All that remains – Samarai PNG

These photos are part of Mr Cassmob’s family heritage: the site where their house was situated when they lived on Samarai. Sadly the house is no more, nor are the others that were their neighbours. Now the new neighbours are the Council offices. There is nothing left of the BBQ or the hibiscus or……just the memories.

The site of Mr Cassmob’s family’s home for about eight years in the 1960s.

Our family has heard various tales about their life here, one of the more amusing being how their cat would use the crab holes in the sand for his toilet.

Wouldn’t you like this view, looking out to sea from the house and across to Logeia Island then down to the wharf in the other direction.

All photographs are copyright Pauleen Cass 2012.

Looking to the left of the house, towards Deka Deka, the small island on the left, past Logeia.

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Cassmob Hibiscus genetics

This poor little blog has been sadly neglected over Christmas etc. When I started it I’d planned to post 365 photos over 2012 with each image as a stand-alone “event”. In the end I posted on 173 days, but uploaded 466 photos, and couldn’t resist adding commentary to most. 3900 viewers read the posts over the course of the year.

Normally I only post photos of the Northern Territory here (and I still have plenty on file to upload in due course), but for a change (for all of us) I’d include some of the photos we took on our recent trip to Papua New Guinea when we mainly visited Alotau and Samarai. After all when we lived in Alotau it was still in the Territory of Papua New Guinea and it is also tropical. Well that’s my justification anyway!

If you want to read more about our experiences on this sentimental return voyage, you can read them on this link to my other blog, Family History Across the Seas.

When growing up on Samarai, Mr Cassmob’s mother used to import hibiscus from all over, including Hawaii. We wondered as we looked at these ones growing in the grounds of the Catholic Church (near where they lived) if they were the horticultural descendants of those imported hibiscus although they’re not all that exotic.

Red Hibiscus at Samarai

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Magnolia flower

I was surprised the other day to see the first magnolia on my potted tree. When I saw the tree in the nursery a while back I was surprised they even grew in Darwin so it became my most expensive plant purchase ever. Our courtyard has a lot of shade much of the day so it possibly doesn’t get as much sun as it would like so it’s been growing taller by the day seeking out the sun. I was thrilled to see its first flower.

Heading out of town

As we drove out to Crab Claw Island for a Sunday excursion yesterday we were much amused by this dog having a fine time hanging into the wind at 110kph+. As we drove past he “smiled” at us, happy as Larry.

This red cattle dog was having a fine time!

Pretty in Pink

Just a quick one today as we’ve been out and about having fun.

Do you like my new pink hibiscus? I think it’s just gorgeous and makes me think of ballet tutus.

Pink Hibiscus: Mrs George Davis

A Float-illa of Pelicans

On our recent day trip to Kakadu we were able to visit Anbangbang billabong. When we visited back in May the road was still closed off due to the rains and flooding across the road. As the country dries, the waterholes shrink and the birds gravitate to the remaining water so that the hotter weather is actually a good time to see birds as they cluster together.

A float-illa of pelicans

We had our fingers crossed that the pelicans would be on the billabong and luck was with us. There was a huge float-illa of pelicans sailing up and down.  Wise creatures that they are, they’d ensconced themselves on the far side of the billabong to the picnic areas so the telephoto lens got a work out.

Two pelicans on approach.

We were thrilled to see several pelicans come into land with progressive circling, framed by the stone country, until they splashed down among the crowd.

Some touch-downs look more like crash-landings.

Of course the pelicans weren’t the only ones to enjoy the waterhole…if you look carefully you’ll see lots of ducks lining the water’s edge.

After lunch we saw several of them take off and circle around above us, for no apparent reason than the joy of flying.

Shooting the breeze.

And this sign will tell you why we kept our distance and didn’t go closer to get photos. It was also 40C most of the day according to the car thermometer, and hot, damn hot! Frankly a walk in the midday sun just didn’t appeal and the crocs were a good excuse not to.

Someone has to do it

Cornucopia Cafe is a lovely spot for brunch or lunch – a view overlooking Fannie Bay, sitting on the deck having tasty food with a cooling breeze. Aaah.

It’s a tough life, but someone has to do it, right?!

Then when you’ve worked too hard, you can visit the adjoining Museum with its fascinating displays: Sweetheart the giant croc, Aboriginal Art, old boats, the Cyclone Tracy exhibition (preferably not if you’re a local).  Culture + food, what more could you want?

View from the verandah at Cornucopia…just gorgeous.

Do you remember?

Who remembers seeing one of these in the laundry in the “olden days”? I can certainly remember when the copper was heated up with gas (in our house) and the sheets were boiled with Reckitts blue to make them white (makes sense -right?!).

Who would have expected to see one reincarnated as a water feature in an Open Garden?

the old laundry copper finds a new life in the garden.

Octonaut Birthday

The Octonauts (TV show) are all the rage with the grandsons at present (less so with Ms 4). So when it was Master 6’s birthday recently I guess the choice of a cake was a no-brainer.

Luckily for him he has talented parents. Mum made the great cake, and Dad with his artistic skills did the icing and the octonaut cut-outs. Great team work! A definite hit with Master 6, almost as big as his octoport from the other Nanna 🙂

Captain Barnacles, Peso and Kwazii.

Octonauts to your stations!

Waterfall coolness

There is a new playground and water feature being installed at Howard Springs Nature Park, about 35kms south of Darwin. The playground is close to completion but the waterfall and adjoining rock pools are already proving to be an enjoyable outing. The pools are about calf-high so good for littlies to paddle around in, and adults to laze in. The water is salt-water treated, not chlorine which makes it very pleasant.

The waterfall packs a punch and provides an excellent shoulder massage. All in all, it looks like being a great success.

The ability to stand behind the waterfall is enjoyed by adults and children alike.