Happy New Year 2024

 Wishing everyone a Happy New Year full of good health, happiness along with peace and love.

The sunsets were taken a few year ago in Broome in Western Australia.

Cherries

Just before Christmas we ventured out to find some ripe cherries which we did, the best ones we came across were $25.00 kg of good quality, of course there were some of lesser quality which we also bought, we have been back a few times.  

The photos of the cherries not yet ripe on the tree at one cherry farm.

The Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas to everyone, may you all have a safe and special Happy Christmas.

Last Friday evening and night we went out to dinner near the city center of Launceston, Tasmania, Australia with two of my husbands sisters and one husband.  My husband and I had Tasmanian Scallops with salad and chips (forgot to take a photo).  After dinner we went to the other side of town to youngest sister in laws for a chat, we got home at 2am.

My husband and I came through the city about 1.35am and I wanted to take a photo of the Cities Christmas Tree in The Mall.  There was no one about at all, so I was on my lonesome walking up the middle of the Mall to the middle of the Mall and took my photos.

First photo is of the Town Hall which was built in about 1864, taken from the car.

The Christmas tree which changed colours and was pretty to watch (no video), photos taken at 1.40am.

Looking down the Mall then last photo as I left the Mall.

A construction in the North East.

The construction of the Paris Dam began in 1935, and was completed less than a year later, in 1936.  It was preciously referred to as the Morning Star Dam.  The dam is the only one of a buttress and slab construction in Tasmania, and one of just a handful of that construction in the coutry.

The wall has a lenght of 250m and a maximum height of 16m.  So, the dam had water storage of about 1300 megalitres covering almost 21 hectares (52 acres).

After a few owners of the dam a hole appeared and a large crack in the near the base of the dam wall.  It wasn't repaired I'm led to believe.

I'd never heard of the Paris Dam until a few years ago when we decided to drive up this gravel road in the north east of Tasmania, and it was there we saw a sign to the dam which was an old sign so we didn't venture on any further.      

These photos are from the internet. 

Houses

Blackstone Heights is a surbub of Launceston and was established several years ago yet it's still rather new.  Some of the houses are built on top of rocks all bunched together other houses are not.  The river is the South Esk and ski boats go up and down that river in the summer annoying the people who own the houses, the noise echos.  A friend of mine had to sell her family home because of the noise as she was a Registered Nurse and worked night duty thus couldn't sleep during the day due to noise.

I've taken a few family homes and will show more in another post later on.

Fungi

Interesting Fungi in the bush, it's amazing how some of it clings to the old trees that have fallen.

The Bird and the Sea

We stopped at the rest area on the way to Scottdale in the north east coast of Tasmania, Australia on our drive.  A visitor arrived and perched itself on the car mirror, it was very friendly and obviously looking for food which we didn't have.  My husband put the window down and we thought it was going to come into the car so we snapped a photo and put the window up.  

*The bird is a Black Currawong which is a large crow-like bird (although related to the Butcher birds), around 50cm (20 in) long on average, with yellow irises, a heavy bill, and black plumage with white wing patches and tail tips.

The Black Currawong is endemic to Tasmania, but widespread.  

We have two currawongs in Tasmania, the endemic Black, and a sub-species of the Gray, which ironically, in Tasmania is so dark as to appear black.* The text was copied from [ here ]

The photos were taken with my phone.

Of course being by the sea as in Bridport a photo of Bass Strait was insured along with the remains of the old jetty.

Glass and Food

 Last Sunday I had to collect my new glasses which I only wear mainly for reading as I can see well for distance.  11am was my oppointment to collect the glasses but we went for a drive, 5 and 1/2 hours later and over 250 km we arrived home.

It doesn't take long to get them fitted but we ended up going to Scottsdale had lunch then drove to the sea at Bridport on the North East Coast of Tasmania, Australia.

The glasses, then the Cafe.

Inside and the food.  My husband had a mini pizza and I had mini fish and chips for lunch - delicious.

The sea

Some photos that I forgot to post back in mid spring taken on one of our drives.  

These photos were taken at a rest area near Wynyard along the north west coast of the Island.  We bought lunch and sat on this seat, watched the little yachts doing their races, we looked towards Tablecape where the Tulips are grown.

The sea is Bass Strait.

Ross Church for Sale

A trip to Ross in the Midland of Tasmania the other day and we visited a church up on a hill, the foundation stone of the Ross Methodist Chruch now Uniting Church was laid by Governor Arthur on the 20th October, 1835, William Grant Broughtonn consecrated it on the 11 May, 1838.  The church has beautiful Blackwood pews.