Day 71 - Just keep chewing

Today it was back to work on the renovations at the Old Dairy. We finally got a break in the endless rainy weather, so it was time to break out the paint cans. The ground level is almost all concrete, just as it was when it was still a functioning dairy. The upper level is timber and the paint has started to fade and flake off.

The Bandycoot (my boyfriend) is perched atop a rather rickety old ladder, balanced on the very top rung. It's difficult for me to even look at him that high and not get nervous. I'm in a (somewhat) better spot standing on the frame of the back awning. At least I can put my paint can down and have something to hold on to.

The Bandycoot painting the Old Dairy (at a safer height!)

We make funny jokes and tell stories while we paint, ever watching for the weather to take a dark change. I know some places say they have 'four seasons in one day' but here in Tassie it's more like 'four seasons in one hour', as it can change so quickly. One time as I looked out over the field I saw some of the alpacas, cows and sheep gazing up at us. I'm sure they were wondering how we got this high.

Always watching...

When the Bandycoot's folks were still visiting, his mum made us some delicious abalone for dinner. The Bandycoot decided tonight was the night to try his hand at this precious seafood. He found a number of recipes and tried out a few. It's a bit of new delicacy for me and I must confess to being a bit dubious. While he whipped up a storm in the kitchen for several hours, unfortunately the result was not great. The abalone was more like rubber and no matter how long I chewed for, it didn't seem to change the texture. I gave up on the abalone pretty quickly while the Bandycoot chewed on and said that some of the other recipes he made were more palatable. Tassie has certainly been a place to try new things!

Day 70 (part 2) - Discovering Derby

After leaving the Eddystone Lighthouse up on the north-east, we started our journey home to the Old Dairy.

Coming down into the windy road into Derby is like arriving on another planet. Grey barren hills, bereft of any vegetation with terraced ledges and big holes, are the trances left by one of the most profitable tin mine in the world (in its time).

 We had a wander around this quaint town, which has now become an adventure mountain biking hub. There were cycles and cyclists everywhere you looked, including the sweet outdoor café where we had lunch and the puppies were treated to bacon. The Bandycoot had heard about an old mining tunnel that you could go in to. It took some finding but after negotiating a bit of brush we found our way to the entrance on the dank, damp entrance. It was just so crushingly black, that I didn't think I could go in but the Bandycoot ventured in and was amazed by it.

Old mining tunnel at Derby

At a house, just down the main road from the café, we saw the sweetest sheep grazing on their terraced front lawn and we stopped to take some photos. There were also some beautiful birds swinging on the fence just soaking up the sparse rays of winter sunshine.

We drove on to a Lavender farm that the Bandycoot had visited when he was a kid, but it was already closed. Took the scenic way back home, down some dark windy roads and across the famous Batman bridge (NaNananaNaNa...batman!). Spectacular!