A LONG WEEKEND IN THE GRAMPIANS

HALLS GAP MINI BREAK

I left wentworth all packed for halls gap on wednesday, worked a full day and spent the night with ruth so i could get the 7.45 bus to horsham. It didn’t leave on a friday so i had an extra day away staying with helen and don, hopped a bus there from horsham to stawell.

it’s interesting without a licence, things take a bit more planning but it’s good to travel in new ways.  i read a great anne tyler novel most of the trip.  it’s really winter now and it got colder every time the bus stopped for a break.

Wenty's main intersection, the old post office and it's residence under a morning sky

I have a  big soft

spot for the T&G

buildings around

regional Victoria.

They're all built

in this art deco

era, slight 

variations in

style, but all with

these attractive

vertical lines in

the design

of course i had to get another (yes, yet another) shot of the big (grumpy) koala

Helen's jonquils
are just bursting
out all over

it's a tradition - scrabble with a sparkly for energy

friday don dropped me over at the house early so i had a few hours on my own to warm up the house and do some work on my grant application.  everyone arrived around dinner time and we walked down to the kookaburra hotel for tea – it bucketed down when it was time to go home so we got the little local shuttle bus, a great idea. 

SATURDAY  a typical halls gap day,  cockies and kangas around the house, some deer too.  masses of birds actually, currawongs, lbb’s (little brown birds) rosellas, magpies (very tame).   the cockies all came in to land on the verandah railings, spouting and outdoor table.  it looked like a scene from the birds – they all looked so expectant.

 beautiful mother kanga

with a quite young joey,

lots of wildlife all around

the house all weekend

sunny headed off for a long run 

crazy black duck

on top of a

dead tree stump - a long way up

Scrabble, walks, food,  hot chocolate, the papers, some telly, all with the wood heater going full bore – it’s freezing, and now on sunday morning at 6.30 as i’m writing, my fingers are icy.  but it’s a great weekend of kicking back with the family.

pretty chocolate with a tulip on top

cheeky currawongs at the stony creek cafe  - lots of rain too

big bbq on

saturday -

too much

meat as

usual

i must identify this little fella

Add caption

sunny's beautiful lamb ragu with papardelle    mmmmm

In Melbourne overnight to catch a flight back Monday morning - a catch up with chrissie and ian and a beautiful seafood dinner - i'm a bit lucky :0)



HOME AGAIN

WHAT ARE THESE

round fields on the

ground?   there are 

a lot of them in this

spot - a mystery to me

it always feels good to see the river again

 i had a few hours

to kill after getting

to mildura at 12 so

left my bag at the

art vault and did

some shopping.

maker of wonderful

prints, raymond

arnold is in residence

with ian westacott

and together they're

collaborating on

images in the

print room.

LOCAL RESIDENT