Montezuma

A weekend away is always a nice. It is even better when you have a weekend away in the wilderness. Now when I say wilderness, I don't mean to say that we went out the bush and ran wild eating what we could catch and not bathing for days on end. Mariah won't allow that any more.

A weekend in the wilderness with young children means a cabin in the bush with facilities like a microwave and a hot shower. I know I know that sounds soft... but its the kids... they need their luxuries.

We had decided to go with some friends to Cradle Mountain for a night. It was exactly a year since we were there last and thought it was a good idea to go back. We enjoyed it there before and thought that we would enjoy it again.

We did the typical cradle mountain things, go to Dove Lake for a look, look around and some things that we had not seen before and just enjoyed the fresh air. Not that the air is not fresh by the sea. But they do say too much salt is not good for your health and that you need a balanced diet. So it was that we enjoyed the aromas of possum poop and urine, mixed with a little eucalyptus.

At the carpark to the lake we were greeted by a crow or a raven searching for a bit of food. So we make him work for his supper that night. After all we had 4 kids and 4 adults to entertain.

I love Hanisi's face in this one.

We left him with a full belly and set off before it got dark.

Cradle Mountain was nice. We had a good time. Sunday was Fathers Day and I was woken to the whisperings of "is it fathers day Mummy?" "Can we wake Daddy now?" I was showered with all things crafty and a number of cards made by the girls. They had done a wonderful job at home and at school.

The best gift was a DVD that the kids had made with Mariah. In it they were thanking me for going to work everyday so they could have the things that they enjoy everyday. It was nice, and they had a lot of fun making it.

While we were in the area, we thought it would be a nice to check out a 4X4 track in the area. We had heard a lot about it, we had even seen a couple of clips on Youtube about it. So it was that we set off to Rosebery to check out the Montezuma Falls 4x4 track.

The Parks and Wildlife website provides this information about the track......

The North East Dundas Tramway that ran from Zeehan to Deep Lead (now Williamsford) was constructed to facilitate access to mining sites in the Mt. Dundas and Mt. Read areas.

Surveying of the line commenced in 1895, and the ceremony to mark the ‘turning of the first sod’ was performed on 17 January 1896 before a crowd of 500 people. By January 1897 the first five miles of the line were in use and the official opening of the line through to Williamford was held in June 1898.

The gauge was 2 ft., which was a relatively narrow gauge and explains why the line was known as a tramway rather than a railway. The narrowness of the gauge was chosen to suit the winding hillsides and also to assist in lowering the cost of construction.

The line continued to operate infrequently until 1925 and was officially closed on 4 July 1932 and the rails were removed in the early 1940s.

The track follows around 14 k's of this old tramline through the hills. The rail line was removed but most if the infrastructure still remains. There are old sleepers right through the track.

The track is a 4x4 track and you would not be able to attempt it in a normal vehicle. There were pot holes GALORE. It was a bumpy ride that took us one and a half hours to drive ONE WAY!

The drive was amazing. The neat track had been carved right out of the side of the mountain and was lined with amazing plant life and wild flowers. It didn't hit me till we go home, but most of that track would have just come about because of man power and not the machinery that we have today.

We enjoyed a river crossing or two.

Then we continued on...

Until ....

We reached a huge pile of logs across the road. As we had not planned on the trip, we didn't bring a chainsaw with us. Lucky enough we were with Dan, who thought to go ahead a little bit and see just how further the waterfall was.

Lucky for us it was just a quick 10 minute walk to the falls. So we ditched the vehicles and walked the rest of the way to the falls.

To give you some idea just how tall and luscious this forest was. Also how small we can look.

In this one you can kind of see the sleepers ahead.

We had almost made it to the end!

We had one last obstacle before we got to see the waterfall in all it's glory.

THIS BRIDGE!!

We figured if it held my weight the rest would be ok!

Milly took the crossing very seriously! Just like Grandad would have.

 

Hanisi on the other hand wanted to play the fool. Like Tootsi would have.

 

 

Chester just had to trust Daddy, and He was a bit worried about that.

 

 

The water fall was amazing.

We have been told that it IS the tallest in Tas, we have also heard that it is ONE OF the tallest in Tas. Of the ones that I have seen I would say that it was the tallest.

GIANT CHILDREN

It was a wonderful weekend. I enjoyed it and must say that I had a great Fathers Day. It was good to be with my children. It was great to be there with Mariah to enjoy it all.

How lucky we are that we have the experiences that we have in our lives. No matter what experiences we face, be they good or bad, it is for our benefit.

Chedder Cheese.

Recently we celebrated Chester's first birthday.

The girls were so excited leading up to his birthday. They were the key decision makers when it came to his cake, his gifts, and how we would surprise him in the morning. The day before his birthday they had gone shopping to find some things that we could use to celebrate the special day.

I came home to find an arsenal of party poppers, dilly string, balloons and party whistles on the kitchen table. Chester was either going to be really surprised and happy, or really surprised and cry with fear from all the commotion.

The morning of Chester's birthday Mariah and I were woken by two very excited little girls. As the girls were whispering to Mariah I pulled my phone off the bed side table. Squinting with one eye half opened I turned on my phone to see what the time was. Soon both eyes were open and bulging out of their sockets. It was not even 6 o'clock yet.

How do you tell two excited girls to go back to bed I hear you ask... You don't. You get up and help them resist the temptation to go and wake their younger brother.

The time ticked by and Chester continued to sleep. It was as if he knew what was coming and was just laying in his bed hoping that we would forget about the celebrations and let him has a quiet day.

After several hundred "when will he wake up" remarks from the girls, there came a noise from the bed room.

Had Chester just woken up? Was he really sitting quietly in his cot and just made the biggest mistake thus far in his three hundred and sixty five days on the earth. Either way, the troops had heard the noise and regarded it as their signal to CHARGE!!

Chester has no idea what he was in for when his door burst open.

The party whistlers led the charge, Dad showered with him with silly string, and Mum she documented the attack and ensured that the rules of engagement were adhered to.

We were successful in our attack. He was surprised and there were no tears.

The attack then turned to cuddles in bed.

Chester had a great day.

 

 

 

A birthday would not be a birthday without cake. The girls had decided to make him a bright green cake with animals on top.

 

 

 

The icing was so green that it made the bath water turn in to a nuclear pond.

 

The day was enjoyed by all. The kids were exhausted and went to bed on time and without a fuss.

 

A couple of weeks after Chester's birthday I asked him if he would like a hair cut.

 

 



At first he was all shocked and not sure if I was serious. He must have known that we would need approval from mum. So when mum finally gave the go ahead......

I could hardly contain his excitement.



 

 

 

The finished product. It looks a lot different when it is dry. We were all surprised to see what he looked like once the hair was gone.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Chester. May there be many more to come.

 



Pie Competition

It's that time of the year again... where I have had sleepless nights pondering about pies.

The annual pie competition at church was here again. This year I had a title to defend. I wanted to retain the trophy.

I had two tarts in mind. One I knew that I would not like as I am not a fan of Jaffa, or most things choc orange flavoured. The other, Ferrero Rocher, I thought would have to be a crowd favourite. I only know one person that does not like Ferrero Rochers and that is because Mariah is allergic to chocolate.

We started the night with the traditional photo.

This year Chester is here. Everyone is a little older... and we are looking a little colder... We do miss our wood heater.

The bush dance was great. A lot of dances for all ages.

The pie comp was also a hit. This year the competition was quite strong.

Kelvin Clark and spent hours cutting out the pastry for his cake. It looked AMAZING. He had done such an amazing job. There were others that looked and tasted fantastic. Mick Reeve made a great Banoffie pie (always a favourite). Someone had made what looked like a chocolate tart which I missed out on trying.

As always everyone was a winner. Each pie won a prize. But there was the all important overall grand champion of pies.

My heart was racing, palms were sweaty, I think I noticed a few eyes looking my way.... Apparently there was just 3 points difference between the top 3 pies. I was thinking Kelvin had it in the bag with his artwork, but I was close .... It was an apple pie but not Kelvins...

It was Joe Rogers. Who took out the best over all pie...

He deserved the award.

His pie was good. It held together well and was not overly sweet. He had also done a great job with the pastry.

Unfortunately I didn't take a photo this year. I don't know why, but I will try and describe it to you.

It was a plain biscuit base (like a cheese cake) Layered with a inch of hazelnut mouse topped a thin layer of hazelnut ganache. To top it off and give it a Ferrero Rocher look I coated the pie with a nutty chocolate crust.

Sound good? I thought so and the feedback I received was good.

I did take out the most scrumptious pie. :)

**ADDED 02/07/2013

Huge thanks to Annette and Kelvin for the Photo of my pie/tart.

A huge congratulations to Joe and his apple pie... I guess the judges were looking for something traditional as apposed to a modern twist to a pie.

Maybe next year.