The house that John built

On a bush block on the outskirts of Burnie there stands a rather fine edifice. It's an owner built, architect designed masterpiece, and it was put up by my old friend and colleague, John. He spent a few years in the late seventies doing the bulk of the work, but during the years since he and Sheryl have added to it, furbished and refurbished it into the terrific homely abode I visited once again the other week. 

My bushwalkers and I were honoured to be invited there for dinner one evening during our visit. Our hosts did us proud with a fine vegetarian banquet, and a good time was had by all. Thanks so much for your hospitality, John and Sheryl.

The house that John built had a particularly important role for me. Before arriving in Tasmania I'd never really met anyone who'd built their own house, as in doing nearly all the work themselves. Suddenly there were lots of them all around me. John in particular seemed to be doing a rather meritorious job of it. If he can do it, then so can I, I reasoned.

And I did indeed go on to build my own house too - a somewhat smaller and less ambitious one, but a real house which I came to be rather proud of. A house that took up just about all my spare time (evenings, weekends, and holidays) for nearly two years. It was probably the biggest thing I'd ever done, but also one of the most rewarding. Here's a picture of the house that Nick built, as it looked on completion 30 years ago.
 

N

Walls and falls

 Bushwalker Sue on the left, resting briefly during the initial steep ascent on the Walls of Jerusalem track. Note the two good legs, so to speak.

It was a different story next morning at Burnie hospital, diagnosed with only one good leg, and a spiral fracture of the fibula in the other. Sue had fallen victim to Falling Over On The Way Down Syndrome, and her bushwalking activities for the rest of the week were somewhat curtailed.

The upside, if there was one, was that we all got to see at first hand the special procedures that Virgin Airlines puts into action for transporting people in wheelchairs through airports and into planes via forklift trucks.

Wishing you a speedy recovery, Sue, and then a quick return to your previous fitness level, and lots of good rambling in England and bushwalking here.

N

For more pictures see the photo gallery on the website of All Nations Bushwalkers:

http://anbwalkers.org.au

Eight days in February (Tasmanian Daze)

And eight days of 'Designer Day Walks' in North West Tasmania. It's been nine years since I put on the last one in this series - the Southern Tasmanian version, and eventually all the talk and all the planning came together again last week. So there I was with some of my bushwalking club companions helping me relive some of the fine bushwalking experiences I first discovered about 30 years ago during my time in the Burnie/Ulverstone/Devonport area.

We stayed in comfortable cabin style accommodation in Ulverstone, and spent several days doing serious bushwalking in the Dial Range, Walls of Jerusalem, Cradle Mountain, and Tullah/Mt Farrell areas. On other days we did gentler sightseeings and socialisings. There were lots of adventures, lots of experiences, a broken leg, a minor car crash, waitresses poured wine over us, cooks ran away at the sight of us, and the biggest disaster of all: we discovered that the Launceston Roman Baths were no longer functioning!

The bushwalks were brilliant though and the company excellent. Somehow I detect that by and large a good time was had by all. Old Tasmaniaphiles like me will be back again soon, and some of the new converts too.

N 

(More pictures on All Nations Bushwalkers website photo gallery):
 http://anbwalkers.org.au/