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  • {My Tasmanian Backyard}: What to do in Stanley

    {My Tasmanian Backyard}: What to do in Stanley

    It goes without saying that when you go to Stanley you have to experience the Stanley Nut in some way. Whether it’s climbing it, taking photos of it or experiencing the chairlift. Unfortunately the chairlift wasn’t operating while we were there over the long weekend, so we opted to take lots of photos.

    Stanley Nut

    And climb it.

    Just before we were about to climb it, Ella let us know she was:

    “going to eat some of the nuts as we go up the big hill.’’

    Which was followed by a conversation about the fact it’s not actually made of nuts.

    When we got to the top, the view was incredible.

    Stanley Nut view

    I’d say it took our breathe away, but that could also be from the fact we had to carry one child and drag another up the incredibly steep incline.

    Stanley Nut

    After watching Julian skid all the way back down (I highly recommend you wear good grip sneakers), we celebrated what was pretty hard going by having the most decadent chocolate brownie and scones and cream at the Touchwood Cafe. Sublime.

    Touchwood Cafe Stanley

    Afterwards we took the girls off to the Stanley Seaquarium. Now this is certainly no Melbourne Aquarium and is tailored more to the kids than the adults. Manager Dianne gave us a great opportunity to touch the crabs, see the octopus being fed and learn about seahorses that you just don’t get anywhere else.

    Seaquarium Stanley

    The girls just loved it. So if you have young children, it’s well worth the visit. (Check out the Tasmanian Giant Crabs in the gallery).

    I even encouraged Ella to listen to the ocean inside the shell, but she kept giving me blank stares. What are you going on about, Mum?

    The afternoon was then dedicated to roaming Highfield House, a home originally built in 1835 for Edward Curr, chief agent of the Van Diemens Land Company.

    Highfield House Stanley

    If you’re a history buff you will fall in love with the story and the way the European-influenced home is set up to be able to tour it yourself with the aid of a map is a credit to the managers of the home. It was a fantastic, and very hands-on, experience.

    Julian sat down with the girls and played snakes and ladders, but was quickly “spun out” when he swears the spinner moved without anyone touching it. I think he’s been reading too many ghost stories.

    Highfield House Stanley

    Ella was captivated by the chapel and classrom, and the fact there was not a computer in site. How on earth were you meant to do Reading Eggs?

    Highfield House Stanley

    All Ella cared about was dressing up in period costume. She’d been itching to do it all week, even asking:

    “When we dress up in old fashioned clothes, does that mean everything will be in black and white?’’

    She got her wish. Here’s the O’Briens in the olden days.

    Highfield House photos

    The sneakers – and the big smiles – sort of give it away.

    We finished the tour with the most gorgeous rainbow. Which was quickly followed by a conversation about wanting to go and find the gold. We settled for some ABC2 on iView at our Stanley Seaview Inn accommodation instead.

    Stanley Seaview Inn

    More on that here.

    Speaking to the people of Stanley, the MasterChef episode filmed at Highfield House on Thursday night certainly helped draw quite a lot of interest to the place – and so it should. It has the finest food this state has to offer, incredible scenery and true country style service. Sure, it can get mighty cold. But it’s well worth a visit.

    What did you get up to over the long weekend?

    To view more photos, visit my Stanley page on Facebook. This post is part of the My Tasmanian Backyard series.

    DISCLOSURE: Our trip to Stanley was organised by Cradle Coast Tourism. We were given acommodation and tickets to the Sequarium and Highfield House. We were not paid to write this post. All opinions expressed are our own.

  • Aussie Giveaway Linkup #53: Winning way edition

    Aussie Giveaway Linkup #53: Winning way edition

    girl on toy computer

    Wins of the week were:

    • Ella came home from vacation care this week with a sock puppet she’d made. Rather impressive it was. She then told me how a lady did a puppet show for them using puppets with real people’s heads. I’ve head of sticking your hand up someone’s…. well, you know what I’m getting at. But real people? I’m not too sure about that.
    • On the business front, some new clients have come on board, including now managing the gorgeous Jody and Nicole from Stay at Home Mum: Living On One Wage. If you haven’t checked out their site yet, then you’re missing out on how to live well on a budget. Smart cookies. And they generally have recipes for those in their “late night yummies’’ on Facebook too. Unless you look at Thursday night – that late night yummy was Johnny Depp.
    • Lastly, seeing Ella grow up to be just like her mum. This week I asked her to pack up her shoes. Her response: “I can’t Mum. I’m waiting for an email to come through on some other work I have to do.’’

    OK, it must be time to start clicking. Right?

    If you’re a blogger or business wanting to take part in the Aussie Giveaway Linkup:

    1. Only link directly to the giveaway post/s and include the prize and end date in the linky tool below. Link each giveaway separately. If you need to delete it, hover over your link, wait until the red “x’’ appears and click.
    2. Giveaways must be open to Australian residents.
    3. Grab the button below to add to your post.
    4. A new list is added each Sunday so bloggers need to add their links weekly.

    Start entering the giveaways! Entry is at your own risk. We do not take responsibility for unfulfilled prizes or a blogger/business not abiding by their own terms and conditions.




    Aussie Giveaway Linky
    Hosted by Three Lil Princesses



  • {The Shed} When your children are chalk and cheese

    {The Shed} When your children are chalk and cheese

    Burnie play centreChalk and cheese, Carlton and Collingwood, wine and water or Ford and Ferrari. It is a pleasure to be the father of two girls who are completely different in personality.  Now I’m not saying one is better than the other. Just different.

    Ella has been daddy’s little girl from the moment she was born four years ago.  Again, she and her mum are very close, but – much to mum’s disgust – Ella knows she has me wrapped around her little finger and uses that advantage unmercifully.

    Little Holly is another story.  Due to the fact I’ve spent much of her lifetime getting Ella “out of mum’s hair” it has taken Holly and I time to develop the same formidable bond.

    Recently, she has become enormously affectionate – spontaneously wrapping me in bear-like hugs and planting long, wet sloppy kisses on me at will.  Those moments make me deliriously happy.

    What I love about my two “little girls” are their differences.  Perhaps, like many first kids, Ella has been over protected and as a result is a bit of a wuss, scared of any height above my shoulder height and – in the nicest way – a bit of a sook.

    Holly, on the other hand, has no fear.  We played a practical joke on the girls at Easter disguising chocolate as rabbit poo and while Ella looked on in disgust, Holly was filling her face with said “droppings’’.  Typical “second child syndrome”.

    Recently we took both girls to the opening of a new children’s play centre in a city close by and the differences of the girls were on show.  Ella (4 ½) wanted no bar of the big three-humped slide – even with mum or dad.

    Holly (18 months) not only flew down the slide with mum and dad on each occasion, but wanted more and would stage a countdown at the top of the slide: “Eddy, Set, Ghooooo’’.

    Burnie play centre

    You all have read plenty about Ella on this blog.  Holly is her fearless, stubborn, determined, individualistic and contented sibling.

    We love them both as individuals and more importantly (despite the occasional hair-pulling incident) they love each other.

    What sort of relationship do you have with your kids? Are they like chalk and cheese?

  • Guest Post: Who would ever believe

    Guest Post: Who would ever believe

    New Life On the Road

    It’s almost 18 years ago since you were placed in my arms. Perfect and so small, yet you had your own way of doing things. Even from the moment you came home from hospital. It was almost like you had been here before and you had your own set rules.

    Never did work out what those rules were but let’s look back on what you have managed to achieve in the last (almost) 18 years!

    Woody’s Oldest Son

    You walked at 10 months. Actually you ran… it scared me so much that we decided not to have six children – I guess we almost made it!

    You could climb 6ft wooden fences with your bare feet – and that was scaling them in seconds from the tender age of four.

    Broken bones? Yep… we have lost count! Your first time was falling off a slide in a playground – you insisted on standing instead of sliding down. But guess what – you were built to last. That adventure ended up in a hospital trip, three different doctors’ interviews, many questions and one pink cast. Why so many doctor questions?

    Well, you never said anything for a day (or maybe two!) so we hadn’t taken you in straight away because we didn’t realise it was broken.

    Then there was the time you were running through the house. And you mis-judged the hallway. You sure made a good impression on the wall – literally! You left your statues in that house (with your head imprint on the dining room wall)

    Then there was the time you said “Watch me, Mum” – where you grabbed some rope, swang on it from the trampoline, smack back into the wooden fence. YES. You did that, and you laughed. You went back to do it again even when I said “no more”.

    Can you also remember the time you climbed a paper bark tree? Sure, the climb was easy, reaching for your lost ball. But the slide down was not something that you will surely repeat again? Your stitches in your leg may have healed, but I still remember the day clearly. So does the neighbour who used to live next door to us…. I have never seen a grown man jump a wire fence before!

    What about your football smashing good times? You so loved to get out onto that field, and run towards boys double your size. You might have been small but you sure could play as part of the team.

    I even remember you sneaking out of the house to run away… we found your note and guessed where you were. Out on the field – with one broken arm… nothing was able to stop you!

    Over the years we have watched you grow, and said a little thank-you (maybe more than little) to your guardian angel. She sure is working over-time. Yet you manage to find your way.

    There are no set rules when it came to watching you grow, but gee are we proud of all you have achieved, and we are so delighted that you are about to turn 18!

    We can’t wait to the day you have your own family (just not yet please!). Maybe then you will one day realise how many of your fun crazy filled adventures sure helped your Dad’s hair to fall out, and mine to go grey. But hey, at least we get to say “Yep that’s our son”!
    Lisa Wood brought a motorhome from eBay and then had to tell hubby afterwards. Lisa and David have five boys, four of them are travelling and living together in an old school bus that is being given new life! She blogs about her travel at New Life On the Road and you can connect with her on Facebook.

  • {My Tasmanian Backyard}: The night we slept with a sheep (Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel review)

    {My Tasmanian Backyard}: The night we slept with a sheep (Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel review)

    We have been on regular “mini breaks’’ lately which, apart from the packing, constant “are we there yet?’’ and High School Musical CD on high rotation, are great rejuvenators.

    Princess Ella has got to the point where she walks into a hotel and immediately claims “her bed’’ – which is often the biggest one in the apartment. Thankfully our trip to The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel in Hobart last weekend had twin singles in one room. No amount of batting her eyelashes was going to convince The Bloke in The Shed to sleep in a single bed.

    The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel

    After walking through the complex and witnessing remnants of its wool and grain store history through the many artefacts that grace the corridors, we finally arrived at our room. It was here we were greeted by two sheep, offering fudge.
    Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel

    We are regulars to the Woolstore for so many reasons. And not just because it’s 2011 winner of the Qantas Australian Tourism Award for Deluxe Accommodation

    Here are eight reasons we choose to stay there:
    1. There is enough space to swing a sheep. Although we were unable to test this theory due to no woolly animals in the vicinity of the hotel.

    Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel
    2. There are REAL hairdryers. Seriously, this one is important after having used innumerable amount of dryers that have stunk out many bathrooms on our travels.

    Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel
    3. The apartments have full kitchen facilities, full laundry facilities, a shower, plus a bath without a shower over the top of it. There’s something comforting in knowing when your children sit their bottoms in the bath it’s not where dirty feet have previously trod.

    4. The service is incredible. When we needed an in-room menu, it wasn’t a hassle to retrieve one for us. Although, deciding exactly what to have became a slight issue. Choices, choices.

    5. It’s close to everything. It’s not far to walk into the CBD, down to the historic Sullivan’s Cove waterfront or to Salamanca Markets. Although, I will add, we drove everywhere this time.

    6. The real highlight is the price. For the space you get and the service provided, it’s hard to compete with in Hobart.

    7. The bar is called the Baa Bar. Enough said.

    8. We had a full breakfast the next morning in the restaurant and the choice and quality was sublime. We have had meals in the restaurant as well on previous visits and haven’t been able to fault it. Especially because Tasmanian produce is a feature. Although, having a ram stare at your while you eat its cousin is a challenge.

    The only downside we’ve always had with the Woolstore, and it’s pretty minor, is the parking. You need to get in early to be able to secure a parking spot. Although, I’ve noticed since expanding the car park a while back, this has become less of an issue now.
    The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel

    What: The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel – www.oldwoolstore.com.au and on Facebook
    Where: 1 Macquarie St, Hobart, Tasmania
    Phone: 1800 814 676
    Rooms: Four star. Range from hotel rooms, to studio and one and two-bedroom self-contained apartments.

    What’s important to you in a good hotel or apartment?

    DISCLAIMER: We received a complementary night at the Woolstore in a two-bedroom apartment and breakfast. We were not offered nor accepted any payment. All opinions expressed are purely my own. But, as I stated above, this was not the first time we’d stayed there. We genuinely love the place.

  • Aussie Giveaway Linkup #52: A swimmingly good edition

    Aussie Giveaway Linkup #52: A swimmingly good edition

    dad and baby swimmingYesterday we went for a dip in a private indoor pool (because we live in Tasmania and you would not go swimming otherwise at this time of year). The water was so warm and the air so cold, at one point I had flashbacks to a scene from Gorillas in the Mist as The Bloke in The Shed approached me in the water amid a sea of fog.

    Ella loves the water. However, she’s had a real fear around learning to swim. Yesterday she was wearing her Wahu life jacket and gaining more confidence as the hour went on. After a year of trying to build her confidence to let go of us, she did. Her legs looked like a frog kicking and her fast-paddling hands were akin to a dog who’d just witnessed steak being put on the barbie onshore. But she was loving it. And we were beaming.

    Holly, at just 20 months of age, didn’t want to be left out. So, without a floatation device, she tried her best to swim away from our grasp and go alone. She ended up drinking about 15 litres of water. Her nappy later proved that.

    When we got home, I told Ella how proud I was of her for having a go. She responded with: “Thanks for being proud of me, Mum. I’m proud of you too’’. I’m still wondering exactly what it is she’s proud of me for.

    Anyway, that’s my small but important win for the week. What about you? What win have you had? If you’re still waiting, get clicking below to score yourself a chance at something nice.

    If you’re a blogger or business wanting to take part in the Aussie Giveaway Linkup: 

    1. Only link directly to the giveaway post/s and include the prize and end date in the linky tool below. Link each giveaway separately. If you need to delete it, hover over your link, wait until the red “x’’ appears and click.
    2. Giveaways must be open to Australian residents.
    3. Grab the button below to add to your post.
    4. A new list is added each Sunday so bloggers need to add their links weekly.
    5. Start entering the giveaways! Entry is at your own risk. We do not take responsibility for unfulfilled prizes or a blogger/business not abiding by their own terms and conditions.





    Aussie Giveaway Linky
    Hosted by Three Lil Princesses