The Final Touch

 When building the house, we planned a place for a display screen for our photos.  After three years we finally got around to installing a suitable screen.  We are happy with the result.

Jack's Basketball

 It had been a while since we had seen Jack play with his team of school friends.  They had been doing really well but a couple of key players were on the injury list so they expected to have to work.  So it transpired. They went down against a very good team in a tough game.  Jack certainly carried his weight in the team with a number of great goals.

Plantings Nearly Complete

 Adam has put in a huge effort to completely transform the rear aspect of the house with the massive retaining wall.  With Kate and a garden designer, they planned and installed the overlooking garden that is now nearly complete.  Photos cannot do it justice but the garden now ties the whole rear outlook together as a really attractive outdoor space.

Lake House Excavations

 Lachlan was wanting to check on developments at the Lake House so he dragged his mate up there on Saturday.  Eildon water levels were just under the bridge, it must be nearly over the spillway by now.

The excavations are huge. Lachlan almost disappears in them.  Much of the fill has been removed so now the next stage can proceed.

Brett and Adam's Birthday Dinner

 After a couple of failed attempts, we managed to have a combined family dinner for Brett and Adam's birthdays. As the family develops, the house appears to be shrinking so we tried a new arrangement for dinner with a "T" shaped table.

It was great to have nearly everyone (Holly was ill) back together again after such an extended period.

Adam's Birthday

 As proof of the changing times, we had our birthday dinner with Adam on his birthday! Covid has denied us this option over the past few years.  We went to Cinque Restaurant in Ringwood and the meal was great.

Lachlan the Artist

 Lachlan has been getting creative in his spare time.  This is his image of an astronaut and black hole he drew on his iPad in "Procreate".

For Mark's birthday, Lachlan drew this amazing "card" for him.  Art has to have a place in Lachlan's future!

Movement at Goughs Bay

 With all the approvals now in place, Mark the Builder was able to arrange for the excavations to start on the block.  The massive stump in the middle of the block was first to go.

Now the ground has been prepared for the building and water tanks at the rear.

Yarrawonga

 We took a day to travel to Yarrawonga to meet the solicitor who was dealing with Greg's Will.  On the way up we had to check out the vanilla slices.

We found our accommodation to be right in the middle of the 1960s but  the rest of the town was buzzing. It is a centre for water sport and retirement on the banks of Lake Mulwala on the Murray River.  The place has a long history.  The original Customs House between the colonies of Victoria and New South Wales still stands along with some early buildings.

The Ovens River is near flood levels and is soaking the local wetlands.

But the rain seems to be suiting the surrounding crops and canola.

Cooper - Basketball

 Cooper was just back from Music Camp and had to climb out of bed to play Basketball.  They got a bit of a hiding so a little more practice may be needed.  Cooper had some good passages of play.

And he got a bit of air time.

He came off after the game ready to go back to bed!

Brett's Birthday

 Celebrating a birthday late seems to be almost the norm these days.  However we did get to Brett's celebration at the Cinque Restaurant last night.  A great restaurant and definitely not short of customers!

A New Driver

 Jack has his "L" plates. A new era starts in the household!

Heading Home

 We had an early start in Winton in order to get to Longreach to meet the train.

It was an uneventful journey that saw us at lunch in a Longreach Pub then on to a plane to Brisbane, then a flight to Melbourne.

The following morning, the cars on the street were covered in ice! We have to face up to harsh realities.

An Ancient Drama

 We headed south west of Winton to the Lark Quarry where an amazing dinosaur trackway had been discovered.  There were over 1000 footprints of a number of dinosaur species.  The footprints tell the story of a large (horse size) predator chasing smaller prey.

The track of the larger animal is clear and the smaller animals scatter around it.

A huge covering has been constructed to preserve this extraordinary find.  The desolate spinifex country where the discovery was made is a far cry from the conditions faced by the dinosaurs.  It would have been warm and wet 100 million years ago.

We continued on back to Winton through some spectacular country that was "green" for the first time after 10 years of drought.

Dinosaur Country

 As a result of amateur paleontologists, coincidences and chance meetings over 20 years ago, the Winton, Richmond area of Queensland has become the epicentre of dinosaur research and discovery in Australia. We visited one of the large facilities near Winton where the extracted fossils are being cleaned, reconstructed and investigated.

Fossils embedded in rock are encased in plaster to preserve them before extraction.  This rack could take 20 years to fully investigate.

Dental equipment is used to remove rock from the fossils.  It is painstaking detailed work largely completed by volunteers.  Some huge bones have been found.

This sample is made up of the actual fossils extracted from the rock.

An ancient mud flat is also preserved that shows the progress of a variety of dinosaurs across the (then) soft mud.

The animals discovered range from tiny to enormous.

A sunset dinner was the perfect way to end the day.