Ocean View Verandah

www.kayoz.com

Sunday, 25 November 2001

Impressions from Wirrina bed and breakfast (we're down in Central Tilba for our anniversary weekend).

Gorgeous countryside. All the lush green grass seems terribly unaustralian to someone who's grown up in the drier areas. The green hill I'm looking at across from Wirrina's back balcony puts me in mind of England or of Heidi. Doubtless it actually looks about as different to Heidi's mountain as it does to my crisp brown hills in Canberra.

Our hosts, Kay and Jon, are lovely and full of information about the area. Jon is Dutch, so his names pronounced more like Yon than John. They're in their early 60s and Kay said they've been here for nearly 13 years. They built the house based on a design by Kay, which allows them plenty of space for themselves and guests, while still retaining the traditional Tilba look and feel from the street.

Chris is going for a ramble in the gardens here while I write. Jon is telling him about snakes, making me nervous. I still mostly believe in my own immortality, but I worry more about Chris.

Looking down from this balcony I see their lush gardens - fruit trees, rambling roses, grapes, tree ferns, and gum trees and hidden amongst them a vegie garden. All leading down to a gully marked by several Casuarina pines. Chris is heading down their now, walking down the rock-wall stair case in the side of the hill. Kay broke her leg down there a couple of weeks back. Not on the stairs themselves, but taking a shortcut from them to the vegie garden over a perilously wet slope. Jon told us she had seven screws put in and will have to use a walker for about a year!

From the gully the hill rises again. Lush green grass dotted with a mixture of trees Jon has planted and a grove of black wattle which has been there much longer. Boulders and rocks dot the landscape and there is a sense that they perhaps make up a good part of the hill under a thin layer of grass and dirt. There are whole expanses of flat rock making up huge chunks of the hillside, covered in lichen and with trees and shrubs growing up between them.

I can't see Chris anymore. Jon seemed to be telling him where some black snakes lived down I the gully. I'm not sure if he was encouraging him to have a look, or to avoid those areas. The latter I hope! He was saying that there is a general belief that black snakes keep out the more deadly brown snakes, but he sounded somewhat unconvinced.

Breakfast was again a sumptuous meal and I don't think I will be needing to eat for sometime. As it was I only ate about 1/2 of what was available, but could not have managed more.

Chris is now over the other side of the gully and perhaps a quarter of the way up the opposite hill. He just waved to me from the top of a largish boulder, but he does not look as though he's suffering from snake bite.

There are many odd sounding birds around - some I recognise but many that I don't. We left the windows of our room open last night as it was rather warm (no sign of the predicted storms or cool change) and at perhaps 5 or 6 this morning there was a symphony—or cacophony depending on your point of view—of bird calls. It was wonderful to listen to.

Jon was telling me earlier that people sometimes sit here on the balcony for dinner, just getting some Tilba cheese from the cheese factory next door, rolls from the baker and a bottle of wine. Sounds divine.

Rings

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visitors since 18 January 2000