New Beginnings in Weipa

I can’t believe as I (Andrew) finally sit down to write our next entry that we have been in Weipa for more than 8 weeks now (so much for updating our blog regularly)! Time is just absolutely flying with the end of term just around the corner. Well where to start… we have both been very busy settling into life here, setting up the house, getting acquainted with the new school and meeting lots of new people. It has been great being able to get out and about in our 4x4 Horton. There are numerous dirt roads around the outskirts of town, many that come out on lovely beach areas.

Horton down at the beach near school

Cars are a little harder to keep clean up here!

Last weekend we traveled with some friends up to a camping spot called ‘Tentpole’, about 90 mins drive from Weipa. It was quite a fun drive as there was a substantial amount of water over the road in parts, but Horton got us through faithfully. Tentpole is out in the bush next to a nice creek, but due to the height of the creek at this time of year swimming was limited to a shallow spot upstream. We had a very relaxing time chilling out by the fire, playing cards and of course doing some pig hunting. On the Sunday we finally got a pig, of which I will post a photo once I obtain it. Pig hunting in the wet season is certainly not for the faint-hearted though! We had to navigate a quad through 5 foot grass littered with fallen logs for an hour (thank God for GPS!) and then trek along a creek for another 45 mins before we came across one. Not to mention getting bogged in the marsh and covered in mud on the way, but it all adds to the adventure!

The 'low road' near Tentpole (flood way in the wet)

Out hunting on the quad

Roads out near Tentpole

To avoid waffling on for years these are some of the other things we have been up to since moving here:

• Went for a drive out to Vyce’s Crossing (30 mins away) a week or two ago- a nice creek where the water was clear enough to swim. Very refreshing after the heat and humidity!
• Went down to Kerr Point (10 mins away), a beautiful cove where we had a cold drink with some friends and watched the sunset.

A mate's dog at Vyces

Us at Vyces Crossing

• Went exploring down the road around some of the old Rio Tinto tailings dams. Olivia got to practice driving manual Horton, which she had good fun with.
• Have been fishing quite a number of times, but had limited success to date. Seems you really have to know the times and spots here to get onto good fish.

Black Tip Reef Shark I caught just down the road from home

• I went out on a boat with a friend from Church, had a fish, got soaked, and caught a few Fingermark and a little shark

Hopefully that gives some idea of what we have been up to all this time (not to mention teaching of course!). We are enjoying the lifestyle up here, getting outdoors and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation. Things should settle down a little for the holidays, so hopefully we will put up a few more posts about our holiday adventures! 

My second barra- they tell me they get bigger...

The Count Down Begins

Well it is approximately 20 days until our big move! As many have heard, Andrew and myself (Olivia) are travelling about 2500km up North to a mining town, (population 3000) called Weipa. 

If you have no idea where that is, visualise the very top of Queensland, veer down the Western side about 6 hours drive (of course that's assuming the roads are not flooded) and you will have arrived!

We are very excited about our move and the change of life it will bring! Weipa has a lot to offer- whilst it will not have the comforts of city life, it does have every imaginable outdoor activity you can think of- fishing, camping, footy, tennis, hunting, boating, 4WDing, archery, off road go-carting(woohoo!), golf, lawn bowls and swimming. Which is preferably done in the local pool rather than the nearby beach- because apparently the locals there are not too friendly! Eg. Crocs and sharks! I've had to remind Andrew numerous times that he will actually be going there to teach, not just spend his days exploring outdoor adventures! 

For those that do not know, I will be teaching year 4, and Andrew will be teaching high school PE. And already, we feel welcomed and supported! Our lovely 'travel buddy' Pauline has been so helpful and didn't hesitate to offer us all the things we might need when we get there! This is because we will be arriving about 10 days before our container of furniture arrives. It has to make the long road trip to Cairns and then the sea sick journey around the Cape on a barge- as the one access road to Weipa from Cairns is closed January to May due to the rising creek levels. However, luckily, our Holden Rodeo, 'Horton' will be there to meet us on arrival- so I might just have to hide a few creature comforts in him, to tie us down until our stuff arrives! :) 

So that's a little intro to what's coming up for us in the New year. I'm sure the next few weeks will go very fast and it will be hard to say goodbye, but we feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity and are very excited about the changes and challenges ahead! 

We will do our best to update our blog regularly and keep everyone informed about our life far, far away! 

That's all for now!

Olivia and Andrew