Hello Wet Season!!

After 6 months and several false alarms from the weather reports we have rain!!

I woke at 3am to house-shakng thunder, brilliant lightening and the sweet sound of rain. I had to go out and check it out, the kids however waited for the more respectable time of 6am for puddle jumping.

Hip pocket vs. Health

There's no getting around it. Food is expensive here.

We are spending the most we ever have on groceries and it feels like the boys never stop eating!

We expected there to be an increase, after all we are now living in "remote" Australia but the reality stings everytime we hand over the card.

We have trialled various strategies to reduce our bill...

*snacks from scratch vs. packaged snacks

*high meat vs. more veggie meals

*ready made foods vs. prepared from scratch

Thus far, we cannot find the magic meal plan to balance out both cost and health.

We don't normally buy lots of packaged things and ready made meals. So when we tried that option we all felt horrible and I knew it would be costly to our health to continue.

It's the fruit and vegetables and meats that are the killer here.

There are no butcher shops (aside from a travelling butcher we were a bit meh about) and no fruit and veggie markets. We are at the mercy of supermarket prices.

It is fair to say this has just about doubled our grocery costs.

We all want our kids to enjoy fruits, vegetables and a variety of healthy food but it is seriously hard when the costs are so high.

I dream of the $40 fruit/veg box I used to have delivered on the east coast that would meet our needs for more than a week. Here it feels like all the fruit is gone a few days after the shopping is done.

I try to see the costs of good food as insurance for our health but gee, I wish the premiums weren't so high!!

Words from Wait-Awhile

The awe-inspiring scenery on the drive to Karratha

Quaint model of a middle of nowhere pub. The pub itslef looked quite scary. I opted to pee on the side of the road!

Lots and lots of termite mounds- quite a few sporting hard hats on the top!!

Life has been doing what it does best and being busy here. The above pics are from a trip we did to Karratha. There were endless kms of straight road so I did alot of driving practice.

We have been spending most days swimming and sunning and the kids are eating us out of house and home with all that physical activity!

Will post pics of our house next time. We have been rescuing green tree frogs from the toilet nearly every night and the kids love chasing all the geckos and jumping lizards in the garden.

We have met up with some friendly people and often do playdates at each others pool ;)

We just returned from a trip over east for our wedding (again, pictures in another post) and it was really weird and over stimulating being in the city again. Although I did enjoy being so close to friends and family and interesting learning experiences. I found it really cold for the first couple of nights- lucky there was heating in our accomodation!

We are tossing up the idea of having a "metro experience" once our time in the pilbara comes to an end. I have a feeling it will be a whole new learning experience.

Stairway to the Moon

First up, the moon on the west coast is AHHHHHH-mazing!! couple that with a natural phenomenon called "Stairway to the Moon" where a full moon rises over a (very) low tide and you get this ....
Alas, our camera did not have the proper capabilities to take our own photos so this is a google image. However it was so cool to watch a staircase leading to the moon appear, even just the huge moon rising was beautiful. It looked like a ball of lava erupting out of the sea.

We thought we had sufficiently worn out the kids with lots of park play, beach adventuring and a BBQ dinner but there was still alot of whining "that the moon should just hurry the frick up" as we waited on the newly constructed viewing platform.
There was silence though when the action started, well all except Scott who provides a 24/7 running commentary on life and every thought that pops into his head.
Linkin was frustrated that we ouldn't actually walk up the stairs to the moon and thought the whole thing was a rip off.
But Anthony and I managed a wee moment amongst the kid wrangling to squeeze each others hand and reflect on life.

We are going to check out a possible permanent house in a few days so fingers crossed it is ok. I can't wait for my own bed!!

photo updates

Al Fresco Bubble Bath

The Big Wheelbarrow

Fossicking for shells

Catching a ride from one of the locals

The Coastline eaten away by the high salt content

Despite this looking like a floating log, It is definitely our first turtle sighting...but you'll have to take our word on it.

Ready, Aim, Fire!!

Making a cake the old fashioned way. Y'know by hand, in a makeshift mixing bowl.

Exploring

View off the jetty lookout at Pt. Hedland

Checking out one of the many playgrounds

Instant Family~some members are quieter than others!

Posing it up

Letting all that hair go wild in the wind

A happy Elijah Bear~before he was knocked over by Linkin on the swing and grazed his face :(