Deer Down Under

READER ADVISORY- If you are opposed to hunting for your own food, you might want to skip over this week’s blog and check out next week’s next post. Don't worry the story is still G rated. 

Much like my father, whenever I need a break from work, I always find my solace in the woods, be it hunting, fishing, hiking or any other outdoor activities.  As I spend more time in the woods it always draws you back and I find that I need that future trip to keep me motivated.  Since Singapore is an island in Southeast Asia, there are not many opportunities for this escape, so you need to get off the island.  So why not head down under to Australia to see what they have to offer?

A few months back, Amy being the good sport that she always is, decided that she would checkout hunting camp for a few days with me and take in the whole experience.  Ian from Tru Blu Hunting was a gracious host and provided us with a bed, hot shower, food as well as loads of coffee and animals to look at!

Tru Blu hunts a property called Water Valley Ranch which is about three hours outside of Adelaide, Australia.  This ranch is one of the largest privately held ranches in the world and they claim that from one end to the other it is 200 km (about 124 miles)!  The property was absolutely gorgeous and made the entire experience just that much better.

The two species that I was looking for during this hunt was a Javan Rusa deer and a Sambar deer. The Javan Rusa and a Moluccan Rusa came very easy with perfect one shot. We now had some great venison to take home. Amy was able to be a part of the successful day of hunting as the winter sun set over Southern Australia.  Since this was her first true hunt, the expectations were high to continue to have great days like that.

The next few days did not prove to be as successful as the weather didn’t cooperate and the Sambar would not be as easy.  We saw numerous animals (kangaroos everywhere!), but there was one Sambar that stuck out. Ian said it was the biggest he had ever seen in on the property in his 15 years there, so I knew that I would have to holdout for this special deer.  After numerous attempts to take down this beautiful Sambar, we came up empty handed but had a great time regardless.

To wrap up a great trip at hunting camp we spent an evening in Adelaide where we had some amazing food and wine before heading back to Singapore.

When deer season came to an end in Australia, I called Ian to see if that large Sambar was still around. He is and it looks like I will have to find another time to make a trip to Water Valley Ranch to try again. Obviously Amy is more than welcome to join... but I am guessing she will take a rain check. Something tells me she’s cheering for the Sambar.

Amy & Hound holding down the fort during the hunt. 

While there is no hunting season, fall or cooler weather in Singapore, we made cranked down the air conditioning, made venison chili and watched college football (go Irish and Sun Devils) yesterday. Hey we can pretend!

Until then,

rhs & AB

G'day WA

The remarkable thing about living is Singapore is how close you are to some amazing places.  This ends up being a double edged sword. On the one hand there are amazing places with all sorts of unique and different experiences but you have to have some time (and money) to enjoy them!  The nice part is being so centrally located some can be done in a quick weekend, like a trip to Perth, Australia.  

Australia is a country about the size of the lower 48 States, AKA HUGE, but there are only about 23 million people in the whole country (about 10 million less people than the state of California).  Now compare that to the 75 million sheep that reside in the country as of 2013.  When most people think of Australia the first thing that comes to mind is the Sydney Opera house, the Harbour Bridge, a kangaroo, koala bear, and maybe even a bottle of wine.  Some of our more refined readers might have images of blooming onions, Outback steakhouse, throwing shrimp on the Barbie and Fosters beer.  

Before I tell you the story of our trip to Perth, let's talk about the booming metropolis of Perth. Unless you are in the mining industry or a sailing historian and remember the 1983 America's Cup you probably have never heard of Perth until recently.  Perth has been the home base of the reporters following the search effort for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 as well as the point of embarkation for all of the search vessels and aircraft.  If that is not interesting enough for you then Perth is one of the most remote cities in the entire world!  While it is still in Australia, it is actually closer to Singapore than it is to Sydney.  This meant that we could hop down for the weekend and see some old friends who I studied with down under for a semester during college.

Beau and BoBo Riverton* were born in a small Australian town named Kalgoorlie but decided to move to the big city in search of love and opportunity.  They have been married for 5 years and have 2 wonderful daughters,  little Darth Vader* and little Ewok.* Over the years Beau and I have kept in touch and if I was in Singapore on business I would try to take the 4.5 hour flight directly south to see him and his family.

As we have gotten older and gained additional responsibilities,  the trips have moved away from late night outings, sports and video games to more family friendly activities. This is proof that yours truly can and is growing up!  During this trip we were able to get a great tour of Notre Dame Australia (where I spent a semester abroad), stop by for a pint at Little Creatures Brewery (I attended many “classes” there), as well as see the sites of Kings Park and a soggy Cottesloe Beach.  Saturday night we had a grown up outing and went to a charity event, Artitude, benefiting Telethon Speech & Hearing Centre for Children is a charitable organisation that teaches children with speech and language or hearing impairments to listen and speak.  The event forced me to dress up which is something that I am not keen on, but man did our dates look beautiful.

We hope that before our assignment ends we can head down south to Margaret River to try some of the best Western Australian wines.  For those people who are looking forward to some cooler weather Perth is a great place to pull that jacket out of its bin and remember what it like to be cold.

In closing, Amy and I want to thank the Riverton Family for an amazing trip to see a piece of the left side of Australia. We are so grateful for your wonderful hospitality- it was like being with family.  

Trips like these help to reinforce the fact that with technology and some effort one can have lifetime friendships with people on the other side of the world.  Amy and I are so appreciative of technology so that we can know what is going on with everyone’s lives, can FaceTime with people no matter where they are (minus in Wilson as the internet is too slow) and use Slingbox to get FoxNews and ESPN.  The best part is that we're getting to (or will see) many of you during our first home visit. While we have hit the ground running in the U.S. and we are both excited for time with family and friends! 

Until then,

Raegen & Amy

*All names have been changed to protect the innocent.