Pumphouse Point

At the end of a Pier on the deepest Lake in Australia nestled within the pristine Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area sits the old Pumphouse. It has rarely been used since its construction in 1939 and was decommissioned in 1995. The Pumphouse and the main Substation at the edge of the Pier have remained derelict since then but are now about to be part of a very exciting Tourism Development. Building works have begun to turn these two buildings into a stunning boutique Hotel which will be sympathetic to their gorgeous Art Deco features as well as the surrounding natural beauty.

We have been very fortunate to have spent the last 4 days staying in the old Manager's cottage adjacent to the Substation before the site goes into full construction mode. The cottage will soon be the home of the new Hotel Manager. 

To have a piece of World Heritage Area completely to ourselves was pretty amazing. But to have all of that without any of the additional 'white noise' was sheer bliss. No telephones, televisions, computers, ipads, iPhones, xbox, and more importantly, there were no requests for any of these things because the Kids knew they were not available. Honestly, 4 days under these conditions felt like 4 weeks and it was the perfect way to end the two weeks of School Holidays which were otherwise spent at home. If you asked me what I needed right now in terms of a getaway destination, this would be it - no noise, no people, just the 7 of us together with no outside distractions. It was completely wonderful.

We relaxed and took in the serenity. We enjoyed a spot of fishing and some bushwalks. We awoke to the sound of birds, watched the wildlife creep in at dusk and fell asleep to the sound of rain hitting the tin roof. 

After some decent weather on our first day, the rain set in so activities turned indoors. There was a lot of tea and coffee drinking and board game playing. After dinner, I got a burst of inspiration being in a different kitchen and set the table for breakfast, something I have never done in 9 years of parenting. My Grandparents used to do this and my Grandpa still puts his bowl of porridge in the microwave the night before ready for the morning.  I think I might make it a regular thing. The Kids were most impressed with my new organisational skills. "What are you doing Mum?". "I'm being organised gorgeous one, just humour me!".

On the third day of rain we had to spice things up a bit. The Kids had played countless games of Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess and Checkers and amongst the six of us every single permutation and combination of teams and players had been exhausted. But then someone designed the great Jenga Tower competition and this bought a few more hours of fun.

We went to the local Pub for dinner one night to play more games and sit by an even bigger fire. It was very child friendly and the food was fabulous, which was great because it is the only place to eat in the entire area. Everyone had a game of Pool, with even baby Flynn not wanting to miss out!

And I made a hat! Capucine. A simple but super sweet pattern that I decided to make with the remaining Noro Kochoran skein I had leftover from the cushion. I'm sure I've mentioned before that I'm not a huge fan of striped clothing but this yarn is so luxurious and squishy with it's combination of Angora, Merino and Silk that I think I can make an exception for a hat. It is also so warm and came in very handy over the past few days. I'm a little bit in love with it actually!

Yes, I know it's just a hat but there has been very little action on the knitting front lately and it was such a joy to finally be able to sit down in the evenings by the fire and not only start something but also finish something in 2 nights. It has been an unusually busy School Term where the domestic stuff overwhelmed me and the majority of my days were spent chasing my tail but with the added frustration of the millions of interruption that go along with running a household of 7 people.  So it may only be a little hat but it is an accomplishment nevertheless. My Ravelry notes are here.

We arrived home late last night full of happy memories. The Kids went back to School today and I can't believe there is only another 10 weeks left until the end of the School year. This will be the final 10 weeks of Kindy before the Twins start full-time school next year. A few months ago I would have gasped at that thought, the thought of my little boys being ready for "Big School". However, these past few days more than anything I've realised just how much they have grown up. They are more than ready. But first, let's just enjoy the post-holiday glow and get through the rest of this year.

Into the Wilderness

After spending the entire Summer Holidays at home and with one more week still left before the beginning of the new School Year, I decided a nice little break was in order. The Tasmanian Wilderness called so we drove 4 hours to the very west of the Island into the gorgeous World Heritage Area where peace and beauty were guaranteed and last-minute cabin accommodation would at least be a possibility.

We managed to find availability in a 6-berth Cabin in Strahan, once a sleepy fishing village but now a tourism mecca for those wanting to explore the World Heritage Area by boat, rail, plane or helicopter. We had done many of these activities before having kids and were on a strict budget so we took advantage of all the other free activities available. First up, Tobogganing and sand boarding down Hentry Dunes. It was difficult to capture the scale of the Dunes but at 30 to 40m high and with sand plains stretching as far as the eye can see you really felt like you were in the Desert.

The thing I love about living in Tasmania is that you can holiday in your own State and have all of natures delights truly to yourself. We hardly saw a soul the whole time we were away. Strahan is usually rainy but we had picture perfect weather while we were there. A fair bit of time was spent at Ocean Beach - the longest beach in Tasmania with 40km stretching out to the ocean. Rather than shells, the beach is dotted with pebbles of differing colour and size.  Eleanor loved collecting the teeny tiny pebbles while I liked the ones with the white stripes.

It was our first time away as a family of seven and since most of the focus has been on Baby Flynn these past 8 weeks I could tell the other Kids really got a lot out of the little trip and were able to see that life will go on just fine and Mummy won't be spending the rest of their life telling them to keep the noise down while the baby is sleeping. I also realised just how much time is taken up during my days at home with meal preparation, cooking, tidying up and cleaning and it was so nice to have just a few days not doing ANY of these activities and being completely focussed on having fun with the kids.

We stopped off at Lake St Claire on the way home for a play around the lake and a spot of lunch.

Sadly we didn't see any of these Giant vampire Kangaroos while we were away.

We're back home now and everything feels different. The kids are refreshed and happy and looking forward to getting ready for school to start next week. The adults are probably no more refreshed than when we left but the mental break has done wonders and I'm not looking at the Dishwasher with as much disdain as I did last week. We really had the nicest of times. Mel xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Weekend in Pictures

I'm getting to the pointy end of the pregnancy now. I'm trying to slow down as much as possible, which is physically not that difficult given I can only really move at a Turtles pace these days. We're soaking up these last few precious weeks as a family of 6 and although the weekends are still full and fun, my hands-on involvement is kept to a minimum as the Pianoman does the physical running about while I observe all the action from a comfy chair, crochet on my knees and coffee in hand. I have never done such passive parenting and after this weekend I started to wonder if this is how Grandparents feel sitting back and watching and admiring their Grandchildren, without the intensity of having to physically attend to every request, need or demand. It's been so delightful, although obviously it will only last another couple of weeks for me.

This weekend has been great and I'm a little word-weary tonight so thought I'd provide a snapshot of our weekend in pictures.

We started with Little Athletics yesterday morning. We are new to this sport and loving it so far, not least because finally we have found an activity where all 4 Kidlets can be involved at the same time. And although it means a relatively early start to the day, there are far worse places to spend a few hours than Kangaroo Bay with the glorious bay as the backdrop and the Kids absolutely love it. I think the tents are a cute touch, although no point us setting one up because with 4 Kids there is no 'down' time between activities. I have joined Christina's Christmas Ornament Swap so I sat back watching the kids from afar and started making some crochet star baubles for my swap partners using Lucy's delightful pattern. Just for the record, I am NEVER this organised. If a deadline is in 3 weeks then it will be done in 2 weeks, 6 days and 23 hours. But, I thought I better be organised for the swap as our ornaments are due the same day as the baby :-)

l then spent much of the afternoon at home doing some more baubles and upon request I also made this cute Knitted Bow Headband for Eleanor.

We spent a lovely day fishing today. I'm still so surprised how much the Kids enjoy this activity given the patience required to actually catch a fish. The 2 bigger kids cut their own bait, cast their own rods and bring in the catch themselves.

Their fishing skills are improving which is just great because in all seriousness the Kids are eating us out of house and home. Today they caught 2 fish, a reasonable sized Flathead and a small Atlantic Salmon, both enough to feed the family for entree. Unfortunately I didn't get a shot of the Flathead.

Finally, with all this enforced relaxing, I've been able to practise a lot of the camera skills I learnt last weekend and so I thought I'd finally introduce you to the Kids properly. 

This is Eleanor, 8 years old. Funny, smart, pensive, loves animals, climbing trees, high achiever, she's so mature and independent it frightens me sometimes. An all round loving soul.

This is Charles, 6 years old. Loves sport, sport and sport and technology. A quiet achiever, thinker, worrier. The most placid, caring soul.

This is George, 4 years old (Twin 1). So cute I could eat him up for breakfast. Thoughtful, Quiet(er than the others) but stubborn. Sensitive, loving and cheeky.

And this is Noah, 4 years old (Twin 2). Gregarious, loud, clever, confident, active, loves cuddles, pushes the boundaries, ringleader. The pictures say it all really.

And to top off an already lovely weekend, I came across these Arum Lillies on the side of the road for 50c.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I'm off to catch up on all your news now.

Mel xx