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.
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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
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