December 2013 Ding Dong Ding Dong! NYE. What a spectacular beginning to 2014.

Mr and Mrs Tozer

How do you start the first blog post of such a special New Year? To say the finale to 2013 was spectacular doesn't quite cut the mustard. Saying it was immense and beyond our imaginations and wishes starts to get a bit closer, 'Superfralacagalistic-Expialidocious' comes closer still, but I'm left feeling I have to invent a new word as there isn't one in existence capable of conveying how utterly dazzling, brilliant and full of love it was. Repeat after me.......

"Recockuliousinglyshamazing-bing-bong-a-bang-explotionalisinglovefesttotalisamen x infinity"

Go on I dare you, try saying that out loud. Not the catchiest of phrases I know and I'm sure I won't be starting any trends or winning any awards for invention but, it seems a bit more all-singing-all-dancing and that's what I'm looking for, for such a truly special and memorable kinda day.
Maybe these images will do a better job at capturing the events and feelings of our New Years Eve than my poor attempt at neologism.
31st December 2013. The last day of an already wonderful life changing year for Jason and I. So not surprisingly we wanted to send it off with a bang,and with an almighty bang at that! We asked two very dear and wonderful friends of ours Weens and Ben jo lay li, to concoct a Wedding ceremony of their own making with full carte blanche and to marry us in Sydney Harbour on New Years Eve whilst sailing under the Harbour Bridge on a beautiful boat with some of our dearest friends. As neither one of them is a Vicar, Priest, or marriage celebrant we went first to San Francisco in November where we legally tied the knot, always thinking that New Years Eve would be our actual Wedding day.

My day began with Weens, the loveliest curly nog ever. She came by to help me get ready and collect me from our Glebe house sit. With a long 'Meow' of good luck from Miss Muggles we were on our way. The sun shone in a bright blue sky (Naughty Nanna Nolesy wasn't surprised as she had ordered it!) & heading over the ever impressive Harbour Bridge, bouquet in hand, wedding dress looking rather splendid, I felt giddy with excitement about our wedding day. Jason and I making our commitment to one another and spending a magical day with some of the best humans we have the good fortune to know, will I guess, be hard beaten by any other day for either of us.
Lavender Bay was already busy when we arrived. Hundreds of folks getting set up for a great view of the harbour and preparing for the soaring temperatures of the day.

Waiting for my ship to come in

Not long now!

Weena & I were on the jetty looking out to sea. So many stunning white boats looking very chic with all that blue about them. Waiting, waiting, waiting when a Lady on a boat nearby shouted "ARE YOU GETTING MARRIED TODAY?"  and it hit me......., "YES" Grinning from ear to ear, I shouted back "YES I AM, I'M GETTING MARRIED TODAY!!!!!!" All the people aboard her ship shouted their congratulations and I felt so very lucky and happy and a little bit nervous all of a sudden.

I stood in the hot sun at the end of the jetty looking back at the shoreline trying to soak it all up  into my happy memory bank, when Weens piped up "Hey lady-face you might wanna look up now" And this is what I saw!

All aboard the love boat.

What a fine figure-head for the boat My Man made, complete with a telescope to 'Find his love' which Ben had so thoughtfully brought for him. I was so moved to see everyone aboard ship, so excited to get on deck and along with Jason greet everyone and start our party of course!

All our friends had joined their hands over their heads to make a tunnel of love for me to pass through. My gorgeous Fella was waiting at the end with a huge smile on his dial and I had one to match. SNAP!

It was such a lovely start to the day, So lovely to see so many of our favourite faces there on board to share our day.

And so with the sailors blessing "With fair winds and following seas" We were off and sailing. With so many lovely people there to catch up with the time flew by and soon Ben was making ready for his and Weens ceremony of love!

Love this City

Here we come, are you ready bridge?

I do

and I do love that scarf!

What an altar hey Weens!

I Love You.

Ben who, amongst many other talents, happens to be a fabulous graphic designer and Weens, a creative whirlwind force of nature, spent many weeks of secret meetings hatching a plan for us. The ceremony was full of their ingenious ideas and thoughtfulness. A splendid blend of heartfelt words and huge lashings of fun and japes. Paying homage to our inner pirates and our love of all things rowdy. We now have our very own sea shanty, written and wrangled by them both and their respective gorgeous partners Donkey Donks and HB Pencils (not their real names). We now have our very own emblem or logo of love, which is a combo of our initials and a tied knot. We now have our very own screen printed, hand made silk scarves lovingly and skilfully created by Miss Weens which have all the names of everyone one of our guests incorporated into the design. We now have our very own stickers Pirate hats, a book of drawings and thoughts from our friends, a game of Mr and Mrs........ and well you get the picture, it just kept on coming in the most fabulous and fun filled fashion. All amidst the intermittent shouts of "AHHHHH HHAHHAHH MI HEARTIES" each time Ben or Weens stirred our band of pirates into action.

To say just "thank you" to Ben and Weens, Donkey Donks and HB just cannot cover how touched and grateful we are for all they did to make our ceremony and day so great, unique and continuously surprising. In the words of Tina (is she dead yet?)Turner "Your'e Simply The Best'  and whilst were at it Lou Reed can have a go too - "Such A Perfect Day...."

You may kiss the bride.

We filled our pirate bellies with Champagne and Lobsters and some delicious Oysters couriered all the way from Terry in Batemans Bay who we met whilst taking care of Lilly and Jack last year! We both enjoyed throwing lobster and oyster shells back into their watery home for the harbours bull sharks or other less scary beasts to feast on.

Nom Nom Nom

More Nom Nom Nom

We took turns jumping into the sparkling sea from the top deck of the boat, Well some of us did and some of us in wedding dresses and suits remained on deck soaking up the sun and enjoying being amongst such great people!

Ready....... Steady..........

Go!.......Jumping for joy

Look of love now with hew improved stickers!

The time flew by and soon we were disembarking our love boat and heading to our next venue. Time for light refreshments at one of mine and Jason's favourite places in Sydney, The Tilbury. But how on earth to get there? ........ "TAXI!!!!!!!!!"

Water taxi the only way to travel darlink

My favourite film is Le Ballon Rouge by Albert Morrisse, and knowing this, Jason once gave me a big red balloon, winning the prize for best birthday present ever. This gorgeous man of mine had all bases covered on our exceptional day. As we boarded the water taxis he handed me one of two magnificent huge white helium filled balloons which floated on eye aching long satin ribbons high above us, beautiful against the blue Sydney skies. Never  have I felt more special and cared for. "Thank you" Mr Tozer XXX.

My heart is a full as a white balloon

SNAP!

We had a really special Christmas Tree waiting for us..... Can you guess what its decorated with???

Is that orange?

Is it bubbles?

Oh My! Its a Champers filled tree!

Mr and Mrs

We had a few hours to have a 'rest' which basically consisted of more games and fun and fizz before we started to get organised for our grande finale to the day to beat all days. Our reception at........ Midnight At The Oasis! A four course dinner, sit down event splash bang on the water at Macquarie's Chair with optimum views of the harbour, The Opera House, Harbour Bridge and of course the greatest firework display on earth! What a great way to seal 2013 and start our married life together in 2014.

Looks like and intimate affair?

We danced, we laughed, we ate heartily as all good pirates should and made merry amongst the star filled sky. The Fireworks were jaw dropping, We were horse from all the whooping and hollering, oohing and ahhing, they seemed to last forever. What a day, what a day what a happy day. 

What a finale 

WOW!

Talk about feeling blessed, happy and grateful! Jason and I have had the most interesting life-changing year filled with great fun, lots of laughs and much adventure. We couldn't have had a better day or start to 2014 with all the tea in China, but the cherry on the top? I got to go home with the bestest man in the world starting the New Year as Mrs KatyTozer. 

Over the past few weeks since New Years I have been looking back over the photographs & what's struck me is how everyone is smiling their heads off all day long! Such a happy day.

And so that was the start to our New Year, May 2014 bring more adventure, fabulous housesits, fun and new friends. We cant wait to get started! Not long now in Sydney and we will be back on the road.

November 28th - December 6th Tarragindi Queensland

I love the iPhone! It never fails to blow my mind that we can run our lives from this small bit of kit. As we ride North we stop for coffees and catch up on house sitting emails, post on the blog, apply for sits we think we are suited too, and basically organise our lives on the hop. Today is no different. In one short coffee stop we have emailed and spoken to two new house sitting opportunities and almost organised the next three months on the road.

It was on such a coffee stop that we made arrangements for our current house sit at Tarragindi. I saw an ad posted on one of the sites we use, in this case http://www.aussiehousesitters.com.au and called Maree.

Maree had never used a house sitter before and understandably had a lot of questions. We had quite a chat and I emailed her our website and references. At our next stop we chatted a bit more before agreeing we all felt it was a great match. It's as simple as that in most of our house sit arrangements.

We are looking forward to meeting Maree her young son Louis. Also Tiger the dog who will be our latest pet crush. We leave Coffs Harbour and take the back roads, heading out on the Caramba and  B91 in search of Grady's Creek Road and Lions Road which we think should be re named as the' Road of Beautifulness'. It's no exaggeration to say that our ride from Coffs to Tarragindi was anything short of a display of nature at its most spectacular. I'll let the pictures do the talking. Its been our most fabulous day on the bike yet.

Black tarmac is our newest friend only bested by the searing heat. On the road once more and heading North. The skies are blue above us, well there's a surprise! We drive out of Coffs and I am filled with the feeling of adventure and travel again. Parched beige expanses of land slowly change to greener vistas and fields upon fields of sugar cane which have a distinctive aroma cooked up and in the air with all this sun and heat. Mango plantations, and macadamia nut farms line the roads. Battered old Queenlander houses and sun bleached corrugated shacks add to the romance of the land. Inside my head its suddenly Brazil or Cuba. I love this feeling of cutting through the space and being bufferted about on the bike. The air is hot and humid and it only adds to feeling like a adventurer in a very foreign place.

I'm feeling poetic, can you tell?

The weather is perfect not too hot, clear blue skies and a light breeze. It seems we are the only people on this road for miles and miles we don't see another vehicle. I watch our long shadow undulate over the fields and rickety wooden bridges. We feel very small and insignificant amongst such grand enveloping landscape. There are wandering oxen along the roadside and suddenly I feel we are cutting through an alpine vista, and parts of the road remind me of the yorkshire dales or devon in its most luscious in spring.

Chuffed

We have to stop a few times just take it in. Look how happy Jason looks to be riding through such a great part of the country! We see smoke in the distance and are wary given the recent bush fires that decimated so much wildlife and flora, but it looks worse that it is. We think it is controlled bush burning, started on purpose to burn off dry bush, to avoid much larger uncontrollable fires later.

Fire!

On top of old smokey.......

Its a cracking day on the road, the most pleasurable to date and the time flies by with so much to see. We arrive in Tarragindi with an extra hour to spare as we forgot about the time difference between the two states.  Maree, Louis and Tiger pull up just after we do and we are greeted with a few barks from the lady of the house! Woof Woof to you too!

Louis and Tiger

This is the adorable and very handsome Louis and Tiger who looks a lot bigger than she is here. Louis is 5 has the biggest brownest eyes and long lashes you have ever seen. I'm instantly smitten. Tiger is a lovely soft and very protective cross breed who's mix Maree is unsure of. 

Maree is a one woman marvel. She is a single Mom with a seemingly unfair share of difficulties to cope with. She works full time, but has even managed to have a dinner cooking for us too! She is open and smiley and I feel instantly easy in her company. 

Tiger was saved from certain death, when she had the good fortune to be rescued by Maree, who we quickly realise is nothing short of a Saint. Whilst Maree was in New Zealand camping, a fellow camper discovered a bag with several puppies in it, presumably thrown short from a car aiming to drown them in the river where they were discovered on the bank side. 

Maree took one and named her Tiger! Consequently she spent a great deal of time and hard earned cash to bring her home to Brisbane. Tiger, Maree and Louis have a very evident & strong bond. Tiger is the smartest dog we have yet to have cared for. She seems to understand everything you say to her. She is so ridiculously gentle and patient and very calm even when as Maree explains, Louis gets over excited and pulls her ears and tugs her about.

Horse or dog?

Definitely Dog!

Super Model

There are some great bush walks around Tarrgindi. Maree has made us a house manual and details of where we can take the young lady for a nice jaunt and those where she can be let off her leash. We head up to Toohey Forest and follow one of the many walking tracks. 

Usually we don't let the dogs we look after off the leash the first time we take them out. So that the dog gets used to us and vice versa.The first walk on any house sit where we care for dogs is very important. We make sure that there is an empty tummy involved (The dogs not ours!) and that we have a pack of treats or a favourite toy depending upon each individual pet. We award the dog with a treat each time he or she sits when we ask, or for any other good behaviour. That way we know or hope that when we let them off and call them back they will come and if they do we treat them for it. Easy! Well most of the time. 

Tiger is a very very bright dog and so she easily understood that if we called and she came we would treat her. We had a lovely time walking her. She seemed to really enjoy herself and the freedom of running about and tracing any interesting smells.  Jason took some lovely portraits of her too. The one above is our favourite one.

Checking out the view

There have been a lot of storms here and this huge tree became a casualty of the power of Mother Nature. Boom Bam! Take that tree.

TIMBER!!!!!!!!!!

Maree and Louis are off on a well earned short trip to Melbourne to watch the iceskating that Maree usually competes in. This year she is there to support the team but is having a break from taking part. Maree will come come home for one night during our house stay as she has a work commitment and training course. This is a new thing for us, as most of our hosts go off on holiday and we see them only at the end of their trip. We are looking forward to seeing her and getting to hang out for another night. 

We are headed into Brisbane to see whats of offer for a couple of creative house sitters. http://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/ we find our feet take us to The Queensland Art Gallery to see the Californian Design Exhibition. 

After our recent trip to San Francisco we are keen to see the design history of California and its far reaching influence.

San Francisco!

Beautiful.

Surfing USA

Reminds me of a certain lady we are caring for!

Adore these bright bold illustrations.

Barbie and Kens first home.

The very first Barbie and Ken

Eames at their best

I want!

The first Oscar.

Le Classic

Entry Tattoo

We both really enjoyed the few hours milling around and finding out more about the Californian way. 

In another part of the Gallery we saw these beauties and after the recent Hockney exhibition in San francisco Im feeling very inspired to get the paints out!

love the light in this one

Gorgeous

Mr Surf

Another hot day and the temps are soaring into the mid 30's . We decide to have some pool time and leave this lady indoors with the aircon on as its just too hot for dogs.

Nice and cool in there?

Maree and Louis are home for a few hours in between them returning from their trip to Melbourne and Maree shooting off for a few days training course for her new job (Well done Maree!) and so we get to hang out with Louis and 'Ra Ra' his much loved Grandma.

Louis has Cerebral Palsy and Autism. He loves music and especially the Ukulele. Every time Jason plays it for him he dances and has such a beautiful and ready wide smile. He's very affectionate he has been showering us with hugs and attention. He's very interested in Jason's motorbike and loves aeroplanes!

Louis is off to stay with his Ra Ra for a few days whilst Maree is training and so we are left back in charge of the gorgeous Tiger. She looks so very much like Gini who we had tiem looking after in Townsville I keep doing a second take!

Play time!

Its time to say farewell, Louis comes and wakes us up early, Its his Christmas play day at school and he is rather excited about it. We Wave him off when his bus collects him and have just enough time to give Maree a big hug and birthday wishes. I know we will see these two lovelies again. X

Here's what Maree had to say about our stay in Tarragindi. Thanks so much we loved coming to stay!