Thanks to jennybluewren for sharing these videos on YouTube for us all to see…

Thanks to jennybluewren for sharing this video on YouTube for us all to see…

During the summer holidays (and at other times throughout the year), Port Arthur has many hands on activities happening around the place.

This year they had the following hands on activities happening (and many more) when we visited on Australia Day…

• A series of three Historical Plays – The Man Who Threw a Stone, The Shingle Strike and A Boy’s Life 
• Carved in Stone: the stonemasons who built Port Arthur
  
• Port Arthur Beneath Your Feet 
• Unearthed! Archaeology at Port Arthur 
• Gardens of Exile 
• Discover Port Arthur’s Furry and Feathered Fiends 
• A 30 minute harbour cruise aboard the MV Marana

We enjoyed the Harbour Cruise, one of the historical plays and the beneath your feet archaeology at Port Arthur as well as roaming around the grounds looking at all the historical buildings and reading all the information provided.

We would have loved to have been able to see all three of the plays. The children especially, as they very much enjoyed ‘The Shingle Strike‘ and asked to see more of the plays. With so much to see and do at Port Arthur we did not get time to do everything even though we arrived at 10.30 and and never left until well after 7pm. It is amazing, but no matter how many times we go there we are always able to find something new and interesting to see and do, just like this time when we learnt about the young convict Leonard Hand

We have promised though – to return next time DJ is staying with us, so that we can experience more of Port Arthur and what it has to offer and hopefully see some more plays, join in some more activities and also go on the Ghost Tour, which the children also asked about so so so many times, throughout the day.

Thankfully we purchased a ‘Ticket of Leave‘ so can return as many times as we like over the next 2 years without paying again!

Today we took Babcia to Oatlands to Visit the Callington Mill. It is a Georgian tower mill which was built in 1837 and is situated at Oatlands in Tasmania. We had a wonderful day and were able to actually enter the mill and experience the inside wonder of it all. Unfortunately visitors are unable to take camera’s into the inside of the mill, so we can not show you the workings of it all. However we would highly recommend the guided tour to anyone with even the slightest interest in the mill itself or the history of the local area. Well worth the time and effort to share in this little slice of history at work.

We hope you enjoy the pictures we have to share with you!

Well I must say that as we approached the beginning of September, we really felt that we had managed to escape the cold of winter here in Tassie. The weather had been so mild and the lack of rain quite good.

However the more we venture away from what is technically ‘Winter’ and move on over into ‘Spring’ the more we seem to experience colder, wetter weather and snow on the mountain!

Today there  is Snow on the mountain! but we are all set with jobs related to our move, so have no time to enjoy the snow today.

However, A few weeks ago, we did venture up to the top of MT Wellington, as the snow was covering it quite well. The girls had been bugging us all winter to visit so that they could play in the snow – as they remembered how much fun it had been the year before. However with our milder winter this year, we really thought our opportunities to ‘freeze’ atop the snow capped Mountain, where all but a dream.

That was until Spring arrived and the snow started to fall.

Here are some pictures of the girls enjoying the snow  and of their wonderful snow man as we headed into spring!

Today we took a trip to Richmond to visit at the Richmond Maze – Which is actually two mazes in total! The weather was quite warm and the children where all excited. The trip around the first maze proved to be a bit puzzling to us, after quite a while of walking around and finding dead ends, we were guided to the centre of the maze by another group of our friends.

The second maze we found to be much easier to navigate. It had no dead ends, so if you went the wrong way you could be walking around it for hours. This seemed to be the issue for the other group of friends who visited the maze with us. Our Friends, after finding the middle of the second maze, seemed to get lost on their way out and after about 30 minutes walking around in circles they rang  our mobile to ask for help! We assisted them with providing them a map as we could not get close enough to them to help them actually find their way out..

Thankfully another family were also enjoying the maze and assisted in navigating the way back to the front of the maze for themselves and our friends and everything turned out fine!

A lot of fun and also frustration was had, and the only thing I can say is make sure you carry a drink bottle when attempting the mazes, because if you get lost it can be a long time between drinks! – oh and grab a map before you venture in!

A Postcard of the Richmond Mazes

Tonight we had a Full Moon which was pretty spectacular. I tried to capture it in all its glory as it lite up the sky as we moved from 2009 into 2010.

The Full Moon

The Full Moon

The View of the Moon over Hobart - Derwent River

Bright Full Moon over Hobart - Derwent River

After SZG finished work today we went for a walk along the Burnie Boardwalk. It was just before sunset as we wanted to try and grab a glimpse of the fairy penguin colony that actively live in Burnie. Apparently the colony is very big and from around an hour before sunset to about an hour after dark, the adult  fairy penguins start to return from the sea, to look after and feed their young.

The children where very excited to be going down by the beach to see if we could see any penguins. We were initially greeted by a tour guide at the Penguin Centre, who voluntarily gave us a short talk about the life and times of the fairy penguin and told us their life cycle and other interesting facts. They also showed us Boris, the freeze dried and stuffed Fairy Penguin, who is available for photographs! The children enjoyed being able to get up close with a ‘real’ penguin – even though he was obviously not alive! They had a very hands on experience and got to touch Boris, which was great.

Once Sunset started we went for a short walk along the boardwalk to see if we could grab a glimpse of some live penguins – and we were not disappointed at all. There where a number of small chicks who came out to await the return of their parents. Then after some strange noises, which we were informed were the penguins talking to each other we could start to see the adult penguins emerging from the water and making their way across the rocks to their young. It was all very exciting and interesting. Unfortunately the penguins hate light, so we were unable to use a flash on the camera, and therefore did not manage to get any good shots to share of the live penguins and their chicks, but the experience was great none the less and the children enjoyed it immensely as did SZG and I!

Here are some photos we did get to take of Boris!

Well today the children and I visited the Burnie Pioneer Village Museum. I had been told about it by a few people and also found information about it online, therefore we decided that as we were in Burnie, we would check it out.

I must say that even though the Pioneer Village was much smaller than I initially expected it was very well set out and the children and I loved it.  It was quite amazing the amount of history it had within its walls, however it was a little disappointing that we could not walk into the different shop and could only view them from the doorways or windows. It is set up so that you walk along the ‘main street’ and the shops are all along the road side. With a great big horse and cart situated on the road.

According to totaltravel.com The Burnie Pioneer Village Museum

Allows you to experience the sights and sounds of 100 years ago. The Burnie Pioneer Village Museum was the first indoor historical street to be recreated in Australia and is still ranked among the best. A spectacular display with thousands of rare and interesting objects displayed in authentic commercial and domestic settings.

The Village is designed to interpret the environment of the period 1890 – 1910 when Burnie was at the height of its first economic boom. Each unit is built of authentic 19th century materials, the colours used and the architectural variations here are those that were fashioned along the North West Coast.

If you get the chance and have a real interest in history, or the time period around 1890 to1910. I would definitely encourage you to visit the museum if you are ever in Burnie!

Well we woke this morning to a reasonable day. The weather forecast said rain is due this afternoon, so the children and I decided to make the most of what we had and visit a few places around Burnie while we had reasonable weather and a chance to do so.

Our First stop was the Burnie Park. this is a beautiful park, which has a lot of interesting things to see and do depending on what your interests are. the children and I first walked around and had a look at the few animals that are in the park. there was a peacock and some ducks. Years ago when SZG and I had been to the park, I recall seeing a lot more animals but the children did not seem to mind there being just a few to see.

After we checked out the animals we wandered around the flowers and took some amazing photos and also we paid our respects at the war memorial in the park. this is the third time in almost as many weeks that the girls and I have visited a war memorial, so they both now really understand the importance and significance of such a monument. which is great!

After a short play in the Parks playground, the weather started to get drizzly, so we moved on to other things, but here are some photos from our time at the Burnie Park.