Sunburnt Suburbia

Easter hike - side walks day

Monday was a relaxed day. We all packed up our roadside campsite, and drove off for a walk to Tulloch Ard lookout over the Snowy River gorge. That was an easy walk down to the lookout for impressive views over the Snowy - beautiful country indeed. 

Here our hiking group gathered for the all-together photo. 

We had a good group. Everyone got on pretty well, or at least ignored each other gracefully, as normally occurs on a Melbourne Bushwalkers hike. I think that subtle, unspoken behaviour expectations exist, and most of the time, most people manage to meet them. 

After our walk to this lookout, the weather worsened and we ran low on LPG in the car. I had underestimated both the distances of side trips and the reduction in fuel efficiency that would occur. Consequently we arrived in Buchan hoping to buy LPG,and had our hopes dashed. Though there is wide availability of LPG, its still doesn't match petrol's availability. Consequently I need to plan trips into mildly remote areas more carefully than when driving a petrol car. 

Sometimes I question whether this hassle outweighs the cost savings of LPG. We spend about $7 a week less on LPG for the Ford G6E than we did on petrol for the Subaru Outback. The Ford is a significantly bigger, more comfortable driving car than the Outback, but the Outback had much better luggage and off-road capability. Yes, I do question whether the hassles of LPG are worth $7 a week. 

So after lunch and a walk around the Buchan caves reserve in the rain, we decided to return to Melbourne. The traffic started to crawl on the approach road to Sale, so we diverted through Maffra for our journey. That worked well, and made for a pleasant finish to the Easter weekend. 

Cruise fantastique - day four

Day four of our cruise had a relaxed start while the ship anchored offshore from the village of Easo, on Lifou island. Lifou is one of the Loyalty Islands, part of New Caledonia but geographically separate from the main island. The crew ran a shuttle service of ship's tenders to ferry passengers onto the jetty 800m southwest of Easo - a little adventure in itself.

For those on foot, Lifou offered a beach with white sand and palm trees, a tiny market of locally produced souvenirs, a walk to the chapel on the point, and a coral-filled bay good for snorkelling.

We walked up to the point for some wonderful views over the bay and a few photos.

We then walked down to the snorkelling bay and enjoyed an amazing diversity on fish among the coral. The coral itself was mostly brown, though there was the occasional bright blue stand. The number and diversity of fish provided real delight. I really didn't expect such splendour of fish.

We swam for a while and then rested for a snack. We returned to the ship in mid-afternoon, and enjoyed our late afternoon wandering the ship listening to different live acts.

The quality of the live acts onboard also exceeded our expectations. Each group of performers had a specific niche and filled it well. They all performed covers, or pleasant jazz, which is what people want on a ship. I enjoyed listening to all the acts, giving each about ½ an hour before some other activity attracted.

This evening had a pirate dress theme, so lots of passengers joined in and the ship's show troupe presented a pirate pantomime. The show troupe too were great.

New fish and better infrastructure for their environment

Our fish died over the Christmas break, which saddened us all. They had survived in our almost anerobic pond since 2005, and had become part of our 'family' - well as much as fish can. Their death probably resulted from fruit falling into the pond while we were away, and fermenting to cover the pond surface with a scum. This stopped oxygen exchange into the water and also consumed all the oxygen in the pond. 

Without the fish mosquitos quickly populated the pond and started to undermine our comfort. I decided to take action. This time however the fish would enjoy a better living environment. I bought a pump and some fish. 

Callum helped me empty out most of the water, and then we installed the pump and fish. The pond was still too dirty to see the fish, but they will survive. When Susan returns from Germany she can clean the pond out well. 

Australian National Botanic Garden

Just before we started our journey back to Melbourne, we visited the Australian National Botanic Garden. We passed 40 minutes walking its Main Path. 

Our walk started with two sunning lizards. They were comfortable with people, and so Susan got quite close. 

The Main Path through the garden takes in several habitats. It starts with the rain forest, which the ANBG maintains through the extensive use of mist sprays. We also liked the eucalypt lawn, with its open grassland.

The path finishes with plants native to Sydney and Canberra. Then we started south, driving the Monaro Highway to Victoria.

I am glad we took that route, as the drive is beautiful. The landscape has an Australian flavour on the European hill lands. Multiple open, small valleys of farms with hill tops covered in trees. Even in spring, dry grass colours dominated the land. This made a strong contrast with the 2nd half of our journey through Gippsland, which was particularly verdant. The drive home gave a great finish to our short break. 

Floriade and National Gallery of Canberra

We started our holiday in Canberra with a visit to Floriade, the large spring flower festival. Entry was free, which surprised us. Traders and sponsors appear to provide sufficient funding to top up what the government puts in. The plantings of bulbs, intermixed with other spring ground covers, were stunning. Around the park were beds planted to big designs, which could not really be seen as there were no high platforms. 

That didn't really matter, as the plantings deserved a detailed look. The interplanting of the bulbs with ground covers gave rich textures.

There was steady drizzle through the morning, so we retreated for coffee. When the weather cleared, we found some truely inspiring flower designs.

After a picnic lunch we visited the National Gallery (of Canberra). For us 'Blue Poles' by Jackson Pollock and 'The Ned Kelly Series' by Sydney Nolan latched in the memory.

Though billed as the National Gallery of Australia, it doesn't really live up to it. The National Gallery of Victoria has a more significant collection. Which truth be told, results from starting the collection earlier and receiving generous private funding. 

The café at the National Gallery however overlooks some amazing Australian landscape design. The intermingling of snow gums and other Australian natives with the grey granite paving and cream stucco walls created what for me is a highlight image. 

Suburbs have beauty too!

Inspired by the Mac OS screen savers that make close-up photos of plants into near abstractions, I captured a couple of photos around our house. 

I started with the trees on our street frontage, and then saw some grasses in the park behind our house while walking Gypsy. 

I have achieved a flavour of the style, but not the purity of execution. I wonder whether they make extensive use of Photoshop?

Ocean Beach and White Sands Camp

Our Easter hike finished with walking east from Nelson along Ocean Beach on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, and our holiday finished with a look at an old ship recreated.

Upon arriving at Nelson at the mouth of the Glenelg river, we had a couple of hours enjoying fast food and real coffee. Then after an early BBQ lunch, we walked along the beach until White Sands Camp. This campsite was hidden between the dunes and a long swamp. It was my favourite of the hike.

The clear, crisp night kept away the mosquitos and gave me lots of time to star gaze. On my iPhone I have the app Distant Suns 2, which provides a detailed star map of the sky above. It is great software for a remote campsite on a clear night. 

Dawn came to White Sands Camp fine and still - the perfect start to the final day of our hike. 

We walked another 11 km along Ocean Beach to finish the hike at lunch time. After sorting out cars and getting changed, we headed back to Port Fairy for afternoon coffee. One of our fellow hikers, Ken, told me of the replica Portuguese caravel docked in Port Fairy. So before our coffee we went down to the sea to look at the Notorious. It is an interesting ship, having been built by an experienced cabinet maker using only traditional techniques. 

I am not sure that I would go to sea in this ship. I suspect that the skills necessary to build a seaworthy vessel using traditional techniques cannot necessarily be learnt first-time around, even for a skilled cabinet maker. 

Hiking down the Glenelg river

Easter Saturday and Sunday passed with a pleasant hike down the Glenelg river until Simsons camp just outside the village of Nelson. Our second day's walking took us to Pattersons Camp, a most beautiful spot within the river gorge. The weather was fine, but not hot - just perfect for hiking. 

Many parts of the track took us to great lookouts over the river gorge, providing lots of opportunities for photos and rests. Overall the track was gentle. There were only short climbs to the cliff tops, then some virtually flat walking until a descent into the next campsite or canoe landing. 

Such a gentle river meandering through a stunning gorge and National Park draws lots of canoeists. There were plenty of places for canoes to land and camp, and lots of river to journey down. 

Easter was late this year, and I expected a cold, wet hike. However I was to be disappointed. The trees though, did show that autumn finishes soon. 

Plague of locusts

Yesterday I went to Ararat to visit a friend. Just on the outskirts of the town I encounter a plague of locusts. Last year on our way back from Wilpena Pound we encountered a plague of locusts around Mildura. They seem to have moved slowly south. 

I thought plagues of locusts were of the ancient past. However the right climatic conditions must bring them back. The news reports that they still do lots of damage, but we starve no longer from such an plague. Food prices do not even rise significantly. We have a more robust civilisation now than did the people of biblical times. I wonder whether we have enough robustness for major climate change?

Habitat for Humanity

Today we went to a working day in Hazeldene, organised by Habitat for Humanity. This area lost many houses in the Black Saturday fires of February 2009. Habitat for Humanity focusses on helping disadvantaged people get into reasonable quality, long-term housing. This includes some victims of these fires.  

We went to clear the block of one the houses destroyed, as the extensive regrowth from the last two years prevented its rebuilding. The resident was living in a caravan while trying to organise rebuilding of his house. 

There were 30 volunteers from all over Melbourne. The day was well organised, with plenty of equipment and food provided. I spent the day using a brush cutter, while Susan did lots of picking up. I was nervous using it. If I made an error, or it behaved unexpectedly, at the wrong time someone would get a serious cut.However I did learn though that a lot of safety results from the careful imagining of possible events with negative outcomes, and then avoiding these events. However I suspect that an effective imagination of negative events requires significant experience.

30 people can achieve a lot in a day. By morning tea we had already cleared a substantial area. By the end of the day, the block was almost completely clear and certainly ready for building. We felt tired and good.