Where we're living

The apartment is up 3 flights of stairs. But, it's worth the trip. Nice view of Mt. Wellington. There's a bedroom, and a guest room. The 'lounge' is a nice size. We have a couch and a dining room table in there so far. The kitchen is small, but adequate. I'll try to get some more photos. But, here's what I have so far.



A little patio. I've got some lettuce and basil seeds in planters, but I'm not sure we'll get enough sun.



Washing machine included. But, many people do without dryers here. So, we're 'pegging up' our laundry on the roof.













Admit it, you were curious about the plumbing, weren't you??? Well, there's 2 flush buttons: one for a little bit of a flush and one for a hardy burst of water. I watched very closely the first time to see which direction the water spun in, but alas! It just goes straight down. :-( Liz reports that it does spin counter-clockwise down the sink drain. Or, did she say clockwise? I'll have to ask her again. Anyway, around here they say 'anti-clockwise'.

"Gonna tune up my fiddle and rosin my bow. And, make myself welcome where ever I go."

Caution: fiddle content, aimed at my musician peeps, but all welcome....

While fiddling in the dome car one evening in the Canadian Rockies, a woman seated up in front of the car asked me if I could play Alice's Restaurant. I kindly declined. She explained that 15 years ago she'd made the same trip across Canada and the engineer had brought his guitar up to the dome car and entertained folks with his rendition of Alice's Restaurant. I apologized and said how it wouldn't be the same on the fiddle. And, she said it was probably best to make new memories instead of overwriting her old one.

I thought I heard an Australian accent and she said yes she was Australian. I said I was on my way to Australia, Tasmania to be exact. She asked where abouts in Tasmania? I said Hobart and she said that's where she lives. She and her husband had traveled to Canada to visit their sons. You'll find plenty of music in Hobart, she said. Check out the New Sydney Hotel on Bathurst Street for starters. You'll be sure to meet some musicians who can tell you more about local music. We exchanged email addresses and she made a note of the pub so I could remember it.

I related that story to son-IN-LAW (emphasis mine) Mike who then sent me the link for the Tasmanian Folk Federation. It's similar to our Fiddlers' Tour site in Albany, with a wealth of info. For example, there's a link to a folk festival near here, the Cygnet Folk Festival. I emailed the "volunteer wrangler", as she bills herself, and got accepted on their crew. The festival's in January, about 50 km south of Hobart. But, I digress.

So, things settled down enough now that I'm in Hobart. Penny, the lady from the train, has been in touch and given us more hints about what to see and do, and has invited us for coffee one of these days.

Saturday afternoon is when the session is at the New Sydney Hotel. I've had such a busy summer, then 5 weeks of traveling. Since June, I can count the jams on one hand. I jammed once with some folks in Rochester, the weekend at Harry Smith in Greenfield, MA, and then once back in Albany with my old-timey buddies. I know, "Would I like some cheese with this whine???" Waa-waa-waa. My point is I was soooooo ready to sit in a session!

I was not disappointed. Friendly folks. Mercury Sweet hard cider for me. Pints of Guinness for most of the crowd. Australian football championship game on the tele, but the musicians were paying no notice. There was an accordion player who was pumping out the Irish medleys like, um, like, .... well, Myron Florin on meth is probably impolite. Let's just say he was incredible. Fast and driving. There was one set that he played tunes, only once through, maybe 10 different tunes. He'd call out the key changes for the 2 or 3 guitar players and he was all over the map. There were also, at any one time, 2 - 4 fiddles, 2 whistles, 2 bodhrans, and a bazouki or 2. They where doing their best to keep up, and for the most part, they caught on to what the new tune was and kept right up with him. And, I must say, it was the best Paddy on the Railroad that I've ever played.

There was a smattering of singing, and many, many Irish tunes that I did not recognize. But, here's some of the ones that I knew.

maid behind the bar
paddy on the railroad
mason's apron
trip to durrow
lady ann montgomery
john ryans or dennis murphy's
calliope house
kesh jig
my darlin' asleep
julia delaney
drowsy maggie
out on the ocean
angeline the baker (yesssss!)
old joe clark (yesssss!)
ships are sailing
silver spear
top of cork road
smash the windows

songs -
if i had a hammer (with some cool, new-agey sorts of chords)
paradise (take me back to muhlenberg county)
caledonia
leaving liverpool
green amongst the gold
folsom prison
whiskey in the jar

The web site says the jam is from 4 - 6:30. At 6:30, I asked the guitar player next to me when the jam broke up. He said folks get a little peckish around 6:30 and start to wander off. So, I packed up and joined Liz at a table for some yummy Caesar salads with grilled chicken. We chatted with some women who were also seated around the table. One was an accordion player on her way to a Greek restaurant to play for pay. The other was a partner to a fiddle player. He has a stall at the Salamanca Market where he sells wind chimes made out of old cutlery. And, they invited me to come play tunes at the market on Saturdays during the day. And, they also tipped me off that there's old timey music played at the Lark on Friday evenings, performance, not jamming. Still need to find it. Maybe it's this Lark. I'll have to ask around some more.

Oh, and the jam continued on until 9pm. :-)

To be continued....

Settled!

We are in our apartment, albeit scantily furnished. Landline phone and cell numbers are in place. Internet connectivity is moments away, no doubt, as soon as I get the hardware and curse at it a bit. Right now, I'm enjoying a Sunday afternoon in an internet cafe, sipping a 'flat white' (a cafe au lait sort of coffee with a dollop of cream swirled on top).

My hour is almost up at $5.00 Australian.

There's some new photo's in the .Mac site. Email if you'd like that password.

Sorry for the impersonality of this blog format, but it can't be beat for a bulletin board like method of communication. Nag me if you need more personal updates. :-) I'll be posting more when I can do this from home.

Coles Bay, language, and signage

We spent a few days in a very nice "shack" in Coles Bay. In English, I mean to say a nicely appointed house, complete with barbecue. The barbecue is actually a flat metal sheet, heated from underneath by 3 rows of propane flame. I'll have to keep practicing my chicken recipes, but it's a great structure for grilling steaks and the like.

Mike and Ginger and kids took some ambitious hikes around the Freycinet range of mountains. Liz and I made it as far as the Wineglass Bay lookout, she with her blossoming chest cold and me with my excess baggage and bad knees. Beautiful mountain views from almost any angle, and many bay and ocean views as well.

On the way back, Mike took some extra time to explore further up the coast, then back down toward Hobart via the central highway. We stopped for some coffee and sampled a chocolate and banana filled pancake at the Mt. Elephant Pancake Barn. In English, we would say crepe. Or, I guess, in French they'd say crepe, too. I'm having a bit more trouble with the accents and idioms than I'd expected. But, most folks are friendly and outgoing and show some compassion for our foreign ears. I'm collecting some phrases and stories to post here eventually.

I get a kick out of photographing some signs that capture the language and sense of humor. Here's one from the parking lot of the crepe barn. Stay tuned.

Heading up the east coast this weekend

We're going to the Freycinet Peninsula for 3 nights. <--This Tassie Parks site has some interesting drop down menu items. We'll see some sites in Swansea and Cole's Bay. Here's a general reference map.

Much of our time up 'til now has been spent learning our way around, looking for an apartment, and then collecting some household items and furniture. Ginger drove us to a second-hand / antique barn where we scored some kitchen chairs, a couch, and lots of kitchenware. Today, I drove back to pick up what didn't fit yesterday. It is a real head trip reversing all you know about driving. But, I'm getting used to it. Good thing, Liz was brave enough to ride along as navigator. I would've had a heck of a time driving and trying to figure out where to drive to at the same time.

Changes in the shared folder

I've learned how to make photo albums with a slide show option in my .mac folder. So, those of you who've been checking in there will see some changes. It looks more like a web page. There's a main menu that will take you to variously themed albums. It's still password protected. Email me if you need to know the password, or if you need a reminder.

What time is it in Tasmania?

Click the post heading, or here's another.

Hobart, Tasmania

Just relaxing with the Schmidts!

The Mac plugged in and connected right off.

I'll spend some time posting more pictures and commentary soon.


Late posting (13 Sept. 2005).

Here's some pictures of the yummy chocolate welcome cake, baked and decorated by Ginger and Owen.




We took a walk by the river and found many, many rocks with fossils.

Another day in Auckland, New Zealand

Still at pay kiosks. Arghhh.

So, a quick update. Short time in Auckland. This afternoon we go to Hobart, TAS. Yay!

Yesterday we went up the SkyTower. We actually saw a few people jump off for recreation. They're all wired up to prevent injuries. It was amazing to see.

Then, later in the day, we took a brewery tour. Steinlager and Red Lion beer. More than I ever needed to know about beer, marketing, and rugby, but fun none-the-less.




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OK, late posting now that we're in Hobart. (12 Sept. 2005)

Some SkyTower photos -

Up top, the platform where folks are wired up to prepare for their jump off the tower.


Here's the spot where they land, after the wire slows them down. Shot from below. It's made of plexiglass, so you can see through to the tower.


The target, from above. This was shot zoomed in. It actually looks much further away in real life.


The people on the observation deck are alerted to the next jump time by a sign and some bells. You can watch for the jumpers as they pause for a moment, deciding when to begin their decent.


Spot the guy with the excited grin on his face?

Auckland, NZ

Safe and sound.

Two of the smoothest plane rides I've ever had.

We lost a day crossing the date line. Our minds are trying to grasp that.

I'll post more when I figure how to get some free wireless. 'Til then, I'm on the internet storefront meter.

Walking around Auckland, NZ

It's election time in New Zealand. Lot's of campaign signs around. Here's one for Helen Clark. Apparently, we like the Labour Party.


I'm not sure who this guy is, but I think the people in this neighborhood did not care for him. One sign was grafitti'd 'Oink, Oink'. And this one reads 'Give me pie'. It was toppled over and appeared to have been stomped on as well.


Some other signage

Large sign prohibits public drunkeness. The smaller sign below defiantly pitches $1 dollar beer.

Polite reminder to give right of way.

Sidewalk sentiment near Auckland University

Parking payment automation

'Clearway' meaning 'no parking'

New pictures posted in the shared folder.

All low resolution, so they shouldn't take too long to view. The 'preview' option will give you a quick peek.

Wedding and celebration.
Photos from the deck.
Beach walk at Port Renfrew, including lots of birds, driftwood, and a few bear tracks.

Email me if you'd like the password. Seems that you have to enter the password twice. Don't know why.

To the airport tomorrow

Monday Sept. 5

Vancouver (YVR)
Depart 2:10 pm
to Los Angeles (LAX)
Arrive 5:00 pm
1071 mi (1724 km)
Duration: 2hr 50mn
United Airlines


Los Angeles (LAX)
Depart 9:30 pm
to Auckland (AKL)
Arrive 5:15 am +2 days
6522 mi (10496 km)
Duration: 12hr 45mn
Air New Zealand

Our Port Renfrew house

We are presently in a hostel in Victoria, BC, the provincial capital. There's a comfortable coffee shop with internet access. So, I'll post some pictures from the house in Port Renfrew where we met up with Janet and Bill for 3 days this past week.

Port Renfrew is 100 km away from Victoria. So, we rented a Toyota Echo to get out and back, and to see some more of Vancouver Island.










Here it is parked out back.














Janet found a perfectly lovely house. And, Bill fed us yummy foods. This is how the house looks from the water. You can see the porch and picture window that look out over the water.
















And, here is a moment in the ever changing waft of fog that moves up the valley, as seen from the porch.











I could have snapped photo after photo and enjoyed each change in color and composition. Oh, wait, scratch the 'could have'. I did snap photo after photo. I have a gazillion pictures from the porch view at every possible time of day.

There is a peninsula of beach that grows and shrinks with the tide. There is a campground to the right. The campers are fun to watch, too.











Bill relaxes for a bit.


While someone wins a card game.

I solemnly declare that I do not know of any lawful impediment

Introduction

Marriage is a supreme sharing of experience, and an adventure in the most intimate of human relationships.  It is the joyous union of two people whose friendship and mutual understanding have flowered in love. Today Terri and Liz proclaim their love and commitment to each other, and we gather here to rejoice, with and for them, in celebration of the life they have lived together for the past 25 years. 

So what do we mean by love?  When we love, we see things other people do not see.  We see beneath the surface, to the qualities that make our partner special and unique. To see with loving eyes is to know inner beauty. And to be loved is to be seen, and known, as we are known to no other. 

Marriage is to belong to each other through a unique and diverse
collaboration, like two threads crossing in different directions, yet
weaving a tapestry. 

To make this relationship work, therefore, takes more than love. It takes
trust, to know in your hearts that you want only the best for each other. 
It takes dedication, to stay open to one another, to learn and grow, even
when it is difficult to do so. And it takes faith, to go forward together
without knowing what the future holds. 

Terri, please repeat after me:
I solemnly declare that I do not know of any lawful impediment why I,
Terri Lukacko may not be joined in matrimony to Liz Foster.

Liz, please repeat after me:
I solemnly declare that I do not know of any lawful impediment why I, Liz Foster may not be joined in matrimony to Terri Lukacko.

The Vows:

Liz and Terri will now exchange their vows.    Please join your right hands.   

Liz, please repeat after me: I call on those present to witness that I, Liz take Terri to be my lawful wedded wife, my partner in life and my one true love, to have and to hold, from this day forward, in whatever circumstance or experience life may hold for us.

Terri please repeat after me: I call on those present to witness that I, Terri take Liz to be my lawful wedded wife, my partner in life and my one true love, to have and to hold, from this day forward, in whatever circumstance or experience life may hold for us.

Declaration

And now, for as much as you have consented to marry before these witnesses and in my presence; and upon the authority vested in me by the province of British Columbia, I pronounce you lifelong partners in marriage. 

You may exchange a kiss.

Signing of the Register