Eclipse

My attempt to view the solar eclipse was an epic fail, mainly because I got the timing wrong. I thought it was going to be 11.27 am, but that was the Exmouth time not the Perth time which was earlier. I was busy doing a bit of housework when it seemed to be getting rather dark. I suddenly remembered and rushed down to the ground floor and outside. Lots of people were there, trying to see, but nobody had the proper viewers to protect their eyes.

At the cafe, Zam had the idea of taking a photo in reverse and through one of the shades. This is what I took (but it was already 11.31):

Too late!

The annoying thing is that I could have gone up to Exmouth, but as I’m off to Spain on Monday it would have been a tight schedule. I could easily have booked my Spanish trip a week later if I’d thought.

Back to this morning, I went for a walk along the river and saw a girl packing up a very professional looking telescope. I asked if she would show me what she had seen. This was a shot of her camera, taken from her telescope at 11.20 am :

These are the facts from a local news site:

How dark will it get?

Varying degrees of darkness will be cast across the state.

While Exmouth will be plunged into total darkness for around just a minute, Perth will have 70 per cent of sunlight obscured at the peak of the eclipse.

Across the state, Broome will have 89 per cent of the sun obscured, while Albany see 59 per cent of it hidden.

Total eclipse at Exmouth.

Walk in the park

I made a quick trip to Canning River Regional Park at Kent Street Weir. I needed to get some more walks done as preparation for my next Camino and I’m getting a bit bored by the ones nearest home.

Near to Kent St Weir is a large area of samphire flats. They go from green to red if it’s too salty and then the ends just die:

Nature is very clever!



Later, I continued my research into camels and their produce. I ordered some dried milk online from DromeDairy:

The taste is perfectly fine, but it is very tedious to mix. It takes a lot of vigorous stirring or shaking, and even then a lot of lumps remain.

I discovered a rival camel farm north of Perth, which markets milk in bottles. They deliver to a few (very few!) outlets in my area once a week. Eventually I drove to a Halal butcher in Cannington and bought this for $13:

I like the taste and hope it is doing me good. I pay less than this for wine!

Camino 2023

Planning is now seriously underway!

This is my itinerary so far: 4 weeks walking and then 2 weeks site seeing. Prices alongside accommodation indicate that it has been booked:

CAMINO 2023 (4 weeks walking) Dep PER 24 April

25  Burgos  Meson del Cid.  €74.70 ( Bus from MAD airport)

26 Rabe 13 km  La Fuente €55

27  Hornillos  9.5 km.  Albergue Meeting Point

28  Hontanas  10.5 km.  Albergue El Puntido

29  Sat. Castrojeriz  9.4 km.  Albergue Ultreia. bkd by email €44 

albergue.ultreia.castrojeriz@gmail.com (confirm a week before)

30  Boadilla 19 km.  Hotel En El Camino

1  Villamentero 14.8 km.  CR La Casana de Dona Petra

2  Carrion 9.7 km. San Zoilo

3  Moratinos  (Bus to Terradillos) 3.4 km Moratinos Albergue San Bruno?

4  Sahagun  9.5 km.  Hostal Domus Viatoris?

5  El Burgo Ranero  17.7 km.  La Costa del Adobe bkd by email €43

6  Sat.  Bus or train to Leon.  La Posada Regia

7  Leon  La Posada Regia sgl room

8  Mazarife  Bus to Virgen, 14 km.  Albergue Tio Pepe

9  Hospital de Orbigo 14.5 km.  Hotel Don Suero de Quinones.  Check Villares de Orbigo Albergue

10  Astorga  15.3 km.  Hotel Gaudi

11  Santa Catalina  9.2 km.  HR Via Avis

12  Rabanal  11 km.  Stone Boat?  Nuestra Señora del Pilar 

13  Sat.  El Acebo  16.8 km.  La Casa del Peregrino

14  Molinaseca  9.9 km. La Casa del Reloj

15  Ponferrada 7.7 km.   Hotel Aroi Bierzo Plaza €78

16  Cacabelos  Bus to Fuentesnuevas  8.1 km. La Moncloa €81

17  Villafranca    6.7 km  Posada Plaza Mayor  €80

18  Trabadelo  9.6 km  Casa Susi

19  Las Herrerias  10.1 km  CR do Ferreiro bkd €40  Horseback:

 v.vigaray@gmail.com

20  Sat.  Linares  11.2 km (Taxi $23? to O’Cebreiro) Linar do Rei bkd

by email in a 4-bed dorm

21  Fonfria  11.8 km  Casa Galego

22  Triacastela  9.0 km  Complexo Xacobeo

23  Sarria.  Bus?  Hotel Alfonso IX

24 Train to Chamartin dep 12.20  MONFORTE DE LEMOS OURENSE etc stops 4 hrs 46 mins

25 Chamartin  Barcelo Imagine (spare night?)

26 Toledo  Posada de Manolo  bkd  €263.93 for 3 nights

27 Toledo  Posada de Manolo  bkd

28 Toledo  Posada de Manolo  bkd

29 Cuenca bus dep 4.15 pm - 6.15 pm

30 Cuenca

31 Valencia Overnight Ferry dep 22.30

1  Mallorca  Bon Sol  bkd direct. €1090 for 5 nights  BB23012810235063

2  Mallorca  Bon Sol  bkd

3  Sat.  Mallorca  Bon Sol  bkd

4  Mallorca  Bon Sol  bkd

5  Mallorca Bon Sol  bkd

6

7 Dep BCN 15.30 

Lots of info about the Camino on this excellent website by Nidarosa here

Autumn eats

Hot weather is now at an end! As is normal here in Perth, the seasons change rapidly and suddenly, taking us all by surprise. With only just over two weeks to go before my next Camino, the lower temperatures make it easier for me to do some serious training at last. In the meantime, I have been cooking some Autumn dishes.

Friday night dinners:

Spaghetti Marinara (including the dog’s).

Risoni w red emperor.

Apple and plum crumble.

Pumpkin soup for lunch.

Toodyay and the camels

Alert: this post may contain more info about camels than you ever wanted to know - and then some!

Val and I went on a MALA (Mature Age Learning Association) day trip to Toodyay, stopping off for an unusual visit to a camel farm. We were greeted by Max  Bergmann, the blind cameleer, with his guide dog and a group of camels:

Max was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa at 8 years old, which meant he had only a tiny amount of peripheral vision. This has not stopped him from following his dream to own a camel farm and to turn it into a successful business, DromeDairy. It’s a play on the word Dromedary.

His camels are rescued from the Australian outback, where they are regarded as pests, and often shot as part of a government led culling scheme. In fact, they are far better suited to the Australian climate and harsh conditions in the bush, than sheep and cattle which the early settlers brought here from Northern Europe.

Camels came to Australia in the 1840’s as pack animals to carry sleepers into the regions for railway building. They were known as “ships of the desert” and could walk up to 70kms a day. Their iconic hump does not store water as is commonly thought, but is in fact fat storage and affords some protection from the sun. They have knee pads on their elbows, so that they can hover above hot sand when they sit down. They have double eye lids which also provide protection from the sun. They are able to easily adjust their body temperature, going from 40% to 30% at night. 

Max has developed a mobile milking parlour, based on a system invented in Lithuania. It is more environmentally friendly to take this out to the camel paddocks by tractor, rather than have the camels come into one central point (as with dairy cows). The baby camels stay very close to their mothers at all times. They suckle first, in order to get the milk flowing, then the mothers are hooked up to the milking machine which does 6 at a time and measures the intake. They are milked once a day, each camel providing only 2.5 litres. This is why camel milk is so expensive at $16 per litre.  Also, camels only become profitable when they are 5 or 6 years old. They are pregnant for 13 months and cannot get pregnant again when they are lactating. The calves are kept close to their mothers for about 18 months. This is in contrast to dairy cows, where the calf is taken away immediately, so that the cow can become pregnant after a month only. The camels walk away from the milking parlour together with their calves, having received a treat of pellets as a reward. They are actually eager to be milked and queue up at the paddock gate when they hear the tractor arriving.

Max demonstrates his mobile dairy.

Max is involved in various experiments with a view to prove that camels are not a pest in the landscape. One is “co-grazing”, whereby a couple of camels are kept alongside a dairy herd. Cows and camels graze together and over time this improves the gut of the dairy herd which becomes more productive. In May, he is going to Kenya to advise on his mobile milking system, and possibly later to Pakistan.

The business of DromeDairy has expanded into skin and beauty products. Max discovered that his rough farm labourer's hands became much softer with all the camel milk that fell on them. After researching the subject, he discovered many useful properties in the milk. These products are now sold online, together with dried milk powder. They are particularly good for people suffering from eczema and other skin conditions. I bought a sample travel pack:

...for young looking skin and hair!

After the camel farm, our coach took us to Toodyay for lunch. Val and I had a picnic down by the river. Others went to the Coca Cola Cafe, which houses a Coca Cola museum!

Down by the river at Toodyay.

We saw a spoonbill.

Cocal cola toys.

Coca cola mirrors.

We ended up at the oldest winery in WA for a little tasting:

Inside the cellars.

Nice label.

Ancient convict bricks.

They needed a rest after all that!

YouTube video about the camel farm here

Mosman bushwalk

We tried another new walk this morning, in the leafy suburb of Mosman Park. This area is the most expensive real estate in Perth, with houses right on the river front looking across towards Point Walter, where we have walked many times. We started at the northern end of Rule St and walked from Rocky Bay to Chidley Point and back. Robyn and Chris had researched the route and provided us with snippets of local history as we went along. In the early days, there were some industrial enterprises such as a sugar factory and a fertiliser factory - now replaced by million dollar residences.

We parked near this building, which was built by Arthur and Robert Bunning, founders of the huge hardware business. They had migrated from London in 1886 and started off in sawmilling in the south-west. Bunnings now has a market share of 50% of the DIY business in Australia.

We stopped to admire this beautiful Yellow Flowering Gum, with its bright red operculum:

Eucalyptus erythrocorys – Illyarrie.

There was a lot of river traffic down below us, including this dragon boat:

I was fascinated by the luxurious residences and their immaculate gardens. Some had tried to claim ownership of the river frontage, but there had to be a public footpath going along. One place had imported a Balinese-style doorway (modelled here by Jack):

There were two gazebos whose copper sheets had been stolen from the roof:

The trees were lush, all the way along:

On the way back, we came across an enormous female spider. She had woven a long and intricate silken web, with some of her prey trussed up in it (including her tiny male partner who had come to a sad end!):

It was a lovely walk: I want to do it again!

P.S. The spider has now been identified as an Australian Golden Orbweaver (Trichonephila edulis) on iNaturalist, together with some interesting facts about it on Wikipedia.

Perth Caravan and Camping Show

The show was on this week. I am not planning to do either, but I knew there would be lots of  stalls with interesting ancillary goods. I spent some time looking at Weber BBQs and sampled their breakfast frittata, but I had come on the train so it would be tricky to get it home. The Showgrounds were enormous, with so many caravans on display and - the latest craze - rooftop tents that are mounted on top of your vehicle. I started off with the courtesy golf buggy ride, going all the way round to check out what was what.

Rooftop tent.

Ecopots.

Pull-out kitchen for a 4WD.

I bought a checked bush shirt for the cooler weather, but the temperature in the Showgrounds reached 31 degrees: too hot to walk around, so I looked at the programme for a sitting down opportunity. This was a cooking demonstration all about Dutch Ovens. Just about everyone who has camped in the Australian bush has one of these heavy cast iron pots that sit in the hot coals of the camp fire. Then they languish in the shed for the rest of the year getting rusty. This is mine:

Leaves stencilled in the rust.

Well, I learned a lot from the presentation: how to clean off the rust and how to “cure” it with oil in a hot oven and importantly how to keep using in in a domestic kitchen year round. 

The presenter, Jo Clews, was full of info.

How to clean off the rust

Soak it in warm water in the sink and give it a good scrub with steel wool. It will probably need more than one treatment and a lot of elbow grease. Wipe it and put it in the oven at 200 degrees.

How to "cure" the cast iron

Rub some oil all over it, especially on the inside. Put it back in the oven for 2 hours. This stabilises the protective barrier permanently. Do this more than once; it will not go rusty again.

Cooking tips

You can make a juicy roast chicken in a normal domestic oven. It's not necessary to put a trivet inside the pot, but one idea is to sit the chicken on sliced potatoes, which will soak up the juices and prevent the bottom from burning.

Everyone has suffered from burnt bottom damper when camping. The trick is to remove hot coals from the main camp fire and make a private cooking spot, with most of the hot coals on top of the lid, with not so much heat underneath. A small rack can be put on top of the coals, in order to preserve an airflow and keep them alight for longer. A BBQ temperature gauge can be used to know the inside temperature, which should be about 180 degrees for 35 minutes. 

Damper recipe

Traditionally, it was simply plain flour, baking powder and water, plus a little oil or butter. When I was in the bush, we tried adding beer or lemonade to get it to rise. Jo suggested putting in a tin of pumpkin soup as the liquid, plus some feta and chorizo. She also made scrolls with a little basil pesto and set them on baking paper, 5 to the pot.

Melangata Station

Jo lives on a historic station north-east of Geraldton. She does station stays during the winter season from April to October: sounds good!