Stolen: Motorbike from Fisher, Canberra

Wednesday night The Hubs motorbike was stolen from our driveway. It was locked and the key was nice and safe inside the house. At 16 years old it wasn't worth a lot, so the insurance will help, but it will still cost us money to replace.

It was well looked after but old and without any flashy after-market parts. But for us it was worth far more than its face value. We only have one car, so The Hub relied on the bike to get to and from work. Without it I will have to drive across town to drop him at work, drive back to get the kids to school, and then back across town so I can get to work. And repeat again in the afternoon while somehow juggling the sport and extra-curricular activities the kids are involved in.

The thieves would have to break the steering lock and the key lock itself to be able to move it and get it started (somehow, but they obviously know how). Not much use if you can't start it. I guess they might strip it for parts. But it is 16 years old.


Below is a photo of a similar bike (not ours but one I found on the net).

If you are in Canberra and see our bike, or hear anything about it, please call the police (crimestoppers 1800 333 000). 

Romance isn't Dead

Recently it was Canberra's 101st birthday. To celebrate the city celebrated with stage shows, food stalls and lots of activities for the kids - many free. We took Heckle and Jeckle in for the afternoon and they had a ball on the jumping castles, watching the Scooby-Doo stage show and checking out the live reptile display.

As we were leaving Jeckle spotted free balloon sculpting and decided he had to have a pirate sword. The Hub and he queued while Heckle and I sat in the nearby shade and people watched. After 20 or so minutes I looked up to see The Hub on bended knee (in front of *lots* of people) holding out a balloon flower for me (oh, and Jeckle had his pirate sword).

Gotta love the man.

Magical Day

We'd heard there was a chance of snow above 700m for today. The kid have never seen snow and since moving to Canberra have been excited that they probably would get the chance. So, believing the glass-half-full version of the weather, we got up early and headed 25 minutes down the road to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.

We could see snow capped peaks as we drove closer and, sure enough, as we drove through the Reserve we found snow (in fact it was still falling when we got there). There wasn't a lot on the ground but there was enough for snow ball fights, toboganning, and a very Aussie snowman (it's eyes were kangaroo poo). We had about 2 hours of snow play before the sun came out and quickly melted our playfield.

We spoke to a ranger who said in the 15 years he'd worked there it was the lowest level he'd seen snow. Pure magic :)

Heckle, Jeckle and The Hub

Kangaroos in the snow

Aussie snowman (with roo poo eyes)

Snow capped peaks

Back in Action

After a long hiatus I'm back to blogging :)

Our move from Brisbane to Canberra is nearly done. We're in limbo at the moment until we can move into our house (mid-November), and during this time internet access is limited (so apologies if it takes a while to respond to comments), but I finally have some time to start focussing on my writing.

It is such a relief! My stories have been churning in my head and I haven't had a second to even think about writing a word. Hopefully now they will pour out.

Once we're settled into the house (photo below) hopefully I'll be able to find some regular writing time again, and be able catch up on all the emails and blog posts I'm behind in.

Our new house in Canberra come mid-November

Small Hiatus

All of a sudden we're having to pack up our bags and relocate... 1,300km (about 808 miles). We're moving from Brisbane to Canberra, going from warm "sub-tropics" to the ridiculously freezing temperatures of the "cool temperate" (where it is known to snow on occasion!).

And I don't do cold very well :(

So at the moment The Hub and I are madly getting the house ready to sell, trying to pack, and pinpointing a place to move into at the other end.

It's all a bit too crazy, to be honest.

I won't be able to blog for a wee bit, but I hope to be back by the end of the month. Wish us luck!

A to Z Challenge: N

N is for New South Wales and Northern Territory

New South Wales is the most populated states in Australia (about 7.2 million people). Its capital is probably one of the best known cities of Australia, Sydney, although it isn't the capital of the country (which is Canberra in the Autralian Capital Territory, or ACT).

The Northern Territory is one of two territories in Australia. Sparesly populated (about 230,000 people) it's the home to Uluru and Kakadu - both famous World Heritage areas.