Tom finally surfaced...realising what day it was ...and soon got into the swing of pressie unwrapping!! A happy morning.
Then John disappeared to have a snooze.
Tom enjoyed building his latest Star Wars lego...(such an original gift idea I know...but he LOVES them)
I prepared a simple Christmas lunch then we decided to go out for a walk as the day had become sunny..
We drove to Randalls Bay (about 15 minutes away) and walked/rock hopped our way around to Mickeys beach and back.
Amazingly we met the Tenni family at Mickey's beach.. they live at Woodbridge and are friends of Ryan.
It was a beautiful afternoon.
I had a walk aroung the quiet township..
After dinner we prepared for our Boxing Day harvest before heading to bed.
Boxing Day and we were up at 5.30am and on the road heading to the Midlands.
Our plan was to do a drive around back roads in the hope of finding a nice big patch of Onopordon (Scotch thistle)..
Our first stop was for breakfast at Campbell Town ...about half way between Hobart and Launceston.
Amazingly as we set off out behind the town we found a derelect paddock with stacks of Onopordon. (This was quite remarkable as we have seen alot of other thistle but not much of this particular variety.)
We got to work harvesting the beautiful strong fresh plant...just perfect.
Just as we were packing up...a car from the house next door came our way. It was an old fella named Gordon...who told us "the dragon"(we assume he was referring to his wife) told him to take a look at what we were up to...
He was quite amused that we actually wanted the thistle heads and said we were doing him a favour...and take as many as we like!! A nice bloke.
It was terrific to have the harvest done before 10am as the pressure was off and we could enjoy the rest of the day..
So we drove back into Campbell Town and had a look about at some antique shops then decided to continue out the back roads to suss out more patches of Hypericum and Onopordon for future reference. (Both these plants are weeds that farmers will try to eradicate...so are not so easy to find.) We were lucky enough to sopt a few more patches so have marked them on the map for next year's harvest.
We covered alot of territory going up and over thge Highland Lakes district.. Fantastic scenery (but pretty dead boring for Tom who slept alot of the time in the back).
We stopped at Bothwell to have a drink and snack. To John's delight there was a garage in town that was decorated just to his taste. Perhaps a new design for the pharmacy!!
Things are ramping up for the arrival of the Sydney to Hobart fleet...and the Taste Festival which begins on 28th.
We had a lovely time wandering around Constitution dock.
Tuesday and we opened to a sleepy town...Lotus Eaters is closed until Jan 6th so its quiet this end of the street. As the day progressed there was an increase of tourist activity.. We sold a few books and creams..
The boys spent the morning processing the Onopordon..lovely to hear them working away in the lab area as I potter in the shop.
We ended up closing the doors about 2ish so we could have a cuppa with them in our flat.. an enjoyable afternoon.
After they left the boys went to the hardware to pick up some more mulch for the garden.
John had a nanna nap then we all went to Red Velvet for a drink...they are doing a roaring trade with all the tourists coming to town!!
We decided to go up the hill to Wattle Grove and try out Tom's new kite. As we drove down Cawthorn's Rd to our gate we ran into Nolan and Julie Alderfox...our neighbours. It was terrific to finally meet them and talk about our plans.
Tom and I gave the kite a go but found the wind too flukey...so didn't have much success.
Nolaan and Julie walked down with John to see our proposed house site and enjoyed telling us of their experiences living up on the hill.
They went back to work in their garden while we went looking for thistle to chip..
It was so beautiful up there ...we eventually made a move to go as it was getting on for 7.30pm..but so light you'd think it was 4pm
There was a beautiful sunset over the hills..
Although a few more businesses open today there is still a sense of peace and quiet in the town.
The boys got on with an Arnica press while I topped up the shelves and looked after the customers who came in..
We are tracking the Sydney to Hobart fleet as they make their way down the East Coast...Tom is hoping Wild Oats will take line honours...John has decided to back a Tasmanian yacht called Dump Truck!! (currently in 41st place) He has great hopes a whale will sink Wild Oats...don't like his chances..We will probably go in to Hobart later this week to see the yachts that have arrived.
We had a few tourists through the shop as the day progressed..
I had a few walks to the Post Office during the day as soem orders came in. It was such a beautiful sunny day..lovely to be out in it. Red Velvet was again packed out with tourists...
After work we around to Randalls Bay and Tom and I had a wonderful time kayaking while John sat on shore enjoying a shady spot and a read.
Thursday and the boys got on with some more pressing..this time the Calendula.. and filtering the Hypericum Oil.
A quiet morning with a few orders... The afternoon got busier as the tourists arrived in town.
We set out for Hobart to do a few chores and to see the Sydney to Hobart Fleet...What fun.
We ended up having dinner at the Taste Tasmania Festival at Princes Wharf before having a fantastic time on Constitution Dock. We were amazed that we could touch Wild Oats and be right along side Investec Loyal (the Line Honours Winner).
It was exciting to be there as more yachts arrived...being announced over speakers as they entered Constitution Dock. We watched Cougar II (the first Tassie yacht) arrive to great cheers and applause.
We all enjoyed watching a couple of very funny street performers at the Taste Festival before heading home...
The boys got to work on piecing together 4 maps we bought...to make a fantastic large scale map of Tassie to hang on the wall. It looks terrific.
Ned (who built our table) called in for a visit in the afternoon..bringing fresh picked rasberries from his garden..yum!!
He and John had some afternoon tea and a chat in the flat while I minded the shop...
Tom spent the afternoon making a Star Wars display...impressive..
A couple of local customers came in after Ned left and John spent about an hour with them. They were very interested in alot of the early French exploration history books and Aboriginal culture books and John showed them some from his own collection too. They purchased about 6 books in all..(and some were quite pricey!!) A really enjoyable experience..
After work I did some food shopping and pottering about.
The late afternoon light out the back is just beautiful..
We had our first Narnia movie night after dinner..(Tom elected to watch 'The Dawn Treader')
New Years Eve..it was a sparkling morning...
We had a lovely slow pottering morning ...gave the garden a good water before heading out to Kaoota.. (between here and Huonville). Ryan had phoned us to say he thought he saw some Hypericum along the old Tramtrack walk off Kaoota rd....
Unfortunately it wasn't hypericum...but we enjoyed a lovely walk down the first part of the track..we'll go back another day and continue on as its a great walk..
Thomas and I enjoyed a refreshing swim and romp along the beach while John found a shady spot to read.
We headed home and had a rest and relax ..then packed up our camping gear and drove to Wattle Grove to set up for the night.
