Now the excitement of Zoe's wedding and the visit from the UK contingent are all over we are finding it quite difficult to motivate ourselves to get on with more work on the extension. Part of the point of enlarging the house was to give ourselves more room in the existing accommodation by shifting some of our crap into the new area, that has now been achieved and we are quite comfy so it is easy to forget there is still more to be done. 

So we have been having a bit of an extended break doing the things we enjoy like wandering around taking pictures of koalas and birds or just watching the wildlife from our (new improved) balcony. A pair of Galahs are entertaining us at the moment as they try to hollow out a joint in a tree to make a nest, one works on the excavation while the other stands guard, then they swap roles when the digger gets tired.

 We are also taking our time over things a bit more so when we needed to drive to Sydney a couple of weeks ago to buy some flat pack bookcases from the blue and yellow warehouse of doom, we decided to time the trip so we could stop at our local airport where the Antonov......something or other.....second largest cargo plane in the world, was due to take off between 8.30 and 9am. Williamtown Airport is a RAAF base as well as a domestic airport so the huge plane was there delivering secret stuff for the fighter jets. There were hundreds of people there but the scheduled take off time came and went and nothing happened. 

We would have left but every time we thought about it there was a flurry of activity as if something was about to happen making us stay a bit longer. Eventually the thing started to move at around 11am and everyone got ready with their cameras expecting to see the massive plane take the full length of the runway just to heave itself over the fence at the last minute. 

Well it wasn't like that at all, it trundled onto the runway and took off after a very disappointingly short run up just like a normal plane, it was big though and at least we've seen it in action.
Onto Sydney via a different route this time, we decided to divert off the motorway just short of the city and take the Berowra Ferry which brought us in quite close to our target. It was a beautiful way to go, tiny winding roads took us down the valley to the river where we caught the ferry across.

Berowra Waters would be a sensational place to live with houses and restaurants nestled peacefully on the banks of the river right on the outskirts of Sydney. We came back the same way as it was just as quick as the usual schlep through all the traffic and the toll roads but far more pleasant, I think this may become our preferred route in future.
Back to the reality of building work now. We like to recycle materials when we can and Ian has found 2000 brick pavers on Gumtree at a bargain price for the path. These are located an hour's drive from us and we can only get about 500 in one trip so we did two trips on Saturday and have another two to go tomorrow, I hate days that involve this level of manual labour but it will be worth it in the end.
I will finish with a few before and after pictures, when I look at these I am astonished at the change in just 8 months. 

After saying goodbye to our UK visitors and the newlyweds we set off with my sister Gill for a couple of weeks in the outback. The plan was to start at Hill End, spend a few days in Broken Hill then onto Lightning Ridge to visit the opal mines and hot springs before wending a slow path back home. We had two weeks before Gill was due to fly from Newcastle to Melbourne on her way to connect with one of the first non stop flights from Perth to London.
The photos in this post are taken in Broken Hill.

 Hill End was marvellous, we were only there a few months ago but it was still fascinating. Once a thriving gold mining town it is now only home to a very few people but is being thoughtfully restored and the buildings, information boards and excellent information centre, really gave us a feel of how life must have been in the, not so distant, past. 

The only disappointment in Hill End was the National Parks owned camp site which had been a money in an envelope system when we were there at Christmas, had changed so it was now essential to book online. This was easier said than done in a tiny town with virtually no signal and certainly nothing stable enough to make an online booking. Eventually I found a spot where my phone worked for long enough to make a call and managed to pay that way. The whole site reverberated with grumblings from regular visitors about the change and the price hike that went with it, I couldn't help thinking they should have had a transition period. However, we had a great time there exploring the old mining tracks and walking among lolling kangaroos, Ian even went on a mine tour.

 After a couple of days in Hill End we struck off to Broken Hill on my birthday. We knew this was going to be a long day of driving, partly because it takes quite a while to get back onto a major road as Hill End is in the middle of nowhere along winding tracks, so we decided to get as far as possible before dusk when it becomes dangerous to drive because of the kangaroos. We took the Mitchell and Barrier Highways through Dubbo, Nyngan and Cobar until finally stopping in Wilcannia after ten hours of driving.
The campsite at Wilcannia (Warrawong on the Darling) was very pleasant, just outside the town with brand new facilities but Wilcannia itself was a disappointment. Years ago it was a town with real social issues but we came through about twelve months ago and it was busy with a nice cafe in the centre and plenty of visitors bringing their dollars to the town. The council seemed to be driving this change with good, clean facilities and neatly kept parks and public areas. This time though the cafe had closed down, the toilets were dirty and covered in graffiti and the town was dead , such a shame because it is a beautiful place on the banks of the river we had been planning to stop for coffee there but there was nowhere to go so they lost our money too.

About two hours further along a road strewn with kangaroo roadkill, lay Broken Hill the Silver City. Now I love Broken Hill, I don't know what it is about the place but, more than anywhere for me it brings about an understanding of how it must have been to live in the outback in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There is a wonderful miners memorial which lists how each miner died and demonstrates how safety improved over the years for them and the superb railway museum has rooms dedicated to the history of the local nurses and tales from migrants who moved to the area.

 Ian and Gill went off to see the Royal Flying Doctor Service (I had only been recently) and Gill came back brandishing fly nets for all of us to wear over our hats. We scoffed at them but soon put them on when we went to see the Sculptures in the Desert that evening which was glorious but also fly central. Unfortunately the starter motor on our car chose this very remote spot in falling darkness to pack up. Luckily sunset was a busy time to visit the sculptures so plenty of willing helpers produced jump leads and tried to help but the car was going nowhere. Eventually the ranger was called and he, along with several other kind folk who had stayed to make sure we were ok, gave us a push and we got started and made it back to the camp site. So Broken down in Broken Hill just like in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. It was Friday evening so, even though we found a mechanic willing to work on the weekend it turned out the part had to come from Adelaide. 

The difficult timing was compounded by ANZAC Day which is a public holiday, falling in the middle of the next week and the breakdown of the TNT lorry bringing our starter motor. The mechanic kindly loaned us a car free of charge(!) so we carried on seeing the sights. We took in the ANZAC Day dawn service, drove out to Silverton, visited Bell's Milk Bar and 1950s museum. Our visit even coincided with a month where the town hall was illuminated and a short history of the city projected as a slide show onto the building, but time was ticking and Gill had a flight to catch. When it became clear the starter motor was not going to arrive until after we needed to leave Gill hired a car and she and I drove back, Ian then had to bring the caravan back once the car was fixed.
It all worked out in the end, Gill made her flight to Melbourne and Ian and Monty rolled back in the day after she departed, Lightning Ridge will just have to wait for next time!