Notes from before and more

9 December 2010; Grampians

The day we had the flat Trox was thinking about going for a ride and we were sitting on a picnic table with a view of the river. As we were talking a wallaby went hop hop not more than 5 feet from us. We watched him go down to the river thinking he had come for a drink but instead he hopped into the water and proceeded to swim across the swollen river reaching the other side in short order. We were both so surprised that neither of us thought to grab the camera - oh, well.

Wheat here is harvested and then stored either in field bins or under plastic or in plastic tubes all of which are located conveniently in the fields. The farmers then store it up to 9 months waiting for the price to be attractive before selling it. The field bins look like miniature silos and can be pulled behind a truck or tractor. One of the little towns we stayed in - Hopetoun - used them for cottages along the lake.

Our new home?

Trox and I think they would make a great "cheap" way to build a house. All we need is a piece of land (in the states) that has no restrictions forbidding it and access to one and we would be set.

Speaking of Hopetoun, I think I mentioned it before as appearing to be deserted. I kept expecting Rod Serling to step out in the middle of the street and explain how The Units have made a wrong turn and are now entering the Twilight Zone. The town was really weird feeling. It didn't look run down but was most definitely mostly deserted.

main street at 10:00 AM on a Monday morning

We spent the day of the 8th in Horsham doing laundry, etc. That was my last post - and then drove into the Grampians. We spent the night of the 8th at Smith Mill Campground. This is a beautiful park with lots of water falls and beautiful vistas.

From the balcony

As soon as we parked we walked a couple kilometers to Mackenzie Falls. There is a trail that goes to the foot of the falls and although steep it is paved and has steps so we decided to go down. WELL we got part way down and found the steps blocked off and flooded. Loved the sign that was rather understated about the danger. It stated "It is considered unsafe for visitor access".

Even this was a little too close!

Part way down the falls

Watch the video and see what you think.

This morning we got up and started south in the park and visited some more falls and look outs. One of the falls, Silver Band, normally disappears under ground for several yards (meters) at the bottom of the fall. It normally appears again above ground downstream from the walkway which crosses the stream. Today there was just too much water so the walkway was under water but passable.

Supposed to be dry - NOT

We have decided to go to Melbourne to get Trox' bike and come back here. We are told that after the 17th everywhere will be crowded as it is school holidays and it seems as if EVERYBODY will be on vacation. Our plan is to get to Melbourne on the 10th and stay until the 14th when we will return to the Grampians and stay the 25th when we want to be back in Melbourne to see Simon and Lee - Greg's Dad and his wife.

One of the daya we stayed in Murray-Sunset we drove around their tour road and at one point stopped and watched and listened to a storm roll in.

At this point the storm was still a LONG way off

The storm was rolling thunder as it approaced.
When it finally arrived it was very impressive. We also watched a mother roo and her joy wandering around. The joy wasn't sure what to make of us.

Mother and Joy out for hop

10 December 2010; on the road to Melbourne

Yesterday we left the Grampians as planned and headed toward Melbourne. We got as far as a little town named Derrinallum. There we stayed at a park in Deep Lake Recreation Reserve. Another VERY high lake with a little hand written sign that said "Danger do not use Jetty". Since the jetty was underwater I kind of figured I shouldn't use it.

An underwater jetty?

There is a really cool round mountain - Mt. Elephant - which according to the local propaganda is a perfect scoria cone formed by a dormant volcano. It is open for tour on the first Sunday of every month and we may try to go on the 2nd of January.

We are now back in Melbourne and Trox is dealing with the first traffic we've been in for 28 days. YUCK! Last night was our 28th night in Bunyip.

We have now come full circle and are back at Greg and Chrissy's. Our next big decision is whether to head towards Adelaide and Carol's after new year's or to head towards Sydney where Trox has a friend - Alex but that decision can wait awhile.

Full circle

11 December 2010; Melbourne

Trox unpacked and assembled his bike last night and this morning took it for a spin.

Brand new bike - still shiny

In the meantime, I headed for City Center to tackle THE LIST. One of the things to get was a cell phone from Telstra - a company much like AT&T except Australia is JUST post divestiture and no one has caught up with Telstra yet let alone surpassed it. SO, to a Telstra store I went; priced out the phone I wanted; started the process of getting it activated, when the nice young man said, "Do you have an ID?". And I said (to myself), "Well F(*#@*$ I KNEW I should have brought my passport!" and to him I said, "Oops I'll have to come back tomorrow." Oh, well.

I did manage to acquire tickets to see the new Harry Potter movie on Monday in the IMAX theatre. Trox' birthday present to me!