Beach Holidays, An Unexpected Workshop & Snippets of Melbourne

Waihi Beach

Torquay Beach

Portsea Beach

Long summer days, warm ocean temperatures & beach retreats are a perfect end to my favourite season of the year.
Today as I'm writing this it is most decidedly autumn, it's grey, it's windy & it's raining on & off. 
Fortunately it's not cold.
Our days are shorter, now that daylight saving has ended.
It's a cyclical thing & let's face it, not unexpected.

March to April went like this:
Beach Retreat >> recovery at home >> 5 days filled with family >> recovery at home >> Holiday with family & friends in Australia >> recovery at home

woah ! that didn't leave much time for anything else really did it.

Nevertheless at the end of March I was able to attend a workshop which covered hand printing techniques you can do at home.
​I was going to write a post about it but actually can't be bothered ! Not because I didn't enjoy it nor that I didn't learn anything new, nor that it didn't spark a few ideas of things I want to try because it did do all of those things however I was kinda hoping it would draw a few things together & until that happens I have to let it simmer.

Instead, let me give you some snippets of Australia:

• it's an easy & interesting drive from Melbourne airport to Bendigo
• we saw amazing outcrops of granite around the Harcourt area
• Harcourt is, these days, better known for growing apples
• we also saw more dead kangaroos, presumably victims of roadkill, on the drive to & from Bendigo than I have ever seen before travelling around other parts of Australia - apparently this is usual 
• ‘history’ of  Bendigo & surrounds ‘begins’ at the arrival of Europeans !
• there are many old, elaborate buildings which speak of there having been lots & lots of money in the area - in the past anyway 
• there is a 'high grade, low cost' underground gold mine located 20km from the city of Bendigo 

Sandhurst Gaol

Castlemaine Gaol

• there are also many jails/gaols; some very old & some very new  
• Castlemaine Gaol was opened in 1860 & closed in 1990 !
• Sandhurst Gaol, in Bendigo, was built in approximately 1851, records suggest it was working in 1857, & closed in 2006 !
• Sandhurst gaol has been converted into a theatre called Ulumbarra & there are 2 scar trees sited at the main entrance
• Old Castlemaine Jail is sited up on a hill & probably has the best view of the entire town 
• we were introduced to ‘prison eggs’
• I didn’t cook at all ! & at my cousin's place I didn’t even think about doing anything - nor did I do anything even vaguely houseworky - it was AMAZING  ​

sunset view from our cabin

Surfside Cabin #1

Torquay Beach

• it cost more to stay 1 night in a cabin in a caravan park in Torquay than for 1 night in the hotel in Melbourne
• it was beautiful cabin in a beautiful caravan park beside a beautiful ocean & i would happily stay there again
• Great Ocean Road starts, or ends depending on which direction you're travelling, at Torquay 

Victoria Bight

View from Queenscliff Ferry Terminal

Queenscliff to Sorrento Ferry

• we were the youngest people in Queenscliff by at least 20 years - maybe 30 even
• the car ferry ride from Queenscliff to Sorrento was superb, loading & unloading the car was seamless & skilfully managed & the views picturesque
• Portsea is so flat we walked 4.3km, 6,223 steps, 0 floors 
• the ocean temp, at 18 degrees C, in Torquay & Portsea was colder than at home

view looking from one window (Albert Park)

it's a city

view from the other window lol

• we walked an average of 4.4 kilometres each day we were away (5.6 km/day in April)
• we stayed beside the botanic gardens so easy to get to anywhere we wanted to be
• eating out in Melbourne is great & easily accessible with superb quality produce & excellent flavours
• i now look old enough that people offer me a seat on the trams 
• people make eye contact & smile  
• i love Australia