tasmania the home of classic cars

Now I know that 1990 was over 20 years ago but for me it was a significant year as it was the year I got my license.    As with most P platers back then we either drove our parents cars or purchased our own cars.   our choices of cars reflected our financial situations,  most cars age being our own +/- 5 years.   This is probably still true  of most of todays P platers,   putting them in early 90's commodores, Hyundai's and  corollas .
   
Tasmania is different to Melbourne.  I have seen cars here that are no longer existent on the mainland,  most having been crushed.   These cars are reasonably maintained and obviously cherished.   Interestingly most of the surviving cars are Japanese,  perhaps better made in the first place than many Australian made cars

I have used my Iphone to snap some pics of these cars around Hobart.    classic but not necessarily desirable.

When the Wind blows

Let the wind blow said the house,
I`ll still stand.
When the wind blows,
I feel grand.
On this land
I`ll always stand.
Missing a plank or two,
Or maybe a screw,
That just lets the wind blow through


John d Smith clearly wasn't talking about my greenhouse.

Purchased from KD Hardware,  at $59 it was a bargain.   It had full standing headroom and built in shelves and everything.    I imagine it was made in china.   
Having spent about 3 hours assembling the frame and getting the cover to fit right I as feeling pretty pleased with myself.    I tied the cover to the frame pegged it  and weighed the frame down with 4bags of potting mix so that it couldn't tip over.

Yes of course the bloody thing flew away like a rocket.   quite spectacular really.    It ended up around the corner in the dam.     Its now lying in a crumpled pile back in shed.    I am now planning version 2.   There are lots of cheapies on ebay but I might think about something a bit more substantial.

six months on

It has been six months since we moved to Tasmania from Melbourne.  

Our Block in January 2013.   Hot and Dry


 

 

Monday the 8th July2013

We have experienced our first heavy Frosts.  Crunchy under foot,   delightful and still.    I had my first experience with Tasmanian icy roads.  Despite the Channel Highway being close to the water,   we experienced a number of sections of road covered with Ice.   I managed to slide the car sideways through the middle of Margate.   It was probably a bit disconcerting for the oncoming traffic.   It was interesting to feel the cars traction control cutting in and out,   it tended to set up a side to side wobble as you drove along.  I didn't really like it.

  

It is hard to tell from the picture but our lower dam has been covered with Ice for the last few days.    The ice was up to 10mm thick in places.    Will had a lovely time collecting large sheets of ice which he then smashed like glass on a tree stump.

 

 

 

Our Orchard is in.  4 Apple,  1 Pear,   2 Peach,  1 Peacharine,  1 Nectarine,   1 grafted Plum,  2 Apricots,  1 cherry,   1 Lemon,  1 Lime,   1 Olive tree.    

There were an area  in the orchard that was very wet.  We decided to put in some Aggi drains to deal with the winter water.   Hand dug and filled,   they were quite a bit of effort.

 

One thing I have realised is that I can no longer dig ditches all day.    I developed a bit of  pain in my right Elbow that has taken two weeks to resolve.   It made me consider what mechanical aides I might use for future landscaping projects.  The economy in Tasmania is a lot smaller and slower than the mainland and the market place for second hand machinery is much smaller.    I spotted a Kubota  tractor for sale on gumtree,  its only small but it is fitted with a rotary hoe and more importantly a front  end loader.     It's rated to pick up about 200kg which is plenty given that it only weighs 500kg itself.  It should make life a bit easier.

 

 

 

 



 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!