Unpacking, unpacking........

Well, been a bit quiet here the past week. Australia Day we spent basically at home but ended the day with marinated 'roo" steaks. Can't get more Australian than that. Our freezer has an assortment of roo steaks/fillets and mince from a past shooting weekend. So, I have the chance to adapt many of my recipes. Last night I made a "spag bol" with the roo mince and it was very tasty indeed.

Bruno has been on call for the past 10 days so that limits us as he has to be within a half hour radius of the station. Anyway, our container arrived on Friday so the past 3 days have been spent unpacking. Huge days starting after breakfast and going all day till the light disappeared which here means 9pm. Bruno and I would stumble into bed exhausted, aching and throbbing feet and well and truly over it. I have come to the conclusion it is a more pleasant experience packing up your belongings. Unpacking brings frustration as to where are we going to put all this stuff. (and a lot of it is "STUFF)  It also brings sadness as I came to realise that the move is a permanent one and I wonder if we have done the right thing. Yesterday we set up our bedroom with our queen bed, bedding and it was somewhat eerie. The room faces the same as our old bedroom, window in the same spot and photos on the same walls. It was very surreal to the pair of us as we fell asleep feeling slightly deflated.

Over the weekend, the weather was very hot. It was awful, Sunday reached 30 degrees it was so hot and the house doesn't have aircon or fans. So, after tea Rosie and I headed down to the beach and I knew I should have taken my togs. Rosie swam and swam and I sat down on the waters edge letting the cooling waters soothe my tired feet. It was bliss. A nice end to a draining emotionally and physically weekend.

Rosie cooling off.

Dinner on the beach.

Bruno had a RDO today so I went into town to do the groceries while he hung around home keeping an eye on Rosie who is still settling in. The street had cars everywhere as everyone prepares for the weekend, no corner stores here for last minute/missed items.
 I went to the Post Office got the mail and some ink cartridges for the printer, finished the groceries and went to the General Store to get the Flinders Island News. No, its not a newspaper but a photocopied, booklet produced fortnightly with all the happenings, fitness classes, a report from the local police and any other news that has happened on the Island within the fortnight. I liken it to a school newsletter.

I made a quiche with fresh eggs, given to us by Gaylene, (the wife of one of Bruno`s colleagues) along with a beautiful vase of freshly cut garden flowers as a welcome to the Island. The yolks were bright yellow and the photo doesn't really show it how it was.

I made the quiche because Bruno and I were going "out" to tea tonight. We were heading to Sawyers Bay to go for a walk and to have tea while watching the sun set. On the trip there, a "kite" flew into the front of the ute and it was stuck on the grill. We could hear it calling out so Bruno stopped on the side of the road to remove it and put it out of its misery, if it was still alive. When the ute slowed down it appeared to fall off and go under the car. When we got out, it was obviously dead but not squashed in any way. Poor little fella.

We carried on our way and soon arrived at Sawyers Bay. We couldn't go too far from home because Bruno is actually on-call for the next 10 days and therefore has to be within a 10min radius of the station.

Considering we were only 10 ins from home, the place was deserted though the beach was scattered with boulders and rocks. Wow, this is going to be fun to explore. We headed off and everywhere we turned there were different and intriguing formations. It was if someone up above was playing "jacks". We spent a good hour walking through and around the formations.

I took so many photos but you can view them in my facebook album under Sawyers Bay.

On arrival back to the car we laid out the picnic rug and proceeded to eat the quiche as we looked out on the waters of Bass Strait.

I have a little peach tree.......

During the week I had a real look around the garden. A tree that I had photographed back in April when I was visiting was now in abundance of fruit - peaches. Wow, Bruno and I inspected the fruit and although many had been "stung" by fruit fly,  there were plenty that had not. However, there were lots of little red/black bugs on them and the poor tree had been neglected. We picked the peaches that hadn't been touched and took them inside. They were very sweet. We are now waiting for the fruit to finish bearing and then we will prune the tree back and look after it so hopefully next year we will have a tree laden with untouched fruit. :-)

The tree back in April 2011

Juicy, sweet peaches.

Walking every morning.

By the time I got out of bed this morning the sun was well and truly up. With daylight savings I find that we aren't going to bed till closer to 10 because by the time we have a walk in the evening and get back it is already 8.30-9 o'clock. Then another hour to unwind before hitting the sack.
Anyway it is another beautiful day, I have a cuppa, check my mail and facebook and then go for my new morning walk with Rosie. We head down to the beach and she is excited. I put on my runners today as my feet are well and truly exfoliated for this week and I do want to walk relatively briskly. I decide to go south. The water is crystal clear and calm.

Waiting, waiting.........

Tuesday, was so hot and it obviously reached the 26 degree mark and I was sweating even in the house. With there only being one fan in the place, I struggled to find a cool spot. I couldn't even find any of that "breeze" that Flinders is renowned for. Jetpets phoned me an hour before Rosie was due to fly in to tell me that they had mucked up the booking and had consequently missed her flight. Poor Rosie.

When Bruno came home at about 5pm, we had an early tea and then drove down to The Bluff and hung out with some of his work mates. They had a BBQ going and were just cooling off  in the water with a boat and "biscuit", while the kids swam in the shallower water. We stayed for a couple of hours until the sun disappeared.(8.30pm) Must say I  love daylight savings.

Wednesday - TODAY Rosie is arriving. I spent the morning organising tea, walking into "town" to get some ingredients and basically waiting. The weather was not so hot today as there was a breeze to cool things down. 2.30pm I picked Bruno up from work and we headed to the airport.As we turned the corner we could see Rosie in her crate and her ears pricked up, and would you believe after 14 months she had recognised Bruno's car and started crying. She was so excited to see us and was certainly letting us know that we were not to do that again. Rosie spent the afternoon settling in and taking it easy.

About 6.30pm we headed for a walk down the beach. It was really uncanny as Rosie seemed to know where we were going, out of the gate she turned towards the beach as if by instinct. Down on the beach it was quite blowy as the wind had picked up during the day. The water temperature however, was warm (swimming temperature)  and Rosie didn't hesitate to have a swim.

Rosie and I walking along the beach about 7.30pm

Cuttlefish - are huge here.

As we walked along the beach Rosie became intrigued by the stumps of an old jetty. As the waves were rolling in and around the stumps, she couldn't ascertain what it was. She ventured in to investigate, braving the waves. After much deliberation I think she decided that nothing was going to "get us."

Rosie checking it out.

Swimming

Walking along this particular beach it is not just sand but a lot of little pebbles and broken shells. The perfect natural exfoliant for your feet. It even took my nail polish off (partially).

Nature's exfoliant.

Day One - Arrival

After a long day travelling yesterday we arrived home, unpacked and had ourselves some tea. At 7pm we went for a walk along the beach out the front of Whitemark. The sun shining we walked for over an hour and watched as the sun gently lowered itself behind the horizon. By the time we got back home it was nearly 9pm and it was just getting dark.

Good morning and what a beautiful morning,  a warm 19 degrees with an expected 26 degrees. I am beginning to wonder if the plane landed in the right place.

 So, today is the day that Rosie arrives, poor puppy must have been wandering what was happening to her as she was picked up from the Sunshine Coast last Thursday. She has travelled one flight and been in bording kennels in Melbourne for the past 4 days, after being denied access to Brisbane kennels due to a Kennel Cough outbreak. One more flight today for her. After being so close to those planes, I am wondering how she has coped with the noise while sitting on the tarmac. (Have you ever seen dogs on the luggage trolleys during loading they look miserable!) For those of you who don't know this is a dog who normally chases planes maybe this will have cured her as she realises they are much noisier and huge when on the ground, we can only hope.

The weekend

 I have sort of lost my enthusiasm for this but I will try and put some words to paper for those of you who are looking out for it everyday. hehe

 Last Thursday we were invited to the local pub for a drink with one of Bruno's collegues. I was a bit apprehensive about this, as the pub is really and hasn't really been my scene, especially when sitting in the bar area with a whole bunch of men. Anyway, off we went and the bonus about going out to the pub is we can walk, don't have to think about drink driving or having too many drinks though most of you would know that is not really me either. But, anyway at least I could have one or two which I did. We actually had a good time and I met Brut's partner who was working behind the bar.

The next morning we went for a walk to the post Office as we were expecting a parcel from KJ and had some documents to post. Low and behold there was Kylie (whom I met the night before at the pub) now working in the Post Office. Many people here work a couple of jobs. I guess less names for you to remember. So, I am meeting many of the locals and am trying really hard to remember all their names and who is related to whom.

Saturday afternoon we hosted our first BBQ for another of Bruno's work collegues. Brett and his wife, Amay and 2 little kids came over and it was a lovely afternoon/evening. Nice to chat with someone  closer to my age and who hasn't lived here all their lives. The common remark from all the women local or otherwise is - you have to get off the Island every 3 months or so and Winter can be very lonely and boring....  mmm note to self really need to get back into stamping.

I am going to visit the Day Care Centre later today as, apparently there is a position available at the moment. So, will go and check it out. Bruno has already dropped in my resume etc but they said if I was here that I should come down and meet them for a chat. So, will find out all about that one today.

We have done some other smaller driving trips around. The weather has been excellent though yesterday we didn't see any blue cloud or Mt. Strezlecki so Bruno and I stayed in and watched LOST, all day would you believe. Well, I am on holidays afterall. I haven't had to use my jacket/scarf/gloves on this visit at all.

We went to the south of the Island the other day and we went to Vinegar Hill and looked at the surrounding Islands - Cape Barron being the most prominent.

In the fore ground of this photo is the docks where our furniture came in and Bruno's car.

The photos were taken upon this rock, high on Vinegar Hill.

On Wednesday we are hosting a "Soup Night" at our place for another couple of couples. It will be nice to meet the people and their partners that Bruno talks about often. Bruno is back at work this week. He was fortunate to have all of last week off which was nice for us to take a good look around the place. So, this week will be rather quiet - will have to get into rearranging the cupboards -  maybe.

I fly home on Saturday ready for Mother's Day on Sunday. I will catch up with most of them then.