Wallaby hupt door Friesland

The Dutch have kidnapped our wallabies!!

"An albino wallaby has been spotted in woods by the Frisian town of Makkinga, the Telegraaf which carries a photograph of the animal reports.


The wallaby with a baby in her pouch, was spotted by local Rene van Hes. 'I have seen brown wallabies in the area but this is really special,' he told the paper.

The Telegraaf says it is well known that there are wallabies living in the wild in the north of the country."

At Long Last!

Sorry to all our followers who have been waiting patiently for an update!

Since February, the house has really moved along.  Photos to follow.

We have been on a couple of day trips since the last update, so I'll post a few pictures of where we have been:

Organ Pipes National Park - volcanic formation about 40km West of Melbourne:

Trentham Falls barely visible through the trees:

An outdoor toilet in a padock on the way home from Trentham Falls:

Old Bank in Gisborne:

A few photos from the King Lake and surrounding area that were devastated by the Black Saturday bushfires on 7th February 2009, 1 year on.  These previously heavily bushed areas are starting to recover, others will never recover:

There was once a town here:

On Saturday 6th March, Melbourne experienced one of its most devastating and expensive hail storms.  Jos' car was badly damaged and is now being repaired.  I grabbed a few of these golf ball sized hailstones from our backyard in Ringwood:

And now for something less devastating and a little more exciting, a few photos from our trip to Movieworld on the Gold Coast.

Maddy with the Scooby Doo crew

Jos and Jo standing outside the Harry Potter shop:

Jos and Maddy in front of the Western set:

A fun ride if you don't mind getting wet (towels for sale were strategically placed in the souvineer shop as you leave the ride):

Daffy Duck:

You all know who this is:

Tweetie and Bugs:

Marilyn has come back to life:

Maddy and I scored a front seat on the Lethal Weapon ride:

By far the best was the stunt show:

And what you've all been waiting for, some updated photos of the house.

Maddy's (almost) finished ensuite:

The kitchen (yes I know, the splashback is bold):

Looking towards the tiled, front entrance, ready to greet guests from near and (hint) afar:

Our very lage ensuite shower:

Guest bathroom:

Guest bathroom (plenty of room for our guests....)

Carpet and floorboards need to be laid, driveway to go in, a few touch ups with paint, and some defect rectification work required in the brickwork mortar.  Finally a site clean up is needed.  Estimated completion date is mid to late May (just in time for Maddy's birthday).

Picnic at Hanging Rock

We visited Hanging Rock (Mt Diogenes) a few weeks ago, which is situated in the Hesket plains near the township of Mt Macedon and Woodend in Victoria.


A lot of you will remember the feature film Picnic at Hanging Rock, based on Joan Lindsay's mysterious story, where a party of schoolgirls from Appleyard College picknicked at Hanging Rock and several of them disappeared without a trace... Go to this website for more information on the story:  http://www.hangingrock.info/picnic/weir/weir.html or view a short opening of the film on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC0DbTTiHIQ


Jos and I climbed the track to the top which was hard work, but the views were worth the effort.   Mt Diogenes is a rare volcanic formation of solvsbergite, the only other examples are found in Norway and Denmark.

A lot of these photos are worth viewing in a larger version; just hover your mouse over the photo and click on it.

Happy man (I promise I didn't force him to climb the hill!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the "Hanging Rock" of Mt Diogenes - beware, walk through at your own risk!

 

 

A few rosellas:

We also visited Mt Macedon in the morning, unfortunately it was overcast and it rained a little.  The famous memorial cross on the hill was originally built in 1935 by William Cameron as a memorial to the soldiers who died in WW1.  In 1975 the cross was damaged from a lightening strike allowing water to corrode its steel core.  The Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983 contributed to its further destruction and it was then closed to the public.  Restoration was not possible and it was rebuilt to the original specifications the early 1990's:

And what you've all been waiting for.....a few more interior pictures of the house showing further progress.  This is the laundry (not the greatest photo but it will give you an idea of how big it is):

Kitchen (doors to the cupboards and the silestone benchtops in the kitchen and bathrooms are yet to be installed): 

  

Kitchen again, looking out onto the alfresco: 

 

Our ensuite: 

Guest bathroom (I'm not happy with this, do you know why - take a closer look): 

Neglected Laundry and Cabinetry

Just a quick update - things are moving along with the house so I thought I would update everyone with a few pictures after our visit tonight.

The cabinetry has arrived and been positioned, ready for installation:

The cornices have been completed throughout the house; here you can see a finshed section, looking towards the front door:

And the laundry - not really very remarkable, except that it is quite large:

I have also forgotten the garage - which I will include in the blog next time.