Recent Adventures

Have you ever played the game “Have you Ever…”? It was a favourite with our youth group for a while. It’s one of those games where the person in middle of the circle tries to steal a seat when those who were seated are exchanging places. The person in the middle thinks of something they have done before and then asks the group, “Have you ever (fill in the blank)?” Anyone who has also done that same thing has to get up and change seats while the person in the middle tries to steal one of the seats.

Anyway, that phrase has been rattling around in my head as I’ve been thinking about the past few weeks, so here are some of my contributions from my recent adventures…

Have you ever... watched a bilby eat his dinner?

A couple of weeks ago, a friend and I spent a few days camping at Congelin campgrounds in the Dryandra woodland. We did a tour of the Barna Mia animal sanctuary on the first evening we were down there and really enjoyed seeing some of our beautiful native marsupials close-up. (By close-up I mean that my friend had a bilby sniffing her shoe at one stage, and we were literally trying not to trip over the woylies and boodies who were racing us down the path to the first feeding station!) It was an amazing experience. 

Have you ever... shared your campsite with a racehorse goanna?

This little guy (he really is quite little as far as goannas go) was making his home under our picnic table. 

Other wildlife at our campsite included kangaroos (of course), a golden whistler who serenaded us each day while we were eating lunch, and a brushtail possum who went cruising by one evening with her baby riding on her back.

Have you ever... used a wooden spoon as a rolling pin?

Slightly unorthodox and slightly tedious, but it works! The bread we brought from home went mouldy before we got to eat any of it, so our lunch “Plan B” was a flat-bread type event (well, as flat as I could make it using self-raising flour and wooden spoon rolling pin!). It would probably have failed any contest of presentation, but it was pretty tasty. :-)

Have you ever... been awakened by the sound of a kookaburra savagely attacking 

his own reflection on a glass door?

At least that’s my best guess as to what this dude (I took this later in the day, but I’m pretty sure it was him) was doing tapping so insistently on the laundry door at 6 AM…

Have you ever... been on a rollercoaster? 

Yes, finally – last week, when I spent a very full (read, “enjoyable but exhausting”) day at Perth Royal Show with a friend. We stayed for almost 12 hours, which enabled us to see and do everything we wanted to, whilst also getting plenty of exercise in the process!

Have you ever... seen a cop in a kilt doing the Hokey Pokey?

One of our breaks from walking around the showgrounds was when we sat down to watch the WA Police pipe band perform. Apart from traditional bagpipe music, they also played some jazz pieces and the Hokey Pokey. Random but kind of cool.

Have you ever... seen a lamb with a face as cute at this?

I went back after I had changed the memory card in my camera just so I could take his picture. He looks just like a little teddy bear. :-) 

Have you ever... spent all day washing your hands because you just can’t help but 

touch all the animals? 

Not the greatest picture, I know, but you get the idea. You do have to wonder about the point of washing your hands when you know you’re just going to get them dirty again the next time you see an animal you can touch! I had a little calf sucking on my fingers at one stage during the day. Can you tell that I love animals?!!

Have you ever... tasted camel’s milk?

I can’t say it was ever on my list of things to try, but I guess I can now add it to my “been there, done that” list! It didn’t have a bad taste (it actually had a very mild flavour), but I still prefer the creaminess of cow’s milk.