To Hong Kong

A very early start to the day with Jan rising at 4.00am.  We said our goodbye’s and left for Sydney airport before 7.00am hoping to avoid the majority of the morning traffic.  We were largely successful arriving at Kingsford Smith Airport in plenty of time.  Actually we discovered there was a one hour wait before our suitcases could be checked in.  Despite my own weighing of the cases one was over the limit so I had to juggle some of the contents between them.  However this wasn’t my major concern!  I wasn’t sure how the security screening would go given I had a media tank, four hard drives, two gps units and numerous cables in my backpack.  It took two attempts but eventually everything passes through the screening.

Although our seating was economy my Gold Qantas membership gained us admittance to the Business Lounge where we indulged in some breakfast and I was able to read the morning papers.  In the photo below you can see the morning cloud partially obscuring the Sydney CBD skyline from the lounge window..

We then wandered down the the departure gate.  After glancing at the number of passengers waiting for the gate to open I immediately realised the aircraft wasn’t going to be full.  My gold status enabled us to board early and we found our seats at the very rear of the 747.  I had pre-booked the seats after looking at www.seatguru.com.  At the rear of the jumbo there are only two seats beside the window rather than the usual three.  Jan likes the window and I like the isle which makes this part of the aircraft ideal.  There was no shortage of locker space as the aircraft was less than half full.

The flight was uneventful.  Jan dozed, whilst I read our eBook or watched a couple of TV episodes on the GPad.  Jan did comment that the rear of the aircraft had a tendance to bounce around.  For our next leg of the journey we will be seated right at the front of the aircraft, so it will be interesting to see if there is any difference in the “ride”.

Last time we were both in Hong Kong the aircraft landed at the old airport (Kai Tak <sp?>).  This time it was the new airport.  I had previously passed through the airport when backpacking through China in 2000.  However it seemed to have increased in size since my last visit.  We caught the Airport Express train to the city.  It’s a fast and reliable service, even if we struggled getting the suitcases on and off the train.  We won’t have the same problem on departing Hong Kong as the bags can be checked in at the railways station.  There is a complementary bus shuttle to the hotels from the railway station provided you show your train ticket for the journey from the airport.

Our shuttle bus only had three stops and we guessed with our luck that ours would be the last stop on a full bus.  We were wrong on both accounts.  There were only two other passengers and ours was the first stop.  I had booked accommodation at the City View Hotel on Kowloon.  It’s one of at least two YMCA hotels in Hong Kong.  We had stayed at the hotel on our last visit and thought it was centrally located and value for money.  By the time we settled into our room Jan was feeling rather tired.  I went out and found a small supermarket where I purchased teabags, milk, chocolate and a pot of noodles for Jan who had decided she was hungry.  On my return to the room we discovered there was no cutlery and the packaged pot of noodles didn’t contain a disposable plastic fork.  Jan eventually used the hotel two complementary toothbrushes as a quasi chopsticks!  Unfortunately I couldn’t find the camera.

Then it was time for a shower and bed.

Always nice when someone cooks your dinner

Jan, mum and I all went into the the city to have dinner with our youngest son.  His flat is very central in Sydney which enables him to cycle to work. 

We had anticipated going out to a restaurant, however we were surprised when Daniel informed us he had cooked the evening meal.  Cooking is obviously a trait he and his brother inherited from their mother.  For my part; I can burn water!  The evening meal was very interesting.  He had roasted the potato’s in some special way and they had what I thought were burned stalks of grass on top.  Jan later informed me it was Rosemary.  Doesn’t matter; it tasted great.  The pumpkin was also interesting but the best part of the meal was the steamed pudding.  It was his first attempted at making a steamed pudding and it’s my favourite.  I was raised on steamed puddings.  During my childhood my mum could consistently produce a soggy failure and we kids would squabble over the remains for breakfast.  I guess I get my culinary skills from my mum.

That’s a large steamed pudding…. And I got to take the remainder home for breakfast

The is a position no self respecting male should get caught in!

Notice how there is no facial evidence in the following photo!

I am NOT doing the dishes!  Rather; I am using my management expertise to check the cleanliness of the sink.  Hygiene is very important!

Sydney

The journey back down to Sydney was rather uneventful.  I think mum might have been pleased to see us and wanted to do some shopping.  This is a photo of her conventional suburban Sydney home. 

Mum is really up with technology and somewhat of a computer “nerd”.  She wanted to shopping for a notebook.  Like us; she is careful with her money which meant we did some price matching before purchasing a Samsung notebook in Parramatta.

Jan doesn’t like her photo being taken

Once we returned home I needed to get her wireless network router re-configured.  None of us knew the router network password as our youngest son had set it up some weeks earlier and couldn’t remember the password.  Eventually I reset and re-configured the router before connecting mum’s new notebook.  This will be good practice for our own wireless network on Waiouru. 

Heading South

Steve took us to Coffs Harbour airport to collect our rental car.  I was advised we had been given a complementary upgrade to an Audi A4 wagon.  I gratefully accepted as it made the task of fitting in all the bags much easier.  My guess is the rental company actually wanted the car relocated back to Sydney.

We faced a six hour, 600km journey and did our usual thing of stopping every two hours for a stretch.  On the way north we had seen Fredo’s Famous Pie Shop and we decided to tempt ourselves on the way back.

It was an interesting experience.  All they sell are pies with a very wide selection.  Beef, port, lamb, poultry, vegetarian and exotic (crocodile & camel).  I’ve previously eaten both crocodile (tastes like chicken) and camel.  I selected a lamb and mint pie whilst Jan had chicken.  Mine was delicious!

And so on to Sydney.

Inquisitive Locals

Some of the local inhabitants are very inquisitive.

This is “Baby”.  She is the hungry one and will attempt to knock you over when handing out the feed.  She is also due to deliver twins any day.

I think these are “Chop”, “Cutlet” and “Roast”.  Again, all due to give birth any day.

These two are slightly shy.  I believe they are named after curries!

Goodbye Karangi

Today was the last day with our eldest son and life on the farm.  The sheep still hadn’t given birth!  Steve and I spent the day sorting out the garage.  We constructed racks on the garage walls which enabled us to hang most of the garden tools out of the way.  The garage now looks tidier.

Meanwhile Jan packed our possessions in the cottage.  Steve has a “couch-surfer” arriving very soon and we assume she/he will be accommodated in the cottage.  It’s a lovely little building and complements to farm; wallabies on the lawn and koala’s in the trees.

Clearing the Scrub off the Dam

The farm straddles a gulley in which four dams have been built.  The previous owner had allowed the property to get very run-down and as a consequence there is a large amount of scrub that needs to be cleared.

Today Steve and I decided to clear all the scrub and overgrown grass off the top of the second dam.  The mower doesn’t have enough traction and clogs on the long grass.  Our plan was to use the brush cutter to cut down all the “lilly-pilly” (scrub) and then use the “whipper-snipper” (strimmer) to knock down the grass.  We would then use the mattock to dig out all the stumps.  The hope was this would then provide sufficient traction for the ride-on mower to produce a finished surface.

Using the mower to clear an area at the far side of the dam.

All the scrub across the top of the dam has now been cleared and a final clean up of the area with the rake is taking place.

The finished product.  Only two more dams to complete!

Practicing my Steering

Today Steve and I cleared the scrub along the northern fence line.  It was my first time on a ride-on mower and I’ve decided it’s a low stress job that would suit me in my retirement.

My chariot!   And it goes at the same speed as a narrowboat.  I even managed to ram the banks.

 

I carefully mowed the track along the fence line.  The bank is quire steep and the traction on the mower is poor which meant I needed to take particular care.

Local Walk

We took the dogs for a walk in the morning.  A  3.6km gentle stroll down the local road to the fire station and back.  The lovely green lawn to the left of the fire station is not a golf course.  It’s actually the local cemetery so I guess that means we were in the dead centre of Karangi!  The major difference I’ve noticed between the land around here and that in Adelaide is the colour.  Everything here is green!  I suppose if you live in the driest State on the driest inhabited continent on Earth for 16+ years you get used to the country being various shades of brown.

The grass actually seemed to be growing before our eyes and the hills were well forested.

If we do another walk I must remember to take a photo’s of the local wallabies basking in the morning sun.  Steve told us as story about a recent local Country Fire Service (CFS) safety briefing where someone mentioned the height of the grass on a particular neighbours property (the neighbour wasn’t present).  The CFS representative said “you mean where the ‘rednecks’ are!”

  This caused an embarrassing silence until the CFS representative realised they thought he was referring to the neighbour.  He then clarified his comment by saying “You know….. where the Redneck Wallabies graze!”  Nervous laughter then followed.

Container Completed

Well after quite some time I have finally been able to complete the work on our storage container.  Obviously we purchased a used container.  Actually it was beyond the end of it’s marine life.  However the important thing was the doors sealed, the floor was sound and there were no holes.  The roof looked rather battered which meant water would pond on top.  I could tell this had already happened by the amount of rust.

My initial idea was to “pop” the roof back into place by jacking it up from the inside using a timber strut.  However our furniture arrived before I could complete this.  So I have spent several days scraping the heavy rust off the roof and then using a wire brush to clean the surface rust off.  Next I painted on a rust kill compound followed by a metal primer and then top coat.  The top coat colour is white with the idea it would be more reflective.  If the container is allowed to suffer extremes in temperature the moisture content will rise and our effects will deteriorate.  Then I decided to add a extractor vent  Cutting the hole in the roof proved to be an interesting task and I was surprised to find the thickness of the steel was 5mm.  

Finally I constructed a ridge frame and fixed a tarpaulin over the top carefully cutting a hole for the vent.  With a little assistance from above all our possessions should be secure for the next five years.

The Climate

Although Coffs Harbour is in New South Wales it actually has a micro-climate similar to northern Queensland.  The days can be warm and humid, which is probably why so many people move to the area for their retirement.  It’s also a very good climate for growing bananas.

It might be hard to see in the photo above but the hill is covered with a banana plantation.

Zooming in makes it easier to see.  If you look closely you might be able to see the front row of trees have all their bananas in plastic bags to protect them.  All the trees in the plantation are protected using this method.
And what does Coffs Harbour pride itself on?  Just the place to buy anything banana!

The CBD

“Matilda”, the gps, decided the best route to return the rental car would be through the middle of the Coffs Harbour CBD.  I would have preferred a less busy route but you can’t argue with Matilda who constantly informs you she is “recalculating”!

Actually I think the city fathers have done quite well with the CBD.  Apparently the road had been turned into a pedestrian mall which had the unexpected consequence of increasing the level of crime in the area.  So it was converted back to a road.  However on a Sunday it is closed and turned into a farmers market.

I don’t suppose we will see too many palm trees when we reach the UK!

The surf was up

This is South Wall beach which can be found on the southern end of Coffs Harbour.  Apparently it’s another dog beach however the wind and surf were up on the day we visited.  The waves are coming all the way from South America and the local surfers were making the most of it.

It might look cold but it was actually a warm day.  Oh, and there were surfers as the next photo shows

Can you see them?  There were four!  Wouldn’t catch me doing that.  The oceans around Australia are full of hungry Great White Sharks!

The Harbour

With the town named “Coffs Harbour” you would expect there to actually be a harbour; and you would be right.  Originally it must have been rather small, however two outer island have each been joined to the mainland by a causeway thereby creating a much larger artificial harbour.

One of the islands is named Muttonbird Island.  Yes; it’s a breeding ground for muttonbirds which make good eating, although I think the birds in this particular location might be protected!  The island is to the right in the photo below with the low causeway to the left.  In the middle left corner of the harbour is the local marina.

This next photo was taken from the other island and shows the entrance to the harbour.

Happy Birthday

The big day arrived and Jan was taken out for dinner.  I was born with a genetic disorder (short arms and deep pockets) and successfully avoided paying for the meal.  Thanks Steve and Myles!   I can’t tell you Jan’s age, however she can now applied for her seniors card!  As you can see she doesn’t like having her photo taken.

The following day we made a trip into Coffs Harbour heading down to the harbour.  There were camel rides available on the foreshore.   I elected not to treat myself on this occasion.  I probably won’t on the next occasion either!  Interestingly the camels and their Afghani handlers were brought into Australia during the 19th century to provide a means of transporting supplies through the Red Centre.  Some escaped and there are now hundreds of thousands of them running feral and wild.  Whilst Australia hasn’t imported any more camels the same can’t be said for the Afghani’s.

Sunday is market day in Coffs Harbour.  Whilst it’s only a small place there are actually three separate markets.

Market at the beach above and another in the main city parking building below

I notice this is a great photo of parked cars with a glimpse of a parking building in the background.  Nothing in the photo to indicate there is a market in progress.  I shall have to do better!

A Long Day

Our container of furniture and household effects arrived in the afternoon.  It was a 7 hour journey from Sydney for the truck driver and his assistant.  What surprised me was they intended to unload the container on the back of the truck into our container and then drive back to Sydney that same day.

I started by watching them and then felt I had to start helping or else they were going to have a very long day.

Almost immediately we came across the first damaged item.  Jan’s electronic piano had been smashed off it’s base.  I think what happened is the heavy safe was placed beside the piano and the rocking motion of the train allowed the safe to slide repeatedly against the legs of the piano breaking the joints.

Jan plugged in the piano and we were able to confirm it worked.  However we have yet to check the pedals on the base.

The other item damaged was the glass in a large batik picture we purchased in Malaysia.  Of course there may be more damage but there was little point in attempting to unpack every box as the items were transhipped from one container to the other in the dark.

I’m now rather exhausted and I have yet to prepare the container for the time we are away in the UK.  Somehow I think tomorrow is another big day!

Karangi

We have arrived at the farm to find the goats hungry and the sheep pregnant.  So feeding the noisy critters became a priority.

The main house is at the end of the driveway.  We also noted the container for our furniture had been delivered

This is the single bedroom cottage that will be our home for the next two weeks.

I needed to level the container and did this using concrete blocks and timber packing.

It took some time to jack up the container and install the dunnage.  As it’s going to be like this for at least five years I need to ensure the foundations are stable.  The next task will be to remove all the rust off the roof and repaint it.

Members of the extended family.

Heading North

It was dark by the time we reach Sydney.  An overnight stop and we took the opportunity to have a final reunion with Jan’s family.  We enjoyed an evening meal with the extended family celebrating our nephew’s 30 birthday.  Jan’s brother and sister-in-law have a beautiful big home in the NW suburbs.  Originally there was one house but now it consists of the original home plus a massive 6 bay garage, swimming pool and a huge new home with all the latest technical features.

This is the entrance to the property with the garage on the right and the new house in the distance.  The original house is behind the garage.

Another view of the garage

Adam blows out the candles on his birthday cake whilst his sister and mother watch

Rather blurred photo but Jan’s brother and sister-in-law in their new kitchen

Next morning we were back on the road heading up the Pacific Highway towards Coffs Harbour.  A considerable amount of work has gone into improving this road since we last travelled on it.  Much of it is now dual carriageway.

However there are still some areas where improvements are being made

After 7 hours and two comfort breaks we finally arrived at the farm.  But more about that tomorrow!