Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all.  Enjoy your New Years Eve and New Years Day and sending best wishes for a good year in all facets of life.

May you all have a wonderful Christmas

 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.  

Christmas in Australia is rather different to the Northern Hemisphere.  A few people have a traditional Christmas Dinner and Christmas Tea but it's usually too hot to have a big hot meal in the middle of the day.  The people have changed the times and many of us have a barbecue with prawns, all kinds of meat and salads.  

In my house we are having cold meat and salads with hot new potatoes including sweets.  The traditional sweets include a Christmas Pudding, Pavlova or Trifle, maybe a bit of each, I might also make a Mango Cheese Cake.

The temperature is predicted to be 27 deg C (F80.6) down here on the Island of Tasmania, Australia.

The first Christmas celebrations in Australia have their roots in late 1788 and were introduced by the convicts of the First Fleet, who arrived in Sydney Harbour early the same year.

Alabama in the USA was the first State to officially recognize Christmas in 1836, so I read.

Oh, I nearly forgot - Kangaroos pull Santas sleigh in Australia.😉  A link to Catarina's blog where she found a photo of Santa and the kangaroos is here .

Christmas Nails, nothing fancy.

Peacock

 Peacocks at the Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania.

The Gorge is only about 10 to 15 minutes away from the city, there is a chair lift, beautiful gardens, swimming pool, swinging bridge and a couple of restaurants.  The one I'm showing is rather lovely inside and out and the peacocks come to visit, can jump on the tables outside and demand a morsal of food.  Such beautiful birds.

Horse on the Beach

Along the North West Coast of Tasmania is a beach called Turners Beach which also has a caravan park and years ago we used to go and stay for the weekend when we owned our business to get away from it all.  I used to ride my horse when we lived on the farm before moving to the city.  Everyday, I rode so it was pleasant to see these people on horseback walking and galloping along the beach.  It brought back happy memories.

Catamarans

Only in Tasmania, a First Invention!

1980.. The Wave-piercing catamarans were the first high speed, stable catamaran invented, developed by Phillip Hercus and Robert Clifford of Incat in Tasmania based on design by Sydney naval architect Phillip Hercus.

Robert Clifford's video called 'The Clifford Story' is worth watching and listening to, along with the 2nd video regarding what they are building now - I found it interesting, well both of them.

This Catamaran was built for Japan some years ago.

The Kangaroo

This poem or ditty I've had in my to do post for probably a few years and forgot to post, finally now.  It's just simple but sweet.

In a land down under where the creatures hop,

A kangaroo penned a verse that made him stop.

He rhymed about the stars, the sun, and the moon,

But his best line was about the afternoon.

"It's too hot to write", he said with a leap,

"So I'll finish this poem after a good, long sleep'.

Colourful Plants in Cairns, Queensland

 Cairns up in the tropics of Australia is a good place for a holiday.  Many things to see and do if you love scenery.  We've been there several times and stayed in the same caravan park each time.  This caravan park has some beautiful plants in their garden, here in Tasmania we mostly have them indoors as do other places in Australia.  I don't recall all the names, but do enjoy the colours.

Emus, Northern Territory, Australia

 On one of our travels up the middle of Australia we stopped into a place for the night as did many others travelling in caravans and or motorhomes.  The people that own the property share a large piece of their land for we Travellers to stay in or on.  There is no power, but water is available which is bore water.

Most of us were preparing or thinking of getting our evening meal when I looked out the door of our caravan and saw this thing realizing it was a tame emu sticky beaking at the door of the motor home of these people in the photo.  I'd never seen an Emu close up.  I'm aware they can get vicious and use their claws to their advantage, I was careful.

Cloudy Bay, Bruny Island, Tasmania.

Tasmania, which is an island, does have islands.  Bruny Island is but one down south.  Beautiful scenery, lovely beachs and many walks can be done. 

Many people live on Bruny Island and catch the ferry across to Kettering each day and home again in the evening if they work on Mainland Tasmania.  However, there are many crossings during the day.  There is a north and south island, the south island being hilly.

Years ago whaling was the industry down there, today they have beautiful fresh oysters, farming and tourism.  Also a National park, lots of beautiful birds and so on.  The building is a toilet.

I'm showing photos of Cloudy Bay which is below Cockle Creek, see map.

Also - Please check your 'spam box', I think many of my comments I've made on your blogs have gone there....I check my spam everyday before I answer my comments, seems a few are going in there still.

Katherine River, Northern Territory.

Please check your 'spam box', I think many of my comments I've made on your blogs have gone there....I check my spam everyday before I answer my comments, seems a few are going in there still.  

Katherine in the Northern Territory of Australia is a sweet town in the outback.  The town is next to the Katherine River 320km South of Darwin at the top of Australia.  The town is known as when the outback meets the tropics.

The first people to live there were of course the Aboriginals, and more history is here.

There are still Aboriginals there, some live near the town.  Each time we have stayed in Katherine I've seen the Native people sitting on a small bank with a cooked chicken they bought from the shop, the chicken sitting in the sun and that's for hours, then they eat it without ill effect.  

In the winters when we have been there it can be hot weather and cooler nights.  The town is kept clean, and the river area also. 

In one area of the Katherine River is sand and shady trees but the people don't swim because you just might happen to see a crocodile, also you have to look where you are treading due to same on land.