31. December 2009 01:12
by Rene Pallesen
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28. December 2009 09:05
by Rene Pallesen
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One day when it was raining and we were unable to do any work outside, we took my dad to the Blue Mountains.
It was nice and warm up there considering that the weather was sort of drizzling. My dad wanted to go and have another look at the Three Sisters, but they were covered in clouds, so instead we came up with taking the scenic railway as an alternative into the Jamison Valley.
As soon as Kim saw the drop into the valley she immediately bailed out and said that she didn't want to go....too steep.
My dad and I continued into the valley and went for a walk along one of the tracks there. While there I did some close-up photos of some of the local fauna.
After the walk we headed back up to the top with the cable car and then to Katooma for some lunch.
After lunch it was clearing up a bit, but the sisters were still covered. Instead we went for a walk at Wentworth Falls. My dad had never been there so that was something new for him.
After the walk it was getting late and we headed back to Sydney.
26. December 2009 12:54
by Rene Pallesen
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Every year on Boxing day (26th December) the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race kicks off.
It is a great event for anyone interested in sailing to see the large boats exit out through the heads of Sydney Harbour.
My dad was interested in seeing the race start and I wanted to get some great photos with the ships and the north head in the background.
We arrived at Watsons bay about 30 minutes before the race start and only just made it up to the viewpoint as the boats went through the heads. We were running the last 500 meters so as not to miss it (it has been a while since I've seen my dad run that sort of distance).
It was spectacular to watch all the ships and the follow boats head out through the harbour and head south towards the Tasman sea.
On the way back to the car we walked past the nude beach full of perverts (I don't mind nudists...but when it is old men with hard-on's standing facing the public swinging their willy's back and forth or pouring beer on it then they are exhibitionist perverts....click
here...and....
here...so see what I mean).
The winner of the race this year finished after 2 days and 9 hours.
26. December 2009 12:35
by Rene Pallesen
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In the morning of Christmas Day we were so stuffed that we weren’t ready to start eating
again already.
Kim’s family always puts on a big feats on Christmas Day with turkey, ham, seafood
and a lot of other Asian and non Asian dishes.
The food was great and amazingly Santa Claus appeared again (He must have been hovering
around in the area).
26. December 2009 12:34
by Rene Pallesen
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25. December 2009 11:59
by Rene Pallesen
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My dad arrived early January to spend Christmas and New Years Eve here with us.
Before he arrived i asked him if he'd mind helping with a couple of jobs arround the house. I told him that the biggest job was the tiles in the outdoor area in the back yard.
When they built the house they only tiled a part of the area. Later they extended the area but didn't level the area properly so where the joint between the old and the new area was the tiles weren't the same level and were either loose or broken. My dad thought it was best if we removed all the tiles on the upper deck and then poured a new concrete slab on top of the old one. He said that this would guarantee that the area would have the correct run-off from the house and at the same time avoid any spots where water would collect (There is two small areas where the water collects with the result that dirt and leaves collect and makes a mess).
So far we have removed all the old tiles (360 tiles in total equalling more than 1 ton worth) and carried these to the front of the house. We also carried 1.3 ton of cement to the back to pour the slab (65 bags of cement). My dad was poiring most of this and leveling it while I was at work before Christmas. On top of this is all the new tiles, adhesive and grout (all heavy lifting).
I notices after a days rain that water was collecting in a couple of areas and my dad told me that I shouldn't worry about it as he would be able to compensate for this when laying the tiles to ensure that the water would run off.
The slab is now complete and we are ready to start laying new tiles. We bought a jackhammer which has been a life saver in terms of removing the old tiles and mixing the new cement and adhesive.
The area won't look too much different from before though. We are laying the exact same type of tiles (otherwise it wouldn't match the rest of the area at the back of the house and at the front).
I just really hope my dad does a good job making sure everything is level, because otherwise this would be a waste of the $3000 it is costing in materials and tools (I can also see that I will have a cleanup job to do
afterwards...there is cement on the walls and the fence of the house
how...my dads comment was that he couldn't take that much care and that
I'd just have to re-paint the house). If water is still collecting then we could have accomplished the same for a fraction of the price (and work) by just replacing and leveling a couple of rows of tiles at the area where they were broken (admittedly this would have been uneven, but the savings would probably have justified it).
Problem is that I won't know how dodgy the job is until after we've finished the grouting which wouldn't happen until end of this week (with a lot of effort).
Anyway...will provide an update when we finish.