Changes

Since Emma, Steve, Jackson and Isabel have moved into their house, and taken all their furniture, some from the UK and some they have bought here, we have been very busy in the house and the garden.   Not a moment to spare.

We shopped in Ikea, of course, plus a few other shops, and also visited every charity shop between here and Marion!   Some of the charity shops are very big, and beautifully set out, so it is a pleasure to visit them.    Nothing like recycling items.

The lounge room has a few extra pictures on the wall, courtesy of one charity shop, plus a new lampshade on the left, and a few more ornaments.

This lamp was a little splash out, a moment of indulgence, or madness.    The strange looking light, which can only face the painting or the wall as it is too bright, cost us $150, and it was on sale, reduced from $300. 

Two new club chairs from Ikea.   The area outside the windows has two plants, inherited with the house.   Much more is needed in what was once the cat run.

A print from Ikea!  And they are everywhere, these type of prints, but not to worry as they look good on our wall too.

The Miner, finally in a new frame.    This print belonged to Walter's mother and we had to take it out of the original frame in order to carry it to the UK in a suitcase.   In the end we managed to find a poster frame from a shop called Neds.   

A new picture for the wall, some second hand cushions, new bedside cabinets and duvet covers, and hey presto a revamped bedroom.

The new ceiling heater in our bathroom.    No more cold bathrooms in the winter time.

This area, with the staghorn plant from a neighbour, and shade plants that were left here, will be joined in July by ferns.   A lovely shady area at the end of the verandah, and as long as it gets watered during the hot months it should be a very pleasant and restful area.   The rain water tank is only a short distance away too.

My token olive tree in a pot in a sunny position.    Hopefully I will get a few olives off to preserve, but if not it will be a lovely small tree to provide interest to this area.

My token small bougainvillea in the large pot on the left. I may try something larger and shape it into a bush, but experience has told me they can easily become rampart and overgrown.   I always loved the purple bougainvillea that grew over our outside toilet at Henley Beach.   A perfect spot for it. 

I am not sure about the variety of this striped succulent with sharp pointy ends. A dangerous plant.  It could be from the Yukka family.  More like that than the softer Agave family.  All I know is that it is going from this garden.

I have thick long sleeved leather gloves, a Christmas present from Margaret, which I have used to successfully shield my hands and arms as I cut off the leaves on this horrible plant.   Now I need Darren's strength to get the base of it out of the soil.   It was also planted in the narrow part of a raised garden bed.

This Yucca shrub was definitely going to be removed, but Darren suggested pulling all the lower leaves off, and make it into a feature tree.   And I must admit he is correct.   I think I even like it now.

Succulents appeared on the Adelaide scene during the 26 years we were away.  When they are well cared for, and have other interesting plants amongst them they look quite attractive.   Unfortunately in Aldinga Beach, many houses put a few in the front gardens, and never attend to them again.   So they live on, either in an overgrown mess, or amongst bark or stones.    Most unattractive.   And it has quite put me off succulents.

I have had a major clear out of them in this garden.   However I have potted up small specimens, just in case I change my mind.   And the head gardener, Darren, has assured me that they will look really good amongst shrubs and flowers.

In two days time Darren will cut back the giant white bird of paradise or wild banana, as they have just become so overgrown.   The neighbours will be really happy as they hang over the fence.   The correct name for them is Strelitzia nicolai.   Interestingly the white flowers are not very interesting.   We also have the smaller Strelitzia plants but they have not become overgrown.   The Norfolk pine in the corner is a variety that does not grow very large, according to Darren.   I hope he is right.

Piper attacked this fig tree, so have had to replace it.   I have also planted a guava, a lemon, a grape vine and a cultivated blackberry, all along the fence.   Will be espaliered. such grand plans!  But hopefully I will cover the metal fence and grow fruit at the same time.

In the corner, out of the way, behind the shed, I am developing the vegetable garden beds.   It also houses the compost bin, and the large tank.   Hopefully the current rain is filling the tank up again as I emptied it in January by forgetting to turn the tap off one day.   Water is so precious in this dry climate.

More succulents, the Agave plants.   These were going to be thrown out, until I was told they were expensive to buy in a garden shop.  Not that I am intending to set up a business selling them.   They must be easy to propagate as there are thousands growing in the gardens in Aldinga Beach.  The nectar from some Agaves can be used as a sweetener.   All this succulent growing is a new experience for me.   And one that I may learn to like and enjoy.

But back to the house, or rather the shed.    The cave has developed a new look, with a couch from the local charity shop and our chairs from our UK conservatory.

All the DVDs are out there now, so will be a nice comfy place in order to turn the sound up a bit.   A regular little cinema.

At the other end of the shed is the table tennis table,

with the fridge, chairs and dart board at the end by the cave.  Most of the pool floaties have been stored away until next summer.

Outside the shed, there is a shady area, for alfresco meals, or drinks.   It needs something a bit more to make the area an attractive place. 

A house and garden in transition.

Where does the time go to?

Where does the time go to?    One minute it was New Years Eve, then we visited New Zealand, and now April is nearly finished.     

Where do I start with this blog?   So much has been happening during the past six weeks.   I certainly cannot complain about boredom, or that I am stuck in a rut, or life is passing me by or just inactivity.    Certainly we are not living a Darby and Joan lifestyle anymore, in our comfortable chairs, in our small heated maisonette, in the UK.  In between travels, that is. 

Here we have space, in our house, in our garden and in the area around us, and more than enough to do, without the travel.

But not to procrastinate.  

Port Willunga Beach.    Such a beautiful setting. and now that summer is finished and most people have left their holiday houses, we have it to ourselves, and the other local residents of course.

Piper loves this beach, especially when I throw the ball to her, which she now returns mostly.   But now and again she takes it into the water, where she leaves it for me to collect.    No sense it wearing jeans or sneakers during the ball games.   A definite wet feet and legs time. She also loves playing with the other dogs, and no escaping either, due to the high cliffs.

Just a few posts sticking out of the sand.   All that is left of the old wharf that was here, and the reason why it is called Port Willunga.    The township of Willunga is about five kms inland from here.

The old road that leads down to the beach, where once the horses and carts would walk down to the small ships anchored at the wharf.   I think the freight mostly consisted of slate and stone, which was mined here, plus grain too.

Another lovely walk with Piper, on the reserve alongside Aldinga Scrub, and around the wetlands.    Due to it being a conservation area, dogs are not allowed into the scrub area, and today I noticed signs on the fences by the houses, which informed walkers that no dogs were allowed in the wetlands either.    However, there are no signs on the reserve end, so perhaps the ruling does not always apply.   Not that I would let Piper off the lead, not with those large kangaroos around, plus snakes and she would annoy the beautiful water birds as well.

We have not had rain, other than a few light showers, since early December.    The ground is extremely dry.

Our new coffee machine!   And we do not have five coffee machines, only three, and two of those are pod machines.    Our trusty bean to cup machine died, and ended up in the electronic collection at Bunnings.   Then our very old handle machine, which was stored in cupboards, also died, due to the seals drying out.   It obviously did not like being stored for years.    That coffee machine ended up at the scrap metal dealers, who gave us some money for it.

And now we have a super new machine, together with a grinder and 'knocking box' which were also purchased over the years, in case we went back to a handle coffee machine again.   All for the sake of a good cup of coffee.

This one looks as if it has a face on the front, and when the on/off button flashes, I swear that it is winking at me.   Very disturbing.

We are enjoying the lemons, conveniently grown on the other side of the fence.    We have been given permission to pick the lemons, by the way.    Lemon juice for breakfast every morning now.

To be honest we have not had too many huntsman spiders, but this extremely large one surprised me when I took the lid off the pool filter.   Walter very kindly chased it, and it went under the patio beside the pool.    I now lift the lid very apprehensively.

I have very few photos of family events, and we have had many of them.   Steve's mother, Chris, visited Emma and Steve, and it was lovely to see her.  We also celebrated quite a few birthdays, for Jespa, Steve, Walter, Andreena and Patrick.    All were great events.   One at our house, one at Steve and Emma's new house, which was combined with their house warming, and one at Andreena and John's house in Gawler.   

The only photograph I have is of Jespa cutting his birthday cake, an elaborate and delicious affair, made by Isabel.   Isabel has become the family cake maker, and produces mouth watering cakes.

Piper takes up much of our time, and she is turning into a gorgeous and most loveable dog.   Except when she takes a liking to chewing something.    She chewed through the cords on our tall lamp, luckily it was not plugged in, destroyed her toy box, and all her soft toys are now rags, due to her taking the stuffing out of them.   But mostly she is very placid, and we try to keep her busy, early in the morning and late in the afternoon, when boredom sets in.    In the photograph below whe is waiting for Walter to throw a ball to her, her favourite pastime.    Luckily we have plenty of room.

Walter belongs to the bowling club, which he enjoys very much.   I still go on the U3A bike rides and walks, both of which are very enjoyable now that the weather is cooler.    I am starting to feel part of both groups, and enjoy the company very much.

I also take part in the Park/Run most Saturday mornings, a fast walk uphill and a slow jog downhill.   A very friendly crowd, and beautiful scenery, as the event takes place along the edge of the cliffs.

Emma and Steve have moved into their new house, which is in a beautiful location, on a landscaped street, with a park a few metres away, Aldinga Scrub a five minute walk away and the beach a ten minute walk away.   A perfect location.   The house is large too, four bedrooms, study, lounge and family room plus a large shed, and courtyard.   And not to forget the two car garage.

A view of the street.

The move, with plenty of helpers, from our house to their house.    Not only did they have all their furniture and effects stored in our garage, they had also bought furniture here in readiness for their move, so our house, shed and yard was full of new acquisitions.    It was all very exciting.

Our garage with a few boxes left, and they have now gone too.

The first dinner at the new house, fish and chips from Jimmies. 

Now why did I put this photograph in!    Just to show people how dry it is here, I think.   It was a photograph of the front garden of the block of flats, where we have one flat.   The gardener had not been for months, and it was a mess, to be honest.   So dry though.

And now I am nearly finished this blog.    Piper is sitting close by, ready to bounce up, should I look as if I might get up and throw the ball to her, or go outside and do some gardening, which I might now.   So pleased the really hot weather is well and truly gone.

Nelson to Christchurch

We have been home for a week, and as usual we have been busy, with a little recovery time as well.

The first thing we noticed on our arrival back was the extent of the dryness here.     When driving  to Aldinga we noticed that the paddocks were beginning to lose the grass, and dry dusty earth was evident everywhere.    The hotter weather has also been noticeable.   

We left Christchurch early last Saturday morning, feeling sad to leave the family behind but the tragedy in Christchurch was mostly in our thoughts.    How could this happen in such a lovely quiet city, which has had its fair share of disasters, having experienced two major earthquakes plus another one further north.    

We were totally unaware of the shootings until we arrived in Christchurch the previous afternoon, although we did wonder why there was little traffic about on the roads.   It was not until we dropped the car off that we were told that Christchurch was in lock down, with possibly two or more deaths at one of the mosques.   And the person, or group involved, where at that stage still at large.     Little did we know then that it ended up with 50 dead, in two mosques.   Andreena, in the meantime, was in the motel room receiving calls from her mother and brothers, who were getting quite concerned about us.

Our heart goes out to the families of the people concerned, who were innocently praying in their buildings of worship, and also to the people of Christchurch, who are still reeling in shock.

But back to our last few days in New Zealand, which were spent with Margaret and Gordon in Nelson.    Gordon prepared two delicious dinners for us, and made lots of biscuits and cakes, plus preserves so we were certainly a very happy little group.   

While we were there we caught up on our washing, did some shopping, and spent time catching up with Neville and Maia, Danielle, Casey and her two little children.    Altogether a very pleasant and relaxing few days.   

Nelson had been in the midst of a drought before we arrived, and the view of the surrounding hills showed brown grass and burnt looking trees.    I think that I have only ever seen a green Nelson before this.    While we were there it rained nearly every day, and by the time we left there was green grass showing through the dry grass.    

We made a visit to Mapua, in order to have lunch at the fish cafe there.    Such a pleasant place, even with the increasing number of tourists who now visit the area.    There must be no complaints as tourists bring money.

I forgot to put a photo on of the car that we hired, a,Toyota Camry, which was very roomy and the four of us travelled in comfort during the trip.    It was a pleasure to drive as well.

After saying a sad goodbye to Margaret and Gordon, the three of us continued on our way, minus Margaret of course.    We felt a bit lost without our fourth traveller, and it was quite strange for a while.   We assure you Margaret, it was not that you were the most talkative, just that it felt strange being short of one passenger.

In New Zealand there are many one way bridges, with signs to let drivers know if they have right of way or not.   Interestingly there is no reduction in speed signs before each bridge, and I often wonder whether people, especially tourists, slow down before approaching the bridges.   I also wonder how many accidents occur on the bridges, due to speed.   But I think, generally, the one way bridges work very well.

After driving over the Whangamoa Saddle, with its steep and winding roads, and through the peaceful vineyards of Malborough, we arrived at the earthquake damaged road leading into, and out of Kaikoura.     This road, the state highway between Picton and Christchurch, was destroyed during the earthquake in November, 2016.    The railway was also destroyed.      Amazingly the NZ ability to rebuild again, despite it seeming an impossible task at first, has meant the highway and railway opened within two years.

Large numbers of seals have returned to the area.

The new shoreline looks quite different, with the disappearance of some land, and a new line of rocks where the sea bed was lifted up.

The tunnels have been strengthened and in some cases rebuilt.

Where huge landslides and rockfalls occurred, they have been cleared away and retaining walls have been built to prevent further landslides.   A major engineering project.

After spending the evening confined to our motel room, we awoke extremely early as we were booked on the 6.00 flight.    There were very long queues going through security and immigration which was very reassuring.    For once I did not complain.  We flew first to Brisbane, where we waited for a couple of hours before travelling onto Adelaide.    Certainly a roundabout way of returning to Adelaide, but it meant that the connections were better.   

And now we are back to a normal routine.

A morning walk with Piper, on a nearly deserted beach.   Summer is over.

It rained this afternoon, and fingers crossed we get more of the wet stuff.    Looking forward to a bit more green.   

A road trip - Bluff to Nelson

Two days of solid travel, from the bottom to the top of the South Island, 999 kms, 12h 27min.    However, the time does not include all the stopping or travelling at 30 kmh for road works, especially on the Lewis Pass.   This road had to include all the traffic from Blenheim to Christchurch, when Highway 1 and the Main North Line railway was swept away due to the earthquake in November 2016.    All the heavy trucks caused damage to a road that was not built for so much traffic. 

Before we set off north, we stayed for three nights at Shona's house in Wallacetown in order to spend time with her and Ollie.  It was lovely to meet Ollie and to spend time with them both.

The old playhouse, newly painted and looking very smart.

The magnificent grasses, planted by Shona and Ollie, that run along the banks of the Makarewa River.

Ollie and Shona looking relaxed on a cold morning.

A magnificent display of hydrangeas in front of the house.

While we were at Shona's house we drove down to Bluff, the most southern point of the South Island, and fought off the other tourists in order to get our photograph taken.

We walked for half an hour around the coastal path, which was beautifully set in the native bush, and offered wonderful views of the coast. 

Andreena, Walter and Margaret pausing for breath in a particularly lovely grove of bush.

A view across the sparkling sea.  I might add the weather was mild and sunny, most unusual for Buff.   My grandmother, as a very young girl, arrived here by ship with her parents   They came from County Antrim in Northern Island.   It must have been a bleak and unwelcome place in the late 19th century.

The Stewart Island ferry passing a small launch on a calm sea.   Foveaux Strait can be a very rough and dangerous stretch of water.

We also spent quite a few happy hours with Eric and Ngaire, talking about life in general and reminiscing about the past.   A very special time.   Their daughter, Carol, also called in while we were there, and it was lovely to catch up with her.

On Sunday morning we set off to travel north, via Kingston, and the road around the edge of Lake Wakatipu, in front of the mountains, called The Remarkables, which constantly change colour.  After travelling on the new bridge over the Kawarau River, we passed the ever sprawling town of Frankton, past Lake Hayes and then onto Cromwell, where we stopped to buy fruit and a berry ice cream.     We avoided Queenstown, which is overcrowded and spoilt by over commercialisation.

A view of the mountains on the other side of Lake Wakatipu.

The traffic on the road was unbelievably heavy, with coaches, motorhomes, camper vans, and tourists in cars, like us.   Added to this mix there were some very impatient and irresponsible New Zealanders, who passed everyone, regardless of the bends in the roads, or lines on the road, indicating that one must not pass vehicles on this section of road.   Luckily we had a pleasant and uneventful drive north.

We stopped at Omarama, in the middle of the McKenzie high plains, for lunch, which also afforded us a view of the dead deer on the back of a utility truck.   The result of a successful deer hunting expedition, no doubt.   A trifle off putting. 

After passing through the remote and beautiful Lindis Pass, we continued on past Lakes Pukaki and Tekapo, through Burkes Pass, and the lovely village of Fairlie, and then to Geraldine where we stopped for the night.

A view from the lookout on the Lindis Pass.

Geraldine has our favourite cafe, set in beautiful gardens, but on this occasion we went to a pub for a pleasant dinner.

The next day we set off early, and travelled initially on the scenic road which runs between the Southern Alps and Christchurch.    There were hardly any tourists travelling on this road, so therefore no impatient New Zealand drivers either.   A very pleasant trip.

We stopped at a very popular bakery in Oxford for coffee, which was excellent.   We could not resist their locally made pies, sausage rolls and toasted bread.    A bit early in the day, I know, but impossible to resist the temptation to indulge in their excellent food.

Andreena decided to put herself into the stocks outside the old prison cells.

A view of the Rangitata River, which is a braided river, that flows across the Canterbury Plains.

The changing colour of the lower hills of the Southern Alps was very special.

Another view of the same hills.

We came out onto Highway 1 above Christchurch and then turned off towards the Lewis Pass, which required much concentration due to the terrain, and the road works, which I mentioned in the first paragraph.

Once through the mountains we stopped in Murchison for the obligatory extra large ice cream.

Sadly no photographs of this part of the South Island, due to the need to get to Nelson.    The countryside was extremely brown though, with many dead trees, due to the hot and dry summer.

We finally arrived in Stoke, Nelson, at 6 pm.    A very long day.

However, we were greeted by Gordon, who gave us beer and wine, which revived us.   He had also cooked us a delicious dinner. and we went off to bed feeling very happy and relaxed.

A view of Isel House, in its magnificent park, which is just around the corner from Margaret and Gordon's house.    Stormy skies.    However they desperately need rain.