Plan 18(ish) for the farm

We have taken a trip up to the farm to meet with our architect. Fortunately he really liked the thoughts that we put to him for the house, and we can now start down the track of design, approval and then construction (and poverty).

I won’t let you see the plans now, until we have something back from the architect. To spark your intrigue though, we are looking at a house made up of four pods around a central, cobbled courtyard. The morning sunlight will flood the courtyard from the Northeast, and our predominant entertaining space will be the courtyard. The house still has a wine cellar, cheese cave and brewery, to the delight of friends and family we are sure!

Decorative features may include rock gabions as part of our external wall structure, and a copper sheet water feature. We are looking to build the house from hemp, and are as yet undecided on our external cladding finish. Needless to say, there will still be a lot of water under the bridge before we commence construction, but we are definitely on the way!

NYE 2012

The reason for our trip to Sydney was twofold. We had been invited to a wedding on the 30^th of December, and had tickets to Garden Island (Naval Base) for New Years Eve.

Good friends (Lauren & Ash) had to bring their wedding forward due to a forthcoming extended trip to England. They booked Pier One at the Sebel in Sydney.  The day was beautifully fine and warm, and Peter & Phyl came to Sydney to babysit MacK for us. The venue is fantastic – sitting on the harbour just under the Harbour Bridge. When we walked in we were surprised to see one of the guys who I graduated RMC with. Really good to catch up!

The Bride & Groom looked fabulous, and they are obviously, and completely made for each other. They were married at the edge of the pier, and plenty of watercraft went past. A tall ship sailed past, and the crew stood on the rail and applauded the wedding. This stately procession was in stark contrast to the bogans who motored past, shirtless in the blistering sun and shouted (beers in hand) ‘DON’T DO IT!’

The food and wine were lovely, and the view hard to surpass. We were sat under the Harbour Bridge, with the floor to ceiling windows open out on to the Harbour.  It was a fantastic evening, and we wish Lauren and Ash all the very best as they embark on their lives together.

At about three o’clock on New Years Eve we loaded up Leigh’s trolley with a couple of eskies and started to make our way towards Kings Cross. We walked down the hill from the Cross to Potts Point, and from there through the marshaling area into the Naval Base. They had the area extremely well set up, with plumbed in temporary toilet facilities every 100 metres or so, and plenty of skip bins for rubbish. We would love to have had a food stall at the site, and think we might have made a couple of dollars! This time round we were there as spectators only.

We found a spot out of the wind with excellent views of the bridge and Opera House, and were soon joined by the rest of our party – we numbered close to fifty by the time all had arrived! The entertainment for the afternoon was mostly aerial. There were a couple of aircraft performing over the harbour. They were really impressive – particularly with the way they were able to hold their formations together in the fairly strong winds. There was also a solo flyer performing a wide range of brilliant aerobatic stunts. The fireworks display for the evening was just… spectacular.

 It is hard to capture aircraft, but these guys deserve a picture. They were fabulous.

Our view. Not bad at all!

Jane and MacK ready for the afternoon's festivities

The beautiful Sydney skyline as the sun fades for the evening.

Photographs will never do the fireworks justice, but we had to put in a couple. 

MacK, our wee party animal!

The walk out though Garden Island wasn’t too bad. We were all impressed by the scale of the ships berthed, and particularly the size of the dry dock. I don’t think any of us fancied having to work 45 metres below sea level with only a couple of metres to the sea!

MacK surprised and delighted us by sleeping until after ten on New Years Day. Such a good wee lad! 

Christmas 2012 – the Bethlehem effect

We had a wonderful Christmas with Mum and Dad on the Sunshine Coast. We arrived a couple of days prior and were able to help Mum and Camille with the preparations for Christmas. Tyson and Maddie spent the week in Japan (snowboarding), but managed to skype a couple of times. Jacinda, Jason and Ethan were in Perth with Jason’s family, and Clan Hayek were on a cruise around the Whitsundays.

Joining us for Christmas were Dad’s sister (Margie) and family from New Zealand. I met Rosie and Craig’s kids for the first time, which was an absolute pleasure. We had a really nice Christmas, filled with joy and memories of the time we spent together growing up.

Jane & MacK opening presents. MacK was very cute - He would take each scrap of wrapping paper to the bin as he ripped it off. Let's just hope he maintains at least some of that attention to detail as he grows!

The Dalziell/Short/Mitchell Christmas gathering (with Jane on photographic duties)

MacK with his new best friend, Bella

Some of our Christmas feast

And one of my favourite ever desserts!

We spent part of Boxing Day with the Kennedy’s at one of the parks and beaches near Kawana and shared a bottle of Veuve Cliquot to celebrate the season. Again, time spent with very dear friends.

We began our travel south to Sydney on the 27^th, but thought we wouldn’t book accommodation as we had no idea how MacK might travel on our next long distance journey. Again, he travelled really well so we pushed on to ensure that the bulk of our journey was completed on the first day of our travels. We made it as far as Port MacQuarie (about 700 km), and thought we might stop. Ah… the Bethlehem effect! There was no room at the inn – or any of the inns. Had we been just an hour or two earlier, we might have secured something, but alas it wasn’t to be our night! We had to travel another hour south to get a shoebox in a place called Coopernock. Still, we were another hundred odd kilometres closer to our destination.

Closure of the Tropical Holiday House – Relocation to Brisbane

Its official. Not enough of you came to visit us in Townsville, so we have packed up and are in the process of moving to Brisbane. We are currently between homes, and can genuinely say we are currently of no fixed abode. Fortunately we have a house confirmed – we just can’t access it until 30 January.

Our removalists were brilliant. Other colleagues had torrid times with their removal teams. One had three people turn up for the prepack, and as many as six for the actual uplift and load out. Both nights they worked until nine o’clock, and this family has nowhere near as much stuff as we have. So I was, perhaps understandably, a little nervous to only have two guys turn up.

They told me the difference between them and the others was that they were contractors, not employees. They were brilliant, finishing by five thirty both nights. Our effects were well cared for, with each bundle of three books and even teddy bears being wrapped in paper before being boxed. As long as the rail journey goes without event, and the guys at the other end are as careful, I think we will come out of this move unscathed!

We will be in Brisbane from the end of January, and will always have a bed or two to welcome guests to. Being in Brisbane will allow us to indulge in live sport and theatre again, which will be nice. We are already looking forward to the British and Irish Lions tour later in the year, and to the vastly expanded range of entertainment and social options that the tropics do not offer.

We drove from Townsville to Brisbane with a well loaded trailer (Its amazing what you think you might need when without a house for five weeks). Having previously travelled the atrocity that is the Bruce Highway we decided to go inland, in the hope that we might arrive on the Sunshine Coast with our faculties intact. The Bruce has previously provided us with tailgating drivers, trucks passing on blind corners and interminable halts at regular roadworks.

This was MacK’s first major road trip, and we travelled the inland route from Charters Towers, through Emerald to Gympie. Our intent was to complete the bulk of the drive (approximately 1000 km) on the first day, stopping at Biloela. This way we hoped that MacK might cope a little better with the journey. The wee man was ill the night before we left, and we had very little sleep. Still, we managed to be on the road by four thirty (in the AM…) and MacK proved to be a wonderful traveller.

The petrol was a little more expensive in isolated outback roadhouses (we paid as much as $1.90 per litre), but the road was fantastic. Almost empty, with long straights and minimal traffic. I don’t think we would ever again travel the Bruce Highway. We stopped at the roadhouse at Belyando Crossing (south of Charters Towers) where the ashes of the late owner (Boss) are still up behind the counter where he can keep an eye on everything. Odd people those North Queenslanders (now that we are not!)