quokka
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Everything posted by quokka
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The next morning we had sunshine, which was a nice surprise, but off in the horizon, there looked to be a large storm approaching, so we had a quick breakfast, packed up and set off on our second last day of our expedition, but the weather did not hold, as shortly after restarting from a lunch break, the rain came down in bucket loads, and there was even thunder and lightning, which I was not too keen on being caught in the middle of, as we trekked through a rough track, which was very muddy in
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Once we were off the ferry at Devonport, we started to look for ways to get to Port Davey, which was one thing that we had overlooked, not realising that it is a remote area. After some searching, we learnt that there is a bus service from Devonport to Derwent Bridge, via Queenstown, which will take over seven hours, which we were not too keen on, and we eventually found a charter bus company, that can get us from Devonport to Port Davey in 5 ½ hours, and we decided to take that option. Befo
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“By the way Bailey is here too, he was just putting on some shoes in the car, and probably went back to reading his book” Chris said to me, as we prepared to carry the tray into the lounge area, and Uncle Nat had already retrieved the dining chairs, so everyone could sit. “Good evening Colonel Hammond” I said to the base CO, “Good evening Corporal, this is my son Will Hammond. Son, these boys are Chris Harding, and Jacob Blackwood, and that is Bailey Harding” the Colonel said making the intr
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We use that term too.
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I just realised that I joined GA 5 years, 1 month and 1 week ago. My my, how time flies...
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But wait! There is more!
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“Hi Mum, this is my school mate – mountaineer extraordinaire, Jacob Blackwood” Chris said making the introductions, as I looked up to see a woman wearing a “Dog Collar”, which really surprised me, and I heard Chris chuckle. “Sorry, I forgot to mention, both of my parents are in the Anglican Church, Mum is the minister for nearby St Georges Anglican Church, that we passed as we were coming here, and Dad is a Doctor of Theology, and teaches at Tabor College, across the road” Chris explained,
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“ I am glad that you convinced me to pack extra food when we were in Zermatt, as it kept us all going for the unscheduled stop over at the mountain hut” I said to Uncle Nat, “I bet you were the only one to have your bivvy bag with you too” my uncle commented, and I chuckled, you got that right, I was the only one, that was nice and cosy for the two long nights up there” I replied. After I had showered and changed, we ate lunch before, Uncle Nat checked out of the hotel and we headed down to
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The following morning, I took the boys to school in the motor vehicle, while Archie brought the horses and wagon, so we could go and get some more wood for the new house, which I wanted to make a start on right away. Patrick arrived at about the same time as Archie, and he was stunned to see a new motor car parked next to the produce stall. “Good morning, boss, is that yours?” Patrick said as he stared at the machine in front of him. “Yes, it will make trips to Ceduna a lot faster, and
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I was almost home, when I received a text from Uncle Nat, “Damn media recognised me, and demanded to know where my nephew is. I just said no comment, and walked past them, but they kept hounding me, so I had to stop and make a statement. I will tell you about it when I get home, Nat”. When Uncle Nat did arrive home, I had a cup of tea waiting for him, and I let him enjoy that a bit before asking what happened at the airport. “My statement to the media was, that knowing that the media where l
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When we arrived in Ceduna in the late afternoon, we saw a number of motor vehicles drive past, which made the horses a little skittish at the noise and smoke that they produced, until they passed. At the Mercantile store we sold all of the produce that we had brought with us to sell, which was a lot less than what Florence had brought last trip, as we had very little spare produce to sell, although the goat’s cheese, milk and butter were always a welcome treat. From there we headed to the fa
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“You both take care now, we both worry about you doing these dangerous climbs, but I must admit, you have trained our son well, and I wish you the best of luck to get to the peak” Mum responded, Will do, we will call you again when we reach the peak” Uncle Nat said and he ended the call. Although we only had about 500 metres in height to climb, this was the most difficult and dangerous stage of the whole ascent, we would be attached to each other with ropes, and we estimated that it would t
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Thanks i have a great editor which helps
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“Edwin, come and meet the other ladies” Helena said after I had finished bringing in the chairs, noticing a few other chairs, that must have been brought along from other families. “Edwin Cameron, this is Julia Barrington, and our newest two neighbours, Louisa Frankston and Maria D’Angelo. The D’Angelo’s have the northern half of the old Applegate farm, and the Frankston’s have the farm east of them, on the other side of the main track into Ceduna,” Helena said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you
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The trip to Kangaroo Island was great, we explored most of it on foot, spending two nights camping out, and the rest of the time we stayed in a holiday house on the island. With just 2 ½ months till we head off to Canada, I went shopping for some clothes, in case it gets too cold where we were going, and Uncle Nat had booked us on a flight from Adelaide to Hong Kong, and onto Vancouver, Canada, leaving the day after the school holidays begin. Leaving at 10 am, the flight stops in Sydney, bef
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“I have him in my sights, main quad, far east corner – Chris”, I was relieved when I read the message, as I made my way to catch up with them. When I arrived in the lawn area just behind the main quad, I saw a group of students surrounding Langley and Chris, and I sent a text message to the Admin office, “Help needed urgent – behind NE end of Quad”, once this was sent, I rushed to assist Chris. As soon as I arrived, Chris and I formed a protective barrier around Langley, “King and Hunt, join
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“Mtu mzima, anadhani Simba kidogo hawezi kufanya hivyo juu ya kibo cha kulala” (Big man thinks little Simba can’t make it to the top of sleeping Kibo), Keto said to the other porters, and they all laughed, as did Uncle Nat and I, as I turned to face the rude Dutchman. “Well sir, if you count me recently completing the Kokoda Trail in PNG, with Mt Bellamy at a height of 2190 metres, and completing five other long-distance treks, in Australia, I have climbed Mt Cook in New Zealand, at 3724 met
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Once again, a few weeks before the next school holidays, Uncle Nat announced our next destination, this time a trip to Nepal, and we would be spending the whole time climbing up to the EBC - Everest Base Camp, at a height of 5,600 metres and distance of 62 kilometres, return. We would be spending four days, doing day trips into the Himalayan mountains, based in Kathmandu, to acclimatise to the heights, before we begin the climb to EBC. This time I would be climbing to almost 2,00 metres above Mt
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“I guess all of this, has affected me a lot more than I expected, I miss Mum a lot more than I thought I would” I replied. “Ok, well let’s organise a time to give them a call, at 10pm tonight, it will be 7am over there, so they will be just getting up for the day” Uncle Nat said to me, and I smiled at this news. After dinner, I helped with cleaning up, before going to do my homework, and at 10pm, Uncle Nat picked up the phone dialled a number. “Hey sis, I have a teenager, who is missing his
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Once all the purchases had been made, Florence and her sons set off again, managing to travel for just over 1 ½ hours before stopping for the night, which was a bit less than Florence had hoped, but because of the stopping to chat to people, they had been delayed. By the time they arrived home two days later, they were tired but glad to be home. Everyone came out to help unload the buggy, surprised to see two piglets amongst the stores. Then the wagon was unharnessed and honey led into the s
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“They will have someone waiting for them when they get to Thredbo, I have a Sat phone with me, and I gave the local police a call, while I went for a walk to the pit toilet earlier”, Uncle Nat announced, and I chuckled at this bit of information. “Attempted robbery, and assaulting a minor at the very least, so they are in big trouble, Uncle Nat added, as we continued to walk. When we stopped for a lunch break shortly after noon, the sound of the Sat phone made me jump with fright, and Uncle
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