'Bright' Shiny Days

Another glorious weekend in Victoria, this time a little further afield from home. Last year we enjoyed our trip to Bright to see the spectacular autumn colours so we decided that we would go again, this time for 'The Autumn Festival'. The festival runs over 2 weeks and we chose the middle weekend to visit. Just perfect timing for the Gala Day held on Saturday. The main streets in town are closed to traffic and a street market takes over with a carnival atmosphere, lots of local crafts and winter woolies for sale, and a Grand Parade. The theme this year was Folklore, Fairytales & Fantasy. Lots of little kids running round in costumes for the rest of the day - cute.

The trees which are the real stars of the festival were actually more spectacular last year. More leaves had already fallen this year, the water shortage rather than the cold, some people said, but viewed from Huggins lookout & Tower Hill lookout, still looked very picturesque. Bright is such a pretty town and it sure knows how to celebrate autumn. The drive up once leaving the Hume Fwy is quite pretty too and as the surrounding towns start to colour the closer you get, you get a taste of whats to come.

We met Astrid & Hans in town and after a little sightseeing convened in No 8 for a pre dinner Champagne. Dinner at a lovley little French Bistro (booked during the week to get in), Poplars, was just wonderful and the wine 'Mr Frog' was just what we needed after a day travelling & sightseeing. The next morning was mild and sunny and just perfect for a walk along the river, scrunching through leaves and watching the ducks enjoy the sunshine. Breakfast was in a great little cafe overlooking the Swimming Pool (River). There is something wonderful about eating breakfast on verandahs in the sun.

We left Bright after breakfast and decided to have a look at Mt Buffalo on the way home. Well, we have to check out the snowfields don't we. Of course without a snowflake in sight it was a really easy drive to the Chalet (closed since the fires threatened at Christmas). From there we went on up to 'The Horn' and took in the spectacular views. The ski area does not look very big but hard to tell on a fine day with the sun shining brightly. Perhaps we will check it out once the snow comes.

Back in Melbourne, Winter is trying really hard to to arrive. The trees are trying to lose their leaves while coats & scarves are still scarce. The rain too is trying really hard to happen, only succeeding in passing showers and teasing us all caught in the grip of severe water restrictions. Shop windows are full of winter woolies, usually all part of the wardrobe by now. The sales might be extra good this year!

Today we had Mother's Day lunch at Maree's place. We had a wonderful afternoon with Mum & Amelia (Rem's Mum). Now it's back to work tomorrow

so until next time..........