Sequence

Tried a board game or is it a card game, called Sequence last night.  You do play with a deck of cards and you have to get a run of five in a row to win but only in the order on the board. Two or three or teams of two or three can play.  Its a game needing some skill and some luck but it does distract from the smart phone for a while, especially at the beach.

Sequencers

Multi suit corner

Shelly Beach

Its not so much the shells but the rocks that seem to mark this location.  About 35 yar ago I was walking the base of the Otway Cliffs as part of the Bushwalking and Mountain Craft Leadership course long before there was a GOW.  I had never been to this section but the Balance Fairy's must have visited, not only to get these rock stacks built but to keep them upright.

Well Stacked

The GOW

You have heard of the Great Ocean Road but the Great Ocean Walk has now had a lot of improvements since we last saw it. The new signage is made of a practical steel with white lettering. Older sections which took the route of the old coach wagons have now had new track routes cut for much better walking. The Johanna Beach camp is set on a high hill and has one of the best views you will find.

Johanna

GOW Signage

The Falls Cabin

I have been visiting the Otways for years and maybe no one else knows about it. In particular the Johanna area has good access and accommodation options but no internet. The Johanna Holiday Cabins have a number of choices. The Falls Cabin has a small valley below but this time there were no cows like there was two years ago. There are for sale signs up so maybe the cows had to go.  The Falls are close hence the cabin name but there is no track to them. I have studied the location and the bush is dense and most likely blackberries as well.

Falls Cabin

Finska Cures All

As the below picture shows Franster is up and about and throwing wood at other wood and drinking champagne as well.  I should also mention that Debbie cleaned up and won all the games we played and for the first time that I have seen, the game was won by knocking down multiple pins to achieve the 50.  The pins that are splitting are holding together well with the glue but others are showing signs of battery.

Migrating Pins

Old Negatives

My theory about getting a better photo from the original negative has taken a beating just like some of these negatives have.  Multiple scratching, blotching and abrasions have scarred some, yet others are perfect.  The state of the container gives a clue eg a tattered envelope with a stamp saying Bulmers Gift Salon, inside some pock marked negatives. Others have a stitched manila style wallet opening in two halves. These packets have different designs over time and always with a name and a date for pickup which frustratingly leaves out the year.

Camping with too cool Shades

Tea and sandwich for 15c

Negatives are Positive

Yes the new Epson V550 has a wider aperture in its lid to allow for illuminating the larger Super Size negatives. I have done a few just now and it seems to work OK.  I believe I can do two at once but will have to get into a routine. There are settings I need to check out such as ICE which doesn't seem to work so well on B&W. This packet of 8 negatives is a trip my Grandparents have gone on somewhere in a desert location.

Across the Nullabor?

Grandma on the Road

Plovers can't read

Yes the Plovers have scurried further down the beach. My theory is that often after hatching the family will move and congregate with other plovers for greater numbers. We have counted 10 plovers now as far down as first rock.  That means the old nest site next to our spot on the beach has been abandoned. However a self styled plover policewoman accused us of stomping on plover nesting sites, took our photo and was most indignant that we should be next to the plover fence.  The next day the real plover police arrived and agreed with our assessment and then dismantled the fence.

Fence No More

Bird Brain

Ocean Groove Report

Spent a Cupla Daze at the beach. Went back to the old jetty again with the southerly breeze properly gusting on shore. So the north facing beach with the high hill at the back blocking the wind has worked a treat. The water requires a bit of navigating to find a clear patch with no growths and the sand is a rough mix. The view is different looking across to the You Yangs and the skeletal jetties have a certain charm. Next time we will try the Dell.

Jetty Rib Cage

Negative Scans Continued

I have been pursuing the scanning of negatives but not having much success. I tried to make the existing scanner work for the different sized negatives by getting a light source to illuminate the whole of the A4 surface thereby letting me scan any sized negative up to A4. However the light source does not illuminate strongly enough. I bought two LED light boxes over a period of 5 weeks for delivery and I can only get what looks like a photo of a negative.

I reverted to making my own negative holder out of cardboard however the Epson V370 does not have a wide enough light source so I am going to upgrade to the Epson V550 which is wide enough for the Kodak Super Size 110 or approximately 68 mm wide. 

Negatory

Colour In Therapy

It has been a fairly bizarre summer with one thing and another however you can always retreat to a quiet corner and get out your colouring pencils. Colour In books for adults who would have thought.  Derwent and Faber Castell must be happy with this trend.  The books I have seen are complex, you only need one book for the rest of your life. I am still working on page one of GOT and there must be 50 pages to go.

PineApple

Pre School revisited

Stark Colour

Beach Hurricane

Well it was probably more like one of those willy willy sand devils that get this inexplicable need to twirl very fast like a dervish. However it took us by surprise and sand came swirling into our camp to the point where we closed our eyes until it passed. Everything was coated in sand in seconds. There was some damage where one of the wind shield spokes was snapped off at the base. Also we noticed a booger board from a nearby camp land at least 100 metres away. Their tent seemed to be flattened. I scored my first March Fly bite of the season.

Beach Camp

Morning Jog

Buninyong Aust Road Championships

Went back to Buninyong today to check out the Bike riding. Last time I went to this race it was in Port Arlington on a much flatter course. This circuit is tougher especially on a hotter day like today. Around 120 started and less than 20 finished. We parked in the KOM car park and walked down into town for the Women's presentation and the start of the men's.  The bakery was flat out. We found Bill's set up (or his sister's Pauline) near the KOM compound.  This was a good vantage and we saw the diminishing peleton pass 18 times. The TV showing the live action was also the signal to grt your backside trackside as the riders came past.

Cow Bells

Mt Buninyong

Mussel Festival Port Arlington

And I don't mean Arnie Schwarzenegger. It was an ideal 23° and the sea food beckoned. One time in France we had a bucket of mussels. They were small but there must have been over a hundred. This time we had about 15 each but they were large. The crowds were large but manageable. Our mussels took 15 minutes but we had a walk while we waited. There were three sound stages all playing different music and all for a $2 entry fee.

After that we called into Jetty Rd beach where I tested my theory on the north facing beach being a better option when the Ocean Groove has an onshore southerly. The theory is good! No cold wind just occasional breezes. It is a flat beach with moss beds close to shore.

Mussel Beach

Cooking Demo

Jetty Rd

Warlock

I have read some of the Wilbur Smith African books but this is the first of the Egyptian themed books I have read.  I can't resist going into the 2nd hand book shop but I need to sell some back or there wont be any space to put them.  This time it was a salvo's shop in Williamstown and the book was $2.  This one may have been better as an e-book, 500  heavy pages.  It is quite a yarn, though the title seems out of place in Egypt as warlocks are more like Middle Ages to me.

 Magus or Necromancer

Monopoly Revisited

 I can't remember when "The Monopoly" day occurred but it would have been around 1997 at Christmas and the game was started and finished in its full splendour taking at least six hours to do so. Last night the "Game of Thrones" edition was got out but this time only for a two hour taster. The conversion to a GOT theme involves all of the game squares and playing pieces with one glaring exception which are the corner squares. I can understand you would leave the GO square and you need the gaol (Jail) but you could at least rename it to the Dungeon. However the shocker is the Free Parking square. 
 What right thinking GOT devotee would allow a square named Free Parking complete with a car painted in the centre. How far removed is Westeros from cars? At least a 1000 yar! I've a mind to write them a letter.  The existence of that corner is as a rest area so how about putting a sacred Weirwood tree there. This is a designated peaceful place.

At least one game piece should have been a Dragon.

The Force Awakens

I experience a forced awakening every morning. Some people have already seen this film more than once. Usually I am on spoiler alert and don't try to eavesdrop if I am trying to get to a popular flick. They say they need to go back and pay attention to some sections.  Now that I have seen it I am a bit confused with the SkyWalker family tree. The Dark Side seems to miss a generation and then go hard for their children. For some reason I thought Stormtroopers were robots but now that I think back there hasn't been any wires sticking out and all the other robots and drones are obviously robots and drones.

Humans in armour

Annual Review 2015

I have stuck with the Retirees Occasional Blog Of Time (ROBOT).  In the last year I added 236 posts compared to 90 in 2014.  The record month was July where I put in 41 highly entertaining observations of travel in Europe. So it seems the hum drum home life doesn't require as many posts.  The record for the most page views is 49 for a post almost a year ago and I have no real idea why that one stands out. Of course it does feature a hastily drawn cartoon of mine which must be the reason.  This graph shows a recent spike last week but it is part of the blog mystery as to why. Comments are few. This could do with a boost but registering on Google + requires an exactness.

Spike shows around 35 pageviews on 28th Dec

NYE 2016

This morning's jog was a struggle. Managed to get to bed around 2:00am however the combined 60th birthday and NYE barbie was a great idea.  The last time I saw the city fireworks show was when Pablo was still living in Port Melbourne, that was seeing in the new century as well as the new year.  We had a great vantage from the Quarry Park showing the whole length of the cityscape. Nothing like a good fireworks show even at midnight.

On Quarry Hill

10 tonnes of fire crackers