This little piggy...

So I saw something today that made me smile. Two girls walking the family pet - a small black pig. Restrained in his/her little harness he/she was quite content to go for a walk and smell the flowers and the grass and the newly sown topsoil in next door's new garden bed. The size of a medium dog the little piggy trotted around Artarmon with the air of a pure bred afghan, not seeming one bit out of place in this Northern Sydney suburb. I hope I see it again soon...!

NBN Co.

We recently had our first experience dealing with council planning applications. NBN Co wanted to put up a 45m tower just off our road opposite our neighbours' place. Suffice to say the residents in the vicinity were not happy and we all put in council submissions to have the application in its current form, refused. Happy to say that the system worked and NBN Co are working out another option.

Still not sure how the council would have gone though - NBN withdrew the application after receiving so many complaints from residents about the current proposal.

Similar tower to NBN proposal

I don't believe anybody is against the need for the tower and this is not a NIMBY issue. I'm happy for the tower to be build just not so close to the road. The proposal had the 45m tower in 25m from our pretty little country road. I've heard that they are looking at moving it further down into the block which should be fine.

The NBN will be of huge value to the area opening up lots of opportunities for business, health and education. Only the towns will be on fibre though. Most of the region will be high-speed wireless- hence the requirement for additional towers. Definitely no fibre coming up our street! But we are on top of a hill with line of site to Mt Wellington, so will have no problem getting a strong signal.

What an exciting piece of national infrastructure - particularly for regional Australia.    

The Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
   That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
   A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
   And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
   Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
   In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
   In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
   Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth

We have half an acre of daffodils at the bottom of our block...

Yes. That really is our place!

Power to the people (...us!)


Woohoo! Finally a development at our block. Electricity!

Geoff went down a couple of weeks ago and worked with a local electrician to run power underground from the house site up to a pole at the road. I have it on good authority (our neighbours', whose power will be out) that Aurora are connecting it today to the grid.


Geoff and Dennis marvelling at man's ability to generate electricity...



Digging the trench.

Made it to the house site!



It's a long way from the road.

 

 

Damn Dam

Geoff's keen eye spotted a problem with our top dam while he was there. The front wall had been compromised and was leaking water. The boys used the excavator to add some dirt and Geoff dug a new trench at the side to divert the water. The next day it looked much better. I'm anxious to see it in December (our next trip). Major dramas if the dam collapses... 5 stars to Farmer Geoff though - he saved the day! First of many rescues I'm sure.





'Ah, Em. I think there's a leak in the dam wall...'



'I know! A bucket load of dirt...'



'Pat it down nice and firm...'



'Maybe not firm enough...'



'I'll just dig a new trench to divert
the overflow.' What a superstar!

I was disappointed I couldn't go down as well but I couldn't get off work. Geoff went down with a friend and had a great time working hard and getting dirty. We are having Christmas down there this year. Can't wait!

Photos courtesy of Stu Runyard.

Get to the point!

For all this blogging you could be forgiven for thinking that all we do is holiday in Tasmania. But I assure you we are making way with our plans for the farm.

Aurora energy have said that they will run the extra wires to our place for nothing which was excellent news. The power lines stop at either side of our property frontage and we were thinking that it could be expensive to get it to us. They said they would need to upgrade the transformer (Geoff?) but they will pay for that. Quite a relief. Mind you, we still need to run from the shed site to the road. This could cost a bit as we would like it to go underground. Geoff has organised a neighbour to provide a quote (we have two electricians on our road - Geoff makes a third...) so we'll see how that goes.

Once we agree on the quote we will hop-to with the power as we would like to get a shed built. I'm saying before the end of this year but seeing as it is July already I think that is a bit ambitious. If it's built within the next twelve months I'll be happy. I can't wait to have a place to put all my tip-shop finds!

I am still confused as to what design to use for the house but here is something I knocked up on Google Sketch - a nifty little drawing program.

Part 2...

Tasmazia

Before we left the Cradle Mountain area we spent an afternoon at another magical place nearby, Tasmazia.  

Sick of farming his dairy, the self-proclaimed "Laird Crackpot of the Village of Lower Crackpot" turned his farm into a fantastical monument to art, eccentricity and childish silliness. On a beautiful day you can roam forever through the Great Maze or imagine you are running from a King Henry VIII beheading through a replica of the famous Hampton Court maze. There is a confusion maze "made by a woman" and a mad Irish maze. So much more and so much fun. 

Looking out over one of the mazes to Mt Roland.

A corridor in the "Great Maze".

The Village of Lower Crackpot behind the "Confusion Maze".

Follow that cat!

Strahan, Macquarie Harbour and the Gordon River

Our next stop was Strahan on the West coast. A quaint, sleepy little village.  A bit on the twee side but charming nonetheless. The real treasure of Strahan is the surrounding natural beauty in Macquarie Harbour and the Gordon River. We did two tours while we were there - the Bonnet Island Experience and the Gordon River Cruise.
Bonnet Island was great - a small tour on a small boat to a small island near the mouth of the harbour to see small penguins (well, Little Penguins anyway). Oh, and there was wine and cheese!

Leaving Strahan at sunset for Bonnet Island.

Bonnet Island

On Bonnet Island

Waiting for the penguins.

The next day was our boat cruise up the Gordon River. Not before a heart-stopping trip through the very narrow and treacherous harbour passage, Hell's Gates.

Leaving Strahan again.

Bonnet Island - where we were the night before.

The small passage on the left is the only way in for large boats -
on the right is a sand bank.

Scary. It looks calm but there are massive currents pulling you every which way.

Looking into the harbour.
The breakwater on the right was built by convicts to make the passage marginally safer.

Into calmer waters now - the Gordon River.

Entering the Gordon River.

Sarah Island - convict settlement.

Ocean Beach

We drove out to Ocean Beach and took the car for a spin on the sand. Was so much fun - but constantly worried about getting bogged then swamped at high tide!

Ssh! Don't tell Mum and Dad we took their car on the beach ;-)

Driving over the mountains to the Highlands.

The Wall

Special mention here for The Wall. A 100m long wood relief carving depicting scenes from Central Highlands history. It is a monumental feat by artist Greg Duncan who works quietly and privately on each of the 3m high panels in his studio at Derwent Bridge. Once finished (hopefully a year or two), I believe it will be one of the great art works of Australia.  Very deserving of a place in Parliament House or the National Gallery. However, it's home is Derwent Bridge and somehow it wouldn't be right to remove it to the mainland.

Tarraleah

Our next camp was in the Highlands at Tarraleah. It is an old hydro electricity town. You can camp or stay in a house or go posh at The Lodge. Lots of things to do here. My favourite were the Highland cattle. I wasn't such a fan of the extremely low temperature in the tent though...

We should have a sign like this at work.

I felt like this was a photo from a 70's roadtrip - you know the kind, with all the kids standing around in shorts, singlets and terry towelling hats...

Moooo cows!!

While at Tarraleah, we made a day trip to the Lake St Claire National Park. Some pretty bushwalks revealed unique birdlife and magical forests. Unfortunately, I sprained my ankle and put a stop to proceedings...

Very happy to come across a Pink Robin on a bushwalk
in the Lake St Clair National Park.

...and some weird coral-looking fungus.

Ahh.. the valley...

After driving around for a while we finally made it back to the Huon Valley.

Moon River Retreat, Cygnet.

Focus on Franklin

While we were visiting Franklin the town fair, Focus on Franklin, was on. It was a fun day with lots to see and do. The weather was crap (cold, wind and raining) but there were sunny patches to dry out your rain jacket and it didn't seem to bother anyone.
The highlight for me was the great Salmon and Apple race. Signs all around the valley in the leadup to the day hinted at what a spectacle this may turn out to be - Just what is a Salmon and Apple race? I asked myself this question many times before the big day.
Turns out that it is two different races...
We missed the apple race but I don't think it varied much from the salmon race. The latter involving carved wooden salmon (in the case of the apples, I think we can assume fresh) each adorned with a jaunty numbered flag. The contestants are rowed out to the middle of the river and set free by some charming Rotarians to swim (float - be dragged by the current...) their little hearts out downstream to the finish line. Just where that finish line is I wasn't quite sure but by one Rotarian's reckoning was "aw, whenever it's over"  - the race presumably. To me it seemed when everybody got bored and left to get a hot scallop pie.
There was a fabulous demonstration of the Franklin Light Horse and all the usual food, wine and crafty goodies of the region.

Tension mounts as the Salmon Race competitors are ferried to the starting line.

And they're off!

The Franklin Light Horse - these guys were great.

A typical sight in Franklin.

Heading Home

After my parents visited for a weekend it was time to go home. Geoff had to get back to work quickly so he and my parents flew out together. I had the pleasure of a leisurely drive back to Devonport for the boat back to Melbourne. On the way I stopped at Ross and Oatlands on the Heritage Highway. I felt like I had been transported back in time. Very charming towns.

Callington Mill at Oatlands.

Time to go...

Wine and cheese on deck :-)

Bye Tassie! See you next time!