In Need of a Manicure

So after 3 days of waiting, B rolls in. But by then I am a wreck! Emotionally exhausted, not coping with the 5 am jump starts from a dark tent, followed by 8 hours of labour and not enough food. Not to mention I am desperately in need of a manicure, my cuticles are torn and bleeding... So regretfully I exit the volunteering life and travel on ahead, while B joins the ride (finally!) and wiles away an easy 81kms down the east coast of Tassie to meet me in Bicheno.

While riding through Elephant Pass, B stopped at the Elephant Pass Pancake Parlour where he noted that they had gluten-free pancakes! He didn't bring me one however..... :( OK it probably would have been cold and squished by the time it got to me....

While in Bicheno we went on a Penguin Hunting Expedition. We saw many, many penguins, up close and personal, one even made a break for it running between my feet. But alas all the photos failed, due to the low lighting, no flash conditions. You'll just have to believe me that they were all exceedingly cute.

The next morning B continued on - riding along the coast, and I hopped a bus to Hobart to hire a car and meet him back up in Swansea where we had a two day stop.
Swansea was also the first place on my list of gluten-free restaurants - The Ugly Duck Out, and I was keen to try it out.

I think I ate every meal there for two days: breakfast, lunch and dinner. And I still hadn't worked my way right through their menu. It was a little pricey and I got gluten-ed once (although the chef did apologise profusely, citing a busy lunch and perhaps not cleaning the grill properly).

On the no-ride day we went around to Coles Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula and took in the Hazards.

It began as the Holiday from Hell...

I arrived in Launceston on time, after a relaxed (and short) flight from Melbourne.
I was there a day early, as a volunteer, to help get things organised and for a special dinner.

Well, they'd lost my form, so they didn't know I was coming on the Friday flight, they didn't have a name badge for me, and the "special dinner" turned out to be rice and steamed vege - you know those frozen tiny cubes of carrot, peas and corn? They weren't ready for a coeliac. they weren't ready for me - so much for feeling like a valued part of the team (and paying extra for food to boot!)

But these things happen, so I met my team members (they didn't know I was coming either), found a tent, and got settled in for the night.

B was catching the boat that night, so I sent him a romantic message and waited for the next day to arrive.

Around 9am the next morning, B sent me an SMS. He'd missed the boat, so was going to be 24 hours behind us and the bike ride was going to be moving on around the coast at 70kms per day. (I'm not sure why it took him 12 hours to send me an SMS to me and admit to me that he'd missed the boat. I can only guess as to his anxiety, and which was worse, missing the boat, or having to tell me that he'd missed the boat?)

The next night the riders arrived at Pipers Brook, and B managed to get on the boat. I took a photo of the sunset he was missing.

The next morning, the riders left for Branxholm and B arrived in Devonport.
I waited in Scottsdale at lunch for B to roll in, no sign, and no response from my SMS's.
No B at camp that night, and still no contact.
The next morning, the riders left for St Helens.

After 48 hours of not hearing from him, I was fearing the worst, in a terrible state and in at the St Helens Police Station getting them to check hospitals, bus lines etc trying to track him. No-one believed me when I said he was likely to try to ride from Devonport (near on 300km) with his full back pack and end up sleeping by the side of the road.

After assuring the police that he wasn't trying to get away from me, that I wasn't a stalker, they diligently called through hospitals, back packers, bus lines etc, etc, all to no avail.

Just as I was getting ready to quit the ride to catch a bus back to Launceston to hire a car and start driving the roads looking for a dead body, he rides into camp. He had been sending me SMS's, but none of them had been getting through, and he didn't realise.

And yes, he did ride from Devonport to St Helens in two days, with a full backpack and slept by the side of the road in a sleeping bag, 27 kms east of Launceston. He did take the time to do some sight-seeing on the way, and stopped for an echidna experience as well. (Echidna's are my new favourite animal - closely followed by platypus.)

Back from Tassie

I'm back!

Here's a quick summary of the last 3 weeks....

Launceston - arrived 9 Feb
Pipers Brook - camping - B missing
Branxholm - B still missing
St Helens - Filed Missing Persons for B. (B turns up)
Bicheno - Penguins
Swansea - Coles Bay
Triabunna / Orford (Great pizza!)
Sorrel / Richmond - Scottish Festival
Hobart - Cruise Derwent River, Pub Tour (Great Indian!), Bruny Island
Dover - The End of the Road
Huonville - Airwalk, hang gliding, Jet Boat (Great seafood!)
New Norfolk - Gordon Dam, Something Wild
Queenstown - hills!, Great Western Railway
Strahan - Gorden River Cruise, Hells Gates, Sarah Island
Burnie / Stanley - The Nut, Dismal Swamp
Beauty Pt / Launceston - Platypus / Seahorse / Hang Gliding / Penguins (Great pancakes!)
Sheffield - Murals, Cradle Mountain
Devonport - Sail home......

Monday 5 March - back at work.....

Details and photos coming soon.....

Stash Enhancement!

OK, so I succumbed....
I was having a bad week - I thought I deserved a treat... and I've got no-one to answer to but myself, so I went yarn shopping.
It started off just being about maybe a scarf to knit while away, and then there's a simple top that I've been thinking about knitting for ages (not that I ever finish anything involving more than 4 balls of yarn, but we live in hope...)

So I walked into Clegs, and they were having a sale! First off I got the yarn for this scarf:

And yes, I've started it already, the yarn is 8ply merino and cashmere blend:And then there's the top I wanted to knit, it is this one.
I was going to make it out of black, as per the cover picture, but then the brown was on sale, and I do seem to be wearing an awful lot of it lately....











And then I saw this:
And I just *had* to have it. I'm thinking of a silly, floppy hat. It's French! Ooh la la!

2 weeks to Tassie - and counting!

Andrea.

Am I, Aren't I.... (revisited)

So guess what? I am. Coeliac that is, or perhaps more accurately pre-coeliac. Which is why they didn't pick it up initially. But the result is the same: a diet 100% gluten free = no more illness. Been about 6 weeks now and I'm already feeling heaps better. I actually have the energy to read books again! Next thing you know I'll be picking up my knitting and all!

The other most noticeable change (apart from not being physically ill every-day) is that my fingernails are stronger and not breaking anymore. Weird the things you focus on...

The month that was....

OK, not actually a month since I last posted, and it's really only been a fortnight since life got ultra-hectic (and I thought I had no time before!...)

I do promise to get back to holiday updates sometime soon - if anyone out there is still interested... I might even be finished in time for the next holiday in Feb - here we come Tasmania.

But the last month.... well I got back from my birthday weekend to the normal busy working week that I have, plus playing catch-up for having a day off... And I also went straight on-call, so also a working weekend (and these are by no means light-weight weekends! and then on for another week of work.
Friday saw a good friend of mine get re-married (same wife). Their first wedding was in Las Vegas in July, so this one was for the family and friends. It was a wonderful, laughter-filled, layed-back re-commitment ceremony. The event took place in Geelong, so B and I had to leg it home from work and rush just a tad to get down there in time, B more than I, as he is traveling further and had to stop off at home first to get changed.

We arrived back after midnight and collapsed in a heap (well I did, but then I'd had a few wines and delegated driving duties to B). We had a nice long sleep in on Saturday and I awoke refreshed and began contemplating the possibilities of another weekend together. It wasn't until after our showers that I realised something was wrong. B was taking even longer than normal (I'm 15 mins in and out and hair dried - he's more likely to take an hour and still be wandering around half dressed...) He finally came out of the bathroom and was shaking and looking faint. He pointed down at his leg and there was a large, angry, red rash on his left calf. He said it hurt quite bad, he couldn't stand on it and he'd thrown up a number of times. I immediately thought spider bite, so rushed him off to the doctor, pausing only to get fully dressed first - although I did threaten to call an ambulance as he was.
The doctors put him straight into a treatment room and then called an ambulance. He finally stopped shivering (after being put on oxygen - his fingernails were quite blue...) And so off to Sunshine Emergency he went.

I then stopped to have breakfast, before heading over to join him.

We spent the day in emergency and then he got put in overnight and on an IV drip. On Sunday I went back to collect him, but the rash had grown so they were going to admit him. He finally came home a *week* later! He had a skin infection called cellulitis. His was an aggressive, severe infection that required rather large doses of IV antibiotics to get under control. He came home last Friday (I think the hospital were short of beds) and stayed with me for 5 days for more rest and broadband access.
If you click on the cellulitis link above, you can read more about it, and if you scroll right down that page, you'll see some pictures, the first one looks remarkably like B's leg.

And here's a pic of his actual leg. So as not to scare off the easily queasy - click on the pic of the hospital blanket to see his entire calf in all its redness....



He's doing much better know, but you'd better believe I'll be watching his leg like a hawk!

A Sign of the Times

So it was my birthday on Monday. I have a policy of not working on my birthday - saves no end of stress and heart-ache. Ever noticed that emotions just run stronger on your birthday? The day before, or the day after the world could come crashing down and I'd handle it with a smile, but on the day itself - nope, I'm a wreck if forced to deal with anything involving even the slightest bit of mediation or compromise.

B also took the day off and with just a little bit of prompting, arranged a weekend away for the two of us. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, although given I was driving, the options narrowed the further we went.

And we ended up in Ocean Grove - that's Seachange Country. So close to home (only an hour), but I'd never been there. We had wonderful weather - if a little windy on the Ocean side.
As is our want, we wandered around lighthouses and beach paths, investigated little towns and long piers, and ate great food!






We traveled by foot, horse and cart, and steam train.










We took in some exquisite sunsets.....


And we saw these signs, which had me rolling in the sand dunes in hysterics....
I have to wonder whether the designer of the graphics is sitting there having a giggle, or do they take themsleves very seriously....