Day 75 – Time to build an ark?

I have decided that it is possible that the rain might never stop. My sister recently suggested that it might be time to consider building an Ark. I’ll check in with the Bandycoot to see if he’s up to the task. We certainly have enough timber here. I’m glad the Old Dairy is up on a hill, though I worry how the alpacas are coping with it all down in the paddock.

Jazzie with cabin fever: 'Can we please go for a walk!'

I don’t know if it’s the cold weather or the change in environment, but little pup Indie has become quite skinny and I decide to take her to the vet for a check-up. It’s early when we arrive in Burnie so I take the pups for a run at the beach. They love attention and once we get down on to the sand, they make a big fuss of lady from Tullah (which got snow this morning). She’s quite taken with them too, and when she sets off further down the beach, I can see that they're facing the dilemma of whether to follow her or stay with me.

We get a different vet from last time and it’s quite an elderly gentleman. He’s very thorough and declares she’s in great health, not skinny but toned from all the exercise they’re getting down here. I’m thrilled to get the all clear from vet! Now that I know that Indie is a lean mean puppy-machine, it’s off to fish & chip lunch at a different beach to celebrate. Both pups get lots of pats from strangers as we have our meal, which is their favourite thing in the world (at the moment).

Day 74 - Snow day!

We wake up to our first real snowstorm as we can see snowflakes streaming down outside the bedroom window. The Bandycoot (my boyfriend) leaps up to grab his camera to capture this moment. It’s short-lived and proves almost impossible to photograph. There are showers and sleet throughout the grey day, where we spend most of it by the fireplace.

When we have a break in the weather, we take the pups out for a run in the damp fields as they are starting to get cabin fever. The winds are howling, the rain is intermittent but somehow we make our way down to the river. Before I only used my gumboots for music festivals, but now I don’t know how to get through the day without them. I tromp through the mud and puddles, try not to get blown away. The wild weather doesn’t seem to slow the puppies down at all and they are wet and muddied through when we get back to the Old Dairy.

We have been giving them a bath almost every day after our wet walks, and it’s quite a process of giving them a soak in the laundry tub and then rinsing them off and quickly rolling them around in a towel before they take off for a big shake. So today, we decided, was the day to see how they would go in the shower with the Bandycoot. Overall, I’d say a success, aside from a few scratches where they tried to make a break for it. I was waiting in the wings with a towel before I let them out of the bathroom and over to the fireplace for them to twist and roll on the carpet to get dry.

A wet Indie with my fabulous gumboots behind.

Day 73 - Big Dip

A decent downpour last night was far from ideal with the outside walls of the Old Dairy freshly painted. Emerging with his morning coffee the Bandycoot was very disappointed to see that the fresh paint on the second level had actually run down the concrete wall of ground floor.

He straight away started scrubbing these paint streaks off before they could set, but what to do about the paint, still wet, upstairs? Will the rain still sprinkling lightly down, the Bandycoot (my boyfriend) ran into his tool shed, climbed back up the painting ladder and started drying the paint – with a blowtorch! Naturally I had concerns that he might set the house on fire, but he insisted he was staying a safe distance away. This had some success and after a while he decided to let nature take its course, and hopefully dry the paint during the day.

To cheer ourselves up we decided to go for a drive. The Bandycoot recalled visiting a lovely waterfall in his younger years, so we headed just down the road to Dip Falls. On the way we saw beautiful Australian Shelducks in the fields and stopped to take a photo. That’s one of the things I love about Tassie is the beautiful birdlife (also that you can just stop in the middle of a country road and don’t have to worry about traffic).

The Falls turn out to be quite lovely, especially full after all the recent rain. Navigating a very long and slippery set of stairs to the bottom was well worth it for view off the steel platform. At the bottom of the falls were a large number of logs that had been washed down in the recent flooding and were now diverting some of the water flow.

Dip Falls

We walk in the nearby bush and find old tracks used by loggers, with broken down pieces of machinery rusting slowly away among the trees. Then the Bandycoot insists we have to see the ‘Big Tree’. Considering how many huge species I’ve seen already in Tassie, I wonder what makes this one special. After a beautiful stroll along the boardwalk, I catch my first glimpse of it. At 62m it is quite humbling and you can help but feel dwarfed by the power and beauty of nature. We both give this amazing specimen some big hugs and take a few happy snaps to remember this awesome feeling.

The Bandycoot hugging the 'Big Tree'

Day 72 – Feathers, flock and flee

Sunshine! It feels like I have come to life and the world around with me. Ever the optimist I put a load of laundry through. When I’m hanging out the clothes on the line I notice that grass is green and lush from all the rain. The small native birds are revelling in the sunshine and form a feathery carpet around me as they dance and duck about searching for bugs and grubs who may have also emerged in the warmth.

Later it’s time to put a second coat on yesterday’s paintwork. I’m nervous about climbing back up the ladder and on to the awning roof after ripping my leggings and cutting my leg trying to get back down. The Bandycoot (my boyfriend) suggests climbing out of the upstairs window instead, which I manage to do (though very awkwardly). I quickly cover the boards, worried about the dark clouds looming behind us. The Bandycoot has a lot more wall to cover than me and insists on painting late into the day. I express my doubts that it will dry before the evening dew arrives.

We take the puppies for a late afternoon walk and they are excited to go down to area where the Bandycoot has been chopping wood, next to the creek. On the way back we find ourselves the centre of attention with the alpacas following us up the hill until we also come face to face with the sheep and cows that the Bandycoot’s nan has put into the paddock to keep the grass down. Before we know it, we’re in a rather scary Mexican stand-off situation with none of the animals wanting to back away. This is all too much for our little pup Indie, who looks a lot like a fox, and she makes break for it and runs all the way home to the Old Dairy being chased by some cranky cows. Jazzie sticks close to us and after some yelling and loud hand clapping we make it safely back to the house yard. Phew!

A worn out Indie...happy to be home safe again!