A slight case of sea sickness

Come to Kangaroo Island, they said.  Support the economy after the terrible bushfires.   We will  greatly reduce the price of fares on the ferries, Sea Link said.   

So we decided to go for the day. It was after all, only a 45 minute journey for a 16 km crossing.   What could go wrong.  

For a start, the weather was cold, wet and miserable, which was unusual in early February.   It turned out not to be the warm and sunny day that we expected at that time of year.

And secondly, the strait is hazardous, narrow and dangerous, with strong currents coming from different directions, tidal swells and steep breaking seas.  It is known, interestingly as Backstairs Passage, which is a courtroom term.   And so named in 1802 by Matthew Flinders.  

And thirdly, the ferries are catamarans, and we know from experience that they pitch and roll around in rough seas.

We had fond memories of a trip made in August 2006, when Darren took Walter, Margaret, and a 4 year old Jay, and me to Kangaroo Island for a few days.   We stayed in a lovely apartment, and travelled around the island by car, enjoying all the lovely areas, with Darren acting as a tour guide.  Although it was a rough crossing, the ferry appeared to be just pitching in the waves.  Or perhaps we were better sailors in 2006.

On the day in February, we sat at the front of the ferry.   Another mistake!   On catamarans one should sit at the back.   Interestingly the one we took in New Zealand from Bluff to Stewart Island, another very rough crossing, the captain told passengers who were not good sailors to sit at the back, and the company also supplied ear plugs.   The advice was to put a plug in the ear opposite to the dominating hand.   Apparently it works.

No advice when boarding the Kangaroo Island ferry, just plenty of sick bags around, always a sign that the crossing was going to be rough.

And it was.   Within seconds the ferry starting pitching and rolling, both at the same time.   'Rocking and rolling' the captain said to the passengers.   We disappeared from the front of the boat very quickly, out into the fresh air at the back.   Trying to keep our balance as we staggered along the passage was difficult, and we must have looked a sight.

Walter had a miserable 50 minute boat trip, standing in the small space at the back of the boat. I ended up going up onto the top deck with plenty of fresh air around me, even though the pitch and roll was worse up there. I kept my eye on the island in front of me, as watching the horizon only made it all worse.   Getting one's line of vision is important.

It was such a relief to arrive in Penneshaw, 50 minutes later, not 45 minutes as promised in the advertisement.   Five long minutes!

We got off the ferry, shakily, but relieved, and waited for the land to stop moving, or our heads to stop spinning.

The view of the terminal as we left Cape Jervis, on the southern edge of the Fleurieu Peninsula.   It was raining.  

The view of Penneshaw as we neared the port there.   The sea was a little calmer by this stage.   And compared to the hugh swells in the English channel, the waves were never that high anyway, but it was what goes on under the surface that counts here.

Penneshaw.   So pleased to see the wharf.

Now the fourth mistake we made was to assume that there was something to see and do in Penneshaw.   We had already checked that a tour would have to be pre booked, and there would be no buses to and from the main town, Kingscote.   They only run first thing in the morning and in the early evening.

But we thought there might be some shops in Penneshaw.   Well there were very few, as we found out, and as school holidays were finished, most venues were closed.   There were two cafes, the supermarket, Post Office, pharmacy and one pub open.   The ferry had been full of people, but they dispersed very quickly.

So first off, a cafe, to recover from the trip.   And the strong and excellent coffee certainly helped considerably.   Excellent service and good food there too.   Not that we even considered that.

Then we visited the Post Office which had second hand books for sale, so we bought a few books.   Then to the pharmacy where we looked at all the sea sickness remedies for sale, and there was a whole shelf full of boxes.   I think they have plenty of sales here in this line.

The last shop we visited was the supermarket where we purchased some Kangaroo Island honey.

We were having trouble spending our money.

But what to do now, we had walked around the town, and still had a couple of hours to fill in before lunch at the pub.

When we walked around the bay we noticed a walking path around a quarry which advertised a sculpture walk.    And it was very interesting too.

A view over the bay at Penneshaw.

Walter looking much happier now that he was on land.

Canvas accommodation, which included bathrooms, in the camping ground.   Very impressive.

Quite a deep quarry.

The view back towards the jetty.

Some of the sculptures.

A small wallaby hiding in the bushes.

We spent the rest of time on Kangaroo Island, in the pub, where we had a lovely fish lunch, no alcohol for us though.   After lunch we sat in very comfortable chairs and slowly sipped our coffee, and read our newly purchased books.   It was very pleasant.

The view from the pub.

Finally we caught the ferry back.   Walter took some sea sickness tablets and sat at the back of the ferry.   I stood on the deck at the top, and altogether it was a much better trip back.  Perhaps the currents in the water were going the way we were travelling.

It took days for us to recover our sense of balance.   Walter reckoned the effect from the taking the tablets was worse than feeling seasick. 

We vowed never to travel to Kangaroo Island again.

In all fairness, it was assumed that people would use the cheap ferry fares to take their cars across with them, and stay for a few days on the island.   Even though many of the tourist places were destroyed and consequently closed to visitors, there was still plenty to do and experience.

Where does time go to!

It has been nearly three weeks since I last wrote a blog, each day passes by very quickly and yet I seem to just float along, without achieving much at all.   Amazing how one can fill a day, without actually doing anything.  And then I wonder where the time goes to! 

Time to get moving!   The first item on the list was this blog, then two more blogs about our travels before we were all required to stay at home, or close to home.

Darren and I spent 10 days on a front garden makeover, and definitely I was very busy and involved in that.    I have also cleaned out our sheds, and washed the windows and patios..   I have weeded and pruned the garden, and then realised that enough was enough there.   I have killed all new citrus trees, through giving them citrus fertiliser when I should not have done so.   I must learn to leave well alone with some plants.  

I know that I should be focusing on fitness, strolling along with Piper does not equate to improving my fitness levels.   I tried an online exercise course, and hurt my foot, not seriously, but it caused me to lose interest.   I know I should cycle a few times a week, but have not done so.   It is going to be a shock when the U3A walking and cycling groups start up again, I will definitely not be the fittest person.

Travel wise.   We should have been leaving to travel to the Netherlands at the end of May, but that has definitely been put on hold for at least a year.   We were so looking forward to catching up with Aaron, Kylie, Mia, Abi and Raphy.

However, we are now allowed to travel within South Australia, and camping grounds have opened up too, so we are definitely planning to see some of the state, places like Coober Pedy and Port Lincoln.   Areas we have never visited when we lived here during the 1970s and 1980s.

Onto the photographs, some of them were taken last August, before disappearing into the archives.

I have cleaned our garage out, and put all our camping and caravanning gear up onto shelves.  Only my bike remains at the back of the shed, and so far we have not hit it with the car.   We put our twenty year old Honda in the garage, due to spending a couple of thousand dollars getting the rust cut out of it.   Instead of travelling we spent our money on the car!   And it looks good too, and there is no danger of the boot door falling off anymore.   Although old, it is a brilliant car, and a really good work horse type of vehicle.   

The caravan has been moved to the paving on the other side of the lawn.   Walter backed it up brilliantly.   I have lost confidence, as I jack knifed the caravan and hit the back corner of our Kia, and now it needs to be fixed.   I completed a caravan towing course in the UK but reversing a big heavy British caravan is quite different to reversing a light weight pop top caravan.   It should be easier I know.   But my brain does not accept this.

A photo from the past, last July in fact, when Darren brought all his pieces of watering equipment, and we laid it out on the benches.   So much stuff from Darren's garden business days.

I sorted all the smaller bits and pieces and put them into boxes for him.

And now they are in our tool shed.   And I have had a big clean up in here too.  It is all so clean and tidy.  For how long?

Last July we put dripper hoses through the back and side gardens, all put into shallow trenches and held down by hooks.   Hard work.

And then we covered them with a thick layer of organic compost.

One year later most of the plants are growing well,, except for killing three kangaroo paw plants, a protea tree, and recently a kaffir lime tree.   Mostly due to the area not getting enough sunshine, and a bit too much citrus fertiliser on the kaffir lime.   It has also taken me a year to realise that much of the back and side gardens are in shade for seven months of the year.

All our pipes are hooked up to the multi pipe connection which I brought from the UK.   And the automatic timer also came with us.   Both systems work brilliantly here.   Every three days during summer the garden is given water, without me thinking about it.   Love it.

And we found the sprinkler system which had been put into the grassed area, but no longer worked.   Now that we have replaced some of the parts, we have a fantastic sprinkler system.  And lovely green lawns.

Even if we cannot grow our own citrus trees (so far I have killed three lemon trees, and three lime trees) we have access to the most delicious lemons which hang over the fence.  I guess we contribute to some of the water that runs under the fence and ends up in the lemon tree roots. 

Darren and I had a clean up of pot plants at his house.   All looking spick and span there now, and happy plants with more space to grow.

Darren made a wooden box, so that Jay had some plants outside her window.

And while we are on the subject of houses and gardens, a view of Scott's block of land where he will have a house being built soon.    All very exciting.   Great views of the coast too.

And now we have shops opening, plus restaurants and cafes able to have people sitting inside and outside eating food and drinking coffee.   Limited numbers but still a great improvement.   I never got used to walking and drinking coffee at the same time.   Coffee needs to be sipped slowly in a relaxed way at a table.  Life is definitely getting much better.

Garden Makeover

Another blog, amazingly after only a few days, due to having time, now that the weather has turned cold, and wet, and I cannot be outside.    This morning I took Piper for a walk on the beach, first time for days, and got absolutely soaked from the rain.   No waterproof coat, or over trousers, so I learnt a valuable lesson, go prepared for the worst.   Piper enjoyed a good run on the beach.   Her fur repelled the rain, unlike my down jacket.   The waterproofing solution did not work there.

A garden makeover, two weeks of hard work, for both Darren and me.   Darren had two weeks holiday, and spent half of it working on our garden.   He planned it, measured it all out, did most of the hard work, and came to the garden centres with me, so that I bought the correct plants.

  The original garden, as shown in the sales brochure for the house.   And yes, it did look really good at the time.   The fountain worked, and there were no weeds in the stones or in the cracks between the pavers.   And you might say, why change it all. 

Darren kept the pittosporum hedges beautifully trimmed, and they looked beautiful until they became infested with a bugs/or bugs in the form of a fluffy white bug, plus a scaly brown one that stuck to the branches and sucked all the moisture out of the wood.   Mind you the scaly brown insects may have been part of the life cycle of the fluffy white ones.   The front hedge turned brown during the last heat wave, with sections of another hedge going the same way.   All hedges were infested with the insects.   The reason could be due to me watering the hedges from the top, during the first summer we were here, or it may have happened anyway.   Pittosporum trees (native to NZ) are not the hardiest of trees for our harsh climate in South Australia. 

The fountain stopped working when we moved in, and the wiring for it, was dodgy to say the least, so we never had it fixed.   I filled the basin with soil and grew some plants in it.   Not the same.

And the stones!   The bane of my life.   A safety hazard as we had to walk over them to get to the house.   The weeds grew among the stones and in the cracks of the pavers.  I tried using an organic spray, and weeding them, but the task became harder and harder, and in the end I gave up.   The previous owners used a weed killer, but I did not want to use the same method.   Not good for the environment, the wildlife, the dog or me!

So after much deliberation, planning and discussion we finally got started after Easter.

Darren lifted the pavers a few weeks before Easter so that we could work on the stones.   The idea was that I spend a few hours a day picking up stones.  Great in theory but not in practice.  Picking up stones is a soul destroying job.   It takes so long, and the stones are so heavy!  The stones on the top were okay, clean and easily picked up, but the ones underneath were buried in dirt, layers of them.   Of course Darren helped whenever he could, and  I was lucky that Emma and Steve came and filled a number of containers and took them home to use, and one of our neighbours also filled a couple of wheel barrows and took them home with her.   But the removeful of these stones seemed to go on for weeks and weeks. 

I originally had an idea of buying small wire cages, filling them with stones, and making garden benches.   I gave this idea up very early due to the cost of the cages, but mostly because stones were very heavy, and filling cages was going to be a difficult job.   

In the end I found that raking up the stones that were buried deep in the dirt, made the job easier.

Darren cut the hedges down.

All loaded onto the trailer.

Then Darren started laying the pavers, with the help of Jay.  Very heavy work but they did a brilliant job.

So what to do with the fountain.  It looked odd beside the paved area!   Out of balance.  No one in the family was interested in moving it to the back garden, where I thought the birds would love to use it for swimming.   It was another of my not so brilliant ideas.

So I sold it, via Facebook Marketplace.   Surprisingly there were a  number of offers, but I took the first offer of $200.   A woman turned up with her brother, and trailer, to collect it.   Of course it was heavy, very heavy.   The mermaid had been glued to the bowl, so that was one very heavy and very large piece.   The stand came in two parts.   We rang Darren, Emma and Steve to come around and lend a hand to slide it onto the trailer.   It took five people to move it.   What a weight.   We then found that the transformer was under the pedestal, and it was wrapped in gaffa tape.   So electrically unsafe.   There were a few spiders there as well, redbacks of course.

The stones were given away, via Marketplace.   Two piles of them, one pile cleaner than the other due to cleaning the first pile up because I was going to put them into the wire cages.

We had lots of offers but I must admit I let them go to a man, with a trailer, who I knew could shovel the stones himself.   I wanted no part in getting rid of them.   He was really pleased with them and was going to put them down between concrete strips in his driveway.   Good luck with the weeds.   Perhaps he uses weedkiller.

No more stones!   Just clean concrete and pavers.   I do not ever want to see stones again.  I hate stones.  

The last hedge, which I thought at first I would save, but changed my mind.   It was full of the same bug/s, and yes I know I could have sprayed the hedge, but I had had enough!   Of course I should have realised this when Darren cut the first two hedges down, as he could have put the third hedge onto the same trailer, and saved $56 at the recycling depot.   Oh well, I needed to really think about the last hedge first.  Darren is so patient.

The last hedge nearly gone.   When the previous owners drive past they are going to be distraught when they see their precious hedges are no more. 

I have not mentioned yet, about all the soil that was removed from all three garden beds, and the lawn area.   Some of it went onto the vegetable beds, and a friend took the rest.   Darren put down the dripper hoses, and connected them all up to the irrigation pipe, and covered the garden beds with organic garden mulch.

Finally we ordered buffalo grass, which Darren put on the lawn area.    Instant lawn.   I so love instant lawn.  When I think of all the lawns I have created over the years, all painstakingly watered every few hours in order to get the seeds to germinate.   The seeds that escaped the mouths of the local birds!

The last of the lawn, in the photograph below, was given to the first bidder on Facebook Marketplace.  The person used it to repair a lawn.   So love that site. 

And finally, planting time.    So what have we done.   In front of the windows there are Lilly pilly trees to make into small hedges.   Robust trees.   I like that.   In front are standard roses, white and yellow, with small obelias in between them.   The front garden have the geraniums at the front, which of course were in front of the old hedge, plus white and yellow shrub roses behind them, and against the pavers there are Japanese Box shrubs to train into a small hedge.   I have put in lots of pansies to give a bit of colour over winter.   All very formal. but seems to suit the house, and of course Darren was meticulous about every aspect of the garden makeover.   

Did people outside of South Australia know that Adelaide, and the surrounding area, is a rose growing area.   Apparently the soil and weather conditions are perfect.    They certainly flower for a long time, from spring through to autumn.   And are very easy care.    Good news.

Also Japanese Box shrubs are hardier than English Box shrubs.  Well news to me too.   

The post person loves the letter box standing on its own.   There is now no need to find a way around the hedge in order to find the letter box.   

The caravan will be put on the paved area on the left hand side.    We can use the garage again, once I clean the clutter up.   It is amazing how quickly an empty space fills up.  

Hopefully it will be cooler at the front during summer time, although there is still plenty of concrete, which unfortunately we need for our vehicles.

Only one mishap.    Piper chewed out the elastic side panel of one of my Wellingtons, the ones bought at the expensive garden centre in the UK.   Very handy Wellingtons too.  I left them beside the patio door, and Piper entertained herself one evening by taking out the inner soles, and chewing the elastic side panel.   Could have been worse.   At least they are still wearable.

Piper now has an uninterrupted view of the street, and spends most of her day there, when not playing or walking or following me around.   She also has a good view of who to bark at too! 

A big thank you to Darren, as I could not have achieved this garden makeover on my own.