Big Bad Bern's Blog

11/09/202311/09/2023

The case of the dogs in the night.

The case of the dogs in the night. Last night while waiting for takeaway I was sitting at a local warang. I then heard lots of dogs barking. The next minute an elderly man came riding by. His little dog in the carrying basket of the of the bicycle. In hot pursuit we’re about four or five dogs. They were barking and chasing the man on the bike.

The man on the bike was cursing the dogs and trying to kick them. I don’t think the dogs were actually biting him. They were just well chasing the bike with a dog on board. His language became more and more rude and he was certainly cursing the dogs.

He disappeared down the lane and the dogs were still pursuing him. About 2 or 3 minutes later he came back with a huge stick in his hand still riding his bike. Threatening to get the dogs and teach them a lesson. The dogs were of course way in front of him and he had no hope of catching them. I shouted out then was all a bit extreme but he said he was going to give the dogs a lesson.

I didn’t see the man again, but I could hear the dogs barking about. None of them were yelping or crying so I suspect he didn’t catch them. I actually saw a couple of the dogs a bit later coming down another lane and looking wearily around but the man was gone and the incident was over.

The man was white, not a local balinese and he was very very angry at the dogs who were barking at his dog. I think this is the most aggressive incident I’ve seen in our nearly 2 weeks here in Bali.

10/05/202310/05/2023

Mediaeval Fair

On the 7th of May this year we attended the Gumeracha mediaeval festival. It was an interesting affair with lots of displays. The fair is organised by conglomeration of local clubs that have an interest in mediaeval things. Some of the stalls were people who undertake various forms of handicrafts and blacksmithing and not necessarily associated with the organising group.

Notably there was a Viking style village set up with tents. Each tent had a display of some form of handicraft and sometimes just domestic activities. All the stall holders were very friendly and keen to talk about what they were doing. We were also impressed by the knowledge of the participants at these stalls. The displays ranged from weaving basket making through to cooking.

Also present were people who were undertaking various forms of handicrafts. Whittling was quite prominent as were various forms of woodworking. This included spoon making, barrel making and a number of people demonstrating how to carve wooden swords in the style of the Vikings, etc. A number of stalls were also demonstrating iron work and blacksmithing. I almost forgot to mention leather work . There were lots of things for sale. And of course food. Lots of food.

There were several groups present who were there for combat. They were dressed in regalia for fighting. They represented various groups including Roman legionnaires, Byzantine fighters and of course Viking fighters so it’s all sort of middle ages. We did witness a fight between two groups using weapons of the era, there were no casualties.

It certainly was a friendly and enjoyable morning. Also present were people representing the current conflict in the Ukraine so there was a fundraising store for that as well which was well supported .

28/07/202216/01/2023

A Flock of Yellow Tailed Back Cockatoos

I photographed these yellow tailed black cockatoos from our deck. I got really excited as there were a flock of about 20 circling the tree. I rushed inside to get my camera and of course as I came back they were all flying off. Around 15 minutes later I heard their characteristic cry and three or four had returned to the tree. They were about three houses away and my 200mm lens just managed to get these photos. I saw them in our front yard a few weeks ago. Hopefully they will be regular visitors.

08/07/202208/07/2022

Chasing Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos

Since first spotting the yellow tailed black cockatoos in the garden I have seen them again it’s hard to gauge but there may be as many as 10. They have a much nicer call than the screeching of the sulfur crested cockatoo but seem about the same size. It’s pleasure to see them in and close to our garden. However I never seem to have my camera at the ready when they are nearby.

We are a little elevated and sea gulls circle straight out in front of our house. The Australian gulls are known as silver gulls . The Australian gulls unfortunately dont have the gentle call of the gulls we have seen in Europe.

Any way I am still looking to get better photos of the yellow tailed black cockatoo. We are blessed with lots of birds in our garden. No doubt I will post more photos.

01/07/202201/07/2022

More visitors in the garden

We seem to have lots of birds visiting our garden. Its a pity I dont have a SLR camera strapped to my wrist. I was really surprised when I looked out the front windows to see not one but three Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos resting in our banksia. I took the photos with my phone a Google 6 Pro not too bad but would have been better with my Nikon SLR.

03/06/202203/06/2022

Visitors in the Garden

We are settling into the new house and we have spotted a few visitors in the garden. We have lots of birds circling in and out of the many trees. It’s not unusual to see some seagulls floating past out deck. Everytime I do a bit of gardening I seem to chop a tail off a skink.

We have lots of New Holland Honeyeaters and Little Wattlebirds . The latter has a distinctive call and seems to warn me off every time I step out into garden. The plantings in our garden lend themselves to birds feeding on the blooms. We are heading into winter and the banksia is still in bloom providing feed for some of the birds.

Other visitors include a couple of cats who live in adjoin houses they are elusive and difficult to photograph. Even the chickens from next door have stuck their necks though the fence looking for something to peck at.

26/04/202226/04/2022

Sunrise on the Deck

The move has happened or more precisely is ongoing. Moving is a monumental task especially after living in the one place for 27 years. There are so many little things that you forget, overlook or underestimate. The stuff that accumulates over a quarter of a century is amazing and has to be dealt with.

We hired two guys with a truck hoping this would be a one shot move. We were wrong they underestimated how much stuff we had to move. The truck was filled up with absolutely no room to spare. The biggest thing to be omitted was our rather large collection of pot plants . Lots of the pots that are very large and heavy. I had already moved most of my workshop stuff before the moving day hoping that this would increase the space available in the truck. We did 700 kilometres in the following three days moving stuff in trailers. It was all exhausting work.

I am writing this almost four weeks after the move. We are slowly unpacking the boxes and and putting some order in new the house. Inevitably there was lots of small jobs to attended to in the new house as it had been rented for two years.

The big lesson is not to try and replicate your old house. This causes a lot of stress as invariably the new house will be different. The thing is to start a new. We are slowly getting there and enjoying watching the waves and the sunrise on deck.

25/01/202225/01/2022

Victor Bound

This isn’t exactly a travel update although we are on the move. We have sold our house of 27 years and will be relocating about 102 kilometres away. We are Victor bound , Victor Harbor to be precise. This is our post working house. I’m not allowed to say retirement as swmbo feels that this is too negative.

We have been tidying our house since August 2021 in readiness for sale. The photos tool 3 hours, the 3D walk through took a couple of hours. Not to mention a couple of hours with the real estate agent. We called on family and friends to help with the tidying up. It was a lot of work.

The actual open inspection took 35 minutes and we had a sale. The legalities and such another couple of weeks. We move toward the end of March – Victor Bound

28/10/202128/10/2021

One More Stop Before Home

On our final day we had one more stop before heading home. We pulled up in Crystal Brook after overnighting in Fitzgerald Bay. The stop was for lunch and then afternoon tea. We found a nice bakery which is usually the case in country towns

Crystal Brook is a regional service town with a population of about 1500. The main street is wide and there are lots of old shops. Some are curio shops and we found and OP shops. We bought some plants and then headed off to afternoon tea.

My wife found an amazing place called Vault 35 in Crystal Brook. It a dessert only cafe and has amazing products. It is located in an old bank building hence the name. The old bank vault inside the building is a gift shop. The couple who run it are absolutely charming . We over ordered and I’m sure my blood sugars went through the roof. Then on to home.

22/10/202122/10/2021

Fitzgerald Bay Campsite Number 2

Following on from my last post we camped overnight in Fitzgerald Bay campsite number 2. This is a free campsite near Point Lowly just North of Whyalla on the East coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. We set up camp relying on the little onboard power that we had because our deep cycle battery was dying.

There is very little at Fitzgerald bay other than a few comping spots. There was a flushing toilet which of course is a luxury when you dont have an ensuite bathroom in your caravan. We never saw anyone else despite the presence of two other caravans an a campervan.

The following morning after breakfast we and a quick look around we headed off . We stopped briefly at Point Lowly to look at the lighthouse. Point Lowly has a few holiday shacks/houses and a lighthouse. Port Lowly is well know as a breeding ground for giant cuttlefish .There is also a large natural gas port there which we won’t mention.