week 109, AS TIME GOES BY....

WEEK 109, AS TIME GOES BY....

As another week drifts by we are trying to get out and explore around this area but the weather has been never ending this week we had 2 days of sunshine, but as I write this the weather has been slowly moving in and its raining again a is looking like its setting in and we got some things outside done, but as for mowing grass its hard when it is so wet about the place and really need at least two day of dry weather before trying, but we have 8 weeks left so plenty of time.

And of course we have our new pets to look after and they know we are there to do that, and we don't miss the times when its feed time or we hear all about it I can tell you.

Breakfast Time for the Sheep, They are getting used to us now.

Its raining and cant mow the grass, but its very green here

This is the girls who give us 4 eggs a day

This little girl is a joy loves her cuddles and follows me everywhere and loves going down to front fence and chasing the cars along the fence line, not on road side

One of the ladies who wanted a close up shot

Taken on our fine day, Plenty to mow next week.

Rain What Rain?

On one of the better days we headed down into Burnie to see were the Penguins come in and parking etc. Well we visited to tour info centre and it got the usual stuff including a large piece of a mining front end loader for you to check out and of course some examples of the paper industry which what Burnie is known for. Burnie is not a pretty town its a industry based town so the factory and paper log trucks are a big part of this area, but the houses are up on the side on the hills and must have great views of the coast line and out to sea.

The picture to right is one of the many man made Penguin's houses that are all along the walkways close to town and you can see all the tracks and the smell that tells you they do come in here, so all you need to do is turn up around dusk and be quiet and wait for them to come. Best to have a low light camera as the flash will scare them off. We will come down during the next few weeks and try to get some shots of them.
And the below shots come from the displays of the local handy work with paper in building those great statues, you can get up close to see the details .

So a visit to Bunnings was a bit longer than I thought the other day here in Burnie, all was well got there ok, parked close as it was wet, went in found all the things I needed and got out again pretty quick and opened the back of the 4x4, with hands full put all the stuff in back including keys etc. and then got the pipes up on the roof rack only to hear the car lock it self as the wind closed the rear door and I was locked out. Said the swear words needed to feel better and then called R.A.C.Q. who sent over the Tasmanian part to get me back in and in a matter of 40 sec had opened the door and got my keys back, so why do I bother to lock it so easy to get in car, was a huge surprise to me.

We have booked our return back to mainland, so we shall leave on the 16th Nov. on the evening boat and will at this stage be in Victoria, for a while as we have to check out places there and if we feel the need can return back to the Tasmanian Coast and finish off the east coast even if we don't bring the van and we can just stay in motels for a week to finish off the Island, such are the plans for now, but things change and it what we are planning for now.
So Ellen tells me we are going to the other Australia in a few weeks I did not know we had a other Australia but we learn something new every day

So after being in house all week we went out for a drive south from us about 60km, to Waratah which was an old mining town as most this part of the coast was. It was snowing here the day we got and where setting up so missed out so here we are now in the rain, maybe it will snow again in a week or so. The town is small and has one shop and that's about it we seemed to be the only ones about, but did spot a couple of locals during our stay. The main feature is the waterfall right in town which is stunning and you can get great views of it, plus the series of small ponds which are homes for the platypus which feed the falls.

Top of Falls

From the dam at top to falls.

As you see they drop down a ways and if you look at the old photo below can see how they used the falls in the mining process, and if you look close can see the old poles and frames that were part of the mine works and there is a wall just to left of falls and some poor girls pink bike that is about half way down.

Below is few shots of the many walks about the area and as it was pouring rain and clod we did not go too far down the track but the amount of moss and growth of tress tell you it rains here a lot

So many ferns down the valley

Here are a few shots from about town and the local museum which is in the old court house and there are many items in boxes about and could be a better place if it was out on display, but it is just left and the few displays are good. Its only a gold coin donation and could be more if they got it up to a better standard

Just a few minutes drive east of Burnie's city centre is Fern Glade reserve on the Emu River. Access is from the Bass Highway on the western side of the Emu River bridge. The day we visited it was still wet and overcast and were the only around so it was super quiet with the birds going crazy in the trees above. There were no platypus that we saw as we looked about but sure they are there.

Being so close to the township we were surprised to see this place here and it holds a great place for a picnic and just to see the area and relax near the water.

Been at it again, our biggest issue as we travel is weight in what we carry and its a consent thing to keep under control, I try hard to keep under 300kg ball load, mind you am allowed to carry up to 350kg.
So I look how to either move things back further in van or get rid of the stuff and we have gotten a few things that we don't use out of the van.
Doing this I don't want to upset the balance as it travels very well but still need to keep checking as you add things or take out all the time.

So I have this to weigh the ball so that is well within the limits to be safe and its an easy check which can be done on level ground. Along with that I have added a couple more PVC pipes under van the full length so I can store the longer waste pipes rather than in the boot, so now I have four pipes with different lengths under van and have a large mat for use when I put up annex up and that was stored between the stone guard and boot and now its on back of van between spare and back of van, it fits in tight and just below height of spare with the 4x4 bag over spare that holds the smaller mat and does well even when its wet will be good.

Handy Hints.

So this week as the snake as season starts and it will not be long before the babies are out and about, so to those who free camp or in van parks or as us in mostly house sits the one thing I have found is a must, the drain pipes to back of van have always had a cover over the end to stop the snakes, frogs or what ever getting into the van as those pipes do hold food scapes that go down from the sink so a animal who is hungry it heaven.

So just a cable tie and it stops anything going in and also collects the waste from van so can be just emptied into bin and you don't leave a mess behind. Why two hoses, we have a washing machine and have separate hose for that and they are stored under van in PVC pipes that run the length of van, so no need to have wet or smelly piped in boot etc.

I use washing bags only just under $2 per bag and will last a while if you keep them clean.

Also we have 8 small sensor light battery operated that are great for night lights, we have three in van that are placed on floor so at night there is no need to turn lights on and wake up the other and they go off once the person has stopped moving. We also use a few in house when at new house sit and don't know way around in dark and place them on floor to the bathroom or to kitchen so no need to turn on house lights, if you can find the switch

They also can be used when you need light in the annex at night when you return from a wine or two and I have placed a couple under the van when animals are about, great the keep mice away and I put them in a zip bag the keep them dry if under van gets wet.

They are sold at Bunning in packs of two and are between $16 and $18 dollars and come in colour below and white I believe, we have the white ones.

You will be surprised how great they are till you use them

This week I wish to thank the people who leave a comment or email me and let me know how they enjoy the pages I write it, helps me understand that there are some who like what we do or see and maybe get ideas from these pages.
Its a big effort to do and thanks it gets me going to do more when we can.