Australian Adventure – Day 20 – Boxing Day

2013-12-26 | puppy1952

This morning the cousins came round for a few hours before they all had to go their various ways and once again it was great to chat and have fun with them. Terry and Marie also popped in to exchange Christmas wishes and gifts.

Once all our visitor had dispersed we hopped into Colette’s car and she took us on a grand tour. Boats, sea, lakes and boats – oh yes and boats were on the top of Earl’s wish list. First stop was Toronto Marina. The café overlooked the lake so we had a coffee there before continuing our scenic tour.

Toronto Marina’ s Jetty

The Marina

A small boat about to launch

The Coffee Café

The neighbourhoods through which we drove were fabulous. Many of the residents were two boat rather than two car families. Even without a boat they enjoyed amazing views and close proximity to the water.

We stopped to look at the R.A.A.F Rathmines Catelina Memorial which was built in 1972 to commemorate all those in the R.A.A.F. who served on the flying boats at Catelina. We walked around the beautiful park area and were amazed that on boxing day so few people were making use of the facilities. This is probably because there are just so many places like this – Imagine no parking problems, no crowds, no litter!

The Memorial

Free Electric Barbie – only in Australia!

Remember – It’s Boxing Day – and this park is next to a lake -Think Lakeside Western Cape?

As we drove on a little further Colette slammed on breaks to avoid a tiny masked lapwing chick. The parent went crazy when I hopped out of the car and it immediately hid under some plants. When I got back into the car it popped out again and we were able to get some shots.

Masked Lapwing trying to distract us from the baby

Lapwing Chick

The View from Fishing Point East to the sea

At Arcadia Vale people were enjoying paddling in boats and playing on rubber rafts. It’s an idyllic spot and we saw pelicans flying over, a heron on the bank and pink and grey galahs pecking for food on the lawns.

Arcadia Vale

A little further on we found a pair of Australian Wood-duck making a pretty picture in a puddle.

Ducks in a puddle

It was getting late by the time we arrived at Wangi Wangi Forefront so we decided to have supper at the Workers’ Club which had a wonderful view of the lake and the boats on the Marina. We took a walk first and found some birds.

Willie Wagtail

Crimson Rosella

Paradise for Earl

The homes who always have this view

After a delicious and inexpensive meal we went to Morisset Park – famous for its free-roaming Kangaroos. Because of daylight saving it is light till 9 o’clock so we managed to get some good photographs It was just so amazing to see so many of these marsupials with their joeys. I was so amused by the way they lie as if relaxing on the beach!

There were hundreds of them

A Father Roo watches over his mob

Mom and joey

Is the milk bar open?

To end our tour we went past some houses beautifully lit up for Christmas.

Australian Adventure – Day 19 – Christmas Day

2013-12-25 | puppy1952

So many Christmases have gone by since my childhood. Christmas was always celebrated with a huge extended family with traditions that changed and adapted with each generation. What never changed was the Toast to Absent Friends and Family. Celebrating Christmas today with the ‘absent’ family that we always toasted was very special indeed. On only three other occasions have I celebrated with them before. When the cousins were 3 6 and 9 they sailed from Sydney to Cape Town so their Mom could finally introduce them to their South African family and they stayed for 3 months over the summer season. Wayne returned when he was 21 and had Christmas with us and then Earl and I came over 15 years ago. The family of course has grown – there are wives and children now and what a pleasure it has been to meet and celebrate with them all.

We started our day with present opening at Grandma’s house. Tea and Mince Pies were served and at midday we went to the RSL Club for our Christmas dinner. It was wonderful – I’ve never eaten seafood for Christmas lunch before. An array of fresh oysters, mussels, prawns, calamari etc. was on offer as well as a variety of roasts and other hot food. And the desserts were to die for. We could just help ourselves to as much or as little as we wanted.

Sophie ready for Christmas

Ella, Alexander and Jack ready to open gifts

Wayne, Helen, Bruce

Adelaide delighted with her gift

This one is pretty cool too

Just what I’ve always wanted for Australia!

The girls loved their African Necklaces

Tamara’ matched what she was wearing

Lovely Alison

Grandma got me this neat camp chair

Visit us in Cape Town soon, please Ella

Wayne

Nana (Colette) and Wayne

Alison and Kath

Adelaide in her beautiful Christmas Dinner dress

Prawns for Christmas

Delicious

The bad news is – Earl had a bit of a reaction to something he ate – he was the only one so far – hopefully nobody else is affected. I am happy to say that he is fine now!

Merry Christmas everybody!

Australian Adventure – Day 18 – Christmas Eve

2013-12-24 | puppy1952

The intention was to have a chilled day at home today. And chilled it was although some unexpected things happened. It rained most of the day which cooled things down but one could hardly call the weather cold!

Earl is not one to sit still for long so went off to take Sophie for a walk. There is a little creek nearby and he was soon back telling me to bring binoculars and camera as he’d heard a coucal. Before heading back he checked the bird book to see what the Australian version looked like. It is called a pheasant coucal and its head, neck and body are black while the feathers on wings and back are chestnut. The tail is very long. We didn’t spot it at first but then I saw it on the grassy river bank but it flew into the trees before I could snap him. I did, however, manage to get some other birds the highlight being the buff-banded rail The soldier bird is common enough but I liked this photo of him feeding upside down. Another first for us was a Koel – we got a poor photograph of the female. Later in the day I finally managed to get a few shots of the Rainbow Lorikeet.

Buff-banded Rail

Soldier Bird

Eastern Koel

Rainbow Lorikeet

Bruce, Kath and Ella arrived around lunch time and later Wayne and his three kids, Jack, Alexander and Adelaide. Tamara will be coming up later by train as she had to work on Christmas Eve.

We had a great time catching up and it was so good to meet the kids! They all came back again in for a light supper prepared by Colette – fantastic salads, ham and corned beef followed by Christmas pudding.

Ella Adelaide and Alexander

Bruce and Ella getting into the Christmas Spirit

Enjoying Supper

Kath and Bruce

Jack and Earl

Tomorrow everyone will arrive after breakfast for present opening and then it will be off to The Club for Christmas Lunch. Have a great day everyone.

Australian Adventure – Day 17 – Newcastle

2013-12-23 | puppy1952

After experiencing cool and sometimes cold weather in Victoria and Tasmania we have returned to Cardiff to very hot and humid conditions! It is very much like the climate in Durban, KZN, in South Africa and as we often visit KZN we are used to this kind of heat in summer.

We had a relaxing morning until just after 10 and then went shopping with aunt. I needed to get a ‘dongle’, Earl needed a barber and he also wanted to check our the Australian Woolworths. The barber quickly put his ‘hair’ to rights, I got the Dongle from the Post Office shop and after one or two hiccups with MTN and Telstra clashing with each other I am now have the internet up and running on my laptop.

We then drove to Newcastle to drop off the hired car and to deliver a parcel. (Marilyn we found Brad with ease – mission accomplished). A pleasant morning was then spent exploring the waterfront and beaches of Newcastle. Earl’s boat and water fetish was well catered for. We started with a walk along Queen’s Warf, watched a ship being pushed out by tugs, climbed the observation dome and got magnificent views of the surroundings. We had a drink on the deck of one of the many eateries and then went to put our feet into the Pacific Ocean. At Nobby’s Beach I threw a coin over my shoulder, into the sea and yelled “Marilyn will be back!” fulfilling my promise to her that I would declare this on her behalf! Marilyn has visited Australia seven times and loves this wonderful land. She is soon to retire and wants very much to come back. Marilyn – I know your dream will come true.

We were amused to hear a warning to bathers coming over the public address system at the beach – “Will those bathers over there please make their way back to the area between the flags. This is for your own safety as it is the only area monitored by the life guards!” The beaches were lovely – and not overly crowded. It’s a pity we left our costumes at home – but we will be visiting beaches closer to home soon.

Bird of the day captured in the garden – Topknot Pigeon

Queen’s Warf

Aunt and me on Queen’s Wharf

A smart eatery on Queen’s Wharf

The Ferry

View from the Viewing Dome

A drink on the deck

Nobby’s Beach – “Marilyn will be back!”

Dolphins in the Bay

Newcastle Beach

Australian Surfers

We are being so well taken care of here with Leonie and Colette. They are treating us with so much love and hospitality and we are having the time of our lives. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and the cousins will be arriving in Cardiff for the holidays. Looking forward to seeing them all.

Australian Adventure – Day 15 – Cradle Mountain to Hobart via Strahn and Queenstown

2013-12-22 | puppy1952

It was freezing when we woke up and I didn’t want to leave the cosiness of my bed to get to the bathroom. But we had a long drive today so I braved the chill, packed up and persuaded the almost naked chef to cook us an ‘Early’ breakfast which of course he did to perfection

As it was our last full day in Tasmania we wanted to make the most of it and Earl was keen on seeing the West Coast town of Strahn. Everybody had told us that the West side of the island was boring and not to bother with it. But we were blown away. The mountain passes were spectacular and once again we passed through tiny and interesting villages, eateries in remote places, rivers, lakes, trees, interesting vegetation and of course the occasional interesting bird! We also drove through the copper mining town of Queenstown and over the incredibly scary mountain pass but the spectacular views made the journey all the more entertaining.

We left at 8:30 in the morning and did an average speed of 45km per hour arriving in Hobart at 7:00 pm. We stopped frequently and now that the road trip is over feel we’ve really taken in almost the whole of Tasmania!

Originally we were to fly from Hobart to Melbourne and then get a connecting flight to New Castle on the same day. Before we left Discover Australia changed this as the flight to New Castle was cancelled so we were booked on a flight the next morning necessitating a stay in a hotel in Melbourne. At the last minute we decided to ditch those bookings, get a flight to Sydney and then hire a car and drive to Cardiff. Now that I am sitting comfortably with a glass of excellent Australian Sauvignon Blanc in my aunt’s home I am delighted that we made that choice. It was a fabulous trip but another day of travelling would just have spoilt it all.

I am posting the photographs which I fear will not do justice to the amazing experience we had while taking them. But I shall let them do their best to give you an idea of what Tasmania has to offer.

One of the amazing rivers we crossed

Passing through a village near Cradle Mountain we found this teddy bear house – we went in for a gold coin donation and were blown away by the amazing home made teddies

Earl couldn’t get enough of the boats at Strahn

More Boats

We had lunch at this restuarant. I took out a R100 not and showed Aunt how similar it looked to a $10 note - same colour. A man came over and asked - Is that S.A. money - Please may I swap it for Australian because I will visit South Africa one. I got $10 Aussie dollars of it!

We had lunch at this restuarant. I took out a R100 note and showed Aunt how similar it looked to a $10 note – same colour. A man came over and asked – Is that S.A. money – Please may I swap it for an Australian note because I will visit South Africa one day. I got 10 Aussie dollars of it!

Old railway station

Old Railway Engine

The Police Station amused us!

Two female Superb Fairywrens

European Goldfinch

Yellow-throated honeyeater

We saw a few of these Tasmanian Native-hens along the side of the road but when we stopped they disappeared very quickly. We managed to get this one and some friends because they were quite far from the road although they too vanished as soon as they realised we were watching them.

Another pair before they scurried away – they are flightless but run fast

The wild flowers were beautiful

Copper Mine Equipment in Queenstown

Mountain Pass

Copper Mountains

Back in Hobart

Dinner at The Loft Bistro – Wrest Point Hotel

Delicious Dessert

Today was spent travelling so not much to report other than it was great to get back to Aunt’s home where Colette had prepared a lovely supper for us and we could just relax and let the past two weeks sink in. What a privilege to have taken that amazing road trip.

Australian Adventure – Day 14 – Launceston to Cradle Mountain

2013-12-21 | puppy1952

Apologies for not posting last night but there was no internet connection at Cradle Mountain unless you paid an exorbitant fee and then only got 15 minutes!

20 December 2013
Today we made our way by the scenic route to Cradle Mountain. We were once again stunned by the beauty of Tasmania. We crossed many scenic rivers and had to stop at each one so that Earl could see whether there were any trout or bass leaping up. Sometimes there were and we had to restrain him from throwing a line in as time was of the essence.

Goodbye to The Tamar River – Launceston

One of the many stunning rivers we crossed en route

We visited a little village called Exeter where we filled up with fuel and surprise-surprise – a white man came out to help us fill up. Aunt said that was a first for her in Australia! Perhaps he smelt that we were from South Africa.

Even in Australia help is at hand

I enquired at the bakery as to whether they served breakfast and this was answered in the negative – nowhere in the village would we find a breakfast serving restaurant but she would give us ham and cheese croissants and coffee – so that is what we had!

The Bakery at Exeter

We took a wrong turn and found a beautiful little Methodist Church and cemetery on the Supply River. It had an interesting history having been started after a man dying in the bush requested the services of a minister. A certain Thomas Travers took a hazardous journey to bring Reverend TB Harris back to minister to him. After this it was decided to build a small church and have services there. It dates back to 1857.

The Supply River Methodist Church

The rest of the trip was scenic taking us over rivers and through beautiful forests and into beautiful mountains. We arrived at Cradle Mountain expecting a Villa but found a rustic cottage that highly amused us.

Our Grand Villa

We were in the middle of the bush

Facilities were limited here and we had to shop in a tiny grocery store belonging to a different establishment. They would not sell us beers as it transgressed their licence agreement. We bought frozen lasagne, ice creams and tomatoes as well as breakfast supplies. For supper we used up our salad stuff and had a very pleasant meal – It saved us having to go to the very expensive restaurant!
We did not go into the ‘wild life’ reserve as the cost was ridiculous – $60 per vehicle and a chance of having to wait as it was already oversubscribed with people. This would cover a 10 minute drive to the lake where we thought we might see water birds. We figured that we’d seen all the possible Australian animals that it would have and in here they are hardly ‘wild’. Earlier in the day we stopped at a wild life park that charged $ 22 to walk in to see animals in enclosures. When I refused to pay explaining that I wanted to see animals in their natural habitat the assistant was highly upset. She said – we can’t let our Devils roam wild because they are endangered. I didn’t argue – simply told her that in S.A. we let our endangered animals roam free. I explained that we’d already seen the same animals at Healesville and paying $22 each to see them again was not within our budget! She seemed not to understand the concept of free roaming and letting animals find and hunt their own food.
In the rest camp (for want of a better word) a paddy melon came right to our cottage and posed for us. This was better than seeing one in an enclosure. Our room brochure told us it was fine to feed the visiting animals fruit but not bread. Really – Australians have a lot to learn about setting their wildlife free!

The wildlife came visiting in the form of this paddy melon

We were also pleased to get a photo of a Yellow Rosella

We stayed just one night at Cradle Mountain. It rained in the afternoon and was very cold that night. This morning Earl cooked us one of his inimitable breakfasts before we set off back to Hobart where we are presently. It is late now so I will only post Day 15 tomorrow night. We fly to Melbourne tomorrow, spend a night there and then it’s back to New Castle/Cardiff.

Australian Adventure – Day 13 – Swansea to Launceston

2013-12-19 | puppy1952

Our route today gave us more splendid mountain, lake and sea views. Bicheno promised to provide a blow-hole experience but it was rather disappointing although the rock formations there were interesting.

Fabulous Rocks

The Australians love growing Proteas which do well in Tasmania

Crayfishing at Bicheno

Earl wanted to visit St Helen’s famous for its fishing and boating and we stopped here for a while. It gave him plenty to be enthralled and horrified over. It seems that the Australian boating and fishing skills are not up to the level of the South Africans. That of course is a subjective view and as I know very little about how it should be done I shall just let Earl’s photographs speak to you.

St Helen’s is a fisherman’s paradise

This fishing boat has been converted into a restaurant

Boat boats and more boats

All kinds of boats

Crayfishing season is open

Fish Shop is Open

Pink and Grey Galahs posed beautifully for us

Birds always attract our attention and en route we were pleased to spot a kookaburra and a pallid cuckoo perched on the overhead wires. Both obliged by not flying away as I clicked the camera. I have been very keen see the native-hen which is supposed to be common here in Tasmania – and guess what – about five of them appeared on the side of the road but unfortunately did not stick around for a photograph. Try as we might we could not find where they had managed to hide.

kookaburra

Pallid Cuckoo

We also passed through beautiful farmland and the twisty forested mountain passes were impressive. We stopped at a quaint tin mining village of Derby that seemed to have been frozen in time and reminded me a bit of Elim in the Western Cape. Here, there were a few businesses like gift shops and coffee shops but not many were open. The schoolhouse museum grabbed my interest but unfortunately that too was closed. We were amused by a rock that was painted to look like a fish just outside the village.

Town Hall Derby

Post Office

Fishy Rock

Scenic Drive

– Beautiful tree ferns

Launceston is quite a big town and we are staying at a Quest Hotel – self catering units. We decided to eat out tonight and at The Indian Empire we had stunning curries!

Australian Adventure – Day 12 – Freycinet National Park

2013-12-18 | puppy1952

My senses had an overload of beauty today. Tasmania is way beyond anything that I expected. Even the weather has been kind as this island is quite far south and so inclement weather is to be expected. It was overcast to begin with and showers were expected but they did not arrive. Instead we had temperatures of up to 22 degrees C. In unsheltered spots it was a tad chilly but we were mostly in sheltered sunny areas.
After a delicious breakfast cooked by the almost naked Chef we took an hour’s drive to Freycinet National Park. This park is an idyllic spot for hikers and campers and it totally geared to providing for their needs. Day visitors, however, can take short or long walks according to their preference.
En route we drank in the magnificent mountain and lake views. Everything is green, sheep and cattle look healthy and not a squatter camp in sight. What strikes a hardened South African in this land is that everything is pretty, clean and neat.
The staff at the visitors centre at Freycinet, were very helpful and advised us on which walks to take. Entrance fee was just $24 for the three of us. The charge was per vehicle – not per person. The Lighthouse
We drove to start of each of the walks that we did – namely Cape Tourville Walk and Sleepy Bay Walk.
After getting the most out of our visit we stopped at Freycinet Bistro for a Devonshire Tea which was to die for! Two delicious scones each served with more than enough jam and clotted cream. Instead of tea we ordered coffee. My long black was perfect but Aunt and Earl complained that theirs was a tad cold so the Nigerian waitress brought them two more free of charge without them even asking! I know South Africans are keen to know how much – hold your breath and don’t faint please, it was really worth the $15 each.
It is not easy to describe in words what we experienced today so I am going to let the pictures do the talking.
Once again I am using the internet at Reception – and time is tight as they close at 7:00 – I have to be quick – not time to dilly dally or check spelling nor fuss through photographs.

One of the fabulous views en route

The Lighthouse

Sleepy Bay

From the Lighthouse Walk

Looking from The Cape Tourville Lighthouse

Grey Fantail – seen on Sleepy Bay Walk

From The Bistro

Aunt and Me

Australia Adventure – Day 11 – Hobart to Swansea

2013-12-17 | puppy1952

We woke to the most beautiful clear sunny day – best we’ve had since we started on this two week tour of Victoria and Tasmania. The view from Wrest Point Hotel room window was spectacular.

From our Hotel Window

To top it all we found a perfect sea-front restaurant – The Beach House – to have breakfast. Sitting at a patio table in the gentle sunshine and taking in the vista was pure joy. We wondered what the poor people in the rest of the world were doing.

Our journey to Swansea was equally pleasant. We took a slow drive arriving at Swansea Cottages at 2 o’clock. On the way we passed through beautiful green valleys and were surrounded by mountains, rivers, lagoons and lakes.

Earl identified with this!

Seen on our drive

A place we stopped to stare at

Everyone decorates their homes for Christmas but this was special

After checking into our pleasant rustic cottage that has everything we need we went off to the local grocery store and were amused to find that even the parking area had a view of the sea!

Car Park with a View

The weather has clouded over a bit this evening but we will be having our first Australian Barbie – on a gas barbecue if you don’t mind! We laughed out loud when we saw a barbeque back of meat in the supermarket – it consisted of a tiny piece of funny looking beef sausage, something indescribable and a much-beaten, very thin piece of ‘minute’ steak. Earl got the krills just looking at it! No – we did not buy it!
I have to connect to the internet at reception today – Robyn our hostess is kindly allowing me free access – so I will only post the results of our Barbie tomorrow.

I am now running out of time and battery! Sorry about the poor quality of todays post – haven’t had time to really sort and post the best pictures,

Australian Adventure – Day 10 – Delayed at Melbourne Airport

2013-12-16 | puppy1952

We woke to a lovely morning and Earl made us a scrumptious breakfast – fruit and yogurt to start followed by fried egg, mushrooms tomato, bacon and banana.

The not so naked chef serving breakfast

We left at 8 to drive to Melbourne where we were to get our flight to Hobart. Just as we were craving a coffee and loo break a sign on the freeway indicated that truckers and others could slip off for a quick espresso. What a surprise – just a van with an electric outlet and fabulous coffee and food on offer – what a good idea. The owner’s dog was an extra attraction – he lay quietly waiting for unsuspecting guests then asked for his ‘ball’ to be thrown to him!

The Van Coffee Shop

Note the picnic table in the background – with Barbie facility

The Dog

Of course I couldn’t miss a bird photo – This is a butcher bird

We were in good time for our flight (1 p.m.) and tried to check in but were told we’d have to wait till 2:30 as our flight was only at 4:30. No problem – we had ham and rolls we made from our left overs and each other for company but – horror – no chairs or benches on which to sit – until you checked through! NOT very friendly we thought. So we sat on our suitcases and ate our lunch. To add injury to insult when we did finally check in we were told our flight had been cancelled! What! – the next one would be at 6:30! -We could have used the time to explore Melbourne had we been informed earlier! And they hadn’t even changed the notification from the board.

Well we finally arrived in beautiful Hobart, waited ages for the luggage to be offloaded, got our hire car – a red Golf – and with a difficulty found our accommodation – very posh with a fabulous view but all in one room! It was late so we ordered room service. Fettuccini with creamy mushroom and bacon sauce. And they only brought after I’d repeated the order four times! Anyway – it was an adventure – and things could have been worse.

The Bridge

The View from our window

Australian Adventure – Day 9 – Sale Nature Reserve

2013-12-15 | puppy1952

It was windy and cool at Lakes Entrance today and we decided against a guided boat trip of The Lakes deciding instead to explore on our own.

Lakes Entrance

We probably chose to drive too far but it ended up being a very worthwhile trip when we discovered Sale Nature Reserve on our way back. Earl, of course, was in search of harbours and boats but the sea was not visible from the roads we drove along as the coastline is lined with trees and bush and very few houses were on the beach front too. We did get out to look at the 90 mile beach and found a lone fisherman trying his luck.

90 Mile Beach

As usual we looked everywhere for bird life and found plenty. Rainbow lorikeets flew overhead but eluded photographs, galahs were noisy and arboreal birds called tantalisingly from the trees granting us only the occasional glimpse for their beautiful colours.

There are many lakes and rivers hosting waterbirds and we stopped to watch them too. The Australian Purple Swamphen which got us all excited in the beginning is so common that we hardly give it a glance now! There are also myriads of coots and white-faced herons. We were pleased to find the Pacific Heron today.

Yellow Wattle Eye

Purple Swamphen

Coots for Australia

Pacific Heron

Covered by Red Gum woodland and grasslands, the Sale Common State Game Refuge off the South Gippsland Highway covers approximately 300 hectares. Over 70 percent of the refuge consists of freshwater marsh where myriads of water birds make their home. There are boardwalks for visitors to walk along as well as one or two bird hides. Vandalism even in this pristine place has reared its ugly head and one of the shelters is in the process of being dismantled because of it. We were delighted to find two Rufous Whistlers in a mating sequence in the trees above our heads. He sang to her tunefully while she bobbed and spread her tail feathers in a mating dance then they swapped places and he spread his feathers and sang some more. He must have hit the wrong note because after a while she got bored and flew off leaving him still singing but with less enthusiasm.

Rufous Whistler birds courting

Male singing and displaying

We were looking intently into the trees for birds when a young girl came running back along the track she had walked, specially to inform us that there were ring tailed possums in full view. This was the highlight of the day for me. They are supposed to be nocturnal so to be out in the middle of the day was quite unusual. We were able to get right up close to them and took tons of photographs and they were not fazed by us at all.

What beautiful eyes

Note the ring tail hooked onto the branch

Two at play

The wetland

Welcome Swallows

Another Rufous Whistler

Back at Lakes Entrance we found a gull that looked very familiar but it is not a Kelp gull and Aunt says she has not seen these in Australia before. There was only one but the book tells us they are often seen in this area.

Pacific Gull -red tip to both upper and lower bill and black tail

I couldn’t resist taking a photograph of some teenagers at the skate park – looked like lots of fun.

After our lovely day we decided to have an early supper. The local fish shop provided us with ready cooked prawns which we had with salad followed by ice cream and fruit salad, cheese and biscuits and then Earl went down and got us ‘real’ coffee and truffles from the restaurant. A perfect end to a glorious day!

Our Delicious Supper

Cheers till tomorrow

Australian Adventure – Day 8 – Yarra Valley to Lakes Entrance

2013-12-14 | puppy1952

Today we had to leave Yarra Valley and our stunning accommodation. This is a photograph of me in the shower/spa bath which has a clear glass window to the lounge – there is of course a curtain for modesty!

View from the lounge through to the kitchen – bathroom is transparent!

The weather was cool for travelling today. We left at 9:30 and our drive to Lakes Entrance took us just over four hours with a couple of loo stops and one coffee break. The latter was an interesting ‘in the middle of nowhere’ diner with an outside loo just off Princes Highway. There were a few homes hidden among the trees and this place was probably owned by the people in the house next door to it. It was pretty busy too – trucker, tourists and locals obviously find it a convenient place for to break their journey or take a break from normal life. Once again we found the people friendly and efficient. I thought the loo might be dodgy, perhaps even a long drop – but it was perfectly clean and had a well-maintained flush system! The wash basin was outside and the only tiny complaint was that the soap had run out and there was no towel! Luckily I carry my own waterless hand-wash wherever I go! Besides my fetish about clean ablutions I also require my coffee to be ‘just right’ and I get grumpy if I’m served a bad cup of coffee anywhere in the world I find myself. Australia – you have passed the test – I love your “long blacks” and haven’t had an inferior one yet – not even at this odd little place in the middle of the bush!

The Diner

The Diner

Coffee Menu

The Loo

The kitchen is in full view – everything is immaculate

The past two days of luxury are over – but our new accommodation is not half bad. We have a comfortable two-bedroomed apartment with excellent cooking facilities – but it is not serviced – horror! We do have a view and are close to the lake and the beach. There is a washing machine, iron, ironing board and all household gadgets needed. This is the norm in most Australian hotels which is really cool.

We settled in and then went shopping – we intend to self-cater – and we’re finding the quality of the supermarket food quite remarkable. At home I only shop at Woolworths – here all the supermarkets have excellent quality fruit and vegetable and the staff are all very helpful. The interesting thing about Australia is that there seems to be very little class distinction. Any job is a good job and folk are proud of their jobs and do them well and other people respect what they do too – well that’s our experience so far anyway. Also everything is clean and well maintained. We have seen very little litter, lawns are trimmed, fences are fixed and our accommodation has been fantastic be it luxury or budget, everything works and there has been little or no cause for complaint. So often at home we find something doesn’t work – usually the plumbing or electrics. The worst we’ve had here is a problem getting the key card to work – but that was due more to our ignorance rather than technical error!

After a pleasant shopping experience we took a walk along the promenade to check out the beach and boats, watched a couple of lads fish and photographed some carvings that commemorate and honour those who were injured or killed in The Great War.

Lakes Entrance

Earl loves this place

Boats in the harbor

Pied Oyster Catcher on the shore

One of the carvings done to commemorate those who were injured or died in The Great War

Young boys fishing for Bream

Earl is cooking dinner tonight – lamb chops, baked potatoes and vegetables. Could life be more complete than this – a fabulous setting, a divine husband who cooks and an aunt who loves me.! How lucky am I!