Blogs from Mansfield, Victoria, Australia, Oceania - page 2

Now on the toenail of the foot of the last leg. It's sunny, blue and chilly. Rubbish sleep in the tinytent as usual. Cold and cramped. But only 2 or 3 more to go. Only blokes like Ranulph Feinnes would have any clue as to how I'm suffering down here. Pity me not. I'm pretty sure you're not anyway. I'll cope. Nick/Cyclopath Sent from the Mansfield public library, bless'em... read more

Thursday 23rd February became a bit of a working day. Graham was up early to make some progress on preparing the foundations of the new shed which will house a couple of caravans (including Sweetie) and our car. Last night, family friend Nigel had provided the basic information and some detailed measurements to enable some post holes to be dug out so Graham spent much of the day and most of his energy digging with a very heavy crow-bar and a long-handled shovel. Considering his medical condition and his current state of fitness (overweight!) he made remarkable progress and the holes, six of them, all came along nicely. As for me, realizing that time was running out for packing up the caravan, I made as much progress as I could, identifying and suitably packing a) things ... read more

Today, Saturday 18th February our main objective was to visit our dear friend Wilma who lives in Wangaratta. We had arranged to get there for about midday so we had plenty of time to get ready. Wang is only about 40 kilometers from Benalla so we had a bit of time to spare to carry on with our tidying up process. Wilma has lived in Wang for a good many years and her home – The House That Jack Built – is as delightful a home as we have had the pleasure of visiting during our many trips to Australia. We have actually stayed there several times including earlier on our trip and we feel the design, the layout, the construction and the location are all perfect. It’s not huge or overly luxurious. It’s just comfortable ... read more

Friday 16th December - we were both up early as we were hoping for a fairly prompt start on our trip to be re-united with the caravan. Graham carried everything down to the car as each bag was packed but it was a bit of a “balancing act” making sure Mad Micky was nowhere near when the front door was opened. As a young kitten he’s not allowed outside yet but, given his guile, speed and general athletic ability, we’re sure it won’t be long before he fools Daphne into letting him out accidentally. Daphne will have her hands full over the next few days with Micky, Christmas shopping and cake and pudding baking. In addition she has been asked by a very busy Grant and Anna if she could provide a meal for David and ... read more

Saturday (5th November) morning dawned lovely and bright but there had been a very heavy dew during the night so anything left out was a bit soggy. Graham normally likes to put the awning, chairs, table etc away the night before when we’re moving on but this morning, as we didn’t have far to travel, we decided to hang around and let the strong sun do its bit to dry everything out. Our Burnie acquaintances were doing much the same so it gave us time for a bit more chat about Tassie, travelling and our future stay with Gerry Davies in Burnie. We were ready to leave at about 10:00am, quite late for us, but we only had a journey of 120 kilometers so we had time to spare. We bade our Burnie friends farewell – ... read more