Christmas Lights at Sydney Temple

I was supposed to go up to the Sydney Temple on Friday night with my friend Louise but she came down with a sinus infection, I still went but on my own. I left Canberra around 5pm and the traffic on the road was pretty quiet. Once I arrived at the temple accommodation  I walked up to check out Temple Christmas Lights which I have been wanting to do for a long time. It was lovely seeing the temple all lit  up and the displays. 

I then headed back to the accommodation and had a good night sleep before heading to the temple early the next morning then driving back to Canberra, there was a lot more traffic on the way home. I enjoyed the time away by myself, a bit like a mini retreat, felt a lot more relaxed and ready for Christmas after having some time alone.

Tassie Part Two

We did a 3 hour cruise around Tasman Island and up the east coast of Tasmania. It was spectacular. We left from Port Arthur and headed to Eaglehawk where the bus brought us back to our starting point. We were lucky with the weather, it was cool but still so there wasn't much swell.

We stayed in one of these cottages which was very comfortable and well set out.

  

A cute letterbox on my morning walk.

 There were two boats like this that seated 43  passengers each. The drivers and guides were just great.

 Spotted some dolphins a couple of times, was great to watch them jumping in and out of the water and near the front of the boat.

The coast line was pretty stunning.

They gave us each a full length water proof jacket to put on. It also kept some of the wind out, it was about 20 degrees that day but felt pretty cool out on the water.

Tasman Island

  Cliffs along the east coast were pretty stunning

  Some of the sea lions along the way

  We saw some rock climber in this location.

After we got back to Eaglehawk we headed to the Lavender Farm for some lunch.

After the Lavender Farm we had a three hour drive up to Launceston, it was an easy drive up the middle of Tasmania and was a pretty drive. We arrived in Launceston around 6pm and settled into our hotel- it was the Peppers Silo Hotel and we had got an opening special. We got upgraded to a bigger room which was nice. They have built the hotel in the old silos and are redeveloping the whole area.

There was a nice waterfront to walk along in the morning, I went for a morning walk before breakfast, we had a late checkout, so after breakfast we took Archie the resident hotel dog for a walk!

I walked down to the entrance to Cataract Gorge, Amy and drove back there later and went for a bit of a wander.

Amy and Archie- having a hotel dog made Amy's stay even better!

 Once we were back in Canberra on Amy's actual birthday we went out to Space Kitchen for breakfast which was very nice. 

Amy had pea and feta pancakes with smoked trout and corn salsa- very nice.

 We took home a raspberry mango cheesecake for her birthday cake later that night!

Amy's Christmas and Birthday Present- Tasmania

Amy and I have started a tradition over the last few years and around December we go away for a long weekend which is her combined Christmas and Birthday present. For the last few years we have gone to Melbourne but this time we headed down to Tasmania. We flew into Hobart and out of Launceston.

First we headed to MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) but on the way we had to visit the Wicked Cheese Company. However before we got there we turned into the Coal Creek Valley Farm where we got to feed some goats.

Pick some raspberries and cherries which were very nice

Then it was the Puddleduck Winery which had a Duck Shop-they even had a non alcholic wine I could taste! 

Then the Cheese Shop before heading to MONA- which has a very interesting and eclectic collection of art. The building and setting is very nice so spent a couple of hours there.

Then we headed down to Grange in the Huon Valley about 30 minutes out of Hobart where we stayed the night in a lovely room, lovely and quiet and lovely views. We enjoyed dinner on the deck from our purchases on the road that day.

Saturday we headed back to Hobart and enjoyed a few hours wandering around the Salamanca Markets. We then headed out to Taranna near Port Arthur where we were staying the night. We had hoped to visit the Lavendar Farm which was closed but instead went to the UnZoo where we met a few Tasmanian Devils, some birds, kangaroos and various other creatures and had a great time. Amy was in her element.

 This was an injured tawny frogmouth- he was very cute.

Not sure who was enjoying this more- Amy or the kangaroo!

Funerals

Within a week of getting home from our overseas trip we had two deaths in the family. Bill's Aunt Thela passed away at 97 ( Bill's father's sister) and then a week later Bill's mum Marian passed away at the age of 87 peacefully in her own home. We had a busy couple of weeks with lots of phone calls, booking plane flights and logistics. There was a funeral for Thela on the 30th of November up in Sydney and then Bill and his sisters flew to Adelaide to prepare for  Marian's Celebration of Life on Tuesday 4th December so it was a busy time. It was nice though catching up with family at these occasions.

 Here is a picture of our family at Thela's funeral, not often we have a chance to take a photo of us all together.

 The Frost siblings and their spouses -Hilary, Stuart, Mary, Peter, Bill and I

Picture of Jim and Marian

Picture of Jim with his sister Thela

Dogs and Parrots

Trying to catch up on my blog! Here are a couple of photos of the menagaire. Here are Jack and Luna watching us at work in the front yard, they always like to be around us when we are outside in case we might take them for a walk!

Hawk stealing a carrot and Budgie working out how she can get it from him.

The two macaws fighting over a can of coconut milk!

Amy brought a donut cushion and trapped poor Beau!

Back Home- Tree Clearing Duties

We arrived home on the Friday morning, on the Saturday Lachlan had Bill and I out the front assisting him as he cut down one of the trees in our front yard. While we were away there was a storm that went through Tuggeranong and two of the wattle trees came down. One was rotten so that one was cut down by Lachlan and Derek our next door neighbour and the other neighbours helped clear up as well. Then when we got home we decided that another wattle tree needed to come down as it was on real lean and we were worried next storm might bring it down on the cars. So Lachlan got to work and Bill and I had the job of cutting up all the cuttings and getting them cleared up. Aldi had an electric chain saw on sale on Saturday so I went down and got that, and it well and truly paid for itself along with the telescopic lopper that Lachlan had brought. I am sure it would have cost us at least $1000 dollars to get these trees chopped down but Lachlan was able to get it done which was great. Will miss our lovely wattle trees in bloom in late winter though!

Luna and Jack were out supervising us all!

Last Day in London

Our flight home was at 8:30pm, we had to check out of our apartment at 10am, so I booked a day stay room at the Mecure Paddington just up the road and right next to Paddington Railway Station where we were catching the Heathrow Express. That meant we didn't have to pay to store luggage and had somewhere to relax and shower before heading out to the aiport, it worked well. After checking in we caught a double decker bus up to the Camden Markets. We enjoyed pottering around the markets, got Bill a stylish cap then walked back to Paddington- just over an hour along the Regent Canal. It was a lovely walk and with it being a sunny 14 degrees it was very pleasant and a nice relaxing way to spend our final day in London.