Gale Force Winds

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Mama

Well I have to say that when we decided to move to Tasmania, and Hobart, we never in our wildest dreams imagined the kinds of weather we could endure.

Last night was one of those nights were we were treated to gale force winds, that lashed and shook our house for hours and hours. The rain also lashed at our walls, making for a very wild, windy and long night.

Four times during the night the children woke up in fright from all the noise and wild weather, and for SZG and I things were pretty much the same. You see, we live in a three story house. Two stories face the Derwent River, while the third story – or split level between the first and Second story faces inland and the road. Our Views are magnificent, from almost any window on three sides we can see the river. At night the views are exceptionally beautiful as the lights from the houses around glisten on the water.

We live on around an acre of land, so even though we have neighbours, we have space also. This was a blessing for us when we first moved here, having lots of space and distance between us and our neighbours, was something we really wanted. But as time has gone by and we have lived in this house longer and longer, we often wish our neighbours were a little closer, as maybe, just maybe, this would help shield us from the strong gale force winds that lash at our house and make it not only creak with the winds, but sway and shake with their force.

Still now it is morning time and the winds have not stopped, so I am hoping that by night fall things will have managed to slow down a little so that everyone can get some great sleep that is definitely needed right now. If the winds die down, it might also give me the opportunity to put some washing on the line, which in recent weeks has been a no go, due to the winds and the inability to keep any clothes I put onto the washing line there for longer than 2 minutes.

It’s summer time too, so I am just hoping that as the seasons change so does the winds patterns for the better, not the worse!

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Early Morning Rise!

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Mama

Well today got off to a much better start, if you can ignore the early wake up call SZG received at 4.30am telling him one of the guys at work could not start the truck as the keys where missing. Hence SZG had to get up earlier than normal for work and head into Hobart to solve the problem for the driver.

Now living only around 20 kilometres from work, makes the drive a reasonable one, that never worries SZG. But at that time of the morning, when it is only to give some one some keys, to drive 25 or so minutes into the city, then 25 or so out back home to go to bed, when we has to get up at 6am anyway, made for a pointless trip. So once he arrived at work SZG stayed there. So as we can all well imagine when he finally gets home tonight (or early tomorrow morning- which ever the case may be) he is going to be very tired!

Thankfully I am feeling so much better today and almost back to normal, which is wonderful. I did manage to go back to sleep for an extra hour after SZG left this morning, but still I could have slept in a little longer if the world had of left me. But the phone decided to ring at 7am, when some one dialed the wrong number. So I decided to stay up then instead and do some house work before the children awoke as I neglected it all yesterday.

I was also able to catch up on some smaller jobs around the place while the girls and I enjoyed another day at home today.

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Hobart Botanical Gardens

Posted on December 27, 2008 by Mama

Well today the girls and I went to the Hobart Botanical Garden. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shinning brightly and the gardens were beautiful and fantastic. We have been to the garden before, but they are so BIG that we have never seen all of it. Today was no exception. We spent around 3 1/2 hours at the garden, looking around a different area to the last time we had been there, but still there is so much that we missed, even though we did manage to see a lot as well.

This time however we were a little more organised than the last and managed to remember to take food, drink and snacks with us. This meant that when we got a little hungry or thirsty, all we had to do was find a piece of lawn to sit down on and enjoy the snacks we had taken. They do have some where to eat at the botanical gardens and also a Kiosk, but as we are all for saving money these days, rather than just spending it, we either take things with us or do without!

The girls did a great job of walking for most of the time we were there. They really wanted to see the Japanese garden, but before we got to that area, their little legs were sore and tired, so we decided to go home and come back another day to see some more. We are hoping that next time we get to go to the botanical gardens that Tata will be able to come with us and that he will not be working on the day. Tata has not seen the gardens yet and I am sure that he will enjoy them when he finally manages to get to see them.

While we were exploring the gardens, we met a wonderful older couple. They were admiring the plants just like us in one of the buildings. We offered to take some photos of the two of them together, for which they were very excited and pleased. So I took a couple of photos with their camera for them and then they offered to take some pictures with our Camera of the girls and I together, which was very nice as when there is just the girls and me we don’t get to have images taken together. So our offer to assist some one else actually made for a nicer day for us also. and the photos the lady took where great too, we were very pleased with the rusults. I just hope that when they get their photos developed (they had an older camera that used film, rather than take digital images) that they are just as pleased as we are!

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A week with Nan!

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Mama

Well we have just had a wonderful week with nan, who came over from Victoria to Visit us. It’s funny because in all the time SZG and I have been together (almost 12 years), nan has never had to opportunity to stay with us, so coming over for a weeks holiday was a new experience for us all. We enjoyed the time we had together very much and everyone commented on how fast the week had flown.

During the week we managed to squeeze in many things. We put up and decorated the Christmas tree all ready for Santa on Christmas Eve. We did lots and lots of Polish Cooking, now we just have to hope that when i try to replicate this myself it all tastes very similar if not the same!. We Visited Mt Wellington and got some gorgeous views of Hobart as the weather was very nice and the clouds were kept away long enough for us to see the view clearly. We also visited Kingston Beach and had lunch on the foreshore. This area is very beautiful and the children just love the beach.

Other places we visited included the town of Richmond and the old Richmond Gaol, Salamanca Market in the heart of Hobart, Brighton Market in Pontville, Cradle Mountain, Queenstown and the north west area. Huonville, Cygnet and Margate just to name a few! JAHG did some great research on these areas for her schooling and wrote some very interesting accounts of our travels too! the week has been alot of fun and very educational too!

I shall write about these experiences individually and add some photographs as well shortly.

Fun at the Hobart Wharf

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Images of Hobart

Posted on November 27, 2008 by Mama

Okay so having just recently Moved From Branxholm, Tasmania to Hobart, Tasmania, I am very much interested in the new part of the world around us. Therefore I have decided to try and capture the essence of Hobart in through photography.

Now I KNOW this is going to be challenging, but I am going to try. I shall add the images as quickly as I can as I take them. My aim is to show as many different Sides to Hobart as I can, Through my own eyes.

The photos will be added below as they are taken.

[Show as slideshow]