Devilish Fun

The end is nigh.

2010-11-20T00:52:00.000-08:00

We're in our final week now - study study and more study for Ollie...not sure how much more he can cram into that brain but hopefully all he's putting there is staying! And for me, I have finished up at work so the last few days will be focussed on cleaning the house from top to toe - we have prospective tenants coming through on Monday and then the real estate agents inspection on Tuesday so needs to be done by then! - and packing falls into my job description, or at least the start of it - no doubt the majority of it will happen Wednesday morning!

Friday afternoon Ollie took a break from his studies to attend his prize giving ceremony. Wives/partners were invited too, so I had arranged to finish work early. While we had got an incling the occasion was a little more than a casual affair, we hadn't realised how formal it was going to be - luckily we didn't just turn up in jeans!!

We arrived at the college a little early so Ollie was able to show me and Ruth (who came with us also) his classroom, and the desk he had spent most of his time in! Shortly after getting to the graduation venue Ollie and his classmates were all decked out in Caps and Gowns - and all the lecturers and other College staff were in their ones also. A little bit more formal than we were expecting!!!!

After a couple of speaches Ollie and his classmates were all presented with a folder - of the different certificates they had got during the year, their exam permit (Ollie needs this for his final exam on Tuesday!) and....not their ADME (Advanced Diploma of Marine Engineering) - their last round of exams haven't all be marked yet so they aren't actually sure if everyone has passed!!!!!! (but everyone has indicated that Ollie will not need to do any resits of the last round of exams.)

Then there were a few photos taken followed by the all important lubrication of engineers - beer, wine etc and some nibbles. Was quite a nice event really, the start of the finishing & leaving doos :)

Here's Ollie in all his finery (and a shot of us together)

Last Looks

2010-11-15T22:45:00.000-08:00

Exam week being over, we rented a car one last time to have a break out of town and to see some of the sights we hadn't yet seen.

On Saturday morning (after the grocery shopping was completed!) we headed north...off to see the sea!

Our first stop was Yorktown - one of the first four settlements in Australia apparently. Ollie was going to take advantage of the facilities provided, but when he opened the door he was greeted by a very large Huntsman Spider...Ollie decided he could wait!

We went to Greens Beach, near where the Tamar River (that starts in Launceston) meets the sea. So nice to see the sea :)

From there we headed further west. Along the way we past this sign - home away from home!

We went to Port Sorell and the surrounding little seaside towns. Lovely golden sandy beaches - shame it was so grey and drizzly!

It was then time to head to Ruth's Kitchen Warming Party - which started off as High Tea (lots of yummy cupcakes, cucumber sandwiches, scones with jam & cream, macaroons and muffins) with Pimms :) and then became a BBQ. Some of the guests played their Fiddle & Mandolins, so we had a bit of a sing-a-long. These were my contributions to the High Tea - Banana Petiti Fours.

Sunday started off with brunch at The Rivers Edge Cafe in Longford. One of the best cafes we have found in Tassie - great food, welcoming staff, nice warm fire, and a lovely garden - there were even little bunnies hopping round in the garden! The cafe is run by a Kiwi so guess its no suprise it was good...te he :)

We then headed in towards the Central Lakes area - found the states Opiate supplies. Tasmania is the world's largest producer of opium alkaloids for the pharmaceutical market. The fields are all fenced off with electric fences and barbed wire along with lots of warnings to not enter the feilds!

To get to the Great Lake we had to drive past some of the states Hydro system - part of it is under ground, but we saw some of the penstocks and power stations along the way. The temperature had plummeted by the time we reached the Great Lake - a grand total of 6 degrees outside...which we weren't prepared for so we didn't spend much time outside the car! Lots of ramshackle Shacks (Bachs/Holiday homes) make up the little town of Miena by the lake.

We were taking the round about route home to see a bit more of the countryside, going through towns like Bothwell when we realised we weren't all that far from Hobart, so we decided to go to Hobart for one last look. We always enjoy the chance to walk around a marina or harbour and look at boats :)

And then it was time to return to Lonnie....back in time for a leaving dinner with Ollie's classmates.

Now its time for one final week of study before Ollie's last exam, and my last week of work, before its time to return to NZ :)

Head Down.

2010-11-12T03:17:00.000-08:00

The past month and a bit have been pretty quiet in our part of the world. Ollie has been busy studying for the final exams, and I was either working or trying not to distract him!

A few little things have happened along the way.....

One weekend I went out and helped Ruth paint her new kitchen.

We've walked round the hill we live on loads of times - any time Ollie needed to clear his head! Lots of pretty gardens coming out in bloom - lovely smelling the scent of Jasmine and Lilac on the breeze :)

Another weekend I caught the bus (first time I'd caught the bus in Tasmania!!) out to Ruth's place....this time so her next door neighbour could teach us to crochet (just another crafty project for me to start!) First attempt wasn't too bad, but definitely need some practice!!!!

One Friday, Ollie needed a break from studying, and we were missing our Fish N' Chip nights, so we headed to what is surely the most expensive F&C shop around!

And now exams are over! Yippee! So Ollie has taken the weekend off before he starts studying for his Oral Exam in 11 days time! We have rented a car for the weekend so will do our last grocery shop in the car - luxury! And are heading out to Ruth's kitchen warming party tomorrow afternoon, followed by a last bit of sight seeing on Sunday.

And then in 12 sleeps time we will be starting our journey back to Kiwi-land :)

A short visit.

2010-10-12T01:55:00.000-07:00

Ollie's parents visited us this weekend just past. Was a lovely fun filled weekend.

After picking them up from the airport, we headed out to Rosevears Pub for lunch...We'd heard good stories of this place, and it sounded nice having a view over the river. Unfortunately we arrived about 5mins after the kitchen had closed! So we headed to a little cafe in Gravelly Beach which made very lovely food.

We tiki-toured on the way home, going over the Batman Bridge, and out to Low Head to see the light house, and where the river meets the sea.

Saturday we took a trip to Hobart-town, getting there in time to look through the Salamanca Market, Salamanca Place (out behind the market) and along the water front.

The day had cleared up quite a bit so we then drove up to the top of Mt Wellington to see the view. Was icy cold like last time, but hardly any snow around.

Sunday we stayed round Launceston. Ollie and I took the opportunity of having a car to do the supermarket shopping in ease, while we were gone Theo & Wieke took some more photos :)

We then started our day with coffee down by the river front - where it was low tide, so all the boats were sitting in the mud!!

We then wandered along the rivers edge, stopping to look at a Gunpowder Mill, and into a little shop to get some dropjes (dutch liquorice!).

We then headed up the Cataract Gorge. A great day for showing it off :)

By the time we walked back from Cataract Gorge we were already for a sit down and some lunch. We went to a lovely restaurant in Seaport (on the river front) called Silt, where we had a lovely meal. We decided to then drive (no more walking!) up to the Trevellyn Dam, so see the river that flows through the Gorge, further up.

Then it was home for a last lot of shared wine & cheese before our visitors returned to NZ early Monday morning. Was a short but very sweet trip.

To the Edge of The World and back.

2010-09-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

After leaving Stanley we drove to The Edge of The World. Its a little point on the west coast of Tasmania, near the Arthur River.

Lovely views out to sea, and lots of waves rolling in onto the beach, just what we like watching!

On our way back we stopped at Dismal Swamp in the Tarkine Forest for lunch. From the information the ranger there gave us its a pretty unique place - one of the largest sink holes around.

If feeling adventurous there is a big slide to get into the the forest (we gave this a miss though...maybe next time if we get back up that way!). We just went out on the cantilevered platform to have a look.

This was the view looking down from the platform - looked a bit like NZ bush with all the ferns!

Our last sight seeing stop on the way home was the Table Cape Tulip Farm as we had heard that their fields of tulips should be in bloom by now. Not the peak of their flowering season but still a good sight - enough to imagine how impressive it would be at the blooming peak.

Very pretty :)

Time for some R and R.

2010-09-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ollie had a 3 day weekend, so we decided to make the most of it. After I had finished working on Friday (24th) we picked up a rental car and headed off for a trip out of town. We had lunch at the Raspberry Farm (it would be very rude to drive past without stopping!) then headed up to Stanley.

We had got a good deal on a room at Hanlon House - our first B & B experience, so checked in there. The hosts greeted us with a cuppa and some cheese & bickies. We had a lovely little room attached to the garage with its own ensuite - even had a view of the sea if we stood in the right place!

After dinner at the Stanley Hotel, we went for a walk along the beach - the little fairy penguins were out. Cute to see them going about their business :)

The B & B put on a lovely breakfast for all the guests - was nice to sit around the big wooden table chatting to the other guests.

We caught the chairlift up to the top of The Nut - the hill at Stanley. And walked round the top - great views, and we even saw a few pademelons grazing in the bush.

Could even see the B & B from the top - its the pink house in the left on the photo above, next to the church.

Was a lovely night away - falling asleep to the faint sounds of the waves on the beach. And getting a good dose of sea air!!!

Flying Foxes

2010-09-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

As part of our fun weekend planned with Graham we had booked in to do the Hollybank Treetops Canopy Tour. Because of our adventure the previous night with Rufus, we didn't think we were going to be able to do it after all (no longer having a car to get there!) Our rescuer Jamie insisted on us borrowing his car for the next day....we were very reluctant given our track record with borrowed cars, but seeing as we were only driving in daylight hours and not going far out of the town we decided to risk it!

Luckily we did as it was just what we needed - a fun filled morning with a few laughs. 3 hours flying through some very tall trees at speeds of up to 80kms an hour, wahooo!

The tours are very well run - smooth operation, with great safety briefings, and very informative staff. Lots of information about the Hollybank reserve and the native bush that we flew through.

Definately something we would recommend to anyone that makes it over to Tassie for a look-see.

Rufus the Wallaby

2010-09-20T03:52:00.000-07:00

So we were driving along the A3 enjoying the pretty scenery in the dusk light when Graham pointed to a Wallaby hopping along the side of the road. Was cool to see some of the local wildlife...until at the very second we came alongside it, Rufus turned 90' and hopped across in front of us. With a big BANG, Rufus headbutted the underside of the car and rolled out the back and along the road. Good Bye Rufus!

Everything seemed fine with the car as we continued to drive along, but we hadn't gone very far when the gear box light started flashing on the dashboard. Any flashing dashboard sign is not a good sign, so Ollie pulled over quickly. As soon as he opened his door, we could smell transmission fluid....not in the transmission like it should be but all over the road!! So much for a nice stress-free weekend...it was obvious then that our trip home wasn't going to be as quick as planned.

So here we were on the side of the road in rural Tasmania....with no cell phone coverage on either Ollie or my phones. Grahams NZ phone did have coverage though...luckily!!

Since it wasn't our car, and we don't really know about road side assistance etc in Tassie, we phoned the owner of the car, who put us in touch with his insurance company. To find out where exactly we were so that we could give the location to the insurance company we went and knocked on the door of a house near by that had lights on. A lovely couple invited us in to wait in the warmth, and let us use their phone.

The insurance company eventually located a towing company to come and collect the car and told us it would be an hour or so. In the mean time we had to figure out how we were going to get back to Launceston (a 2 hr drive away) or even back to Hobart (about an hour away) where we could at least stay the night and figure something out the next day. In the end we made a call for help to one of Ollie's classmates, Jamie, who very very very kindly drove the 2hrs to pick us up, and then the 2 hrs back to take us home again. Jamie didn't arrive til about an hour after the Tow truck had taken the car, but by this stage it was 9pm so we didn't feel like we could impose on the lovely couple any more (they looked like they were ready for bed!) so we spent an hour or so standing on the side of the road, listening to the Aussie birds talking to the moon.

Not quite the adventure we wanted - definitely not good for our stress levels! And not good for Ollie's classmate who is currently still with out his car!

So apologies to Australia for taking out some of the native wildlife...I'm sure we could arrange for some possums to be shipped back from NZ as an apology gift ?! And a big thanks to all those who helped us out!!!

The end of Two long weeks.

2010-09-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Beginning of September was exam time - the first week was study week, and the second week (week of my birthday!) was exam week. Ollie had 6 exams in 5 days. Not so fun, with a few sleepless nights, and stress levels high.

Ollie managed to take a short break from studying to go out for lunch with me on my birthday. The girls at work gave me treats which was lovely. Friday night, while the boys gathered for Beer & a BBQ to celebrate the exams being over, the girls got together for Wine & Pizza - to also celebrate exams being over!!! The girls made cupcakes for me, and gathered all the kids together to sing Happy Birthday to me, so despite the exams it felt like my birthday after all :)

Later that night Ollie's friend Graham arrived, and we had a weekend of adventures planned - just what we needed after exam week!

Saturday started bright and early as Ollie was taking a classmate to the airport - this meant that we had his car for the next 10days, so great for us. We were on the road just after 7am heading for Hobart and arrived in time for breakfast at a lovely cafe called Jam Packed (in the old Jam factory). We then had a look round the Salamanca Markets before hopping on a boat for a river cruise - as always it was so good to be back on a boat!

A few of the sites seen from the trip - the Tasman Bridge, the Governors House, and cute little boat shed's (prime real estate apparently!)

And a Sea Eagle.

Last time Ollie and I went up Mt Wellington (out the back of Hobart, not in Auckland that is), a big cloud was sitting over the top, so the promised view of about 1/3 of Tasmania was not on show for us. So we decided to give it another shot. We'd heard the road had been closed a day or two before so weren't 100% sure we'd make it to the top. Turned out the road was open, so to the top we went. Only a few passing clouds so could see a reasonable amount....boy was it cold though with all the snow that was up there and the wind chill too.

Snow had frozen on the plants up there.

After we were all frozen we headed off home, heading up the Tasman Highway, up the east coast so we could enjoy the scenery on the way home....and that is another story waiting to be told!!!

Sustainable House Day

2010-09-11T04:33:00.000-07:00

September 11th was Sustainable House Day in Tassie so when Ruth suggested we head out and look at these houses, I was all for it. Not everyday you get to look through other peoples homes, and its always nice to get out of town - also being the day before exams started for Ollie it was time to get out of the house as much as possible so he could study uninterrupted!!!

One of the houses we went to had the Maori flag flying in the garden - didn't get a chance to find out the story for it being there, but was nice to see it.

Kim Clark's house was very cool to look through - with interesting bathrooms and windows! Kim likes making things with curved wood and practices making things around his home as well as for the neighbours. Kim has his own water wheel generating electricity as well as solar panels - he said that for about 2 weeks of the year he has to watch his usage and occasionally use the petrol generator.

Forest Lodge is a very new building - set up as accommodation for people to go walking in one of Tassie's national parks, and providing guided walks as well. They are also in the process of setting up a festival grounds - with a stage (wood work done by Kim Clark) and wood fired pizza oven, along with a camping area. Lots of the rugs in the Lodge are made by a local artist who uses natural dyes.

Nice to see some of the things people are doing here.

A Travellors Stopoff.

2010-09-02T21:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday 28th August, our second visitor arrived - my good friend Leanne. She has been travelling through Africa and visiting relatives in Perth and decided to add Tasmania to her list of places visited!

It was great to have a friend around and to get so much catch up time with Leanne - in the past we have had to cram our catch ups in to a couple of lunch dates while she's been back in NZ (from the UK), so a whole week was lovely!

Cupcakes of course were required to welcome Leanne. We had a walk up Cataract Gorge one day, saw some cool wooden sculptures up there.

Afternoons (once I had finished work) were spent going for walks in the sun, and to different cafes for coffee & cake.

I took Friday off work so that we could have a long weekend together, we rented a car and were off on a little road trip :) Of course there was the obligatory visit to the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm for breakfast before driving up to Cradle Mountain.

There were a couple of Pademelon's (small relatives of the Wallaby) grazing near the Visitors Centre, and as we were on the bus into the National Park, we saw a Wombat!

There had been some snow a few days before we got there, so the mountain was looking very picturesque, and there was some snow across the path around Dove Lake (at the bottom of the mountain) that we had to walk through.

From Cradle Mountain we drove to Strahan, where we stayed the night. Was funny checking into the motel - there was no one there, but a message saying "pick up the white phone by the laundry" - the person on the other end then told us that we were in Room 2 and the key was in the door!! Obviously more of a summer town, we were pretty much pushed out the door of the restaurant we had dinner in - at 9pm on a Friday night!

Saturday morning (4th Sept) woke to lots of rain - its the west coast of Tassie after all! And by chance we turned the TV on and caught the news - big earthquake in Christchurch, NZ. Of course I had no cell phone reception, but the owner of the motel let me use the computer to get in touch with family.

As the weather didn't improve, we spent the day driving back along the coast. Stopping at the Gingerbread house in Devonport for lunch - we were adventurous and tried the Gingercino (cappuccino with ginger) but wouldn't recommend it!

On Sunday we headed down to Hobart, stopping in Evandale to have a look through the market there. We went via Richmond and saw the oldest bridge in Australia.

When we arrived in Hobart we were greeted with a flat tyre!!! In between sorting that out we managed to have a walk round the water front, and some more coffee & cake before Leanne checked in to the backpackers for the night (her flight left from Hobart the next day) and I drove back to Launceston.

Was a lovely time with a lovely friend :)

Floods

2010-08-18T03:04:00.001-07:00

Compared to a winter in Wellington, we haven't had much rain in Launceston. However other parts of Tassie have, and all this water turned up in Cataract Gorge last week.

Cataract Gorge is one of the first places (outside the centre of Lonnie) that we visited during our first week here, and we often walk up there to the Basin at the top - its a nice walk even on a dull day, and a great way to clear the head when someones been studying all day!!

We've heard many stories about and seen photos of historic floods in Cataract Gorge, and of course we see the flood banks every time we walk along by the river, but we hadn't seen a flood. So when one of the guys I make coffee for said the flood was going to reach the gorge, we were up there as soon as we could.

The Gorge, and the Basin are normally very slow moving quiet pieces of water.

We went up on Thursday, and were impressed with the noise and amount of water...but there was more to come. On Saturday (14/08) we walked up again, this time you could see the river level was high before we were even near the Gorge. Helped a bit by High Tide, the water was less than a foot away from the boardwalk we walk along. And the river was covered in foam - it looked like ice!!

As soon as we got to the bridge at the bottom of the gorge we could hear the river, it was roaring down the few rapids at the top of the gorge and flowing very swiftly down the gorge.

The path round the bottom of the Basin was totally covered in water...we'd normally walk over that, but definitely not today!!!! (water was a bit muddy for swimming!)

And then we got up to the Basin and saw how much bigger it had become!!! The swimming pool had disappeared, and the playground which is right up at the base of the cafe there, was now a water park. The whole Basin now looked just like it was a wider part of the river, flowing as swiftly as the rest of the river. Right up at the edge of the water (near the play ground) was a whole line of foam, kids were playing in it just as if it was snow!

The river flowing into the basin was a lot more rapid than normal too.

It was dusk as we got there - a great time for wildlife to come out. We got to see lots of Pademelons (like Wallabies but smaller - though you can't see it in the photo, just its eyes!) and Kookaburras - which we hadn't seen this close before.

The peacocks were all roosting in a tree.

Walking Weekend

2010-07-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

Making the most of no rain this weekend, we went walking. Something we often do (not having a car and all), so thought we would do some more! This time we walked along through the reserve by the North Esk River. Its right on the edge of the town, but the way it follows the river and meaders through the trees you'd think you were out in the countryside.

We came back home through some of the suburbs that we hadn't walked through yet. And came across this very steep street. So steep it came with a warning....

Taking a look up the hill from the bottom, it didn't look that bad.....and the photo definately doesn't do it justice.

And from the top looking down it still doesn't look steep enough to warrent the warning.

But the view from the top was pretty good, and it was definately steep enough to have us toastie warm by the time we made it to the top. A good boost of oxygen to the lungs!

Tassie Tourists

2010-07-18T04:57:00.000-07:00

We had our first visitors recently. My parents came to stay with us for 10days and explored a lot of Tasmania.

Having been travelling since the early hours, the first place we took them after picking the rental car up, was to get a pick-me-up from the chocolate cafe CocoBean.

The first weekend Mum and Dad were here, we went to our favourite, The Raspberry Farm cafe, and then headed up to the coast to look through Devonport, then drove through a bit of the countryside to the Batman Bridge which we drove across and walked across.

We then went and explored the lighthouse at Low Head. It was then time for a coffee stop, so we found this cute little cafe in George Town, Belle's B&B where Belle had made the covered in veranda into a cafe. The cakes and sweet treats were all displayed on old cake stands, and the tea and coffee all served in old tea cups - it was quite a frilly floral place, but very sweet with yummy cakes. And a lovely sunset as we were leaving!

The next day we went to Evandale for brunch and to look round the market there before going to explore the East Coast. Had more of a walk around Bicheno this time, Ollie and I saw a part of the little town we hadn't seen last time. And we then headed up the coast to St Helens (where we had one of the worst coffee's we had during their time here) before heading out to the Bay of Fires. We had a little walk along the beach but it was bitterly cold by this time, and getting dark so we headed back to Launceston - the road back was very windy and narrow...despite being classed as one of the main roads!

Tuesday we sent Dad and Mum off on their own, up to Stanley and back via Cradle Mountain - they didn't get lost, and obviously like The Raspberry Farm cafe a lot as they went there both days they were away!

Ollie happened to have Thursday and Friday off school, so I switched my shifts around to have them off also, and we all headed down to Hobart for a couple of nights. On the way down, we stopped for breakfast at Campbell town, then headed over to the coast and followed the East Coast southwards. Stopping at some of the little towns like Triabunna along the way.

We had enough time to drive out the Tasman Peninsular to Port Arthur - beautiful part of the country, would be great for summer holidays.

We then headed to Hobart and navigated the one way system to find out hotel. We decided to spend Friday in Hobart itself rather than exploring more of the surrounding area. Ollie and I hadn't spent much time in Hobart before so were keen to see a bit more of it.

While wandering round the waterfront we found a harbour cruise that caught our fancy and was leaving quite soon so we signed up for that. The boat took us up the river Derwent, under the harbour bridge past the Incat Factory (shipbuilders) and the Zinc processing plant to the upper harbour bridge, bringing us back down the other side of the river to show us some caves and a sea eagle that we spotted. The skipper was great with lots of local knowledge to share with us about the history of the place.

After dinner on Friday night, Ollie and I left the parents to return to the hotel by them selfs and went for a drink on the water front - its very pretty at night with all the lights in the trees and reflections on the water.

Saturday morning we had brunch the Jam Packed cafe which is in the Atrium of the old Jam Factory - quite an interesting building.

After we were jam packed with food we went and explored the markets - Ollie and I adding more food by trying out the Strawberries & Cream, Ollie Bollen (dutch donuts) and local made fudge. We also managed to do our fresh fruit and vege shopping at the market which was a nice change.

Before starting the drive back to Launceston we drove up Mt Wellington - the tallest mountain near Hobart. Apparently from the top you can see almost 1/3 of Tasmania. Unfortunately there were clouds hanging round the top of the Mountain so we couldn't see anything. Was a bit spooky driving up there knowing there was a cliff edge next to you but not being able to see it with the clouds surrounding us. Was very very cold at the top of the mountain too so we didn't get out of the car for long!

Then we drove back to Launceston, up the central highway this time - getting to cross the river Derwent further up by going over the draw bridge.

Mum and Dad's last day with us was started off with brunch at The Raspberry Farm again. It was unfortunately pouring with rain so we didn't think we were going to get to walk up Cataract Gorge but by the time we had got back from brunch and done the grocery shopping (making the most of having a car and stocking up on all the heavy things!) the rain had eased. So we went for a walk up Cataract Gorge and around the basin at the top stopping at one of the cafes on the rivers edge for coffee and cake on the way back.

Was nice to have visitors and to get out and about exploring again.

Our Trip home

2010-07-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

Seems our quick trip back to NZ disappeared into the past quicker than I thought, as after a reminder from a blog reader I realised I hadn't put an update of our trip home on here! So a bit belated but here it is!

Our flight back to Wellington went via Sydney so we got to have a quick catch up over lunch with Ollie's sister Katrina before hopping on our next flight.

Wellington was calm and dry when we arrived at midnight...gently welcoming us home! Ollie jokingly suggested we go for a quick sail on the harbour (he really misses the boat!) as it was by this stage 1am we decided to head to our beds after a quick look at the boat....unfortunately we should have taken that opportunity as the next couple of days were typical winter Wellington weather - wet and windy!

Our first day there was spent with Ollie's sister Yolene and her family - getting to know the new nephew, and playing with our niece Sylvia at Te Papa.

We of course had to have a brunch or 3 at one of our favourite cafes, Chocolate Days in Days Bay.

We took a day trip up to Napier to visit my friend Mel, and meet her new baby. On the way back we cam across snow as we were driving over the Rimutakas - was a bit of a novelty!

The rest of the days flew by, catching up with friends, visiting other new babies, dinner with family, lunches and coffees with friends, and hanging out with Yolene and the kids some more.

Our friends Fiona & Bill came down from Auckland for a couple of days, and we had fun catching up with them.

8 days home was gone before we knew it and next we were having brunch with Ollie's sister Yolene and her family before heading off to the airport and back to Launceston.

We're all back into School and Work as normal (and counting down a little til we go home again!)

Birthday Boy's Day

2010-06-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

For Ollie's birthday, we had a food based adventure day. I enlisted our friend Ruth to help me out and provide us with her company for the day.

In a style typical to me, Ollie was given few details - just being told that he needed to be ready to leave the house by 10am and that he didn't need to have breakfast first. About 10ish Ruth arrived and whisked us away in her car.....to the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm....one of our favourite cafes. We got to sit in front of the open fire, while eating a very decadant brunch.

From here we headed out to Penguin - a cute little seaside village...full of penguins (not real ones though). We had a look round the town, and the village market.

Next up was time for more food.....off to the House of Anvers Chocolate Factory for some tasting.

And as if that wasn't enough food for the day....our next stop was the Cherry Shed, for a shared platter of nibbles (including Cherry Relish & Cherry/Chilli Jam) as well as sampling some Cherry Wine, Cherry Liquer and Cherry port...finished off by a Cherry Real Fruit Ice Cream.

But still there was more! A Birthday cake was waiting at home for Ollie - however I let my reputation slip a little and it wasn't even decorated (it was all about the taste this year!) and no photo of it either!

The day was going to be finished with dinner at a fancy restaurant, but being Sunday the place I had chosen wasn't open! So we just had takeaways....got to keep the food levels up!!!!

Thanks to Ruth for aiding and abetting me with my plans, and joining us for the day :)

Exams are over Expedition.

2010-06-03T00:47:00.000-07:00

After a week of exams (one from 9-12 every morning) Ollie was ready for a break, and so was I! Luckily we still had Ruth's car, so we made a plan to get out of town. Starting off with brunch at Campbell town we headed over to the East coast. We'd had a week of mostly sunny weather in Launceston with only one day of rain, and had obviously been living in our own little world as we hadn't realised how much rain they had been having on the East coast. Turned out we were lucky to get through as the road had been closed for a while....we could see why!

We had a look round Coles Bay, and Bicheno. It was a pretty wet day, though despite the crashing waves on the beach it wasn't so windy.

From there we headed up to St Mary's where we braved getting out of the care - to run into a cafe for lunch! We then followed the coast up to St Helen's and then as far along the Bay of Fires as we could go - including Binalong Bay.

The East Coast is supposed to be one of the most stunning parts of Tasmania....shame about the torrential rain when we visited - I bet with the sun shining on the water it would have definitely had the Wow factor. Hopefully we will get a chance to explore this part of Tassie again - in the sunshine preferably so we can get out and walk along the beaches. Was just what we needed though - to get out of town, and have a change of scenery!!

Our next adventure is a trip to NZ to visit friends and family, and for Ollie to say hi to his Boat!

A few wee adventures.

2010-06-01T02:32:00.000-07:00

Been a bit quiet on the blog front - I was away in Taiwan for 10days (for my brothers wedding, but thats a whole other story!), and since then the past month has been pretty quite. Ollie had his Part A exams last week - five 3hr exams (one a day) so he has been very busy studying.

One weekend, when the sun was shining and Ollie's brain reached saturation point, we went for a little drive down the river to Beauty Point.

We sat in a little cafe watching the boats sail on the river. (Made Ollie miss his yacht even more!)

On the way back we drove (and then walked on) the Batman Bridge (which we had been under on our River Cruise).

And watched the sunset over the river

We've had some pretty chilly weather over here, one morning at 9am it was 0.3 degrees!!! Some misty mornings too - I babysat over night a while ago, and the house I was in was on the hill so I could see over the top of the mist that we have in town.

We had a fundraising morning tea at the cafe last week - raising money for the Cancer Council. To add some fun to it we made it a cupcake bake off - these were my creations.

Cruising on the River

2010-04-19T21:48:00.001-07:00

It pays to look at the vouchers on the back of your supermarket docket...you never know when one of them will be handy! We got a voucher for the Tamar River Cruise - buy one get one free, which meant we could treat ourselves to a trip.

So Saturday 17th (April) saw us joining a group of other tourists (most of them from a tour bus and predominantly in their 70s!) on the MV Tamar Odessy for a 4hour river cruise. The cruise takes you down the Tamar river as it meanders its way down the Tamar Valley for about 20miles to the Batman Bridge.

Along the way there were lots of impressive homesteads to look at along the way. As Launceston is one of the 3 oldest cities in Australia there is a lot of history around - the skipper seemed to know most of the history, pointing out things like the oldest church, the first vineyard, a little town created by one of the first Dutch settlers - to mention a few.

The river has a big silt problem - with the topsoil from the surrounding farm land washing off into the river. As the river is tidal, the silt just gets washed up and down the river. We left on our cruise at low tide - when most of the river is mud, but when we came back the river was full of water.

We also saw a sea eagles nest - apparently there are lots of them along the Tamar river, unfortunately we didn't see any!

We got great refreshments on board - including tasting local wines & beer, and some of the great locally made cheeses.

Both of us loved being back on the water - even if it was only a river, and the boat had no sails!

Easter Adventures - Day 3

2010-04-11T23:46:00.000-07:00

Despite waking up to find I'd caught Ollie's flu bug, we were in the car early (the change of daylight savings helped here!) and on the road again. The first stop was Christmas Hill's Raspberry Farm for breakfast. I already knew this was a favourite of mine (having experienced their cheese cake at Festivale, and going there for coffee with Janie on the way back from the yoga retreat) but it was time to introduce Ollie to it.

We had great breakfasts - focussing around raspberries of course. I had the best french toast ever, and a raspberry latte, and Ollie had the big breakfast - including raspberry infused sausages. Was hoping the Vitamin C count in the raspberries would help get rid of the bug! The cafe is in a lovely setting, by a little lake that you can walk around, with the raspberry canes up the hills around it. So after breakfast we had a wander round the lake, before climbing back into the car. Saw a bird that looked quite like a weka...but I don't think it was!

We were heading to Cradle Mountain - one Tasmania's tourist spots, and natural wonders. Along the way though we ducked off the main highway and drove through the little villages - they have some great old buildings in them. We also went via a look out point up on one hill - unfortunately the trees blocked a lot of the view to be had.

Lots of interesting sights along the way as well - including a beautifully clear river with great reflections (and a dam further up the river), interesting road signs, and the change in landscapes.

Cradle Mountain is in one of Tasmania's largest national parks. They have now stopped you from driving into the park to help prevent damage to the place. You must park at the visitor centre carpark, buy a park pass, and then catch the park bus into the park - there are various stops along the 20min drive, depending on where you want to walk. It is also the start of one of the main tramps in Tassie - The Overland Track, a 65km track that most people walk in about 5 - 6 days (a bit like doing the St James Walkway for those of you who like tramping) and also like the St James, some people do this track much faster - in about 7hrs, as part of an adventure race!!!! Both of us being a bit under the weather, we took it easy with a short walk around part of Dove Lake (which was formed by a glacier many many years ago), taking in the view of Cradle Mountain. We also got to see some local flora and fauna, including a wombat!

There was still daylight left (and the last day of having the car) so after a quick bite, we decided to cram in a few more sites. We headed over to the west coast, driving down through the sand dunes til we reached Strahan (pronounces Strawn). Another lovely place by the sea :)

A nice dinner before a drive in the dark home. Ollie managed to squeeze in a trip to the supermarket the next morning to make the shopping easier before he returned the car, and then it was time for Ollie to start studying again, and both of us to rest a bit and get rid of our bugs!!!

Easter Adventures - Day 2

2010-04-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday of the Easter weekend, saw us up and in the car bright and early. We were heading to Hobart for the day (more sea to see!). We stopped in Campbell town on the way for a yummy brunch, before heading down through the centre of the island to Hobart.

We had chosen Saturday for our Hobart visit, so that we could go to the Salamanca Markets - big markets that Hobart is known for. So after juggling our way through the one way system and finding somewhere to park, we set off to explore the markets...which seemed to go on for miles!

Then we explored the waterfront, looking at all the interesting yachts and fishing boats. We even managed (with the help of the camera zoom!) to look at the Sea Shepard boat.

After lunch in a little cafe behind the market, where we ate some yummy local food, we hopped in the car again and drove round the coast a bit (looking at other marinas!) and then headed across the river to look at the other half of Hobart. Got some good views of the harbour bridge, and looked at some more boats :) found a lovely little cafe for a yummy hot choc & cake, before heading home.

We went home via the East Coast - very beautiful coastal drive. We definately made the most of being able to see the sea! Stopped in Swansea for dinner - however by this time it was dark so we didn't see much of the place, or of the drive home after that.

Hobart is a lovely vibrant city, with a great waterfront scene. We definately hope to visit there again, and spend some more time exploring the East Coast.

Easter Adventures - Day 1

2010-04-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

We hired a car for Fri, Sat & Sun of the Easter weekend. We had a very vague plan of places we wanted to see during that time, otherwise we just wanted to explore Tassie...we managed to see quite a bit - clocking up 1600kms over the three days!

Friday morning after picking up the car, we headed north along the western side of the Tamar River. We stopped in to visit our friend Ruth in Deviot for a quick cuppa before heading to Beauty Point, where the AMC has another campus. A quick look at the boats before continuing on to Devonport.

Devonport, built on the mouth of the river Mersey, is where the ferry to Melbourne departs from, so we had to have a look there to see the ships (unfortunately the ferries weren't in when we were there!).

We stopped for lunch in Burnie, another town on the coast - lovely golden beaches. From what we could see (and what the guide book says!) Burnie is quite an industrial town, though they are showcasing more of the local makers and crafters now. Being Good Friday though not much was open, so we kept driving along the coast. We went out to Table Cape - we'd spotted a lighthouse to visit....but we couldnt get very close to it :( We did get a good view along the coast though.

We continued on as far as Stanley - a very cute old town, an a headland called "The Nut"

Ollie enjoyed driving again (despite having a chesty cold) and it was great to be adventuring...we got home in the dark, ready to have more adventures the next day.

"I must go down to the seas again"

2010-04-01T03:21:00.000-07:00

Having been in Lonnie 2mths, we were both missing the sea alot. Lonnie is inland about 50kms at the joining of 2 rivers. And rivers just dont smell the same as the sea! So when we were offered the loan of a car for the weekend, we took the opportunity enthusiastically.

Our plans for where to go in the car automatically included somewhere where we could see the sea, so we headed down to the mouth of the river we live by, to George Town, and Low Head. Some pretty lighthouses there, with an old pilot station complex (that is now accomodation if you want to go stay in little whitewashed cottages). Our first sniff of the sea when we got out of the car was bliss :)

After looking round Low Head we then drove to Bridport, a cute little seaside village, apparently where folk from Launceston used to go for their seaside holidays. Lovely golden sandy beaches, and calm blue bays. Found a nice cafe where we had lunch before continuing on our drive.

We drove through Scotsdale, wasn't much open by this time, so we headed to what the locals call The Stump (and what is actually called The Scottsdale Forest EcoCentre ) - an eco building that houses the Information Centre and one of the Forestry offices.

We completed a loop by coming home via Lilydale - the town that is apparently famous for it's painted poles! (A bit like how Tirau has all the corregated iron sculptures) Turned out that the base of every lamp post or power pole has a mural painted on it!

Was nice to get out and about (and see the sea!) and be able to do the supermarket shopping with out having to worry about carrying it home!!

Next adventure, Easter, when we have rented a car for 3 days :)

Team Building

2010-03-28T02:49:00.000-07:00

Having had a couple of changes to the staff at The Atrium Cafe (where I work), Janie (the owner) invited us to go with her on a yoga retreat...somewhere out of Launceston. The idea being we could get to know each other a bit better, and have some R&R. The others were unable to go, but Friday 12th March saw Janie and I leaving the cafe a little early to drive to the retreat.

It was nice to be heading out of town and seeing another part of Tasmania. Unfortunately for me the weekend didn't start off so restful, within the first few seconds of arriving at the location of the retreat (a lovely farm over near a mountain range I've forgotten the name of!) I managed to stand in the middle of a nest of Jack Jumper Ants. Ants...how bad could it be you say? Well these ants, probably about 1.5cm in length (so much bigger than te ants in NZ) are also biting ants...and not bits like mosquitos or sandflies...but nasty stingy bites that can result in death! Luckily for me I didnt react, but some people have anaphylactic reactions to their bites, and it seems they haven't sorted a reliable anti-venom. For me they were very sore, and gave me a fright...welcome to Australian Wildlife! Luckily the lady running the yoga retreat was on hand with Thyme Oil (a natural remedy for the bites) which worked wonders, and by the next day my toe was only slightly tender when touched.

The weekend was a nice break, a chance to meet some new people and get out of the city. Besides meeting the jack jumpers, I also got to see an echidna (like a hedgehog!), and listen to the kookaburras (they make crazy noises!). Here are a few photos of the farm.

The photo on the left is of the yoga studio - it is built of straw bales.

On the way home, we stopped at Christmas Hills Raspberry farm...they do the best raspberry baked cheesecake :)

The Daily Grind

2010-03-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

We have both settled in to a bit of normality over here. The weeks are filled with Ollie going to school, me going to work, having dinner together in the evenings, Ollie studying and me doing my own thing so as not to distract him from studying :) (this normally involves watching TV, reading or working on a craft project).

Our weekends often involve going out for brunch together - our weekly treat - walking to the supermarket for our weekly grocery shop, and study. The last couple of weekends, Ollie has studied with Wayne and some classmates, while Wayne's fiancee Suzanne and I have spent time together. This weekend just been Suzanne and I went to the Body & Soul Festival. The study sessions often end with a BBQ at Wayne's place.

My job is going well. I work 2.30pm - 5.30pm, Mon- Fri, in The Atrium Cafe. I also get a few extra hours here and there depending on what is happening. Last week we catered for a monring tea - for the opening of a company called Elephant Property, so I prepared most of the food for this, including these cupcakes.

Realised we didnt include a photo of the outside of our place, so here you go :) the garden area in front of our apartment is currently being landscaped so once it has been finished we'll get some photos of that too.

Our place is the ground floor window on the otherside of the ramp.

We often walk along by the river - its a chance to look at some boats.....

A view of the city from one of our twilight walks.

There are often events happening in City Park - which as we've mentioned before we think of it as our back yard. We went to listen to the Tasmanian Youth Orchestra yesterday and had a little picnic.

Not part of the orchestra...but they live in the park!

Might not be able to see them so well, but they are a type of monkey.

And Ollie, head in the books - a very common site!