Amanda June 27th, 2008
I don’t often read a book after I’ve seen the movie. In deciding to read The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisburger, I was influenced by Rhiannon’s positive comments about the book, and the fact that I felt the need for a little more chick-lit after the delightful Secret Confessions of a Shopaholic I’d read the week before.
Amanda June 10th, 2008
I have to admit that sometimes, there’s nothing like a good dose of chicklit as an antidote to the worries and dramas of daily life. You know, those times when you’ve had a really shitty week and everything has fallen in a great steaming pile of crap. A good bit of chicklit is like a hot chocolate and a lazy day on the couch in front of the fire. (Although in Alice Springs for some of the year, that’s more likely to be a day front of the air conditioner with a chilled glass of bubbly). At any rate, Sophie Kinsella’s Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic is exactly that kind of book.
Amanda June 5th, 2008
;)
I had been looking forward to reading this book since its release last year, and I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed. Melissa Harper has turned her PhD thesis into a very readable (translation: accessible to the layperson) argument about how bushwalking emerged as a recreational pastime in Australia.
gadget June 3rd, 2008
Yes, as you might have gleaned from the scarcity of posts, we’ve been very busy.
Gadget is well and truly installed as Watarrka’s acting Power Ranger, and going down to King’s Canyon (Watarrka) for half of every week. I think he’s enjoying it. I am looking forward to going down there soon for the weekend and doing some off track walking (hint hint). As you can see from the last few blog entries, I’ve been all around the place from Finke in the south to Mt Liebig and Yuendumu in the northwest.
The other big thing that happened was the my parents came and stayed with us for three weeks. We went to Chamber’s Pillar, Rainbow Valley, Owen Springs (of course) and hired a camper trailer and went back to Spotted Tiger Camping Ground near Harts Range. We went fossicking at the old Rex Mine – which was really interesting because it had old miner’s huts still partially intact and a few interesting shafts to explore. I did a bit of birding and geocaching as well.
Anyway, we’re off on an adventure on the weekend -we’ll just keep it to ourselves for the time being and post photos and a story next week …
Mt Zeil Access:
Please check out our ‘climbing Mt Zeil’ page. Access across Derwent Station is now CLOSED to the public. You can try and negotiate with the pastoralist, but for details it’s best to ring Chris Day (his number is on our Mt Zeil webpage).
Birding:
It’s very dry up here at the moment (although rain is predicted for this weekend yay!), so things aren’t all that great. However, with all the corkwoods and a few grevilleas in bloom, there are still a few birds around. The highlights for me in the past month were Hooded Robins and a very beautiful Red Capped Robin at Spotted Tiger Campsite. Last week whilst I was at Mt Liebig, I saw some Bourke’s Parrots. And then on the weekend whilst at Ormiston Gorge, Gary and I saw the biggest flockof Spinifex Pigeons we’ve ever seen on Stretch’s front lawn.
Geocaching:
Yes, I’m up to 21 caches. I’ve now done all the easy ones around Alice Springs, Harts Range, up and down the Stuart Highway and the Lambert Centre cache. I got two first-to-finds in a row at Harts Range. I suspect no one will go looking for them until the Picnic Races are on in August. I will be adding a few more to my tally on the long weekend. I will also be hiding four new caches shortly. So stay tuned.
Anyway, that’s all from us for the time being.
