Fremantle Reflection

Jane lives near Fremantle. After a long sit at Little Creatures and a few of their lovely Pale Ales and lots of delicious food, we went for a stroll along the water. There we are reflected in the McDonalds window.

My first visit to Fremantle was in 1999 when Jane lived about a street away from this part of the world. My kids and I spent two weeks here. The beachfront here has altered. At that time my kids went to the little building on the beach on the right in this photo below and had some art lessons. They loved it.

I didn't recognise the view at first with the big modern building. I vaguely recall being told it was a Museum.

There is a lot of development going on in that part of the world. It's a shame to see the coastline getting built up with housing. I guess for the people who will live there, it will be great.

We drove past Sam's school and it's a great space. It sounds like there are some good people there too. Sam seems really fond of his integration aide and some of his teachers, which is good. I wish he was at my school, but the grounds at the school he attends are awesome.

I visited the Freo Market, mainly to check out the mosaics I remembered from my last visit. I wanted to take photo's, but the sign said 'No Photos', so I chatted to the nice man and he gave me a few tips, which I know will help a lot and a nice postcard with their website: mosaicart, there are some great photos and links to other artists on the site. Nice story too!

I love my time with Jane. This was my fourth trip to WA. I would be happy to just sit at her kitchen table and drink coffee until it was a respectable time to have red or a beer. She is one of the few people I drink with. She is such a creative soul, her home is always beautiful and interesting and I always enjoy seeing the magic she creates in her space. We have been friends for such a long time and know each others history. It is very comfortable.

Overview of Holiday, December 07

My recent trip was taken in three parts. I flew to Perth airport the day after school finished and was met by my longest friend Jane and Sam her son. I stayed with them for 4 nights, celebrating Rickie's birthday (Jane's daughter) on the Sunday.

I caught the Indian Pacific train from Perth to Adelaide over the next two days. We stopped at Kalgoorlie for 3 hours the first night, Cook for an hour or so on the second day and then just long enough for a quick ciggie at Port Augusta on the second night before arriving in Adelaide, fairly tired on the Friday morning.

I stayed at the Adelaide YHA until Monday morning when I flew back for Christmas. It was my first taste of Adelaide and I intend to return.

I will post more later with photos some of the things I enjoyed whilst I was away. I felt like I was away for more than 9 days, I think in part because of the variety of surroundings I got to experience. Interestingly it rained in both WA and SA whilst I was there. It's the first holiday I've taken on my own since I met Andy and whilst it was different not having him to share the journey with, I managed ok and was probably a lot more social than I am when travelling with others.

Updates from Out and About

I'm having a wonderful holiday and will describe with photo's when I get home.

I caught up with news about our schools VCE scores and was pleased to hear many students have enjoyed successful results. It is a challenging time for young people to be waiting for their scores.

I was delighted when I checked my emails to find that I had won the Imaginif competition for a tip about child safety. I really love the work Megan is doing on Imaginif. Child safety and well being is something I am quite passionate about.

I'm writing today from Adelaide. I arrived yesterday and experienced lots of rain, which was perfect as I was tired and felt justified having a little nap. I went shopping in the afternoon and enjoyed strolling around the streets dodging rain drops. I'm about to head off to the markets. I am catching up with a friend this afternoon.

Back Soon...

I probably won't be blogging much over the next 9 days as I will be away from home. I will tell all about my adventure when I return. I'm excited and nervous, hoping I've packed properly and completed all the important chores. I know my home is in safe hands and most things can wait.

Can't talk now...too busy...

Last Day at Work Tomorrow

My desk is clear and I have moved to my new office. I am excited about next year and the challenges and opportunities I will have in my new role at school as a Year Level Co-ordinator. I have felt very enthusiastic in my preparations. There are lots of changes and shifts at our school next year.

I have finished my mosaic table - really truly this time! I will put up a photo when I get back from my trip.

We have 3 campuses and there has been a lot of movement between them. People are leaving the school for a variety of reasons. It will be quite different next year due to all the movement.

Tomorrow will be filled mostly with celebrations. A breakfast with our campus, complete with Santa and Kris kindle/kringle (whatever!) will begin the day. Then our entire college will join for a mass and then a luncheon and the year will be completed.

I am looking forward to some time off. I need to sleep a bit more and get relaxed. I have an adventure planned and lots of little things around my home I would like to achieve.

This year has been huge. I am ready for a rest.

I'm a rssHugger

I've hugged many a tree, yet now I will find the joys of hugging a rss? This morning I read, Cerebral Mum and thought I'd join her in this new place. The benefits for bloggers are to gather more readers to your blog and for readers it's another way to find quality blogs.

Last night I completed my first draft of my reports so I can now imagine trawling through blogs to find some great reading for the holidays. This is the most exciting time for me. I love the last week of school. So much promise for holidays ahead. Celebrating the year with the kids. Life is good.

Big Day Out and holiday stuff....

Tonight I am feeling so very tired. I have to stay up or wake up to attempt to get 'Big Day Out' tickets for my son. We have a little Christmas traditional at stake here. The event has sold out in Sydney, so I need to be on it. 12.01am - is the time the tickets go on sale. Blah!

I booked some flights for my holidays last night. I'm going West to stay with Jane as soon as school closes. Well actually the next day! I'm excited. We've planned a road trip across the Nullabor, so it should be a great adventure.

My friends have been awesome lately. They are always great but I appreciate the way they have stayed in touch and showed a lot of care for me. I have been missing Andy plenty, yet can't complain because he's stayed in touch too.

So tonight, I'll be watching mega episodes of 'Gilmour Girls' and keeping up for the beginning of my Christmas shopping. Blah, it's too early really to even think about that frenzy.

BTW, Jaycee asked about gifts for teachers in a comment last month and I noticed this great post today on one of my favourite blogs Zen Habits:30 Frugal Gift Ideas to Show you appreciate Someone. I looked over the list and rather than reinvent the wheel, I reckon there's some great things listed there. Especially the homemade food stuff. I've had a few students over the years bring in homemade food for me. I've loved it every time and Christmas being what it is with extra visitors and celebrations, there's always room for extra food!

Back to School

I'm actually looking forward to returning to school. I've been a bit of a hermit these holidays and it will be good to catch up with my friends and to see the kids.

The last term is usually a very quick and frantic term and I feel quite prepared and rested and recovered from last terms pains. I am planning some trips for the next holidays because I don't think I could do another holiday totally at home like this. I have spent the last two breaks virtually at home. My home is in order now. I feel free to take off again next chance I get.

Coughing and Spluttering

I have had the full range of winter ailments this year. On this first day of the holidays I have woken with a sore chest and cough. I did enjoy a full nights sleep last night.
I am drenched with relief that it is holidays. Last term was just too full on for me personally. I need to rest, clean my home, throw out stuff and catch up on all the details of my life. I have no travel plans. I am going to get re-acquainted with my home.
I put my son on a plane yesterday to join his dad in QLD for a holiday. It will be quiet around here without him and his friends. The last two nights there have been a tangle of bodies sleeping in his room each night and lots of comings and goings and laughter. I love the kids, but honestly will appreciate a break in the traffic.
Andy is off to Tassie today. I don't know how I feel about that. Mixed I guess, is all I can say.

New Moon Tonight

Astrological
Mystic Medusa inspires me to follow the advice of my other favourite astrologer Yasmin Boland for tonight's new moon. I am going to write some intentions in my journal and light a candle at 10.05 to add some weight to my focus.
Holidays End
I am experiencing the general regret that the holidays are over and a little angst at how little I've achieved.
Learning Experience
Most school holidays I go away for a week with my significant other. We go for little local holidays in self-contained holiday houses and just get away from it all. We walk, nap, eat, watch movies, read and generally refresh ourselves. I chose not to go this holiday. I felt like I had too much to do and I'd had the flu and I just couldn't be bothered with the effort it would take to get away. I have probably achieved less than I usually do during the holidays. What was I thinking? I should have gone!

Work

Tomorrow I start back at work after the school holidays. This Easter/Autumn/first term break always goes way too quickly. I have achieved some things I set out to do and enjoyed time with my family, but as usual there are always the unfinished things that linger. Tomorrow I will have forgotten them and if they are important, I will squeeze them in during the term at some stage or else they will be there waiting for me in June, when the next holidays begin.

Films during the Easter 07 holidays

The film '300' was based on a graphic novel. I found that interesting as I brought a pile home from the school library to read. I haven't made much progress with them. There is an interesting one on Chinese Myths that I will use with the year 7's for Imperial China topic. Getting back to the film though, I really enjoyed it. It was a great heroic, action film.

Children of Men was a futuristic look at a bleak reality where no more children can be born. It was a really well done film and is one of the best I've seen lately. Great characters, particularly Jasper, played by Michael Caine.

I finally saw The Prestige on DVD these holidays. I have been longing to see it and will watch it again because it was great. I wanted to see it because of my long term facination with David Bowie and Tesla. It was also a good story with an interesting outcome.

I partially viewed the DVDs The Guardian and Memoirs of a Geisha I couldn't really get into 'The Guardian', even though I am a big fan of Kevin Costner usually. Andy loved it though. 'Memoirs' was ok but I kept getting interupted and only really partially saw it after restarting it three times and now I can't be bothered with it. Not meant to be!

The real dissappointment for the holidays was the Australian film Boytown. It was corny and terrible. I guess it was the subject matter of a boy band that killed it. I usually enjoy Glenn Robbins and Mick Molloy, but think this movie was pushing it a lot of the time.

Williamstown

Whilst I was in Melbourne, I visited Williamstown for an afternoon. It was busy, yet the landscape and housing are quite different from other areas of inner city Melbourne. This is a little video I took from the point.

Montsalvat

I have just returned last night from a holiday in suburban Melbourne. I stayed with my daughter for a week. I totally enjoyed her company and had a look around the area she is now living. I took her to Monsalvat one day. I used to go there when I lived in the burbs and wanted to feel like I didn't. It has changed in some ways and become more developed. There is a restaurant and you pay to enter. I enjoyed the visit although it was different to the solo trips I once treasured.

There was some great landscapes in the Long Gallery. If you haven't ever been to Montsalvat, you should check out the link. It is Australia's Oldest Artist Community.

There were peacocks there. It seemed the Easter thing to do since I had just been contemplating that.

Trip to Wollongong - Final thoughts

I learnt I am very afraid of heights on the trip. I am getting worse. Andy, in one of his amusing moments took a rather unflattering clip of me getting down from a monument that I had climbed thinking I could get a better shot. I suddenly felt overwhelmed by fear. You won't find this video, because it hasn't been put online. This horrible 'fear of heights' feeling came along several times during the trip, particularly on the 'Suggan Buggan' road and some of the lookouts.

I learnt that I prefer to stay a while in places rather than pass quickly through. We usually spend a week at a place we holiday to and I found this website today Slow Travel, and I totally agree it is the best way. I guess when we visited Broken Hill last year for a week and traveled to and from taking a week either way, it was the same. The most enjoyable part is the week long stay at the destination. We think we will spend a couple of weeks next year in the one spot rather than spend as much time travelling. We do like to take roads off the beaten track though, which takes longer. I thoroughly agree with the concept of 'slow travel' though. You need time in a place to appreciate it and to really relax there.

I learnt that I prefer smaller places and larger accomodation. I need to get fitter and healthier to continue to enjoy walking and camping. Wollongong was a beautiful place. It was not the industrial city I had thought it was.

I really enjoyed Andy's company and appreciate the care and planning he puts into these trips. I wouldn't see a quarter of the marvellous thing I get to see without him.

The coast is so populated. I was quite astonished by this. The price of real estate is high along the coast.

Trip to Wollongong - Laughs

This photo was taken at Tilba and I immediately conjured in my mind a toothless old guy searching the road for his teeth.

There were plenty of laughs! The things I remember most about the adventures I have in my life are the laughs often. Andy, the love of my life and travelling companion provided most of them.

When we drove through the little hamlet of 'Suggan Buggan' we passed this little cottage with a family sitting out on the veranda and he dared me to go ask them where McDonalds was.

When we arrived in Jindabyne, we were having a coffee and a police car pulled up, we had just watched the movie 'Jindabyne' before we left and he 'dared' me to ask the police man if they'd caught the murderer yet. When we passed the service station that had featured in the movie, he dared me to ask if Gabrielle Byrne was in.

At Kiama, on the way home a kid was leaning on his shorter brother in front of me. Andy dared me to lean on him. At one of the caravan parks we stayed at there was live music. It wasn't really the bonus they had advertised and Andy dared me to go and ask them to turn it down.

He watches too much Ed.

Wollongong - Returning along the Coast

We spent 8 days travelling down the coast to return home. The beaches were all great and the names have blurred in my memory as it was one after another. We ran out of time to stop at every beach, I think you could take 6 months to make that trip. The coast was also much busier than I expected. The cost of real estate was much higher. There were no sleepy little places. I was longing for one at times as the traffic and crowds distract a bit from the natural beauty of these great places. I am a part of the traffic and the crowd though, so I guess I can't complain.

We spent time in Kiama and checked out the blowhole, and the lookout. We spent our first night there. The next day Andy bought a boogie board and we began looking for appropriate surf for him to 'boogie'. There were so many places I liked and the names I can remember were Mollymook, Jervis Bay, Ulladulla, Husskisson and Stony Beach. There were some great National Parks in among those places also.

I never take as many photo's or clips in the last week. I suppose I get a bit tired of being away from home. We camped a lot also and so didn't always set up the laptop and 'do the photo thing', so it all becomes a blur.

We joined the YHA in Merimbula and stayed there for an enjoyable night. It was awesome to have a massive and well equiped kitchen to cook in. We camped at Narooma and Mallacoota, and a place where this photo was taken. I couldn't believe this caravan park, almost every boat owner seemed to have an old tractor to tow it to the boat ramp. Caravan Parks are like little settlements. People are there for the duration and set up these homes away from home. Some of them looked more permanent and well organised than my home. They each have their own cultures. I personally prefered the ones that didn't have signs telling you what to do and had spacious showers with enough hooks. It's funny the little things that make a difference when you are away from home.

I liked these murals on the side of the public toilet and was impressed that they were so clean and the place they were I can't recall the name of, so if you recognise it I would appreciate you letting me know, because it was my favourite place. The vegetarian cafe there also had this awesome picture for sale and I would have loved it. It was a collage made from sea urchins and star shaped shells. The other thing I really liked about this place was at the beach there were a lot of older people surfing. It was great to see these fit, happy people pull up in the work ute and indulge in a spot of surfing.

I didn't really interact with people, but I did notice how polite and happy people were in the general public. Whilst walking around these places, very few people passed without a cheery 'gidday' paired with a wide open smile. I guess that is what holidays do for us.


Surfers at Mollymook
Kiama Lookout
Pirate Cove

All Wollongong Trip Videos in Revver Collection

Wollongong

We stayed in Wollongong for a week. Our accommodation was basic but central. We stayed at Keiraview Accommodation. It is university accommodation and it was clean and the people were really very helpful. It was really noisy at night,I am not accustomed to being inner city any more.
Wollongong is a large city with a beautiful beach basically. I loved the rock pools and the beach. The shopping centre was as all shopping centres are, only useful if you want to purchase something. My favourite shop was called "Something for Doris", such a cool name and a nice lady. I didn't purchase anything there, but enjoyed my browse.
The art gallery was good, but I was looking specifically for my cousin's artwork, I had hoped his collection would be on show, but it wasn't, so I was a little disappointed in that. There were some really cool rooms inside that building. There was a great supermarket across the road from the place we stayed and I bought lotus moon cakes and ate them for breakfast. I liked them.

Port
Rock Profile
Balcony at Keiraview
Beach

Wollongong Trip - Omeo to Jindabyne

At Bairnsdale we found there was no accommodation as the DNRE (Department of Natural Resources & Environment) and the CFA (Country Fire Authority) were in town en masse. We moved on towards Bruthen and finding nothing there either, headed for Omeo. The road was splendid in the afternoon sun and I enjoyed the drive in that open golden light. Gentle, rolling, hills, clear, smokeless sky and bitumen underneath was a respite from concern for me.

Omeo is a beautiful town. I found it quite a surprise. Nestled in these smooth, brown hills with clean distinctive buildings, we found a unique and effective accommodation for the night and enjoyed our brief time there.
Does anyone know what this amazing plant is?
There were lovely plants and I got up early and had breakfast in the local bakery surrounded by CFA brave souls who had also filled that town to protect from the surrounding fires. I read that Omeo had been severely affected by fires in 2003. There were posters on the wall describing the effects of a great firestorm that had ravished the area and then the flooding rains that followed had created harmful environmental consequences as unprotected topsoil had washed into the water supply.
From Omeo we headed towards Jindabyne on an amazing road that passed along the Snowy River. The road that passes through Suggan Buggan is one that has to be experienced to be believed. It is a slender dirt road that winds along a cliff that looks out onto vast treed ranges. There is no room for error on those roads. We stopped at one point to take photos after a few kms, and a weary driver stopped to warn that it seemed to go on forever, he looked tired and concerned and wanted to know how much further he had to go on this road. He had traveled from Queensland and was heading towards Tasmania. I had already began to feel queasy from the height and his stress made a deposit in my mind! Andy remained his usual calm self and loves the challenge and adventure of roads like that.
Entering Jindabyne was majestic. The lake is vast and it is surrounded by mountains. It is quite a big place really although much of the commercial nature was subdued as it was summer and it is the snow that draws the crowds in places like that. We attempted to get a spot at the caravan park, yet it was booked out. We searched for landmarks from the film we had recently seen, ‘Jindabyne’(which I loved and will possibly write about later). We stayed at a ski lodge and it began raining and we were glad we weren’t in the tent.
Road to Omeo
A glimpse of Omeo
The Lookout

Interesting Dirt Road just out of Omeo
Suggan Buggan Road (beginning)

Trip to Wollongong #1

We took almost a week to arrive in Wollongong on the 1st of this year. We experienced a range of weather. We left the smoky Latrobe Valley on December 27th, although we had intended leaving on Boxing Day, we were delayed by a day. Heading towards the hills, literally, we passed through Seaton on our path towards the ranges. Many of our planned routes were closed due to the bushfires that were burning and we saw lots of smoke and burnt out areas.
Our first night was spent at a delightful creek where we had our first swim. It felt invigorating to wash off the dusty, smoky aura that had surrounded me. The chill of the river water had me breathing deeply.
We camped here for the night. I must admit I felt nervous as I could hear in the distance trees falling in the bush. I heard 3 or 4 and that was enough for me. At some point during the night gentle rain fell on the tent and this soothed my fears enabling me to sleep deeply.
The next day we headed back on the dirty, churned up 4WD track heading across a river crossing first then up a hill. The road had been graded, probably due to the fires and we had some difficulty with it. We headed towards our planned route towards Mt Angus, hoping to make the Moroka River that night. The road became totally impassable with huge trees blocking the road entirely. We found another path, and from there we headed to Bairnsdale with the intention of staying in a motel and revisiting the route from there. We were tired. It had been challenging. My challenge was fear. I was apprehensive about the fires and the roads and the heights, Andy had to do all the decision making and concentration on driving. The road was the worst we had traveled on and the car, hit rocks underneath on two occasions, once causing damage that he had to repair. I am pretty blessed to have such a competent companion.
The video links below are of the creek we camped by and the roads and countryside we travelled through on that first day.


Rough Road
Creek
Burnt Bush