Cowboy Diaries

Gallery: Gorge Walks in Exmouth

niels_diemeer — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:35:00 GMT

pictures taken on the 2 gorge walks we had

Gallery: Exmouth

niels_diemeer — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:18:00 GMT

Holidays in Exmouth

Gallery: Max Royce

niels_diemeer — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:19:00 GMT

Working and living on Max Royce farm in Geraldton

A new world

niels_diemeer — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:02:00 GMT

On a monday we left Max Royces farm to drive north for our holidays in Exmouth. The first night we spend sleeping (for the first time on the roofrack in my swag) on a 'camp place' somewhere along the long straight road to Exmouth. The tuesday evening we arrived at our destination: a simple and small (7 places) camp place called Lakeside in Exmouth, 50 metres from the sea. A beautiful spot! We didn't know on forehand for how long we wanted to stay on this location, but we enjoyed it more and more so at the end we spent more than a week there. People where coming and going but the 'two crows on the fence' (as the supervisor once called us when he saw us sitting on our chairs again) were still there. We met some nice people from Germany and spent our days relaxing in the nature and snorkling. This was a new experience. We saw many beautiful fishes in the coral and my own breathing together with the movements of the fishes made it a peaceful experience for me (although I continuously had a background fear for meeting a shark, which we actually did, but this was the friendly reefshark). We also swam next to a seaturtle. There were two other snorkling spots close to or beach. One of them, Turquoise Bay, had a strong current which made it possible to see the whole reef without you needing to swim. At the other one, Oyster Stacks, the water was very clear and filled with lots of fishes.

Around Exmouth there were also possibilities to walk. We did two of them. The Yardie Creek Gorge Walk we did together with some Germans we met on our camp place. I enjoyed the walk and especially the flowers. I made a lot of pictures of them. WA is a dry place, but there are some(times) flowers and this makes it easier to appreciate them I think.

In addition to the fishes I saw some other 'new' animals during my stay in Exmouth. Bunches of walibis (the small kangaroos) were standing alongside the road during sunset and they sometimes even jump to the other side. This is something we have to get used to while driving in this country. An other day we went to a watertap to refill or bottles and when we we went to our car again there were some emoes showing up, sipping from the spilled water on the ground. Big birds!

All together we had a good time here at the coast and after more than a week we left to Exmouth. Somebody had told Rolan about a didgeridooseller in Rouborne, but we couldn't trace this person. After one night at a road camp site and one at a wonderful camp site at the coast of Robourne we arrived in Exmouth on a saturday. I'm staying here in the house of Tanja, a positive lady who ownes Muffin Break. I've started working here last sunday and will tell you more about it later. But I can tell that my first impression is good. I have worked here now for almost a week and am thinking to work here some months (2 or 3) to earn some money. I like to get my driver license too.

All the best, Niels

Feet on the ground, hands in the soil

niels_diemeer — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:41:00 GMT

Hi everyone from Holland and Norway!

On sunday the 6th of april my friends Tom and Marieke brought me early in the morning to Schiphol Airport for my flight to Perth via London and Singapore. I got some hours of delay in London because of snowfall and therefore missed my plane from Singapore. But we were brought to a luxurious hotel with delicious food were we had some rest before we took the next flight to Perth.

Rolan took me from the airport and drove us to Scarborough Beach. There we had to wait two days because my guitar hadn't arrived yet. We enjoyed the nice weather, waves and laziness and went to Geraldton (my first impression was that of a Wild West city, without the shooting). Rolan has lived there for about half a year and knows the place and a lot of people. Some of them I met on a festival on an organic farm a little bit outside of the small city. This was a very cozy happening in a beautiful place with some nice music. Especially the Western Australian (WA) band Blue Shaddy gave a strong and impressive performance which made a lot of people, including us, dance (actually a lot of people were kind of waiting for this band). It was a good opportunity for me to test dancing with a cowboy hat (I bought this the day before and I use it everyday, sunglasses too)! The day after we spent on the farm, eating some nice food of the owners and laying in a hot tube under the stars.

Although the first days were relaxed I didn't feel completely 'home' yet. I had to get used to the people and the new country (which has a lot of 'in-the-middle-of-nowhere places).

After some days on a farm of woodworker Max Royce, in a place called Greenough (south of Geraldton) I felt much more grounded in this beautiful and rough country. We and the 20-year old Sara from Belgium(a WWOOF-er, Willing Worker On Organic Farm) helped Max with the building of his fish farm (making cement and placing rocks), putting appletrees in the soil, making compost out of the wormfarm and weeding the Walkaway Burrs (a plant with sticky seeds that spread easily and are not fun to have on your farm). We had an enjoyable weekend together, going in the dunes on a sandboard which we had connected with a rope to Max' quad, swimming in the wavy sea and visiting a local pub in the evening. Max is a friendly and handy man with a lot of 'crazy' ideas. He has built his own house and makes beautiful furniture. His 80-year-old parents live in another house on the land and Tim a young twentier works as an apprentice in Max' workplace Max father gave me a driving lesson in a old four wheel drive which he bought the day before for just 200 dollars (150 euro?). I got the feeling a bit (the good and the bad!).

The last days we worked on putting a roofrack that Max didn't use anymore on Rolan's buss. Max made a deck of wood for us and we gave it some paint. At the end it looked quite professional. Tomorrow, monday, we leave the farm (afther two weeks) and I will start sleeping on the roof of the buss in a doublesize swag we bought. Rolan continues sleeping in the buss. I like the idea!

Our plan is first to have a two-week holiday in Exmouth, a place along the coast with beautiful coral, then to drive north to Port Hedland where I will start working in a muffin shop while Rolan travels to Perth (1800km south again) to get a machine that meausures sigarette smoke particles and starts to do some research (for the university in Geraldton) with it in Port Hedland. After these three weeks we will maybe look for some fruit picking work.

In the meantime we make some music with Rolan's didgeridoo and my beautiful Furch guitar (I'm very happy with it because the sound is so beautiful, I really enjoy playing again!)

Till now I like being here in WA. I can be outside all day smelling the country and hearing the birds. Norway feels far away already (which is in fact true) but I have a lot of positive memories there and am glad I've met so many good people in such a short time. Thanks and till later!

A dutch 'kus' and a norwegian 'klem' to everyone!