Tag: Cowell

Casablanca, Benji and a Road Trip.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The temperature over the last few days has started to climb a little and today (Wednesday) was 38c However it is not expected to get too hot for the next few days and  over the weekend. That being so, we might actually be able to get out.  Wherever we go out of town it is a long drive. I had thought of going to Quorn in the Flinders Ranges, which is about 120klm from here. In the other direction there is a drive to Cowell  which is about 110 klm and a direct road. The disadvantage  of Cowell is that there is really nothing to see on the drive down there, whereas the drive to Quorn means going through the Pichi Richi Pass and Woolshed Flats which are both interesting. However, we will not be going anywhere until this weather calms down.

The Royal Palace at Casablanca
The Royal Palace at Casablanca

My top three movies are: – 3. A man for All Seasons.  2. The Man who would be King. 1. Casablanca. As John was growing up he would sit on the couch with me and we would watch Casablanca together. Of course, as he got older he understood that Rick’s Cafe was  simply a studio set in Hollywood. However, in Casablanca, Morocco there is a Rick’s Cafe – opened in 2004 and based on the movie fame – and he was quite excited when the tour of Morocco included lunch at Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca. However, when they got there it was Ramadan, so no Rick’s. However the King of Morocco had decreed that during Ramadan all Muslim owned businesses must close but non-Muslim owned businesses may remain open with limited hours – so his tour group had lunch – at McDonalds. Fourteen thousand miles to have a Big Mac!!  He was not impressed, but we (Annabell
and I) unkindly thought it was hilarious.  They didn’t even go to Rick’s so there are no photographs. To say he was disappointed is an understatement but, he got over it and really enjoyed the tour of Morocco and the Tea Ceremony they went to. He also sent me a photograph which I showed to

Oh! is that Gibraltar?
Oh! is that Gibraltar?

Annabell. She said it was a good photograph of John. A few minutes later I showed her the photograph and she said it was a good photograph of John. A few minutes later I showed her the photograph and she was slightly irritated and said that she had said twice already that it was a good photograph of John. So I very gently asked “I wonder what that is over his right shoulder?”  “Oh – is that Gibraltar? ” “Yes dear, that’s Gibraltar”

We didn’t go for a picnic but we did go for a drive around the  area. We were away a couple of hours and I thought what’s not to like – Lovely (tad warm) day,  the car, me, my dog and Sinatra.

The weather forecast for next week looks interesting so we should be able to get out somewhere. This morning ( Saturday) I took the dog out for his morning walk and just about froze — gollleee – it was cold and the summer jacket I had on was a waste of time as the wind cut right through it –  one and three-quarter mile and  every foot of had me thinking  “I should have gone back to bed this morning”  I mean,  I get up and get dressed and out we go at 5:40am and the only time we don’t go out is if it’s raining. I look forward to coffee when I get back from our walk – he gets his treat I gets me coffee!

Iron Knob Mine
Iron Knob Mine

Being a nice afternoon I  decided to take Benji out for a bit of a drive. We drove out to Iron Knob a mining area about 55klm, north-west of here.  Once upon a time it was a thriving community of 3000 people  but those days are  gone and it has a population of less than 200.  The town – what’s left of it – is very run down. Most of the shops are closed, the school is closed, the pub is gone and the only Petrol (Gas) Station  is closed and overgrown with weeds. Its sister town – not too far away – Iron Baron – again a once thriving mining community has completely gone; there’s nothing left of that. Beyond Iron Knob there were several pastoral  areas, but our government seized them in compulsory purchase and made them  part of the extended army play-pen. When we set out I foolishly  thought that there would at least be one shop still open. The Inter-state Highway – National Highway 1 – passes across the top of the Eyre Peninsula and it passes the far end of Iron Knob and right on the corner, where the Iron Knob Road joins the National Highway, is a  Petrol (Gas) Station. It is a  service station,with  food and drinks and I always  thought was ideally placed to pick up trade from tourists, locals and trucks traveling the Inter-State.  I thought that at least would survive, but I was wrong and it’s an overgrown junk heap. I thought this was quite sad.

Bigger is not always better

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

2013-01-01 07.47.00The State of South Australia covers some 983,482 sq.klm. It’s bigger than Texas but with a total population only marginally greater than  Phoenix,  I suppose we do have a lot of environment. To the west of me – the town of Cowell some 115 klms away   -the photograph is in the general direction of Cowell and there is nothing in between except the general assortment of Australian wildlife. Like many places in the USA  South Australia  punishes people who do not take the environment seriously – they die in the harsh, hot conditions of outback SA. There was three travellers died only a few weeks ago when the car they were driving in broke down and they decided that it was only twenty miles to the nearest settlement, so they could walk there for help in a 45c temperature. They  became lost and didn’t make it and their bodies were recovered only after a massive police  and ranger search. If you treat it with disrespect and are unprepared for the worst that could happen,  the far north of South Australia can be very unforgiving.  Even driving between here and Adelaide, I carry 2 x   3 litre water containers in the boot (trunk) and I always have drinking water with me in the car. When I take the dogs out during the summer months – in the morning before the heat and in the evening when it’s little cooler,,  I generally have a small backpack with a bottle of water and a bowl.

The South Australian Dog Rescue ended the year fairly well and  400 dogs have been saved from the pound and have gone to new furever homes. I have been involved in ten of those, which I have taken from here the 400 klms to the State Capital and their new owners. I hope to be heading that way sometime next week, once this heatwave breaks. At the moment it is 35c but this is expected to rise and to mid 40+c over the next few days and into the start of next week with a cool change coming mid-week.

In the garden it has generally been a tidy up and keep up the watering to what plants have survived the heat of the other week. I have not been able to replace them because it is New Year and most places are closed until today, so I will probably get over to the Garden shop  during the course of the day and have a look at what I think might survive. As I said before I have doubts about labels that say “Full Sun”