The patio takes shape.

Now mostly of the preparation work is it is time to surface the patio (outside Kitchen / barbecue area) The original surface had a large slope and although it was smooth was not that good when you wanted to sit at a table. So we decided to make a flat area ... The only problem was that the underlying ground was mostly solid rock.. So we desired that instead of trying to dig it all out we would just rise the level. To get it right it had to be in two steps... so that the patio would not be above the kitchen floor!!!!

There are a few more drains to go in though, the Rain water needs to be taken from the roof and from where it runs down the back steps. and the sink in the outside kitchen needs to be connected. So these pipes were put in first before the top step is added.
Once the drains are all done its the lower level was filled with rubble (most of this came from demolition in the kitchen). it was the plan to lay the lower level in three sections, rather than using shuttering to get the levels I decided to us a method that I had seen the local builders use. A line is strung to give the level and then a "wall" of concrete is laid to this level as below.

Once the level has set then the first part of the patio was laid... Only one small problem was that the concrete was not fine enough so that the surface was not that good. This was solved in later poring by adding a few shovels of sand. The quality of the surface is not too much of a problem as we intend to tile the area sometime.... (when we have the money).