Blogs from Bright, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

Our first house sit in Wyndham had lasted a little under two weeks. It was a memorable first kick at the can, and I think it was useful to get the largest menagerie of animals out of the way in the beginning because from here on out the work load will be much less time consuming. Having to look after a dozen animals at once is pretty time consuming, and having to be back at set times in order to put the birds away and give everyone their night time meal put some constraints on our ability to explore Melbourne as thouroughly as we wanted too. Hopefully we will be able to swing through again on this trip. Now that this first sit is over I must admit it was a lot of fun hanging out ... read more

Geo: -36.7272, 146.96Set off at 7.30am today, supposed to be strong winds later in the day. Well I certainly pick the time to drive, it bucketed down near Albury, so much so I could not see the road. Mick just said he was glad he was not driving, that's okay though, because he has the next leg, through to Bruthen, at the moment there is snow on them hills. I will be glad I'm not driving!! It rained the whole way, after three hours travelling we bought coffee in Myrtleford and Mick took over for the next 30km. Booked into Bright Riverside Holiday Park and were set up by 12.30pm, then what would you know, the sun shined on us. We are right on the river it is a pretty little place and in Autumn would ... read more

Blog 21 - Spring is here! The snow has gone and the trees are no longer bare. Spring has blossomed with colour and activity. The ducks in Morse’s Creek are protectively teaching their cute ducklings how to survive with hundreds of humans in the park and dozens of children in THEIR creek. Bright is one of the most beautiful places in Australia and we enjoyed arriving to completely bare trees and very cold to spring and the breaking out of all the leaves on deciduous tree (nearly every tree in Bright) and flowers and blossoms. We spent our days off visiting all those place you have probably heard of, like Mount Hotham, Mount Buffalo, Falls Creek, Harrietville, Myrtleford, Beachworth (so Wendy could go to yet another Beachworth bakery) The Buckland Valley, Wandillogong and many more. We ... read more

Blog 20 - 3½ Months on the Central Coast. (Quite a while back) It’s funny how funerals bring families together. Peter’s Mum would have wondered what all the fuss was about. The family gave her a lovely "send-off". We were grateful that we got to see all the family again. We were able to celebrate our youngest daughter, Shannon’s, engagement to long-time school friend, Michael Jones. Within in week of those festivities, Shannon was on a plane to Spain, for the next leg of her jet-setting, back-packing lifestyle. Before she left she suggested that perhaps we could meet her in Gallipoli next April! Great Idea! Something to think about. It’s strange that as soon as an idea is planted in your head, there are signs of it everywhere you look. Travel features in newspapers focused on ... read more

Victoria – the place to be. C'est pas moi qui le dit ; l'épitaphe orne très modestement presque toutes les plaques minéralogiques de l'État. Mais, pour ce que j'en ai vu en un peu plus d'une semaine, on ne doit pas être très loin de la vérité. Des rocs mystiques des Grampians aux rivières arborées coulant paresseusement le long des Australian Alps, en passant bien sûr par la mythique et très fréquentée Great Ocean Road, ses falaises abyssales et ses plages aux déferlantes infernales, les résidents de Victoria ont de quoi s'y croire. Et je n'ai pas encore vu Melbourne ! Les plans initiaux, qui devaient me faire découvrir la ville un peu avant Noël, ont été passablement chamboulés. De Melbourne, j'aurais voulu emmener le van là où il n'est probablement encore jamais allé : en ... read more