passing time
books for sale
  • Merlin's voyage
    Merlin's voyage
    by Emmanuelle A Buecher-Hall

    in English

  • Le voyage de Merlin (French Edition)
    Le voyage de Merlin (French Edition)
    by Emmanuelle A Buecher-Hall

    en français

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Monday
Feb022015

Le tourbillon de la vie

Que le temps passe vite depuis notre retour de Tasmanie et que les journees sont bien remplies: reprise du boulot pour les parents et rentree scolaire des enfants avec tout ce que cela implique d’achats et de preparation. Neanmoins entre ces tourbillons de citadens, nous essayons autant que possible de profiter de ce qui nous entoure. Nous avons ainsi passe le dernier week-end de janvier au mouillage avec Merlin: plongee, coucher de soleil, ballade dans les dunes, jeux d’eau et voile!

(Felix nettoie le rail de grand voile)

(Victor se la coule douce)

(Lecon de biologie marine: observation d'un hippocampe)

(Petite plongee, la 1ere pour Clea)

(Le spi nous ramene vite a Dockside avant l'orage)

Nos temperatures actuelles (>30 degres) nous pousseraient plutot a une certaine langueur, mais nous avons decide de ne pas perdre le rythme acquis en Tasmanie. Ainsi le premier wek-end de fevrier fut passe en foret avec une belle marche le samedi matin (avec un copain de Victor qui est reste a bord le week-end) et une sortie VTT le dimanche.

(a rajouter a l'image la bonne odeur d'eucalyptus)

Sunday
Jan182015

I fell in love with Tasmania

After four weeks away, 7000 km under the wheel and lots of astonishing moments, we are now back on board in a hot and humid Brisbane. It is going to be hard not to use too many superlatives as our road trip was just amazing. So let’s start with the negatives: Tasmania is too far away and Australia is a really big country …I can’t think of others!

After few days in Sydney  meeting up with our old South African friends Emma and Harvey and seeing again our sailing buddies from SV Nika (met first in Panama), a few hops here and there, a too quick visit of Melbourne, we boarded the Spirit of Tasmania, all excited.

Our three weeks traveling around were full of excitements, breathtaking views, friendly encounters, delicious tastings, astounding discoveries, laughters and a great family spirit. We arrived on a cold day and our first stop was to wear our thick jackets and buy some gloves. I couldn’t remember the last time I slept with some socks on, but I couldn’t see myself not doing it for few cold nights in our tents. We learnt quickly that you can have four seasons in one day in Tasmania.

The wind, the sun, the clouds and maybe some rain: it is all very lively there and you have to do with these natural elements. Packing jerseys, rain coats, sunscreen and lots of water became a daily habit. We went from city discoveries to bushwalking, from camping in the middle of nowhere with only few wallabies and noisy birds as neighbours to more sophisticated camp sites. We became tent popping and packing experts. Our site can be ready in 5 minutes. We had few longer walks (6 hours), some being a little bit more demanding. We even ended up buying better walking shoes to Felix and Clea so they could have a better grip on rocks. We went from forest lands to mountainous sceneries and coastal environment.There wasn't a day when we didn’t like our surroundings.

The trees are beautifully magnificent. Their huge straight trunks are majestic. The forests have such a magical vibe that you can’t be bored looking around, from the roots to the canopy. The sea was super clear. The beaches were empty and the rocks were inviting. Tasmania has so different places to visit and we have the feeling that we just had a pre-view of that amazing island. Tasmania, we’ll be back.

Yes, I fell in love with Tasmania, its landscape, its trees (can I become a Tree Hugger?), its berries and cherries, its invigorating air (apparently the purest in the world) and its magic.

Summary of our stops in Tasmania and links (in bold) to the photos:

27-30 Dec: Hobart: MONA, Sydney Hobart race, Visit of the French research vessel Atalante, walk on Mount Wellington, Salamanca market, Taste of Tasmania

29 Dec: Port Arthur

30 Dec: Franklin Boat shed, Tahune Air walk

31 Dec: Huon Valley with Hartz Mountains, Hasting Caves and hot springs

1 Jan: Franklin (Boat shed), Cockle Creek (far south) – 18km walk to the

2 and 3 Jan: New shoes – Mount Field, Tall trees

4 Jan: Sorel Lake

5-9 Jan: Same spot for 4 days: Freycinet, Bicheno, Coles Bay: more walks, fish and chips, huge ice creams, orientating World Cup – My camera refused to work from the 6th so after that the photos are from Greg’s Iphone!

9-10: Back to a mountainous landscape Lake St Clair: short and long walks (to Shallow Lake)

11 Jan: Drive to Strahan via Franklin Park. Wood cutting, Huon Pine experience, McQuarie Heads and Ocean beach

12-13: Arthur River with David, Joanna, Jude and Leni (friends from the kids school)

14 Jan: the Nut, drive along the North Coast (West and North coasts photos here)

15 Jan: Ferry back

16-17: Drive to Brisbane (via “the dish”)

(all the photo galeries are under "tasmania")

Thursday
Dec182014

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas 

The end of the year has been very busy with two graduations (Felix finishing Primary School and Victor finishing Middle school), graduation dinners, Christmas concerts, end of the year drinks and work functions etc. The weather has being busy too, playing its wild card with impressive thunderstorms one after the other, sometimes disturbing our routine.

We are all in need of a break from school, work, thunder, hot temperatures and electronic. Our holidays are getting closer and closer which might mean a little silence on that blog.  

It is also that time of the year where we take our funny hats again. These hats followed us all the way from Cape Town and they always bring smiles on our face when they come out.  So it is time to share our smiles and love.

We wish you all a joyful Christmas and an extraordinary festive season.

Tuesday
Dec092014

Moment of pride

Felix was selected to speak today in front of his school, kids and teachers and all the parents at the year 6-7 graduation about his leadership experience during this past year. On top of it, he also received the "Leadership award" AND "the Principal special award". Wow, we, parents, feel super proud.

So here is Felix's graduation speech:

1. Hi, my name is Felix Hall and I arrived here at New Farm in grade 4 and would never imagined myself talking to you today in a leadership role. It is a great honour for me to stand here and present my speech to you. I remember my first day at this school, I felt largely accepted by everyone and I am sure that this was also shared by many of our present students. This school embraces cultural diversity making it possible for everyone to achieve their goals.

2. When I arrived here I was unsure on how things would work and was overwhelmed by the number of kids running around as I was home schooled before. For the first six months I had to adapt. I kept on learning, always trying my best. Later on, I became more confident and got myself involved in new activities, this helped me to step up  whenever I could. At the end of grade 5, I decided to try out for Binkenba House Captain, yet I did not get selected. Shortly after that I tried out for Media Captain and was very pleased with the positive results.

3. As you might all know, New Farm State School took part in a leadership project; this was our “Graduation tree” legacy project. In this project, a total of seven Captains were set the task and responsibilities to leave a positive legacy in our school, in which students in future years will also be able to, contribute and after that, cherish it themselves. I was very lucky to be part of this team and I'm sure that this will apply to all the other Captains. We are all very grateful of all those who helped us accomplish this legacy project. From the start our “Graduation tree” legacy, seemed impossible to accomplish, neverless, as Nelson Mandela's quote goes;

It always seems impossible until it’s done.” So, we persevered. 

4. Now, if you have ever managed a project, you would know how hard and complicated it is to successfully complete a project. Well, myself and the whole 6/7 cohort felt that same feeling this year, as we attempted to make our dreams of leaving a positive legacy behind, come true. As you all know our attempt was a huge success. If it was not a success, we would still have all the wonderful memories and thoughts, in which we had and build up upon along our journey here. As we started off this amazing journey we all thought it would be straight forward with only a few milestones on the way... this proved to be an incorrect assumption. The behind the scenes of the making of "the graduation tree", is buried underneath months and  months of hard work. So next time you have a quick glance at the tree, opposite the office entrance before you rush off somewhere, please remember the hard work we all put in, to this make unreal dream come true.

5. A leader that I highly respect, Nelson Mandela once said;

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”

We, all the 6 and 7s have experienced this saying in several ways; from helping others around the school or house, learning new skills, to planning "the graduation tree" we have all climbed what seemed at the time a "steep hill". ....Today, we are at the top of a hill, of which we now like to call, primary school, and as we stare down in astonishment, we see that, what seemed like steep and slippery slopes at the time, now looks like climbable hills. As we stare down at every bump we see every moment you, the, parents, teachers, guardians ,caretakers, friends and siblings supported us in climbing it, from taking us to school to helping us with homework. So, we would like to thank you, for enabling us to climb that hill. Thank you, for giving us a helping hand to carry us over that hill in the difficult times. Before I leave, I would just like to describe you what the scenery looks like from up here. As we peel our big eyes off the far away ground and look up, we see an even bigger mountain, a mountain commonly named high school. so please understand that if we start stumbling again, please do as you, the; parents, teachers, guardians ,caretakers, friends and siblings, have always done for us in primary school, heave us up. You will not be disappointed.

Sunday
Dec072014

Respect des traditions

Premiere fournee de bredele

(et c'est sur qu'aucun ne sera gaspille - voir l'article precedent!)