It´s dead winter. July is equivalent to January. We´ll see if August is equiv to February. Hopefully August end with a bit of warmth. It´s always interesting to experience the first years in a new place. We do not remember Sydney being this cold.
We should not get snow though!
Original after:
This is a comment from Jen´s aunt. She wants her brother, Jen´s father (†), to have some part of our adventure and sent an old letter from him as a comment:
“This is my addition to the comments on Aussiebaron´s Back Home!
This is a 60 year old letter from Jen´s father which he wrote from Zambales, Philippines and sent to us. It was always exciting to have a big brother like Carl-Axel and especially when he and his family lived on the other side of the globe.
That the gene is inherited is shown by YOU (and Mick). The baby on the picture is Jen, only half a year old and maybe you are waring a yellow sweater and hat knitted by your little aunt!
Kerstin Wally”
Zambales August 24:th 1955
Hi:
Life here goes on forward with some appetite wetting nerve wreckers sometimes like for example when I arranged an expedition to the burning stones. People had talked about a place with burning stones far into the jungle and described it in all kinds of ways. I thought it would be fun to go there.
One Saturday afternoon my friend Lew Adamec came into the office and I suggested he join me on my expedition. As always he was up to adventures and said yes. He was American and 43 and had been to both South America and Alaska. He suggested that we invite a geologist that was just surveying our area here in Coto. This man, 52 and 6 feet tall, was happy to join us.
Now for the tricky part. Who could show us how to get there? People talk a lot but there were actually only three people who knew where it was. One lived by the shore and two lived in the village.
We got hold of one, Moreno, a small wiry man. He wanted to bring his dogs and his gun which we said was ok since we were only too happy to get someone to show us the way to the burning stones.
The journey was only 10 kilometres but to force our way through the jungle would take approximately 5 hours. We decided to start at 6 in the morning the next day.
At six next morning we met, Moreno with his homemade shotgun, Lew with sandwiches and Joe Peopels with a bag and with geology instruments and I. Marianne had sat up until 2 o´clock at night sewing a bag that I had thought up. The bag held a coffee pot, coffee, sugar, cream, salt meat and half a kilo steak.
We followed the river upstream up the mountain as we had walked many times before but never so far. We were told we had to cross the river 11 times along the way before we reached the fork of which we were to follow the left arm north and cross that one about 20 times.
At the first crossing Moreno, the leader, took off his trousers, tied them on his back and walked across the river. We did the same, also taking off shoes and socks. The water was 5 foot deep and flowing quite rapidly. We did not find exactly the shallow part Moreno had crossed over at so we slipped and got wet all three of us and were flushed down river a bit before we managed to get up on the other side a 100 metres further down. Guess how the sandwiches looked! I lost my salt meat.
After that blunder we did not undress anymore but walked in our wet clothes and shoes.
To wander along the rivers here where the jungle grows into and over the water cannot be described. You have to climb on rocks in the water that are slippery and your balance must be its utmost. Many times we had to force through the djungel also.
After four hours of this we took our first break. We had passed the fork and ought to be close to the burning stones.
The leader had forgot where the place was and needed to go for a little scouting tour while we had breakfast. Lew´s sandwiches were dough so the dogs got that. Joe´s cans were good. My steak was well washed in water with malaria and soaked through with amoeba bacteria. But it went down and tasted good. Thought about cooking coffee but decided to wait until we arrived at the burning rocks.
After an hour the leader came back and pointed out an area in the jungle to us and said that´s where it is. He could still not exactly point it out so we just had to walk along and hope we were lucky. We followed the river which was now harder than ever since it now went almost straight upward, (The last kilometer took us about 2000 feet) and straight into green hell.
Joe left his bag before we went in.
The jungle was made up of a some trees with vines but mostly dense bamboo. Every step we had to chop our way through 2 inch thick bamboo stems that were tuffer than the devil and sharper than razor blades. Out shirts were ripped to shreds and also the khaki trousers. I had a pair of american armour trousers and they were sturdy enough.
When we had been trekking for an hour we had only gotten about 100 meters and I was ready to give up. Lew and Joe too.
The leader was not sure of the way and had to climb up in every tree to see which way we should go.
Then the leader and Lew disappeared and Joe and I rested for a while. Soon we called Lew but got not answer. Joe started to follow in their footsteps and I followed him.
Then we heard someone call from about 30 steps ahead. It was Lew. He had found the site. We ran there and o yes there they were, the burning rocks. Lew had heard a mysterious sound he followed. It was the sound of burning and lighting gas.
We had probably trudged around the area but due to the thick jungle we had not heard anything.
We sat down, tired and bloody with cuts, to rest while pondering what kind of gas was burning. While the geologists discussed this I made coffee and this was the climax of the trip!
The spot with the burning rocks is as big as 10 meters in diameter made up of stones. From underneath comes gas up and is burning and makes it look like the stones are burning. There was probably a very big mudslide once and it covered a lot of plants and growth. When this started to rot the methane was created and is slowly reaching the surface where it is burning.
The burning rocks look very impressive with the flames jumping from rock to rock through rain and storms. This spot was once and still is for many a holy place to the people here because they have no explanation for it. In 1933 there was a search party here for uranium but it was never found.
The return trip was a nightmare. Back on the river we floated along the stream whenever it would let us. At dusk we were back in the village. We were in a miserable state but happy to have seen the rocks.
Next day we had to tell our story again and again, where it was and how it looked. People who had explained thoroughly to us how to get there and what it looked like had so many questions about it. This told us that nobody had been there but only heard stories.
We all had taken a little stone each from the rocks, a small red burned stone, like a piece of brick or burned clay.
How are things at home? Summer is ending and you are taking up the boat I guess. I myself am planning on doing some sailing at the coast and shark fishing and pearl diving as soon as I am done with the jungle excursions. I am sending you a picture of me from another trip so you can see how you look when you take a break without the shirt on.
How is the filming working out? I have taken three films here already and they look good. I am now waiting for a projector so that we can watch them. After that I will send them home to you so you can watch them too. It is mostly the kids we film. Ok, time for a drink, gin and sugar. It´s raining outside so I feel a bit clammy. Marianne has toothache, the little girl got her first teeth and is crying and the boy is just whining so we’ve got music!
Thats a little about our life for this time.
Love Acke and family.
Här kommer en liten hälsning, 60 år gammal, som din pappa skrev från Zambales, Filippinerna och skickade till oss. Det var alltid spännande att ha en storebror som Acke och speciellt när han med familj befann sig på andra sidan jordklotet. Att generna går igen visar DU!(och Micke). Tänka sig att Du här bara var ett halvt år och kanske! i en gul stickad tröja med mössa som din lilla faster stickat!
Detta är min hälsning till kommentarer i Aussie Barons Back Home!
Svenska på slutet
The days are short and we do not get much done more than daily chores like washing the dishes from yesterday, washing clothes, enough so that we are done in good time for them to dry on the line, go and empty the compost bin in the compost pile, air the bed, have smoko, make lunch, cut and chop and bring in wood possibly something else like a bit of pruning or clearing in the triangle of the garden closest to the road. Then time for a shower, sunset and a cuppa. After that it´s time to make a fire, cook dinner and read a little or use the internet. If we have any old movies available it´s time for them at eight. We have some old stuff on our computers and some that we have brought out from our moving cartons and sometimes we borrow movies from the library. They have old stuff but we are not choosy. Then it´s bedtime. Today was vacuum day. Once a month we vacuum the whole house. We put out the fourth mat. It ended up in the guestroom. It´s nice to put your feet on a mat instead of on the floor in wintertime.
But the days will soon be longer and we will have time to get more things done outside. Well truth be said we are a bit slow in the mornings by the fire.
Dagarna är korta och vi fårinte mycket gjort mer än dagliga sysslor som att disken från igår, tvätta kläder i god tid så att de är klara i god tid för dem att torka på linan, gå och tömma komposten i komposthögen, lufta sängkläderna, fika, göra lunch, skära och hugga och ta in ved eventuellt något annat som en lite beskärning eller röjning i triangeln i trädgården närmast vägen. Sedan dags för en dusch, solnedgång och en kopp te.
Efter det är det dags att göra upp eld, laga middag och läsa lite eller använda internet. Om vi har några gamla filmer tillgängliga är det dags för dem klockan åtta. Vi har några gamla saker på våra datorer och några som vi har tagit ner från flyttkartongerna och ibland lånarvi filmer från biblioteket. De har gamla grejer men vi är inte kräsna. Då det är läggdags. Idag var dammsugardag. En gång i månaden vi dammsuger hela huset. Vi la ut fjärde mattan. Det blev i gästrummet. Det är trevligt att sätta fötterna på en matta i stället för på golvet i vintern.
Men dagarna kommer snart att vara längre och vi kommer att ha tid att få fler saker gjorda ute.
Tja om sanningen ska fram så är vi lite lata på morgonen vid elden.
Insects (Swedish at the end)
The year can more or less be divided by the insects.
When we moved in there were not many.
One of the neighbours cows used our paddock as pasture, usually nightly. Maybe that had something to do with the flies we had then.
We did not take pictures of the flies in the beginning because we did not notice the changes until later.
First there was biting yucky flies. They loved blue colour and loved sitting on the wall in the kitchen-to-be-then-veranda. And of course loved sitting on us and sucking blood.
They disappeared and a black big fly with a white streak turned up on the scene. They also wanted our blood but were easier to fend off and kill.
Then they disappeared and a smaller fly turned up for a short time and that´s when we started to notice the insect world.
Then light cockroaches started to fly around. They were everywhere but were easy to kill and did not go into the food. Ca 1 ½ cm long and the colour of toffee.
They started to disappear and the big horseflies flew in with their big green eyes and some other big black thing. Down at the creek another biting fly held court. You could not feel when they sat down on you, just their stinging bite. When it got chilly they went away.
Up in the garden we got tiny gnats instead of all the flies. They almost went into our mouths and noses. Very irritating and also bit us from time to time. Now they are gone and it is blissfully empty of all but the cockroaches that live under rotting stubs during winter time.
We also have had some moths. Two beautiful moths lived for the longest time in our shed(-to-be-bathroom/storage). Now and then the bat came in search for them but never got them. Or….
Now and then the odd insect will turn up. Some are not good for houses such as borers and others are good such as those who hunt the house eaters.
Not in pics are also termites (none at the moment) and big black ants who live in the termites old dwellings, ticks, cikadas,and the normal bunch of insects. We hope we have killed off the ants but now and then and ant comes crawling along.
There are so many insects and animals living in our house at anytime.
If only we could charge them!
Istället för att räkna månaderna så kan man kolla insekterna.
När vi flyttade in här så fanns det knappt några flugor men sen kom de en efter en. Kanske det hade med att grannens kor använde vår hage som betesmark.
Först var det några bitande rödhövdade små djävlar sen försvann de och det kom större svarta med vita ränder. De var lite lättare att ta ihjäl. De rödhövdade gillade blått och satte sig gärna på köksväggen när de inte ville suga vårt blod.
Sen försvann de ock istället kom några vanliga flugor men de blev kortlivade och istället kom hästflugorna med sina jätteögon och sen kom en annan jättefluga som brummade riktigt mycket. De gillade också blått.
Sen försvann de och en pyttefluga förmodligen knott gillade att flyga runt ansiktet och in i näsborrarna och ibland bet de.
Nere vid ån höll bromsarna hov. Man känner inte när de sätter sig utan bara själva bettet.
Men nu är det vinter och alla insekter är borta. Vi ska hålla lite mer koll när de börjar igen.
Kackerlackorna ja. De kom flygande och svärmade men det tog också slut.
Ute i trädgården bor det kackerlackor under ruttnande stubbar och liknande men de kommer inte in i huset.
I början kom de in av misstag men det berodde på att det inte var rensat under huset utan jorden gick nästan upp till golvet på sina ställen och det var mycket bråte under också.
Vi har också många nattfjärilar. Ett tag hade vi två stora vackra nattfjärilar som bodde i snickerboa. Varje kväll kom en fladdermus och letade efter dem i snickerboa, som inte hade någon dörr, men hittade inget. De kanske blev ätna till slut för de försvann också.
Sen har vi insekter som borrar i träet och termiter (inga just nu) och stora myror som bor i termiternas gamla gångar och insekter som äter borrarna, fästingar, cikador (skinnbaggar) mm av den vanliga floran av insekter.
Hela tiden bor någonting någonstans i huset. Om vi kunde ta hyra ändå! men det tog också slutgillade an kter är borta. Vi ska hålla lite mer koll när de börjar igen.
luga förmodligen knott gillade a
The Jumpers / hopparna, övers. sist
We have two mobs of Wallabies. One seems find shelter old Lantana brambles by the roof project and the other shelters in our citrus grove. So we have a small family of wallabies who find food and shelter around our house.
When we walk down to the creek they often sit in our way but jump out before we reach them. Jen has taken to scream at them: Hop hop hop, the minute she sees them and it makes them stop and stare. Sometimes they sit in the high grass and eat and we scream hop hop hop and they look up and check us out. We also wave like crazy.
They are getting used to us now and last we walked down to the creek they jumped away when we were about 3 metres from the little Jill (the mom. Mom, dad and baby are called Jill, Jack and Joey and a flock is called a mob.)
Then we have the Pademelons. At first we thought they were giant marsupial rats. They were also soooo quick. Usually we saw them on the other side of the creek when we were driving in to town. One day we saw them on the path to the creek where the trees are. They are super shy. You have to sneak up on them. After the moderate flooding we had some weeks ago we have not seen any. One of our neighbours have a lot of them in their immediate garden because they feed them. They also brought one, who had lost it´s mom, up.
Those are all the jumpers we have around here. No kangaroos.
På engelska heter mamman Jill , pappan Jack och barnet Joey. En flock kallas mob.
Vi har två familjer med wallabies. En bor uppe vid takprojektet där vi har ouppackade grejor. En familj bor nere hos oss i citruslunden. Vi skriker åt dem: Hopp hopp hopp och sen vinkar vi frenetiskt och ropar hej när de stannar och tittar eller tittar upp på oss från sitt ätande. De börjar vänja sig vid oss nu och sist vi gick ner till ån kom vi så nära som 3 meter.
Vi gillar inte riktigt det där med att mata vilda djur så att de blir tama på det sättet men vem vet vad vi hittar på i framtiden.
Vi har ett gäng hoppare till. De kallas Pademelon’ er. De är mörkgrå och först trodde vi att det var jättestora pungråttor för de var så snabba och försvann och påminde om råttor eftersom vi aldrig hann se dem ordentligt. Vi såg dem som hastigast när vi körde över till andra sidan ån. Grannarna har massor i sin trädgård men de matar dem hela tiden också. En som hade förlorat sin mamma har de fött upp.
En dag började några bo i en av hagarna nere vid ån och vi såg dem på stigen som är lite överskuggad av träd. Man får liksom smyga sig på dem för att hinna se dem så vi har inte lyckats få någon bra bild av dem ännu.
Efter den senaste sk moderata översvämningen vi hade för några veckor sedan så har vi inte sett dem.
Vi har inga kängurur häromkring.
Shit mould in the bedroom. The shelves where we have our clothes, the back side is all mouldy, creeping upwards from the bottom part.
2015-06-14 Sunday
(på svenska på slutet)
It was a nice and sunny day so we decided to hike in our rainforest. We have not seen much of it yet. We have been down to the little creek a couple of times with guests. Not the main creek but a little feeder. This time we aimed to cross the creek to another creek that we think we see on the map.
Before leaving we sat on our stairs and had a cuppa’ . While sitting there the days entertainment passed by. Two motorcyclists who did not attempt the creek but turned and passed us again.
On our way to the logger road we met them again and told them that the creek was very low. We parked the car on the logging road as usual.
Walked down the little creek and across and up the other side without looking around us much which we ought to have done since it had changed a lot due to the rains. Just as the 5 Day creek had. So up he next hill which we were told had a road. We looked for any signs of this but could not see any. We got good use of the machete.
On top of the ridge the ground was clear and there were old signs of there having been a road. We came to a fence with a gate to the neighbour one of the neighbours. There was a lot of cowpoo on our side. This made us wonder a bit if they let their cows pasture on our property of if there is an old common road or maybe we have our borders wrong. We had brought the iPad for map and it showed that we were still on our property. Could be some old common road anyway.
Had a sandwich lunch.
Then we decided to walk 30 minutes due east on the ridge along the road. We followed to the end. It ended pretty soon at some logs.
Then we descended down the side towards Postmans trail. Very steep but the ground was mostly clear until we came close to the bottom then the Lantana and other thorny vines took over the ground. Machete use again. Saw some big trees that we think are red Cedars.
We finally found the creek. It was deeper and narrower here. Very rough nature down there. Lots of vines and lantana to push through or walk in the water/ sand at times. We had the machete. There was water in the creek. Jens one boot was leaking.
We had the iPad with a map and GPS on with us so we could see where we were on the map but Postmans creek did not look familiar to us. Maybe the flooding had changed the look of it. We were not sure how far to the loggingroad it was but we needed to stick to the creek so as not to get lost. It started to get a bit dark, not good, so we pushed on along the creek in the rough terrain. In places it was almost overgrown with Lantana. Up in the trees grew the staghorn ferns and other ferns. On the ground vines to trip over.
We finally found the loggingroad up to the car so it was all good. We were hot and sweaty.
Took a hot shower when we came home. Found a leach on each of Ms legs. Chock full of his blood. One on the sock.
Smoko, dinner, watching a show and then to bed early.
Översätter inte ordagrant utan berättar bara. Tyvärr struntar jag i bilderna.
Så i viform.
Söndagsvädret var toppen så vi beslutade oss för att kolla in vår regnskog lite närmare.
Innan vi åkte så tog vi varsin kopp te och satt på vår trapp. Dagens underhållning passerade. Två motocrosshojare. Vi hörde att de tvekade nere vid 5Day-bäcken och vände och kom snart förbi oss igen.
Senare när vi körde mot skogsvägen där vi skulle börja vår tur mötte vi dem igen. Vi sa att 5Day-bäcken hade jättelågt vattenstånd.
Sen parkerade vi som vanligt på skogsvägen.
Vi hade gått ner till vår egen lilla bäck, Postisbäcken alltså, med gäster ett par gånger men nu tänkte vi oss uppför berget på andra sidan och fram till gränsen på den sidan.
Skogsvägen som är en gammal skogshuggarväg är jättegammal och tar slut efter ett tag och övergår i en stig. Båda börjar bli rättså överväxta. Förra ägarna sa att vägen forsätter uppför berget på andra sidan bäcken men vi såg inga spår efter någon väg alls.
På andra sidan bäcken fick vi verkligen hugga oss fram och brant var det men upp kom vi till slut. Däruppe var det en väg däremot. Vi följde den åt väster och hittade en alldeles ny grind och nydraget taggtrådsstängsel. Massa kobajs också. Så endera kanske vi inte var på vår äga längre eller också släpper någon ut kor på vår mark eller också kanske det är någon urgammal gemensam väg som användes på 20-40 talet någongång eller så. Det fanns iallafall inte mycket för en ko att äta där.
Så åt vi mackor som vi hade med oss.
Sen följde vi vägen åt andra hållet. Den tog slut snart och kobajset slutade också. Men den övergick till en stig som vi följde i 20 minuter till och sen måste vi hem innan det blev mörkt.
Sååå går vi nerför till bäcken igen eller följer vi vägen tillbaka mot grinden och sen nerför?
Vi valde att gå ner direkt och följa bäcken tillbaks till skogsstigen/vägen till bilen. Först var det rätt så lätt med bara ormbunkar men ju längre ner vi kom ju snårigare blev det med lantana och snår och lianväxter. Några fantastiska röd-cederträd också. De kanske kan vara värda något i en framtid men hur får man upp dem ur den djupa bäckskrevan? Vi följde bäcken fram till stigen sedan men ett tag visste vi faktiskt inte var vi var trots att vi hade med oss en ipad med karta. Bäcken slingrade och vi högg oss fram ibland och ibland kunde vi gå på sand eller sten i bäcken. Vi kände oss verkligen som nybyggare.
Det är så vackert därnere med älghornsbräken i träden så att man måste titta uppåt hela tiden men i gengäld så snubblar man över lianer och snår istället.
Sen började solen gå ner och vi blev lite nervösa. Den stora 5-Day-creek-bäcken har ju ändrat utseende efter det senaste stora regnet och det hade vår lilla bäck också gjort. Vi kände inte igen oss förrän vi var vid stigen. Den finns vid en jättestubbe med sådana där hack i som man gjorde förr och satte en bräda i som man kunde stå på när man skulle såga ner trädet. Men vi fann flera sådana stubbar utmed bäcken och varje gång trodde vi att nu minsann.
I alla fall kom vi fram till slut och gick upp till bilen och åkte hem, ähum, tillbaks till huset. Vi var genomsvettiga fast det inte var någon särskilt varm dag.
Väl hemma duschade vi och plötsligt låg där en fet uschlig igel på brädgolvet. Vems var den? Michael hade ett blödande sår på fotleden. Sen hade han ett blödande sår på andra benet också men var var den skyldige till det? Letade i hans byxor, skor och sockor och där satt den på sockan och undrade vart maten tagit vägen. Den försökte förtvivlat suga blodet på sockan.
Och det var det lilla äventyret.
Today is baking day.
We aim to bake bread for breakfast, banana nut cake and cinnamon buns.
Since it is cold and there is nowhere to let the bread rise we will use the wood fired stove. It is not a stove per se but for heating the room.
So first bake the bread and let it yeast on said stove. It worked out pretty well.
Meanwhile that went on we baked banana nut bread from the old Lynnewood School (Havertown) cookbook. It always comes out yummy. Mick is honing his baking talents on it.
While all that went on we also made lunch.
After lunch was time to bake the cinnamon buns. More fire in the stove but this time nothing happened in the yeasting process. Next time we will try with double the yeast packages.
The dough just would not rise! So we made the buns and let them rise in the gas oven. That is not usually a good place when it is cold. This because there is such a big opening in the back to let air in for some reason. We inherited the gas stove with the house. We cannot find anything on it on the internet either. Anyway the butter melted out of them but we just went on. Half rised and baked and they tasted good. Phew!
Baking in the summer is much easier than in winter. In the other houses/apartments that we have lived in there is often a place that is warmer than the rest of the house, like a bathroom or where all the music apparatus sits or the boiler room but not here. Nothing of the sort. But we will not give up!
It was supposed to be showers today so baking would be totally apropriate but not a drop of rain! Just some dark clouds over Nulla Nulla. A bit of sun at 15:30.
There was no mouse in any of the traps this morning. One had closed though. Jen heard it at night. Early in the morning there were three animals climbing up the outside bedroom wall and in under the roof. So there are three mice or rats left or something else. Two big and one small.
Mick did some wood chopping.
Wet season ought to be over but it is still too wet to burn off along the roads.
Använd Google översättning. Vi försöker skriva rätt så att översättningen blir åtminstone förståelig.
When someone drives by we go to the window to check like some boonie dummies. Todays entertainment: 5 bikies and one truck. Ok the truck was not entertainment since we knew them.
The shower that did not work yesterday started straight away today. WTH can it be? Airbubbles maybe. Some spider sitting on the ignition keeping it from lighting?
The Yellow-Tailed Black-Cockatoos sat in the Macadamia and ate to their hearts desire this morning.
Lucky we picked our sackful yesterday. They can have the rest.
Mick sawed off a lot of branches from the Liquid Ambar and Jen went on with the garden squares. We divided the garden and spaces we use often into squares so we don´t go nuts.
The compostpiles are coming along really well. Warm steam comes out of them when lifting to put in the kitchen food scraps. We also emptied the mulch from the toilet.
Cracked two black walnuts with a sledge hammer on the old cast iron bridge thingies. They taste odd.
This first year is a year of learning and observing. The seasons are not like anywhere we have lived. Jen is trying to figure them out. Comparing to Athens in Greece, West Africa, Los Angeles, Sydney and other places. Living far from the coast makes the temperature and weather more uneven and differences a bit bigger. It´s very interesting all the time and we are slowly getting into some kind of rut. We have come so far as to wake up, go on the internet, have breakfast, decide on what to have for lunch and dinner and wash yesterdays dishes.
Here is Bruce the Goanna. It is a Lace Monitor. They are very common in New South Wales. You see them everywhere. Often on campgrounds in the forest where people feed them eggs and meat and they forage for food scraps after humans.
One day he followed the fence to the fence post, climbed up on it and up the Jacaranda over to the Mulberry and up into the sun and sat there basking.
There a lots of stories about fierce goannas. They do have sharp claws and teeth but so far we have never been challenged by one.
The little one we have no idea what it is. Some kind of skink. Maybe a Wood Mulch Slider (Lerista Muelleri). As you can see it has lost its tail at some time. Jen found in when digging up the veggie patch. She is adamant it moved but maybe it was wishful thinking. Dead as a doornail. Super cute though.
