Gemseek goes to Thailand

Even some of us die hard rock hounds have "normal holidays" sometimes, but what do I mean by normal? well without busting ones but digging, in the endeavor to unearth precious gemstones, while sleeping rough beside your dig, and beneath the huge night sky, glittering with billions of stars, well maybe not so much sleeping under the stars, we have a beautiful Coromal off road caravan with all the mode cons, including a wonderful sky light, but you get the drift of what I'm saying.

This family holiday to Thailand was going to be completely different, like shopping, grandchildren, hotels, Thai food,  endless massages for our ailing bodies, and generally relaxing and having fun.

The holiday was also to witness my son's traditional Thai wedding, in a remote village 5 hours north of Bangkok. Accompanying us on the journey was my daughter and son-in-law with our twin grandsons, and the best man and his family, eleven in total which made for quiet a crowd at the check-in counters. Our 1 year old adorable twin boys instantly drew their own crowd, of clucky individuals, from all races, who would tickle, kiss and photograph our beautiful boys, it was quiet unusual. We called this following the paparazzi , as they were every where we went. It would appear that Asian cultures rarely have twins, probably due to their small body frame, so we had celebrity status most places we went.

Arriving at Bangkok airport in the middle of an electrical storm was quiet a hairy moment, and I'm sure I counted at least 3 bounces on landing. But what was worse was, the thought of our connecting flight, a small private aircraft flying at night in an electrical storm, to a small remote village deep in the Thai jungle, I could see the newspaper headlines now, "Aussie tourists lost in deep jungle" and my stomach rolled. But as it was, the storm had moved away by the time we took off, and the plane was a descent size , not the two prop model I had imagined,

as they say "90% of worry never happens"

All the girls were invited to the brides grandmothers house, the day before the wedding to help prepare the food for the monks, who would be conducting the ceremony.

Grandma's house was a traditional pheasant style dwelling with several buildings around a central court yard where the food is prepared in an open aired, covered platform. Here they sat around on woven floor mates and peeled hard boiled eggs by the thousands, chopping just as many carrots 

into very fine sticks, and dissected some type of mushroom come fungus thing, which they had never seen before, it really sounded like an interesting afternoon. Some how, with out one common language, four generations of women, from four culturally different back grounds, successfully conducted women's business? Mmmmmm!

The Food apparently was continually being delivered by the ton on bicycles and mopeds with side carts of varying construction, and some of them deflying gravity with their loads. and whole families riding one bike.

The sight of a large pig being delivered and prepared for cooking, will be embossed on Laurie's mind for life, I just wish we had some photo's to show you , especially of the pigs head in a pot of boiling broth, unlike us, they do not waist anything, we found them to be a very resourceful race of people. 

The monks arrive at 8am the following day to conduct the wedding ceremony, and we had to prepare large rice bowls for their meal beforehand, so there was no being late that morning, and the party the night before was no excuse.

The monks, and the bride and groom were linked together with cotton threads, from a cotton hallo /crown on each of their heads, while the monks chant a continual prayer of blessings and fertility on the happy couple. Family and friends are also asked to tie a string on the wrist of the bride and groom and to bless them with money in sealed envelopes. In fact there is allot of money involved with the ceremony. The groom has to buy his bride with money and gold from her father and mother. The money/gold is put on a large tray and bartering begins, three times the amount offered is rejected and pushed back to the groom, until an agreed price is offered.





The monks receive their payment in sealed envelopes, as part of the ceremony.

The religious part of the ceremony is concluded at 12 mid day by the monks anointing the family and friends with holy water, and chanting their way out of the home and back to the village temple.

                                         

Just as the monks exited stage left, about 30 of the local school children arrived playing various band instruments, to herald the groom's taking of his bride.  Anyway the groom asks his mother-in-law for his bride and she offers him 3 other girls before handing over the bride, and yes they ride off into the sunset. 

And that concludes the morning session.

In the evening we arrived back at the village oval, which had been transformed since lunch time into to the most impressive party arena we had ever seen. Catering for over 800 people with tons of traditional Thai food.

At one end of the oval was a large open air stage with bands, continual singers and dances , and comedians, there were even some lady boys singing, which was interesting, entertainment went all night, with no intervals.

On the sides of the oval there was light show wind mills, with multi coloured laser lights spiraling off into the night ski and of cause there were fire works, although the fireworks was a bit scary. We walked over to the village lake where the fireworks were to be released, big mistake ! they erupted not more than 6 foot over our head and the large chunks of shrapnel fell on us, thankfully no one was injured, which would have spoilt such a brilliant night of celebration.

The following day we all slept as late as it was humanly possible, given the mattress gave a new meaning to planking. However the owners and staff were fantastic, our wedding party had taken up all 6 villa's, and considering there was no other accommodation for miles, we were lucky to be near the brides village.

 

 The motel was situated next to a disused quarry, filled with water and fish and which one day will become a water park, the dream of owner Mr. Oh. The rooms very basic and have no tea/coffee making facility's, just a double bed , TV and separate shower / toilet room, so you go to the main house, for meals and beverages. In fact because of the breeze and fans we spent allot of time socializing with the owner , his family who live on site and not to forget the fantastic staff. They would cook for us , just the way we liked things "not too hot" and were such humble, soft spirited people, nothing was too much trouble, and of cause they loved our twins, and they quickly pasted photo's on their face book pages.

Our pace however was to crank up a notch or two in the following days as we traveled back to Pattaya then Bangkok. The villa were we first stayed in Pattaya had a pool right outside the lounge room, which was heaven sent in such a humid hot climate.We spent morning hours playing with the babies in the pool and found out that one of out grandsons has quiet a love of water, a born swimmer.

As proud grandparents we constantly had either the handy cam or camera out, on one such time, I recorded this funny incident. "The Duck" ( now uploaded to YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPvyfbhFdMA

Our visit took us to Pattiya which is a night time city, a party place, where anything goes.

The city starts to come to life around 3pm when stalls and many shops open for business. As the evening develops more and more people take to the streets and by night full everything is in full swing.

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Thai seafood curry



The food is incredible, all manor of Asian food is available, from first class restaurants to vendors with nothing more than a bicycle and a hot plate.



Photographer: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty



A tank full of feet nibbling fish, was a scream, literally, Immersing ones bare feet into a tank of flesh eating sucker fish,( Garra Rufa fish) which for 15 minutes, exfoliate all the dead skin on ones feet. To begin with the feeling is so intense that the sales assistants hold your knees down, to stop you pulling away. After a few minutes one relaxes somewhat, until you open your toes and the extreme tingling starts all over again, you've just got to have a fish pedicure if you have the opportunity. Although it is baned in at least 14 states of America, as being inhumane to the fish? but I dont believe any fish were harmed in our activity with them.

The gun range was also lot of fun , using a 45 Magnum automatic I some how hit the target 46/50 times, not bad ha.

Asian forest Scorpion

But the night markets are crazy, with everything on sale or "can get you " my son -in -law became quiet the haggler asking for "Thai price" not "Phalanges price" or white man price, it was very entertaining to watch, and he scored quiet a few bargains.We came across a vendor selling all sorts of deep fried bugs and watched on as the same son-in-law chewed upon a large black Scorpion uh.. 

Talking of insane though, we saw the most amazing buskin magician ever! he started by throwing a card into the air and it flew around his whole body, backwards and forwards and hovered in mid air. He then took my lite cigar and had that fly around his body. By this time I was beside myself with awe, and helped gather quiet a crowd with my enthusiasm. The son-in-law just then came out of a shop, so I immediately volunteered his assistance to the magician. In the front of his very expensive designer tea shirt the magician made a cup with his hand, into which he put not one burning cigarette but two. You should have seen my son-in-laws face he was mortified, but with a one two three abracadabra , the magician pulled his hand away from the tea shirt , there was no burn marks or cigarettes. Which we thought in itself a good trick, but hey there was more, he reaches down to my son-in-laws trouser zipper , opens it and out fall 2 lite cigarettes. His act was simple amazing and beyond ones comprehension to fathom out, especially considering he wore only singlet top and jeans, there was no were to hide anything as he walked along

"Walking Street".

There's over 350 hotels in Pattaya alone so your bound to find accommodation to suit, we stayed two nights at the Marriott hotel next door to Riply's believe it or not? fantastic service and Day Spa.

The Bangkok Pathumwan Princess Hotel was our next stop with a hectic three days of intense shopping and sight seeing in Bangkok, which did include some fossicking around gemstone dealers and the purchase of a very nice 4 caret Amethyst in an unusual pineapple cut, but that was the smallest purchase, like so many others on a Thailand shopping spree, we needed to purchase another suit case to bring home the shopping.

To finish the holiday we headed to one of the southern Islands Ku Summat for 5 days. We were staying on the luxury side of the Island,which  meant a wild rough ride on a motor bike or taxi to town on the other side of the Island, were the back packers stay and the  action happens. But the best ever traditional Thai massage was to be had, at our resort. Laurie wanted to bring the girl home with us she was so impressed.



Thai women collecting mussels



 

Getting off the boat onto the Island can be quiet enough action for some, there's no Jetty ! 

To cut a very long story short I got an old butterfly tattoo fixed up, its now a multi coloured rain forrest scene, covering the whole of my upper arm and a brilliant piece of art, even if I say so myself, I have never seen anything quiet like it.

Laurie got her hair braided which also looked fantastic and we spent alot of time by the pool with the twins or walking the beach. What a fantastic ending to an incredible family holiday, and we're now planing the next trip, for my next tattoo restoration!





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Homeward Bound

The count down towards Christmas and my son's wedding in Thailand, urged us to cut our sightseeing and fossicking in Victoria short, and head home a month early to get settled. That is, after Canberra , having lived there some 30 years ago I looked forward to seeing the changes, while visiting with Laurie's family, in a real house with running water and hot showers every night, our first such creature comforts in 15mths which one could easily get accustomed to.  You see we left the van with Laurie's niece  in Hall on the outskirts of Canberra and enjoyed a normal pace of life in the Canberra suburbs for a week.

One day while the relo's where at work, we took off for the war memorial, I was more than eager to see the interactive displays in the basement I'd heard about.
Although you really should start at the beginning and the first world war.

The battle scenes using scaled models are to say the least, exceptional, and they certainly give you an understanding of how gruesome war is.

Although along side that gruesome stuff i saw pride, heroes and community, with people pulling together, no matter which side you fought on.

And dare I say, some of it was even dare I say  glamorous .

Thinking of the swanky Yankee's and ace fighter pilot's, who would charm the ladies with silk stockings and other rationed commodities, and the ladies were keen to be attached to a man in uniform. Such a different era.

Anyway bye late lunch we finally reached the basement and interactive displays. There's an entrance to an underground bunker which has a slot to look out through onto the battle field, as you enter a mortar/bomb explodes overhead while the ground around you shakes, I almost hit the deck in response.  Another display was the helm of a battle ship with an enemy destroy mission underway, you sit in the captains seat and watch battle stage proceedings unfold, brilliant.

Laurie found herself taking off in a chopper and flying a rescue mission in Vietnam. Theres also a simulated submarine, its all so realistic, and a barrel of fun, even for us big kids.

But be warned the War memorial tour is a huge day out!

Our week passed pleasantly bye enjoying the company. We had an intersting tour of the Canberra glass factory, and a visit to the Kensington  markets, which  proved a great place to pick up some unique Christmas presents.
Soon enough it was time to leave with an expected time of arrival home three days, on Friday 25th November.
Leaving Canberra heading North West towards Dubo, and a visit to the renowned wild life Zoo,
http://www.dubbo-nsw.com.au/dubbo-zoo.html

But the dark clouds above soon turned to constant socking rain and we were traveling in the clouds alot of the time.
We found an area just south of Dubo about 4pm, beside the highway on a bitchamim gravel area, (just in case we got flooded)  we'd park overnight and hopefully await clearer Sky's tomorrow.

Coonabarrabran Town clock on a better day

Tomorrow however, the weather was worse, torrential rain,and black clouds and gale force wind and definatly not an ideal conditions for a zoo tour. The decision was made to head onward towards Coonabarrabran, and the outstanding blue Crater lakes, a marvelous fossil and rock region.

We arrived at Coonabarrabran in torrential rain at lunchtime, in convoy with an old bus, a B-Double semi trailer, then us, followed by another B-Double. Entering town from the southern side there are allot of caravan parks and motels on our right.Well the old converted bus up front slammed on his breaks with no thought for anyone driving behind, the truck in front of us braked and slide sideways towards the shoulder of the road , then the old bus veered left and pulled up on the shoulder. Needless to say our breaks were on by now, and we were pleasantly surprised at how well we pulled up, all 3.5 ton of us, but it was close. In all of  our Australian tour this was the closest we had come to having an accident, ironically on our homeward drive.
I might just mention here too that we have carried 6 spare tyres on this adventure and didn't have one flat,  Not to mention I drove the whole way around with out making a single mark on the vehicles, quiet an achievement I think Yippee!

The Gem shop in better weather

After a stop at the gem shop /museum on the highway for more specimen's and gifts, we decided to just keep driving homeward, it was only a few hours away after all, and this was no weather to be doing anything outside of home.
So we arrived home at 7pm on Wednesday 23rd November 2011 having been on the road for 15 mths  right around Australia, and with plenty more yet to see.

For now, a new adventure begins, nestled into a beautiful rural property in the Dorrigo ranges, surrounded by 25 acres of green rolling hills, and natural rainforest, with a couple of Brumbie"s and a river on our rear boundry filled with trout.  This haven " Shambhala  is to become a respite centre, catering for disadvantaged youth. Another of our dreams that we hope to fulfill, and certainly another blog to start.
So untill our next fossicking adventure, which hopefully wont be too long, we thank you for following and supporting us as we traveled  the past 15 mths and stay tuned for the new "Respite" adventure blog, coming soooooon!

Alan and Laurie

our new email address is:
gemseek1@bigpond.com
but you can still reach us on: alan@gemseek.com.au
Or our web site http://www.gemseek.com.au/

The Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle Victoria

The Golden triangle in Victoria would be our last opportunity to detect for gold before reaching home. The world renown area is from Bendigo to Ballarat in the south to Stawell in the west, roughly speaking that is, as there has been finds in other area's outside of the triangle such as Echuca.

The gold rushes of the 1850s and 60s made a powerful impression on this region especially in its lavish buildings, which are still in use today. Did you know that the Eureka rebellion in Ballarat in 1854 was the first step towards establishing our democratic principles and the notion of "a fair go for all" ?

Its surprising though how many pioneering stories are woven into this nations history and culture. Bendigo is now a city of some 100,000 people, yet continues to prosper from its golden past through tourism. Although when I asked where we could go to do some gold detecting, no one really knew. I was given the official Goldfields touring map which ironically had nothing about gold detecting in it, just a tourist drive and natural heritage trails.



Tarragulla



So off we went blindly into the bush along some tracks  just outside Tarragulla on the Goldfields tourist drive, thankfully they were wide tracks which made pulling our 20ft caravan though the bush a lot easier.

Salt and Pepper ground a gold indicator

Looking for what we call salt and pepper ground, that's Quartz and Iron stone and the dirtier the Quartz the better, we found a promising site and with a camp spot close by.
There was plenty of evidence that the area was well worked over and it had a lot of trash, and the noise through the head phones can blow your eardrums, if you go out for too long.



GPX4500





The following few days were spent swinging my way through the rough bush terrain, considering the detector weighs around 5 kilo's I should have built up a few muscles, but no joy at all was to be had at that location.

Onward to Dunolly a quaint little village with well planned gardens overflowing with roses and manicured lawns, a little piece of Britain. The folk here were more than happy to give directions to local areas one could detect, along with some good advise and knowledge about my detector GPX 4500.
Hard Hill was apparently producing some recent finds, so off we headed 3kms out of town, but hilly it was not, just gentle slopes which is my favorite terrain, I felt certain this was the place I would   strike the big one.

Trash

After setting up camp I headed off across the railway tracks into the bush in a search for virgin ground. The detecting was not easy with thick undergrowth baring my way, but its these places which are hard to access were the finds are made.

I was taught by the old-timers in West Australia to check around tree stumps and low and behold it finally paid off with a 7gm nugget on my first day!

You can bet I never left an inch of that ground undetected after that, I patiently gridded the entire area, but there wasn't another piece left with my name on it. Not this time anyway.

The Emmy Lou

The weather started to crack up on the fourth day and our water supply was running out so it was time to pack the detectors away and head for the Echuca on our homeward journey.
Echuca is a vibrant bustling city with that old town country feel, we found a beautiful spot right beside the Murray River were we could free camp. The river however was a very dirty brown colour and the river banks were bare of any living vegetation, with the exception of the Red River gums which clutched desperately to the steep banks to exist.




 

Land slip



We parked our van very close to the edge for the view and on that first night while sitting admiring the sun set and skiers on the river a huge river gum not 10 foot away went crashing into the water, along with a huge segment of the embankment. We did very quickly moved the van away from the edge, even though I thought our spot was secure.




The steam engine

The following day it was off to the port of Echuca to cruise the mighty Murray River on board a genuine old paddle steamer. The Emmy Lou was built at the turn of the nineteenth century to cart cargo up and down the river, today it is a licensed   cruising boat with an exceptional menu of fine food and local wines.

We were surprised at how smooth the journey was and impressed at the size of the steam engine that drives the paddles. I even spent some time with the Captain in the wheelhouse getting exclusive info on the Emmy Lou. Another surprise was how many luxury house boats were on the river. It was a great day out !

Luxury house boats

Following the lunch time cruise we browsed the many shops adjacent to the wharf finding a distillery of fine wines St Anne's. After sampling quiet a few of the wines thanks to our host Georgia , our favorite was Jack's Barrel although it was a tough choice, and the barrel we just had to have, has been sent home awaiting our arrival.

As much as we enjoyed Echuca the fishing was not good and the gold was too deep so we moved on. Surveying camp spots all along the Murray at Cobram we popped into the tourist centre to ask for some local knowledge, only to find out that fishing was totally banned this time of year between the weir at Lake Mulwala and the bridge at Tocumwal due to the Murray Cod spawning season. Either side of these places we could fish but not for cod.

Carp

So here we are at Bundalong well above the weir enjoying the beautiful weather and clean river water  clean enough to give Mylee a long awaited B.A.T.H much to her disgust.



Murray Cod



Although it's not the Murray but the Ovens River, the Carp are just as big and I just let go a beautiful Murray Cod.

So we'll be here for a few days I think.

so until next time

Warm regards to you all

Alan and Laurie



The Nullarbor

Our journey around Australia is into it's 15th month and as I sit back relaxing on the mighty Murray River, in Victoria , I can't but help acknowledge its been an unique and privileged experience to see this remarkable land that we live in , and its not over yet! there's still the golden triangle. But first let me recall our encounter with one of Australia's most demanding of outback roads "The Nullarbor".

Leaving from our bush camp near the pink Lake, Cowan in Norseman WA heading to Ceduna which is still really out in the sticks, is roughly 1670kms, and boasts the longest straight stretch of road, anywhere in the southern hemisphere, being a 146.6 kms long, and dead straight.

Our first night of the journey began like any, Its usually a bird bath of a shower if you know what I mean, no time to heat up the solar bag before dark, for a full shower, so it's a Billy can job. Even on the Nullabore with day time temperatures in summer reaching 40 degrees Celsius + you still need to wash/bath before sundown, as its gets cold and windy as soon as the sun disappears. After dinner and chores are done, its time to settle back in bed with an DVD episode of some TV mini series. I bet you thought I was going to say "settle back around the camp fire" didn't you? but hay that's the time when all the bugs come out, so we're tucked up safely inside, and therefore I must confess: I hate misquotes and flies.

As I said the night began like any other, each of us performing our chores for the common good, it was just on dark when this weird noise began. Sort of like a howling from across the desert plain. No joke! We listened and waited for cars and trucks to pass on bye, but no it was not the cross wind of traffic on the highway, it was a mournful howling from nowhere ? out across the wilderness that surrounded us.

It was not an animal noise although we did spot an Owl nesting, the noise continued and was constant late into the night. There were no lights or green headed aliens, but it was like there should have been, it was the perfect noise for such a scene as "alien arrival", even though this was for real.

The following day we quizzed other travelers about the noise, who confirmed they too had heard it, even after sunup that morning, so it definitely was not the red wine. No one knew what IT was, but it stopped as sudden as it started and we didn't hear it again.

On the Nullabor Day one became day 2, became day 3, became day 4 , before there was much of a change in scenery, or we saw any thing like civilization. But we done it, we survived "The great Nullarbor Plain", it truly is the loneliest and longest stretch of road I have ever traveled and would not want to do it in summer, when temperatures are over 40 degrees Celsius every day.

The abundant wild flowers which we had become accustomed to in Western Australia, ceased quiet dramatically at the boarder with South Australia. I must say we do miss them, but are thankful to have our noses and sinus's back to normal.

The Nullarbor officially ends at Ceduna, but hey there really isn't much to look at other than wheat and grain silo's until you reach Kimba and the giant Galah, which apparently is the marker for being half way across the country. I wonder why we Australians love big things.

Some where along the route we came across this recycled water tank, the concrete crappa, takes recycling to a whole new level.

Next is Iron Knob and the gigantic man made mountains of Iron Ore mining waste, or tailing's as they are called which loom out of the skyline for hundreds of kilometers. An iconic symbol to modern day mining processes, the numerous flat top mountains which change our landscape forever. Then finally you reach Port Augusta and Adelaide, civilization and life! after such a very long drive.

But the trip is really about what you make it, now waving rigorously to the on coming traffic and keeping stats on who returns the wave, can be entertaining for a while, but have you ever thought of playing golf across the Nullarbor?

That's right with tee off in Kalgoorlie WA and the 18th hole in Ceduna South Australia, some 1365kilometers away. The Nullarbor Links as it is called, is the worlds longest golf course. Each town or roadhouse along the Eyre Highway contributes to the 18hole par-72 golf course, which can make for a very different Nullarbor crossing with scheduled  pit stops. A novel idea!

Someone told us way back before we started to travel that in going anti- clock wise around Australia, you'd be following the sun and more importantly put the wind at your back, let me tell you that it did not work for us across the Nullarbor, we had strong headwinds all day every day, which took its toll in fuel, at $2.30 per liter and you car't exactly go across the road to get it cheaper! bye jingoes!

Neither of us knew much about Adelaide (other than being the city of Churches)  having only passed through it on our way west or North, but this time it was going to be different. I had family to visit and they love Adelaide.
So day one started at a cracking pace along Port Noarlunga beach to walk the dogs just on daybreak, then home for a hearty breakfast, for the dogs that is, two beautiful huge German Sheppard guard dogs and our own little Staffy girl Mylee.

Then it was off to the Asian markets in the city, we parked close to the museum and took the tram to the markets. It was a unique experience on a modern day tram , no hanging off the rails here, you can sit down and listen to nice soothing piped music, and a recorded conducted tells you when to get off, how civilized! and free.

While we were waiting for the tram low and behold along came the first Solar powered Bus, and the first car to finish the Darwin to Adelaide solar race, the way of the future.

The markets did not disappoint with fresh produce of every kind, specializing in all things Asian, so there was a lot of strange delicacies. Following a huge smorgasbord lunch in the food court, we tramped back to the inner city via the tram to visit the museum.

We particularly loved the gem stone collection , featuring some very nice specimens including opalised fossils from around the globe.

  

We recognized many of the stuffed birds (exhibits) from our adventures around  the country.

But the real treat of the day, was being taken into the State Library, and adjoining Mortlock centre, what an awesome old building with almost an angelic atmosphere, what stories it could tell. The Mortlock centre was being used for a wedding function that night

The next day was family time and it was wonderful catching up with the now grown up nephews and their partners and children galore. Our family sure does breed well.

Somewhere during the day we went to Hugh Hamilton winery in the McLaren Valley.Tasting some remarkable good Merlot and Muscat, equally as good as any from the world re noun Barossa Valley, and with out the extended mountainous journey to get there. Lunch in the old tavern was followed by a visit to the Chocolate factory, which I think was in Willunga, all I do know was it was a very pretty place with quaint old houses and thriving rose gardens everywhere. It seems there are less nasty rose bugs in South Australia, and they certainly do flourish, and yes we did buy some very nice decadent chocolate munchies.

We were well impressed with the whole southern wine growing, and market garden region, such a beautiful and relaxed part of the country, and may visit again.

Before we knew it though, Tuesday had arrived, my family were back to work and it was time for us to leave. Refuel both diesel and food supplies, check the tyre pressure, fill the water tanks 180 liters and "we're on that road again" heading for the mighty Murray River and a spot of fishing.!

So until next time keep adventuring, 

and remember look after those gems! 

Alan & Laurie

alan@gemseek.com.au

www.gemseek.com.au