Day 65 Nubeena Thursday 31st March 2011
At Maingon Lookout - Simon and "the kids"
Richmond Bridge
Richmond Bridge
The Dog Line at Eaglehawk Neck
Hi Folks,
Our day off today. That didn't stop us from doing a few little bits and pieces before we hit the road to Richmond with Tatiana, Jimmy and Melody in the back seat.
We arrived at Richmond around lunchtime and agreed to meet back at the car at 3pm. Susan and I went and had lunch at cafe followed by coffee. We then started a tour of the shops. Richmond is an old established town with structures dating back to the 1820's. it claims to have the oldest bridge in Australia at 1823. Aside from a dozen or so old dwellings including a gaol the rest of the town is tourist shops.
Susan purchased a smart wool jacket and me some socks. Before we had explored too much the kids were on the phone indicating they were ready to go. They of course didn't spend an hour having lunch. By the time we sauntered back it was twenty to three.
We took a spin into Hobart over the bridge and drove around the city block before heading back out over the bridge and to Cambridge where the parking is much friendlier. We had a half hour shopping stop where everybody bought something before heading down the well worn trail to Sorell and back to Nubeena. Since the kids were asleep we took the liberty of heading to Remarkable Cave and waking them up when we arrived. We spent some time admiring the views before heading back to the resort.
Ilan has acquired a new goat to replace Zeus. This one is a sister to Ella our remaining goat.
It was then on to another delicious shared tea and hence back to our room to refresh ourselves for tomorrows labours. We have 40 school kids coming next week for 2 nights and three meals each day so preparation has to be done.
Cheers Simon
Day 64 Nubeena Wednesday March 30th 2011 & Postscript
Rebecca and Ella
Hi Folks,
Not a great start to the day today with Zeus our gelding goat laying dead in the corral. Ilan and I lifted him onto the garden cart and wheeled him out the back. We then dug a largish hole utilising an existing large rabbit burrow and that was that. I did go out and see him last night at around 930 and gave him a pat on the head so that was a goodbye of sorts.
After a quick run around the pool and last minute discussion of what to buy on the way I hit the road for the airport to pick up two new helpers. We returned to Nubeena where I called time for the day workwise at 3:30.
Whilst we are out in the sticks we do have access to government services. I did a Medicare claim through a little booth and hotline they have in the medical centre. Went very smoothly and I will have the money in my account tomorrow.
The weather has turned dirty again with rain and strong winds. We are off tomorrow and are heading to Richmond along with 3 helpers which should be a fun day.
Night folks
Cheers Simon
POSTSCRIPT.......
During the cattle herding
I spent part of the morning on the farm helping Helen, doing various cleaning tasks around the house. I also had the opportunity to help Bob with the cattle once again. All having gone well last time when we moved them from the lower paddock to the higher paddock, the return exercise was approached with some confidence. Thats where it all went wrong.... Bob is quite cautious about moving the cattle to and from the higher paddock as it is only 20 metres from the main Nubeena road. Today Bob wanted to divide the herd for market and introduce the newer creatures to those who were staying to pasture for a bit longer. First the cattle were moved from the higher paddock into the yard adjoining the house and sale pen, once divided the cattle were moved through the gate and introduced to the newbees, then the combined herd of 15 or so were herded to the lower paddock adjoining the beach road.
All went well until 4 of the herd trampled through the bush and got onto the beach (something they have done before) with me in hot pursuit. After a energetic workout trying to keep the creatures together and save my boots from the sea water, Bob came to the rescue on the motor bike. After some fancy stick waving and gentle talking we were able to get the cattle into the paddock. I was swearing under my breath and hoped to hell that cattle can't sense fear, after all they ARE BIG, it wasnt too long ago I wouldnt walk through a paddock of cows so I have come a long way....
I lunched with Helen on delicious fresh picked corn and left over vegetable goulash from last nights chanting, had a chat about various topics then hot footed it out the door to the Zumba class up the road 5 minutes at ther Koonya Community Hall.
An hour later I was on the road heading back to the resort to start work for 2pm.
Life is interesting "on the road".
Susan
Day 63 Nubeena Tuesday 29th March 2011
Good evening,
It was back in the harness today for the oldies after a day off. All the usual suspects were there for me work wise.
Items of note, The chickens flight feathers have grown back and they have been escaping so they were locked in their cage tonight and will have a "haircut" in the morning. The vacuum cleaners here seem to have a high attrition rate. I found another one that is out of service due to broken pins on the plug. I must find an old plug and see how much effort is required to break the pins!
Our gelding goat Zeus is a bit of a concern at the moment. He has been sitting on the ground all day today not eating. I hope he is not going to snuff it as it will require a big hole to be dug to bury him! Besides that I would miss the daily wrestle as he takes off across the paddock with me holding the rope. Actually I have got him sussed out. The best strategy is to run along behind him because he can only sprint for 10 metres or so and then stops. He may be strong be he isn't fit! To paraphrase the old King Gee ad "Don't back chat me I know goats"
One of Susan's tasks today was to get the helpers to do an inventory of the rooms. To facilitate this she had kitchen implements lined up and was teaching the English names to the helpers with much hilarity. For being good students they were rewarded with chupa chups.
This evening Susan went to chanting while I stayed home doing some catch up. Looks like I might have some joy with my walkie talky batteries. I have to send them back to the shop in Adelaide and make sure they go by land parcel post since lithium batteries are banned from airfreight which rules out express post. Obviously in your hand baggage in the form of phones and laptops etc they are ok. Seems to be a bit of a gap in the logic there. Maybe it's because baggage gets rougher treatment than personal hand luggage!
I hear tonight I am driving to Hobart tomorrow (again) to pick up more helpers so there is another opportunity to catch up on some jobs lost. I might get to do some shopping instead!
The great weather continues here. let's hope it lasts until Thursday our day off!
Night all
Simon
It was back in the harness today for the oldies after a day off. All the usual suspects were there for me work wise.
Items of note, The chickens flight feathers have grown back and they have been escaping so they were locked in their cage tonight and will have a "haircut" in the morning. The vacuum cleaners here seem to have a high attrition rate. I found another one that is out of service due to broken pins on the plug. I must find an old plug and see how much effort is required to break the pins!
Our gelding goat Zeus is a bit of a concern at the moment. He has been sitting on the ground all day today not eating. I hope he is not going to snuff it as it will require a big hole to be dug to bury him! Besides that I would miss the daily wrestle as he takes off across the paddock with me holding the rope. Actually I have got him sussed out. The best strategy is to run along behind him because he can only sprint for 10 metres or so and then stops. He may be strong be he isn't fit! To paraphrase the old King Gee ad "Don't back chat me I know goats"
One of Susan's tasks today was to get the helpers to do an inventory of the rooms. To facilitate this she had kitchen implements lined up and was teaching the English names to the helpers with much hilarity. For being good students they were rewarded with chupa chups.
This evening Susan went to chanting while I stayed home doing some catch up. Looks like I might have some joy with my walkie talky batteries. I have to send them back to the shop in Adelaide and make sure they go by land parcel post since lithium batteries are banned from airfreight which rules out express post. Obviously in your hand baggage in the form of phones and laptops etc they are ok. Seems to be a bit of a gap in the logic there. Maybe it's because baggage gets rougher treatment than personal hand luggage!
I hear tonight I am driving to Hobart tomorrow (again) to pick up more helpers so there is another opportunity to catch up on some jobs lost. I might get to do some shopping instead!
The great weather continues here. let's hope it lasts until Thursday our day off!
Night all
Simon
Day 62 Nubeena Monday 28th March 2011
EagleHawk Neck
Lagoon Beach
Lagoon Beach
Mount Wellington in the background
Driftwood
Barnacles on a Raid Aerosol
Tessellated pavement
Tessellated pavement
Tessellated pavement
Tessellated pavement
Hi Folks,
Day off for us today. We started off with a spa and sauna and after a little bit of house keeping headed to Lucky Ducks for coffee. When we went to pay they said "this one is on the house seeing as it is your day off" Bonus!
We then drove to Lime Bay and walked to Lagoon Beach. A nice spot in glorious sunny conditions. I tried to shoot a panorama from the dunes with my video camera but the battery died after about 5 seconds. We walked the length of the beach. At he northern end on the rocks were some reasonable size mussels and a few oysters and lots of cunjevoi. After traversing the length of the beach we returned via different track which was a bit indistinct. However the GPS came into it's own and we bush bashed about 100 metres back onto the track. A total distance of around 10km.
From Lime Bay we drove to Eaglehawk Neck the narrow isthmus that joins the peninsula to the island proper. We feasted on squid and chips followed by fresh berries and ice cream. Next stop was the Tessellated Pavement another interesting weathering feature with the same strata weather in two different ways.
We skipped back to Nubeena in time for our communal tea prepared by Ilan and Lynne which was excellent. We also had a formal introduction to Agnes our new helper from France.
Back to the reality of work tomorrow but at least the weather is looking good! It's a great life!
cheers Simon
Day 61 Nubeena Sunday 27th March 2011
The last night night of our trip away. Dora Point free camp Bay of Fires. 140mm of rain after we left
The view from our unit window in the morning
The view from our door
The indoor, pool, spa and sauna area
Seems all so familiar!
Good Evening,
The weather gods were smiling today with glorious sunshine which bodes well for our day off tomorrow.
Nothing much out of the ordinary happened today. The usual stuff. I have the pools under control although we are not doing all the chemical testing we should do. Because we are a public facility we also need to be doing microbiological testing of the pool and spa. Funny though I can't find any specific reference for a legionella test on the spa. The testing will cost in excess of a hundred dollars a month not to mention the fact the samples have to be refrigerated and delivered to Hobart within 6 hours. That will make the boss happy!
The boss disappeared for the whole day leaving the lunatics in charge of the asylum. We are a gang of 5 at the moment which means I have no assistant to help me with the "man" stuff. We have another female helper arriving tonight apparently plus a couple later in the week. We have spent tonight reviewing our time sheets and realised we didn't have a day off this week (the week finishes on Sunday) so we will have 2 this week.
I emptied the water out of the roof bag again today and dried it out. I will not be recommissioning it until we leave Tassie. In fact the way I feel about it a burning ceremony might be in order!
cheers Simon
Day 60 Nubeena Saturday 26th of March 2011
Hi Folks,
Another routine day in the resort. Gutter cleaning, lawn mowing and being the pool man.
We decided to press our UHF handheld radios into service since I can be hard (or to check up on to make sure I am not goofing off) to find at times as the resort is a fairly large area. Therein lies the latest headache. it looks like both batteries that came with my 5 Watt Uniden unit are stuffed. They don't seem to hold charge. I can buy new ones from Uniden for the princely sum of $130 each! So I am not happy Jan. Mind you I shouldn't be the surprised as the cells and batteries are made in China that bastion of quality manufacturing.
Anyway onto more pleasant things. We went out to a concert entitled "WimminSing" at the Koonya Hall tonight with Ilan and Lynne. The $20 entry fee included a glass of wine. Four local women each sang three pieces and a couple of combined pieces. For some unfathomable reason I did not take my HD video camera so I have posted some very vague video shot on phone cam. Susan and I also drank a bottle of red purchased at the bar plus a cheese platter. We sat at a table of people we don't know so we got to meet some more locals and talk about raising chickens which is a bit of a worry! I might be going yokel. Anyway all jokes aside it was a good evening.
cheers Simon
Another routine day in the resort. Gutter cleaning, lawn mowing and being the pool man.
We decided to press our UHF handheld radios into service since I can be hard (or to check up on to make sure I am not goofing off) to find at times as the resort is a fairly large area. Therein lies the latest headache. it looks like both batteries that came with my 5 Watt Uniden unit are stuffed. They don't seem to hold charge. I can buy new ones from Uniden for the princely sum of $130 each! So I am not happy Jan. Mind you I shouldn't be the surprised as the cells and batteries are made in China that bastion of quality manufacturing.
Anyway onto more pleasant things. We went out to a concert entitled "WimminSing" at the Koonya Hall tonight with Ilan and Lynne. The $20 entry fee included a glass of wine. Four local women each sang three pieces and a couple of combined pieces. For some unfathomable reason I did not take my HD video camera so I have posted some very vague video shot on phone cam. Susan and I also drank a bottle of red purchased at the bar plus a cheese platter. We sat at a table of people we don't know so we got to meet some more locals and talk about raising chickens which is a bit of a worry! I might be going yokel. Anyway all jokes aside it was a good evening.
cheers Simon
Day 59 Nubeena Friday 25th March 2011
Hi All,
Just a short one tonight.
After ingenious Heath Robinson cobbling together of a 25mm irrigation line from the high pressure water supply from the creek to an old fire hose and then to a garden hose and shoving the whole thing into the blocked stormwater pipe from both directions I unblocked it. A small win. Followed by the joy of cleaning 50 metres of gutter. The bloody goats got into the chookhouse last night after I left the door open and vandalised it. I am researching goat recipes to suggest to the boss hehe.
Susan had a busy morning including a trip to see Helen and Bob to do some work in the farmhouse. We are a bit light on for helpers at the moment, although having said that there is only one room to clean tomorrow since the rest of the guests are staying extra nights so there will be a few special projects on the go.
We actually seem to be making headway in settling in and setting up some systems. I am trying to get a handle on what we need to be doing in the pool treatment/testing area to conform to the requirements of the local council.
We had some nice rump steak for tea tonight cooked by myself. I managed to get some flames in the microwave when I was warming the butter. I am not used to butter wrapped in aluminised paper. Fortunately I was standing next to it when the flames erupted so was able to pull it out and extinguish it before any damage occurred. I did fell like a bit of a tool though especially with the hierarchy in the kitchen!
Hope you all have a great weekend. Weekends here are much the same as weekdays really except we don't have the luxury of the support staff so longer hours for Susan on reception.
Next Tuesday we get our first pay! A landmark of sorts
Cheers Simon
Just a short one tonight.
After ingenious Heath Robinson cobbling together of a 25mm irrigation line from the high pressure water supply from the creek to an old fire hose and then to a garden hose and shoving the whole thing into the blocked stormwater pipe from both directions I unblocked it. A small win. Followed by the joy of cleaning 50 metres of gutter. The bloody goats got into the chookhouse last night after I left the door open and vandalised it. I am researching goat recipes to suggest to the boss hehe.
Susan had a busy morning including a trip to see Helen and Bob to do some work in the farmhouse. We are a bit light on for helpers at the moment, although having said that there is only one room to clean tomorrow since the rest of the guests are staying extra nights so there will be a few special projects on the go.
We actually seem to be making headway in settling in and setting up some systems. I am trying to get a handle on what we need to be doing in the pool treatment/testing area to conform to the requirements of the local council.
We had some nice rump steak for tea tonight cooked by myself. I managed to get some flames in the microwave when I was warming the butter. I am not used to butter wrapped in aluminised paper. Fortunately I was standing next to it when the flames erupted so was able to pull it out and extinguish it before any damage occurred. I did fell like a bit of a tool though especially with the hierarchy in the kitchen!
Hope you all have a great weekend. Weekends here are much the same as weekdays really except we don't have the luxury of the support staff so longer hours for Susan on reception.
Next Tuesday we get our first pay! A landmark of sorts
Cheers Simon
Day 58 Nubeena Thursday 24th March 2011
Hello to the few valiant souls still reading,
Today's story starts rather early I thought it was 5:30 when we awoke to the lights on and the heater humming. However apparently the power was back on at 3:30.
This morning in the awakening haze of my mind I was thinking that the people next door were having a long shower and the wall must be really thin. In full awake mode the noise was the gutter outside reception overflowing. I clambered into my water proof gear and lugged the 4 metre step ladder into the rain to remove 15 litres of leaves which was about a quarter of what was there to get things flowing. The other problem gutter outside was out front of our old room and was overflowing heartily due to the pipe under the ground being blocked. This one was not solvable in today's time frame for tasks. I will try the backflush strategy and the sewer snake if it can be found. The last most unpalatable option is to dig the pipe up.
From there the day was the usual scramble of pool testing, goat agistment where I was in the bad books because Zeus ate a branch from the hazelnut tree with other assorted sundries before finishing off with a new 3 pin plug for one of the vacuum cleaners. The first time I think I have seen somebody snap a pin on a plug. There is no such thing as backpacker proof.
I tried to quietly leave at 3 sharp to whiz to Sorell to get my glasses repaired. Susan lagged me in to the boss and before I knew it I was receiving instructions on picking up trees on the intersection of this road and that road when all I wanted to do was to get to the opticians in time for them to fix my specs today. Anyway I managed to picked up the trees in the pouring rain and put a folded sheet and get to the opticians in time. I gave the lady at Eyelines in Sorell a big pat on the back. Not only did she do the job straight away she also installed new bridge pieces all for the princely sum of $5.
It rained steadily all the way there and back and unlike some who complain about the trip I find it quite picturesque. Today it was the mist and rain over the smooth water at Taranna very nice.
I returned to earth at Nubeena where I wheeled out the 7 or 8 bins and the 10 crates of recycling in the rain of course. Before enjoying a good communal tea featuring Susan's rhubarb and peach(because they needed to be used) crumble. I picked the rhubarb a couple of days ago and there is a lot more in the garden for more hot winter desserts.
It's nearly 11 and still raining. The north east of the state has copped the worst. There was 140mm of rain overnight where we free camped at Bay of Fires with road wash aways and general flooding.
Night Folks
Today's story starts rather early I thought it was 5:30 when we awoke to the lights on and the heater humming. However apparently the power was back on at 3:30.
This morning in the awakening haze of my mind I was thinking that the people next door were having a long shower and the wall must be really thin. In full awake mode the noise was the gutter outside reception overflowing. I clambered into my water proof gear and lugged the 4 metre step ladder into the rain to remove 15 litres of leaves which was about a quarter of what was there to get things flowing. The other problem gutter outside was out front of our old room and was overflowing heartily due to the pipe under the ground being blocked. This one was not solvable in today's time frame for tasks. I will try the backflush strategy and the sewer snake if it can be found. The last most unpalatable option is to dig the pipe up.
From there the day was the usual scramble of pool testing, goat agistment where I was in the bad books because Zeus ate a branch from the hazelnut tree with other assorted sundries before finishing off with a new 3 pin plug for one of the vacuum cleaners. The first time I think I have seen somebody snap a pin on a plug. There is no such thing as backpacker proof.
I tried to quietly leave at 3 sharp to whiz to Sorell to get my glasses repaired. Susan lagged me in to the boss and before I knew it I was receiving instructions on picking up trees on the intersection of this road and that road when all I wanted to do was to get to the opticians in time for them to fix my specs today. Anyway I managed to picked up the trees in the pouring rain and put a folded sheet and get to the opticians in time. I gave the lady at Eyelines in Sorell a big pat on the back. Not only did she do the job straight away she also installed new bridge pieces all for the princely sum of $5.
It rained steadily all the way there and back and unlike some who complain about the trip I find it quite picturesque. Today it was the mist and rain over the smooth water at Taranna very nice.
I returned to earth at Nubeena where I wheeled out the 7 or 8 bins and the 10 crates of recycling in the rain of course. Before enjoying a good communal tea featuring Susan's rhubarb and peach(because they needed to be used) crumble. I picked the rhubarb a couple of days ago and there is a lot more in the garden for more hot winter desserts.
It's nearly 11 and still raining. The north east of the state has copped the worst. There was 140mm of rain overnight where we free camped at Bay of Fires with road wash aways and general flooding.
Night Folks
Day 57 Nubeena Wednesday 23rd March 2011
Hi there,
A short read for you tonight as we are short on power. Looks like the whole peninsula is blacked out including us of course. Because we are not on "town" water we also have no water since our pumps are electric.
A dirty day here weather wise with rain and showers driven by a strong north westerly wind. Our tasks today were relatively mundane. We are finding our feet in the senior role so there is a lot to do with respect to understanding the systems or chaos.
I started with the testing of the pools an did some other general maintenance work of minor note. At one stage I was despatched to rescue the goats that I tethered out in the paddock this morning due to the inclement conditions. They didn't seem too perturbed but did gallop at high speed towards their enclosure and head straight into their shelter. The bloody wimps. I also managed to lock my myself briefly in the shipping container today when the wind blew the door shut and the latch half caught. I managed to rock it open. That was a bit scary as its a bit out of the way. Although I am sure in time I would have been missed especially with the van parked outside the door with the engine running.
Susan had the morning off and started at 2. She is trying to reorganise a lot of different areas which would be a lot easier if we didn't have all these bloody guests calling in all the time.
The power outage occurred shortly after the 9 o'clock lock up and caused some excitement. The recorded message on the outage line said "long duration due to the extent of the damage"
The fishing line that holds a lens in on my glasses broke tonight so a trip to Sorell is in order to see if they can be repaired. Looks like the frames are still made so I might be able to get replacement frames seeing as I spent a small fortune getting new lenses before Xmas. However I am prepared. I had my last pair of glasses relensed about 12 months ago for just such an occasion and am wearing them now.
Anyway that's enough for today.
Night folks. Will be interesting if the power doesn't come on in the morning!
Cheers Simon
A short read for you tonight as we are short on power. Looks like the whole peninsula is blacked out including us of course. Because we are not on "town" water we also have no water since our pumps are electric.
A dirty day here weather wise with rain and showers driven by a strong north westerly wind. Our tasks today were relatively mundane. We are finding our feet in the senior role so there is a lot to do with respect to understanding the systems or chaos.
I started with the testing of the pools an did some other general maintenance work of minor note. At one stage I was despatched to rescue the goats that I tethered out in the paddock this morning due to the inclement conditions. They didn't seem too perturbed but did gallop at high speed towards their enclosure and head straight into their shelter. The bloody wimps. I also managed to lock my myself briefly in the shipping container today when the wind blew the door shut and the latch half caught. I managed to rock it open. That was a bit scary as its a bit out of the way. Although I am sure in time I would have been missed especially with the van parked outside the door with the engine running.
Susan had the morning off and started at 2. She is trying to reorganise a lot of different areas which would be a lot easier if we didn't have all these bloody guests calling in all the time.
The power outage occurred shortly after the 9 o'clock lock up and caused some excitement. The recorded message on the outage line said "long duration due to the extent of the damage"
The fishing line that holds a lens in on my glasses broke tonight so a trip to Sorell is in order to see if they can be repaired. Looks like the frames are still made so I might be able to get replacement frames seeing as I spent a small fortune getting new lenses before Xmas. However I am prepared. I had my last pair of glasses relensed about 12 months ago for just such an occasion and am wearing them now.
Anyway that's enough for today.
Night folks. Will be interesting if the power doesn't come on in the morning!
Cheers Simon
Day 56 Nubeena Tuesday 22nd March 2011
Hi Reader,
An early start today with the alarm ticking over at 7am. After loading the baggage of our departees into the vehicle and coffee and goodbyes we hit the road to Hobart arriving at the airport at 9 in good time for the earliest flight. I then took Ady into Hobart as his flight is tomorrow and secured parking close to the land titles office to lodge documents for the resort village development.
It was then out to K&D Hardware to purchase maintenance items and a fruitless trip to the nursery to pick up 20 Blue Gums.
After shopping for food at Sorell I returned to the resort after 1. It was then into the usual pool chores except today was backwash the filters day. We then had a long meeting with the boss (padded out by many interruptions)to discuss future directions. This rounded out the day for me.
Susan worked an extra 3 hours to ensure the bar and kitchen was cleaned up after the shindig last night, she reckons she has washed every glass in the place. Tomorrow she is having a sleep in and starting work on rosters, schedules and procedures in addition to her reception duties.
cheers Simon
An early start today with the alarm ticking over at 7am. After loading the baggage of our departees into the vehicle and coffee and goodbyes we hit the road to Hobart arriving at the airport at 9 in good time for the earliest flight. I then took Ady into Hobart as his flight is tomorrow and secured parking close to the land titles office to lodge documents for the resort village development.
It was then out to K&D Hardware to purchase maintenance items and a fruitless trip to the nursery to pick up 20 Blue Gums.
After shopping for food at Sorell I returned to the resort after 1. It was then into the usual pool chores except today was backwash the filters day. We then had a long meeting with the boss (padded out by many interruptions)to discuss future directions. This rounded out the day for me.
Susan worked an extra 3 hours to ensure the bar and kitchen was cleaned up after the shindig last night, she reckons she has washed every glass in the place. Tomorrow she is having a sleep in and starting work on rosters, schedules and procedures in addition to her reception duties.
cheers Simon
Day 55 Nubeena Monday 21st March 2011
Hello readers,
Tonight's blog will be short because it was a big party night to farewell our 4 helpers and the wordsmith overindulged.
We both had busy days. Mine was interrupted to visit the local call box and sort out my Telstra Bill. Overcharged a mere $570 for the month geez. Susan had the morning showing our new helper Peach from Hong Kong the ropes. She paused for lunch with me and then had a hair cut from Ady one of the helpers leaving today.
I started on the pool and sauna. It's the day with the most tasks on the SOP so it took 2 hours. The afternoon was spent on a myriad of jobs from light globes to irrigation hoses, weed spraying, investigating the resort water supply system, boy that's a nightmare, watering, cutting rhubarb, fighting off the european wasps on the giblets of the 4 roosters that were executed today for tonight's tea so I could bury the remains.
The smallish world syndrome struck again at tea. Graeme one of the guests is organising a performance for "10 days in Tasmania". Part of the story was about bells which prompted Susan to talk about the sounds from the musical fence in Winton (see blog for Day 40 Tuesday August 17th 2010)"Ahh" said Graeme, "I designed and built that!" We then got a bit of an insight into how it came about.
Tea tonight was a terrific affair with a hell of a lot of food prepared and eaten by the 30 attendees and a lot of wine consumed. Anyway must hit the hay, a change of plans tomorrow. I am the chauffeur to the airport in the morning so I better get some shut eye since it is now midnight.
Cheers Simon
Tonight's blog will be short because it was a big party night to farewell our 4 helpers and the wordsmith overindulged.
We both had busy days. Mine was interrupted to visit the local call box and sort out my Telstra Bill. Overcharged a mere $570 for the month geez. Susan had the morning showing our new helper Peach from Hong Kong the ropes. She paused for lunch with me and then had a hair cut from Ady one of the helpers leaving today.
I started on the pool and sauna. It's the day with the most tasks on the SOP so it took 2 hours. The afternoon was spent on a myriad of jobs from light globes to irrigation hoses, weed spraying, investigating the resort water supply system, boy that's a nightmare, watering, cutting rhubarb, fighting off the european wasps on the giblets of the 4 roosters that were executed today for tonight's tea so I could bury the remains.
The smallish world syndrome struck again at tea. Graeme one of the guests is organising a performance for "10 days in Tasmania". Part of the story was about bells which prompted Susan to talk about the sounds from the musical fence in Winton (see blog for Day 40 Tuesday August 17th 2010)"Ahh" said Graeme, "I designed and built that!" We then got a bit of an insight into how it came about.
Tea tonight was a terrific affair with a hell of a lot of food prepared and eaten by the 30 attendees and a lot of wine consumed. Anyway must hit the hay, a change of plans tomorrow. I am the chauffeur to the airport in the morning so I better get some shut eye since it is now midnight.
Cheers Simon
Day 54 Nubeena Sunday 20th March 2011
Another Parsons Bay sunset
Hi Folks,
A long day for the old people today. Susan started on reception at 8:00 with room stripping and the laundry at the same time. I started on the pool/sauna/spa at 9:00 and progressed to room cleaning/weed spraying and more room cleaning with some more water testing late in the day to evaluate the effectiveness of my additions.
We had two rooms of people that did not check out until 2. Popular wisdom was the rooms weren’t needed so leave them until tomorrow. I started them, which was just as well as we had them both booked by 4:00 and are now full again. I think I finished at 6pm and Susan around 8pm.
The main problem today was we were short of heads due to everyone being owed days off from the busy time last week. We had 4 people on days off. It can only get easier, although 4 of the old hands leave this week plus one other helper so that will mean we are a band of only 5 after a new arrival today.
One of our guests tonight was a motel owner from Queensland. Both of us had interesting conversations with him. He currently has managers looking after his motel and says it is hard to find temporary managers so something for us to think about in the future.
In many ways it was like a normal working day that I was trying to get away from However you can’t be on holiday all your life.
The boss was talking about us having 2 days a week off. I am not sure how he thinks that is going to happen, we can but hope!
Cheers Simon
Day 53 Nubeena Saturday 19th March 2011
Callington Windmill
Backyard in the main street of Oatlands
One of many sandstone buildings in Oatlands
"Moon worshipers"
Friends, Romans, Countrywomen,
Which is possibly an appropriate greeting for my day today, well the countrywomen bit.... I will explain....
My day started early with the synchronised ringing of two phone alarms, so that I would be ready for the cheese making workshop. Why is it that I can stay up late and sleep outdoors in the swag and wake at 6:00 after tossing and turning and waking 5 or 6 times and feel totally refreshed, or sleep in a bed wake once and feel knackered? Illogical!!
After tiptoeing around to get ready I whispered sweet nothings in Simon's buried ear (blocking out light and sound) and departed for a 2 hour drive to Oatlands. I hadn't realised that we had actually bypassed this quaint town several times until later in the day when we walked about waiting for our ride.
Ilan travelled to Wynyard to attend an auction of one of his properties and dropped Lynne and I at Oatlands on the way.
The cheese making workshop was only one activity on the days agenda. The day organised by Rural Women Association and sponsored by a number of government and support agencies. About 20 women attended and spoke on topics including diversity of rural women's roles, decision making and change, safe/sustainable food, succession planning for family farms, all quite meaty subjects delivered with enthusiasm and humour. Lynne seized the opportunity to network and "market" the Tasman Village concept which will be officially launched in the coming weeks, when land sales open.
The days proceedings were part of a series which attracted some grant money. The cost of $10 included lunch at Casaveens which consisted of a delicious bowl of pumpkin and coriander soup, baguettes and fruit, topped off with fresh scones and coffee back at the hall.
Participation in a couple of surveys made participants eligible for prizes, I won a substantial voucher to Casaveens which I will probably put towards a gift for Simon's birthday next month. Lynne won some gourmet bread and willow basket from the local bakery, with ground flour from the famous Callington mill, restoration completed in 2010. This is the only windmill of its type in the Southern hemisphere.
The cheese making workshop was most interesting, but more of a demonstration than a workshop, nevertheless we got the idea. Cheese making is quite simple and some types are ready for consumption same day like the haloumi we sampled today. Lynne plans to host a workshop at Parsons Bay, something I might assist organise. The presenter Lance and his wife are an interesting couple who pre-retirement managed an million hectare station in Broome. Lance also writes spicy fiction books, we laughed about the woman who rang him to complain she was lacking sleep after reading one of his books til 2:00am, because she didn't want to miss the spicy bits.... Apparently there is a market for this type of book in the outback sold at roadside cafes, hmm a niche market???
While waiting for our ride Lynne and I explored the main street, noting that Oatlands has a wealth of history and worth a more thorough explore.
On the way "home" Ilan suggested we watch the moonrise at Pirate lookout as the full moon was the closest to earth tonight in 18 years and is apparently 14% larger and 30% brighter. Thick clouds and drizzle meant there was no visible moon, however we commiserated with red wine and nibbles after being joined by Simon, Rebecca, Tatiana, Ady and Nick. The bonfire adding to the ambiance.
Now to sleep as I start in my new "manager" role at 08:00.
Cheers Susan
Day 52 Nubeena Friday 18th March 2011
Rocks - Bay of Fires; not so named for the firey look as people commonly think
More rocks
Oyster Bay near Bicheno
Hi Folks,
A big driving day today. We awoke to a mild sunny morning at The Bay of Fires, so called by an early explorer, who while sailing down the coast sighted many camp fires lit by the natives. The area is picturesque and will be worth a return visit.
After breakfasting we packed and headed on our way. We decided to drive down the coast to Bicheno on our way home. The coastal strip is described as Tasmania's Sunshine Coast and it certainly was today. After having coffee we headed inland and through the historic town of Richmond which looked an interesting place worth returning to. We went to Cambridge on the outskirts of Hobart to visit Anaconda for some socks and shirts on special. I also purchased a bit more fishing gear to replace that which was lost in the last couple of weeks.
We then travelled the familiar route towards Nubeena with a quick stop at Sorell for food and fuel. The trip home was uneventful and we were soon catching up with the news from the resort and a shared tea.
We now have our own unit so we have some unpacking and settling in to do. Susan is off early tomorrow to attend a cheese making workshop with Lynne, while I have to learn the mysteries of pool and spa maintenance. It is only 3 days until the experienced people leave so we have to get up to speed quickly.
cheers Simon
Day 51 Bay of Fires Thursday 17th March 2011
Lilydale Falls
Franklin House (no pictures allowed inside!)
Garden view - Franklin House
Sunset at Dora Point
On the beach - Dora Point
Bienvenue,
Tonight the blog is being typed from beside the campfire at the Bay of Fires on the east coast adjacent St Helens. This area is probably the seaside resort area of Tasmania.
First of all yesterdays forgotten item. When we approached Longford I could see hedges and immediately thought boxthorns. However I was wrong they were Hawthorns another remnant of Tasmania's English heritage and climate.
Today started in Lilydale where our swag was surprisingly undewed apart from under the awning where our sweaty breath had condensed. We breakfasted and packed and then took advantage of the showers which were rustic but hot. We then walked up to the two falls adjacent the camp area which were quite pretty we saw no evidence of the rumoured platypuses.
We drove back to Launceston to visit Franklin House circa 1830 and its garden. The house also serves as the headquarters of the Tasmanian National Trust and was the catalyst for its formation in 1960. One donated item that caught my eye was a trunk belonging to Charles II that he left in Jersey in 1650. The garden had a very large oak tree with a carpet of acorns. I had a whimsical thought about picking up a sack full and travelling the country randomly planting them.
We then headed back toward Launceston Central stopping in Meadow Vale for Susan to visit the bank and to have a midday snack. I then decided to drive in to central lanceston for a quick look never a good idea with the trailer on especially when they don't sign post dead end streets!
It was then onto Saint Helens a trip of around 180km. From there we headed to the Bay of Fires where we are now camped. There was enough time for a short walk on the edge of the estuary before the cooking of tea and lighting of camp fire.
We are currently being circled by bands of marauding possums sort of like the Indians and the wagon train in the old west.
Speaking of Indians it might be time to get out the poppadoms because there has been just a hint of an Indian summer. Now after having researched what an Indian Summer is I now realise that using the term here is totally inappropriate. There is always something to learn.
Anyway the cold is setting in, the fire has died and it's time to hit the swag.
Cheers Simon
Day 50 Lilydale Wednesday 16th March 2011
Pumphouse Bay Caravan Park; Arthurs Lake
Brikenden Village
Brikenden Church
Stained glass
The cook house - Ohh what a kitchen
Conkers to you...
A feast for 2!
Relaxing while the fish is cooking
Hi,
Day 50! It is hard to believe we are up to 50 already.
We awoke to a red dawn at Arthur's Lake. We breakfasted leisurely until dark grey clouds appeared spurring frantic activity to make our kit safe which we did and then the clouds disappeared. Although we were only there overnight and this morning we had several conversations with our neighbours. This camping ground is one of those friendly ones where people want to talk. We will have to return there. Plus the Lake is said to be the premiere brown trout fishing in Lake in Tassy.
After departing we headed off of the central highlands down the steep windy road to the plains at Poatina. Poatina is a little town built in the middle of nowhere to support the power station. All the buildings are built of exactly the same construction in the 60's I guess.
We arrived at Longford and wandered the main street pausing for a coffee and an internet catch up. We had no reception last night which i must say is the exception as the Telstra coverage has been very good.
We travelled to Brickenden which is a World Heritage listed farm and house and garden. The property was settled in the 1820's and farmed with convict labour.
The gardens were English style and I had another flashback to youthful days in England what with all the oak trees but here were trees with conkers! Horse chestnuts! For those of you not of Northern Hemisphere origin an explanation can be found HERE It was a pleasant afternoon strolling around the gardens.
Towards the end I was assailed by a pleasant man from the Presbyterian Inland Mission founded by John Flynn. His brief is to visit rural areas to provide support for farmers. I obviously need to shave and change my clothes more often as I must look more like a yokel then a tourist. With respect to calling them yokels there are all sorts of eccentricities in this world. Two people sitting at a picnic table in a parking bay in the dark typing on their laptops fuelled by extensions cords from an inverter in their vehicle are probably a bit odd as well!
From Longford we drove through Launceston another town which leads me to think no town planners were ever transported to Port Arthur. It is more poorly laid than Hobart.
From there it was on to Lilydale to the free camp where this blog is being typed. Well almost free. To get the key to the shower and laundry you have to pay $50 deposit from which is deducted $6 for each day. Apparently the washing machine has been stolen so the laundry is not much.
For tea we baked our two trout in foil on top of our gas stove hotplate. Very nice. There are three other parties staying here and they have long since gone to bed.
Cheers Simon
Day 49 Arthur's Lake Tuesday 16th March 2011
Morning mist at Lake Burbury
Nelson Falls
View from nature walk lookout
Hi Folks,
It’s about 910pm and we are sitting by the campfire in the Pumphouse Campground at Arthurs Lake. The wood was left by the last people in residence so we thought we would use it. This park is in the Camps 5 book mainly because it is $4 per night per person. Apparently it’s very popular and can be hard to get into peak season.
The day started at Lake Burbury. We toodled down to try our luck with the trout. I managed to loose a nice Helin Flatfish lure and as we were about to leave for camp I realised that my Swiss Army knife had fallen from its belt pouch. Not a great start to the day. We scoured the long gravel and rock banks for about 20 minutes until eventually Susan spotted it. Phew! Big relief.
We breakfasted leisurely and were among the last to leave at after 10, which allowed the dew to dry off the swag. We took the road towards Lake St Clair pausing to stop at the signposted attractions. Nelson Falls then a Nature walk up to a lookout with great views of Mount Franklin and the Franklin River followed by the last stop a “wilderness walk” along the banks of the Franklin and Surprise Rivers. Along the path of the latter a large Beech Myrtle tree had fallen and a section had been cut out to allow a clear path. The cutting was very fresh in fact the foliage on the tree was still in good condition. I took the opportunity to grab a wedge that had been left on the ground for future use and also to cut a section of straight branch for conversion into a walking stick at a later date.
At the lookout we paused to chat to a female cyclist who we first noticed on the drive to Cradle Mountain and who stayed at the Discovery Park. We later saw her at Queenstown and she was also at Lake Burbury last night. She has been riding around Tassie for three weeks and has three days to get back to Hobart.
We arrived at Lake StClair at around three and had afternoon tea and a visit to the visitor centre when I once again resisted the urge to buy nice winter jacket. It was then back on the road towards Hobart turning off at Bronte along the Marlborough Highway towards Miena. The word highway was a misnomer. It was a dirt road in average condition. We were soon at Arthurs Lake and after some initial confusion we finally located the camp ground. It’s a nice spot.
The highlight of the evening was our neighbour popping over and giving us two reasonable sized freshly caught brown trout which are now in our fridge. Something to pop in the camp oven!
Time to hop in the swag for some shut eye. Night folks.
Cheers Simon
Day 48 Lake Burbury Monday 14th March 2011
Dusk at Lake Burbury
The intrepid fisherman
"Chillin"" and "watchin"
Hello!
This evening we are camped on the shores of Lake Burbury for the princely sum of $5. For your money you get toilets with paper but no lights, a shelter hut with no lights and broken BBQ's and a playground plus the opportunity to share a large paddock with about 20 other tightwads in luxury motor homes.
We arose this morning about 815 and after a slow start, during which I unsuccessfully advanced the case for staying longer at Cradle Mountain commenced packing at around 940. The sky was cloudless which was a blessing since the canvas was quite damp from dew on the outside and our exhalation on the inside and we had to wait for it to dry. We eventually left around 12 and popped into the visitor centre for refreshments and a snack and to decide which way we were going which is a good thing to do before you hit the highway. Susan would like to see some of the open gardens which are mostly clustered around Launceston. We decided to travel there in the opposite direction for reasons I can't quite remember. We drove SW through Roseberry and Queenstown where we paused to top up the fuel and visit the IGA. We left Queenstown about 330 intending to stop overnight at Lake StClair. However we came across this spot which did have a tick in the Camps 5 book and decided this would do for the night. The Lake is one for the hydro scheme and looks reasonably full. After tea and a set up of the swag we toodled down to the waters edge so I could pit my wits against the wily trout.
I tied on a 25 year old Celta (an ancient French lure)and after several casts to my shock hooked a trout which promptly jumped out of the water and threw the hook. The jumping indicated it was probably a rainbow pity it was half decent size. Speaking of which the legal length in this dam is a miniscule 200mm!
That was the only excitement of note apart from when I jagged Susan's finger with a hook when we were trying to untangle them in the lure box. Submerged branches claimed the Celta plus a Flopy (another l type of lure) so all in all the fish are well in front.
Today was a rare cloudless warm sunny day. We may yet be wearing turbans! It's a swag night tonight and I shall be hopping into the sarcophagus shortly. It's 945 and Susan is already in there taking the chill off.
The pictures for today will be added tomorrow. Susan's computer is flat so there will be a slight delay. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
Cheers Simon
Day 47 Cradle Mountain Sunday 13th March 2011
Twin Peaks. The LHS one was where the climbers were spotted on top. We walked along the base of these and down through a cleft in the scarp at the left. You can just see a couple of tracks.
Rangers emergency hut
Fagus beech. Australias only native deciduous tree.
Link to Deciduous Beech information
Fireplace in the camp kitchen
General view in the kitchen
Hi all,
Big day for the old people today. We decided to do the Dove Lake upper circuit rated as medium, which for us is getting on towards hard.
The day started off unusually sunny a change in the usual pattern. We started the walk at around 1030. The first section was easy on the lower track. We then climbed up towards Lake Wilks an ascent of about 100 metres. After a short horizontal walk along the edge of the lake we had a fairly testing ascent of another 180 metres until we intersected with the face track, which is the main track along the Cradle Mountain plateau. We then descended around 150 metres as we walked around the rim to Mount Hanson.
The weather was becoming progressively more windy with heavier clouds crossing the sky. We stopped to examine the Rangers Hut which can be used for emergency shelter. We climbed again around 80 metres and reached Mount Hanson and enjoyed the views although we were actually lower than the high point of the walk. The descent began and we were hanging on to a chain for dear life. It was steep! but probably no more than 40 metres in length.
After the chain we were on the exposed ridge and the wind picked up to such a degree we were getting buffeted and in danger of being blown over. I estimated it was around 80km/h. We then had to do another ascent albeit a small one which was certainly testing in the conditions. However we battled on and were soon descending down towards the car park in warm sheltered sunny conditions.
We were passed by 2 walkers and I enquired if they were the people I had seen right at the top of Little Horn the craggy peak above the face track. Yes it was them they had done 3 peaks on the day. In summary it was an enjoyable and testing walk that certainly illustrated the changeability of conditions on the mountain. Total walk time 5.5 hours and distance 8km.
We adjourned to the visitor centre for a coffee and hot chocolate before returning to camp for tea. We have decided to move on tomorrow in the general direction of Mount Field near Hobart though the finer details are still being worked out.
The weather closed in a bit tonight and it is noticeably colder so a good time to move on.
cheers Simon
About half way up.
View from the face track. Ignore the narrator. We did not have to climb the rear peak it was actually the one just to the right.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)