The Sounds of Christmas.......

Back at work the next week I discovered that while we had been away Christmas had come to Melbourne.  Every shop and arcade you went into was playing Christmas carols and every street corner seemed to have a Salvation Army duo or trio playing the same.  The decorations are all up, the Myer Windows open and Santa has arrived in Melbourne not once but twice one week apart.

I found it a little difficult to accept that this was right as we had been away in the bush with no visible evidence of Christmas and to come back and see it in overdrive seemed to be an assault on the senses.  Slowly I came to realize that it wasn't going away any time soon and so now the  tree is up, the cards have been sent, the shopping done and I'm even singing along with some of the carols.  They say if you can't beat them.....

But before we celebrate Christmas in the Harris family we have one other big event first.  Ethan's birthday is at the end of November and we joined everyone for a bar-b-que and birthday cake before joining in to play one of Ethan's games, Logo. This is a fun board game seeing how brainwashed by advertising logos we are.  Can't remember who won but we had a lot of laughs along the way.

The next day Bill and I spent the day in town where we organized new glasses, haircuts and a look at some of the Melbourne Now artworks that had appeared the week before.  The Tram Bar at the Art Centre had had a makeover for the event and looked a little different.

The NGV was sporting a new artwork on its outside wall and a little further along we found a hybrid artwork/ Christmas Decoration.  Called 'Deck The House' it represents the artists childhood Christmas spent in the suburbs.  It come to life at night with many lights.  On the steps of the GPO we found a Christmas Choir singing Carols.

We finished the day off with a trip to the Comedy Theatre where we saw Agatha Christies 'A murder is Announced'.  It was a great production and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Getting up early the next morning we drove out to Werribee Treatment Plant where Bill spent a few hours trying out his new camera lens.  He had ordered it before we went away but it did not arrive in time to come with us so he was looking forward to seeing how good it was. It certainly is big!    The sun was shining and we were looking forward to some warmer weather at last.

Monday dawned and so did winter.  I spent a week in my winter coat as I walked to work and Bill tried to escape with a few days work in Qld.  Back at home for the weekend we spent Saturday in shopping mode at the market getting ready for dinner that night with Astrid and Hans.  We had a great night in and enjoyed catching up on each others adventures again.

The following weekend we decided that we had been home for far too long so booked our favorite cottage in Jamieson and headed up on Friday night.  We had dinner on the way in Yea and on arrival had a coffee and a chat with Angie and Freddie before falling into bed in Camellia Cottage where we slept like babies until the birds woke us in the morning.

After a leisurely breakfast on Sat we decided that we would take a drive up to Mt Stirling and found another great spot to explore.  This next mountain over from Mt Buller has snow in winter and in summer is popular for bush walking, horse riding and 4WD activities.  We drove up as far as the Kings Saddle but will go back in the future to drive further in.  As we had no lunch with us this time we decided not to go further this time.  Next time we will go prepared.  

We drove back down the mountain to Mirimbah where we had lunch and then followed the Howqua Track into Sheepyard Flats.  This is a camping area just near Merrjig in the High Country.  We found the camp and it looked pretty good with a few people enjoying the river.  On the way in we had passed a couple of other smaller camp sites and have stored these in the memory banks for further use.

We continued to follow the track expecting to come out the other end in about 30 mins but had taken a wrong track somewhere and about an hour later decided that we didn't know where we were.  Other than somewhere in the Jamieson State Forest on a network of 4WD tracks.   But between our GPS and Bill's own inbuilt GPS we managed to find our way out even though it was more like 3 hours than 30 mins.  Still it was an adventure but we will not leave the maps at home next time!  

We had dinner at the Jamieson Pub before driving back home for a quiet night in.  The next morning we enjoyed a couple of hours with the birds before we said farewell to our little slice of paradise and headed back home for another week.  After lunch at Yea we were on our way home when we decided on a little detour and followed the signs to Strath Creek.

Here we found another tiny town but kept following our noses to The Hume and Hovell Cricket Ground where we found an English Village Green in the middle of nowhere.  This lovely ground has been created from the former bush and farmland by a cricket loving owner.  

It is now a beautiful cricket ground with a stylish white picket fence, six turf wickets, practice nets, Pavilion, bunkhouse, lovely lawns and stunning rose gardens.  It was not open the day we visited but we were able to drive in and get some photos.

We drove on from Strath Creek stopping at the Murchison Gap Lookout where we found an amazing view of 'The Valley of a Thousand Hills' before continuing our journey home.

The next week was a little warmer, we had dinner with friends at their home in Diggers Rest on Saturday night, finished the Christmas shopping on Sunday and had a great night out the next Thursday with Marg, Pete and Peter M who had all flown in from France and Darwin for their Christmas in Victoria.  It was so good to see you all again and apart from the brats in 'The Blue Room' just like old times.  Enjoy your travels next week.

We finished off the lead up to Christmas with lunch on Sunday with Suzie and Bryce at a very nice restaurant, Mr Hobson, in Port Melbourne.  Right on the water it was a lovely lunch and so good to see you both again.

And so now with Christmas only 3 days away it is time to leave you here.  Bill and I wish you all a very Happy Christmas where ever you are.  Enjoy your day with your families and friends and I hope that Santa is good to you all.

until next time, Ho Ho Ho...........