Easter Hike

Last year we'd earmarked going to the Easter Orienteering carnival in Tasmania but when we went to look into options of flying v's driving we discovered that Easter was 2 weeks before school holidays. Wanting to explore Tasmania while we were there, we realised that it was unrealistic to take 10 days off and then cope with the school holidays so instead we stayed put....well almost.

The weather forecast looked great for an overnight hike. After some research we settled on a walk in Namadgi National Park. Our aim was to hike up to Split Rock - a 20km return trip from the old Orroral Tracking Station. We convinced Aoife, Cath and Eoin to join us. Jessica and Gareth we going to come too just for the first night but had a last minute change of plans.

The short hours long drive had us arrive at the tracking station in time for a picnic lunch. Great to get fuelled up before we started! After signing our intentions on the bushwalking register, we began. The first few km's were easy walking along the fire trail in Orroral Valley. There was a little bit of stop starting as everyone adjusted to the weight of their packs.

Keeping in mind we wanted to keep this walk fun for everyone, we had originally intended to camp in the valley with the thought of walking and summiting split rock the next day minus our packs. However we found ourselves arriving at this intended campsite within an hour. We sat down for a snack and had a group discussion on options before voting. The outcome was to continue walking and see how far we could get knowing that native bush and area didn't allow for many choices in camp sites.

The fourth km was slow, climbing steeply (100m vertical climb) resulting in a detour off the trail to explore the looming granite boulders whilst providing a break from the hard walking. It was a beautiful spot for a lolly rest break on top of the boulder whilst enjoying the view of Orroral valley below.

We couldn't pause too long as our destination called. On we continued cresting the hill, ambling leisurely and happily along the top until we reached the Australian Alps Walking Trail sign indicating the turn off onto a lovely single track. The bush was thick with banksias and the walking was easy. We were all hoping the creek, our next landmark would quickly appear soon and eventually it did.

Packs were dumped, shoes and sock pulled off before paddling and exploring began. The girls had forgotten how tired they were and were engrossed in the natural environment. We, the adults, pondered about the closeness of the our intended campsite.

From the creek, the next km up was tough. A 15% climb with loaded packs was hard going on everyone. We played celebrity heads with the girls to keep their minds (and ours) off the slog. Thankfully the hill flattened out and emerging from between the trees was Split Rock perched high up on the peak. Andy and the girls scouted ahead to find the best camping spot. Unfortunately a couple had beaten us to it. Suitable areas clear enough for several tents were hard to come by with all the thick regrowth, however we did find an established spot for our campsite.

Chaos at Home

It has felt like the last month our house has been falling apart.

We had the incident of the leaning tower of the water tank. It had been ever so slowly tilting away from the house. Our builder quickly righted it.

After living with 4 barstools since the start of 2018, we decided it was time to change the single bench support pole to a two legs to enable us to fit all the stools in. That went well until one of the replacement legs was accidentally knocked out. The kitchen guy returned and was amazed to find that the leg had snapped off at the top - we'd thought it was due to only 1 of the 6 holes having a screw! A new leg was installed with all the screws in and both feet were glued to the floor.

Next we came home on Sunday afternoon to discover the Grevillea Robusta in our back garden has sustained some damaged in the windy conditions. Worried that the two large branches that were still suspended half way up the tree could possible fall onto the next-door neighbours power line, we logged a call to the SES. The result was a visit from the fire department who decided a chainsaw wasn't necessary and simply roped the branches then pulled them to the ground destroying part of the veggie patch fence as well as snapping a limb from the nectarine tree.

Next we finally committed to purchasing awnings for the two east facing windows (kitchen and study) and Katy's west facing window. This job has only taken us 2.5 years to do (the old awnings were removed as part of the renovations!) The kitchen and study awnings were fairly simple. Katy's room however was complex for several reasons - the window abuts the eaves meaning there is no room to fix a blind above and its is a casement window. Our only option was to secure the awning to the fascia board beneath the gutter and fix brackets on to the fence which the awning would slot in.

Installation went smoothly however Katy's awning was only taut at one end as the fence was not parallel to the house and it also sloped downwards!! The installers offered no assistance to this problem wondering what we were going to do about it. Andy and I were both horrified with this attitude and quickly called the owner who had originally suggestion this method as an option. He was extremely apologetic and fantastic in sorting it out.  The same installer returned and constructed on site, a cable. He even joked about this being the smallest cable he has ever made! Not sure why he couldn't have made it during the initial installation when the problem was highlighted. Anyway we are very happy with the result and so is Katy.

The only issue now remaining is the pitter patter of feet we hear late at night or early in the morning in our bedroom ceiling belonging to mice! Andy and I ventured up into the roof space to look for any evidence to support our theory. Unfortunately the roof space is extremely hard to manoeuvre around in and we saw little proof of mice existing however we were unable to really access where we thought they were. Initially we placed mice traps up there but they have done absolutely nothing. Our next option reluctantly was poison. After a two weeks of being in place, we felt like the mouse noises had reduced but were still around. Investigating the baits, we couldn't find two and the other was untouched. We left another two up there and hope that our house will return to silence in the night very soon. Both of us don't want to crawl around in the dusty, itchy cramped space of the roof so next time it will be a call to a pest company. Lets hope it doesn't come to that!

First School Camp

The following week, it was Katy's turn for camp. She was off on her first school camp to Birrigai. Although Ella has told her all about camp and what to expect, Katy was a little nervous on the days leading up to the departure.

The happy campers were met with beautiful weather for their overnight stay at Biirigai. With regular photo updates from the seesaw program Aranda uses, we were treated to a little insight into their world away from home.

Katy returned also shattered but chattering about all the fun things they did - camp fires and making damper, rescuing the Corroboree Frog and probably the highlight making it 9.5m on the Big swing!

Camp Cooba

Ella headed off on her Year 5/6 camp to Camp Cooba located between Cooma and Jindabyne. Away for 2 nights, Ella enjoyed the assault course, archery and obstacle course. Although she was pumped on her return, she thought last year's camp was much better.

A Visitor for Pippa

It's not everyday that Pippa has an interstate visitor. Sangi, Jan and Russell's Lagotto Romagnolo (Italian Water Dog) has accompanied them on their recent (and still current) adventure which has taken them from Perth to Melbourne to Canberra back to Melbourne over to Hobart and returning over the Nullabor again.

When they stopped by for dinner, Jan, Russell and Sangi had been on the road for a few weeks enjoying their new camper trailer set up. Sangi and Pippa weren't completely sure of each other at first. Then they realised neither were going anywhere soon so pretended not to notice or be interested in the other unless it involved a wee which led to taking turns to wee on the same spot!!

Bad Timing

Trying to fit a visit to the Balloon Spectacular was fairly tricky this year however an opportunity arose on the final weekend. The forecast was looking perfect 30°C with 0 chance of rain. We prepped the girls to an early start.

Our alarms went off. It was still dark. We quickly dressed before rousing the girls to do the same. As we reversed down the driveway a few drops fell on the windscreen. Andy and I looked at each other confused before Andy checked the radar. By the time it loaded we were well on our way and were extremely disappointed to see a rather large rain band coming across Canberra.

Despite this warning sign, we were hopeful that it would pass quickly or something. No such luck.....by the time we'd parked the car and walked the short distance to the lawns of Old Parliament House, the launching site of the balloons, the rain was lightly falling. Still there was no news about cancelling the event so we queued for egg and bacon rolls and while we were waiting, the announcement was made that the balloons would not be flying and none would be tethering either.

Feeling dejected, we made our way to an undercover area to eat our breakfast. Our moods were made worse, when Ella was bumped in the crowded tent and her egg and bacon roll fell off her plate and onto the muddy grass. Well and truly time to head home! Ella was mad at herself rejecting any of our offers of our untouched rolls. Eventually she came around as we were wandering back to the car resulting in Andy and her returning to order another one. While waiting Andy also resorted to a takeaway coffee in a paper cup as the situation was so desperate!

The morning will be one to remember but not for the right reasons! Perhaps we will give it a miss next year and I'll just have to make do with the views on my morning commute to work which even in cloudy weather can look as spectacular as this....

Autumn Sc-ore Concludes

The early morning Thursday rush getting to and from Score has finished until the next comp in Spring. The girls enjoyed the weekly challenge of running at a new school.

The cousins team took line honours for the third time. Ella's team the Aranda Antelopes placed 9th while Katy's team the Aranda Bandicoots came mid field in 18th position. Aranda had a great turnout with 6 teams competing. The Aranda M team came second and the remaining teams all placed in the top half of the scoreboard. An excellent effort by all.

Working Hard

Ella's silks routine is coming along and we can't wait to see the final routine next week. Here is a glimpse of what she has been up to... with Katy in the background rock climbing (who also has improved out of sight with her climbing!)

Tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes!

Being inundated with ripe tomatoes, I decided to try to make our own passata. Scouring the web, I found many recipes based around traditional passata days in Italian families. Some told tales of job allocation and producing enough passata sauce for the whole family for the year... serious business! My aim was just to make a yummy sauce easily.

Roasted two trays of tomatoes with garlic before transferring to the stove, adding in basil and seasoning then blending the passata smooth. It created two jars plus two snap lock bags (popped in the freezer) of passata - probably close to 1.5ltrs all up.

Two weeks later, with the weather about to turn (or so I thought.... last week was still hanging around 30°C!) Ella and I diligently plucked all the remaining tomatoes off the bushes before tidying up the vegie patch. The chickens enjoyed free ranging in the cleared patch.

We left the tomatoes to ripen in bowls on the bench. Soon there were numerous large continuers in the fridge bursting with ripe tomatoes so time to make another batch of passata. Producing 2.5ltrs of passata and no jars, I resorted to using zip lock bags and placing them in the freezer for use at a later date.

With the remaining 3kg of green tomatoes, I whipped up a batch of green tomato chutney ready for Grandad's next visit!

Pallaibo Track

Our legs were weary and tired from yesterday's adventures, so we decided to pack up and head home pausing briefly for a short walk. Our departure though stalled with Cath and Eoin's car not wanting to start. With battery problems on the way up at Jindabyne, they were prepared to swap the old battery for a new one. Only issue was the lack of a spanner with our shifter being too big.

Luckily the lodge had a workshop which was bound to have the right tools. A thorough search saw us turn up empty handed on the tool front however in the meantime, Cath had managed to loosen the nuts with her fingertips and all was looking good again! Well until, the new battery was placed in and Eoin bumped one of the nuts which disappeared into a crevice never to be see again. Thankfully the workshop did have lots of nuts and bolts including one of the correct size! Soon the engine was roaring and we were off.

Pallaibo walking track - an easy stroll from Sawpit Creek through the dry eucalyptus forest passing the scenic Sawpit Falls and Charlies Cascades and finishing 5.6km later at the Thredbo river. Sounded excellent - a bit of a wander down a valley with some river rock hopping to keep the kids entertained.

From the Sawpit picnic area, we followed the Sawpit walking track for a kilometre where we turned off continuing along Sawpit Creek while the Dads finished the loop returning to the cars. They drove them to our finish destination the Thredbo River picnic area and walked back up the Pallaibo track to meet up.

We were playing Celebrity head hoping the river would come in view so that the much anticipated rock hopping could begin! The forest was dry, the sun warm and tempers were starting to fray! This walk wasn't exactly turning into what we had envisaged!

A few lollies, the track turning downhill and the Dads appearing all worked in our favour. With news that the Thredbo River was close, Aoife and Ella took off.

By the time we joined them, they were well and truly in the refreshing cool water exploring. Unfortunately we could only play here for a short time as Ella had wanted to make her silks class which meant we needed to be back in Canberra by 3pm.

Little Girls Alpine Ascent

Meanwhile back at Guthega, the girls were having their own adventure by summiting Guthega Trig with the dads in tow! An enjoyable climb despite the spiky pineapple grass and grass seeds, with awesome views back to the lodge and Guthega dam. The more artistic photos were taken by Ella.