Isolation in FX

What a weekend! Rain, rain and more rain in Fitzroy and all around the catchment area for the Fitzroy River.

We have been cut off by road for age now (although there has been some window of opportunity for large vehicles to get through). The river broke her banks on Friday and the level has continued to rise. Flood damage cut fibre optic cables and we were cut off from access to land and mobile lines and internet from late on Saturday night. All good now, though.

We had a good couple of hours at The Lodge for Happy Hour on Friday night, then had a really wonderful time with at Marie's after with her making music with two locals. The vids are something else! The whole mood of the town changed with the coming of the rain and the banks breaking. It was really amazing.

I have been given a Bunuba name! Gnulu (silent 'g'). How wonderfully special! This means I now have sisters, brothers and children here in FX.

I am due to fly out on Friday (if they put on an additional flight) or Monday if they stick to their usual schedule. I am really, really sad at leaving this place and the people.

Enjoy the pics. I will see you soon!

The Adventure Continues ....

..... just the Kimberley part of it is coming to an end.

I have resigned from my position here. I have been challenged the whole time with the management 'style' of my boss. I kept battling along, weighing the good things about the position (the people, the challenges, the experience) with the rotten stuff. In the end, the rotten stuff is totally incongruent with my values. Time to move on!

I have given 6 weeks notice, inline with my contract. The organisation may choose to pay me out and send me packing!

I feel FANTASTIC! As soon as I handed in my resignation, a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I will be sad to leave all the great people I have come to call friend here, and certainly will miss the adventures with Marie.

I am sure there will be some good things to post here before I vacate 'the sea container' I call home and leave The Fitz.

xx
p.s
checkout my updated website! www.NoelaOKeefe.com.au

2009 - Bring It On!

My first post for the New Year - a Happy, Challenging, Joyous and Courageous one to all of my loved friends and family.

The year is beginning tough for my sister Stasia and her family and I keep them all in my heart and thoughts every moment of every day. For those of you who know them, please pray (in which ever way you do that) for Wilf, Stasia and their family.

The 'green transformation' of The Kimberley continues. I have been lucky enough to have reason to travel to Derby and back, then Broome and back, since NY, so I have seen one amazing sight after another. (Most of the detail of which I would have missed if I wasn't travelling with my mate Marie. I tend to see the overall picture .... Marie sees (and LOVES to point out) details. I am learning so much!) Thanks Marie! x

I hope you all had a very lovely time with family and friends over the Christmas / New Year. I know I have been thoughtful and taken the time to cement my resolve and goals. HERE'S TO IT, FOR '09!!

With thanks for your friendship, I send you love and best wishes for 2009,
Noela
p.s. - do let me know if you read my little blog ...

For the Nature Lovers

For those of you who want words and news of my adventures, this will be boring! There are just some pictures that I haven't posted, that I think I should ...

Fitzroy to Derby, the Day After the First Rain

Wow, three blog entries in 2 days! Obviously I have had some time off from work and study over Christmas! :-)

Another 'field trip' today. This time Lensia came with us and we travelled to Derby to visit friends of mine, Ross and Caro, from Perth who are here in the Kimberley for about 6 weeks. Apart from anything else, it was really, really nice to see friendly faces from home.

Of course, lots and lots of photos were taken! Most of the pictures are taken out of the moving car, so I am very impressed with my camera. (each of the pictures is worth clicking on to enlarge!)

From the 80 or so pictures (and vid), here are some I thought you may like to take a look at.

The sky changed from grey to blue to aqua and teal. Storms threatened, came, disappeared ... the whole gambit. Places that were flooded yesterday had subsided today. Most AMAZING were the trees and shrubs which, until the rain, had appeared ordinary and dormant. Today they were alive with blossoms!

There is one video, that is not take close enough, but watch, as they are DANCING BROLGA!!

The bush that is growing up another tree is Mistletoe! Where ever you see water, there was no water before. Where there is green, grass, colour, there was none before. Awesome!

The frogs last night (and tonight to a lesser extent) were deafening. I can only say I think there were 10's of thousands of them that came out of hibernation at the first rain and ..... they mated themselves silly - very loudly!

I really do hope you enjoy the pictures I post here, as it is difficult to explain the rapid changes in words. The colours are so rich and crisp. For those of you who have travelled these parts in the Dry Season, can you imagine seeing everything this green???

I do connect all the pictures when I load them up, but they spread out on the actual viewing page. I must need to read the instructions! :-)

Enjoy ...

xx

The First Rain

It is nothing short of AMAZING what can happen in 12 hours here! We have had 250 mm rain since 2am Boxing Day morning - that's 11 hours. (Yes, it is still raining!)

Marie and I went out for a bit of a run around to check everything out. I am uploading a couple of short videos, too. You HAVE to hear the frogs!! 1,000's of frogs came from no where in just that short time. The sound of the frogs was near deafening! Of course, the Conkerberry Queen HAD to check out a bush we spotted! Those of you who have been through here may not even recognise where the pictures are taken. Spot the park opposite Crossing Inn ... The frog video is about 2 kl out heading west to Derby/Broome. The creek running in one video was totally dry yesterday! (there are pictures from both sides of the bridge for that creek bed). It is worth clicking on the pics to see the bigger version with the scenic pictures.

I continue to be in awe ....

Christmastime in FX

Merry Christmas from Fitzroy Crossing! xx

The last few weeks has been very, very hectic with work, study, Clients and Christmas FX Style.

A group of us from work shared a dinner down the Lodge a week or so ago - a couple of photos included here. A few of us also had a pizza night at Rachel's before she left for Tassie to spend Christmas with her family.

Then yesterday, Christmas Day we had "An almost Single White Female Christmas". (Charmaine was there, and she is Aboriginal/Irish/Portuguese from Sydney). The weather yesterday turned mongrel!! So incredibly hot and humid - what locals call "the build up". We had an amazing day together. We all missed family and friends, but shared a Very Special Christmastime.

It started to rain at 2am this morning (Boxing Day) and hasn't stopped since! Between 2am and 9am we had 196 mm of rain!!

The rain has been very heavy at times. By 3am I decided to just give into the noise and get up, sit out on the veranda and enjoy it. There was a line up of frogs, who have been waiting for the rain, waiting to get inside and away from the water! :-) I have included pictures of my back yard taken about 8.30 this morning.

Marie and I are off on another driving adventure to see what effect this rain has had .... stay tuned!