October 2006

November 2006

Arrived in Melbourne, picked up our niece, Melinda, from the airport, dropped her at the train station, picked her up from the train station, assembled a fascinator for Sandy's hair, put some bets on at the TAB and went to the Melbourne Cup. That was the first week in Melbourne.

On the day of the cup our group (Myself and five beautiful girls Sandy, Melinda, Kristy, Tracy and Norelle) met at Flinders Station. There were a lot of people, ladies with hats or fascinators, gents with yellow roses (yellow rose being the flower for this event of the Spring Carnival). After a short ride on the train we arrived at Flemington, found a spot on the grass near the finishing post and staked out our turf with Tracy's picnic rug. The day was overcast, quite cool but Melinda still managed a bit of sunburn. Sandy kept her jacket on all day and still froze. Quite a few of the race going ladies had very light summer dresses on and you could see the goose bumps from a 100 metres away. Reported on the news the next day, over a hundred of these lightly clad ladies were treated for hypothermia! Thousands of bottles (plastic) of champagne was consumed by the enthusiastic crowd of race goers. The girls (not us oldies) joined in the drinking. We saw a wide variety of costumes as not all were dressed in suits or dresses. Cavemen and women, superman, tigerwoman, clowns, hospital gowned doctors and many more unusual attires. People watching was a good part of the entertainment. Sandy's horse, Pop Rock, was almost a winner but Melinda's horse won by a whisker. We arrived home at 6pm, a full day experiencing the "race that stops a nation".

Mt Baw Baw Snowfields

We woke up to Morning Sunrise with Grant (the weatherman on Channel 7's Sunrise) broadcasting from Mt Baw Baw, in the snow, 2 1/2 hours out of Melbourne. They had 30mm of snow overnight. We had never seen, touched or been in snow, only sludge. Lunch was packed and we were off to play. Magical, the only way to describe the feeling as we drove up to Mt Baw Baw. First there was a bit on the ground under all the trees with the road just a clean pathway up the mountain. Then the trees had snow on the branches as well and finally everything was covered with snow. It was so thick and light and looked like a winter playground. Almost everything was closed as the season that didn't happen this year was finished and we walked around town and up onto the slopes. Walk off the tracks and you sunk a foot into the virgin, blue tinged snow. We saw quite a few rabbits and an echidna negotiating their way across the cold blanket of white. Sandy said she had frostbite on her face and feet (ears were warm under the beanie) so we had a hot coffee and chocolate in the bar that had just opened for the unexpected tourists arriving. This was the end of a very bad season with only 20mm (in total) of snow previously falling according to the waitress. We felt like staying longer as it was so different to anything we had seen before but we did stay for over 2 hours and arrived home at 6:00pm.

A week later and we had 36 degrees in Melbourne.

A camper here at the park had a good looking lightweight aluminum 2 step for his caravan. We went to the RV Superstore and bought one for ourselves. Only $35 and it beats the pants off the plastic Fiama step that we and nearly everyone else uses.

Also managed a good bargain with 4 new tyres for the caravan, that had recently been traded in from a new Landcruiser, for only $170 each!

We've seen the markets in Melbourne, bought Sandy an MP3, did a few repairs on the van and car and relaxed until we boarded the ferry to Tasmania.

A sun setting view of Melbourne as we leave for Tasmania on the ferry.

The crossing was as calm as can be but Sandy still couldn't sleep, smoke, walk or go to the toilet without feeling very sick. She hadn't taken any sea sickness tablets and is not looking forward to the trip home. I managed to sleep a bit on the hard floor as the cruise seats were impossible to sleep in. Experienced travelers now tell us that they sleep on the softer sofas out in the public area, stake your seat as soon as you get on the boat. The trip home will be during the day so I will keep Sandy company for this coming trip.

Mersey Bluff as we enter Mersey River arriving at Devonport after crossing Bass Strait.

A few days at Mersey Bluff Caravan Park and a trip to Sheffield to catch up with fellow travelers we met 3 years ago, Ross and Jackie. Now we are heading off down the Tamar Valley on our journey around this scenic island.