Phone backups are worth their weight in gold

I'm up in Sydney to go on Martin's Bucks weekend on a Hawkesbury River Houseboat, and won't be back in Tassie until next Thursday.  When I fired up my phone off the plane in Sydney, it had died.  Become an ex-phone.  Kaput.  Luckily, I've been backing up the data, messages, pictures, etc on it using My Phone Explorer, some shareware specifically for Sony Ericsson phones.  I called Dad, who exported and emailed my phone numbers as a csv file, and lo and behold I'm back in communication (thanks also to Martin for lending me his spare handset).  I can't recommend My Phone Explorer enough.  It's so much more friendly than Sony Ericsson's own software.

Anybody got an old Sony Ericsson handset they don't want?

The QE2's last visit to Hobart

Perhaps the last great liner from pre-747 age, the Queen Elizabeth 2 visited Hobart today for the final time before she is pensioned off to end her days as a static museum piece in Dubai.

While QE2 probably doesn't have her own Oxygen Bar or four storey shopping mall, she certainly cuts a much better figure than the floating apartment blocks that are today's Disney-esque "Cruise Ships" (with "Lust For Life" as the theme for their TV ads. Skating on thin ice, Iggy....). Anyway, both Dad and myself took a few shots of the old tub while she was tied up, and just as she was leaving her berth.

They be right here, me hearties.

Snow on Mt Wellington in February

Last night, and for the first time in at least a decade, snow settled on the top of Mt Wellington in February (for my antipodean readers, that's the middle of summer down this way).

Katie and I ascended to the summit (1270m above sea level) in the trusty 121 to investigate, photograph, and collect some raw ingredients for my next batch of home brew. The wind was knock-you-over strong and the chill factor must have bought the temperature down to minus two or so. Some locals had even half buried their car to turn it into a snowboard ramp.

Going up there reaquainted me with the strange Hobart custom of decorating the roof and bonnet of your car with kilos of snow for the journey back home. It also reminded me of a story when, back in 1986, the premier of Tasmania at the time, a rather unlikeable character by the name of Robin Gray made a statement along the lines of "...the day I am a dictator is the day that snow settles on the GPO steps...". Within the space of a few days, lo and behold, down came the heaviest snowfall in Hobart for sixty five years. The GPO steps, and indeed everything right down to the waterfront was blanketed in snow and the city came to a standstill.

It's great to be back.

There's a few more photos right here.

Hobart's population swells by 8000 in an hour

In a first for Hobart, three massive cruise ships docked within an hour of each other in Sullivan's Cove yesterday, spilling their combined complement of 8000 punters into the streets of the capital.

Luckily, they stayed away from T42, so there wasn't much problem getting a beer.

Dad took the shots that make up this stitch photo from the Regatta Grounds, just near the Cenotaph.

Click here, or on the photo for a full size shot.

Let's Cook

A new insight into Spaghetti Bolognaise, with Craig, GrodsCorp's WebChef:

The Shack

Tassieblather is back on the air!

Katie and I just had four days down at Becher's family's shack at White Beach, on the Tasman Peninsula.

I've been going there for more than thirty years, pretty well ever since Becher and I have been mates. It's a great little place in a beautiful location.

It was cool just to have a few days away from Hobart, and most forms of communication (yay Vodafone and their very limited range on the Apple Isle!) sitting around and not doing much at all.

I tried my hand at depleteing the local Flathead population, alas with not even a bite. Managed to go for a swim and grab a few oysters, but.

Got a few more photos from our trip right here.

PS it takes just over an hour to get there from the centre of Hobart!