ducks in Victoria

After leaving the Coonawarra I crossed into Victoria to what I thought was the Mallee district.  Looking up Google just then I found that I was much lower than the Mallee area and in what was called the larger Grampian area!  I had fun driving anyway, no matter where I was. This was country I had not been in for a very long time.

Couldn't resist a photo of a duck in a 'black boy' plant, botanical name Xanthorrhoea or another name, balga grass.

On to Derrinallum to stay with friends for two night. Very cold and rainy and this was December! I had left the warm, sultry north far behind me now and this was my welcome to my future, living in the south - cold and rain. I hope I can adjust.

 Showing how the ducks were travelling in style. No plastic bag or cardboard box for these ducks! They were snugly tucked into a wicker basket, wedged into the back of my little Hyundai Getz between bags and other essentials for living out of my car for a moment in time. Very comfy.

More photos of the ducks in a bird bath. They seem to naturally gravitate to the bird baths when they are around. No room for the two big ducks in the bath and so they were stately in isolation on top of their portable home, the wicker picnic basket.

Travelling from Darwin to Canberra - Day 1

I know that I have been a little behind in posting but I did not realise that I have not posted any of the photos of the ducks on our journey from Darwin to Canberra.  How remiss of me!

I left Darwin on Saturday 10 December, staying in Noonamah with friends on the Friday night. The ducks were happily tucked up in their travelling basket in which they were to spend the next three months, though none of us realised that it would be quite that long before they came out.  During the last month they were in their basket they could very easily have been settled onto shelves but by then there was a shyness about coming out and maybe they had been to so many places during those three months that the basket was a safe cocoon for them.

Now, to the photos -

Ducks in their basket in Darwin - quite a cosy fit and there were no complaints about the closeness

All of the ducks at the bird bath in Noonamah

my friend Chopper was very well behaved with the ducks and enjoyed the photo op as much as they did

I am starting to notice a trend that my family and friends all want to get into the act of either suggesting possible duck photo opportunities or taking photos of the ducks, no matter how dismissive they have been of the ducks up to that point.  This was no exception by Noonamah friends.  These three photos (plus a few others) were sent to me later in my trip.  While I was still in bed on the Saturday morning, they had taken the ducks out into the garden and snapped these photos.  I am glad they did.

And if you are wondering where the hell is Noonamah, yes, that is the slogan, it is 45 ks south-ish of Darwin on the Stuart Highway on the way down south.  My friends live off the highway in a wonderful tropical paradise which has been my pleasure to visit fairly regularly over the last few years. I spent many R&R weekends out of Darwin and there was always fun times in the kitchen, sometimes experimenting, great food, good wine, excellent conversation and general relaxation and sleep.

An excellent place to begin my very serious journey down south for the next adventures in my life.

In Canberra

Wow, it is ages since I have written.  The process of travelling and changing the place that I live in has been huge!  I am now very happy to say that I and the ducks are comfortably ensconced in Canberra, quite a change after the tropical north.  The ducks have not been very active, probably due to the colder climate but they will have to become acclimatised to, and it was a long trip from Darwin to Canberra via Melbourne.  
So, straight to photos of the ducks out of their travelling basket and on with their lives in our new home. 

 The ducks surveying the scene to see where they wanted to sit.

 The ducks spread around the house in their chosen (for now) positions.

Cheesequacker naturally gravitated
to the kitchen.

The two big ducks have settled on the table after several years in the bathroom.

These are the new bathroom ducks.

Decorator duck is decorating.

Ducks in Canberra

I have arrived back in Darwin after spending two and a bit weeks in Canberra, ostensibly to make curtains for downstairs at my daughter and son-in-law's house, but of course to travel with a duck and take photos with the Canberra cousin - Chris.  

100% Gorgeous travelled with me and liked hanging out upstairs with Chris Duck. They both enjoyed coming downstairs and watching three very good games of mahjong and then there was some time spent hanging out in the garden.

My son-in-law has worked very hard to keep the garden alive during the drought conditions that Canberra is still under, as this quite large pumpkin will testify to.  It still is one of the great pleasures in life to prepare a meal with vegetables and herbs picked fresh from the garden - zucchini, apple cucumbers, tomatoes, figs, oregano, rosemary, basil etc.  Pasta with a sauce of fresh tomatoes roughly chopped and cooked with grated zucchini and fresh herbs - wonderful

ducks with necklaces

How does time fly past so quickly?  What happened to January 2010?  While I am asking that question, what happened to most of 2009?  One thing I have been playing with over the last few weeks is beads.  The big ducks were getting cross with being ignored - excepting being shifted from the top of the washing machine to the top of the toilet seat and back again when laundry is happening.  The only way I could appease them was to take their photos with necklaces so they could feel included with what I have been amusing myself with apart from them.

Here I will give a plug for the website I have placed the necklaces on - Madeit.  My creations are under the Aqua Goddess Creations name.   http://www.madeit.com.au/aquagoddesscreations    While you are there, check out other goodies.  Everything is hand made in Australia and there are lovely things for gifts or to spoil yourself.

Until next time, which might be coming from Canberra......