Tuesday, 26 February 2019

A WEEK OF TRAVEL

WHAT A WEEK - on the road every day, first down to see don in the grampians




then down to melbourne to see 'lady in a van' starring miriam margoyles, i thought i'd love it but didn't like it at all, too stagey and the script just seemed offensive and insulting to the two women characters in the story.
some great wall surfaces and old bluestone are being exposed as work continues on the new metro system


mirka's wonderful
wall at flinders
street station

i stayed with vicki in south melbourne before heading off to torquay to stay with gail and have lunch next day with all the girls
Then on to queenscliff to see vicki's house taking shape, the garden has just taken off!   met up with her friends dave and deb and had dinner at the bowls club.

 a nice long walk
in the morning
down to the
marina and back, queenscliff is such
a nice quiet town

whoo hoo, off on the ferry - i was excited about this trip, no dolphins, but maybe on the way back


with dave and deb, vicki's very nice neighbours

next day off on the ferry to sorrento then a longer than expected drive down to walkerville, where i got a bit lost.  but i found alison lester's wonderful beachside house in time for us to head off for dinner with roland harvey and an exhibition opening 

 alison and i had a
wonderful morning
swim, from the water
looking back the old
limestone kilns add
beautiful colour and
texture to the steep
treed landscape -
stunning



alison and bigsy
this huge tree is right in front of the deck,  restful to sit and just look

it was great to visit nearby fish creek next day to see alison and roland's galleries, both in lovely little weatherboard buildings and just filled to the brim with their illustrations and books, quite inspiring.
they both have such a body of work and seeing it all up on the walls is giving me ideas, i should be trying to market my work more.






lots of really interesting art in fish creek, only a tiny
population (350?) but a lot of energy


From fish creek to bairnsdale
, a beautiful drive through rolling golden hills and far off views of the prom, blue hills over the water


I visited my friend kaye who has moved there and bought a great house which she has renovated completely - she's gone through that interesting 3 level house like a white tornado, it looks wonderful and backs onto a very green reserve full of trees and a pretty creek










kaye under my
favorite tree and 
below, under
her favorite tree 
both visible 
from her deck

lunch on the water at paynesville - kaye ran into a
friend who had a large boat moored right there

yesterday i was at kalimna at lakes entrance visiting alan and meryl, also a home i haven't visited before, a large rambling house with a holiday feel and a backyard that goes on and on, heaps of space for gardens and big big shed.  we had a long walk in the morning and lunch at the pub overlooking lake tyers and the sea.







    the view from the deck at the pub where we had lunch



i needed a day off socialising so yesterday i drove along the M1 to drouin, an easy three hours arriving in time for dinner and the academy awards on tv.  bangers and mash and champagne in bed 😊

now it's morning, it's been a super comfortable room in the royal hotel here, modern, clean and attractive with my own bathroom, great value at $80 with chocolates thrown in

today i'm off to mornington to see terry denton before catching the ferry back to queenscliff.

Sunday, 17 February 2019

A SOCIAL WEEK

THE WEATHER HAS COOLED and it's so good to just go for walks, do things around the house and be comfortable.

i've had coffees down at the new riverboat cafe friday saturday and sunday, also lunch yesterday with friend rob and on friday with fran and mike on their way to renmark.
I've blocked out march on my airbnb diary so i'm feeling freed up and ready to head off on a week road trip down to melbourne, gippsland and mornington peninsula visiting friends.


              swallows on the deck of the Barka view riverboat cafe






my resident kanga,
lovely but not so
popular when he
eats my grapevines


Welcome visitor - Roger and son, trimmed all my trees' dead branches, chopped down dead ones, sawed up smaller branches on
a huge half a box tree that fell down. everything looks so much
better
 on the way back from mildura - lake hawthorn

 on my own riverbank

the wrens are getting adventurous

sue and i had a leisurely wine on friday night, a gorgeous cool
breeze and pelicans on the river




these greedy buggars
hovered overhead
eyeing off our
dry bickies and cheese



yesterday was the Blessing of the Rivers, a non political gathering of people to ask for care and integrity and commitment from those making decisions about the future of the rivers and the murray darling basin.  i took photos for the local paper


 people poured 
water from far 
away back into
the darling in a
symbolic gesture.
shane howard
even had water
from ireland.

friend cynthia and her granddaughter bridget

Shane Howard and local muso Chris Rogers

back at the
riverboat cafe
this morning
with Di

    with Captain John Egge