Oyster Cove

I have spent the last week enjoying the great summer weather we have been having.   Day after day of clear sunny weather with temperatures in the mid to high 20's.  

 We took the kids  fishing at Little Oyster Cove.   Summer caught  the only fish for the day,  an undersized flathead.   She was very pleased with herself.   She managed to catch the fish with a lure,  I was a bit surprised  given that flathead usually reside on the bottom.   Unlike anywhere around Melbourne,  the rocks here are covered with shellfish,  mostly oysters but also muscles.

Oyster cove is the next cove north from Little Oyster Cove Kettering.  It is  about 5 minutes by car from the house.  It is bigger and more open to the weather.   It is notable that Oyster Cove was where Truganini was settled in 1856.   She is  considered the last full blooded Tasmanian Aborigine.    The treatment of Tasmanian Aborigines in the 1830's is hard to fathom.  They were essentially rounded up and deported,  some to Flinders Island some to Melbourne.  Most died from disease.

Weather wise,  today was described by a local as a stinker.   It was 35.   I picked the kids up from school at 1450,  we were at Conningham beach by 1500.  It was lovely in the water,  cool and refreshing.  Evidently lots of the other school mums had the same idea,  kids had a great time.


gaz

tunes

Music is  part of my life.   Llistening to it  and playing it.     
I have spent the last five years in a job that involved a commute of between 45-60  minutes each way,  about a 100k round trip.     Interestingly I found the time spent on the freeway was not wasted,   I used it to enjoy listening to music.   I'm not a big fan of commercial radio,  they tend to play tend to play the same old crap over and over.     I find this frustrating because there is so much classy music on Records that just doesn't  get any airplay.   I can understand this with pop artists,  the record companies have invested  to produce the music and they dictate airplay to ensure a $ return.   What I don't get is the Golden oldies radio stations that could play diverse classic rock,  but instead continue the model of playing old chart topping singles over and over.    Its a bit like listening to a bad wedding band.   

I have realised  that I live in a musical timewarp and suffer musical developmental delay.   I have identified  my musical time lag,  it's about 10 years generally,  although occasionally something new breaks through to me.   I tend to warm to new artists slowly.

There are a lot of advantages to being musically retarded.  You rarely have to pay full price for a new (10y old) CD,    municipal libraries have a great selection and your friends are surprised  that you have never heard of or listened to ( insert band name here) and that you don't have  the CD and then insist that you borrow it from them.    I have a number of cds that I do not recall buying and  I really should return.    

The other great thing about being musically retarded is that I am usually just discovering bands when they start releasing  Greatest Hits albums.    This is not a bad thing surely?    Using my iphone for my music library is  my greatest tech achievement to date.

So what have I been listening to lately?

  Absolute Garbage .   This is a great compilation,  worth listening to with good head phones in a quiet  room.                                               !

Foo Fighters.   how did I miss these guys?

Instead of sitting in traffic 2 hours a day,    I have been slow moving on the mower,    ear pieces in and ear muffs over the top.   The music makes an already pleasant task  even more enjoyable and encourages thought and contemplation.


gaz

We arrive in Tasmania

Retro spective blog,   (10 days with no Internet/phone -  bloody Telstra!)

We arrived in Devonport  on the morning of the 10th of Jan.   After  some what rolly crossing and a fairly poor nights sleep,  it was a relief to be woken at 0530 by the paging system,  announcing that we were due in at 05:55 and could all drivers be ready to head to the garage decks at 0600.  
The main thing I noticed at this time was that it seemed insanely early and that the ship was no longer impersonating a top load washing machine.  
Every one up and  in the lounge by 0600 ready to disembark.
Curiously the onboard ship cafe stop serving coffee at 0600 and close up.

Getting off the ship is almost as tedious as getting on it,   they page you to the Garage Deck and then get you to sit there for nearly an hour,  wishing the whole time that you had a)  a coffee,  and b) had gone to the toilet.

Breakfast at Devonport Golden Arches drive through.  "Could I get an extra OJ?"  I ask at the second window.   "No,  we are very busy,  you will have to come inside and order again"
"Really,   an extra OJ,  I've got correct money"   I say.
"No,  It can't be done".  
At this point I realise that I am in fact being served by the store manager.  
I move on,   one juice short.

The  trip to Hobart is a delightful drive,  just under 300kms.   we stopped at Longford for fuel.   It is a lovely small country town.     The kids had a play in the local park,  I couldn't decide if the memorial for Servicemen was respectful or not.  

Gaz

8 days till we go

Sea changes or T changes seem to be the thing to do these days.

McCredden Family.   Corinna Summer Ella Will & Gary

Please feel free to follow the adventures of the McCredden Family's Southern transition.  Apologies for the spelling and poor grammar.

 

We are moving from busy Mt Martha Victoria to not very busy Kettering Tasmania.   It is a small fishing village with a population of almost 1000 about 26 km south of Hobart.     It has a post office,  petrol station,  a hotel and a chocolate shop.    We have bought a block of land with a shed  and we plan to build.  We haven't quite decided what to build,   maybe a Muddie or strawbale or a Hempie.   Something Sustainable.

 

Our House in Mt Martha



Our shed in Kettering Tasmania

The Shed has potential,   although is was abit cold and drafty when we camped in it in september.    We had to share it with a couple of noisy brushy tailed possums.   I don't think they liked having guests.