Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsular with Mum

Had the weekend down in Melbourne with mum. Plane ride all went smoothly- no fog to delay me, picked up the hire car and headed out to Berwick then we headed south. We stopped off at the Mclelland Gallery and Sculpture Park which had some great sculptures spread out in the bush garden- had been set up by Dame Elizabeth Murdoch.

From there we headed down to the Peninsular Hot Springs and enjoyed soaking in the various thermal pools before heading down to out cottage in Sorrento we had hired for the weekend. It was a lovely cottage, we lit the fire and enjoyed a cosy evening relaxing in our cottage.

I headed out for a walk the next morning along the bay beach side of Sorrento before heading back to our cottage for breakfast then we headed down to Pt Nepean National Park. It was the old Quarantine Station and Army Barracks. First off we caught the shuttle bus right down to the tip of the Mornington Peninsular, you can only get down there by walking or on the Park Bus. As you drive down the peninsular narrows and you can see the ocean beach on one side and the bay beach on the other side- great scenery.

Down the tip it Fort Pearce, this is where the army base was set up to guard Pt Phillip Bay, soldiers and guns are stationed here. You can wander through the old tunnels, see where the guns where and learn the history of the area- very fascinating. You can see across to Queenscliffe and Barwon Heads on the other side of the peninsular. We spent about an hour exploring the area before catching the shuttle bus to the next area where you wander around as well.

We headed back to the Quarantine Station and wandered through there and by that time we were starting to get hungry and ready for lunch. Drove back to Sorrento, were amazed by the hordes of people so got some takeaways for lunch and sat out in the sun, before buying stuff for dinner and headed back to our cottage around 3pm and then just relaxed. We had lovely weather.

Sunday morning I walked to Sorrento Back Beach and walked along the Mornington Coastal Path- lovely views. Had brekky back at the cottage, we packed up then I drove mum to the back beach and then bay beach and we walked along the beaches there before heading back to Berwick where I dropped mum off then headed out to the airport and back to Canberra!

Brisbane May 2018

Amy and I headed up to Brisbane for the weekend in May and had a lovely time. We escaped a cold Canberra weekend and enjoyed a lovely 23 to 25 degrees up in Brisbane. We landed around 10am and picked up or hire car and drove into Brisbane to meet Amy's friend who lived in Newstead. We met her and her baby and went out to lunch before heading into the city and checking into the Marriot Hotel where we were staying. We relaxed for a bit then walked into Queen Street and did some shopping before walking over the bridge to Southbank and met up with her friend and her partner and enjoyed a lovely meal together. It was weird sitting outside with just a light cardigan on! We wandered around the Southbank Markets before heading back to our hotel- was a great day!

Sunday morning after a yummy breakfast in the hotel, we got our car from the Valet Parking and went and picked us Steph, Andrew and baby Evelyn and headed down to the Currumbin Bird and Animal Park where we spent the day. We had a great time! First off we had a "Behind the Scenes Encounter " of the Bird Flight Show which was great. We wandered around for a bit and then went to the "Free Flight Training Encounter" where we got to learn how they train the birds for the Bird Show and we also worked with Jack the magpie and got to help try and train him. That was really interesting.

Then we took a late lunch break, went to the bird show, wandered around the park and headed down to the entrance where we got to feed the lorikeets - there were hundreds of birds and hundreds of people but it was well organised and we had lorikeets all over us, it was great fun, the girls enjoyed themselves and then we headed back to the car and battled the traffic back to Brisbane.

We had dinner with Steph and her partner before heading back to the hotel after a great day out. The next morning we packed up, had our breakfast and then checked out. We picked up Steph and Evelyn and then headed north to the Sunshine Coast and up We had views of the Glasshouse Mountains it was a lovely spot and Amy was in bird heaven! There were lots of birds out the front you could hold and talk to, and then we payed for a tour to go into the aviary- they had this massive big aviary with three different sections that you walked through with all sorts of birds that would come and land on you. They had macaws, red tailed black cockatoos, eclectus parrots, lorikeets, all sorts of birds.

The girls went up and had devonshire tea and I went for a walk through the gardens, then I looked after the baby while the girls went through and did another tour of the aviary- so they had a great time. We then headed back into Brisbane, dropped Steph off and headed to the airport. Our plane was delayed about and hour, we finally landed about 9:30pm so it was a fairly late night and was 3 degrees in Canberra when we landed so a bit of a shock to the system having been in 23 degrees, but a great weekend away.

Lachlan's Handyman Skills and my New Mini Greenhouse

We have had a very wobbly side gate posts for months now, the wooden post had rotted away, so Lachlan got us organised and offered to replace it for us with a metal pole, so last Saturday we headed off to Bunnings. I am learning the art of shopping at Bunnings with a male! First you need to purchase the materials- in this case a metal pole and cap and some ready concrete mix.  Then you need to purchase the tools to complete the job- in this case a post hole shovel and a crowbar type think to smash up the old concrete!

Lachlan worked away for a couple of hours digging out the old concrete and digging the new hole. Bill and I were his on call labourers, but not sure that we did all that much. He had the pole in the ground, all level and supported then we got the call to come and help put the concrete and water in- we definitely got the easy job! The next morning he fixed the fence and gate back onto the new pole and we now have a rock solid post in place ! Was good to watch him at work and see how thorough he is. Even cleaned the tools that he had used when he finished the job!

I have all but given up trying to grow anything much in the veggie garden over winter, apart from a few herbs and things in pots near the back door. They had some small raised garden beds and pop over greenhouses at Aldi a few week back so decided to try growing something in this. I have planted some baby broccoli so will see how that goes.

Avoca Beach for Easter

Bill's cousin Jocelyn and her husband Steve have recently moved from Sydney to Avoca Beach on the Central Coast about on and a half hours north of Sydney. They had lived in Castle Hill for many years which was our Sydney home away from home. The plan was Amy, Lachlan and I were heading up there for Easter, however as Amy's new bird arrived the week before Easter she needed to stay home and help him settle in. It has been a long time since we have gone away at Easter as there are usually crowds of people around everywhere and the traffic is chaotic.

Lachlan and I left on Good Friday around 10am hoping that all the crazy drivers would be well on their way. We had a pretty good run, but still hit a few bottle necks on the Hume Highway and then the Pacific Highway was pretty congested but we arrived safe and sound. We had a very relaxing time with them in their magnificent new house, our new holiday home we decided to call it! They have lots of spare rooms and their son Chris and daughter in law Siobhan  were also there so Lachlan enjoyed catching up with them. Had a bit of a drive around the local area, walks on the beach, chilling out on the couch reading or watching Nailed It! Was a relaxing weekend.

We left Monday morning at 10am and managed to get into Sydney and out the other side without too much hassle and then a smooth run home to Canberra where Bill and Amy and managed to survive without Lachlan and I!

Merimbula

Back in March I had to go down to Merimbula to visit Merimbula Branch on Sunday for church. Amy came down with me this time. We had a lovely drive down on the Saturday, we stopped off at the Bega Cheese Factory on the way down and had a look around and got to taste some of the Bega Cheese- hadn't been there for years! We got to Merimbula around 4pm and checked into our motel and went for a lovely walk along the beach. We had dinner that night at a little tapas bar and had  the best calamari ever!

I went for a walk in the morning and got some lovely sunrise photos. Amy slept! I went to church. The owner of the motel kindly let us keep the room till I was finished at church went Amy could just chill out till I was finished.

We headed back to Canberra about 2pm, it was very hot and windy- it was the day the bush fires hit Tathra, which was only about 30 minutes from where we were staying. As we drove home you could see lots of smoke around from fires that were burning, one of which would have eventually been the Tathra fire. By the time we got to the top of Brown Mountain the temperature had gone from 40 degrees to 29 degrees so glad we were heading the direction we were. It was very windy and we could see smoke from a couple of fires in the distance so glad to get home.

Hawk meets Budgie

The week before Easter we acquired another macaw- he was a 4 month old macaw from Brisbane. Amy had contacted the breeder we got Bill's bird from last year to see if she had any male macaws available but she only had females. However she was able to source one for Amy from Brisbane and Hawk flew down ( on a plane in a cage) to join our menagerie  A very excited Amy, accompanied by Bill headed out to the Qantas Cargo Depot to pick Hawk up. He has quickly settled it is a big baby- literally. He is slightly bigger than Budgie and she is nearly a year older than him. He is still growing into his body, like a gangling teenager- is clumsy and finds it a bit uncomfortable when Budgie is right next to him in his personal space. Budgie has been very curious, a bit mean, but as the weeks go by they are getting more and more comfortable with each other. Last night they were up on the stand together for a good hour or so and had little sleeps which means they are getting use to each other.

Last year we had to chop up a fallen tree and I saved this branch and have had it outside weathering for months. Finally I got around to setting it in concrete in a metal bin, then I called on Lachlan to use his tradie skills to fasten the horizontal branch for us. He did a great job, did  a bit of trimming, chopping and screwed in the branch. We were not sure how the birds would take to it, anything different always takes a while, but within a few hours they had all checked it out. The macaws have had great fun chewing through the bark and chewing through the wood- so obviously not issues with this!

I think Beau has finally learnt his lesson and is keeping his distance from Hawk. With the other macaws he would start of being friendly then attack their tails or annoy them, only to find out they were bigger than him and they would drive him off if he was nearby!

 I gave the birds a birthday sign to hold, didn't take them very long to chew it up but at least I got the photo to send!