Trivia Time

Just before we came out to Tara it was our wedding anniversary - 43 years. Val brought me some beautiful red roses.

The photos are of my mother as a young woman and my lovely grandaughter, Rowena. She is 7 going on 23 and is an absolute girly girl who loves to dance and is pretty damn good at it.

Talking about our wedding anniversay brings back memories of when we celebrated our 40th. We incorporated the celebration in with a trip back to New Zealand to visit friends in Christchurch and Taupo.

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Our final stop was Auckland and I had booked the hotel online. I chose Parnell because it was a reasonable area when we were kids. Oh my how times change.

The hotel was really drab from the outside and the foyer wasn't much better. The first room they gave us still had people staying in it much to everyones surprise when I opened the door. The second room was a backpackers type room with shared bathing facilities. We told them that if the next room was the same they could forget about it and refund our money.


Finally we got a room that was the equivalent of a one star. The paint was peeling, the room was really shabby and the bathroom was ugh, grotty to say the least. I was just so upset about the whole thing that we didn't bother driving into the city to see all the things we wanted to see.


After seeing the room, the last thing I wanted to do was eat in the hotel so we drove out to Royal Oak where we found a place that dishes up really great roast dinners. We went there again in September this year, when we went over.


Then it was off to visit my stepfather Derek in Glen Innes. When we arrive he is in the middle of negotiating to sell his house. My sister Laura is helping with the details and Derek is moving to Torbay to be near Laura. This is a good arrangement for them both.

We head of to Laura's place over the North Shore for a few drinks and to catch up on the family comings and goings.

Back to the hotel and now comes the good part. It turns out that the hotel is right next door to a Japanese Karaoke Strip joint, so for a good part of the night we are subjected to very loud, not very good music. The night drags on with the noise penetrating the room. The morning can't come quick enough.

Thankfully we are only here for one night as we fly out the next day.

The House in Tara

Here are some pictures of the house in Tara as it is today. We will be taking off the roof and replacing it with a Dutch Gable in colourbond. We also intend to add an 8 foot verandah and update all the joinery with French doors to the verandah from the lounge and the main bedroom.

One thing the house does have is very large rooms and a fabulous walk in pantry. So once everything is updated it should look fantastic, but that is all a little way down the track.

This is the back of the house.

Here is the side:

One thing about having 34 acres is that there is plenty of room to move and another thing I love about the property is the large circular driveway out the front. Eventually I want to put in a large fish pond and fountain in the centre with herb gardens and stone walkways.

Always Something To Do

Val is in the process of upgrading the kitchen in Tara. Before we can install the new kitchen the floor has to be levelled. So at the moment he is putting down new flooring. Then of course the water pipes are dodgy and come up through the floor instead of coming in from the back of the cabinet.

It just goes on an on, nothing is straightforward.

Here is the kitchen as it is at the moment.

And here is the man himself all kitted out to keep the flies out. The bugs here are so annoying, there are millions of flies that attack you every time you step out the door, then there are the ticks that inject poison into your skin and make you itch like crazy. They live in the grass so every time we venture outdoors we get them.

I am begining to wonder why I am leaving the city where we live across the road from the beach.

The Drive To Tara

Once the car trailer is loaded up with sheets of flooring for the kitchen, and we have up the car with food and bedding we head on out to Tara for a couple of weeks. The drive as far as Dalby was an easy run without any problems with the flooring slipping around.

It's a 4 hour run out to Tara and after you leave Dalby there are no street lights on the final 88klm run to Tara so it is pitch black after the sun goes down.

We just leave Dalby and it starts to pour down with rain. Looking out towards Tara we can see lightening and hear the loud claps of thunder. As we drive into the storm the rain makes it hare to see the road and there are also drifts of foggy mist adding to the problem.

We finally reach the Tara turnoff Tara and by now the storm has taken hold and lightening lights up the sky and the surrounding countryside for seconds and then everything becomes pitch black again. The scene is very dramatic as the trees show black against the lit sky like something out of a horror movie.

Finally we reach the Miegunyah Estate turnoff and leave the tar sealed section of the road and turn onto the muddy, slushy dirt road complete with water-filled potholes. So we bounce along slipping and sliding all over the place until we reach our turnoff. When the road is wet it is like driving on marbles.

It doesn't take too long to unpack the car in the rain. We settle in with a hot cup of tea and watch some dvd's. As it has been a couple of weeks since we were last here the spiders, moths, mosquitoes and other assorted wildlife have taken over the house.

A quick run around with the broom despatches most of them. Those near the ceiling get a reprieve as neither of us is tall enough to reach to the top of the 3.3 mtr (11 feet).

The next day is bright and sunny. The rain has been good for the dam and it is now nearly full. The level reaches over the concrete pipe which was well exposed before.

A Roo Came to Stay

Our Grandson Sebastian went Roo shooting with one of the local kangaroo cullers and one of the roos that was shot had a joey in her pouch. Usually these are too young to survive or they are disposed of.

Well Sebastian asked if he could have this one as it was old enough to survive. So 'Rocky' came to live in the big city. Sebastian cared for Rocky and fed him with a syringe and a special milk formula. Rocky got to travel around in a pillow case which he quite happily hopped in and out of as the mood took him.

Because he was very young he spent a lot of time sleeping and growing and it wasn't too long before he was eating grass and bounding around the yard.

Rocky didn't mind travelling in the car so he and Seb went everywhere together and commuted out to Tara on a regular basis where Rocky had 64 acres to bound around in. He became friendly with the pigs.

Unfortunately, Rocky was becoming too much of a handful in the city. He could no longer go to work with Seb since he started with the Scaffolding firm, and there was no one who wanted the responsibility of looking after Rocky at home. So a new home was found for Rocky, not too far from where we live in Brisbane, with some people who have other kangaroos for Rocky to socialise with.

Seb had spoken to a WIRES representative who had told him that a domesticated roo will not survive in the wild if it is let go on its own and that they need to be set free in a mob of 5 or 6 for them to have a chance of survival.

It was a great experience to have such a gentle animal around but in the end city life was just too confining for such a magnificent animal and although it was with much sadness that Seb's little friend had to go I am sure Rocky will be happier with room to move.

Tara Time

Well I haven't given this blog a lot of attention. There has just been too much going on such as

trips to Bangkok, China, Hong Kong and New Zealand. But I am now back home and have been coming and going out to Tara.

A little while ago I broughts some pigs, a boar and a sow who had 8 piglets. Because we are not living full time in Tara it became a bit of a problem having the animals. So the piggies all went to market and now we have a freezer full of pork.

It looks like we may have come out of the drought, I certainly hope so. The recent rains have filled the tanks and the dams, so it looks as if we will soon be able to restock the dams with fish. It certainly makes a difference seeing the dams full of water instead of looking at mud holes.

The water level before the rain - the level is quite a bit below the water pipe.

After the rain the level has risen considerably and we have had another lot of rain that has taken the level to just under the pipe. So things are looking up.

We are in the process of doing up the house. My wife feels its a little to 'rustic' for her taste, so I am putting in a new kitchen for a start. This will be followed by a new roof and a large verandah.

So it looks like I am going to be busy in the near future.

My Passionfruit Vine

I am no gardener. I would love to have a great looing garden and envy my neighbours prowess and growing exotic fruits and flowers,

This is one of my attempts at growing something, anything. This is a passionfruit plant that I have been tenderly caring for. It is now about 12 months on and it doesn't seem to want to grow beyond this stunted bush.

I thought by now it would have sent out tendrils and be curling it's way along the fence, but no, it just seems to be happy to sit there.

I brought some watering plugs from the United States, and I am very impressed with them. I can fill up a bottle with water and push the bottle into the plug and the water trickles out to keep the plant watered.

I have just brought a mini greenhouse where I am now going to attempt to grow some herbs.

Pigs in Tara

Things are moving on slowly at Tara. We brought some pigs, a boar and a sow who was pregnant and three piglets who are almost ready for the freezer.



Well the sow had 8 piglets this week.

Time to Step Aside

Finally letting go of the reigns and allowing my son to take over the family business. It's not easy to let go. Of course I don't think anyone can run the business as well as I can but funnily enough he seems to be making a go of it.

We operate a staircase and balustrade manufacturing business called Stair & Handrail Qld. We also manufacture dowel under the banner of Wanda's Wooden Dowel.

We have been operating now for around 25 years. It's heavy work so in a way I am kinda glad to be moving on to doing something else and I think the property in Tara will be a respite although there is a lot to be done to get it up and running properly.

Always ready for a challenge.