned with objects from yesteryear and a stage dedicated to the KING. Some wonderful Bush Poets, regaled us with humorous Aussie verse,so funny we cried with laughter.

Tommy became the talk of the town, winning first prize and $300 for his "bush sculpture"entitled "Sacrifice". I have an amazing husband who has more chutzpah than anyone I have ever known. While we were at Quininup he spent time picking up old iron railway sleeper nails, barbed wire and gnarled bits of wood, and using some of my beads magically turned them into works of art. I was so proud of him! Trouble is we are now living with "an artist" they need lots of TLC



Sacrifice



It must be a weatherman's heaven,forget the precipitation he has far more exciting scenarios  like heat waves,cyclones, flash floods and now bush fires to report on.. Enough already! Give us a break,  please.  In the last few weeks we have run through every weather  imaginable except perhaps snow! At the beginning of the month Tommy and I had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We had to go back to Armadale Hospital for Mr T's  annual checkup and as we drove into the outskirts of Perth we hit smoke. I had booked us into  a quaint chalet in the hills above Armadale, right next to a picturesque dam and with stunning views. We realized something was wrong when the proprietor came out to greet us and to tell us there was no electricity. As we got out of the car and gazed across the hillside below us all we could see were hugh billows of smoke.  He said we were in no immediate danger as the wind was blowing away from us but we felt uneasy. As we unpacked  we heard a terrific noise as a helicopter dropped down to suck water up from the dam right outside our room to water bomb. We realized that  the  fire was obviously nearer than we thought.  Then a ranger came past and advised us to leave.........so we hastily crammed everything back into the car and made a quick getaway.. Armadale was chaos with frightened people flocking to the town hall, for safety. Most of them had lost everything and had escaped with what they stood up in, many had their pets in their arms. It was a sorry sight but thankfully no loss of life,and started by an off duty policeman using his angle grinder. I don't fancy being in his shoes with over 80 homes lost, he's got a unhealthy amount of guilt to deal with poor man.

Room with a View

We are now camping at Cheynes Beach, on the south western coast, trying to catch some fish but not with much luck.......not biting!



Soul Food Kitchen

Pork and Spinach Soup

 Had an enjoyable couple of evenings with Jan and Brian Beattie and this is Jan's recipe for a delicious heartwarming soup.
Especially good after an alien sighting on the Nullabor!

1 Pork Hock
1 onion chopped

Place in a large saucepan and cover hock with cold water and add some salt. Cook until meat is falling off the bone, a pressure cooker will do this in a jiffy. Remove hock, put aside to cool. Add the following, all chopped finely.grate ginger and crush garlic.

1 bunch of spinach
1 clove of garlic
1 small knob of ginger
1 chicken stock cube
2 tablespoons of soya sauce
1 cup thin vermecilli noodles

Disolve stock cube in one cup of liquid, bring to the boil and cook until noodles are soft. Meanwhile take meat off the bone and chop into small pieces. Add to soup.

Delicious, enjoy with some crusty bread.

Advance Australia Fair





Waltzing Matilda

  
Two days anxiously watching and waiting for Cyclone Bianca to hit us with expected winds of 120ks an hour  but luckily the lady was a no show. We didn't even need to tie the kangaroos down mate and  finished the month with a whimper and not a bang. Poor Queensland wasn't so fortunate with Yasi ,devastation of homes and farms near the coast but thankfully no loss of life, in fact three babies born, imagine they will dine out on that story all their lives..........but guess we wont be having bananas any time soon. One of things I am trying to come to terms with living in Australia is the sheer scale of the disasters they have here.Nothing small about this country,and their hearts are just as expansive. It is time for us to be moving on. We have mixed feelings. The longer you stay in one place the harder it is to move, and Quininup has become a special place for us. We have loved the camaraderie here in the camp and have made some good friends. We celebrated my first Australia Day with bunting flying from the awning and the fishing rod as a makeshift flagpole. Had a  traditional "breakfast barbie" with  Carol and Nev who cooked up some great Aussie tucker and spent the day waltzing with the roos. I now have a tame "28" parrot, who has lost his tail, (does that make him a "14" I wonder.).............we have named him Waldo, don't ask me why.  He has taste for sunflower seeds and will happily munch handfuls but  attacks any other parrots who dare to muscle in on a free lunch.



Jenny and Jack with their two small boys, Jackson and Braydon and not forgetting Scruffy the dog, have spent the last sixteen months on the road.They have been in Quininup for the last eight as caretakers of the park.  They opted out of the rat race,selling up their business in Queensland to spend more time together as a family. Home is a 16 ft caravan filled with all their worldly possessions. I take my hat off to them, not many of us would have the courage and resilience to bring up a family in such a confined space. Though they do have one enormous advantage, the whole of Oz is their backyard. Whilst they have been here they have managed to grow tomatoes and cucumbers up their awning ropes. I am filled with admiration as Jenny  home schools  the computer savvy  boys with  the help of S.I.D.E.  (Schools of Isolated  and Distance Education). The boys have a taste for rice smothered in balsamic vinegar.......maybe some budding gourmands! They love the adventure of the open road with  new places to explore, and they will be heading off soon to the Eyre Peninsular in South Australia and no doubt Jackson and Braydon will be fishermen like their father the next time I see them. Travel safe guys.



Waldo and me.......

On one of my walks around Karri Lake I came across a family of Emus busily eating blackberries. I don't know who was more surprised, them or me.The adult and six babies eyed me in alarm,gathered themselves into a line like a miniature group of burlesque dancers and sashayed off their tail feathers bouncing. Their choreographer chiding them on faster with clicks "C'mon girls ,shake that bootee and give them a grand exit!" The female Emu is a liberated bird. Once she has mated and laid her clutch of aqua blue eggs she hands over all responsibility to her husband. He then sits, hatches and generally cares for his brood till they are large enough to fend for themselves. Can't you just picture it........."That's it honey......I'm off to join the girls down at the Bramble Bar, catch yer next year for a bit of whoopee.".... now there's food for thought.

Ye ha!  I am dusting off my hat, squeezing into my jeans and heading  inland to Boyup Brook for the Country Music Festival for five days. Hoping the local cowboys and girls have a liking for beads as I have been busy decorating cowboy hats  Intsimbi style.
Wagons roll!



Soul Food Kitchen

This is a delicious dip to share around the barbie or whenever a group get together for "happy hour" Feeds many!

Quininup Corn and Bacon Loaf

450g  round cob loaf
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of fresh garlic crushed
250g tub soft cream cheese
1/2 cup grated tasty cheese
1 dessertspoon Dijon mustard
2 rashers bacon roughly chopped
420g can of creamed sweetcorn
1/4 cup of sour cream
Couple of dashes of Worcester sauce
Handful of chopped fresh herbs,parsley,chives,thyme.

Slice the top off the cob loaf. Remove the inside soft bread. Place cob on a baking tray. Cut the soft bread into small strips and arrange the extra pieces on a separate tray, spray them with oil.
Fry bacon and onion in a little oil for 2/3 minutes. Cool. Place in a mixing bowl and add other ingredients. Mix well and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.Spoon into prepared loaf. Place the top back over the cob.
Bake the loaf at 200C for 25 minutes, then add the bread pieces to the oven. Cook the loaf and bread pieces for a further 10 minutes or until the filling is hot and the bread is crunchy.Wrap in foil until ready to serve. Serve at room temperature. Use the smaller pieces of bread to dip first and then break up the cob loaf from the top as you work your way down to the bottom. There won't be any left, believe me! Delicious.



The Big Wet



2011 already.......what happened to 2010? 


What a start to the new year. One half of the country plagued with floods and the other half fighting bush fires. Like most Australians I have been watching TV footage of the unfolding disaster of the relentless floods in Queensland and now moving into Victoria. The sheer scale of the devastation is overwhelming. Imagine an area the size of France and Germany under water and in some areas the flood level reaching 30ft or more. The inland tsunami that ravaged Toowoomba  and parts of the Lockyer valley was so violent, one body was recovered 80 kms downstream from where he was swept away. We watched with horror as one family climbed onto the roof of their car , the mother and son were picked up by a helicopter, but the father disappeared before they could go back for him. The statistics are mind blowing with figures of 70 million tons of water in 74 hours flooding Brisbane, 7,000 insurance claims worth an estimated $365 million, (but many are not covered for river encroachment so face a  lenghty battle for compensation). It will cost the nation 30 billion dollars to rebuild and restore. But forget the statistics and get back to the human cost. So far 20 dead and many more  missing, most of them from the small village of Grantham, where whole houses were swept away, farms decimated, livestock drowned . For many of the victims they face an uncertain future, mortgages still have to be paid for homes that are no longer habitable or just not there. The cost in human suffering is incalculable. Families and communities in the rural areas are close knit and one loss affects everybody. In the midst of this terrible tragedy there are stories of tremendous courage. One young boy insisting they save his brother first, he and his mother were then swept away before they could be helped. Strangers risking their own lives to save people trapped in cars. Parents pushing their kids onto the roof of their home for safety only to be dragged under by the raging flood before they could pull themselves up.



A couple of the more exotic of the species

I have been been moved by the way the  Queenslanders and their fellow Australians from all over the country  came together to support one another through this terrible time. The Aussies have a remarkable stoicism in the face of adversity and this coupled with their unique sense of humour  "she'll be right mate" help us to remember what really matters is not the loss of possessions or property but looking out for your neighbour. We have been  fortunate to experience that ourselves from fellow travellers. Wherever we find ourselves we are encouraged  by the positive feedback we receive, helpful advice and great companionship. We saw the New Year in with great crowd of friendly Aussies and a couple of Kiwis.........so to Carol, Nev, Maureen , Dale, Cheryl , John,Chris and Greg........Cheers and thanks for a great evening  from the colonial sheila and the Big T

Catch yer later on the road again sometime!



Warm feet and warm hearts!

 It has been a month since we set out on our journey and opted for the simpler way of life. We have bought a solar panel which we have fitted on the roof of the van and now we can stay in places where there is no electricity. Fresh water will be our only restriction. Living in a confined space has its challenges,there is definitely no space for mess.Clear up or move out!  I am learning that I can cook perfectly well with just one pot, in which I mix,bake boil,and stew and have adjusted my menus accordingly........if it isn't on the barbie its potluck. I have rediscovered the joy of bread making and make a mean soda loaf. Tommy has become the "Marron catcher extraordinaire" and with the produce from the local farmers markets we are eating like kings.An indispensable  item is one that can multi task, like our portable freezer which works off our batteries and doubles up as a coffee table,foot rest, ironing board and dumping point for anything that needs a home. My wardrobe now consists of a couple pairs of shorts and assorted  T's ,and I am setting the new fashion trend in camp wear with  kikois,which I can always whip off and throw on the table when we entertain. This is, as you can imagine, or perhaps not, makes for a great ice breaker! Less is best has become our mantra as we aspire to only own as many things as we genuinely need.......and more importantly realize we can only tow so much. I have never felt more liberated.

Its marron season and yesterday armed with our "chook" pellets for bait and our license we spent the evening at the local dam.It was a beautiful calm night,the sky chock a block with stars which were reflected in the dark water. The kookaburra laughed goodnight to us from the jarrah trees, and  dozens of frogs serenaded us with a rasping chorus.As we pulled in our nets it looked like we were catching stars not crayfish.  Today,the romance has faded and  I have the task of cooking the catch. This is not an easy task. They are remarkably frisky and object strenuously to becoming gastronomic delights. The water boiling ,the first two safely in the pot, I tried to extricate a large marron from the bag. The remaining marron had decided on an "all for one and one for all" policy and clung grimly together with their pincers locked  in a long chain. I grabbed the first one and tried to swat off the rest with a wooden spoon. It proved to be my undoing. The large marron dropped onto my bare foot maliciously nipping my toe. In the ensuing panic to shake him off I tripped over the bag and his comrades decided this was as good a time as any to make a dash for it. In a flash the floor was covered in scrabbling crustaceans, with the chef hopping around on one foot trying to scoop them up with a plastic sieve..........Master chef  it was not.....oh the joys of the simple life.


Soul Food Kitchen

Danny's Chilli Jam

 This is a great accompaniment to a dish of grilled crayfish, looks pretty too. But is great with everything that you feel needs a bite or a "zoosh" up in flavour.

Large handful of fresh red chilli's
I cup of apricot jam
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Fresh garlic (optional)

Blitz together in a blender and put in a jar. Keeps for ages in the fridge.
Watch out for the bite!

Laugh More Live Longer



 Laugh More- Live Longer  so says  the Campervan and Motorhome Club, of which we have just become members. An apt slogan to adopt on the eve of 2011 as thousands of wrinkly wanderers like ourselves laugh their way around  Aussie on The Big Lap.  Well who wouldn't be laughing with the promise of  pristine beaches, towering canyons,spectacular waterfalls and  all that outback topped with a really big sky.Who doesn't want to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, be dwarfed by Uluru or ride a camel along Cable beach at sunset...........we are going to have to live longer so we can enjoy it all!
This is my last blog of 2010 and what a  year it has been. Marrying my soul mate, Tommy, on the cliffs at Schoenies in Port Elizabeth,after a memorable Christmas spent with friends and family . Honeymooning at Coral Bay in Western Australia and swimming with Manta Rays. Another honeymoon in Kenya  at Watamu with my precious sister Kathy and family. Starting the Soul Food Kitchen back in South Africa, a school reunion and connecting with  friends 40 years on, but most of all a year of decisions, decisions, decisions.
One of the biggest to move back to Oz,  sell  our permanent homes and to embrace a new nomadic lifestyle.The most important thing I have learnt this year is that my vision for my life is only limited by my lack of imagination. I must stop imagining of what I think is possible but rather what I want to be possible. Life is infinitely larger and more glorious than we can ever imagine and the possibilities are endless.If I could make one resolution for the New year it would be to be fully present in any given moment, to savour  and find enchantment in the simple. Wordsworth said it well...........     

 And I have felt, 

A presence that disturbs me with the joy

Of elevated  thoughts; a sense sublime

Of something far more deeply interfused,

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns

And the round ocean and the living air,

And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:

A motion and a spirit, that impels

All thinking things, all objects of all thought,

And rolls through all things.

 We are loving this cool, calm forest at Quininup and will stay here a while longer. We go for long walks along paths that follow what used to be the old railway line. The bird life is amazing. We are fast becoming "twitchers" and now know where to find the Kookaburra and beautifully coloured Western Rosella Parrot . Yesterday we had a wonderful experience as we walked past a huge clump of bramble . Out of the corner of our eye we saw a flash of iridescent cobalt blue and came upon a flock of Fairy Wrens ,tiny birds of the most exquisite colour. As the setting sun caught their plumage they flitted through the bush like sapphires.Is this the fabled bluebird of happiness I wonder? It works for me!

To you who have followed me so far on my travels I wish you love, joy, the gift of friendship, good food, great wine,and a fresh adventure for every day of 2011,and remember" Life can only be understood backwards; but it has to be lived forwards"Soren Kirkegaard.

Catch yer later................................



Soul Food Kitchen

Cardamom  Ice Cream

This must be one of the most requested recipes from the Soul Food Kitchen. Its magic after a curry but great any time of the day or night whenever the craving for ice cream beckons!

I tin of Ideal Milk
1 tin  of full cream condensed milk
250 ml tub of thick cream
10 green cardamom pods.

Bring ideal milk to the boil with the green cardamom pods. Remove from heat and cool, (overnight is good to infuse the flavour of the cardamom but not essential.) Strain. Whip cream and fold in cool ideal milk and condensed milk. Put into ice cream maker or freeze in a container in  your fridge. Take it out 10 mins before you want to serve it so it can soften slightly. Delicious served with a fresh mango coulis.
Warning this can become addictive, do not eat whilst operating machinery or driving, causes extreme feelings of well being and subsequent lassitude.

Christmas in Oz

The first stop in our round Aussie adventure is  Quininup,  a peaceful park in the middle of  beautiful forests of tall Jarrah,Marri and Karri trees on the banks of Lake Karri. This is the heart of the Western Australia's timber industry, in its heyday supplying the world with jarrah, an exceptional hard wood, for ship's masts, mining supports and  pavers.

It is also  filled with "ups". Manjimup, Nanup, Jerramunup ,Beedelup, Dingup, Wigarup to name a few.   Sounds like someone had a severe case of hiccups when naming this area!  As I write this the "28's" (Western ring necked parrots) are taking turns sliding down the awning of the van hoping for some seed, the magpies are serenading me for some bacon rind and Sweetpea the tame roo is waiting for her weetbix.

This is my first Christmas in Oz but some things never change.  Its animals, not people I'm feeding this Christmas!

We left Perth a week ago after filling a 40ft container with twenty years of the accumulated belongings of two houses, and bidding an apprehensive farewell to our comfort zones.The van was groaning by the time we had filled it with enough food and drink to last us a few weeks and everything else we thought we would need on the road . Photos of our kids, favorite coffee mugs, books, music, pictures, linen, clothing, computers, printers, fans, patio sets, fishing tackle, craft projects, and  of course "must have" kitchen equipment.
After numerous attempts at trying to pack everything in we finally had to admit defeat and cull everything that was not VITAL (aka everything)  and take another trip down to the storage depot.  The staff watched nervously as we hammered the doors closed for the umpteenth time and breathed a collective sigh of relief when we left. 

We repacked again......this meant everything as before but packed tighter. The shower stall  proved to be an excellent storage compartment . Who needs to shower inside anyway when you have a hosepipe outside.

 It is taking time to come to terms with the enormity of our change of lifestyle. Time is rapidly losing its meaning as one day merges into another and we have no fixed timetable or agenda. We are "being" not "doing" and after a lifetime of the protestant work ethic the guilt in having so much fun does tend to have a nasty way of sneaking up.........but its not putting up too much of a fight!

The difficulty is to remain focused as there are so many exciting things to do and see and I would rather be outside than sitting at the computer writing. We have made friends with a lovely couple of nomads. Neville and Carol gave us such a warm welcome when we arrived we felt we had known them forever. They have been on the road for three years and haven't looked back once. We have learnt so much from them already and their enthusiasm is contagious. Most afternoons we get together for "Happy Hour" a misnomer as after a few coldies and some good stories time ceases to matter..........it makes a difference when the journey home is so easy........turn around and there you are......just don't trip over the roo.

We get up to the magpies warbling outside, some of them are incredible mimics , one barks like a dog and wolf whistles. Their young cry like babies and make a helluva racket if you don't feed them .They are so tame and all line up in the morning for their breakfast Some of the roos have been hand reared and Sweetpea my favorite with her baby "joey" is a regular visitor. The bird life here is incredible with large flocks of 28's, multi coloured parrots, and in the evening Kookaburras though we cant see them laugh manically in the trees. Tommy has got the "Marron" bug and puts his nets out in the evening in a local dam. These are black fresh water crayfish with a sweet succulent flesh and we had a feast the other night with our neighbours. Done to a beautiful red turn with garlic butter on the barbie. Delicious

The Twelve Days of Aussie Christmas

On the twelth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
12 firefighters grilling
11 snags a-sizzling
10 Magpies warbling
  9 Roos a-jumping
  8 Marron in a trap
  7 Koalas climbing
 6 Crownies chilling
  5 Opals black
  4 pink Galahs
  3 cricket stumps
  2 Cockatoos
 And Oprah with a Kookuburra in a gum tree

A Blessed and Peaceful Christmas to you all.
May 2011 be filled with everything you wish for and more

Soul Food Kitchen

When you are on the road you often crave something sweet........my friend Carol has the perfect recipe!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 Tablespoons Self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
A small spash of vanilla
4 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons oil
1 large coffee mug


Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. add the egg and mix throughly. pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add chocolate chips and vanilla, mix again.
put mug in microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little and tip onto a plate if you are being posh.
EAT!!! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous)
And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?
Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

ENJOY!

                                                   

The kangeroo's down sport.





Thank goodness for a little light relief with the posh couple's saga, they have helped to distract us from more pressing and sad events down under. The jacaranda are in full bloom here and our street is bathed in lilac light,even soaring temperatures in the high 30's have been diffused by the carpet of blue. It is an appropriate colour. The country is blue and filled with a spirit of  mourning. As I write news has just come through that there is no hope of survivors in the New Zealand  Pike River mining disaster. Another 3 blasts have destroyed any chance of finding any of the husbands, sons, brothers or  fathers .......the collective pain of the families is overwhelming as we watch their faces on the TV. Our hearts and prayers go out to them with Christmas  just around the corner..........may the peace of the Christ child be there to uphold them and fill them with hope for the future in spite of their loss.

The Spirit of Australia, our "Flying Big Roo" is grounded. Not even the arrival of John Travolta for Qantas's 90th Birthday bash helped to diminish the impact of this blot on an impeccable record of air safety of the national carrier. In the middle of mopping up the oil leaks we did have a respite with the annual Perth Telethon.This amazing television charity drive for just one worthy recipient, the Princess Margaret Hospital for children, has managed to raise over 9 million dollars in 24 hours. This brings  its total amount to 100 million raised over the last 43 years, quite mind blowing. Almost all donations from private individuals, one family pledging to match donations to the tune of  a million dollars,and Julia Gillard our PM (aka the government),did chip in a cool million as well. This is a very rich country and the Aussies love this sort of thing and really step up to the plate. One guy, I think Superman in disguise, spent 26 hours, yes, you heard right, 26 hours non stop on an elliptical trainer to raise 40 thousand dollars. I can hardly do 20 minutes on the damn thing,  Anyone need a quick weight loss? You will shed 9 kilos guaranteed! You wont be able to walk for a week but who cares you will look just as good sitting down.



Just relaxing mate............no worries.

In an attempt to understand more of the collective Aussie psyche I have immersed myself in Australian literature, and have discovered a wonderful living Australian author,Tim Winton, who writes lyrically of this part of the country and his books are a joy At times like this I long to share the experience with my girl friends in the Schoenies Skollies Book club.Try and get a copy of "Cloudstreet" girls, the definitive Australian novel, you won't be disappointed. Another compulsive  read, horrifying and humorous, at times touching and at others inspiring, but  thoroughly absorbing is The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes. This tome is a historical account of the birth of Australia which came out of the suffering and brutality of England's infamous convict transportation system. . Hughes states his intention: "To see the System from below, through convicts' testimony—in letters, depositions, petitions and memoirs—about their own experiences.”  As Hughes points out, “the post-colonial history of Australia utterly exploded the theory of genetic criminal inheritance.”
Whew well that's a relief!.........history lesson follows...........


In the latter half of the eighteenth century, Britain was changing dramatically. The population tripled between 1750 and 1850, and London's population doubled in the 20 years before Captain Cook landed at Botany Bay in what was to become Australia. It was a period of massive urbanisation, as the growth of the Enclosure system forced more and more people off the land.  Armies of rats roamed the streets of London. Occupational diseases and child labour (from as young as age six) were commonplace.  Gin, promoted by the gentry, was the escape (due to a surplus of corn there were no restrictions on its manufacture or sale).


Poverty, particularly in the cities, was extreme and crime was rife. England had many capital statutes (predominantly to protect property) and public hangings, which drew huge crowds, were the primary deterrent to crime. The proportion of capital convictions actually executed dropped from 69 percent in 1749 to 46 percent in 1788 (at the beginning of transportation). By 1808 it was down to 15 percent. However, there was an increasing shortage of jails. Transportation therefore answered a number of problems.


Initially the convicts were sent to the New World of America and the Caribbean, until the American Revolution. Britain then used old rotting ships (known as “hulks”), moored in the docks, as jails, believing that America could not hold out for long. The “hulks” quickly reached crisis levels. With an extra 1,000 convicts arriving per year, Britain needed a new area for transportation. Thus Australia was settled.


To understand what banishment to Australia meant, one must understand the geographical knowledge of the day. In the late eighteenth century, the world was largely unknown to Europeans. The interiors of most continents were still unexplored, and even North America had only pockets of population. Australia and Antarctica were terra incognito. Hughes points out that it could hardly have been worse if the convicts had been told they were going to the moon, “at least one could see the moon from England”.


The book tells of the enormity of the undertaking. The First Fleet, with Governor Arthur Phillip at the helm, consisted of 11 ships and nearly 1,500 passengers, of whom 736 were convicts. Some of the convicts had already been on the ships four months before the fleet set sail. It then took another eight and a half months to reach Botany Bay. Some of the convicts had died whilst still in England and about 3 percent died en route. The Second Fleet (the worst of all) lost 41 percent of the 1,006 convicts who sailed. Following reforms suggested by William Redfern (a popular surgeon of the colony and himself an ex-convict) the death rate would drop from 1:31 to 1:122.


Having decided that Botany Bay was unsuitable, the fleet established the first settlement to the north, at Port Phillip (Sydney) in January of 1788. With no skilled labour, few tools and thin soil, it was a struggle to survive the first years. The soldiers received the same rations and punishment as the convicts, which caused severe resentment. It was over two years before a relief ship arrived (with meagre supplies) .


Fully 80 percent of convicts were transported for crimes against property, compared to only 3 percent for “crimes against the person”. A further 1.5 percent were deported for “political” crimes (treason, conspiracy to riot, trade union membership, etc). There were examples of most of the working class movements of the period—Luddites, Swing rioters, Chartists. Almost 20 percent of Irish convicts could be called social or political rebels. The System treated them particularly badly “for fear of mutiny”.


The book also deals with the particular fate of women under the System. Some 24,000 women were transported, about 1 in 7 deportees. The System considered almost all of them to be prostitutes (though this was never a transportable offence). In fact, just about any woman who was not in a Protestant marriage was considered a whore. Though never policy, the practice was to send women of marriageable age, and marriage was certainly encouraged. Soldiers and officials would invariably have first pick. Since this might mean the end of their sentence or at least a reduction, most women agreed to it.


The  harshest of conditions were inflicted on the convicts. These are remembered by popular history, although incorrectly, as being most representative of the System. Only a minority of convicts were ever held in the secondary detention centres, “but they were absolutely integral to the System: they provided a standard of terror by which good behaviour ... would be enforced.” The authorities needed secondary detention centres for those who committed offences whilst in Australia (“the Botany Bay of Botany Bay”). Initially they used Norfolk Island, which is some 1,000 miles east of Australia. Port Arthur and Macquarie Harbour, both of which are in Van Diemens Land, (Tasmania) followed later. Port Arthur is the site of the infamous "Model" Prison system which preferred to break the convicts spirit by mental rather than physical punishment. Prisoners here were kept in total isolation, no contact with other prisoners,they were masked when they went out of their cells to chapel on a Sunday. and even their foot ware was covered so that their steps made no sound..The worse offenders were deprived of light and touch in strict solitude and some went mad. A lunatic asylum was built nearby to house them. Boys as young as nine were sent here to a special boys prison, many of them threw themselves off Point Peur, suicide was preferable to living in a place "worse than death"


 By the late 1820s and early 1830s there were moves toward abolition. There were three main reasons for this—growing opposition from English reformers, the development of an alternative penitentiary system and also opposition from within Australia as it became a more established and respectable colony. By 1840 transportation to New South Wales had ceased. The general tendency then, particularly from the “well-to-do”, was to collectively forget about or bury the convict past.


Following the end of transportation to New South Wales, convicts were still sent to Van Diemens Land and Norfolk Island for another 13 years. Opposition to transportation continued to grow, but it was the gold rush of 1851 that sounded its death knell.

(Note: parts of the above description were taken from a review by Brian Smith, 1999.)

On a lighter note, Tommys house in Perth is sold, and all will be finalized in the middle of Jan 2011. We will then be officially "grey nomads" and have the green light to start our "groot trek". We are excited busy planning our route and will start in the new year  by heading for Adelaide across the bottom end of  Australia ...............across the Nullabor Desert.

The Bead Wagon rolls! We have started selling our beads at various Craft markets at the weekends and its great fun and proving to be a lucrative sideline. Now we can advertise as we travel!

Hambagash'li

Insimbi Queen of the Outback

Soul Food Kitchen

I am feeling nostalgic and missing my daughter.This was a recipe we baked together when she was a tiny tot, and most of the mixture was eaten before it got to be baked! She has since then turned into a "Baking Goddess" so continuing a generational blessing, and makes delicious and delectable goodies which are irresistible to taste buds! So in your honour Ems..................this is where it all started!

Grannies Rock Cakes (you can tell this is an "old " recipe no metric here!)

8 oz SR flour
4 oz Butter or marg
4 oz Caster Sugar
4 oz dried fruit
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 large egg beaten
A little milk


Sift flour and rub in butter till it looks like breadcrumbs.Add sugar and fruit and mixed spice.Mix in beaten egg and a little milk if the mixture is too dry. It should be a fairly stiff mixture. Put dollops of  mixture on a greased baking sheet ,sprinkle with a little extra sugar and cook in moderate oven 180. for 20-25 mins. Great for picnics and to munch on the road.  Easypeasy!



  

Home is Where the Heart is

A month since my last blog, a hectic time , no time to sit and write. A quick trip across the big pond back to P.E. to sort out business affairs and to hand over the keys of "Chocolat" to her new family ,the lovely Butlers. It was strange to walk into the empty house so full of memories but devoid of my essence, definitely no longer home in the truest sense. My heart is no longer in Africa, I felt it keenly when I landed at Perth and realized that my home is where my heart is, here with Tommy in Oz and where ever we find ourselves on our "groot trek".

 It was good though to catch up with friends I didn't have a chance to say goodbye too the first time. I spent a happy evening with the talented and inspiring Nina learning how to make an "affirmation mirror " Had a last walk on the beach with dear Toni and Nicolette,who showered me with love. A wonderful girlie lunch date with  Anita and Fundi to  Eat,Pray,Love which we very nearly didn't get to see .The projectionist had locked himself out of his room 20 minutes before the show. The management at Walmer Park eventually  had to call in a demolition expert to break down the door. He proceeded to try and drill out the lock which made for even more confusion with various patrons offering conflicting advice. Then in desperation brute sense prevailed and he kicked the door in.......Eishh.........only in Africa. A wonderful Sunday lunch with Brenda and the Gang, gracious friends, great food  good wine, the best recipe for happiness.  My last night at Schoenies with  Denise who even though she was sick made us some delicious soup, and as I walked back to the Tonnins under a starry sky  I glanced back at Chocolat to see it all lit up and filled with happy laughter. A good memory to end a chapter of my life.   

The week after I arrived back our cargo was delivered. Those damn brown boxes, we counted them out and now we had to count them back in!    By the time we were finished moving them around and trying to get the furniture under cover we were exhausted. I have no idea what is in them and haven't missed the contents...........why do we have all this stuff.? One of the best things about being on the road will be that we cant take too much with us .  Enforced minimalism, could take a bit of getting used too but liberating at best. We also  started sorting out the Intsimbi Beads  into colourways  and have a collection of fishing tackle boxes filled with different designs, one step closer to becoming itinerant hawkers, this will hopefully be our petrol money on the road.   Tom is busy getting signage  made up for the van  so can advertised as we travel.

Then came the call........the van was ready! It was off down south to Albany again and an overnight stay in a little town called Denmark, nothing fishy going on here, just the best croissants I have ever tasted from the local bakery which is famous for its cakes. As we drove into the forecourt of Cameron Caravans there she stood ,the little bewdy,our Ultima. A sight to brighten sore eyes. Once inside we had great fun discovering her hidden treasures. The cutest kitchen with all mod cons, the washing machine even has a steam cycle called "Refresh" Ten minutes in this baby and you can kiss your iron goodbye! A flat screen TV which pops up out of the desk at the touch of a button, another button to slide out the awning, and yet another button to slide out the side of the van for extra room. I was so overwhelmed all I wanted to do was slide into the queen size bed and test out the eco friendly mattress made from recycled soft drink bottles,not joking, maybe they are those famous ones that go ............ssshhhhh open happiness. Could make for some interesting bedtimes?.This is the ultimate "Green" caravan and we have gained major brownie points for lowering our carbon footprint , Tom says we are fast becoming what he calls "mung beans" grey nomadic hippies......................I like that!.

We had an eventful trip back ,our first time towing the van,  all went well until we tried to reverse it and the nose hit the rear windscreen  with an almighty crack.......the air was so blue even the blackboys blushed.  I learnt a few new Aussie sayings during the ride home as Tommy berated himself "made a bad blue there,reckon I haven't enough brains to give myself a headache" I'm that unlucky if it rained soup, everyone else would have a spoon and I would have a fork" "Strewth can you believe I can carry on like a pork chop"  We eventually got home and reversed it perfectly into the front drive with help from Craig ...........home sweet home.  At every opportunity I sneak back in to play house and am having fun filling the cupboards and putting out our few treasures to make it feel like our place.

I'm so happy I'm as mad as a cut snake...........a little crazy!

SOUL FOOD KITCHEN

Best Spare Ribs by Julie Goodwin

 This is one of the nicest spare rib recipes I have found, needs a bit of cooking time so plan ahead and then break out a coldy  and relax.


Prep time: 15 minutes plus marinating time

Cooking time: 2 hours



4 kilos pork spare ribs

1 cup  hoi sin sauce

2/3 cup rice wine vinegar

½ cup honey

½ cup  soy sauce

6 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 cup grated fresh ginger

¼ cup vegetable or peanut oil



Cut the ribs into individual pieces.



Combine sauces, honey, garlic, ginger and ¼ cup water together in a large snap lock. Add the pork ribs and seal the bag well. Place it in a bowl in the fridge overnight. Turn the bag occasionally to make sure all the pork is marinated evenly.



Preheat oven 170° C/ 150° C (fan forced)



Remove the ribs from the marinade, and place onto large shallow baking trays. Reserve the marinade for later. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 ½ hours.



Meanwhile heat reserved marinade over medium high heat and boil until reduced to a syrupy consistency.



Remove the foil from the baking tray and brush the marinade generously over the ribs. Drizzle with oil. Return to the oven for a further half an hour, uncovered, until the marinade is dark and sticky.



Serve with rice and greens, or potato wedges and salad.



Cook’s note: For ribs with a bit of a kick, add 1/3 cup hot chilli sauce to the marinade.



NOT a dish for a dinner party! Make it for your mates and get stuck in!  You'll be messy but its worth it.

Delish!