Thanks Aunty Kate!

Aunty Kate sent Daddy a birthday present and in it she included a pressie for all of us! Pretty cool huh?!

Mum and Dad took a short clip of me unwrapping it. I'm sure when I'm older I might care that it came in pink paper...but for now, Aunty Kate you are off the hook! Thanks :)

.

More pics

Mum's been going crazy with the videos lately, so we thought we might return to 'old skool' pictures!

Here I am hanging out with my new Mothers Group posse. The other babies are a mix of ages from about a month younger and a month older, and there are a few more girls than boys (alright!). I'm still a bit shy, but I'm sure once I start crawling I'll be after everyone else's toys!

Dad's been playing his guitar quite a bit, which has been tops. The latest song on high rotation is Tracy Chapman's 'Fast Car'. Oh ... he's still playing various Neil Young classics of course! Yeah!

On a beach just north of Willies Creek, Champy tried to dig himself back to Broome. He's loving the great outdoors as much as I am and yesterday we held hands/paws for the first time. I'm sure we are going to be best buddies!

I'm well into size 0 clothes now, but I find some t-shirt brands difficult to get over my head. In the picture below you can see that it will be the size of my stomach that is going to be the problem soon!!

Below is a picture of our very latest beach set up. It is a constantly evolving thing. The camping table was purchased on the weekend from a garage sale and Dad was very happy with the price! Mum still wishes we'd left that garage sale with the outdoor Chaise Lounge for our verandah.  

Can you see the mattress in the boot of the car? Well, I slept in that for a few hours that night, so that Mum and Dad could stay down at the beach after the sunset! I took a bit of convincing to fall asleep, but I got there in the end. In fact I did so well that we are going to try camping this coming weekend and that will be my 'swag'.

More sunsets. We can't get enough of them! Isn't it amazing how the clouds on the horizon look like land mass?

Catch ya soon! Eddie

More eating

Make sure you watch right to the end where I catch a piece of kiwifruit!

Just laughing

The most precious sound in the world!!!

Talking, laughing, eating

Hangin' Tough

Today's blog entry is dedicated to the fine, 'young' talents of New Kids On The Block (NKOTB). They were heading to Oz, but due to the global financial crisis, they've had to cancel. 

Needless to say Mum is devastated. Apparently she used to have the cassette tape on high rotation. However, I can report that she is dealing with it...'step-by-step'.

Here are a few shots of me hanging in around my new hood.

Peace out. Ed.

Broom Broome

Finally, after all those details about how we got here. Here are some pictures of where we actually ARE!

(NB: This post is proudly brought to you by a local car hire company here in Broome.)

1. Cable Beach. Our first visit down to Gantheaume Point where Ness and Andy gave us the heads up about leash free, run like the wind, dog action. Unfortunately it was a bit overcast on the day of our first visit, so it doesn't look amazingly spectacular. No worries, we spend many an afternoon/evenings down there so there will be more pics to come from this spot!

2. Just north of Willies Creek. Apparently there's a Pearl Farm you can visit around there...but we were more interested in the beach and a swim that particular day!

3. Me in my car seat, having survived my first gravel (corrugated) road experience. Just making sure we all slip, slop slap before stepping out into the sun!

4. Sunset just north of James Price Point

4. The family enjoying the above sunset - including Bruce the Bruiser (aka Land Cruiser) the newest addition to the family. You can see Dad's shadow on the left of the shot.

5. As promised, more sunsets from Gantheaume Point. One of the best so far due to the amazing cloud formation. 

Sick, sick ... fully sick

Yeah. So being sick really, really SUCKS. 

I had my first fever - 38.4 deg celcius. Mind you, the thermometer that was used for the reading is notoriously unreliable! But I was definitely hot, hot .... HOT!  We went to the doctor and was told it was a viral infection and to go home and 'ride it out'.

So I gave it to Mum and she gave it to Dad! And we all went down, down... DOWN!

I'm trying to articulate how bad I feel in the following clip.

It's da plane! It's da plane!

After a couple of weeks in Perth, it was time for some more airport goodbyes. Although this will be an even shorter goodbye, as Kong Kong and Paw Paw are doing some travelling in the Kimberley and will come and visit me in Broome very soon. Yes - they are coming to visit ME, not Mum and Dad! 

'Hey, look out there Dad - I can see Champy getting loaded into the plane. He's shaking a bit. Do you think he's ok?'

'Did you just say you're going to take my rusk? Please don't take my rusk....please please no!'

'This flying thing's a breeze'

All in all a smooth flight. Although I think we can safely say that Champ won't be signing up to any frequent flyer programs any time soon! We'd all had a big few weeks and there was a definite sense of excitement as we came into land.

Below are our first impressions as we flew in. 

1. Clouds and sunset (schweet!). 2. Red earth.

Although we had a house sorted out already - mainly thanks to Dave Braith's cousin in Broome who's found us a great place - we booked into the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park for the first night. Andy and Ness (friends of Mum and Dad's) had been staying there and our furniture wasn't been delivered until the following day.  It was great to be met with some friendly East-Coast faces and as Andy and Ness are just over mid-way through their jaunt around Australia there were plenty of fabulousy inspiring stories. I was still on the 'inside' when they all last caught up and Andy and Ness were about to leave Sydney - so there was plenty to catch up on.

(Mr Eddie Mailer - CEO Caravan Parks-R-US)

The next day we moved into our new home and convinced Andy and Ness to stay in Broome one more night. They were itching to get going on the Gibb River Road and we couldn't offer much hospitality, as the house was a sea of boxes, but Mum and Dad were glad to have another night of great company and conversation. Apparently while I slept soundly, everyone was getting munched by midgie sandflies outside. They must have been able to sniff out the 'new blood' in town!

The next morning I helped with a few minor tune-ups under the hood of the Troopy....

...warmed Andy's seat. Whoops...ducks crossing the road!!

...and waved them off! One day, maybe Mum and Dad will take me to see some of the places they've been to. 

It was at about this point, we all ran out of stamina and came down with some viral thing! Not so great!