Austinmer and the Grand Pacific Drive
We went to Austinmer whilst I was away. We intended to get a kebab from the shop across the road from that lovely beach. The header of this blog was taken at that beach when I had a holiday in Wollongong. I enjoyed that spot. It was very busy this visit, so we went further down the road and enjoyed a quieter beach off the main road. Lying on the beach reading and dipping into the waves each time I got to hot was how the majority of the day was spent.
We took the Grand Pacific Drive, which I had been keen to do last time I was there, yet never made it that far up. It is a great road that runs along the coastline. We also called into a few galleries, which were impressive.
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I Love Sydney
We arrived in Sydney late Thursday night and I met Darin’s parents for the first time. They were warm and welcoming. I felt immediately at home. During my stay I met friends and family and enjoyed their humour and generous hospitality. I was nervous contemplating meeting so many new people, yet I needn’t have been.
I spent one day racing around Sydney with Darin. Sydney is beautiful. We caught the ferry from just near the Rocks to Manly. I loved cruising through the harbour seeing the properties lined along the shore, as well as the iconic bridge and Opera House. I couldn’t imagine ever getting to work or school if I caught a ferry everyday. I think I would head straight to the beach.
It’s a whole new experience being here with someone who knows their way around. I’ve been to Sydney twice before. Once for a Feng Shui course in Glebe on a rainy long weekend and another time for a Karate competition with my kids. I saw very little on both trips and had no idea how great Sydney was to be honest.
We went all over Sydney and I got to eat lots of delicious things. I think the dim sims are the thing I’d like to see most here in Victoria. They are delicious, full of veges and opposed to our dim sims, taste fresh.
Darin has a similar pace as I do, he is on the move and we packed heaps into our days. Traveling there by car was also a pleasant surprise. We both made CD’s for the trip and in amongst lively discussions enjoyed listening to each other’s music. It was the most comfortable long drive I’ve had with someone to be honest. I’ve left out plenty, but I’m unpacking and relaxing into being home right now, so maybe later:-)
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The Ada Tree
Yesterday Darin and I went for a drive. We were heading for Yarra Junction to have a look around and I spotted a sign to the Ada Tree. I have always wanted to be at that old tree, so we made a detour down the dirt track, walked through the ferny rainforest and there it was. The signs say the tree is just over 300 years old. It’s huge. It’s a miracle of survival with all the logging and bushfires that have been through that area.
On the way there driving through the trees we came across a couple of patches of scarred logged land. It’s so ugly. That area was logged by my grandfather in the late 1930s and he was caught in a bushfire that was documented for an ABC website, so it is a significant area to me. I’ve heard Pa mention the Ada track in his stories of those times.
Leaving the Ada track, we took a different turn and found ourselves no longer on the way to Yarra Junction, ending up in Marysville. I have never seen such devastation from fires and I’ve been through a few fire ravaged areas. It was very sad and eerie. We took a very long way but eventually arrived at our intended destination. The day was done though, so there was not much time spent there before heading home. I think I’d had my fill of sights and adventures for the day.
It was the spring equinox yesterday in Australia.
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Fishing and Sale’s Swinging Bridge
Yesterday we took the kids fishing. Darin’s son brought his rod for the weekend and was keen. I had asked a couple of the boys at school about the local fishing spots, but I wasn’t clear about where they meant so we headed for Sale. Getting bait was the beginning of the adventure. We went to the petrol station, who sent us to the bottle shop, who sent us to a Camping shop, that was inconveniently closed. Fortunately we spotted a ‘Bait’ shop as we drove away wondering where to go.
The man in the bait shop recommended going along the river past the swinging bridge. I had a vague idea of a bridge, but no idea really about the swinging bridge. We found it and settled on the other side of it for some unsuccessful fishing. I did catch some classic expressions on the faces of the gorgeous children as they watched their rods intensely, screwed up their noses at the worms we were using for bait and reeled their rods in so rapidly the fish would have had to chase the bait to get hooked. I can’t say I was too disappointed about not catching anything personally.
We were there at the right time to see the historic swinging bridge swing open. When I pictured a swinging bridge, in my mind I was looking for a swinging in the wind kind of thing, but this was something else. A part of Gippslands local history that I had no idea about, despite having travelled down that river from the Port of Sale as a kid in my pa’s boat. I have no recollection of it. 
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12 Apostles and high heels
I’ve been away for a few days. We did the Great Ocean Road and then went on as far as Portland. I got some photos and saw some interesting things but I haven’t really unpacked, let alone got the photo’s from my camera yet. We drove a lot and had lengthy and interesting conversations. Darin is definately easy to be with.
The 12 Apostles was a surprise. I visited probably 20 years ago and the place has changed in more ways than a few of the structures falling into the water. There were helicopters buzzing over the place and it was swarming with tourists. It reminded me of visiting the penguins at Phillip Island. It could be lovely but there were just too many people there to feel that you were connecting with nature. It had more the feel of a shopping centre, crowds, frenzy and lots of camera’s clicking. We didn’t stay long.
I got some new boots last week and I was wearing them the day we left. I didn’t realise that I had neglected to put my walking boots in when I packed, so I was basically stuck with the high heeled boots and a pair of thongs. It was a little chilly for thongs, yet I did elect to wear them when we stopped at beaches, or barefoot. Walking around with high heels is something I have rarely done for a long time and I must say I have been reminded why. I walk fast, but not with heels. I don’t enjoy the noise they make and walking is not the pleasure it normally is. They look great though, so I’ll just keep them for times when there’s not much walking involved.
I’ll upload the photo’s during the week. I am halfway through my holidays now. I feel entirely relaxed and have achieved a lot on different levels in the time I’ve had. I feel really blessed to have this time and the lack of planning anything to do with it has enhanced both my efficiency and enjoyment of the time.
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First Day Back Excursion
Today we took some year 9 multimedia students to Melbourne for a workshop. They learnt about creating sound and images. The computer lab was great. They were beautifully behaved. I must say it was a gentle start to the term. I ate lunch by the Yarra in the sunshine.
I must admit to feeling a little frustration about how engaged the kids were with those cool programs. The real annoyance for me is that we have some of the programs but our IT classes are just a strain at times. Things just don’t work so easily as they should. I learnt some more myself about both teaching and the technology, so it wasn’t all bad.
Tomorrow I am actually looking forward to getting back into my classes and catching up with the students again. Naturally I enjoy the holidays, but I feel well rested and ready to resume the routines of school life.
Driving the 30 minutes to and from school today was quite enjoyable. I got to listen to my favourite music and I think it will actually be a good space in my day for some reflection.
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The Snow with Mexicans
My friend Rhonda has a couple of students from Mexico staying for a few days. She called today to say they were going to the beach for the afternoon and inviting me along. I love the beach all year round so I readily accepted the invitation casting housework and other mundane chores aside, without a thought. Then they called back and changed the excursion to Mt Baw Baw. This wasn’t quite the same for me with my aversion to cold, but hey….
We had a fabulous day! The two Mexican’s lads were great. We didn’t get up there till the afternoon so opted to toboggan instead of skiing, which I haven’t done for years….. well since I started learning to ski. It was a hoot! Two of the people in the group had never experienced the snow before. It was falling very gently when we were there.
The new road I mentioned earlier in the week makes it much easier to access Baw Baw from the Valley and I expect we will head up there for a weekend soon to have a ski. I’m so pleased because I have been reluctant to go up there after having a few drives home, tired from skiing and wishing I didn’t have to drive.
We had a great dinner together tonight and exchanged a few customs, listened to some great Mexican music, cleared up a few assumptions we had about each others countries and laughed a lot.
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Visiting Albury
I left home on Saturday morning, heading towards Albury/Wodonga, with no real idea how to get there. I can read though luckily so I just followed the signs. I was staying at my old friend Glenn’s on Saturday night and had intended to visit Kat first in Albury. I had no idea how far away it all was! I thought it was about 3 hours from my home, but no, it was 3 hours from Melbourne, so that made it a long trip. I slashed the idea of visiting Kat first and went straight to Glenn’s. He lives near Beechworth.
It was marvellous to see him after probably 6 years. We have chatted a couple of times on the phone in that period, but hadn’t seen each other for quite a while. I expected him to be married with kids based on our last conversation, but not yet. We have so many interests in common so chatted happily away about astrology, why our relationships haven’t been what we expected, dreams, learnings and memories from our shared times together. It was really enjoyable and I learnt a bit as I do around Glenn. He is very creative and his home is packed with books I’ve always wanted to read, instruments and toys I want, like telescopes and lots of projects. He was digging dirt to install some solar heating contraption when I arrived. So Glenn!
It’s very beautiful where he lives. I want to come back another time and spend a longer time, perhaps when it is a little warmer. It is so pretty though, the hills and farms, wineries, orchards along windy roads that are great to drive on. I didn’t go back on the highway as I headed to Kat in Albury.
I’m blogging from Kat’s house now, whilst she is at work. I’ve spent a great couple of days with her. We saw a beautiful film last night ‘The Painted Veil’ and we’ve eaten great food. She’s shown me the libraries, the city one as well as the Uni one, as she had to return some overdues. I remember Uni libraries – always the overdues ended up costing a weeks worth of food money when I was there! She lives in an amazing house that I really love. There are four students living here, but it is an old house that has great space and there are plenty of places that offer privacy. I really like it. It’s rainy today so I haven’t ventured out to look around as much as I intended, but I will be back!
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Pa’s Water Crisis Solution
In the last year of his life, my pa told me he’d made an appointment to see our local politician about an idea he had for solving the water problem. He told me to keep it to myself because others would say it couldn’t be done, but he’d thought it through and believed it was a viable option. He told me there was water from the Hydro scheme that was being wasted and not serving any purpose and it was possible to pump it to Victoria. He’d rang me earlier and asked the distance between two points from Tasmania to Victoria. He would occasionally phone me to get information from the Internet. He explained all the details to me, but I honestly didn’t understand half of what he was talking about.
I’d bumped into the local politician a few months later who’d told me he’d met my pa and how impressed his was that someone of his age was still coming up with ideas and trying to solve problems. I think it was one of my greatest sadnesses that I didn’t get to tell pa that as I’m sure he would have appreciated the compliment.
He was born in Tasmania and spent time there in his last few years. In April 2003, I took my kids over and we met him there. He took us to the farm he’d been born at. He showed us the site where he’d been in a train crash that had taken the life of his sister, when he was a child. He took us to her grave. I treasure that time spent with him and feel such appreciation that I was able to join him there and see his special places.
Last night I had a really vivid dream with my pa. When I woke up I had to get reorientated that he had died. This morning in the paper I read ‘Look to Tasmania for Water Answers’. He would be rapt I reckon.
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Set and Forget – Bill Paying (& son returns from Cairns)
I don’t like having to pay bills. Not just because I don’t always want to part with my money, but because it’s boring. I have most things set up to work automatically now and I probably am saving a fortune in late fees, because I would always put off looking at it.
I have just waited over 15 minutes on the phone to City Link. My etag didn’t beep last night when I went through. I noticed this because they sent me a letter this week to enquire if my device was working properly. This caused me to look up my statement. Since February I have been charged an extra 90 cents for every trip I’ve made for having no tag. I had no idea. I only really glance at the statements. Very briefly.
To more than balance that small amount lost to the City Link coffers, I found out that my school fees were in credit this week because I had forgotten to reduce the payment when my daughter left school. So that was a pleasant surprise.
I should probably pay a little more attention though.
I collected the tired young basketballers from the airport last night at 11.50. The girls had won the carnival and the boys team came around 9th. My son return with four stitches in his chin. It sounds worse than it looks though. I did offer to fly up there when he phoned for the medicare number on Tuesday night. I thought he might need me – but no, he assured me he was fine.
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