Broken Hill Holiday ... The Map

The all important map ... this (roughly) shows the route we took for our Broken Hill holiday, which is detailed in the four posts below. Don't know if it is readable, but it gives you a general idea of where we travelled (the pink line). Australia sure is a big country ... we travelled approximately 3,200 kilometres.

Broken Hill Holiday ... Part Four

After packing up quickly, before all our tents blew away, we headed off around 10.30am for Lake Mungo National Park. More dirt roads, some quite nasty. We stopped at Pooncarie for a light lunch before turning off to the National Park. Unfortunately, we ran over a rather large (probably very poisonous) snake, which happened to be in the middle of the road. We were almost on top of it before we saw it. We were worried it had wrapped itself around our axle or something, but it remained on the road (thank goodness). It was still very windy ... getting windier ... didn't bode well for our visit to Lake Mungo !!

As we entered Lake Mungo National Park, we came across a family of emus ... mum (or dad, who knows !!) with a bunch of chicks. The ran away, but I managed to get this photo of them.

As we got closer to a formation in the park called The Great Walls Of China (nothing like it's namesake !), it got windier, and windier. We got out of the car to take photos, and were almost blown over, and got sandblasted. I managed to get a few photos of the weird landscape, though ...









We drove around the Lake Mungo National Park a while, but it was too uncomfortable to be outside of the cars. We decided against camping here (I don't think we would've been able to get the tents up, and who knows how long they would've stayed up !!). We were going to stay here for two nights. Bugger !!

So, we headed off, back to Mildura (on the Murray River, on the border of New South Wales and Victoria). There was a country music festival on, so finding accommodation was a challenge. We had decided to drive on, and head to Swan Hill, when we found a motel just out of town, in Gol Gol. The rooms were lovely, we had a balcony, and this was the view out of our window (the mighty Murray River).

We had a lovely dinner at the Gol Gol hotel, had a few drinks in our room afterward, looking through photos on my laptop, whilst the guys watched the footy. A reasonably late night, and a fairly early morning. The others had decided to head off home early, and we decided to head down to Bonnie Doon to finish our last couple of nights at our caravan.

It was a long drive, but an easy one ... all on asphalt roads (which was a luxury after what we had been travelling on !). We travelled via Swan Hill, Echuca, Shepparton, Euroa, Merton and on to Bonnie Doon.

On the road between Euroa and Merton there were the most spectacular hills, full of granite boulders. I have always loved this stretch of road. This photo is not one of the best views, but from a moving car, this was one of the best photos LOL.

We finished off with a restful couple of days of R & R at our van, before packing up the car for a final time on Monday, and heading back home.

It was a wonderful, wonderful trip. It never ceases to amaze me the amazing sights there around this beautiful country. Even in areas where there appears to be nothing ... there is always something to see. I don't imagine I will ever see all there is to see in Australia, but I am darn well going to try !!

I hope you have enjoyed this little travelogue on our brief holiday to outback Australia. Thanks for taking the time to visit with me on my blog. I hope to get back to normal programming shortly, and will be by to visit you all over the weekend.

Take care, my wonderful blog-friends,

MEOW

Broken Hill Holiday ... Part Three

We left Tibooburra at around 9am, after packing up the tents (again) and refuelling. More dirt roads ... approx. 250 klms of them ... which take quite some time to travel, due to the conditions. The roads were interesting, to say the least. We (yes, it had to be us !!) got a flat tyre ... it was only flat on the bottom, though !! ... but many hands make light work, and it was replaced in no time.

We detoured via Mutuwingi National Park, where we stopped and made ourselves lunch, and then went for a bit of a walk. The river was dry ... as were most of the rivers we passed on this trip.

There were some caves along the walk, with some aboriginal art ... unfortunately my photos don't do it justice.

There were some beautiful rock formations, and I love the contrast of the white gum trees beside the red rocks.

Unfortunately, we still had a good 2 hour drive ahead of us, to reach our overnight destination, so we had to make it a short walk.

On our drive out of the park, we came across this lizard which appeared to be petrified in the middle of the road. Of course we all got out to look, and photograph, and the silly bugger still didn't move !! I don't know what sort of a lizard he was, but he sure was cute.

We eventually arrived in White Cliffs, which is an outback Opal Mining Town. It gets so very hot here in the summer, that many residents simply turned their mines and dug outs into homes. The motel we stayed out was dug out into the side of a hill. After we checked in, and entered the motel proper, this is what we saw ... this is the corridor to our room !!

There was a lovely bar in the complex, which of course we had to sample !!

Many of the walls throughout the complex are sealed, and then painted white, however some are just sealed and left to show off their natural colour. This is where a huge staircase takes us up top, to a lookout at the top of the motel.

We had an amazing night's sleep. It was so dark, and deathly quiet, in those rooms. I could hear my head buzzing !!

In the morning, we put all our gear back into the cars, and went to explore the town. We visited a couple of galleries ... one was by a photographic artist called Otto (he was originally from Germany), and he had the most stunning photographs. We also visited a couple of opal stores, where some of us picked up some gorgeous gems. Then we visited Jock's Place. Now that was interesting. Jock is an old timer, with the most amazing stories, and the gift of the gab. The man could talk your head off. He gave us a tour of his mine, which is also his home. He had some interesting artifacts down there !! We then went noodling in the opal fields. Noodling is where you scavenge through the piles of rubble taken out of the mines, to see if you can find some opal that may have been missed.

Noodling ... the landscape is very moon-like, with white hills (with the deepest holes in the middle of each one). It is not recommended to walk backward around here, because if you fall down one of these mines, you may never be found again !!

The guys had a quick drink in the hotel. Attractive, isn't it !!! Years ago, when we visited White Cliffs, we actually stayed in the motel section of this hotel. Interesting experience, that was !!

After leaving White Cliffs, we travelled another 240-odd klms to Menindee, on more rutted, dusty, sandy dirt roads. It was like arriving at an oasis ... it had the first real water we had seen since leaving Victoria on Saturday. The lake the caravan park was located on was a man-made lake, which was about to be drained for irrigation purposes, as the natural lakes in the area had almost dried up. It was a lovely caravan park, and the sunset was spectacular. The photo I started my story with, on the "I'm Back" post was taken here, as was this one. We had a relatively late night, and awoke to strong winds, which tried to rip up our tent. Fortunately, we were able to (with teamwork) get the tents down safely.

Next stop ... Lake Mungo National Park.

Till next time, take care,

MEOW

Broken Hill Holiday ... Part Two

We left Broken Hill around 10am, on Monday morning, for an approximate 330 kilometre drive to Tibooburra. It is hugely desolate countryside ... desert ... often totally flat, occasionally some vegetation.. The road alternated between asphalt and dirt, with lots of dips ... some of them quite nasty.

We stopped for lunch at the Packsaddle Roadhouse, about half way to our destination. Apologies for the condition of some of these photos ... they were taken through a filthy car window !! Some of the view were spectacular, we came around a corner, and suddenly there were these hills ... very beautiful and colourful.

We arrived at Tibooburra around 3pm. We were quite taken aback when we saw the campground ... no vegetation, just red dirt, with a backdrop of rocks ... spectacular view !! The tents were put up, with some effort, as the ground was like rock !! We climbed the rocks in the evening for some interesting sunset shots.

I think that's Chicky standing on the rock ... the silhouette effect is magical, we thought !!

We had a fairly late night, then got up at a reasonable hour, for an approx 140 kilometre drive to Camerons Corner ... where New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia meet. The roads were pretty bad, lots of sand, and it was a very windy day.

There is a marker which shows the exact point where the 3 states meet ... Chicky is sitting on it in this photo.

With the roads being all dirt, and people driving them fairly fast, these signs are quite commonplace !!

The dingo / rabbit proof fence, which runs between Queensland and New South Wales.

On the return trip to Tibooburra, we came across a fabulous lookout ... this is just a photo taken from the top of it.

We arrived back at camp to a bit of disaster ... one of the tents (not ours, fortunately) had broken and collapsed, due to the strong winds. A bit of repair work, and it was livable again. We had a late-ish night, after going to the Tibooburra Pub for dinner. We were to head off in the morning for our next destination ...White Cliffs.

More tomorrow !!! (We stayed in an underground motel in the opal mining town of White Cliffs ... wait till you see it !!)

Have a great day.

Take care,

MEOW

Broken Hill Holiday ... Part One

We left home really, really early on Saturday morning ... 3am to be precise !! We met the other 3 familes at 4am, and then we were off. This photo is as we were entering Wentworth, around noon, which is just over the border of Victoria and NSW, a few kilometres from Mildura. We had a quick lunch stop in a lovely park here, then headed off for the final 265 kilometres to Broken Hill. Broken Hill is about 820 kilometres from Melbourne, and it's main reason for being is silver mining.

This paddlesteamer was being restored in an inlet beside the park where we had lunch in Wentworth. It is just beside the Murray River.

After arriving at Broken Hill around 3pm, we put up the tents, and relaxed for the rest of the day. The next morning, we were off to explore. This photo was taken in Silverton, which is an old town about 25 kilometres outside Broken Hill. It is a fascinating place. Silverton is home to a number of artists ... there are quite a few decorated vehicles around the place.

This speaks for itself !!

The Silverton Hotel has been used in many movies ... Mad Max being one of them. This is the original car used in the Mad Max movies ... Mel Gibson has actually driven it ... whoo hoo !!

Just out of Silverton, we visited the Mundi Mundi Lookout. From the lookout, the whoe outlook was dead flat .... for miles and miles. You could almost see the horizon curve !!

The Umberumberka Reservoir is the main water catchment for Broken Hill. It is fairly low, and in places looked quite murky. I think our Melbourne Reservoirs have slightly more water (and they look cleaner !!).

We visited the old cemetery outside Silverton, which sadly had a great number of children and young people buried within. Some of the headstones dated back to the late 1880s.

The kids went on a camel ride ... you wouldn't get me on one of those !!! They had fun, though. That's my Chicky on the front camel.

The kids and men went down the Daydream Mine, which is a historical silver mine outside Silverton. We ladies decided to wait above ground !!!

That evening, we went to The Living Desert, which is a group of sculptures atop a small hill, which catch the sunsets and sunrises beautifully. There are about a dozen sculptures, all different, and all unusual.

It was an amazing day, the weather was hot, we all got a bit sunburnt. Early to bed, ready to pack up the next day to continue our trip ... off to Tibooburra, and Cameron's Corner.

Broken Hill and surrounds are really very interesting. I would like to go back again, as there is so much more to see ... but we just didn't have time.

More tomorrow .....

Take care,

MEOW

I'm Baaaack (sort of !!!) ....

Hello friends,

I am back from a fantabulous week (plus a few days) away ... did you miss me ???

I've gotta say, I missed you all, and can't wait to get back to blogging to tell you all about my holiday, and to read up on what you all have been up to this past week.

Unfortunately, I have a massive amount of urgent typing I need to complete first (boo hoo ... bugger!), so I won't be able to come out and play for a day or so !!

I have some great photos, which I can't wait to share .... here's one to whet your appetites !!!

This was taken at the Copi Hollow caravan park in Menindee, on Thursday night. It was the first real water we had seen since Saturday !!!

Anyway, I'd better go, have an early night (I'm exhausted from the travellilng and unpacking). Will pick my kitty up from the boarding cattery in the morning, do a spot of grocery shopping, then put myself in front of this computer to get the darn typing finished !!!

Hopefully, I will be out to see you all in a day or so. Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post before we left, I appreciate all your kind wishes. I look forward to soon reading all about what you have been up to in the last week.

Take care,

MEOW

Gone Camping ....

Well, folks, we are heading off bright and early tomorrow (Saturday) morning for a wonderful week's camping with 3 other amazing families. I have no doubts that we are going to have a great time ... it's all about what you make of it, isn't it !! The weather forecast for where we are going is looking decidedly Summery ... that's what we want !!! We are off for 8 nights, staying at 4 different places ... 2 nights at each ... Broken Hill, Tibooburra, Menindee and Lake Mungo National Park. I expect to take photos of some spectacular scenery, hopefully some amazing sunrises and sunsets. I look forward to sharing many of them with you when we return.

Thank you, everyone, for being such loyal readers of my blog. I hope to get back to (more) regular blogging when I return. I think you are all amazing people ... big {{{hugs}}} to you all.

See you after the 24th September.

Have a great weekend, and week ahead.

Take care,

MEOW

Getting Ready For Camping ...

Good Morning, dear Blogging Friends ...

It's a glorious sunny Spring morning in Melbourne, with the remains of a hint of frost on the lawns ... it was a very cold night !!

I haven't been around much in the blogosphere this past few days, as I have been busy getting sorted for our upcoming camping trip ... we leave 3am on Saturday morning (we have at least a 10 hour drive ahead of us!!). As well as that, I have had typing to complete, and various other stuff to do. I am living my life from lists at the moment, busily completing things, so I can cross them of !!! Sounds tedious, but it works for me. Generally (touch wood!!) I don't forget to do, or take, anything, when we head off for an extended time away from home.

Last week was a particulary sad one for us Aussies ... firstly losing Steve Irwin (thank you all for your wonderful comments, and so many posts on your own blogs, for the passing of an amazing man), then late last week we lost another great Aussie icon. Peter Brock (a.k.a. Brocky) was killed in a motor racing accident. Brocky was known as "King Of The Mountain", after winning many Bathurst 1000 V8 races. He was a great racing driver, who for most of his career, drove various forms of Holden motor cars. I don't know if many (or any) of you outside Australia would know who Brocky is, but to Australia, he was a huge star. He, like Steve Irwin, died doing something he loved. May he rest in peace, alongside Steve Irwin. In fact, there was an amazing cartoon drawn in our local Herald Sun newspaper last week, which showed Steve Irwin (with a croc under his arm), and Brocky (in his 05 car) pulling up alongside him, offering him a lift. I would love to share it with you all, but don't know if there is some sort of copyright with these things ... I'll look into it, and get back to you !!

I imagine yesterday (September 11) was a very sad day for many people. It was the 5th anniversary of the terrorism which caused the loss of so many lives. I haven't yet had a chance to go visting all your blogs, but I imagine there will be many memorial posts out there.

I had better head off now, and get Chicky ready for school, then I'm off to the retirement village to help my elderly friend with her computer, briefly. Then back home here to colour my hair, and continue working on my list (I think computer housekeeping is in order, and backing up some stuff), then on with the packing. I hope to post again before we leave, however briefly, and don't know if I will be able to get on-line during the week we are away. Depends on the CDMA network coverage, as to whether my internet thingy will let me on !! I will more than like be off-air from the 16th until the 24th of September. I hope to have heaps of photos to share with you when we return, though.

But, for now, have a wonderful week, friends. Behave, don't do anything I wouldn't do.

I hope to be by for a vist later on today.

Take care,

MEOW

A Package & A Meme ....

I'm so excited ... as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I received a wonderful, amazing package from Greeneyes, all the way from Newfoundland. She posted it ages ago, and we had almost given up hope of it ever arriving ... lost at sea, perhaps. It seems it was sitting in Australian Customs for quite some time ... they opened it, sticky-beaked through it, re-sealed the box, and finally sent it over to me. Here's a photo of all the goodies ... there were pens, stickers, candies, notbooks, Christmas decorations, quotes, a lovely scrapbook kit, stickynotes ... the list is endless. Greeneyes, you are wonderful ... I looooooove it all, thank you so very very much.

I borrowed this meme from Michelle. It's a lot of fun ...

Instructions: Bold (or change the color) of all of the following TV shows which you've seen 3 or more episodes of in your lifetime. Bold and Italicize a show if you're positive you've seen every episode of it. If you want, add up to 3 additional shows (keep the list in alphabetical order).

24
3rd Rock from the Sun
7th Heaven
Adam-12
Aeon Flux
A.L.F
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alias
Allo Allo
American Idol/Pop Idol/Canadian Idol/Australian Idol
America's Next Top Model/Germany's Next Top Model
Angel
Arrested Development
Babylon 5
Babylon 5: Crusade
Battlestar Galactica (the old one)
Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
Baywatch
Beavis & Butthead
The Ben Stiller Show
Beverly Hills 90210
Bewitched
Bonanza
Bones
Bosom Buddies
Boston Legal
Boy Meets World
Brady Bunch
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Bug Juice
Chappelle's Show
Charlie's Angels
Charmed
Cheers
China Beach
Columbo
Commander in Chief
Coupling
Cowboy Bebop
Crossing Jordan
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dallas
Dancing with the Stars
Danny Phantom
Dark Angel
Dark Skies
Davinci's Inquest
Dawson's Creek
Dead Like Me
Deadliest Catch
Deadwood
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Designing Women
Desperate Housewives
Dharma & Greg
Different Strokes
Doctor Who (new Who)
Doctor Who (series 1-26)
Dragnet
Due South
Dungeons and Dragons (old cartoon)
Dynasty
Earth 2
Emergency!
Entourage
ER
Everwood
Everybody Loves Raymond
Facts of Life
Falcon Crest
Family Guy
Family Ties
Fantasy Island
Farscape
Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly
Flamingo Road
Frasier
Friends
Full House
Futurama
Get Smart
Gilligan's Island
Gilmore Girls
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Green Wing
Grey's Anatomy
Growing Pains
Gunsmoke
Happy Days
Head of the Class
Highlander
Hill Street Blues
Hogan's Heroes
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Street
House
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Invader Zim
Invasion
Iron Chef (Japan)
Iron Chef (USA)
Ironsides
JAG
Jackass
Jeopardy
Joey
John Doe
Kath and Kim
Knight Rider
Knots Landing
La Femme Nikita
LA Law
Laugh-In
Laverne and Shirley
Law & Order
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: SVU
Little House on the Prairie
Lizzie McGuire
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost
Lost in Space
Love, American Style
M*A*S*H
MacGyver
Magnum P.I.
Malcolm in the Middle
Married...With Children
Melrose Place
Miami Vice
Mission Impossible
Monk
Moonlighting
Mork & Mindy
Murphy Brown
My Family
My Favorite Martian
My Life as a Dog
My Mother the Car
My So-Called Life
My Three Sons
My Two Dads
Mysterious Cities of Gold
NCIS
Neighbours
Night Court
Nip/Tuck
Northern Exposure
Numbers
One Tree Hill
Oz
Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Perfect Strangers
Perry Mason
Picket Fences
Pirates of Darkwater
Pokemon
Power Rangers
Prison Break
Prisoner / Cell Block H
Profiler
Project Runway
Psyche
Quantum Leap
Queer As Folk (US)
Queer as Folk (British)
Queer Eye For The Straight Guy
ReGenesis
Remington Steele
Rescue Me
Road Rules
ROME
Roseanne
Roswell
Samurai Jack
Saved by the Bell
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Scooby-Doo Where Are You?
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sex and the City
Six Feet Under
Slings and Arrows
Smallville
Small Wonder
So Weird
South Park
Spaced
Spongebob Squarepants
Sports Night
Square Pegs
St. Elsewhere
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Enterprise
Stargate Atlantis - New season
StargateSG-1 -Newseason
Superman
Supernatural
Surface
Survivor
Taxi
Teen Titans
Teletubbies
That Girl
That 70's Show
That's So Raven
The 4400
The Addams Family
The Andy Griffith Show
The A-Team
The Avengers
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Bionic Woman
The Colbert Report
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
The Days And Nights Of Molly Dodd
The Dead Zone
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Jetsons
The L Word
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mighty Boosh
The Monkees
The Munsters
The Mythbusters
The O.C.
The Office (UK)
The Office (US)
The Pretender
The Prisoner
The Real World
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Sopranos
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
The Sullivans
The Twilight Zone
The Waltons
The West Wing
The Wonder Years
The X-Files
Third Watch
thirtysomething
Three's Company
Top Gear
Twin Peaks
Twitch City
Upstairs, Downstairs
Veronica Mars
Wings
What Not To Wear (US)
What Not To Wear (UK)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (US)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (UK)
Witchblade
Will and Grace
Wonderfalls
Wonder Woman
Xena: Warrior Princess
Young Hercules

Goodness, I think I'm definately a TV Addict. Admittedly, many of these I used to watch years ago, but I do still spend a lot of time in fron of the "idiot box" !!

Feel free to take on the challenge of this meme ... let me know if you do.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Have lots of fun, and enjoy a couple of days off (if you can !!).

Take care,

MEOW

Apologies From Meow ...

Ooooh, I have been a naughty girl, and very slack, too.

It seems I haven't been remembering to say thank you to all you wonderful people who have been sending me postcards (and I also still owe some people some ... sorry about that, they will arrive sooner or later ... I have them, but haven't written or posted them yet ... it will happen, I promise !). I also haven't been scanning them and putting them on my postcard blog.

So, for the time being, a huge thank you to the following people, for their postcards. Apologies if I haven't come to your blog, or email, to thank you personally.

Rev Shawn, who sent me a card from Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Susan, who sent me a card from The Fraser Valley, British Columbia.
Connie, who sent me a card with Lady and the Tramp on it.
Dick, who sent me a card from Leavenworth, Washington.
Kristy, who sent me a card from Brisbane, Australia.
Jean-Luc, who sent me a card from Cockington, Devon, England.
Karen, who sent me a group of cards made from her own photos, fromUtah.
Chloe, who sent me a card from Kythira.
Marie, who sent me a card from Kristianopel, near Denmark & Sweden.
Rev. Shawn (again), who sent me a card of a Killer Whale, from Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Stinkypaw, who sent me a card from Mt. Washington, New Hampshire.
Fruitful Spirit, who sent me a card from Niagara Falls.
Cinthia, who sent me a card from Washington D.C.

Once again, I am terribly sorry I haven't got in contact with all of you about receiving the cards. It wasn't intentional, and I loooooove them all. I will scan them shortly, and post them on my Postcard Blog soon. I will let you know here when I have.

Today, I also received a wonderful parcel from Greeneyes. She posted this months ago, and apparently it has spent some time at the Australian Customs Service ... why, I don't know. I will take a photo of it soon, and post about it's amazing contents soon, too. Thank you so much Greeneyes for all the fabulous stuff. Hope you received my email.

Anyway, enough from me for now.

Take care, all ...

MEOW

Hello From Meow

It has been a busy week in this household this week. I have been running around like a headless chook, trying to do all sorts of things. I am operating my life from a list at the moment, trying to get all sorts of stuff done before we head off at the end of next week for our camping trip. I have also had a heap of typing to do for my friend at the retirement village. Her book is almost ready to send off to the publisher (thank goodness !!!)

I have been feeling very sad about the passing of Steve Irwin, as I'm sure most of you have, and become quite teary when seeing the constant TV coverage about him. Animal Planet has been showing some wonderful programs ... last night's was particularly nice !! I would like to say thank you to everyone who has commented on my last post ... it is wonderful to know how well-loved Steve Irwin was around the world. It was amazing, too, as I did my rounds of your blogs, to see how many of you also had posts about him. Makes me proud to be an Aussie !!

Do you like this picture of Bambi ??? She was sniffing the air, as cats tend to do, but I think she looks like she is smiling at me !!! The magnolia flowers in the next photo are in my neighbour's front yard ... I wish I had've taken a photo before the leaves started coming through ... oh well !!

My azalea bush has come into flower ... amazing, really, as it rarely gets watered ... as I have said before, my plants seem to thrive on neglect !!! I don't really know if it looks particularly healthy, but it sure is a pretty flower.

I guess I don't really have much else to say right at this moment, but thought I'd post a post (!?) to show you that I am still around. I promise to drop by you all again over the next couple days.

Take care, all, and catch ya soon ...

MEOW

Death Of An Aussie Icon

STEVE IRWIN
1962 - 2006

As you have all probably heard on your own news programs, Steve Irwin ... The Crocodile Hunter ... tragically died yesterday (Monday 4th September 2006) by a freak attack from a stingray. He was diving off the coast of Port Douglas, in Far North Queensland, filming for a new TV show.

I was horrified when I heard, and couldn't quite believe it. He is such a lovable fun-loving Aussie bloke, who was so dedicated to conservation and the environment. From all reports, what you saw on TV was what he actually was like ... no airs and graces for this bloke.

Steve and his American born wife Terri have two young children ... it's going to be hard for them to accept their dad is gone, and for them to get on with things. My sincere sympathy goes out to all the Irwin family.

It's hard to believe that a bloke who wrestles with crocodiles, deadly snakes, and all manner of deadly animals, was killed by a freak encounter with a stingray. There are only a handful of deaths from stingrays on record ... why him ??? I guess we can be grateful that he went doing something he loved. But he will certainly be hugely missed.

I hope that all he has been working on and towards isn't put by the wayside, and is continued by his family and friends and colleagues. He was a remarkable man.

Thank you, Steve, for all the fun you have put into our lives with your amazing TV programs, and your fantastic Australia Zoo, and for allowing us all to be a part of your world. You sure have put Australia on the map, and for that we should all be forever grateful.

Rest In Peace

CONNIE (MEOW)