Yambuk

There are secrets along the coast line that not a lot of people know about. We have found them before like Blue Johanna and Red Johanna, with their ship wreck anchors embedded in the shore line. You can add Yambuck Lake to the secret list.  This almost breaks thru to the coast but not quite, just like Lake Tyers. The surprise here was the plovers. For years the plovers at Collendina were fussed over, sites guarded, fences erected, dogs warned off etc. We saw maybe 200 plovers crossing the beach. Like the ground seemed to be moving but it was plovers. So endangered no more. The old lady sitting for hours next to the plover nest 15 yar ago doesn't need to do it.  She  can retire knowing plovers abound.

Wartime crash landing on on Lady Julia Percy Island

plovers

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

 We have done our share of bike riding lately so for these few days we are walking everywhere. This house is central to Port Fairy. Yesterday we had lunch at Charlies which is a cafe over the top of the surf club. Good views and good hamburgers here. The beaching required a relocation further around the bay to get out of the breeze. The water temperature is good even if it is 21° air temp.  Sitting on the Dock of the Bay was a bit breezier this time but if it is wine time then it is not whine time.  This morning we walked to the lighthouse on Griffiths Island where there a lots of birds and tame wallabies. By the time we went thru town and back to the house it was 5.5 km. The Mill is a cafe with coffee in mugs compared to a few here who only do it in the takeaway cups.

East Beach

Wine Time

Well I'll be

Griffith's Light

Old Days

Port Fairy Old Town

This cottage backs onto the Moyne River. We spent late afternoon sitting on the jetty and spied our old lawyer friend two doors down in his backyard.  They rented us our first ever office space for BACS Bookkeeping in Lincoln Rd. We knew they had moved here but were never sure where.  Last night we squeezed into the Merrijig Kitchen by taking the last two seats at the bar.  This was good but pricey food in a very old Inn.  It was on the opposite corner to the Customs House where we stayed one time last century.  Back then the Merrijig was a private house and the Customs House you could stayin. Now it is switched around as the Merrijig is now a restaurant and the Customs House is a private residence.  

We walked this morning thru the Botanical Garden and the caravan park where chainsaw sculptures are everywhere.  Crossing to the beach we went as far as the Battery station then turned inland to the Moyne River and followed the yachts back to the foot bridge. From here we went into town for a bakery coffee stop and a wander around the shops. All up it was a 5km walk.

from the jetty

Tree Whale

Merrijig Bar

1860's cottage

 A newer house has been built on this block between the cottage and the river, so we don't get direct access but we have been told we can go down on the jetty. The cottage is four rooms and has been updated. There is a sign out the front that the property is for sale.  We called into Killarney where we stayed a few yar back and had lunch on the beach there before we got here. It's beer o'clock so we are waiting for some deck chairs. Shouldn't these people have everything ready.

Cadel's Ride

 We have been watching the men's race today, covering all the iconic parts we rode around yesterday.  The bike mounted video we took has proved a bit tricky, as a lot of it was taken as timplapse which leaves small gaps but gives the appearnce of being sped up. If you hold your finger to long on the start button it goes from normal to timelapse mode. We will remember that.  I got some official photos as well.

Rest day Slow day

 I am grappling with the Gopro downloads at the moment. I mounted it on Debbie's bike so am not sure what we will get out of it but it ws running for a long time so much so that ir ran out of battery before we crossed the line.  In the meantime there are two days worth of photos here of Estelle, Kia and Asher in all sorts of action as well as some paid photos from the bike ride.  It was sun clouds sun clouds for two days but we got those kiddies to the beach anyway as well as the adventure playground and for a forest walk.

in flight exit

slide races

mini donuts

adventure house

Aussie Day 

marshmellow kids

Bluey Mermaid Tail

Big Ride out and back

Got up at 5:30am and I am now typing this at 5:30pm.  We found a parking space about 1km from the start line and also within walking distance of the beach. There must have been 3,000 to 4,000 bikes doing the two course options of 113km and 60 km.  Wave after wave of riders were flagged off from 7:00am. We left at 7:40am after being held for a live cross to the channel 7 sunrise show which we both got closeup images as we rode straight at the camera.  We got to Barwon Heads at 9:00am for donuts and pancakes. Never had that handed out on a ridebefore.  It was steady pace to the end but the endless lights thru Geelong to finish was a bit of a pain.  We rode the bikes back to the car and changed into swimmers for a snooze under a tree for half an hour. We saw the Women's Elite start at 12:30pm and made sure we were back at the finish line for the last 40km or so.  Sarah Gigante made some good moves up the steep hills but were not really long enough for her to get away, although she still tried to close the gap to the leading three with 1km to go.  We spoke to her after the race and was happy with the efforts today.  James and heidi have cooked the barbie and salads for when we got back and by the sound of it Estelle is cooked for the day and ready for bed.

Estelle Strawberry Fair

 Estelle arrived about 7:30pm and we timed the pizza delivery man perfectly at 7:20pm.  It ws the first time we used Pa's Place Pizza and they home delivered.  Not to be confused with that other Paas Place. It does not seem to be a beach day today so playgrounds and adventure parks could be the go. In the meantime there is nothing like doing the strawberry picking to get the activities going. Nothing gets passed Estelle. She wants me to get rid of the snail, brush off the bugs and wash the strawbs before she eats one.

Cool Day Stamp Day

 Haven't done much stamping lately and I did not do too much today either, as I could not get the database to open. There was a  windows update message from overnight that said reboot to finish the updates. After that no database. I spent some hours working thru stuff with no result. I did a full shutdown with a five minute wait before rebooting and hey presto it is working again.  I am writing it down here so it might stick in my brain for next time. I did do some document scanning as part of checking what was working and what wasn't. For some reason only the database stopped, everything else I tried was fine.  

Queenscliff Beach

 We went across to Queenscliff beach this afternoon for a different view of the passing traffic.  We haven't used this one often but the water tempearture was perfect even if the breeze was coolish. We were facing the heads and big ships were passing including the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner. Maybe this one was the forerunner to the QEII. Later the Tassie boat came passed and you could see that the cruise ship was bigger when compared to Point Nepean in the background. There are reefs here that backup right onto the beach so you need to know they are lurking there below the surface. At full low tide you can see them clearly.  I opened a letter from the Levande people who are selling Beryl's unit.  They have been at it of over a year.  Their sales report reads like this

Enquiries  0

Inspections   0

Formal Offers   0

Thanks for the update.

Last Practice

 We gave the new bike parts a good test this morning with two circuits around Drysdale for a 35km ride at 17kph. I am washing all the bike gear now without touching it again until the ride. They have given us very tight aerodynamic shirts for the ride so they have not been tried as yet. Otherwise that is the best preparation we can manage.  I took a photo of some gladiolis that are on the table at the moment. This is going to be an annual wedding anniverasy thing. There was this reflected sunlight through a bronzy opaqued window of ours that trained just right on the flowers.

New 8 speed

 The Hendry bike man has done a rush job for us. We had  a series of deadlines today and we were not sure exactly if the bike was going to be ready. Debbie had meetings early on and finished around midday. I went across to hte beach for a cleanup.  A modest haul this time with three of those small fruit labels blowing across the sand amongst the litter. We got the call for the bike pickup so went across to OG. She gave it a quick test along the main street and said it was like a new machine and only cost us $80.   We got back in time for  a 2 hrs beach session to cool off in the shallows as the tide is out in the afternoons at the moment.  We will test the new bike setup fully tomorrow.

                                         Shiny sprockets make like rockets riding down the road

                                         Shiny circles then bike hurtles so seems like a lighter load

Bike Repair

 We have used Hendry Cycles in Ocean Grove quite a few times.  What I remember is that they were not cheap but the rough quote to get the rear cassette replaced was $80 and they are getting it done quickly so we can try it before Saturday's Cadel ride.  We checked out the main street over there as we have not walked it much since the Collendina days.  The Bay IT shop I use in Drysdale has a sister store now over in OG.  The fashion shops are still there and a bookshop, as well as three banks out of the big four.  So business is booming. We stopped at the Driftwood cafe. This was good service for coffee and tea and the menu looked OK for meals as well. 

56.75km

 It is a long time since I have ridden over 50km in a single stretch. The last time was probably the Great Vic Bike Ride some yar ago where you go 80+ km each day for 8 days.  Debbie was coming off a big week but we decided to ride the whole course this morning taking advantage of lesser traffic on a Sunday morning. The winds were slight but increasing in the afternoon so we gave it a go. We got going from Geelong at 8:08am but as we arrived in Barwon Heads after 27km, the change swept in with cold winds, rain and slippery roads.  Also Debbie's bike was not changing gears properly and we spent $300 on a service recently. She stopped at the same shop as last time after 43km, while I rode back to Geelong to get the car. We will try to get her bike looked at during this week, otherwise it will be back on the old bike. My kness are a bit slow to get going this afternoon.

Back in the Collendina days, together with Ross and Franster, we would ride to this bakery in Barwon Heads just about every weekend. The owner was trying to sell it and would always report to us that there has been no offer. This went on for years but today we could see it had new management as the layout was completly updated.

Fruity Booty

 I got the staple gun out the other day as we have seen birds getting in under the net that Debbie so neatly arranged to cover the nectarine tree. They were digging around in the dirt and did not notice the few nectarines that we are treating like babies. The farmer types next door have hacked their nectarine tree down to the trunk. Their apricot tree has fruit rotting on the branches and others fruits have been bird picked to the pit.  I think they have so much stuff growing down at Ballarat at the moment that this fruit is nothing.  Our strawberry plants are still going well with plenty of berries to pick.

Blood Work

 Had to get a last minute blood test today so I used the bike to get on the job. You never know what you will get at the blood office.  Last time it was empty, this time I am fifth in the queue.  The lady sucking the blood is a cycle fan and wanted to chat about Tour Down Under, the races in Buninyong last week and Luke Plapp losing all the skin off his back yesteday. That's the last thing I want to talk about as I am going off for an extended ride around Drysdale.  I have the stats from my watch below. The wind speed has dropped down from yesterday but so has the temperature and at 16° I was wondering why the wind chill felt a lot colder.

someone has placed a fence between the tracks

overhead of the rail trail

Road Bike

 It's chalk and cheese comparing a bitumen ride on a road bike to riding it on my fat tyred cross city all purpose bicycle.  We retrieved the Williamstown bikes specifically to ride with Cadel.  I've been caught up with dentists and cleaners and poo tests this week so I was overdue for a ride, seeing there is only 10 days to go. Of course the wind has picked up and is rated as strong and running at 35 kph this morning up to 45 this afternoon, all from the West. So I got outside quick smart at 9:30am to be hit in the face with a squall straightaway. The Drysdale circuit starts off mostly Westerly and finishes Westerly.  I still managed to do it at 18kph which is suggested by Cadel Evans for the People's Ride.

when your board is just too big

Sunsets advancing North again

Bike path all to myself

Corio Ships

 Rain has come in again after almost 30° yesterday.  Had the pleasure of going to the dentist again. I am still being warned to brush softly, use soft brushes, limit the strokes and mind the gums otherwise all the patchup jobs are holding.  There were big ships around yesterday. Most of the time they are cargo or bulk vessels but we had large passenger boats as well.  I can only read the Regent Line on the Chimney Stack but the bow name is there momentarily but a bit shaky so I could not read it.

Murky waters

 The best tides are now early on so I went across at 9:00am but I could see it was stirred up by last night's storms. The creek was still flowing steadily without a cloud in the sky.  I went out to the groyne rock cave but could hardly see it so just trudged back in again. I did get to pick up some washed up stuff and most likely there will be more with this North wind. In the meantime this is one of the best fish I have seen from last weeks swim. Conditions are everything.

Clean House

 The cleaner came at noon so mostly to get out of the way, I went back across to the beach for a dip. It was now an ideal 25° and the breeze had dropped as well but so shallow.  You went looking for a puddle to sit in.  I did find a deeper channel but you had to stay horizontal to submerge.  There were a group of five noisy teenage girls at the very beach start so I walked to the other end and back. By the time I got back they were gone. Hooray.  But the pile of stuff they left behind filled my rubbish bag. They each had blow up beach toys like surf mats and rings etc. All the packaging was still on the ground, as well as empty doughnut boxes and potatoe chip packets.  So we have a clean house and a clean beach for now.

Botherers

 I went down to the beach but came back soon after as the tides are low and the wind was up but it is a clean beach. I spied a large group well dressed about 12 of them, the adults were carrying satchels and the two children brochures.  I got inside before they came around the bend.  For some reason they gathered on our opposite corner and were sizing up the attack plan.  My plan was to hide. They split into two groups and this house was first.  The thing was, each group was at two doors of the same house. The more elderly guys had trouble getting up the stone steps and the pebbled walkway but they were looking hard thru glass and knocking the glass doors on both sides. I was commando style crab walking my way across the upstairs carpet to keep low and quiet. Meanwhile the side door guys were now really rapping hard on that door.  I am amazed they did not hear each other.  They kept it going for a full five minutes.  I have to open the door to the cleaner soon so hopefully the coast will be clear.  

Hello Cocky

 I have been keeping an eye on the white cockatoos. They mostly fly over us between Port Arlington and Geelong Botanic Gardens sometimes with a stopover at the Dell.  Lately they have been hanging around here. It is not the main flock but just a dozen or so. For the first time I shooed them away as they were on our balcony roof and we just had that wood repaired last year.  They did not go far, just a metre or so across to the top of the pole.  Those beaks are like cutting tools but not as bad as the black cockatoos. They are the silent black cloud but I have only ever seen them alight in trees. One of which was outside the van at Collendina.  This tree has now been cut down but the black cockies made a huge mess of it a few times.

I'm watching you - and vice versa