'UFO' last seen at Eildon

Unidentified Floating Object that is. Summer finally decided to come to Victoria last week and so we decided it was time to visit the 'intrepid campers' at their camp site at Eildon Weir. Over the last few summers we have encountered raging hot days and a very cold & wet one. This year the weather was perfect both for camping and water activities. And in case you are all wondering, No, we did not camp, we stayed in a beautiful little B & B in the town of Eildon. But we did have a great day with Astrid, Hans, Bianca & Travers.

Ever since our first visit Bianca has been on a mission to get me to hang off the back of a boat. Clever people call it water skiing. I call it drowning. I did try many years ago and was never able to master it. Bill on the other was a clever clogs and could ski like a pro. Of course sometime during this last year I had made a rash statement (must have been a red wine involved) that of course I would try it if I came up this summer. So of course Bianca decided that Saturday was 'the day'. I was equally determined that it was not.

After a few hours of you will, I won't and so on, I finally agreed to the lesser of two evils and said I would try a knee board, on my tummy. And of course I did not want to get my hair wet either. A old wet suit of Hans was lent to me and after a procedure very similar to getting a very large object into a very small hole, I was all zipped up and ready to go. Add a life jacket to that ensemble and a very stylish creature hit the water's edge. And was it cold. Damn right it was.

After a while playing in the shallows and getting the feel of the big black rubber thing I was encased in, the boat arrived with the knee board that was going to keep me afloat. After a demo run from Bianca, she was very clever and could go from tummy to knees and back again. I won't mention what I called her but at that moment it was my turn. Astrid assisted with the holding steady bit and Travers drove off and me - well of course, I fell off.

Take two - and Hans did the hold steady bit this time. I hung on for grim death and did move - straight over the top of the board and into the water. My hair was getting a touch damp here. Oh well nothing for it but take three - this time success. I did manage to hold on and actually had a ball being dragged around the lake. Shhh - don't tell Bianca that last bit. Travers was very kind and did not go too fast so I was able to overcome the wobbles and stay on even when he turned the boat around to head for shore.

Once they finished playing with the learner it was time to do some real skiing and Bianca, Travers & Bill all took turns and skied for a while. Bill did very well since he has not skied for at least 21 years. Got up first time on both runs and with Bianca taking photo's for posterity he even managed to make himself look beautiful. He was a bit chilly though as he was last in the water and he had decided that he would be right without a wet suit.

We finished a great day with a bar-b-que tea and a couple bottles of Red. Thanks again for another wonderful day camping.
It was very hard to get out of our comfy bed at Robyn's Nest the next morning but we had a yummy breakfast to tempt us and then it was time to hit the road for a scenic trip home. A view of the lake from just above Jamieson shows just how low the water is.
Our first stop was at Snob's Creek Falls. A lot of steps down and then back up helped walk off breakfast and the falls were running and well worth the walk. We then spent the day driving home through the Great Dividing Range stopping at Jamieson for lunch, and Woods Point for petrol. Yes, that is where we got the petrol. Most of the roads were gravel but not too bad and each time I thought things were getting a bit scary Bill just reminded me of the road to the Remarkables in NZ. That did bring things back into perspective a little bit. While it was a long drive home we saw some really lovely country and plan to go back to spend some more time in some of the places we saw.

So there is our first adventure of 2009. We had a great time and look forward to many more. Stay tuned.

Until next time................

Goodbye 2008

Once again Christmas has come and gone, closely followed by the biggest night (for some) of the year. We started the festivities as usual with a Christmas Eve party at Karen's place. A great night was had by all and what better way to get the parties of the next few days started than with Champagne, Christmas Pudding and Carols. Well, they were on the telly, inside.

This Christmas our family gathering was held at Aaron's place in Cranbourne. He did a great job of 'doing Christmas' and we all had a lovely lunch and a fun time as Mum, Maree, Jarrod, Bill and I joined him for the big day. A smaller gathering this year as other family members remained at home in Holland, Perth and Qld but we did speak to most of them during the course of the day.

The celebrations continued on Boxing day at Healesville where we joined our good friends Astrid, Hans and Bianca for their annual 'leftovers' night. A wonderful afternoon and evening was spent with them and their many neighbours. No driving home as we stayed the night at Sanctuary House, a great little resort next to, (yep you guessed it), Healesville Sanctuary. The next morning we decided that we would visit the animals as we had not ever ventured in even though we are in and out of Healesville all the time. We had a great day and it sure is worth a visit.

After a phone call during the week from Jarrod and Jane visiting from Perth we met them one night for a drink and saw the Christmas show at Crown. It was good to catch up with them both and hear of all their holiday adventures. They had been here for a few days and were leaving the next day for Sydney.

New Year's Eve was a fine cool evening, very different to last years heatwave and so we decided to get out and about a bit earlier. We walked into the city and watched the 9.15pm family fireworks and then continued on up to Lygon St where we had a yummy dinner at one of our favourite restaurants. Once finished we walked back to town where we joined the many thousands of people just in time to see the midnight fireworks. A double banger, you might say. We managed to make a quick getaway from the city and a short while later were back at Crown raising a glass to 2009 and thinking of all our friends who were still to bring in the New Year.

The next day we had a quiet one spending the afternoon at the movies watching Australia. We both enjoyed it very much and were glad we saw it.

We both hope that you all had a wonderful time at Christmas and we wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2009.

Until next time.............