A quiet retreat

was needed for the weekend with the tram track work scheduled to start at 2.00am on Saturday morning. We left home on Friday morning and made our way back to Jamieson where peace & quiet was in abundance. We caught up with Angie on arrival, picked up the key to Camelia Cottage, and settled in for a truly tranquil time. With no other guests for the weekend there was just us and the birds and we really enjoyed our retreat to the bush.

Just like during our previous visits the weather was perfect, though cold. The fire went 24/7 from when we lit it on Friday night and we were very grateful for the big stack of wood in the shed. We spent a lot of time on the veranda watching the sunsets and the sunrise was watched from the warmth of the lounge room. Well, I watched from there. Bill did brave the chilly mornings twice to see what he could capture on film. Spring had really sprung and all the glorious old trees were bursting into new leaf providing wonderful hues of green and playing host to the many birds feeding young ones in nests.

With the snow still falling on the nearby mountains and lots of rain in the surrounding areas, the rivers were running fast & high. It was wonderful to see so much water. With all the rivers in the area running into Lake Eildon capacity has increased to 32.8 at the moment and hopefully will continue for some time to come. A trip to Goughs Bay on Saturday afternoon showed water covering areas that have been grassed over in the last couple of years. Sunday afternoon was spent at another newly discovered gem. Kinloch Winery, just out of Mansfield, is a lovely place to spend a few hours over lunch. The views over the vineyard to Mt Buller & Mt Stirling are spectacular and the food & wine even better.

We left on Monday morning to come home and stopped to explore further at Mansfield, a drive through Bonnie Doon (I can really say I've been there now) & lunch at Yea. After lunch we had a walk through the Yea wetlands. This area has recently been upgraded so people can walk through in all seasons, lots of boardwalks & bridges. And lots of mosquitos too. The little monsters even bit through our clothes. Will certainly remember the spray next time.

We arrived home to find all the workmen gone. Mission accomplished, new tram lines and no noise. Way to go. Back to work again the next day and time to get ourselves ready for the Spring Carnival. Tammy & Paul arrive on Friday.

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

Springtime is Festival time

in Melbourne. Sometimes there is so much happening that it is very hard to decide what to see first. It was this dilemma we faced on Saturday when we decided to drive into the Dandenongs to have a look at the Spring Garden Festival. Once there we found so many places open we didn't know where to start. We stopped first and had lunch at Immerse, a great little Cellar Door cafe in Olinda and while there decided that we would have a look at the gardens at Cloudehill where there was a Garden Sculpture Exhibition as well.

Cloudehill is a beautiful garden, with nursery & Restaurant, found at the top of The Dandenongs where a maze of stone walls and jewel like garden rooms are set within woodlands of magnificent and historic, cool climate trees. There are more than 20 garden rooms threaded through wonderful 80 year old European beech, magnolias, maples and a collection of fabulous Himalayan tree rhododendrons. The garden is highlighted by lovely colourful borders which focus on two of the finest Japanese weeping maples to be seen anywhere in the world. The spring bulb meadows just bursting with bluebells, snowdrops, daffodils & freesias where a delight to walk through as well.

Our afternoon started and finished at Cloudehill as it was such a lovely place we never made it to see any of the other gardens open that day. Next year we shall go a bit earlier or perhaps stay in one of the many B & B's in the area to at least try and do it justice.

Saturday night we had decided to wander into town and see what the Melbourne International Arts Festival had to offer. Our first stop was an installation at the NGV Forecourt called Valhalla. This strange looking wreck is Morton's three-quarter scale rendition of the family home his architect father designed. A piece you can walk around and through, it is both sculpture and architecture. On the inside it is a gleaming office foyer and on the outside a crumbling decaying building. Once again proving that art is definitely in the eye of the beholder. I must have missed something I think.

From there we continued on to Federation Square where we saw dozens of light shades hung along St Kilda Rd. Once at Fed Square we found ourselves in the thick of another festival. It was the official opening of Deepvali, a Hindu festival commonly known as the Festival of Lights. Hmm, is there a connection to the mystery light shades, I wonder. We passed through the crowd here on our way to Birrarung Marr where we were going to see another of the MIAF attractions.

The Strange Fruit were a wonderful troupe of acrobats on five metre sway poles playing the Federation Bells. These bells are perched like pots on tall steel columns overlooking the Yarra. The acrobats like metronomes swaying in a forest of bells beat out a beautiful composition called 'Ringing the changes'. Dressed in workman's overalls & boots, all holding little music books, the bell ringers looked wonderful if a little strange. The conductor also standing on a sway pole dressed in an acubra hat & dri-as-a bone added an air of importance (?) to the whole thing.

After being mesmerised by the bell ringing, we were brought back to the present by the loud bangs from fireworks on the Yarra. From there we walk over the Swan St bridge and around to the Alexandra Gardens to watch the 'main event' of the evening. At 9pm the French company Transe Express performed 'Mischievous Bells' a spectacular light & music show to finish off the night. As the night grew darker they lit up the gardens with their medieval style mayhem, running around with flaming torches and ringing bells. The highlight of the performance was when the Percussionists, bell ringers and acrobats floated 40 metres above the ground suspended in a giant metal contraption that opened to resemble a lotus flower. It was from each petal that these musicians & acrobats hung and performed to the huge crowd gathered to watch. A truly magnificent performance and really worth braving another cold night to see it.

Catching up with Andrew from Sydney & Greg from Darwin for dinner over the next couple of weeks was great fun and of course Melbourne was the butt of all the 'cold' jokes as both places had been far warmer than they both experienced here. I'm sure it will warm up soon. At least the late rain is falling in all the right places and the dams are heading in the right direction for now at least.

With road works scheduled for the coming weekend, right outside our window, it might be time to head back to the country to avoid the noise.

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

Time marches on

and before we knew it was September again. In our family that means birthday month with Maree, David & Bill all celebrating their special day. We had dinner with Maree & Mum in a lovely little Thai restaurant in Aspendale for birthday no. 1. A great night was had by all. Unfortunately we could not get to Perth to celebrate with David but did talk to him and know that he too enjoyed his day. We joined Mum & Maree again to celebrate Bill's day at the Chelsea Pub on the 24th.

September is also a huge month in Melbourne with it being footy finals time. That big day in September was also a freezing day in September this year with Grand Final day being the coldest for many years. With a top temp of about 12 it was cold, wet & windy to boot. Still it didn't stop the thousand's flocking to the Gee for the big game, nor stop the many parties taking place. We joined friends at their home in Narre Warren South where the planned bar-b-que was changed for a pie & hot dog lunch and a terrific time was had by all. At least our host, Matt was a happy soul at the end of the day as he is a Geelong supporter and was not so happy last year. Amber had supported him on the day, baking biscuits in the shape of little men, iced in blue & white with all the correct numbers. Even a special one for Bill.

After the excitement of the game we had a change of pace that night, braving the even colder weather to go and see the muscial, Chicago. It was great and dinner at the little French Restaurant before was very nice too. The next day saw us driving through rain, hail & wind again to meet Verity, Astrid & Hans at the Yarra Glen Hotel for lunch and an afternoon of Blues Music with a local band Collard Greens & Gravy. They were good despite the strange name. The following Saturday night had us braving the slightly warmer weather again for a night at Hamer Hall. We went and saw a great production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It was so funny. Really worth facing the cold again.

It was also great to catch up with Debs & JT on their way home after a flying visit to Melbourne. A yummy dinner, a glass of Red and good company is always a nice way to finish off a pretty eventful month. Bring on October.

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