'Nother Newbie - Tassie!

Discussion in 'General chat' started by Nibbler, Apr 3, 2007.

  1. Nibbler

    Nibbler Junior Member

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    Hi all
    Just joined the forum after having read it from time to time in the past.
    I'm another Tassie migrant - I've read about a few people either wanting to move here or having just moved here. We moved here from Perth, WA, about 3 months ago.
    We currently rent a house in Dodges Ferry - east of Hobart, but we have just bought a block of land in Pelverata, which is just east of Huonville (SW of Hobart!) It seems like there might be quite a good sized permaculture/organic growing community there, but as we're not living there yet we haven't looked into that too much so far. If anyone on here is from there - hi!!!!!
    Our block's about 14 hectares and half forest/half cleared pasture. Has been used for cattle/sheep grazing mainly.
    We're currently going through the challenging process of organising to build our house on the block. Cannot wait to actually get our house built so we can get stuck into some work on the block and get involved in the local community.
    So far we love Tassie, but as expected the work situation is pretty difficult here. We did know we would face some challenges in that department, so we have at least planned for it.
    The best thing so far has been missing out on Perth's hottest summer in about 4 years!! :D
    And it's now officially April and I haven't had to use a heater either, so I'm cautiously optimistic about people having exaggerated the coldness here?? Stay tuned for me eating my words on that one! :oops:
     
  2. macthedog

    macthedog Junior Member

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    Hi Nibbler,

    Welcome to Tassie. I saw a wee bit of Pelverata when I did my PDC down in Huonville and it looked like a beautiful spot. And you're in the heart of Permaculture Tasmania land !

    The guys from that area did talk about the amount of frost & snow that they get, so winter could be interesting. I lit the first fire of the year up here just last week ....... but I have to say that it has been an unusually hot summer for Tassie !

    Looking forward to hearing about your house-building

    Bernie
     
  3. Jez

    Jez Junior Member

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    Welcome Nibbler.
     
  4. bill

    bill Junior Member

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    Nibbs - its still bloody hot in Perth! I am praying we don't have another winter like the last couple or I might come over and join you.
     
  5. Nibbler

    Nibbler Junior Member

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    Thanks!

    Thanks for the welcomes!
    Still haven't used my heater, but I will admit it can get cold during the night (but I'm in bed so no probs there!)
    We went to the block in Pelverata yesterday morning at about quarter to eight and I did feel the chill in the air believe me! I think according to bom it was about 6 degrees at that time.
    I sympathise with your suffering in the heat Bill. Personally I don't really get it when people say Perth has the best weather. I find it's so damn hot in summer then you get a short period of nice weather then in winter it's quite cold especially at night. What makes it worse is a lot of the houses are poorly designed so I reckon winter feels colder than it is! (our house had the main living areas on the south - !) I'm a real newbie when it comes to gardening for food, and I couldn't grow a thing there in the poor
    "soil" (sand) and the searing heat! At least I guess you have actual soil there in the hills! (my mum lives in the hills, i think the good soil is her tradeoff for the colder winters)
    macthedog thanks for the info on Pelverata. The neighbour told me they do get snow up the road a bit in Kaoota but I got the impression it's pretty rare right where I will be. I am betting there'll be lots of good old frost though... I'm a bit nervous to hear that this has been a hot summer :?
    but then there were a few days that were much hotter than I expected to find here.
    I'm going to work hard to get a good cold climate friendly house design though that's for sure.
     
  6. bovine_blue

    bovine_blue Junior Member

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    Perth used to have great weather from what I remember nibbler.

    Things have changed considerably in the last 15-20 years (from a purely anecdotal perspective).
     
  7. LittleFish

    LittleFish Junior Member

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    Hi Nibbler
    welcome to Tassie.
    I just moved here myself 4 months ago from FNQ
    I agree that the cold is better than the hot weather, especially if you have plenty of physical work to keep you busy.
    Apparently Tasmanians don't start noticing the cold here until June so we will both have to wait til then to see how well we have acclimatised.
    I use my heater almost every night now but partially just because I love wood fires - especially after 8 years in FNQ.
    So you have now traded your soil (sand) for soil (clay and rock). I hope you have some better top soil in Pelverata than I have in Nicholls Rivulett! But Pelverata is a lovely place with a good few permie minded people. I have yet to make it to a Huon Permie Group meeting but it sounds like they are pretty active.
    Maybe I'll see you 'round
    cheers
    Stephen
     
  8. Nibbler

    Nibbler Junior Member

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    ok now it's cold

    Hi LittleFish
    Thanks for the welcome to Tassie!
    Hey you were spot on about not noticing the cold til June! I now admit it to be quite cold. Although apparently this is colder than normal?
    Can't say I'm a big fan of the wood heater - have lived next to too many badly smoking ones!! grrrrr......
    Our electric job is doing ok, but our new house will be a lot better designed re passive solar principles (and a little thing called insulation) than where we're staying now.
    I'm not sure about the soil over our whole block, but down at the front is river flats and what little I've seen of the soil looks really good. Stay tuned on that though...
    I actually just drove past Nicholls Rivulet for the first time the other day - beautiful area!
    Yes maybe I'll see you round the permie neighbourhood once we get our house built!

    :?
     
  9. inthemidstofchange

    inthemidstofchange Junior Member

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    Hi!!!

    Hi

    We have also recently moved to Pelverata. Where is your block? We are up the top of a mountain off Pelverata Rd (about 4km up the hill). There are some fantastic groups around the area - for permaculture, socialising etc.Be happy to point you in the right direction when you move onto the block.

    Look forward to talking to you more. And, yes the clay and the slight acidity and lots of rocks make gardening a little different to sandy soil!
     
  10. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    G'day Nibbler :)

    Welcome to the forum. I trust that Tassie will be all that you want it to be - and more!

    Cheerio, Mark.
     

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