The Long Awaited Holiday Post

Firstly, here's a map of the South-West of Western Australia. Manjimup is marked and this is where we made our base.



Here is a picture of our campsite:



We bought the camper trailer second-hand last March, but this was the first time we had taken it out for a trip. It worked well, although with temperatures in the mid-30s (that's degrees celcius, folks), it did get hot in there during the day.

Here's a picture of the Karri Forests I mentioned in a previous post - yes, that is our car in the picture.



This photo was taken at the Diamond Tree Lookout, about 10kms south of Manjimup. The lookout itself, which can be seen in the next picture, is at the top of a 51metre high Karri tree (the Gloucester Tree Lookout, which is also climbable is even higher - but there were too many people there to get a good photo).



Here's a photo looking up into the top of the tree:



And here is a photo of me thinking about whether or not it would be a good idea to climb the Diamond Tree ...



I decided it wouldn't be at this time :) ... but maybe in the future .... It was scary high though.

The girls also had a try of climbing the tree, not that I would let them go too high.



There is also a wonderful (short) walk in the surrounding forest with mini-climbable trees which the girls had great fun with.



(For this one by "mini", I'm talking 3metres) ...



Some people don't have a problem with heights:



Apart from the Karri Trees - which I think are the most wonderful trees in the world. BTW if you are looking for the BEST PLACE to see them (and camp amongst them) then head to the Warren National Park, just outside Pemberton. The "Heartbreak Trail" road is a magnificant drive. We did the drive, I just don't have any photos - for some reason!

Now, as I was saying, apart from the Karri Trees, we visited some wonderful places:

* Donnelly River Wines - they do a lovely light drinking Rose (called Cascade) and their port goes down well too ...



* A Mead winery outside of Denmark. They had honey ice-creams (I tried the Rose, Almond & Honey one) and fresh honey. I am not a honey eater, but at the instance of my youngest I tried their Karri honey and YUMMO ... yes, we bought some!

* Just prior to a visit to this Meadery we went to a Toffee Factory, again some lovely samples were had and various treats purchased.

* Denmark Farmhouse Cheese and Ducketts Mill Wines - had a lovely lunch there (and only a glass of wine, promise).



* Cidery in Bridgetown - an abosolutely wonderful "find" - not sure why I don't have any photos of it. They have a lovely porch area under grape vines for enjoying lunch at, and the cider is pretty yummy too.

* Bridgetown also has a Fruit Winery - their "Sloshed Apple" port is delicous.

* The Valley of the Giants Winery and Olives place (outside Walpole) was also a great find - beautiful wines, olive oil and olives ....

No ... we didn't just EAT all the time - but we were there for 10 days!!!



So apart from the food & wine ... we visited:

* Beedelup Falls



Which has a suspension bridge:



* The Cascades at Pemberton



Where, after a short walk the girls had a great time playing



Here's another view of the Cascades taken the next day from the Pemberton Train. This picture is looking back up onto where the girls were playing the day before.



* Pemberton Train ride, an absolutely "must" if you're in the area ... this is taken at one of the six bridges we went over.



On the train ride I got a wonderful photo of my eldest ....



* And in the interests of fairness here's one of my youngest .... taken at Donnelly River Dam. The colour of the water comes from the tanins in the trees.



* Fernhook Falls was another place we "discovered".



This was quite an amazing place. There was a short walk from a swimming / canoing landing spot to the falls themselves, where the above photo was taken. There was a lots of Kookaburras there. When we walked back to the landing we noticed little birds swooping onto the river to get insects. Here's a video:



The girls played on the bottom step of the landing and then we noticed some fish and marron. I tried to take photos of the marron but they were just too fast.

* We also went to three beaches - Peacheful Bay, Emu Beach (in Albany) and Windy Harbour. Here's a photo of me and girls playing in the water at Windy Harbour (okay, I cheated you can't see much of me :) ).



This was a great place, quite large waves came through the rocks here making a safe but fun swimming hole.

* We also visited Big Brook Dam in Pemberton one evening ...



I loved the light on the water and took this photo too ...



* In Manjimup itself we visited the Timber Park, extremely interesting. I would like to go back when the temperature is less than 35deg. They had lots of native and foreign trees planted, old steam engines used in the forestry industry



As well as an old Police Station, Doctor's Surgery, Mechanics workshops and other historical buildings, including this old school



Definitely planning a return visit.

* Northcliffe Pioneer Museum had another replica of an old school, an old shop and a room full of rocks ... I would loved to have spent more time in there but the girls wanted to play on the playground outside.

* Talking of playgrounds Donnybrook now has the BEST kid's playground that I have ever seen. We had a great couple of hours there.

We also visited relatives in Bunbury and Albany.

My youngest said that she reckoned this was the best holiday we've ever had. I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it, except maybe the heat :)

UPDATE: I forgot to mention Dinosaur World and Reptile Park outside of Denmark. I'm not into Dinosaurs BUT loved their reptile displays and the birds. They have a number of native and foreign birds on display. Some are out of cages and will sit on your shoulder / hat etc. I think I got bitten by at least three of them (mainly when they objected to me trying to get the off my shoulder) but it was fun!



And I forgot the Lavendar and Berry Farm - YUMMO pancakes - but warning - the LARGE is ... (i think two of us would have happily shared a small). Here's a view from their front door:

Now Mouthwash Causes Cancer ....

Apparently mouthwash has been linked to oral cancer ...

from http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24895211-421,00.html

Top-selling mouthwash brands, including Listerine, linked to cancer
By Clair Weaver

AUSTRALIA'S top-selling mouthwashes can cause oral cancer and should be pulled from supermarket shelves immediately.

Leading independent experts have issued this strong warning after investigating latest scientific evidence linking alcohol-containing mouthwashes to the deadly disease.

Their review, published in the Dental Journal of Australia, concludes there is now "sufficient evidence" that "alcohol-containing mouthwashes contribute to the increased risk of development of oral cancer".

The ethanol in mouthwash is thought to allow cancer-causing substances to permeate the lining of the mouth more easily and cause harm.

Acetaldehyde, a toxic by-product of alcohol that may accumulate in the oral cavity when swished around the mouth, is also believed to be carcinogenic.

Listerine, the nation's biggest-selling mouthwash and a brand endorsed by the Australian Dental Association (ADA), contains as much as 26 per cent alcohol.

Mouthwash is one of the fastest-growing grocery products in Australia, with the category now worth more than $75 million, according to latest Nielsen market research.

Lead review author Professor Michael McCullough has told The Sunday Telegraph alcohol-containing mouthwash should be reclassified as prescription-only and carry written health warnings.

Prof McCullough, chair of the ADA's therapeutics committee and associate professor of oral medicine at the University of Melbourne, is calling on the ADA to urgently re-assess its seal of approval on mouthwashes containing alcohol.

"We see people with oral cancer who have no other risk factors than the use of alcohol-containing mouthwash, so what we've done in this study is review all the evidence that's out there," he said.

"Since this article came out, further evidence has come out too. We believe there should be warnings.

"If it was a facial cream that had the effect of reducing acne but had a four- to five-fold increased risk of skin cancer, no one would be recommending it."

Oral cancer is a gruelling and mutilating disease that afflicts more than 800 Australians each year and kills half of them within five years of being diagnosed.

Smoking and alcohol consumption are well-established risk factors, but alcohol-containing mouthwash use is more controversial.

I know that there's a lot of "this will cause cancer" type scares regularly, most I totally ignore, but this one seems to be well researched so I thought I would bring it to your attention.

I've never actually liked mouthwash anyway, so the most I will ever do is put some on a toothbrush and brush over my teeth and then rinse straight away.

UPDATE: An here's an report with an expert who disagrees.

JOKE: Why females should avoid a girls night out after they are married....

The other night I was invited out for a night with the 'girls. I told my husband that I would be home by midnight, 'I promise!' Well, the hours passed and the margaritas went down way too easily. Around 3 a.m., a bit loaded, I headed for home. Just as I got in the door, the cuckoo clock in
the hallway started up and cuckooed 3 times?

Quickly, realizing my husband would probably wake up, I cuckooed another 9 times. I was really proud of myself for coming up with such a quick-witted solution, in order to escape a possible conflict with him?

(Even when totally smashed... 3 cuckoos plus 9 cuckoos totals = 12 cuckoos MIDNIGHT!)

The next morning my husband asked me what time I got in, I told him 'MIDNIGHT'... he didn't seem pissed off in the least. Whew, I got away with that one! Then he said 'We need a new cuckoo clock.' When I asked him why, he said, 'Well, last night our clock cuckooed three times, then said 'Oh
s**t.' Cuckooed 4 more times, cleared its throat, cuckooed another three times, giggled, cuckooed twice more, and then tripped over the coffee table and farted.

TWHGM: PETA & Sea Kittens

(TWHGM = "The World Has Gone Mad")

From http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24891309-29277,00.html

PETA's campaign to rename fish 'sea kittens'

A CAMPAIGN to rename fish as "sea kittens" in order to improve their image has been ridiculed by the Federal Opposition.

Outspoken animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is using the "sea kitten" name as part of its push to restrict fishing.

"Nobody would hurt a sea kitten!" the group says on its website.

"People don't seem to like fish.

"We're going to start by retiring the old name for good.

"When your name can also be used as a verb that means driving a hook through your head, it's time for a serious image makeover."

The website features images of fish with cats' whiskers and ears.

PETA is using the campaign to entice people to sign a petition calling on the US Fish and Wildlife Service to stop promoting "the hunting of sea kittens (otherwise known as fishing)".

Opposition fisheries spokesman John Cobb was not impressed with the campaign, nor with PETA.

PETA has offended some in Australia with is high-profile campaign against mulesing, the practice of cutting away the skin from a sheep's rear to prevent flystrike.
Related Coverage

Mr Cobb said the group had little credibility.

"It is hard to take an organisation which wants to change the name of fish seriously," he said.

Many people might laugh at the sea kitten campaign, Mr Cobb said, but PETA's agenda was actually more sinister: destroying the meat and fish industries.

PETA has convinced a number of large companies to boycott Australian wool which comes from mulesed flocks.

The group argues mulesing is cruel and there are better ways to prevent flystrike.


I don't think there's any comment I could make about this inane suggestion. "I'm off sea-kittening" just doesn't have the same ring to it!

UPDATE: Do check out the PETA website for some funny cat/fish cartoon pictures.

Oh, and I've decided that "I'm going sea-kittening" does have a nice ring to it so I'm adopting it (not that I get to go very often).

Homeschooling - the Future of Education?

Haven't read Scott Adam's (of Dilbert fame) blog recently but had a look tonight and he suggests that homeschooling may be the future of education.

I can imagine a future economy where everyone is home schooled over the Internet, and the average result is an improvement. With the Internet you could leverage the best teaching methods to the entire country. No one gets the bad teacher or the disruptive class. There are no bullies and no cliques.

I haven't read the comments to his blog post yet as I wanted to get my ideas down without further influence.

Personally, I would have loved to have been "homeschooled via the internet" instead of actually going to school. I didn't like school. My memories of school are loneliness and boredom. Homeschooling may actually have helped with the boredom aspect. I did an alternative schooling option for the last two terms of Year 8 and completed 2 years work in this period. This sort of learning would have worked great for me, but I'm not sure it would work for all kids. Some people do learn best through personal interaction rather than via reading (as we are all aware people learn differently). Neither my brother or sister excelled at this school.

Speaking as the mum of two school aged girls I am not sure that I would like this to be the only option that I had available for educating my girls.

My youngest is a very social child who loves the interaction that she got at kindergarten. She will start pre-primary this year and I believe socialisation is still a major focus at this age group as well as building the foundations for learning (especially reading).

My eldest is a quiet, reserved child who, I truely believe, has benefitted greatly from being in the school environment. I think for pure learning she would be happy with a self-paced, "learn on your own" style. But the classroom activities, particularly "news" (or "show and tell" as I knew it) have really helped build her confidence and I am not sure how this could be done outside of the school environment.

Scott Adams' take on the socialisation aspects is:

My guess is that as long as home schooled kids have friends in the neighborhood, and siblings, they socialize just fine. The social skills can be learned on sports teams and at Girl Scouts

But I do not fully agree. My girls have friends in the neighbourhood, they both participate in team sports and the eldest attends Girl Guides. I do believe that while these activities provide some socialisation opportunities they're not the "day in day out" type of opportunity provided by a school.

Prior to having kids I liked the idea of homeschooling, mainly as I didn't want my children to be bored at school like I was. However, having seen their personalities and having found the school that they are at I think that going to school is definitely a better option for them at this time. Maybe when they're older and socialisation and confidence building aren't such major issues then the "homeschooling via the internet" could be an option.

An aspect of this plan that Scott Adams doesn't address is the availability / suitability of parents to provide an appropriate learning environment. The assumption is made that a parent will be around to give better personal attention than a teacher with 20 students..

I see two problems with this, 1) those people with jobs will have to give them up to be home for the children (or we have to return to a traditional family structure where the husband works and the wife stays home with the kids); and

2) there are a lot of parents now who have enough trouble providing a suitable environment out of school hours, let alone assuming that they could do this all day, every day.

He did make an interesting observation regarding schooling all-year round, verses having the summer months off -

It's a legacy of our farming past, with no current utility. Every summer the American kids lose ground to the Japanese kids who school year round. Home schooling would have no long breaks. Another problem solved.

We are currently in the middle of our summer school holidays. School broke up on Dec 15th and goes back on Feb 2nd. I don't see the need for these long holidays (although the teachers may disagree with me), however with temperatures in the high 30s (that's Celsius, folks - tomorrow is forecast to be 98.6F), I am not sure that the kids being in school is a great idea either.

It would free up accommodation if families could take holidays through out the school year and not just at "school holiday" times (we just take the kids out of school when we want to go on holidays and that gets around this issue).

So basically, on the whole, I don't think that I would like to see the future of education go this way.

Catching Up

Still planning to do the holiday wrap up blog soon ... however, I've just been looking through my favourite blogs I discover that Monkey Girl is hanging up her keyboard :(

I've been reading her blog for a couple of months now and have found it a good read.

On the Road

Just a quick note from a computer in a Northcliffe cafe. We've stopped here for a bite to eat on our way to Windy Harbour. We went to Windy Harbour the other day - and it was :) ... Hoping today is slightly less windy and more suitable for swimming. The weather has been pretty hot down here - but the shady trees and breeze has made it bearable.

This is the second last day of our holiday in the South-West and we've had a fantastic time.

I'll put some photos up of the area when I get back - but I don't think photos can do the Karri Forests justice. I seriously think that this is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Add to the beautiful trees the wineries, beaches and other assorted cottage type industries (toffee factory, mead icecreamery, etc) and it's a wonderful place to spend some time.

Anyway, more later ....