Nomadic Siblings: September 2007

Thanks for everyone who has left us comments. We love reading them. We have been so surprised at some of the people who are reading our blogs. It's nice to know that there are folks our there enjoying reading about our adventures.

Shane's hair at it's longest. This is the day he finally broke down for a haircut.

So, we have been in Australia for just over 3 weeks now I think, and life is good. I have managed to snag a job as a checkout chic at the local IGA supermarket and I am loving it. Some of the friends we met in South Africa put us in contact with a South African family here and they own the IGA. We have also been staying with them for the past week and a half. We stayed with some friends from Texas the first week we were here though and it has just been great. We are making so many new friends.

Kayleen and little Malia..this is the mom and daughter of the family that we stayed with from Texas.

The first weekend we were in Perth, my friend, Ged, took us down about 3 hours south of here to a place called Margaret River. That is the area where some of the best wines in OZ are produced. It is a beautiful area with river, oceans, caves and loads of other things. We had a great weekend there and I would love to go back. We went on a wine tour one day, went to the ocean, and visited one of the caves there called Mammoth Cave.

The beach at Margaret River.

Where the river meets the ocean.

The first vineyard we visited on our wine tour in Margaret River.

Our bush lunch on our wine tour. We ate traditional Aboriginal food like game meats and different plants. And then there was Shane who ate a raw grub...yes a big, fat, squishy worm! YUCK

Shane coming out of Mammoth Cave.

We haven't really been doing much sightseeing, because I have been trying to concentrate on working to make some money. It just so happens that I am almost out of money, so working has become top priority. Shane has decided to end his trip in Nov. and go back home to find a job. He would love to keep traveling, but money has just become an obstacle. So, on Nov. 6th, I will lose my traveling partner. However, I have managed to snag another one...the oldest daughter of the family we are staying with, Heather, wants to come traveling with me now. So, if I can make enough money, the travels will continue.

My new travel partner, Heather.

Shane is planning to do a bit more traveling here than I am. He has rented a car from the family we are staying with and is going to do a little road trip. I think he will leave next week and drive up the west coast to a place called Broom. Then, he is planning to come back to Perth and hopefully, I will be able to fly up north with him, so we can go to Alice Springs, Darwin, and Caines. I have made plans to go skydiving over the Great Barrier Reef, but I will probably chicken out.

Shane take a spin on Ged's bike.

Ged taking his bike back.

Moses, our cook, in the kitchen at our campsite at Orange River.

Steve, our driver, cooking steaks for us at our campsite beside the Orange River.

Getting our bags out of the truck.

All our bags.

Cooking lunch on the side of the road. Everyone pitches in.

Shane looking out over Fish River Canyon in Namibia.

Me looking out over the canyon

Shane and I at Fish River Canyon.

Firemaking 101. I taught Kristie how to make a fire and light it with just one match...a skill that any self respecting girl should know.

Shane bringing firewood for our fire.

The Namibian desert.

Charlie's Angels in shadow.

Our footprints in the sand.

Walking up Dune 45 for sunset.

Dune 45 in Namibia. You can see the little people on top. It is hard to express how big this dune was and how hard it was to climb it.

Dune 45 from the road.

This one speaks for itself.

Shane and I at the Tropic of Capricorn.

Our group at the Tropic of Capricorn in Namibia.

Our first stop on the quad biking adventure.

The quad biking gang.

The route we had to take up the dunes...hard work!

Shane walking up the dunes to go sandboarding.

Skydiving team...Michael (the tandum who saved Zara's life), Zara, Lee and Kristie

Our bush camp at Spitzkoppe.

Spitzkoppe, Namibia

Shane, the mountain man, at Spitzkoppe, Namibia.

Sunset at Spitzkoppe, Namibia.

Me timidly petting a Cheetah at the Cheetah Park in Namibia.

The wild Cheetahs at the park.

A Wildebeast at Etosha National Park, Namibia.

Giraffes at Etosha National Park, Namibia.

An Oryx at Etosha.

Springbok at the watering hole in Etosha.

A Zebra at Etosha.

An Elephant at Etosha National Park.

Everyone looks pretty exhausted after a day of game driving in Etosha. This is the front of our beloved truck.

A road side store in Namibia.

Everyone loaded up and ready to drive to our launching point in the Okavango Delta.

Our launching point to go into the Delta. These are some of our polers and the mokoros.

Shane and I relaxing in our mokoro.

Shane enjoying our mokoro ride in the Okavango Delta.

All of our mokoros docked at our campsite.

Our campsite in the Okavango Delta.

One of our polers weaving bracelets from palm leaves.

Now take a GOOD look at this! Shane is being creative and weaving!!!

One of our polers, Lesh, opening a palm fruit for us to eat. They were gross! They looked and tasted a lot like cork.

My foot in an elephant's footprint. Makes my foot look small for once.

A termite mound in the Delta.

A baboon hanging out in a tree in the Delta.

The polers teaching us how to make fire with sticks and elephant dung.

The poler with the best hair!

This is all of us heading out for our sunset cruise in the Delta. We went out looking for hippos.

Sunset in the Delta!

This was our poler, Galtor. He was great!

The sun sinking a little further in the Delta.

Everyone hanging out waiting to watch the sunset in the Delta.

Enjoying the sunset.

The sun is almost gone now.

And now it's gone and we are back at camp.

The polers dancing for us on our last night in the Delta. This guy was our favorite, because he really liked to get down!

Lesh dressed up and they acted out this really funny song for us.

One of the polers and her baby. This was the day we came out of the Delta.

A female lion in Chobe National Park.

An Impala in Chobe.

A giraffe in Chobe.

The hippo that we came across on our drive. He had been in a fight and had been thrown out of the herd, so he was sulking.

Zara wrapped up in her sleeping bag as usual. This was the morning of our game drive in Chobe National Park. It was soooo cold!

Kristie and I on our morning game drive.

Everyone on the boat ready for the sunset cruise.

A big croc that we saw on the cruise.

Water buffalo on the sunset cruise.

Hippos on the sunset cruise.

View from the sunset cruise we took at Chobe National Park.

My flipflops in the bin:( Shane finally convinced me to throw them away...it was a very hard morning for me! Those shoes went through so much with me!