Dark MOFO.    Hobart is in it's grips!   This is not a revolution or uprising,  nor is it a racist rant.   It is  a Arts festival celebrating the winter solstice.    lots of lights and music .   Large scale public art.   The opening was marked by turning on a bloody great big light,    apparently it is the intellectual property of the artist  Ryoji Ikeda.   


Its called 'beam in thine own eyes'   The picture does not do it justice.   on a clear night the beam of light is supposed to go 15km up.   It probably does,   we can see the light from our place in Kettering which is 30 ks from Hobart.    
I wonder what MOFO actually stands for ?

Went to Bruny Island last weekend.   had a good day.    Went down to Cape Bruny to see the light House.   Its in the South Bruny National Park.   An interesting fact that is not on the national parks website is that there is an entry permit scheme,   which involves  putting $24 dollars in an envelope and posting it in the box.   I personally thought it was abit steep for a half hour visit.   They clearly don't spend the money on the road. 

I haven't had my stuff together the last few days.   I know this because on Saturday I bought some boots and left my visa card in the store.  I discovered this when I went to pay for lunch and realised I didn't have it.   I  went back to the workwear shop but this being a Saturday in Hobart the bloody shop shut at twelve.    Today I had to go into town (Hobart) to get it.   Uneventful trip apart from stopping to get petrol on the way.    I was surprised and somewhat embarrassed  to discover that they have a 'unable to pay account' form that I needed to fill in along with a promise to come back and  pay the account today.

Spent some time this afternoon putting together a hot house.

 

The instructions were a bit hard to follow and I managed to break 2 of the pieces. 

It's only tiny and I have to duck to get through the door.   I hope to grow some seedlings for the vegie garden.   It remains to be seen if the wild life will allow me to do this..











coffee

Coffee.    I was in our local bakery yesterday  grabbing a Coffee.   I found myself asking the bakery girl if they had Raw Sugar.    The look she gave me said it all.   I am still very much a Mainlander.

Bushfire recovery

Saturday before Mothers day we took a trip down the Tasman Peninsular.   This is down the road towards Port Arthur, south east of Hobart,  through the areas that were affected by the January Bushfires.   We thought it might be a good opportunity to support the local businesses.   We bought a great lunch from the Dunally Bakery and took some time to drive though the township that was burnt to the waters edge in places.
The picture above was immediately post fire.   It was burnt to the ground on January 4th and with community support and I suspect a lot of effort it was able to re open in early feb,  only one week after school went back.








Other parts of the Town are slowly being fixed.   Lots of  bare blocks with Caravans and water tanks.   Now that the weather has started to cool down I wonder what sort of winter these residents are going to endure.   One upside  is that there is vast quantities of scorched firewood being cut and stacked.   This seems to be a Tasmanian obsession,  again I wonder just how cold winter is going to be.

We proceeded further down the peninsular,  stopping and looking at great places like EagleHawk Neck,  Sommers Bay,  Pirate Bay,  Tesselated Pavement,   the Blow Hole and Devils Kitchen.

 

 

 



 

The most surprising thing for our day out was that  no one got wet,   not even Will

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its not winter yet.

Autumn in Tasmania is proving to be delightful.   Cool fresh clear days with blue skys.    Colors changing across the landscape,  woodfires burning,   people getting around in puffer jackets.   Flannelet and wool shirts,   beanies and scarfs  are common.    It is interesting that there is not the 'Bogan' association that exists between flannelet and jeans in Melbourne.   Most of the shirts I've seen worn have been carefully ironed and are tucked in,  even if the wearer is wearing tracksuit pants!

Tas School holidays have been and gone.   we managed to all get to Melbourne for a few days.   It was good to catch up with family and some friends.   We spent one day up at Kilmore,   the kids had a great time,  the quad bike was a hit.   It was interesting to see the different ways the kids operated the bike.   Ella and Kiri were like timid old ladies puttering around.   Summer and Will wanted to go fast and hear it roar.  it was a it frightening really,   sitting on the back yelling "Slow!".   the kids thought it was funny,  the more you yelled the faster they tried to go and the more they laughed.  I'm not sure where they they got that from!

A Snap shot of me at work.  I look like a bit of a twit really.   a medical version of a great Australian inventor/bushranger.   I was being fitted for a Duckbill mask,  to keep me safe from airborne viruses such as swine flu or bird flu.   The process involves initial testing where you  are sprayed with a bitter aerosol just to chk that you can taste it.  This only takes a minute or two.    About an hour later  the testing resumes with a duckbill mask on.   The second session  takes about 7 minutes,  in which you are sprayed with bitter aerosol and asked to breath through your mouth and move you head as directed.   I must admit I did not really enjoy this,   the Perspex fogged up rapidly, and despite the open top,  it kind of felt like you had placed a plastic bag over your head.   This fitting and test is an annual event.    I look forward to next year.

Gaz

Roaring beach Tasmania.   This shot was taken before Summer and Will were soaked by a bigger wave.   Summer didn't like it.   Will didn't seem to care too much.     Roaring Beach is a seaside holiday spot on the Esperance Coast road,  between Geeveston and Dover.    It is a lot like Sandy Point in Victoria,   beautiful beach and not many people around.  

Easter Sunday in Dover.  Cool but Sunny at times about 15degrees.  The Dover Sailing Club were sailing Dinghy's off the beach.    Hardy souls in their wetsuits and life jackets.     

 I was rostered to work Thursday,  good Friday and Easter Saturday.   The unit has been quite busy,  apparently its not always like this.    I am beginning to gain some insight into the politics of the unit.  We seem to be frequently  short staffed,  resulting  in delays to elective surgery.   Every day I seem to get txt messages advising of Shifts available.     Talking to the other nurses they have said that shortages are common.   Oddly,  it seems that the last couple of years the Tasmanian government has not employed Graduate Nurses or run a graduate nurse program.    This resulted in most of the graduate nurses finding work interstate.   Apparently this was done as a budgetary  initiative,  a cost saving.   I wonder which public service DH thought that up.   His or Her logic is mostly sound.   If you don't employ people you don't have to pay them,  therefore making a saving.    I  guess its a good thing really,    plenty of OT if you want it.   An interesting fact I learnt at Orientation was that there are about 200 more administrators   employed than there are doctors employed.     It reminded me of an episode of Yes Minister except it's not funny.

Having collected the trailer 2 wks ago,  the kids have been keen for the tramp to be put together again.    These Spring free tramps really are  a clever design.   I took the time to put leather gloves on before starting to tension and click the fibreglass rods into place.      result : no blister,  no blood and no whining.  makes quite a change really.
In Mount Martha the tramp totally dominated the backyard.   Here is seems smaller and less imposing.  

Quick trip

I managed to spend Friday and Saturday in Melbourne.   As part of our move to Tasmania  I had packed my garage onto a large tandem trailer attached to our landcruiser.    My intention had been to take it across on the ship in December of last year,   but for a number of reasons I ended up storing it at my brother in laws.  I had thought that I would retrieve it about 2 weeks after we moved but again this took much longer than anticipated.   Tassie time is different to Melbourne time.    Getting my work roster sorted took longer and organising availability on the Spirit of Tasmania took longer still. 


parked at Port Melbourne.  Heavy

  I flew over on JetStar on Thursday.   Apparently the weather in Melbourne had caused disruptions,   pushing my flight back to 2145.      Having squeezed my self into 14c,    the Hostie was very kind and asked me if I was comfortable and if I would like to sit up front.   I  was very pleased and managed to un wedge myself and scooted up to row 1a,  opposite the Hostie's seats.    Anyone over 6'3" needs to be prepared to firstly hit their head on the way through the door and then jam them selves in tight,  apologising to the others  in their row for using their leg room.   I felt like a smug bastard as I walked to the front of the plane.

I had a good two days in Melbourne.    I was nervous and worried about the car.   I had parked it 2 months ago,  knowing the battery was dodgy and radiator leaking.    I visited MoParts in Croydon to get a new battery.  It struck me that the old guy who runs it is still there,   20 years after I first bought
parts for the Datto and the Chev.   

Toyota make great Cars.     New battery in,  more water in the radiator,  check the oil and crank it over.   It started and ran perfectly.   I tested it by taking a 6x4 trailer or building rubble to the Tip for my mother.     It was fine.    I was starting to worry about just how much weight I had on board.   I needed to use low range to get the trailer up Christoph's driveway and at times the rubber mudflaps were scraping on the road.   It is hard to estimate just how much weight I had on.   Here's a list of some of the things that were in the Car.

2lt Datsun engine
6 bottle jacks
2 chain hoists
2 trolley jacks,  one small one large.
Hydraulic pipe bender and Dies.
6 metal tool boxes (full)
2 5mt herc Alloy Chains
tirfor winch with 25mt Stainless Cable
full set fibre glass poles for springfree trampoline
2 wooden 8 ft oars
overnight bag,  sleeping bag for on the ship
other stuff to fill the spaces,   jars of jam, 
On the roof an extension ladder and 15ft Row boat.  


Looking at the picture I suspect I was over loaded.   It towed OK if you kept your speed under 85 and didn't try to stop quickly. 

I was hoping for a smooth trip across.  

mid afternoon.  waiting to board

clearing sky at 2000

 Getting on the ship was quick this time,  only 150 cars to go on so it only took 1.5hrs instead of the usual 2.    It was a quiet trip,  there were not many people on the ship.  I had taken a cold bag with snacks but I decided to grace the Captains table with my presence.   No bowtie was required,  it is a self serve buffet,  almost as good as the Moe Racing Club Carvery.

Roast Beef with Vegies
 

I figured that if it tasted good on the way down it would be okay  if it came up again.
The trip was okay,  pretty smooth really.

I managed to catch a film on the way across.    Argo .     I had heard from a friend that it was good.  I really enjoyed it.    I remember when I was a kid,  watching the news and seeing blindfolded people being paraded by crazys with guns chanting Death to America.  It didn't make much sense then but I have a greater appreciation of American Foreign policy now.
I had  booked a recliner chair for the crossing,  knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep in it.  After the film I took my bag, sleeping bag and pillow up to deck 10.   The forward bar was completely empty so I stretched out on a comfortable bench seat and went to sleep.   I woke each hour with a start,  leaping to my feet and looking around.   I laughed at my self the third time I  did it,   it got less funny after that.   I was kept company by the ghosts of passengers past.

Back in Tassie  the trip down to Kettering proved mostly uneventful.     There were gale force winds and rain,   not ideal for towing.   I got blown around a lot and had a few moments,  but mostly managed to stay in my lane.    A couple of the hills slowed me and everyone behind me down,  the Southern Outlet from Hobart was particularly bad.    Flat to the floor in 1st gear,   crawling along at about 20kmh and wondering if I was going to need low range to get to the top.  

I have started unpacking the car and trailer.    the shed is quite large and it is starting to resemble my shed in Montrose minus the concrete floor.   Its  a bit like Christmas really,  looking into boxes and discovering lost treasures.  I thought I had been quite brutal cleaning out junk prior to the move,  but it is evident that some junk/treasure made its way aboard.   I am really pleased to have my tools now as I have missed them the  last 3 months. 


 gaz