There's no place like it

Sunday

Finally back home.

The AGM went briskly and without incident Sunday morning and we went for lunch at the restaurant upstairs. This continued into a general discussion and socialising event until we were due to leave for the airport. I was planning to share a taxi with the treasurer but one of the members offered to drive us there. I think he just wanted an excuse to drive the flash Ford  muscle car he'd hired.

There was a bit of a wait once we'd checked in but the flight was only an hour.  The transit time was a couple of hours and I got to meet some of the other attendees as they arrived on later flights.  My flight was delayed 40 or 50 minutes as they had a passenger who needed oxygen rigged. Finally we were off and again I had an empty seat. It was a long flight but I did watch the movie, although I can't even remember what it was. It was after 11pm before I got home so I was pretty tired.

I have no more plans for travel this year with the proposed Beijing trip next Feb or March the next up. We also have preliminary info on the Golf club trip to Thailand which is schedule for end of March a and start of April so more blogs will follow next year.

Der.......went thataway

Thursday

This was a lovely sunny day much improved from Wednesday and justified my decision to put of a cruise for a day. About 10 I wandered down to the piers and checked the offerings, confirming the one I had decided on yesterday and checking the time I needed to be there. ie 10 to 12 for the 12 o'clock lunch cruise. The water there was like a millpond and the sky was clear and blue.

I then continue my walk through the pier area, past some working docks and up the hill to the war memorial. From there you have a 360 degree view of the bay, the bridge , the city and the mountains.

I came back past the university gardens, a roundabout that was itself almost a park and the hospital into the the shopping area. Being Show Day, most of the shops were closed but some were still open including Target, JB HIFI, Myer and the Chickenfeed shop (a discount store similar to Crazy Clarks) where I bought some more junk food.

I took this back to the hotel and then went down for my cruise. The water was still very calm and the boat we were on was an old ferry boat. Our trip took us past Battery Point, Wrest point Casino and Sandy Bay before swinging away from the shore towards the far side. At this time they served us lunch. My chicken parmigiama was a decent size as were most of the other meals I saw - easily equivalent to a pub counter meal in the $15-$20 range, so $30 all up was a good deal. There was also cask wine available for free.

We swung back to the Hobart side short of the bridge and pulled up just about on the hour. Another 1 hour or so cruise then left going under the bridge. This also included a meal and there was an option to combine both cruises. Not sure if anybody could have eaten 2 meals that size.

I again wandered back through town trying to locate golf shops, which were was expoected closed. One I found but it didn't appear to carry Callaway, later confirmed by a phone call, and the second semmed to no longer exist, also confirmed but an attempted phone call getting a "this number is not connected" message.

I walked further in the battery hill direction before returning to the hotel. Richard and Beth arrived later that day and we met up for dinner, We walked back to the pier area and had fish and chips on one of the floating "restaurants".

Friday

We had the Administrative committee meeting today. This is the subcommiteee consisting of the Cair, membership secretary, recruiting office and treasurer. We started at 12 and finished not much after 3. The meeting went well, swiftly and without any great disagreements.

By then most of the rest of the attendees had arrived and we headed to the Rendevous Cafe to catch up. WE were informed it was about to close so not to order and we soon moved to the European, just acroos the square and where Kate and I had eatent the first night. I had a milkshake but most of them were drinikng wine. Some had already made a good start, and one of my friends from Perth asked us to let him know when he'd crossed the "being amusing" line. My response was to ask him which side he thought he was on at the moment.

Enetually we rerifted off and I changed before the ice breaker. Teis was quite successful with each of us getting a sheet of paper with quotes from TV or film, Song, book or Poem and a speech. We had to work out
the source of these quotes eitehr ourselves or in consultaion. It was like the proverbial fat penguin - there to break the ice.

We had plenty of finger food and the drinks kept coming till about 10pm. At that stage some people, amazingly enough, went out for a meal and doubtless more liquid refreshment but I called it a night, alhtough I did watch the second half of the International Rules game before going to bed.

Saturday

Our handouts from the previous night had a "treasure hunt". The idea was to photob graph 12 things in the Salamanca Markets that match the 12 pictures on the handout. These markets are just down the street from the hotel and quite a big thing on Saturdays. By the time I'd had breakfast and read the paper I decided it was too late to bother. Besides I've seen enough markets in the last 6 months that I didn't need another one.

The National Committee meeting was on today, with the State reps and the editor adding to the AdCom members from yesterday. This year we had an agenda and the chairman kept things well under control. We had breaks for mornign and afternoon tea and lunch and still managed to finish in time to catch the last couple of speakers. Last year our meeting finished well after the speaker meeting for the general members.

Dinner, like all the otehr meetings was in the hotel and was again well run. We had a 3 course meal with 2 choices for each - I stuck with the Tasmanian Smoked Salmon and Tasmansian Eye fillet rissoto and the cirtus tart. There was again abundant wine and softdrink to last trhough to 10pm. The di9nner more or less broke up about 11pm with many planning on further partying in the room. Again I passed on this not wanting to be the only sober person in the room ( or alternatively spending a fortune on those tiny bottles of spirits in the minibar).

Land Ho....bart

Tuesday

The flight from Melbourne was equally short and the plane equally uncrowded as the one from Adelaide. Kate was waiting for me before my bags arrived and we were soon on our way to the city. It was noticeably cool.

The room/suite is very nice, similar to the one I had in Houstonwith kitchen living and sleeping areas and a work desk, but a bit better arranged I think. It even includes a pc with an LCD monitor for your use although I still used my laptop and the wireless connection. Handy if you didn't want to bring one and just needed to check emails.

After I checked in Kate and I went for a walk to a nearby restaurant. The hotel is in Salamanca which is on the river front and has lots of restaurants and boutiques. The photo below was taken the next day. After that she went home and I watched a movie on the in house channel. There are 8 movie channels in addition to a couple of cable channels and free to air.

Wednesday

I woke up about 6am, checked emails read a bit and finally went back to sleep, getting up again just before 10. It was too late for breakfast by then and I headed out for a walk. My first stop was the wharves where the river tours are based. There are a lot of options and I more or less decided on one but will do it tomorrow if the weather is better. It was overcast this morning with a spot of drizzle from time to time and that would have impacted on the viewing on the cruise. Tomorrow is a public holiday for Show Day so the regular shops won't be open.

I headed up to the shopping area and bought some cold tablets first up. I have had a runny nose for the last day or so. I then wndered through the shops and bought a lightweight long sleeve top for tomorrow night. I have my dressy top for the dinner but other than that only polo tops and a tank top. While I was there I had lunch at a chinese restaurant, then headed back to the hotel.

I took some photos of the buildings and some parks on the way back. The most obvious thing about Hobart or at least this part is the large number of older buildings still in use. These are generally only a few stories high and made from sandstone or similar.

The park above is St David's park and again another obvious observation is that there are alot of very big trees around. Not only in the park itself but in the streets and even on people's property. Theres a walkway from the park to the hotel with flower beds that is also quite pretty.

I watched another movie and finally got through to a client in WA. I had tried before and after I went shopping without success. Not sure if the problem is solved but haven't heard any more from then since then.

It was then about 3-30 and I headed out for another walk, following the guidelines for the Historic walk. This took me down to Battery point, along the foreshore and back around to the area where we ate last night,

There were a lot of lovely old buildings in the area, houses and larger buildings as well as a few parks. It was very pleasant as the clouds had cleared away to some extent and the sun shone through. I headed back into the shopping area to buys some eats and drinks before the shops closed.

Back in the fold

I visited my parents in South Australia from Thursday through to Tuesday.

Thursday
The flight from Brisbane was uneventful, even to the extent of not having a meal or a feature film. We did get some small biscuits or a cupcake and a few TV shows. The plane was a 737 with a single aisle and fairly full as well. At least the flight was quite short – under 3 hours. We left about 45 minutes late so it was nearly 7 by the time we arrived. Mum and Dad had already eaten, so we stopped briefly at a shopping centre where I picked up some fish and chips and then headed South.

They live in Goolwa which is on the lake at the mouth of the Murray River and have been there for 2 to 3 years. They are in a retirement village in a 2 bedroom house. The second bedroom is also the office and sewing room so it’s quite crowded. There is a minimum front garden – only a metre or so wide and just enough for some flowers and maybe a strip of lawn. The back yard is a bit wider, by default with a path and shrubs and covered with wood chips. Mum and Dad have a bit of a vegetable patch there, partly looked after by their neighbour. They have a lot of beans coming up – enough to feed the neighbourhood – and some peas which were ready for picking. I raided these a few times while I was there and we had them with our roast the last night. They have a deck area off the living room and we usually eat breakfast and lunch out there.

Dad headed off to bed pretty much as soon as we got home but Mum and I talked and she also looked at my photos from this trip and New Zealand. It was nearly 1 am when we went to bed.

Friday
We didn’t get up too early for some reason but by about 10 we were ready and Dad went to do some bowls practice, Mum to the shops and I was dropped at the library which is the one place I can get on the net. Unfortunately, although I can get emails in Thunderbird, it is not possible to sent emails through the program and I had to use a web browser, which is a bit tedious. There were a surprising number of emails in just over a day and it was quite late before I’d finished answering them, updated the blog and so forth.

We had lunch and then headed to Victor Harbour, which is not that far away, but on the ocean rather than the lake. We stopped at the local golf course where I enquired about a game Monday and once again looked for an FTi driver. They had an 11deg one there at the cheapest price I’ve seen but not the one I’m after.

At Victor, Mum bought a waterproof jacket for bowls, Dad washed the car and we also picked up some seedlings for the garden. Victor is a bit of a holiday spot with a nearby island joined by a jetty. Mum and Dad first met on that island, many years ago.

There is also a house being built on the road between the 2 towns which we think is deliberately askew, or perhaps it’s just falling apart.

We went to the Bowls club for dinner. This is a regular Friday night event and last night it was a choice of roast pork, which we all had, or fisherman’s basket followed by lemon meringue pie for $10 each. We sat with one of the men from the club who was a bit of an entertaining character, so it was quite enjoyable. We were still home not much after 8 and Dad headed to bed while mum went to sleep in front of the TV.

Saturday
The temperature was predicted to reach 33deg today and there was a nasty wind blowing as well. It was 9-30 before we got up and about 11 I headed to the library to check on e mails and follow up with some net related jobs I hadn’t finished from yesterday.

Dad had to play pennants further in land and wasn’t looking forward to the heat. After lunch Mum and I made about 35 pasties, which will be dinner tonight. There have been a couple of brief visits from neighbours but mostly we’ve just stayed inside since it’s coolest here, done some crosswords and a bit of reading.

Dad came back from bowls and told us it had been very unpleasant out and that his team had a draw but the other 2 had lost. Once again he retired early. Mum watched a bit of TV and then we looked at my photos from the US and Thailand trips. WE also cleaned out the freezer and I used Dad’s paint stripper to melt the accumulated ice. Much more efficient than a hair dryer and it was finished in a short time.

Sunday
A dramatic change in the weather today. Down from mid thirties to under 20. There was even a bit of rain in the morning. This helped us make our decision between a picnic and a meal at a pub. We headed over to Wellington on the Murray River. More or less the last town before it reaches the lakes. There’s a ferry there that runs 24 hours and seems to take about 10 minutes per round trip. There were also 100’s of white parrots flying around and perching in the nearby trees.

The town was 83km from Goolwa so it was a long driver for a meal but, surprisingly, I had never been there before. I had the soup and lamb shanks special. After we finished we sat in the outside area for a while watching the ferry and the river and soaking up the afternoon sun. The landscape varied considerably over that distance, with farmland, salt lakes and vineyards. On the way back we stopped in Strathalbyn for a bit of shopping.

After that, we went to the lookout above Middleton’s Beach, which gives a view over Goolwa, the lakes and the sea. Usual story however – the sky was still hazy and the pictures are not very clear. Once back in Goolwa we went to the beach and saw a guy making the most of the windy condition with his kite surfer.

Once home, I read the paper and then lay down on the bed to do the crossword and fell asleep. Just like being back in Perth. I woke up for dinner and we watched some TV. Dad went to bed at 8-30 and Mum after the show on TV. I watched the episode of Heroes from a few days ago and then went to bed myself.

Monday
I had arranged to play golf with Peter, a retired academic from Adelaide Uni and member of the Grange golf club. Since I couldn’t drive to Adelaide, he came here, picked me up and we played a McCracken Country Club in Victor Harbour. This is a very picturesque course with lots of water, hills and sand traps.

Peter had a 2 for 1 card so it was only $15 each and he lent me his old set of sticks. I managed to break 100, hitting the ball reasonably well but putting fairly badly. The greens were good but very fast and the pin placings were quite difficult, still unchanged from the weekend. It was very windy, sometimes requiring 2 or even 3 clubs longer than normal when hitting into the breeze but it was sunny without being hot. We made quite good time, not needing to wait for anyone for the whole round and matching the time taken by a single player who hit off on the opposite 9, so it was very pleasant. Peter had an 80, slightly better than his handicap. He had to get back for an appointment so we headed to Port Elliot and had lunch at the bakery before he dropped me home.

I had only been back a few minutes when some friends of Mum and Dad arrived. I had met them about 9 years ago but didn’t really remember them. We sat out on the decking and I did the crossword and then fell asleep while they were talking. I woke up and said I needed to go to the library which closed at 5. I managed to get an hour on the net before it closed and seemed to again have a large number of emails to get through. I also contacted the Tasmanian state sec, who confirmed she will meet me at the airport tomorrow.

We had a roast for dinner. Somehow nobody makes it like your mother. Mine never seem to taste the same anyway. I have mostly packed with an ETA from here at 10 to get to the airport with 90 minutes or so to go and for Dad to get back for a doctor’s appointment.

Tuesday
We were all ready to go by 9-30 but we faffed around until after 10 before actually leaving and it was just after 11-30 when we got to the airport. Long enough to check in and read the paper in the departure lounge before boarding. This is the shortest flight I’ve been on in the last 6 months, only an hour in the air. I didn’t bother with the entertainment at all and did most of the crosswords in the paper instead. There was an empty middle seat and I was in an exit row so there was a bit more space than on the previous flights. Despite the short flight, we did get a sandwich and an apple as well as a drink. The bags came out fairly quickly. I think most people just had carry on luggage. I had to collect it and the re-check in for Jetstar. It was not a big queue and I am again in an exit row. This flight to Hobart is also only an hour. However, I have 2 hours wait before it takes off, so I’ll spend more time in the airports than in the air.

Plans and pumps

Wednesday
I have been helping Carol set up some things on the net such as Skype and also signed her up for RSVP. We took some photos for that in the morning. She felt the ones I took at Noosa weren’t what she wanted as she didn’t have any make up on. We settled on one and got her profile up be fore we left for Caboulda. She was confused about the Internet and mobile plan she’d signed up for and why her bill was more than the previous month.
We got to the Optus shop where she signed up and they explained what was happening. The item on the bill for handset was in fact for the modem. She had a mobile plan as well but that was a loophole whereby signing up for a $5 plan got you $10 off the Internet. She gets $5 worth of calls as well but after that its pretty expensive, so it’s not a replacement for her current phone. No better off, but at least understanding the situation, we headed into town and had some lunch at a café there. We had a brief stroll around the main drag where Carol bought a headset for use with Skype and then drove to the beach.
The tide was well out exposing the rocks and some sandbars. There was a boardwalk around the headland so I walked part way round before returning.
Our last stop there was at Bunnings where she tried to exchange a pump some else bought for her for her pool. It didn’t have the connections for her filters. Turns out none of the ones there did but at least she got a refund.

Once back in Maleny we headed to the Baroon dam that I’d seen fr5om the Montville road several times. There are 2 roads into it, the other being on the far side of Montville. There is a boat ramp at the Maleny road as well as a picnic area and playground. There were also signs indicating swimming was banned due to Blue-green algae.

Another stop at the shops for a chicken for dinner and then another night of TV. Carol had received her first kiss on RSVP so maybe that will lead to something for her. It started to rain that evening with thunder and lightning and this continued on and off through the night.

I was awake for part of the night, reading a book when I couldn’t get back to sleep. Eventually I dropped off and it was 9:15 when I woke. I basically just had time to shower, have breakfast and pack and then we were off. We were in time for the 11:09 bus from Landsborough. This took me to a train in Caboolture with a further change to the airport train. That connection was only 2 minutes but that was enough. I checked in at the business class counter, making first use of my newly acquired Silver status on Qantas. Unfortunately that doesn’t get you into the lounge so I’m typing this up at a table in the food court, unsure of when I’ll actually get on the net next. (Goolwa Public Library on Friday)