Bric a Brac Coffee & Climbing

 We drove out of town to the Mt Leura park summit and did the 2km circuit walk before breakfast at the Lake Edge Cafe.  You can do longer walks form the bottom but the Big Breakfast  beckoned.  This cafe is uniquely positioned next to Lake Purrumbete and is the 4th or 5th lake we have visited in two days. It is a former school building that they trucked into position by the lake. And a very tasty breakfast as well. Back in town we checked out the antiques yards. Most of them are only open at the weekend.  On the drive back we stopped numerous times to check out the canola fields, whole buildings were being submerged in canola. 

Hola Canola

old windmills new windmills

Grand Central

SugarLoaf

Mt Leura summit

some large brac

a lot of bric

The Old Town

 We went out to the Hampden Hotel for your Pub fare. It is a large rambling hotel building like they build in the old days. Across the road is the typical picture house and I mean palatial and next to that is the Mechanics Institute.  I originally tried to get some historic accommodation like 'The Vicarage' but everything was booked. The Motel has everything you need except it is positioned on the main highway. We are coming back thru the town after breakfast so things should be open.

Moon ring

Camperdown rail trail

 It's a 2 hour drive for us to Camperdown. Last time we started this ride in the town but only explored the volcanoes area. This time we rode directly to the Naroghid train siding. There is a photo there of a woman waiting for the train in 1919.  The ride is straight forward enough except for a bridge that is down and lots of mud and slush.  We detoured into Cobden to the bakery and bought some egg and lettuce sandwiches. Our lunch spot was Lake Elingamite.  There was a campground there with a single table which we used for lunch. But we saved our piccolos for down on the boat ramp. The return was slightly uphill as train gradients always go.  The ride was 30km a b it more than I was thinking. We drove to the botanic gardens for birthday fruit cake and piccolos.  There is another van park way on top with onsite vans we could have used. But I have made a note to try them another time.

War of the Worlds

 This is the most famous of the HG Wells books I am working thru. Recently I have seen the Spielberg film, the new BBC TV series version and the TV version on SBS, all within in the last six months and now I have read the book as well. There are at least 10 movie versions, another 10 TV versions, numerous radio versions in the old days and don't forget Jeff Wayne's musical narration LP which I also have a copy of.  I have also noticed there is an Australian Version. However this is the first time I have read the original book.  All of these versions go off on their own tangent when you compare them to the original. There is one last copy I found last week, the stamp version.  I must have entered the Twilight Zone.

Plant Sculpture update

 The upside down hanging basket is basically complete but in a state of waiting for growth. The insertions are all finished and some are flowering which shows the hardiness of violas since they were poked into a hole. The chain of hearts (tendrils) section seems to be going ok although still a bit caged  in this non hanging phase. See progress below.

Triffid

Getting Air

 This is a colder snap than anytime during Winter.  Sometimes the gas heating can be suddenly too hot so I went for a short ride to the local hobby shop, as the rain had gone away for a while.  I was not sure if he was open but the shop is also his house.  He reckons the lock downs and shut downs have been good for him.  Indoor activities have boomed.  All manner of collectables are in high demand because people are inside.  I paid him $20 for 2000 stamps.  Debbie did some more harvesting between showers so it looks like cauliflower soup is back for this cold patch at least.

A three headed cauli with a broccoli beard

Las Vegas  Vegetarius  2007

Antarctic Blast

 Arktos means bear and antarcktos no bears.  But we had to bare the cold from Antarctica today as a front swept across and we dropped from 12° to 4° in minutes.  We were out and about at Pakington St when it hit. We can't complain about being allowed out though and Pako St is your trendy spot to be when doing a shopping splurge.  We had one umbrella between us and spotted a place called Pako Raw. Inside it was a sprawling barn. We were going to have lunch but Debbie had a three hour meeting that spanned the world, which took precedence so we had the warm up coffee and tea before heading back. 

Pako Raw

Class Action

 I am not a fan of these 'no win no fee' lawyers. I guess the odd case might be needed but it's just promoting the litigious way of things.  The banking royal commission got a confession out of AMP about charging fees to customers for no actual service. This caused the share price to fall. So now AMP have been taken to court by their shareholders for that drop in earnings.  I happen to have AMP shares which have been increasing in number via dividend reinvestment. So whether you want to or not I am part of the class action.  Like the department store, there are two chances it might all just go away, Buckley & Nunn.

 

Stamp Gutters

 I had a delivery of stamps in a heavy box which required $40.00 worth of stamps to get it sent to me. If I wanted to, I could pester the Post Office man to get out his sheets of stamps so you could pick and choose from what's left of the sheet.  The 'Status International' auction people just go out and buy bulk sheets and use them all to send out parcels.  This time I got a series of sheets featuring a gutter strip. Printers will leave a space at the sides and down the center to register different overlapping colours on cross hairs.  At other times they just use this space for art work as below.  Having the stamps connected by the gutter increases the value. This lot is around a $50.00 valuation.

Some of the huge old books in the box.

In the Days of the Comet

 My trip thru the HG Wells compendium continues this time with the least known story from 1906.  This one is written with the Earth under the influence of an ever closer comet frothing with green gas. As it slowly gets closer there is a build up of angst where people turn on each other and a world war breaks out.  After it arrives it is the exact opposite, where suddenly the utopia is here. The gas has rejuvenated everyone and as Agent Smart would say "they are now using their powers for goodness and niceness".  HG Wells got into a bit of trouble for suggesting free love as a part of this new lifestyle.

Spirit Lunch

 I used the Maritime tracker to spy when the Spirit of Tassie was heading out so I have filmed the first ever iconic passing across the You Yangs. Don't see that every day.  We went across to the beach for lunch but did a few work details as well. I brought a trowel and cleared some patches of encroaching foliage. Also used it to fill a large hole but first emptying some unburnt logs. I also dismantled a large garden bed as well as having a dip. The water was much warmer but silty, as last nights rain has stirred things up. Finally we had a rubbish clean up as we were going back. We got straws, papers, some rope and a pair of shorts.

dismantled

Garden Update

 There has been an explosion of growth out the back and petals out the front.  Suddenly there are five more cauliflowers, three cabbages and three broccoli plants that will have to be harvested.  There is one football sized cabbage that was cut this morning while the other two have a flowery spread.  The cauliflowers look similar to the last one but we may not leave them as long this time, before they go bush.  The broccoli looks like the real thing so that was cut as well.  As for the front, the weeping cherry has blossomed and the all important expensive Japanese maple, has survived its unceremonious uprooting and traumatic transfer to a potted environment in the shade. Last Summer it wilted under the Sun despite the shade cloth structure placed around it.  There is much new budding growth but there are near by brick walls facing a setting Sun.

Cabbages and Kings

Off with their Heads

Cherry blossom time

First Glimpse

 We went on our pick up run to the Ket bakery and there was nowhere near the queue from last time so maybe we timed it right.  It is literally a big shed and flour dust is everywhere.  On the way back we detoured to the orchid man, as yet another tree fern has fallen from its own weight. This one had two large bolts into a board but that whole mechanism was left on the fence.  After that we got a surprise first view of the Spirit of Tassie going passed our door. It is not officially moving to Corio Quay until 2022 but must be doing a test run. I have just had a look thru the spyglass and watched it track North then pull into Corio Quay.

There's a shop here somewhere

Found It

Tassie on hold

Grand Hotel

 How many Grand Hotels are there?  We went to the Grand in Port Arlington for a sit down meal because we could.  It was like the old time cruise dining, we were in the first session at 5:30 as the second session was already booked out. We had  one plate of calamari and one of fish and chips which were very tasty. We have not tried this pub before except for a quick snack during the Mussel festival.  It is also a music venue but not on this first night of reopening.  People were keen to get out and the staff were happy to be working.

Beach Lunch

 We made up sandwiches to go and a couple of drinks packed into a backpack, with two towels, a phone, a camera, sunblock and the two peskie face masks. A lot less gear than we have previously had so I am yet to try out the new beach cart.  There was a breeze, but the 25° temperature made it mild and with the cloud cover, the Sun was less of a problem.  There were only two groups including us at the start but after  2 hours,  50 or so others had arrived.  The rest of the after noon was a leisurely session on the deck. We got 11 questions correct of the 25 from the quiz. 

Lunch

Shags

There's not much holding these up

Bakery in a Paddock

 This is an elusive bakery.  We first came across the Ket bakery at a Geelong bike race and they were working out of a van. We chased them up last year but led to a  residential street. We think it was a backyard operation.  This year a simple Bakery sign appeared at the head of a long dirt drive which could not be seen clearly down.  Last month we drove in there on a Sunday and there was hardly any room and we drove straight out again.  You found your way thru a paddock and parked anywhere among the trees then joined a very long queue.  It was not until today that we went back on a weekday.  It is French styled produce but with an Asian twist.  It seems the best way is to place a phone order and pick it up on a Sunday.  It specialises in sourdough. This bread was identical to the bagettes we were given at breakfast years ago at La Grande Motte. We got a bagette and a number of sweet and savoury treats.  Such a lunch we had today watching the tour de France.  We also placed an order for Spring Rolls, What Nots and Won Tons to be picked up this Sunday. They are packs of 10 and 20 items that they make on site.  We will need to ride for a week to lose these calories.

The Food of the Gods

 I have finished another HG Wells story.  I am working my way thru the lesser known ones and so far are all a mixed bag of topics.  There seems to be a common theme around mad scientists who are discovering stuff with consequences for the rest of the world.  This time it is a growth hormone that originally was used on chickens but then escapes into the wider world and makes things grow to enormous size. It was made into a film in 1976 but again I don't remember seeing this one either.  

Wading & Riding

 Today was 21° and sunny whilst tomorrow is raining and 14° so I tried combining a shorter ride with an immediate session in the water before the weather changes. The ride would have only been 15km.  The water is still cool but only takes 5 minutes to get used to. It was more a water jog than a wade and I got mostly submerged anyway. The seagrass is still a problem at the edges but I am sure it will melt away. There was plenty of bird action and a fisherman trying the catch some using the heavy duty waders.

Trim Trim

 The fence man is back again asking for his $300 for the post job he did.  He actually put in two posts to shore up the wonky section at the front but it was a quote on top of the two complete fences he was hired to do next door.  They have now made their way around to the T intersection at our back and our intersecting fence is now so loose it might fall down. I have got the money in hand as I am looking at the wobbling fence and he goes "I will include fixing all this part without any extra payment."  So for our $150 half, the value has increased a bit more.  I haven't got a receipt for it yet. Also spent 2 hrs cutting and poisoning. Haven't done much of that over Winter but 

Spring has Sprung the grass is riz I wonder where my trimmer is.

fence meet

Sunset fishing

Beach Report No397

 Went across to the beach just to get my feet in the water. Only soaked it up for 10 minutes in the water. It was a bit breezy and there was a huge amount of grass at the water's edge. You need to take two steps into it before you get to the clear part. A thick green grassy barrier to squelch through. It doesn't feel too bad but you cannot see through it. The water is getting warmer each day though.

Grass at the water's edge

Sunset 1

Sunset 2