Weekend away in the middle of the week!

Eldon and I were very fortunate to be able to slip away for a couple days last week while Mom looked after Rhys at home! The company Eldon works for had a plane going to Cairns for maintenance so we (meaning Eldon did all the flying and I tried not to fall asleep!) flew it over and then stayed on for a couple of days. Little did we know that our little holiday was going to be extended...Just as we were holding to get on the runway on our way home, Eldon's boss called and asked us to change our flights plans and go direct to Townsville instead of back to Mount Isa. So we flew to Townsville and, after a few confusing hours, I went to a hotel and Eldon went on to fly another 5 1/2 hours on a run for the company. So we had an unscheduled night in Townsville and flew back the next morning. I hadn't been flying with Eldon for some time so it was pretty fun to do it again. It was scorching hot on the ground inside the plane while we were doing checks and getting clearances etc...now I know what Eldon goes through every single day at work! I had sweat dripping off me and pooling behind my sunnies...yuck! The headphones make it so much hotter! Once we got in the air, the air vents kept us at a reasonable temperature. It was nice and bumpy on the way home but not enough to make me sick, thank goodness! We were so glad to get home and see Rhys and Mom...this was the first time I'd ever been away from him overnight!!! Oh man did I miss him! Anyway, he had a great time with Nana.

This is the plane we flew over, Cessna 402

My hubby loves posing, can't you tell?

Me in front of the marina just before we got soaked in a rain shower

We sheltered from the storm in a gelato store...hmmm bad idea?

Eldon with our Thai meal, "Elephant steampot" (no, we did not eat elephant)

Looking back at the coastline as we flew into Cairns

This is the cloud reflection on the ocean...very cool

Flying back into Mt Isa...you can see one of the smelter stacks right in front, the mines are right behind it

Darwin Trip and update

We are back from our quick trip to Darwin and we are wishing that we had another few days away. But first, a quick update on the baby. I had another scan on Wednesday last week and then a Drs appt on Thursday. Scan went well; got a very good picture of the face (amazing!!). Still don't know if it's a boy or girl so don't ask! :) It also looks like my placenta has started moving, so it is good news all around. It looks like we don't have to go to Darwin (barring any other complications from now on) for the birth which will be much easier. I was told to give it another 4 weeks of "rest" before I started doing any exercise or "strenuous" activity....I think by that time (I'll be 30 weeks) I won't feel like doing much anyway! :) I can barely bend over to put on my shoes so I think my yoga days are past. I meant to look for some slip-on shoes in Darwin, but ran out of time. We did get the major things accomplished in Darwin though, baby shopping!! Here are some pics from our trip:

Mode of transportation: We planned our trip around one of Eldon's work planes going up for some servicing in Darwin so that we could save a bit on air fares and also have some room for freight on the way home.

Eldon putting our "freight" in the plane in Kununurra.

Dodging storms and showers on the way there.

My very own handsome pilot!

View over Darwin city and suburbs as we cross Darwin Harbour on our way in.

Our rental car (tiny Hundai Getz) loaded to the max with baby stuff and Eldon stuffing his face with KFC!

Me....25 weeks 6 days....ever expanding in more than the belly

Just the two of us still

The workers in Darwin, Linda and Rowanne.

We had a lovely time in Darwin even if it was too quick. The workers are having a mission there for the first time in several years, so it was really good to get the gospel meeting on Sunday evening. They are coming down for our special meetings in May so that is t

he next thing to look forward to. Darwin baby shopping proved to be pretty sparse but at least they have one baby store and the likes of Kmart and Big W (like Walmart) so we did end up with most of the things we need. Now we just have to wait for them to get back to Kununurra. We loaded up the Airvan which we flew up in, but it has so stay in Darwin for a week or so for servicing, so we flew home on the jet. Hopefully all our stuff will arrive safely in one piece when the plane is returned to Kununurra!

Chief at last!

Congratulations are in store for my wonderful hubby who is finally the new chief pilot of Alligator Airways. He flew up to Darwin on Wednesday afternoon, had his written and oral tests on Thursday, and his flight test on Friday. He was pretty shattered by last night! But, he passed, and that is the main thing. Now he can start doing the work he has been trying to do since August! Woohoo!

BACK ONLINE!!!!

Well, here we are, back again. Sorry for the long delay...you've probably given up on us!!! :)

Since our last post on March 30th, we've moved house, lost the internet for more than a month (ahhhhhh), bought a new laptop. and a lot of other boring stuff like that.

On the exciting side, we had our special meetings and 3 of the workers came to stay with us! Our four workers were Gary Packard and Winnie Melville from WA, Linda Larson and Pauline Turner from SA. (It is about equal distance for each pair to come up here.)

Here is Gary in his nice apron, our chef for the night! Eldon and I are with Linda Larson (Eldon knows her and her family quite well). The last picture is the four workers; Gary, Pauline, Linda, and Winnie. We felt very privileged!

We are loving our new little flat...pictures to follow once I get it clean enough :) .....and our lives are going along pretty normally.

We've adopted a cat, or rather it has adopted us! We are really just like grandparents; invite it in, give it a pat, and send it on its way again! His name is Buster and he's very much like our cat at home, Hugo. He lives in a flat just down from us, and he is very, very friendly!!!

My studies are getting along just fine. I'm into the practical portion of the course, and I have a feeling I'll be there for a little while!

Eldon is working flat out, as you can see. These pictures are from his week at Drysdale Station, where Alligator Airways base a plane in the dry season.

I'm not sure what kind of spider this is...but it sure made Eldon forget about going to the toilet! It is sitting on the cistern at Drysdale Station.

These are amazing falls...King Falls I think. An American actress was killed by a crocodile under these falls in the '80s.

Now that we are into our dry season, these bush fires will happen more and more. Some are accidental, some are not.

Well, that's a quick update in our little lives. I'll try to be better at posting new stuff on here!

Hope everyone is well!

Works Tour with Eldon!!!!

Sunrise at Alligator Airways

For the first time in a few years, I went on a flight with Eldon!

The company he works for, Alligator Airways, does a scenic flight called the "Works Tour". The company is really good about letting wives and family of pilots on the flight for a reduced rate if there is a spare seat. So I managed to get myself a seat last Saturday! It was a really good day for a flight...not too bumpy! It's technically still the "wet season" so there was plenty of water on the ground and flowing in the rivers. The waterfalls were pretty spectacular!

Waterfalls off the Berkley River

Mitchell Falls

King George Falls

The tour is about 4 hours of flying with a stop at Kalumburu (an Aboriginal community) for a ground tour and lunch. We were given a tour of the museum by the local Catholic priest. They have a really interesting collection of all sorts of things from around the world. Kalumburu was bombed during the second World War and he has things from that.

Lunch at Kalumburu

OutBack refueling!!!!!

We flew down the Ord River to do some croc spotting and then out to the coast where we saw 2 huge crocs swimming! We were going a bit too fast for me to get pictures of them though!

Eldon talked the whole time about the different areas and things to watch out for....he is really very good at his job as a pilot/tour guide! It was so good to finally see what he really does all day! :) :)

Berkley River...beautiful!!!

Ord River and Ivanhoe plains just outside of Kununurra

These are only a few pictures from our flight...to view the rest go to Our Pictures

My Turn Now!!!!!!!!!

Haha........ i've hacked in to Sarah's Blog and now i'm going to post some of my own stuff...... no prizes for guessing what it will be!!!

For those of you who would love to know what the wild, remote, hicksville parts of West Australia look like, i'm going to post a few photos of ...... wait for it....... aeroplanes :-) ...... and some of the airstrips and communities I fly into.

(This is one of the aircraft I fly. It's called a Gipsland Aeronautics GA8 Airvan. Made in Australia mate!!! Fair Dinkum! - Photo taken at Emma Gorge)

My collection of photos isn't all that large at the moment (been taking video with some of the other pilots) but i'm working on a collection so you can all see what it's like up here!!!

(These interesting looking hills are part of the Cockburn Range. There is a resort hidden away in a gorge right in the centre of the ranges called Emma Gorge Resort. Unbelievably beautiful place..... especially with the setting sun behind you! The airstrip is right at the base of the rangees - infact, that's where i'm standing to take the photos.... looking out for other planes landing of course!!! - These photos were taken immediately before my plane broke down. I had to run about 2 miles up the dirt road into the resort so I could phone base - they couldn't hear me calling on the radio - and get them to send a rescue plane so my passengers and i could get home that night. I went back the next day with one of our engineers and rescued it.)