Dances with Words

“Plough Deep while Sluggards Sleep”

Is a motto at eye-level on the kitchen cupboard of the house we are living in at the moment.

Yippee! The internet is working again! Well, it’s probably been working the whole time, but I haven’t been able to tell because I haven’t had access to it. But now I have, and according to all my tests, it’s in good health!

So now I’ve checked my emails and already the novelty has worn off… I think I’m going to go and talk to my wife…

I bought a network card today so that I can try and connect to Trav’s internet connections, if he’ll let me. He got adsl connected but because it uses a network cable connection I haven’t been able to hook my computer in. Now, if everything goes according to plan, I should be online tomorrow – and not just online, but online twice as fast as previously!

The last couple of nights have been cool, Trav and Karly have had nights off and so have Elicia and I, so we’ve watched a couple of movies together. It’s good, I feel more like we fit in now, we’re not stepping on each others’ toes too much, but at least we’re having fun when we are all at home together. Good.

Movies/old-tv-series watched in the last two days:
- Kill Bill :: 4.5/5 > a terrific piece of cinema in a slightly kitch sort of way, it brings together kung-fu movies, westerns, and whatever else.
- Northern Exposure Season 1 :: 4/5 > Yes, it’s an old favourite, but as Elicia said: if you were judging the show on the pilot episode, you’d think “this has merit, but is a bit too slow and boring”. The show got better as the seasons progressed.
- The Last Samurai :: 4/5 > Better than I expected. A bit of Western-colonialsim-is-evil that I thought was interesting given the current US-Iraq situation.
- Van Helsing :: 4/5 > A bit of fun, by the same people as “The Mummy” and very similar in style.

Bye for now, I’ll be able to update at twice my usual frequency starting tomorrow (isn’t that how broadband works?)

Well, I’m not really Out and About, not in the remote-wiblogging-by-mobile-phone sense anyway – but I am on a friend’s computer. this is because my own computer is not currently connected to the internet, and probably will not be until after we get to Mt Hotham. How will I handle two weeks of limited internet access? We shall see!

We’ve moved into the share house with our friends Trav and Karly. It took us 2 full days to move all our stuff, some here, some to my parents’ shed (very tiring work). I was very impressed with Leash, not only did she have verything organised and ready to go to all the different places, but she helped me move all the heavy furniture, including the fridge, washer, dryer and futon! Our (old) place is empty now, the carpets are getting cleaned today then we hand back the keys tomorrow and never go back again. I suppose I will miss it, it was an awesome place to live, so close to the river and the beach, but I haven’t been sad at all. It still seems a bit like we’re on holiday at the moment!

Share housing is working out alright at the moment, we’ve hardly seen the other guys since we moved in anyway – they or us have been out late each night, and they both start work fairly early in the morning. Suits us fine, but I was imagining it being a bit more communal (which it still might turn out to be – it has only been three days…)

Anyway, I’d better get back to work – hopefully I’ll get regular access like this to keep everyone up to date!

We’re moving all our stuff today, I’m up early writing this and sending a few emails to people saying I won’t be online until tomorrow. I’m expecting it will take all day to move all our furniture and stuff. We’re going to borrow my parents’ van and Elicia’s Grandparents’ trailer, but it’s still going to be Elicia and I (and maybe Kym too) doing all the hard work.

And also, I’m not sure when I’ll be online next – Trav doesn’t have working internet at his place at the moment. If it gets really desperate I’ll have to borrow a modem from someone…

Well, I’ve boxed most of the stuff on, under and behind my desk. There are now two neatly-packed boxes on the floor labelled “T&K’s” and “Hotham”. Unfortunately those two neat boxes are surrounded by loose piles of junk I am not sure what to do with: the amatuer photo developer that I bought from an op-shop 2-3 years ago and still haven’t used will be heading back whence it came (along with with some new friends it has acquired while sitting behind my desk); the fish tank and accessories will go to Mum’s, she said she might set it up in the lounge room once Pen moves out; and the art stuff that I just can’t bear to throw out will have to find a flat spot in Mum and Dad’s shed.

We’re ready, I think, for the big day of shifting stuff tomorrow. So hopefully by tomorrow night we’ll be set up in our bedroom there, Trav has a spare desk for me to plop my computer on for a couple of weeks and then 10th June it’s Mt Hotham, here we come!

I just thought I’d take this opportunity to tell the world that I have the best wife in the world. Thanks to Elicia, all our stuff is beautifully packed in cardboard boxes with descriptions on the side and the house is organised and ready for the final move of all our furniture down to Trav’s on Monday. Elicia is far more organised and capable (even under stress) than I could ever be!

Thanks babe, you’re the best! xoxo

These are some photos we took on our trip. You can see all the photos at our gallery.

I don’t know why it leaves this big gap… maybe it’s so you can rest your eyes before feasting them on the pics of Mt Hotham!

These are some photos we took on our trip. You can see all the photos at our gallery.

I don’t know why it leaves this big gap… maybe it’s so you can rest your eyes before feasting them on the pics of Mt Hotham!

We went to Mt Hotham for one night, the night before last. It’s a big journey, about 7.5 hours each way if you stop for enough time to have a nice lunch. On Tuesday it took us about 12 hours to go up though, mostly due to several hours spent shopping. First we bought non-perishable groceries – they’ll be expensive to buy up there, then manchester – because the unit comes with furniture and even doonas but no doona covers or pillowcases, then snowboarding gear – because we don’t have anything at all, but we want to. Hats off to the Melbourne Snowboarding Centre, they were very friendly and helpful to complete newbies like ourselves.

It was pouring rain all day, then for the last leg of the journey, the part where we actually drive up the side of the mountain, there was fog so thick that it was impossible to see the sides of the road, I was driving by following the white lines in the middle and sometimes I couldn’t even see one ahead. That part usually takes 50 minutes, this time it took 1.5 hours.

Anyway, we got there okay, unpacked all our stuff in the dark and freezing cold. There was some snow lying around but not much, and it didn’t fall while we were there. Our unit was very warm though, the building boilers have been on for a while and even on the lowest setting the big heater keeps the room toasty. We moved our stuff in, shifted some furniture around, gagged at the outrageously horrible pictures hanging on the walls, tried every switch and button on everything we could find, then had a very late tea and fell into bed – way too much excitement for one day!

The next morning was crystal clear, we watched the sun rise over the mountains from our window and thanked the Lord that we own the best place in the whole world! We looked through everything that came with the unit, there was some stuff that was worth keeping but some stuff will go. We’re taking up our own dinner set, we’ve still got one from our wedding that is unopened. The futon mattress up there is too soft and spongy, but I’m not sure how we could get a another mattress up there anyway, it certainly wouldn’t fit in our car? The doonas were in desperate need of a wash, and Elicia wants to paint the walls – the paint is good in every respect except its colour – mustard yellow. Otherwise everything is cool, it needs a bit of a clean but otherwise it’s in very good nick.

We went for a walk to the General Pub, it’s part owned by the same person Elicia is friends with/working for up there. On the walk we showed our total noobness, being delighted in the frost growing on cars and breaking the ice over puddles and sliding on the icy bits of path and generally being amazed at how cold it was – 1 deg celcius at 10 in the morning!

The trip down the mountain was much less stressful than the way up, with no fog at all. A beautiful clear day, we stopped in Milawa to visit the Brown Brothers winery and then had lunch at the Milawa pub. They mixed up our order – we got fetticcine instead of foccaccia, but it was fantastic.

We got home about 6pm, went for a walk along the beach, watched a Welsh movie and then sank into bed again. Fantastic couple of days, and such a contrast, walking at 1700+ metres with snow lying next to the road, to walking the same evening along the beach with our toes in the water – we are sooo blessed, Australia must be the best place on earth, and Elicia and I now live in the two best parts of the whole country! Very, very blessed.

I’ll post some photos later when I’ve had a chance to sort through the 100+ that we took!