A New Years Graphic I made, plus Winton Qld.

I wish everyone a Happy and healthy New Year.

Made this graphic the other morning.  It can be used as a Wallpaper.  Size is 1440 x 900

Yes, it's the Outback.
Winton is a town in Central West Queensland, Australia, 177 kms northwest of Longreach. The main industries of the area are sheep and cattle raising.

Why would I post a photo of people in the mud?
Mum and her two children - the mother's face says it all.
You see, there has been a very long drought in this area, and it RAINED! causing lots of floods, but it rained in the areas where needed for the farmers.  These people live on a Station east of Winton.

Borrowed photo and was taken I believe on December 29, 2015.

 The photos below I took in 2006 when we visited Winton.
The first photo is of the caravan park.  Was a drought back then too.

Banjo Patterson who wrote the poem Waltzing Matilda, The Man from Snowy River, and Clancey of the Overflow to name a few.
Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Patterson  was born in 1864 in the town Orange, Queensland.

The centre was burnt down in June this 2015 and it's planned to rebuild it.

The main Street in Winton, and below - there is a dinosaur in the building.

The Kitchen, Entally House and a Yacht Race.

Back home is Tasmania again - well that's where I live :) We ventured out a few days before Christmas for dinner in the evening with friends, to the 'The Kitchen'.

It's a new Restaurant at Entally Lodge at Hadspen.  The Bistro (no doubt will have a new name) is not yet finished which is just across from The Kitchen.

 This is the Meeting Room

In the dinning room my Entree or Starters, depends on which country you come from.

My Entree was 'Tempura-Battered Prawns with Lima & Chilli.  Cost $15 AUD

These were beautiful, could 'eat them till the cows come home' (An Australian saying)

Main

Chicken Roulade.  Country Style Stuffing with Roasted Almonds, wrapped in Proscuitto, Seasonal Root Vegetables and finished with creamy Poblano & Spinach Sauce.  $30 AUD

Filling and tasty.

Sweets.
Tart.

Can't recall what is was called exactly but it was tasty.  The green on top was 'fairy floss'.  $12 AUD

The menu is not an extensive one but one can find something that one likes for dinner.

Lunch, wouldn't bother with it at The Kitchen as there is certainly not enough to choose from.

The above photos were taken with my phone.

This is a bit of History of note.....Opposite the Lodge on the other road is a vineyard and Entally House which was the family home of Thomas Reibey who was the Premier of Tasmania from 1876 to 1877.
The Entally Estate was established in 1819 by Thomas Haydock Reibey (senior) in Hadspen, Tasmania. Reiby worked in the East India company, and named the house after the suburb of Entally in Calcutta, India.

Thomas Haydock Reibey II was the eldest son of Thomas and Mary Reibey. Mary, who is pictured on Australia's $20 note, was a former convict who, at the age of 13 was convicted of horse stealing and sentenced to transportation. She later became one of Australia's wealthiest women and obtained the grant of 300 acres of land upon which Thomas was to settle and build the homestead and outbuildings.
 
Mary Reibey, Thomas’ mother and matriarch of the family, was transported to Australia in 1790 for the crime of horse stealing, then aged 13. She would later marry a junior officer of the East India Company who established the Entally name as a successful trading company that owned a number of vessels running coal up the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales.
Following her husband’s death in 1811, Mary became one of the richest and most successful businesswomen in Australia. Today, Mary is most recognisable as the face of the Australian 20 dollar note.
The Estate provided the training grounds for the 1884 Melbourne Cup winner Malua, and includes a cricket oval that’s believed to be one of the first in the country; hosting games before Melbourne was settled.
The Entally Historic Site consists of Entally House and various outbuildings, including Australia's oldest Conservatory. The Estate encompasses grand, parklike surroundings with magnificent gardens and a vineyard, Regency furnishings, fine silverware and horse-drawn coaches and agricultural implements.

These two photos of Entally were taken a few years back.  Many Weddings take place in the grounds.

  There is a big Yacht Race on now called the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

The above photo is of the American Yacht Comanche which has won Line Honours, and also has a damaged rudder.

The photo was borrowed and taken near the Iron Pot which is considered the mouth of the River Derwent, Hobart.

32 of many yachts have retired due to weather damage thus being one of the toughest races in years.

Yachts will continue to arrive in Hobart concluding on New Years Day.

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately 630 nautical miles (1,170 km). The race is run in co-operation with the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, and is widely considered to be one of the most difficult yacht races in the world.  The race was initially planned to be a cruise by Peter Luke and some friends who had formed a club for those who enjoyed cruising as opposed to racing, however when a visiting British Royal Navy Officer, Captain John Illingworth, suggested it be made a race, the event was born. The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race has grown over the decades, since the inaugural race in 1945, to become one of the top three offshore yacht races in the world, and it now attracts maxi yachts from all around the globe. The 2004 race marked the 60th running of the event.

Bass Strait, and the waters of the Pacific Ocean immediately to its east, are renowned for their high winds and difficult seas. Although the race mostly takes place in the Tasman Sea, the shallowness of Bass Strait and the proximity to the race course means that the fleet is very much under the influence of the Strait as they transit from the mainland to Flinders Island. Even though the race is held in the Australian summer, "southerly buster" storms often make the Sydney–Hobart race cold, bumpy, and very challenging for the crew. It is typical for a considerable number of yachts to retire, often at Eden on the New South Wales south coast, the last sheltered harbour before Flinders Island.

Carnarvon, Western Australia.

Carnarvon in Western Australia the next place we stayed on our travels this year.

The town was founded in 1883, initially as a port and supply centre for the surrounding region, and is the administrative centre for the Shire of Carnarvon. The town site was officially gazetted on 4 June 1891, named after Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon.

Bananas are grown in the area known as Cavendish.  Tomatoes, grapefuit, mangoes and table grapes.
Cattle, goats, sheep and wool.

There is also mining, fishing and tourism.

During the 1960s, NASA set up a tracking station nearby to support the Gemini and Apollo space programs. The tracking station was closed in the mid-1970s. Only the foundations of the historical site remain.

 A Jetty, one of several.

 ANZ Bank

A couple of buildings in the main street of Carnarvon WA

The little train goes to the end of this Jetty.

A small outdoor Museum below.

A Jetty.

The Police Station at Carnarvon WA

The Aboriginal, Western Australian and the Australian Flag.

It's nearly Christmas Day!

 Merry Christmas to each and everyone who passes this way. Be safe and have a wonderful time.

I'm sharing our city's Christmas Tree.  I borrowed the photo.
A couple of videos, one rather informative regarding the 'firsts' to Launceston, Tasmania, which I found interesting.
Then a Christmas Song, Elvis Presley and Martina McBride followed by
Ray Stevens - 'It's me again Margaret' ( you got to laugh at this one )
and
Jen Lilley with Eric Marstolf singing 'Baby it's cold outside'.
Lastly, a Tasmanian Devil in Costume.

Launceston, Tasmania.  The City of Innovation.

Wineglass Bay, East Coast of Tasmania.  

Elvis Presley and Martina McBride singing a

Blue Christmas.

Ray Stevens - It's me again Margaret!
Couldn't resist sharing this song seeing I'm called Margaret sometimes.

Jen Lilley and Eric Martsolf - Baby it's cold outside.
I really like these two singing together.  It's cheerful song.

Tasmanian Devil.

Roebourne to Karrathra, WA

Roebourne to Karratha in Western Australia, we just travelled through Roebourne, got some supplies at Karrathra, then moved on.

More of our travels this year.
Karratha has the second busiest airport in Western Australia. The airport also serves as the hub of the Pilbara's light-aircraft and helicopter services, enabling contractors to access destinations offshore and in other parts of the region.
It's the Pilbara Region, fly in, fly out miners for the area.
Hot in summer with temperatures during the daytime ranging from 35 to 48 deg C, 20 to 26 deg C at night.
Population is about 16,500 people.
Karratha was established in 1968 to accommodate the processing and exportation workforce of the Hamersley Iron mining company and, in the 1980's the petroleum and liquefied natural gas operations of the North West Shelf Venture.

Roebourne is a former gold rush town in Western Australia's Pilbara region.  It's 202 km from Port Hedland and 1,563 km from Perth, the state's capital.  Roebourne was once the largest settlement between Darwin and Perth but these days there is only just over 800 people.

Roebourne, Western Australia.  We passed through here, called at the Visitors Centre but we were too early as it wasn't open.

One wonders why I would take a photo of McDonald's. 

Well, it had been a very long time since I had seen a McDonald's - it's the little things you miss :)

Roman Catholic Church at Karratha.

Aboriginal Art at Karratha

Karrathra, Western Australia.

 I did a post back in late August of some of the flowers that we came across in Western Australia.
If you would care to view again, please go [ here ]

Port Arthur, Tasmania. Australia.

Lots of history, comings and goings at Port Arthur down the southern part of the State of Tasmania.
Once we could go there and have a picnic on the lawns for free.  Many a person brought a trailer and collected the fallen bricks, until one day it was decided to make the site into a tourist venture.

Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement from 1833 to 1853, and is on the Tasman Peninsular, in Tasmania, Australia.  Port Arthur is one of Australia’s most significant heritage areas and an open-air museum. Port Arthur was much more than a prison,  It was a complete community – home to military personnel and free settlers.  The convicts worked at farming and industries, producing a large range of resources and materials. The Port Arthur Historic Site contains more than 30 historic buildings, extensive ruins and beautiful grounds and gardens.

The Penitentiary two lower floors contained 136 cells for 'prisoners of bad character'.  The top floor provided space for 480 better behaved convicts to sleep in bunks.

Guard Tower

Well worn steps that lead to Solitary Confinement room.  No window, no light, nothing.

Smith O'Brien's Cottage

This cottage housed one of Port Arthur's most famous political prisoners - Irish Protestant Parliamentarian,  William Smith O'Brien. Transported for life, he was sent to Port Arthur after an attempted escape from *Maria Island.  (*A mountainous island off the east coast of Tasmania and is about 20kms in size ) 

The Chapel.in the Separate Prison.  Each cubicle was separate with a locked door.

Part of the Separate Prison.

The Church represents the important role of religion in convict reform at Port Arthur.  Up to 1100 people attended compulsory services here each Sunday.  Much of the decorative stonework and joinery in the church was crafted by boys from the Point Puer Boys' Prison.

Once the Highway went around the Church.  I remember it well.

The Isle of the Dead on the left, and Point Puer on the right.

Between 1834 and 1849, 3000 boys were sentenced to go to the boys’ prison at Point Puer.  The youngest had just turned 9 years old.
To get there required a short journey on the boat, the Prison was on an island, next to the Isle of the Dead!
Point Puer was the first separate boys' prison in the British Empire.  It was renowned for it's regime of stern discipline and harsh punishment.  However, the boys received an education while some were give the opportunity of trade training.

Isle of the Dead.

Between 1833 and 1877 around 1100 people were buried at the settlement's cemetery.  The Isle of the Dead is the final resting place for military and civil officers, their wives and children, and convicts.  The most common causes of death among convicts were industrial accidents, and respiratory disease.

Some gravestone from the ferry.

Shipwright's House, and Clerk of Works' House from the ferry.

The biggest tragedy happened at Port Arthur on April 28, 1996 when Martin Bryant killed 35 people and wounded twenty five more before being captured.  He is now imprisoned and is serving thirty five life sentences plus 1,035 years without parole in the psychiatric wing of Risdon Prison in Hobart. Tasmania.
This shooting spree banned all guns in Australia, except on farms/pistol, guns clubs etc and of course a license is required,

The map of where Port Arthur is in Tasmania.