Ian bought something on Gumtree this week (I am not being cagey, I'm not exactly sure what it is but it links to the TV and probably necessitates more remotes). Anyway, it had to be collected from Umina, so heartily sick of digging in preparation for the extension (sewer pipes this week - what fun!) I decided to tag along for a day off. 

Umina - pronounced you-mine-uh but jokingly called um-n-ah by the locals, is about an hour's drive south of us on the Central Coast and halfway to Sydney. It is one of a group of towns nestling on the banks of Brisbane Water which is technically described as a 'wave dominated barrier estuary' but looks like a series of lakes where the Narara Creek flows out into Broken Bay. It is a beautiful spot and the real estate prices reflect the fact that the area is an easy commute, by train or car, into Sydney. 

 We took a walk along the foreshore admiring the water birds and houses. I thought we had a fair sized colony of pelicans on the Tilligerry Peninsula but there were thousands on the water at Umina. The waters are farmed for oysters but must be very good for fishing too judging by the numbers of grebes, herons and egrets as well as the pelicans thriving there. 

The houses facing onto the water were interesting too. As usual in both Australia and the UK, the old and new were sitting side by side along the shoreline. The McMansions dwarfed the delightful little places that had been there since this was a small fishing village and not the stockbroker belt it is today.

 The walk took us to Woy Woy which I have often admired as we pass by on the train to Sydney. Spike Milligan's parents retired there in the 1960s and he spent some time there and is sometimes referred to as the boy from Woy Woy.

According to Wikipedia, Spike described Woy Woy as 'the largest above ground cemetery in the world' which seems a bit unkind but the locals obviously did not take offence because the cycle bridge is named The Spike Milligan Bridge and, until recently the town held an annual Spike Fest celebrating the comedian's life and works.
 We picked up Ian's new gadget without any mishaps and made the easy journey home before dark and were rewarded with the sight of a koala nestled happily in a tree in our street, a reminder that we live in a beautiful spot and should take a day off more often. 

 Apart from various trips to new and exciting places, I have spent the last few months laying a path down the sheer face that is our back garden. I would still be at it now if Ian had not started to feel sorry for me a few weeks ago and joined in to help with the digging out. It has been hard work but well worth it as we can now scamper up and down the garden without having to use ropes and crampons. 

However, the path laying now feels like a bit of light tinkering compared to the daunting task we are about to embark on - the extension. Buoyed along by enthusiasm driven by a diet of Grand Designs and Restoration Man we decided a few months back to fill in the vast chasm that is the underneath of the house, what fun we thought, they all seem to enjoy it on TV. How foolish we were. 

 This week the plans all came together with the arrival of the Development Approval notice, Construction Certificate and Owner Builder's Licence. We are trying to do as much as we can ourselves and the first task has been to fill the area to the correct heights for the concrete pad.

 This required a huge amount of fill but, as luck would have it, another owner builder around the corner from us had just excavated his site to start building and had a massive pile of fill he needed to get rid of. After an exhausting week of digging and 22 trailer loads later, the pile is now in place under our house and it has cost us nothing apart from a few years off our life expectancy.

 Unfortunately every trailer full has to be transported in wheelbarrows down the slope at the side of the house. We keep telling ourselves this was always going to be the most difficult bit and I hope we are right, I have never been so tired! Every evening at the moment is spent staring vacantly at the TV and groaning whenever we have to get up, all the while each of us hoping the other will crack first and go and make a cup of tea. Zoe tells her friends that her mother has retired from teaching and become a labourer!