Dave stayed with us for 5 days last week. We went out camping, took a trip to Finke Gorge and the West Mac's NP, played golf, table tennis and the equally important, Playstation games. Dave cooked his first ever damper, and we had an awesome roast in the camp oven too. We went out shooting (but found nothing alive except the odd tin can), so I'm sure Dave, you are a bit unimpressed that the week after you left I managed to get 2 camels that had strayed onto the park, sorry about that.... Anyway, it was a good time, but as usual, went too quickly. We are now only 3 weeks from heading off on our trip, so we are getting a little bit more excited about it as you could guess. Talk to you all soon, Phil & Kylie.

The Tale of the Plumber's Crack

Having experienced some trouble draining the office sink lately, I decided to have a bit of a dig to investigate. Thinking it might be just some dirt, I was pretty impressed to pull out the offending couple of metres of tree roots that had found their way in through a cracked join. Not bad I reckon! No wonder the Gum tree at our office is so huge, it has been feeding off years worth of spent coffee grains, expired milk containers and dishwashing liquid - yum. As the famous plumber Kenny would probably say, 'Here's another case of a tree with a two inch branch trying to fit into a 1 inch hole', or something to that effect....

My new niece, Chelsea

This is a photo of my brand new niece, Chelsea (a girl, yay!!) It's a bit of a shame that I won't get to meet her until the end of November, but I guess that's the price you pay for living in Alice Springs.

Welcome home Rach & Lyndon

Our sign

Dave's tank

Kylie and I are very excited and pleased that our good friends Rachel and Lyndon have moved back to the Alice. We were so excited that we thought we would advertise the fact to anyone driving up and sown the Stuart HWY last Sunday afternoon. I'm sure that's not illegal right?? Anyway, it's great to have them back after living it up in the land of the latte set, metro-sexual guys in pinks shirts and absurd hair cuts, the great suburban sprawl and the traffic jams of Melbourne. Dave and Michelle (my brother and his wife for those that don't know) are coming to stay with us in late July. Should be great. Hopefully Dave can bring his tank down - would do a good job of feral animal control I think.... or visitor management.

"All the colours of the 'bow man"

This was the view that greeted me driving back into the ranger station on Wednesday. Good enough for a photo I thought. It's Kylies birthday in a few weeks time - I'm hoping she likes what I have got her, I seem to be good at getting her things that she has never hinted at before, which isn't always a good thing. I'm sure it's just a male thing, otherwise I have no excuse. Anyway, post your messages of happy birthday to Kylie below. She will be turning 27 on the 24th of this month. Sometimes I can feel the generation gap between us (well, 1 and a half years anyway), she had never even heard any of Bruce Springsteen's back catalogue from the mid 70's until she met me - can you believe it??

And now for something completely different

Yes, we keep posting photos of our dogs on our blog because we have nothing of note that is happening in our lives at present. Actually, we are waiting for some photos from Kylie's mums trip here over Easter, and then we will have something to show you all!! We have been visiting some key spots in the West Mac's lately to get some photos that will be going on a newly designed sign project for the Larapinta Trail. The trail is a 220km walking track over some pretty rugged ground, and the new signs will be placed at the end of every section of the trail (12 sections in all). Hopefully they will look ok. Below is a pic in Hugh Gorge, but it probably isn't going on a sign. All is going well up here for us both at the moment. We are looking forward to the trip to Europe - see to the right & above for our countdown clock! Talk to you all soon hopefully. Phil & Kylie.

It's Raining Cats & Dogs (well, mainly dogs)

I just got back from Finke Gorge National Park, after we were washed out due to some heavy rain. It wasn't all bad however, as you can see from the pics below, with waterfalls everywhere and the odd bit of flooded road for our driving entertainment (yes, that is a road, not the Finke River!). Our newest family member Lucy also seems to enjoy the muddy conditions.

Kylie's Mum will be here for Easter which we are both looking forward to. Hopefully the rain will have gone away by then Sue (it is only 21 degrees today!).

See you all down the road, Phil & Kylie.

Above & below: Wet waterfalls

Above: Wet dog

Below: Wet road

Say hello to Lucy

Well, we had an unexpected guest arrive on our door step last week, who we have named Lucy. She is Harry's new best friend (we had talked about getting him a mate for a while), and they seem to be getting along pretty well. My first reaction was to get the .22, but she was in really good nic, so we both went soft and have decided to keep her on (for a trial period of 10 to 15 years!). We also went to Ellery on the weekend - pretty hot, but always a good view. Not much else has been happening that I can think of right now, so we will catch you all later!

Anyone for flies?

Well, summer is in full swing here in the Centre. 10 trillion flies during the day, maybe a billion mozzies at night, and hot temps mean only one thing - I start complaining and mention to Kylie every half hour that I can't wait for winter again. Ahh, listening to the footy on the radio while reading the sports pages - Melbourne Age of course!, hot coffee in front of the heater watching TV (usually more footy), and camping out under the stars with a roaring fire. Anyone else keen?? You may be able to tell that we don't have much news at the moment. We are both thinking about our trip overseas now that we have got some money back from the insurance company, as well as having renters in our house. How soon until August??? Below is an 'abstract' photo of Kylie that she doesn't know I'm putting on the blog. All I did was blur the picture except for her face, and crop the edges pretty severely. I like it, but I might be the only one!

Our Backyard

Here are some shots of Owen Springs.

Latest Happenings

It looks like we finally have some tenants for our house! They will move in early next week, but Kylie and I will only breath easy once they are actually in the house. We will put some pics of the re-tiling next time we update the blog. We both went to Boggy Hole in Finke Gorge N.P last week, really beautiful place. We also picked up our 'new' car (if 60 odd thousand kilometres on the clock is considered new). We can't wait to get some good use out of it camping on roads the Commodore couldn't handle. Kylie took a promotional photo of it near Wallaby Gap, so here it is!

Central Netted Dragon @ Owen Springs

Finke Gorge N.P

Our new car

Q) Could our house troubles get worse? A) Yes, actually

Well, our bathroom leak has finally been fixed, only after the water has destroyed our hallway carpet, most of the bathroom tiles, the paint in the study, as well as horrifying potential tennants! Luckily our insurance will cover the carpet, re-painting, damage done by the plumbers and some re-tiling. We are also getting new tiles in the toilet and laundry, new hallway carpet, plus a split-system a.c. in the bedroom - if it's not rented out with all that, we give up! Anyway, apart from that, all is good. Kylie and I went out on Section 2 of the Lara Trail to get some pics for the new trailheads recently. It was nice to get out for a walk in the bush to take our minds off things. Below is Arenge Bluff, and some of the Spinifex back-lit by the late arvo sunshine. Talk to you all later.

The year ahead

We thought we should update everyone (anyone?) on what has been going on in our lives - it's been a while. We had a fun christmas, it was freezing here (mid twenties!) but great for our days off. Our house in town still isn't rented out yet and we have got a bad leak in our bathroom that will probably cost a million dollars (give or take). It is really starting to get us down but hopefully we will finally have some positive news to tell everyone soon (ie: somebody to rent the joint). Apart from that, all is going pretty well. Work is good for us both, and we are loving living out at Owen Springs. I've sold my Commodore and we are picking up our 'new' car in a few weeks. It's a Mitsubishi Triton dual cab ute, so we will be able to do a lot more camping with access to all our bumps roads out here. We are a bit sad as our GREAT friend Karina has moved back to Sydney for the next 12 months. We will miss her heaps, but will see her again soon. We are going to the UK/Europe this August which will be the highlight of the year I think. Kylie may need sedatives in the days leading up to leaving as she is already very excited! Anyway, this is the most I've ever written. so I should go. Have a great year everyone, and we will hopefully see most of you around the traps. Phil & Kylie.

Robbies Bore, Owen Springs Reserve

Phil, Karina, Harry & Kaia

River Red Gum leaves

Merry Christmas Everyone

Well, it's that time of year again, when TV screens the 238th re-run of the Griswolds Family Christmas (love that movie!), the Aussies punish a limp English batting line up on Boxing Day, I eat like it's the last time I'll ever see meat again, and the old Rolf Harris xmas classic, '6 White Boomers' is played until the cd player overheats. We both wish everyone a great Xmas break and a happy New Year. We are spending our break here at Owen Springs this year. It will be nice to have a quiet one, although we are a bit jealous of everyone having holidays. So, Merry Xmas to all!!!

Above - Our tree, over 40yrs old so therefore qualifies as a family heirloom. She's a beauty, although it may be a little bare in some patches...

Crikey, take a look at that little beauty!

Below is a photo of Kylie handling a LIVE SNAKE!!!!!!* It is a Mulga Snake, which is very dangerous and could kill if mad enough . Luckily Kylie is a trained professional, or she may have been biten. Harry alerted us to his presence last night and he ended up right next to the front door, just a little unsettling. *The snake was actually dead, killed by an unknown guy with a large brick (mean bugger).

Here are some more random pics for your enjoyment and entertainment...

More kids deep in concentration

Harry again...

Moving in, kids, and of course, more of Harry

All our stuff is finally here at Owen Springs, and we have unpacked everything. It now actually feels like our home, rather than just a place to sleep! I've put in a few photos for those that visited the house before, just to show the changes. I've also included some pics of the kids that Kylie helps 'look after' at church, they are pretty funny and make a great subject to take photos of. Harry is a media junkie, he now has his own agent we have to go through to get a photo of him published.

The lounge (above) & the shed (below)

Kids church (below)

We can't publish a blog without Harry getting a run...

Owen Springs Wildlife

As our favourite Aussie adventurer would say, 'Australia is as vast as it is large', which incidentaly has nothing to do with this current blog. In my travels however, I have come across a few animals of interest on the Reserve (see below). The lizard is a Perentie - largest lizard in Oz, while the little mammal is a Dunnart (this particular guy is relatively uncommon around here). So, thanks for watching, and I'll see you, on another all Aussie adventure......

Harry impersonating a lamp shade

In a sad development in the life of Harry 'Bitey' Cowan, Harry left a small piece of himself behind at the vet on Monday (2 small pieces actually). He now walks around doing his best lampshade/spacedog impression, looking every bit the shattered shadow of a once proud, virile young dog. Enough to make you weep......except that it really hasn't changed his pyscho puppy enthusiasm one little bit. At least he can't run off with the Dingoes that would have resulted in a litter of crazy mongrel biting hydrid Dingo X Camp dog puppies! We love our little Harry.

Latest Events

Kylie and I have had a great time with all the family in Alice Springs here a week or so ago. Alison flew in from New York City, and Dad and Gayle celebrated their birthdays together. Dad is now 60 - good on you Dad!! We had a great birthday dinner, and the super fit ones climbed Mt Gillen - see below for the proof...

Moving to Owen Springs... Phil's promotion to Senior Park Ranger!

For those of you who don't know, Phil has been promoted to 'T3 - Senior Park Ranger' at Owen Springs Reserve. He started work today and we spent our first night in the Park house last night. Phil will be based out there during the week and after the Masters Games I'll move out there permanantly (and hopefully work from there a couple of days a week).

To find out a bit more about Owen Springs (including where on earth it is!!) check out the website and fact sheet http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/parks/find/owensprings.html

After 'renovating' our bathroom it's back to basics!

The house comes with recliner chairs and couch (which Phil is already VERY attached too!), fridge, 6 seater table. The kitchen and lounge area is all pretty neat and tidy.

We will move all our stuff into the house in November which will make it look really homely, but for now it's the bare minimum.

This is the back of the house where we will have BBQ's and stuff. The house is 3 bedrooms - plenty of room for visitors! Call now to make a booking :)

The last Ranger to live here is leaving us his pool! (and his table tennis table)

This is the front of the house. The views around are great - Harry loves it out there and didn't want to come back home with me this morning! Bring on the 4WD so we can get out and explore our new backyard... a bit different to Larapinta... aka 'the Bronx'