Category: Travel

The Big Day Arrives!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our Move to Sisters Beach Tasmania:

Well the big day is tomorrow Thursday November 21st. I will be driving from where I live in Oatlands to Geeveston to pick up Vanda and Polly. I live in the Southern Midlands which is almost in the centre of the state. It takes around two hours to drive to Geeveston. It’s strange to think it will be the last time I go to that house. Of course I have to time it right to avoid movers, cleaners and anyone dropping by to say farewell. I am taking my two boys Toby and Teddy for the drive so we will aim to get there for around lunch time. From there we will drive back to Oatlands where we will have a break. Vanda will grab us a snack and make tea while I repack the car as I will have to put some of my own things in there including a folding lazyboy to sleep on as we will not have a stick of furniture until Friday. Of course the reason for the repacking of the car is to ensure that Wazza’s space is used efficiently and to give poor Polly some air as it is a very long trip. She may want some water before the next stretch to Sister’s Beach which will take us three and a half hours. We are all of course quite excited and can’t wait to get there. There has already been quite a lot of excited chatter about what we will do while I have a little time off work. We hope to explore a bit and take some photos of the surrounding areas and of course choose some paint for painting our home’s interior.

Last Friday I took the boys and went to collect the keys so we would have them ahead of time. It meant no stopping and waiting in Wynyard for them at the real estate office. We had a lovely day at the house just looking around. I did a bit of cleaning and made some notes on what jobs would have to be done. I noted we would need the services of a sparky but we could do the painting ourselves to save money. The boys explored the garden and ran into every room of the house. They were puzzled by the stairs and poor Toby struggled with them at first. They have not had a lot of experience with stair cases and this one is fairly steep. It was fun to watch them sniffing new smells and making their own discoveries as they trotted about. While I was there I took a few snaps of the empty house and the beautiful garden while in full bloom. It certainly had the “Wow” effect on me after my boring garden. I put together this slideshow as a sneak peak. So welcome to our new home and see you all again soon.

 

 

Hobart’s architecture from colonial to modernism — No Visible Means Marketing and Communications -Reblogged.

Hobart’s architecture from colonial to modernism was on show at Open House Hobart 2019

Hobart’s architecture from colonial to modernism — No Visible Means Marketing and Communications

Andrew Ross from No Visible Means Marketing and Communications recently published this post about Open House Hobart. I have attended it once and it is a fascinating event where you get to peek into buildings that are not normally open to the public. We have some really interesting buildings around Hobart.

Sisters Beach: First Impressions

Naomi and I are just back from our trip to Sisters Beach. We left Oatlands early on Thursday morning. It is a long drive but despite wet weather and roadworks we made good time and had time for lunch at the local shop and a quick drive around the neighbourhood before going to the house.

We were hoping to show you some photos of the house but due to some miscommunication between the owner and our real estate agent, we arrived to find that the tenants were in the process of moving out. We were able to have a look around but didn’t take any photos inside we will have to keep you in suspense for a couple more weeks.

We did manage to take some nice photos of the beach between showers though. It’s just as beautiful as we thought it would be. Here are a few of my photos and below Naomi’s photos and impressions of the day. I have read that it is possible to see whales and dolphins from the shore at this time of year and I am looking forward to that. Once we get settled we’re going to research the history of the area a little more and we’ll share what we find here.

Sisters Beach Tasmania
Fishing Jetty
Jetty.
Sisters Creek

Well, the big day finally arrived on Thursday, November 7th after much anticipation. I got up early and made some breakfast for each of us and then after settling the dogs we piled coats and cameras into Wazza and set off. November has been very cold. In fact, it has not been much of a Spring at all. We have been having temperatures of eight and nine in Oatlands and the weather all the way to Sisters Beach did not look promising. It was rather a gloomy day with wind and rain but we left in high spirits to the sound of some of our favourite 70s and 80s artists. With stopping for fuel along the way I think we did the trip in three and a half hours.

Sisters Beach, of course, is on the north coast near Burnie and Wynyard. Burnie is a city while Wynyard is a very large town. So if you are thinking of looking it up on a map that is where you will find it, 12 kilometres west of Wynyard. We got there a little early as I had suggested leaving early to allow for the seven-year Midland Highway upgrades and other problems that might occur throughout our journey. As it was raining we had taken it a little easy. Despite this, we had plenty of time for lunch and a little drive around the neighbourhood. I was pleased to see that there were still quite a few of the original little timber houses still standing. 
GE DIGITAL CAMERA
An original Sisters Beach home

Around by the beach, we found a nice park. There was a playground for the children and a lovely lawn area. There were clean toilets and a large car park. We found a few paths leading to different parts of the beach. It was raining so we only had a quick walk on the beach. I decided to take my photos later if the weather cleared up a bit. We went to the one and only General Store which is the heart of the community. They have meetings there for the town as well as selling take away food, the paper and other odds and sods. We got some hot chips and a hot drink each and stayed there until it was time to go to the house. To pass the time while we waited for our food we checked out the notice board and watched to see if any locals and holidaymakers would enter the store. I was all ready to suss them out. Well, the big moment finally arrived and we drove over to Buz Street. Our home faces Lagoon Street. Buz Street is just an alley to connect Lagoon to Honeysuckle so I had to park on Lagoon. I found I could not park at our house as there were numerous vehicles including the tenants moving van.  I found a spot behind the agent’s car across the road. The scene looked pretty chaotic with people packing up, cats and huge barking dogs that were not thrilled to have visitors. Still, we ventured inside and had a bit of a look around since we had come all that way. The house was in an uproar and the agent was, of course, curious about us and asked us about ourselves and our plans. We happily chatted as we explored the house trying to picture our furniture in the various rooms. The idea had been to measure the spaces and match them up with what we had written down in our notes but I found the presence of the agent and the tenant who had stayed back rather distracting. This is our house.

GE DIGITAL CAMERA
Our new home (not my car)

I was thrilled with the house as it had big rooms, two kitchens and multiple bathrooms giving us choices. We’ll explain about the rooms later. The fancy red carpet is just right to go with my dark timber furniture. Outside there is a good-sized laundry, a double garage, gazebo and covered walkway to get to them. We also have a lovely big balcony where we can sit and enjoy the fresh air. We will take photos as soon as we can get back there so watch out for those at a later date. So after looking around at the gardens and chatting with the tenant, we thought we ought to leave so we went back to the beach and had another drive around. Here are a few pictures I took while at the seafront.GE DIGITAL CAMERASisters Creek meeting the sea.

GE DIGITAL CAMERA
I found the beach lovely and clean.
GE DIGITAL CAMERA
Big waves came rolling in.
GE DIGITAL CAMERA
Rocky Cape 
GE DIGITAL CAMERA
I don’t know that the little island is called yet.
GE DIGITAL CAMERA
Sisters Beach from the beach.

 

A Photo A Week Challenge: Neighbourhood

Goodbye Old Neighbourhood

In just two more weeks I’ll be moving away from my home of the last seventeen years. My immediate neighbourhood is the small group of houses that lies between Geeveston and Port Huon.

I consider Geeveston to be my wider neighbourhood because although the town is two kilometres away I have spent so much time there visiting the shops on Church Street, volunteering at the Op Shop and the local radio station at different times and attending local events.

This is my neighbourhood.

  • Maker’s on Church St, Geeveston
  • Geeveston Post Office
  • Our visitor centre in disguise.
  • One of the wood carvings in Geeveston.
  • image plaque
    This plaque is in the main street.
  • An old Ute on the roof of Michelle’s Roadhouse Kitchen (formerly Geeveston Roadhouse.)
  • Geeveston Op Shop.
    Outside the Geeveston Op Shop.
  • The forner Geevestson Fire Station.
  • log truck

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Blue

Just Another Blue Day

Here are some photos that I took specifically for this challenge during our visit to Sisters Beach yesterday. The weather was very changeable with heavy showers followed by short fine breaks. I thought that the colour of the sea and the sky suited the theme very well. Aren’t these clouds dramatic?

Uluru

On Friday, 25 October 2019 Uluru was closed to climbers permanently. Tourists, both international and Australian have always considered the climb a bucket list item but the local Anangu people consider it a sacred place and have always asked that visitors do not climb.

In 1985 the lands surrounding Uluru, then more commonly known as Ayers Rock, were handed back to the Anangu people to administer. Climbing the rock was not immediately banned but over the past thirty-four years, they have tried to steer tourists into other activities. As time passed fewer tourists did make the ascent and it was agreed that when the number of tourists who were climbing dropped to less than 20% of visitors the climb would be closed permanently. The decision was made in 2017 and the date of closure was announced some months ago. Over the last few months, a lot of people have rushed to have a last chance to do the climb. Many people on social media have made scathing comments about it being disrespectful but it is what always happens when people realise they will only have a limited time to do something or see something. They want to be there, the last sailing of a ship, a last train journey, the last time in a favourite hotel. It’s human nature I guess. I can understand it.

Uluru in the distance
Our first glimpse. Photo David Jensen

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post or two David and I visited Uluru in the 1980s with a penfriend of mine from the USA. I think this was just before or around the time that the land was handed back to the Anangu community.

At that time tourists were requested not to climb the rock out of respect for the beliefs of the owners but it was not outright forbidden. My friend and I did climb it.

In hindsight, I don’t know why we did it except to say that we had done it because it was “a thing”. Perhaps it was to conquer our fears because both of us were afraid of falling. I didn’t intend disrespect to the indigenous owners but I knew very little about their culture and beliefs.

Uluru NT
Christie near Uluru

I suppose that I should say that I’m sorry I climbed but I’m afraid I can’t do that. It was a special experience to be there. I remember how I felt the age of my surroundings and how it felt calm and peaceful at the summit.

In recent years when the subject of closing the climb has come up, I’ve felt relieved that my ageing body would no longer allow me to climb safely even if I wanted to. I wouldn’t have to make the decision. But if I were suddenly granted the body of a twenty-something would I go? Probably not, I may not understand the reasons any better than I did then but ultimately I think I would respect the culture in the same way that I’d accept the rules of any religious structure I visited, covering my head, removing my shoes or whatever is asked.

37 people have died whilst climbing Uluru, many more have collapsed due to heat, dehydration or the exertion of climbing. As I said, I was in my twenties when we went and moderately fit. We saw much older people struggling to get up there. We also saw people who ran up. I believe people have taken bicycles up as well. It’s really not the safest place to be. On Friday morning it was very windy at Uluru and the rangers were obliged to delay opening the track for safety reasons causing a lot of consternation amongst the line of waiting visitors.

I have added some links to news articles about the closure below if anyone would like to read more about the subject.

Uluru photo was taken on holiday around the early-mid 1980s. I have cleaned the picture up a bit as there were a few dust spots but the colours are what I saw.

Further Reading:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-24/uluru-climb-closure-gives-voice-to-other-groups/11634498

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/hundreds-queue-for-last-chance-to-climb-uluru-before-ban-is-enforced/news-story/0344f36da37867416d8685857bfc35d3

https://www.9news.com.au/national/surge-in-visitors-to-uluru-for-last-chance-to-climb-landmark-rock/59dc749c-7a1c-4dd4-a997-6e0dc225dfe0

Snapshot Sunday: The Red Bridge – Campbelltown, Tasmania

Convict labour built this bridge at Campbelltown which is on the main road between Hobart and Launceston. It dates back to 1838.

The Red Bridge, convict built bridge, Campbelltown Tasmania