Land Banking

 Don't think I like the term Land Bank. It seems developers hold plots of land until they have enough to get rezoning done or onsell or repurpose.  The house next door has been sold to a chinese developer. The house just happens to be next to a vacant block that has never had a house on it which also happens to be separating another house that went up for sale this week. This is like a large retirement suburb where the house turnover can be quick. We have had five elderly residents die from our street since we have been here and usually it is more elderly types who buy in. Hopefully Mr Chinese is not trying to put up 10 condominiums.

two for sales signs and an empty block

 

Strawberry Fare

 The consequence of putting in new strawberry plants is that they are slow to get going. There has been some colour on some plants and I managed to pick our first but small strawb today. Other plants have shown some shrivelled fruit but there does seem to be a few batches starting to sprout. I crossed the road to the land of the sand. The overnight tide was high and I could see how it topped the ridge dune and pooled in a few spots down behind.  I walked this line and picked up two bottles, some underwear, the usual small plastics like lids, a spoon and a straw.  There was also a poo bag. On the way back up I got a second bag which had deliberately been left to taunt everyone as they went passed. How nasty.

Cycle Suspension

 I got the video unloaded from the GoPro which I had mounted to Debbie's handlebars. There are numerous places to mount these things which would have had an unobstructed view however it is what it is. This is an enclosed water proof version of the camera and we have had heat issues in the past where it will switch off if it is too hot.  No such problems this time.  I have had to cut it severely to get down to clip size but it shows the trail ok. There are many bikes and some at speed.

Kaia star of the show

 The afternoon was a well organised three year old birthday.  At first Kaia seemed unsure of getting all the attention but seemed to get used to the spotlight by the end of the day. The main banquet table was just the right size to handle 12 ankle biters with a steady supply of  sausage rolls, pies, sushi and quiche, don't forget the ice cream. The adults also got plenty of that finger food as well. The highlight was the pinata for the kids and the cocktails for the mums.  That was a long fun weekend now for a rest day.

Sunday Sweat Club

 Yes we started the day with a gym session, as we are trying to beat current PemBro side effects and is also now part of the recovery phase ie try to have one physical session per day.   We have our own gym here but the Willie gym is better.  I used the bicycle machine while Debbie did a rotation thru just about every piece of equipment. We went around to the library and I had in the back of my mind the parking committee at that other famous retirees village. I was imagining the library committee here headed by a Mr Tulk lookalike and sure enough when I looked back thru the pages of signouts, I finally found the entry for the overdue book I was returning. It had a pink texta highlight right across where I had to sign the book back in. We now have the eye of the book detectives on us.  And guess what I found on the shelves "The Man who Died Twice" so now I can get back on track.  

Bicycle Beach

 We have been wanting to try this and had to get a bit makeshift.  The bikes were still prepped from the morning effort and I found that if I slung the large umbrella across my back I could still peddle freely. Keeping it there was tricky.  I emptied my backpack and we gould get two towels as well as four travellers in there with the weekender questions and a packet of snacks. The drinks were wrapped in a cooler bag with ice blocks.  It was the biggest crowd I have seen for a while on Williamstown beach and the water was inviting.  The transport worked well and was an easy breezy ride of 15 minutes. There are many options with kiosks at both ends plus a restuarant and a cafe.  They are all the things we don't have at ours but get a beach on your doorstep first.

VeloWay All the Way

Hooray, this time we were allowed onto the veloway after finding it was all locked up about a month ago when we last tried it.  This is an engineering masterpiece with large sections suspended over Footscray Rd. The whole area is unrecognisable compared to when I was riding thru here to MMBW and MITS last century.  We stopped at Docklands for the 2nd day in a row.  We haven't been there for years and now it is twice in two days. The veloway is a dream run and gets you there in 14km of largely uninterrupted riding. Don't be a pedestrian on the suspended section.  It crosses the Maribyrnong but not the Yarra, you will still need to use the bike ferry to do that but this way gets you to the city in good time. We took 40 mins each way for the total 26km.  There is also some video which I need to unload soon.  At least this way I cleared the sinuses.