Post Holidays

We had a fantastic three week holiday traveling from Adelaide to Cairns by air then traveling the east coast of Australia by rail from Cairns down to Adelaide.
We had perfect weather all the way and the country was lovely and green.

The trip started by departing by Virgin Air to Cairns via Brisbane. Not much to tell here. It was the standard unassuming flight with a stop over of half an hour in Brisbane. On arrival at Cairns we booked into the Coral Tree Inn and spent five days taking in the sights. This included a trip to Kuranda by train up past the Mossman gorge falls then a return trip by Skyrail. We also had a hire car and made a trip up to Mossman gorge, Marreba, Kuranda then back to Cairns as well as a trip south to Gordonvale, Atherton and back to Cairns. The hire car was a Holden Astra and was fairly economical but a Barina would have been better. We enjoyed strolls down the boardwalk of Cairns foreshore each night and dining at the RSL club most nights. The food at the club proved to be better than the street food and better priced, less crowded and a quieter atmosphere.
The rail trip up to Kuranda was a highlight you can't forget as well as the skyrail trip. Kuranda is a beautiful town and well presented. I particularly liked the sculptured works around town. It consists of blacksmith and art work in the street and is hhard to take in at first glance. You need to take a full day to see all of the intricate work spread around town. Now that I have begun a career in Blacksmithing, I can appreciate the work that has gone into creating all the art. The Mossman Falls were brilliant and flowing well considering the lack of rain in the area over the last few months. The skyrail trip was broken up by two stop offs to take in the rainforest walks and waterfalls. The camera was going overtime in trying to get coverage of every scene. We had the video going nonstop as well which has made editing of movies a very time consuming task on our return.
Each morning we had breakfast at the "Galloping Gourmet" cafe, run by the effervescent Nola, before striking out into the wilds of Cairns. I could quiet easily live in Cairns although the tourist crowds would take a little getting used to. Cairns is a place of contrast as there is the modern shopping centre part of town and the old part. I much preferred the older section of town. You can see the modern stuff in any town you visit.
The fruit bats flying around at dusk and the millions of parrots and other birds roosting in the palm trees was great if not a little dangerous without an umbrella. We managed to dodge the airbourne stuff luckily.
We departed Cairns on the Sunlander train for an enjoyable trip down to Brisbane overnight. At Townsville we were met by Jens aunty and partner and sat on the platform for a chat while the train unloaded baggage.Then it was on toBrisbane. We didn't stay long in Brisbane but it was a nice place (wouldn't want to live there though). Next day we departed for Grafton on the XPT and had a scenic ride down the coast. We had a car waiting at Grafton. This time, it was a little red Suzuki 2 door hatch. We arrived at the in laws and got settled in before going on a drive out to Lawrence to check out the wildlife on the Clarence River. The birds were a little thin on the ground unfortunately. They must have migrated elsewhere. Over the next few days we took a drive to Glenreagh to checkout the railway sites and Nana Glen for the art tours and nick knacks. There was nothing stirring at Russell Crowes property as we passed it on the way back to Grafton.
After four days we boarded the XPT once more and headed south to Sydney. As with Brisbane, we didn't venture too far from the hotel room. We had a big day travelling south to Melbourne on the XPT and arrived in the evening. Melbourne was a very pleasant stay for three days and we took in Chinatown, the zoo and the Botanic gardens plus the Victoria markets. The walk along the Yarra was great and the city was full of construction sites in preparation for the games. I'd like to go back and have a look when the hub bub dies down. We might take a drive over at a later date and check out some of the sites around Melbourne.
The zoo was disappointing, as a third of the exhibits were closed. The butterfly house and elephant sections were very good. The markets were disappointiong also. It was basically junk and copycat clothing. I've seen a better at a Trash and Treasure market in Adelaide. The Botanic Gardens were absolutely brilliant. The sheer size of the park requires a full day to see everything. All in all, I wasn't disappointed with Melbourne. It was the best major city stop over on the trip.
We boarded the Overland to Adelaide late at night and didn't waste time in getting some shut eye. The next morning at 6 o'clock we awoke to find we were approaching Tailem Bend. It was only a few hours further on to Adelaide and a taxi ride home.

I received an email in Melbourne that I was to attend the college in Adelaide on our arrival to sign up for the Blacksmith course, so, as soon as the taxi dropped us off we dropped our bags and headed to the college. Jen came down with me and when we arrived there was a full class of people getting briefed on the ins and outs of the course.
After the paperwork was done we headed home to relax.

The Artistic Blacksmithing course has been running for five weeks now and we've had two days a week. In a word, it has been great. The theory is kept to a minimum and there is so much to learn you wonder if you can absorb it all. There is a whole new language of tool names and processes that are both strange and fascinating. The instructor is very enthusiastic and that in turn gets your blood going. I can't wait to get a forge up and running at home and to that end, we are building our own forges at the college. The biggest problem is sourcing the equipment, like swage blocks and leg vises. Most of the tools aren't available any more, and if they are, they cost a fortune. The good thing about it is that they are fairly easy to build or get around by other means. Most of the hand tools, like tongs and formers can be hand made from scrap steel. There is a few things that you can't compromise on such as hot cutters and cold work punches, but hopefully I can come by some of the material from past contacts when I was a heat treater.
We have learnt to do some amazing work over the past few weeks like scrolling, twists, collaring, hot splitting and welding. We have a good group of people too, comprising 3 ex Mitsubishi workers, two woman and three fellows from other fields of work, and we are all producing pretty good work at this stage of the game. Myself and the other two Mitsubishi guys are having a hard time sourcing financial assistance from our job providers for course fees etc, but hopefully the provider will come to the party next year.
Anyway, check back in a few weeks after christmas and I'll post progress on the home forge.