Too busy to write blogs!

I have finally put pen to paper, or in this case, fingers to keyboard.    This is after procrastinating for quite a few hours.    But the weather today is bitterly cold, raining and very windy, and a perfect day for sitting under a rug, with a laptop on my knee.  

We have been out and about, with Walter attending exercise classes at the community centre, plus going back to the bowling club again, and I have been continuing with my bike rides on Monday mornings and walks on Thursday mornings.   Also last Thursday I joined the U3A board games afternoon, which I found out was a lot of fun and not very serious.

One Saturday we went wine tasting at McLaren Vale.   Only one winery, namely Shingleback Wine, but it had heaps of atmosphere as it was in an old barn, with a wood fire going, and pleasant staff.   We also shared a cheese and cold meat platter, and it was here that I discovered the yuppy nibbles, namely Dukkah.   I think it originated in Egypt or somewhere in that vicinity.

Now for the uninformed, like me, Dukkah can be made out of many types of nuts, seeds, herbs and spices, which are crushed and blended together as a dry mixture.   It can be then used to coat meat or used as a dip, which is how it was used at the winery.    First one gets a piece of crusty bread (or any type of flat bread), and dips it into olive oil, then into the Dukkah mixture.   Quite delicious really.

We had a lovely time at the winery.    And the wine was pretty good too.

Isabel had a bit of a mishap during the last school holidays.   She went on a picnic with her friends, and managed to cut her finger with a blunt knife.   This entailed a visit to the local hospital, where she received three stitches.   The staff were brilliant, I might add, and Isabel was very brave. 

There have been lots of walks with Piper, and it is great to let her off in the parks, without worrying about snakes and kangaroos.   She is obsessed with chasing the tennis ball, which runs off her excess energy.   We have upped her training routine, which she has responded to, brilliantly.   This involved teaching her not to bark at the huge dogs which were cooped up behind high fences, or at any large vehicle that passed us. Plus not to bark madly at our window, whenever she heard someone walk past.   It has only taken a few days to stop this sort of behaviour.   Why did we put up with it beforehand!

The main distraction for me, has been the garden.   Almost an obsession really, at the moment.  Of course I am keen to get all the planting done before summer, and the dry weather makes planting more difficult.

A couple of newsworthy items. 

Our tax returns have been submitted to the taxation office, thanks to the accountant.   Hurrah.    And we found out that even with the income from the flats, we were still low income earners and did not have to pay any tax!    Well Walter did not have to pay any tax, but I still paid tax in the UK, which was taken into account on the tax return, and I had to pay a Medicare Levy, which amounted to $1200.   But this was all so much better than expected, so we were very happy with the result.    Now I am going to apply to see if I can get a little bit of a pension from the Australian Government.    And now that I am a recognised resident of Australian, tax wise, I can start sorting out this double taxation problem with the UK, and stop the bank from charging us non resident tax withholding fees on interest and deposits.   Happy people.

And on the UK front.   I have decided that I do not live in the country so therefore like all other people living outside the country, I can just be astounded by the situation the country has got itself into.  This is much better than the angst that I felt towards the neverending crisis.  So no more comments.   I am currently so relieved that I no longer live in Britain.

However, it is not all a bed of roses regarding the government in Australia, either, but certainly preferable to living in Britain.

Now back to the more mundane matters, namely of the garden.

The plant in the photograph below, is quite a mystery.   It first appeared as a cluster of upright red flowers, and then the tough dark green leaves appeared out of the soil.   Whoever bought these, gave a plant to two other neighbours in the street.   A very mysterious plant.

I was given a recipe for homemade organic weedkiller.   I ended up with white paving slabs and stones.   It did kill the weeds, but I have not used it again.    Luckily the white coating washed off.   The main ingredient was Soda Ash, which is also used in the swimming pool, I found out.  I had heaps of it in the shed.  I have now bought a commercial organic weed killer, and a new sprayer.

A huge pile of stones that I threw out of this garden bed.   I think Steve is going to use them to make a rockery at his house.   Nice stones too, but not in our garden.

First I had to finish cutting back the overgrown trees.   Darren and I became too cold and tired to finish off the last part of the garden last May.

The hibiscus behind the gazebo has been cut right back.

Walter and I finally managed to dig out this overgrown and stripy succulent.   It took two of us to lift it into the green bin.  So pleased to see it gone.

Walter shredding the twigs and small branches.

We also pulled out the small hibiscus, as it was looking very pale.   No wonder, as the roots were on the surface only.   I have poisoned the roots of the other hibiscus with bleach!   This part of the garden has been planted with small hebes.  That is a kangaroo paw on the right, but it has been moved elsewhere.   There are so many varieties of cultivated kangaroo paw now, also proteas too.   I have put a protea in the garden and four varieties of kangaroo paw.   I must say that generally there are now many plants that will grow in seaside areas, which is very exciting.

I have put in two succulents beside the yukka.   And two Jasmine plants behind the yukka.

We now have plenty of bare fences, so the fence line looks very boring but time will change that, hopefully.

Two hardenbergias, a purple one and a white one, to cover the back fence.   

In my small veggie garden area behind the shed I have a little nursery.   At the moment a variety of succulents are there, hopefully growing roots so that they can be planted in the garden or in pots.  I will, however, make sure that they do not grow to be gigantic plants.   The planter box on the left has garlic bulbs planted in it.

 

The veggie gardens, or what will be veggie gardens.   There is now green trellis against the fence and in the gap to the left.

My lovely steel kookaburra, back again on a tree, a variety of Norfolk pine.   The kookaburra, a present from Aaron and Kylie, was removed from the tree in the UK, cleaned and then oiled, before being shipped to Australia.

Darren gave me some clivia plants, and behind them I have planted agapanthus plants, which had been growing in a clump behind the lavender bushes.   A watering system and plenty of compost should help all the plants flower beautifully.   It is a very dry area in summer.

The Australian pine tree, cut back drastically due to branches breaking off.   I will keep it as a small bushy shrub from now on.   No Christmas trees this year.

In Adelaide, getting rid of rubbish is quite a problem.   It is also very expensive to take rubbish to the tip, which is fair enough.   And surprisingly there is not much fly tipping (illegal dumping of rubbish) here either.

In the UK, Dartford Council had a very convenient tip, which was free, and not far from us, where we put all our rubbish into the appropriate containers.   We never thought much about what happened to it afterwards, we just presumed most of it was recycled somehow.   But perhaps not.

But it is a different matter here.   Onkaparinga Council only pick up the green bins once a month, although I believe this will be increased to two bins a month in January.   We have applied to drop off green waste at council sites but it will be limited to a few times a year.   The council shreds the green waste and then sells it as compost, so they are making double money on it. 

There are two pickups of waste material per house per year, but they do not collect everything, and will leave waste material behind if it is on their 'black list' of items they do not pick up.

So we have had to think about how to dispose of rubbish that cannot be put in our weekly rubbish bin, or recyclable bin, or green bin, or be put out for our twice yearly pickup.  So we have found that  small batteries go to Aldi, electrical items to Bunnings, the hardware store, thin plastic to the supermarkets, anything metal to our local scrap merchant (we received $7 for our old dishwasher), bottles and cans to the same scrap merchant (for more money) and cardboard to them also (no money for us there).   Anything that can be used by someone else gets left outside houses. 

We have put the timber left from the back pergola on convenient hooks on the side of the garage, to be reused later.   The round posts are behind the shed.   Darren used some of the heavier planks to make a garden bed.  And we have a compost bin.  However, saying all this, it did not resolve the problem of disposing of the small pieces of treated wood, as it is infused with arsenic.   The council left it behind when they collected the rest of the rubbish on the pickup day..   We have cut it into even smaller pieces.  So do we sneak it into our rubbish bins or what?   Not resolved yet.

This was the Australian pine tree before I cut it back drastically.

 

The beginning of a fern garden.   The staghorn fern, given to me by a neighbour, really loves this spot.  The empty pot is for a hydrangea shrub, my only concession to the wrong type of plant for a dry seaside garden.

The pile of green waste, all ready to be put on a trailer and taken to the council.

I have cut up all the branches ready for burning in our fire pit next autumn.   They will dry nicely in the cupboards in our barbeque area. 

Other developments!   We now have a motor on our front roller door.   Such luxury.   And we keep the car in the garage.   No excuses now.

This may sound like a wimpy and silly purchase.   When we lived in Australia we always had a laundry trolley.   When we returned last year, I could not find one anywhere: charity shops, department stores, supermarkets.   Nowhere to be seen.   Then Aldi put them out for sale a short while ago.   I was at the store when it opened, not that there was a queue for laundry trolleys.   Perhaps people have strong backs now.   Such luxury not to have to bend over to get washing out of the basket.

Our dishwasher leaked water over the floor.   It took us a few months to realise this so the floor is now damaged so will have to try and replace the boards.   Darren pulled the dishwasher out and found that the seals had gone in the door.

Walter went out and bought another dishwasher, and Darren very kindly installed it straight away.  Darren came for coffee and spent another four hours at our house sorting out dishwasher problems.   So much appreciated.

We had ten people for dinner one night.   Thank goodness we have a table that could be extended by two lengths.   

And finally, our new curtains in the large bathroom, which Walter hemmed up today.   The curtains are to add some ambiance, and privacy of course, to an otherwise very bland environment.  The toilet and our bathroom have new blinds, in order to preserve everyone's modesty.  Previously, if the lights were on in these rooms, one could see through the glass in the windows.   

And so it goes on.   Hopefully the sun will shine soon and I will be able to take photographs of the finished garden!

I have supported the economy of our local garden centres.

Home Again - Aldinga Beach

We have been home in Aldinga Beach for two weeks, and finally a blog.   First of all it was jet leg, always worse when travelling east, although not as severe as previous trips this way.  The sunshine on the first few days helped considerably.

Then it was procrastinating about getting the information ready, in order to put in our first Australian tax return, for the period July 2018 to June 2019.   I spent a week procrastinating where I could not do anything else as I needed to apply myself to this task but kept putting if off.     Then I spent three full days putting together everything that I thought the accountant would need, in fact pages of pages of information.   The printer worked overtime.   

 At the moment I am not recognised by the Australian Taxation Office as a resident until I put in my first tax return.    Then they will sign a British Double Taxation form which I have had for a year, and the tax on the British pensions will be paid in Australia.   And I will get any extra tax paid, refunded to me.   So I have been told.   

Walter has just filled in his final British tax return on the flats we have here.   March to June, 2018.   Numerous forms, and plenty of reading material.    We should get a refund there too.   We hope.

Our brains are slightly tired at the moment.

But most importantly we will finally be Australian residents again!. 

The first few days we were back we had blue skies and sunshine, with the temperature reaching 21 degrees on one of the days.   We were very happy.  But the sunshine did not last, as we are now experiencing typical July weather: clouds, rain and cold temperatures.   Not as cold as the UK though.  And Adelaide always needs this winter rain.

Port Willunga beach, late in the afternoon.   Such a beautiful beach.   Good to be home.

Darren had cut our hedges, and they looked magnificent in the sunshine.   Luckily the photograph did not show up all the weeds amongst the stones.   The removal of the weeds is high on my list of jobs, when we get some good weather.   

The lemon tree next door is covered in ripe lemons 

The swimming pool cover looked good in the sunlight, however under the blue cover the water was a little green.   A few doses of chlorine fixed the algae.   Amazingly the filter had come on every day for 1 1/2 hours, for the past two months.

The birds had had a lovely time sitting on the rafters and pooing on our furniture.   No one in the house to disturb their peace and quiet.   I had a massive clean up when I got back, and then put our new plastic tablecloth on the table. I had purchased it in the La Londe market. A really solid heavy plastic cloth so hope it lasts. 

When I lifted the cushions I found a couple of tiny redback spiders happily nesting there.   Little spiders become big spiders and I did not fancy being bitten on the bottom by one of them.   They are no longer there, but I must check the chairs more often.

My bike with its new panniers,

and its new Miffy (Nijntje) bell.  The late Dick Bruna, the writer, lived in Utrecht, and there is a Miffy museum there.

I was very keen to get out on the bike and join the U3A cycling group.   But I did not check the bike first, and spent the first outing struggling to ride the thing, even though I had been cycling in the Netherlands for the previous four weeks.   Every turn of the pedals was a major effort. 

Now one would think it would be a good idea to check the wheels, but I did not do so.   In the afternoon I took the bicycle to a repair shop and nearly threw it at the repair person.   Apparently the front and back brakes were rubbing on the wheels.   No wonder the bike was difficult to ride!  $40 later, the bike had been serviced and the brakes and gears adjusted.   Amazingly the bike is now wonderful to ride, so smooth, and fast.   I can keep up with the rest of the group, at long last.

There must have been the right atmospheric conditions at Port Willunga Beach, because there were about ten photographers on the beach when I took Piper for a walk.    So I took a photograph too, with my telephone.   It certainly was a wonderful sunset.

Piper chasing after the ball, her favourite pastime, and one which can be indulged in every time we come to some green grass.    Snakes are hibernating and kangaroos are happily eating plentiful grass in the scrub. 

Piper and her new harness, extremely expensive, but so comfortable.  I think she was more interested in the attractive smells in the bush, then posing for a photograph.

And I have finally finished this blog, five days after I started it!   The last two days have been glorious and I have been out digging in the garden, and buying lots of new shrubs and plants.   Lots of empty spaces to fill up.

A short stopover in Dubai

Here we are, finally in Dubai.  And very happy too.   A few nights in a luxury hotel was just what we needed to break up the long flight from Amsterdam to Adelaide.  We are staying at the Sheraton Hotel, which is on the banks of Dubai Creek, and we have a fantastic view of the water and the main city behind it.  

Dubai Creek appears to be a stretch of water that cuts through a piece of land and goes out to sea again.   It was once the old port, and yesterday we saw plenty of old transport boats being loaded up with goods, so is still used by local boats and the large luxury boats that are moored here.   

There are negatives to this wonderful stay over, of course.   And surprisingly it is not the expense, as the cost of staying here is similar to staying in Singapore.   The rate of exchange we are getting for our £ is 4.5 AED (Arab Emirate Dirham). 

We are here at the wrong time of the year as it is extremely hot, with temperatures in the high 30s to mid 40s.    We knew this of course.    

But we did not realise that the quality of air would be so poor.   Yes Dubai has terrible air pollution, made worse probably by the high temperatures.   When I looked at the weather app it said the temperature was 37 degrees, but felt like 47 degrees (probably due to all the hard surfaces around) and the air quality was very poor.   It advised people not to exercise outside and those with respiratory problems to stay inside.

Travelling around Dubai is a problem, well at least it is from our hotel.   It is too hot to walk anywhere, and it would appear walking is not something one does in Dubai at any time of the year.  The taxi drivers get uptight if you only want to travel a short distance.   This happened yesterday when we took taxis to the Souks (local markets) and back again.   The Souks were about half an hours walk away.   Both taxi drivers complained quite aggressively, and the second one was not happy with the tip we gave him.   And we were not mean with our tip either.

The traffic problems in central Dubai are horrendous, and no doubt contributes to the air pollution.  The Emiratis, and some of the Expats, love their large vehicles and insist on driving everywhere in them.   Cars and petrol are naturally very cheap in this part of the world.   We spent a fair bit of time yesterday in traffic queues.  

Now that I have written about the negative aspects of being in Dubai, I will focus on the positive side.

It is certainly a lovely stopover, and it was easy to get to our hotel by taxi at 2 a.m.   The plane was two hours late getting to Dubai, due to the high number of travellers and planes leaving Schiphol.   School holidays for a third of the Netherlands started the weekend we were leaving the country.  That was not good planning.

Another positive aspect to being in Dubai in the middle of summer, is the lower number of tourists here.   There were only five people collecting bags from the carousel, and we were on a very full A380 plane.   The hotel is relatively empty, and this makes for a blissful stayover.   As long as one stays in the hotel.   The staff, mostly Indian, Chinese and Indonesian workers,  in the hotel are very friendly and helpful.

The view of the inside of the hotel, which is very airy and spacious.

The night view from our bedroom window. 

We have one of those new fancy rooms, which has a large window between the bedroom and the bathroom.   Luckily it also has shutters too. I warned Walter as he was putting his toilet bag away so he was happy to pose for a photograph.

A view of our room, second from the right, on the lowest level. 

 The swimming pool which I am going to use this afternoon.   Looking forward to that.   Walter is going to spend some time in the sauna and steam room.   He is looking forward to that.

Our daytime view of the river, looking towards the city centre.   Note the buildings surrounded by haze.

One of the local ports is only a short distance from the hotel.   It is possible to see the type of local boats by zooming in on the photograph.  Fascinating boats.

The banking building next to the hotel is Emirates NBD.  I think you worked there, Aaron, nearly twenty years ago, and stayed at the Sheraton too.  Quite a coincidence.

Our first outing yesterday was to the Souks, and there was quite a cluster: markets selling touristy stuff, plus markets for household goods and spices, and of course the gold market.

The passage ways had insulated roofs, fans and in some cases were air conditioned, which made visiting the markets very pleasant.   The lack of tourists helped too.   The stall holders in the main touristy goods part were a bit of a pain, as they were constantly trying to get us to buy their goods, which meant that I could not really have a good look at items. 

Lots of goods for sale.   Walter bought a cashmere scarf for himself, and who knows whether he got a good bargain or not. Probably not, but it will keep him warm when we return to Adelaide.   The stall owner told him it was made of camel wool! 

A view, via a narrow side street, of a mosque and a corner shop.   It was certainly a fascinating area.

I loved the display of spices, and would have loved to buy some, but I doubt if I could take them back into Australia.   However, if we still lived in the UK I most certainly would have taken some back.   But then we were able to buy the same spices from a stall in the south of France.

The gold market.   We sat on a bench here and watched people walk past us.   It was fascinating.

Everything glittered!

In the afternoon we caught the free bus, provided by the hotel, to Dubai Mall.

I tried to take as many photographs as I could, but not always so easy from a moving vehicle.

So many architectural building designs.   It was amazing.   And many, many more buildings being built.   A real growth city.

Dubai Mall, the largest shopping centre I have ever visited, and indeed, I believe it to be the largest shopping centre in the world, by total area, but not by shopping space, as some of the area is taken up with an aquarium, skating rink, cinemas and restaurants.   Dubai is currently building an even bigger shopping shopping centre, close to Dubai Creek.

The inside of the Mall, as you enter it, but of course it goes on forever.   We managed to look at most of the lower ground floor, and the second floor.   We ate biryani for lunch in the food court on the lower floor.   Delicious and reasonably priced too.

The aquarium was huge, and some of it was visible from the Mall.   Enough to entice people to buy tickets and go inside.  An amazing sight.

We went outside onto the square, an amazingly large space, with a huge expanse of water.  Sadly the fountain was not working. 

I managed to get some good photographs of the surrounding buildings.

The Burj Khalifa, 828 metres high, the tallest building in the world.   Walter would have loved to go up, but was not prepared to pay the equivalent of about £100 in order to do so.   Too high for me.   I had to put my camera close to the ground in order to take the photograph.  It took a few attempts to get the tower straight!  Walter just found a site where he could have got a ticket for Australia $113 for two people.   However still not for me!   It certainly pays to book in advance though.

A view back towards part of the shopping centre.

The Olympic sized skating rink.   I think the surface of the rink is made of a composite materials rather than ice.

Mini golf with a difference.

There were two of these large waterfalls in the shopping centre.

Star Wars returns to Dubai Mall.

After another lunch of biryani, much more expensive in the hotel than the lunch yesterday, and spicy, I am now ready for a sleep, then a swim in the pool.   Walter ordered chicken curry, which was also delicious.

After lunch we went into the hotel shop, and I bought a pashmina shawl, plus two bowls.  All items i seen in the Souk.   We bargained a price but who knows whether it was a reasonable price or not.   The problems of being a tourist! 

Tonight we travel back to the airport in time to catch our 2 am flight!

Looking forward to seeing everyone back in Adelaide.   Hope Piper remembers us.