Peter and Robyn's visit Christmas 2012

Peter and Robyn arrived for a well deserved holiday for the week encompassing Christmas, Boxing day test and Kelley's birthday.  They didn't get much of a holiday, it was rather busy. 

The day after they arrived was a harsh welcome to summer in Melbourne with hot winds and a temperature nearing 40 degrees.  We escaped by heading out to Healsville and enjoying a late celebration of Peter's birthday with a seafood buffet

 

Looking very full and rather hot

Robyn's first game of pool in about 15 years

At Chandon winery in the Yarra valley

Christmas lights along Yarra Boulevard

Christmas day - whole roasted salmon on the new BBQ

Ham, 'stuffing', grape and fennel foccacia and Gab's cauliflower salad.

Kelley's excellent Christmas ham

The Hamish's enjoying Christmas dinner

Trying to light the Christmas pudding

Boxing day test, perfect weather, 13 wickets, 65,000 fans including Peter and I.

Sri Lankan supporters

Peter, Kelley and Robyn at a rooftop bar in Fitzroy on Kelley's birthday

Kitchen Renovations

Well the time had finally arrived.  Time to get rid of the old retro look in the kitchen and replace it with a more up do date version.  First, some snaps of the old set up.

Note, the fridge is in a state of renovation as well.

Then it was demolition time.  To save on cost and maximise enjoyment, we decided to go for it ourselves. 

Unscrewing the cupboard doors

The old cabinets were all nailed together so a gentle, tidy demolition was impossible.  Instead, it was straight into it with the sledgehammer.

After giving up the hammer to Kelley, I never got it back....

First wall cleared

Chris came round to help smash stuff up.  Then I really didn't get anywhere near the sledgehammer.

Kitchen in the trash, with a few other things like old TV's

First cabinet in

Brick wall covered with plaster

Cabinet assembly

Taking shape

Final photos to come....

Wilson's Prom

We took our long overdue first visit to Wilson's Prom over Melbourne Cup weekend.  Kelley booked a little cabin at Yanakie which is the last settlement before you get to the Prom and we followed a very simple, but rather successful formula for the bulk of the weekend - walk in the morning, read and relax in the afternoon, BBQ for tea and then do it all again the next day.  The walking was good, we have nice weather and we even saw a snake but as I was getting the camera out it slithered away.  It was big and brown and I'm quite convinced it was venomous...

Our cabin

View from the cabin

Cheeky visitor

There had been floods at the Prom last year that washed the bridge out and ruined roads and tracks.  Most of the day walks were in operation though.

We also had a bit of a look around the area with a visit to the market at Foster and a nosy and a walk on the  beach at Sandy Point which is a great little spot.

Washout from the floods

Looking down onto Tidal River

Looking down to Squeaky Beach

Decking

 After laying bare all winter, the posts and three bearers were well overdue to acquire some company.  I ordered some timber (which was dumped in a big pile in front of the house) and proceeded to finally build the deck.  First I needed another couple of bearers and then after scouring the various hardware stores for the right size joist hangers, nailing on some joists.  Yes that is a rip in my shorts and no, I did not throw them out.  The holes got bigger and then got fixed, I'll get a few more years out of them yet.

Getting the first few joists on

The good thing about the hardware stores not having enough joist hangers was that I got a bit of variation.  I'd do a row of joists the and then a row of decking.  

The first two decking boards!

Progress after a full on weekend

Dilemmas - running out of timber for the joists

The weather thwarted my chances of getting the main part of the deck complete before Mum and Dad arrived for a week's 'holiday'.  I use the term loosely because they didn't get much of a break.  Dad and I finished the main part of the deck, they had a weekend away with friend's Todd and Allison on their farm (where Dad cut firewood and helped mark calves) then it was back to Melbourne where Dad helped put up a shade sail (photos will come, eventually) and Mum got busy on the sewing machine and fixed my shorts, and a few others things. 

Dinner on the deck

More times like this are called for, now for a new BBQ for my reward....

Cradle Mountain

A wintry weekend escape to Cradle Mountain was on the agenda.  We flew into Launceston and it was like landing in Dunedin, small airport slightly out of town and a calm, clear, cold winter's day.  It was a couple of hours drive to Cradle Mountain but the roads were quiet and the scenery was good.  

Our little cottage was excellent, small wooden hut but good facilities and good heating.

We went for a walk to a couple of waterfalls on the Saturday afternoon.

Bush on the way to waterfalls

Waterfall from the James Boag's ad

We saw a few wombats but they were a bit tricky to capture on  camera.

Sunday dawn clear and cold and we were up early to get into the National Park to try to walk and climb Cradle Mountain.  Didn't start out so well as our rental car had a flat tyre so we caught the shuttle bus in.  Was a good morning for walking though.

Lake and boat shed

Cradle Mountain, covered in cloud

Snow!

Track leading to the top, cloud has cleared

A better view without the cloud

The climb was quite difficult as we got into the granite boulders, a lot of scrambling up and over rocks.  Was made more difficult by the fact that the shady side was covered in ice and slippery.  We made it most of the way but the last part was fully in the shade and just to dangerous to push on.

Looking down the lake to the car park

Was a bit of a wait for the bus back.  It was a long weekend and there were a lot of people around.  We made it back in time for four tyre changes to get the space saver onto the back wheel.

Monday was a public holiday and it took three chances to find a garage that was open and willing to fix our flattie.  We still had some time to kill in Launceston so hung out in the gardens and visited the Japanese monkeys.  Very odd.  Was a great weekend though and we'll definitely be back to see more of Tasmania.