A new blog to follow

Hi everyone I have been listening to a podcast "Inciting a Riot". He also has a blog. It is very interesting- most of it I would say is not going to incite a riot though for a american it is out there. Have a look you can find the podcast on Itunes and I have pasted the blog address so just click and you will taken there. A warning this is a pagan site but he is not bias to anyone. http://www.incitingariot.com

Launceston

Its bloody cold!!! Yes it is and we haven't reached winter yet. This hasn't stopped us from doing things. Sorry no photos as I have exceeded our downloading, and therefore the Internet is very slow. AAAARRRGGGHHH.

In between Ness working we have been doing some looking around, so where have we been- we drove out to Derby. Derby was a tin mining town until a major flood back 1920's. A number of people drowned- none of the miners. The town has created a museum to share their history and we fell in love with the area in 2006, so of course we had to go back and have a look at the new museum. It was great. At the same time they were getting over more recent floods. The main road from Scottsdale to St Helens was still closed.

I started to write this yesterday- it rained overnight and there is a current flash flood warning for the East Area. This is the area I was just writing about. Enough about the weather. As I said we went to Derby and then took a different route back via Bridport. Bridport is a pretty little coastal town- we came to the conclusion it is a summer holiday place as most places looked locked up. We then continued on thru the countryside taking back roads to Launceston. It was a lovely day to finish off the weekend. As we are reading the paper nearly everyday, we have been discussing the local politics. No we are not joining any protest marches against or for the new pulp mill but did learn something interesting, for every dollar collected in GST in Tassie the government receives $1.60, they also have the highest unemployment; I wonder why that is? Recently two sawmills closed- maybe relying on two industries Forest and Tourism is the problem.

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Anyway back to what we have been doing- we drove to Port Arthur and stayed overnight at a motel with unlimited access to the complex. Our view from the veranda was spectacular. We went on the ghost tour that night. Oh I forgot we went to the Cadbury chocolate factory. It was great I mean how often do you spend $50 on chocolate. It was different as you don't got through the factory just a demo and video., but the shop prices were great. Back to the ghost tour- I was lamp carrier- personally the group was too big and would have liked to hear more stories about the people who lived in the area than stories about other groups. Our guide overall was OK- we didn't think he believed in ghosts but he did had respect for the area and its history. I would recommend it to anyone but try to do it outside the peak season as the groups might be smaller. Neither Ness or I felt any creepy moments- though as per usual someone saw something/ or was that felt something. We both love Port Arthur and the history, we will be making another trip there. On Saturday we drove back to Launceston via Swansea on the east coast. How quickly you forget- 2006 we drove down this road towing and we couldn't remember it. Maybe the road has been fixed updated or ???. It was a great two days.

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Yesterday we didn't do much of anything- we have new neighbours, hope they are not staying long, as they are noisy and both are smokers. Finally just got let everyone know we are going back to Wollongong. For couple of reasons, we will be staying for about 6 months. We leave Tassie 22nd April. Catch you all later.

No Bunnings

Bastards- they didn't even ring to say I was unsuccessful. Yes we will ring Thursday- no phone call so I rang them, "no he doesn't work today" OK thanks.... for nothing. So it is off to work with a disabilities group. That's it for now- Ness I will fill in the details. We made the trip back to the north. We had a stopover in Campbell Town. A lovely free camp stop. This was our view. Ness is currently doing her buddy shifts in five houses and then she will do the medication course, this is two full days. As Launceston is not to big none of the houses are too far apart. The organisation is not bad to work for, they are on top of things. Most of the staff could learn a little about giving choices but nothing out of the ordinary. Miss Vanessa had words with one of house managers who complained about having no where to go!!! For everyone in Alice there are plenty of places and their holiday was to Hobart for a long weekend, a two hour drive away. Anyway enough about Ness work. My work hasn't started awaiting police clearance. With all the rain the Gorge was thumping. It was amazing the amount of water and the photos don't do it justices. We took the chairlift over the basin to get a better look. Ness enjoying the trip in the chairlift. We have been doing the sightseeing thing- a drive up to Beauty Point to visit Seahorse World. We have also done a historic walk around the city. It was really interesting. So for the weekend we have planned to visit the zoo and a couple of other things maybe some walks but it depends on the weather. It has been cold, so cold the cat has tried to climb into bed- so we brought her a coat. And that's were we leave you all with a photo of scarlia and her new coat. Catch you later.

Hobart

So we are in Hobart- as if you didn't know. We have applied for a number of jobs- Ness her dream job with Bunnings. Every job I have applied for there is a three week wait or nothing. I do have a job cleaning in Launceston, it will pay the bills and works well with Ness' hours.
We head north on Saturday- looking forward to it as it is colder here. We had some winds last night and lots of rain.
The cat isn't dealing with the cold very well- trying to bury herself in the bed under the quilt. Maybe we will have to buy her a coat and some boots time will tell.
We drove to Perth the other day to catch up with Ricky and Di and we will see Di again tomorrow as Ness has a induction she needs to go to in Launceston on Friday (this is her back up job if Bunnings doesn't happen). There hasn't been much getting out and about to see things but they will change once we start working and get into a routine.
Hope everyone is coping with the flooding on the south coast. Please stay safe and take care of each other, blessings. Michelle and Ness

Tasmania

A quick update- we are currently in Longford, heading to Hobart tomorrow. The crossing was OK a bit rough but what made it worse was we had the vibration of the engines coming through everything in the cabin, note for later ask for the front of the ship-not back. We have applied for jobs and have interviews but the better jobs have been in Hobart. The weather has been OK and the cat is good, though she doesn't like the cooler weather. We will sit down in the next week or so and write a longer blog to fill you all on what we have been doing and who we have been catching up with.

Lakes Entrance

24th Feb-28th Feb. Have you ever had one of those days- we booked the boat and we will only sail at night as neither of us are good sailors. At night it is great, a little alcohol and some drugs- go to bed and you wake up in Devonport. I got a little off the track- when the confirmation came by email it was for daytime. So it was on to the phone, there was nothing available until the 5th March, ok we will take it. Ness then enquired about leaving the cat in the van for the trip. The woman Ness spoke with was very nice but kept telling Ness she was better in the kennels as they were RSPCA approved and Ness kept telling her a cat surrounded by dogs/ or her home with her own bed etc was always going to be a better option. So finally an email was sent with the indemnity form attached. Scarlia is travelling in the van to Tassie. Then on to the task of finding a caravan park west of Melbourne pet friendly. “No pets but you can try ……”, “yes we take dogs, no cats they upset the dogs”, “No pets”, “booked out”, “Yes but the site has no water as it is our last site”- we will take it. Yeah we found one at Pakenham. This was some of the examples of the response we got over a three hour period.
So it was onto seeing the area. We went for a drive to Nowa Nowa- don’t you love that name. I love it Ness just shakes her head. We continued on to Buchan and the caves. The cave we went thru was called the fairy cave. Some great formations and the guide was interesting with her information. The caves where found on purpose to rival Jenolan Caves, the Victorian government paid a gentleman Moon (we cant remember his 1st name) to search the area for caves that could be open to the public. He found them and they became large part his life and his family’s’. Mr Moon named his daughter Fairy after the fairy cave. She was married in the Fairy cave and named on of her sons Cave.

It was then on to The Snowy River NP, a twisting road up the mountains. We reached the fork in the road right to Snowy NP, left to Jindabyne. Jindabyne was only 130kms. We hesitated, as to cross the border in a different place is one of the things we like to do. No we will continue into the park to see Little River Waterfall and Victoria’s deepest gorge and of course The Snowy River.

We had lunch at the entrance, fighting off the March Flies. It was then a short walk down to the falls- it was a great day with a cool breeze and the sun was out. The falls weren’t spectacular but they were pretty. The walk back was up hill- just to remind us how unfit we really are- huffing and puffing, we made it. The drive thru the park was glorious, it was very obvious were bushfires had burnt out areas and where it didn’t touch. We stopped at the Gorge car park and took off down the track downhill and downhill it kept going, I think the sign said 400 m but I’m sure we walked 200 and it seem to be getting steeper. Ness went for a quick half jog half walk to the next bend came back and said it was getting steeper. “Let’s abandon this idea.” It was back to the car- slowly, stopping in the shade for a breather. I think it was a lot further than 400m. We continue further into the park, the road got narrower. We had stop and pulled to the side to let a van pass, the driver told us to take it easy as the road is very narrow up ahead and the bends are very narrow. Oh boy did it!!! We got to a bend and all we could see was the road winding down the side of the cliff. Off in the distance we could see the Snowy River.

If you closely at the photo you can see the river in the top left corner.

On the drive back we spotted an interesting place to stop for fuel- the picture explains it all.

Not sure what type of fuel they sell, maybe it was only the fumes.

We got back to the highway and turned off to have a look at the river as suggested by a local. It was worth the time.

We then followed a dirt track thru a timber plantation to find a trestle railway bridge, all made from the timber in the immediate area. The bridge was built in the late 1800’s and it was used until 1988. The only reason the railway was closed was because it was damaged during a bushfire. That’s what the sign told us but a discussion with a local told us the government shut railway down from Bairnsdale to Orbust anyway.

On our travels back to Lakes Entrance we found the first oil bore in Australia and of course 90 mile beach.

The next we did nothing but washed clothes and sat around freezing. The following day we were going to Dargo but of course got sidetrack to another National Park. This time it was the Mitchell River NP.
This has many indigenous sites of significance. Ness walked to one of them Den of Nargun. I didn’t have the right shoes- yeah I was happy about that one. It was once again a downhill climbing over rocks but the photos are good.



The following day we travelled a bit further to Port Albert via Sale. This is where all the grey nomads hide out. It has a parking area that you can camp in for 48hrs if you are self sufficient. This is a quaint village that was once the largest port in Victoria 2nd only to Port Phillip, in its hey day.


Looking towards the Bass
Strait.



The local cementry.


We then had to stop at the largest swing bridge in Australia.



It was off to Pakenham the next day Tuesday 1st March. We found Lakes Entrance pretty but very like central coast of NSW. Its great if you like fishing and even at the tourist information centre they can only suggest a charter fishing trip on the lakes, or short walks along the lake or beach. In Ness’ words a very fishy place.

Will write more soon.
Ness and Michelle
Email: Ness1211@hotmail.com
Blog: nessmichelle.blogspot.com

Across the border

A great Day-
Yes we stayed at Yellow Pinch Dam. It was a little off the road so it should have been very quiet. We shared the sight with 4 Motor homes and they were not quiet. They were all from Batemans Bay heading for Merimbula, enjoying happy hour for 4 or 5 hours. We also couldn’t find the dam- found Yellow Pinch creek, Yellow Pinch Road but no dam.
Today we travel the great distance of 30kms to Eden. What an enchanting spot. We went for a look at the Killer Whale Museum. Wandered in the main street and kept stopping to admire the beautiful blue of Twofold Bay.

Tom-The Killer Whales

It has been documented (in Eden), that the Killer whales would round up other types of whales for the fishermen, like sheepdogs. The fishermen gave them the tongues and lips of the whale as a reward. This has never been witnessed anywhere else in the world. There is also a story of Old Tom circling the area where one fishman drowned and the body not found. He stayed in the area for a week, the body was found the moment he left the area.

We then travelled to Ben Boyd NP. Ben Boyd tried to build his own town with the ambition of making it the capital of Australia. Of course he went broke for a number of reasons and the area is now a national park. It is not only for cultural reasons but for environmental reasons it was made a NP. We didn’t see much as it was dirt roads to the sites of interest and we had the van on the back. Of course we followed the road to the end and found the Navy wharf and a wonderful old house, a chipping mill with wharf and a big no entry sign, for the wood chipping mill.
By this stage it was 12.30 and we still wanted to see the Snowy River flow into the sea and we were still in NSW.
In Ness’ words the road looked ok but it rolled every which way. Up hills and down hills, the car had a real workout today. Lunch was at a rest stop over the border, a nice spot with clean toilets and lots of shade. We reached Orbost and followed the signs to Marlo. This area has some very green countryside with nice healthy milking cows in the fields and a litter of piglets on the side of the road. Mum was in her pen and they were unaware of the danger they were in with traffic passing by. We followed the road with river beside us most of the way, we went straight to the beach and stood watched the water mix with the ocean waves. We both have been to the beginning of this river and it was awe inspiring to see it follow into the ocean.

The Snowy River flowing into the sea

It was back to the highway, by this stage it was close to 4pm so it was decided we would stay in Lakes Entrance. That’s we are now. We are going to spend two nights here as we want to go to some caves and have a look around without caravan in tow.

Ness and Michelle
Email: Ness1211@hotmail.com
Blog: nessmichelle.blogspot.com

Wollongong To Melbourne

Well we finally left Wollongong today. Yesterday we packed up hitched up the van to the car doing our check brakes 12volt etc to discover no 12volt lights. They were on off on- Ness had recently changed the plug, thinking she had wired it wrong pulled it all apart. No problem here- so it was a phone call to Stephen to ask him to drop in on his way home. The remainder of the day we sat and watched the news from New Zealand. Stephen fixed the problem again- thanks Stephen.

Our thoughts are with all our friends and their families who have connections with Christchurch.

And that brings us to now. Ness and I decided to do the coast road to Melbourne. So it was through Nowra, a quick stop at Milton for fuel and another stop for coffee just before Ulladulla and we are currently sitting at roadside stop south of Mogo about 130kms north of Bega, it is about 12noon. It is a nice peaceful stop with a fresh breeze blowing in the windows. There is a little bit of traffic and there is a bit of road work but nothing like up north of Sydney. The road condition isn’t too bad either overall.



Ulladulla Harbour






We have decided to stop for the night south of Bega at Yellow Pinch Dam at this stage, which could change in the next hour. We not in a hurry and we want to have a bit of look at some of the country down this way.

I was given a car charge for the computer so I can write emails etc while we are driving without sending the battery flat- thanks Toni and Pete.

An apology to everyone we didn’t get to visit this time as there just wasn’t enough hours in the day. We will be in Tasmania for at least 12months- so everyone is invited to visit. Try and come between November and February as it can get very cold any other time- of course if you like the cold come in July.

I will keep you all up to date on our travels with photo as often as we can. Catch you all soon.
Ness and Michelle

So where are we!

We are currently in Wollongong. Catching up with family. We havent stopped- went and saw Warren in Mt Druitt, Jan (mum), Phil (dad) and Ness' grandparents. The Car had a major service done by Stephen, haircuts, went looking at new TVs (didnt buy one). Lunch with Denise and tonight we are having dinner with Ashley Denise and Ivan. Tuesday morning we are off to Melbourne- the coast road. Still haven't booked the boat yet but we dont know how long it will take us, with Ness driving 12hrs but I will make her stop at least at Eden. Anyone have any particular interesting sights places down the coast.
Scarlia is good, she has a new harness for the car. Hates the hot weather- sits and looks at the air conditioner. We are over the humdity. anyway thats all for the moment. Catch you all next time.

We are still at Minnie Water. We hope to leave on Tuesday 15th Feb. A week or so in Wollongong on to Canberra for a day or two and then to Melbourne. We should be in Tassie the first week in March all going to plan- plans always seem to go astray.

Grafton

We are half way thru our time in the motel. Scarlia has made herself totally at home, I just found her in reception stretched out on the counter sound asleep. We do try to keep her out the back but she loves greeting people- hasn't scratched a single person.
There has been some great weather so we have used the swimming pool, which was lovely. Ness has done a great job keeping the cleaning up.
We haven't been very busy occasionally a lttle busy with enquires but overall it has been quiet.
I will take some photos around the place for next blog. Stay safe everyone. Michelle and Ness

Grafton

What a great show of colour.

So here we are in Grafton. The weather has been ok- it is warming up, which is great. We are working at the Motel now. Lots of computer time, inbetween work. Its a bit slow- everyone is driving pass.Missed the full moon so cant go out and dance under the moon for lots of customers.
Scarlia is loving the space, though she doesnt want to go out much- she can go out anytime during the day.
Nothing exciting is happening. So this will be a short blog.

Happy Belate Birthday Denise I know we both had a great night!!!

On the way from Wollongong to Minnie Water we had a bit of rain. We got to Coffs Harbour and the radio was full of road closures. So we stopped- rang the Caravan Park yes the road is open. Ok Lets keep going- Noooo, we were stopped at a place called Halfway Creek with about 300 truckies. So back to Coffs for accomdation. No problem with accomdation. The next morning Ness rang the SES yes the roads are open. Lets go!!! But No!!!!! Half way Creek is still closed. We explain to the guys at the barricade that we werent going to Grafton etc but still the answer was no. So back for a second night, a motel closer to the closurer, the next morning about 9.30am we were passing Halfway Creek. Yeah! On the Wooli road we found this
So we; after some discussion with a couple from the caravan park, about height the current and condition of the road we did this
This was the shallow bit. The car got light at one point and we got water in the front only.
The cat spent three days in the car. We were all very glad to back in Minnie Water.

Been to Wollongong and back

Had a great week in Wollongong. Ness enjoyed her birthday dinner at Murphy's Bar and Grill, it was great catching up with all the family. She enjoyed Saturday night as well- too much drinking was done but a great evening catching up with friends. A big thanks to Denise and Ivan.
It was back to Minnie Water for a few days and then to the Motel for a week and a bit. Its all much the same as it was before we went Wollongong. We did run into a couple of people we haven't seen since we left, sorry to everyone we didn't see as this trip was mostly for family.
Scarlia is good- loving the motel as she can get out and tease the dogs. So that's about it catch you later.

Grafton

I thought I would put in some photos of the Jacarandras around Grafton they are beautiful. We are at the Jacarandra Motor Lodge- still learning the ropes. It is starting to sink in slowly.
It is the festival weekend- the longest running flower festival. They have mad thursday. This is a local tradition, everything closes midday and all local residents go drinking. Most of the restuarants and drinking places close 6pm. They- the local council- did this to try to stop the bad behaviour.

So we leave for the gong tomorrow.

Quiet Times

Wollongong next week!! We are still enjoying our time in Minnie Water. I'm in the office today- Judy has gone to Grafton. We watched the full moonrise over the ocean- what a sight, with just a whisper of cloud across the horizon. The mozzies drove us away. We have a few visitors the kangaroos in the morning and the possums at night, of course the birds from black cockatoos to kookaburras to plovers to of course the miner birds. One pair of plovers have created a nest in the middle of a site, so that site is out of actions as anyone goes near it the birds attack. The locals are starting to come out in force on the weekends with boats in tow. Lots of good fishing with snapper being one of the common. We visit the bowling club in Wooli at least once a week. So apart from Ness doing outside work and I'm doing the office occasionally plus cleaning the amenities everyday it is very quiet and relaxing.

Minnie Water

So here we sit in Bunnings carpark so I can do our banking etc. We are still in Grafton and it looks like we will be here for a while as we have the chance of relief mananging a motel in Jan- but I will let everyone know if that happens.
We are loving Minnie Water- everybody come and visit Judy and Russell; don't forget to mention that we sent you!!! The weekends it can be very busy as they have a number of casual permenants. Dont visit during Christmas holidays they are book out from one year to the next. We are right next to the national park and 400m to the beach. The bowling club runs a bus friday nights. So what more can you ask for?? So we are off to do some shopping catch you at Ness's birthday or on the road somewhere.

Not back

Ok we are not back all the time. We are currently in Minnie Water. This sleepy little place is near Grafton NSW. Some friends are the managers; Russell and Judy. Its a lovely little spot right near a national park. Its only down side is there is no mobile coverage so therefore we have no internet. We are staying here until the end of the month and then it is back to Wollongong for Ness's 40th. I will try to get access to the internet once a week but dont hold your breathe.

See you all soon!!

We're Back

Wow finally got back on. I couldnt remember our password.
Any way we are in Murgon again on our way south. Being staying in Townsville. Had a great time. Ness got her forklift ticket and I got my cert 4 in Training and assesment. Ness did a couple of weeks work at the RAAF base- making sandwiches for flight crews. She started at 3am and finished when the job finished sometimes 1pm in the afternoon.
We had Taylah (my foster sister) come for a short visit. Left Townsville on Thursday after two flat tyres and no electric brakes we arrived in Murgon yesterday. We are off to Minnie Waters (near Grafton) tomorrow.
Catch you all later.

Early Morning

What a glorious morning. I sat and watched the sun rise (While Ness was sleeping), there is not a cloud in the sky,a little cool but still nice. Its days like today that just makes you are glad to be who you are. So nothing more has happening at this end of Australia. Ness went for her medical, for work- no issues. We are both in agreement to Tassie. So lookout Tassie. Scarlia is getting a little big for her boots- 5.30am is not breakfast!!!
I forgot to write about Cooktown- its a bit late but thought I would tell you all about a tour we did or should I say the funny thing that happened to the tour.
We book an Aboriginal Rock Art guided tour 8.30am- no problems. Had our map so followed the directions, on dirt road of course. We were almost there when I hit a largish pothole- bang psssssst- gas pouring out of the back of the car.
No traffic what do we do- ring Stephen my little brother in Wollongong- his words move away from the car with the phone and turn off the gas isolating switch. Done problem over- yep until we got the repair bill.
For the record it was not my vault, the gas guy told us that it was an accident waiting to happen due to the way the gas pipes were put in- so there Stephen!.
The tour was great but maybe tomorrow- Ness is awake coffeeee time.