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.

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.

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

Tamboritha 06 - 1st trip

It's almost a week since I've got the moment or ten that it takes to write a post. I have been to Tamboritha and it was great. We rode horses up past Licola and walked, as well of spending lots of time laughing and eating and just being away from it all. It was great. I enjoyed sitting in the creek in this video, whilst the water rushed by, however much slower and lower than it has been in the past. It is dry up there. As we walked across the snow plains there was very little squelch that makes it a big challenge. I love it up there though.
It is so refreshing to be away from it all. We had heaps of laughs and challenges and always when I return to school, it is tough.

Sculptures at Botanical Garden, Ballarat

When I was at Ballarat on the weekend we visited the Botanical Gardens and I got lots of little clips of the sculptures and statues there. I was really saddened by the ones that had to be housed in the greenhouse building and had been vandalised. I don't understand why people would destroy public property that is so beautiful and a gift for everyone. This photo may need to be enlarged to read the history of the statues. I will be adding to the revver collection of Ballarat Sculptures so if you are interested check back.

Museum Trip

I went to the museum on Tuesday, as I said a couple of posts ago. Here is my favourite couple of pictures. I love the red flying horse. I think it is a symbol for a petrol company or something, but it is too beautiful to be that. I think my Uncle Jack used to have a petrol station with the flying horse symbol too, so that could be another reason why I have such a fond feeling about it.

There was also this cute model 'Mr Whippy'. How real does this photo look though? But I swear the model is quite small.

I also loved the Windmills

Auntie Angela

An amazing coincidence today, the very same person I was referring to in my last post, came to visit. I looked up my planner and her name was there. I remembered I was intending to take my daughter to Echuca to visit Angela this mid-term break but had forgotten about it.Joh Blogs: Camping on the banks of the Murray
We were obviously in one another's orbits!

Power

We are off on our holiday tomorrow. So today is about packing up everything to go. We were meant to go yesterday but I spent the day trying to work out the power problem with my home.
We apparently have a shortage of electricians so I was unable to get one yesterday. It was probably a good thing though because I don't charge as much as they do and I was eventually able to work out the problem and fix it by removing a lightglobe and not using any power in that room. Today I might experiment more with using other appliances in that room so I can ensure it is the particular thing I thought it was. At least I saved myself another bill. It was a waste of a day though and quite stressful.
I had imagined all kinds of scenarios involving needing to get the house rewired and felt quite distressed about it all in the end.
Anyway, now I guess I will get back to my lists of what to take away. We are going to Loch Sport. I don't remember ever having gone there before. I am looking forward to getting away. I still have a slight cold, but am feeling better every day now. I need to change my habits back to healthier ones.
I haven't been exercising at all lately or any other healthy things!

Motorbike Ride

Today I went on the back of the bike with Andy. I haven't been on the back with Andy before. It was a thrill for me. We went to the supermarket. My exciting trip to Safeway!
I have only ever been on the back of a motorbike twice before. The first time was with my friend Steve, and he was trying to scare me and he did. I am ashamed to say I lost my moccasins that's how scary it was. Yes, it is the part about wearing moccasins that shames me. My next ride was around Berwick with my friend John. That ride was at night and it was to the shop, around the block. It was a big bike and I trusted John. It was probably about 20 years later.
Anyway today was only a little ride, but it was fun. Andy's bike is a dirt/road bike so it is smaller and bouncier. I enjoyed it. I was walking around the supermarket with a big grin on my face. I am pretty scared of motorbikes though. I just didn't think too much about it today.

Watch a clip

I found this new site today called Revver. You can upload little video's that you have taken on it and if anyone watches them and then clicks on the ads on the end, you get paid. This is probably not going to make you a fortune but the thing is that you can put your clips on there and share them. It is pretty cool I reckon. I have put one of the Road to Broken Hill that I took when we went on our holiday. It's pretty basic. It will be interesting to see what the process is like though. Last I checked it had 10 views. I find this kind of thing quite amazing to be honest.

Letter from Broken Hill

I got a letter and a gift of a book of poems from Broken Hill on Friday. The letter was from Marj, the lovely lady who was the caretaker of the house we rented. She gave me the recipe for the delicious jam drops she made for us when we arrived at "Hydrangea Cottage". It was a fabulous place to stay and I would recommend it to anyone intending on visiting Broken Hill.
I made the jam drops today and they are delicious. Just like Marj's! They were a little larger than hers though cause I had no idea how much they would grow in the oven, but next time I make them, they will be better. I was pleased with myself.
I got all the housework done and feel organised enough to return to work tomorrow.

Suburbia!

Went to Melbourne yesterday, not the city, the suburbs. We had errands to do in a couple of places and I found it to be similar to my previous experiences. Unpleasant! I am always pleased when I return home. Traralgon is getting busier, traffic wise and growth is expanding in all directions housing wise, but it is still a much prettier place.
Perhaps it was because it was a Monday, but it seemed depressing. The big shopping centres seemed falsely bright and glitzy. I really don't like shopping centres. I don't like the lack of natural light and air to breathe. I left the centres at both suburbs and walked around the CBD's and found them to be very depressing. Abandoned shops and grimy streets with too much noise and traffic. People rushing by with no feel of community, but perhaps it is just because I can't walk 500 metres in Traralgon without seeing a student or someone I know. That sometimes seems tiresome, but I appreciate it more after yesterday. People in rural parts stop and talk to one another, smile and give you eye contact. It's pleasant.

Above the clouds

Our last camping night was spent above the clouds at the Mt Skene lookout. I was so tired from the fear and supressed rage of the day that I retired to the tent before the sun left the sky. I am glad I took this photo of the wildflowers and the tops of the hills or I may have missed the beauty of the place entirely.

Camping on the banks of the Murray

One of my favorite stops on the trip home was on the Murray. I loved going for a swim in the evening and in the morning. It was warm when we stopped at Echuca. It was delicious.

I was amazed at the number of people in all different kinds of boats using the Murray. We stayed at Picnic Point, NSW, one night and then camped at the banks at Echuca. They were both great.

Got to visit Auntie Angela and Uncle John whilst I was there who both provide accomodation in Echuca. There places are great, but naturally booked out at this time of the year so I didn't even try them, visited them the morning later.
I do worry about the Murray though, we seem to use it so much, I just hope it can be kept healthy and flowing because it is such a provider to that part of the world.

Murals

Broken Hill has heaps of murals painted on the walls of plenty of buildings. They show all different aspects of the Hill as the locals call it.

Broken Hill & Women

There was a wonderful woman who looked after us when we stayed at Broken Hill. She told me when she arrived she was the first woman to get a job at the previously male dominated club there.
Married women were not able to work, the theory was this would retain jobs for single women and naturally it would retain the male as breadwinner in the family.
This memorial in the picture is in the middle of the outdoor shopping mall in Broken Hill. I liked it.

Living Desert

Living Desert Sculpture Park

The sunrise was definately the time to go. The place has amazing 180 degree views. Andy has much better photo's than mine so I will frame one of his.

We always manage to get up for one sunrise on our holidays. It really is the best time to take photo's and this was a great place.