Thursday, July 07, 2005


This sculpture, by Tasmanian Steven Walker, commemorates the French explorers who sailed up the East Coast in 1772 - it was installed 200 years later in 1972. It is built of Huon Pine, a fantastic timber that does not rot in the wet - native to Tasmania. It looks even better when the water is flowing :-)

The autumn colours are just about over now

OK, so now we are at the Botanic Gardens ... this is the Japanese Garden

Here is another Tasmanian who loves to chat - locally called the Derwent Jackass - I think the proper name is the Butcher Bird. He was a real show off.

I met this old digger strolling at the Shrine, he was a great bloke who loved to chat away

The Cenotaph - memorial to soldiers who died in all wars - is located on the Queens domain, overlooking the river, the mountain and the sea

the gas works were the centre of the seedy part of town - no more, however. We now have the Federation Concert Hall - thats the cylindrical "tank" on the left - where many fine concerts by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra can be heard

OK, how can you not like this place! Here is a view of Mount Wellington from the heart of the city of Hobart - Constitution dock.

The Lady Nelson - this boat is about 60 feet long and must have been a complete dog to sail in the days when no engines were available. However, Matthew Flinders managed to sail right around Tasmania in it (this is not the original). He must have been a fantastic mariner!

Tasmanian Houses of Parliament, looked over by a statue of Ogilvie, one of our previous Premiers.

Salamanca place is a collection of Colonial Bond Stores now given over to art and craft galleries. On the weekend we have a great market. these are whaling pots left over from more griszly times

Art work at the Battery Point park

Arthurs Circus is an island with several colonial cottages around it. You would have to like your neighbours to be happy living here!

A face in the window (box). Plants look like native grass.

Hampton Road has plenty of trendy restaurants, bakeries and antique shops

I walked to work with Di this morning and came home through Battery Point and the waterfront ... here is my photo journal. this first picture looks back from Hampton Road to Mount Wellington - It was a wonderful clear morning

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Great smoked fish recipe

Cooked this on Friday night ... I have had trouble finding good smoked fish recipes, so I thought I would share this great one with you ...

Fish Omlette

Milk and Water
3 Bay leaves
Slice of preserved lemon
Smoked Cod (Haddock)
Double cream
Parmesan cheese

1. Place half milk half water on to boil in a pan with two bay leaves, slice of preserved lemon, and some pepper corns.

2. Poach smoked cod (haddock for Stein) for about four minutes, then remove and flake up with fingers (oouch!)

3. Take six eggs and whisk. Place a knob of butter into a frypan (one that can go under the grill – I don’t have one, which I discovered at the last minute))

4. When the butter is sizzling adde the eggs and make an omlette by scraping the pan with a wooden spatula (Rick said to use a fork bottom – the idea is to get curls of egg, not scrambled egg).

5. Add the cod, a swirl of double cream, and some parmesan cheese before the egg is completely cooked, blend, and then place under the grill to brown up.

Serve with a green salad and glass of wine. Guaranteed!


Finished! It will look great in spring

Half way there ...

The top half of our garden is a native grassland which needs to be cut back annually. In nature this happens through either wild fire or by native animals ... in a domestic situation the cook gets out with a kitchen knife :-)

Close up of native geranium ... beautiful colours

We installed this birdbath, which is also a fountain, in 2002. The birdbath is activated by the solar panel in the background, which pumps water from an underground pond up through the middle and into the bath. The overflow trickles back down to the pond, which is under the gravel. The birds LOVE it.

It is winter ... though mild. Here is the garden from our deck