Blogs from Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

I’m kcab. I think due partly to a change of email address and more probably to my lack of blog skills my previous travel blogs are floating somewhere in the internet ether. They are findable and may give you some amusement although if anyone does locate them it probably means they have too much time on their hands. To anyone likely to take umbrage at my intentional double usage of the word ‘ramblings’ I give you warning there are more to come and you probably should run away now, delete any bookmarks to the site and put some some kind of block on the site. The reference to let the games begin is not meant to point towards any Hunger Games dystopian fiction and I certainly hope (for Julie’s sake) that it’s not the case. Julie, ... read more

I’m back walking. That’s not walking backwards although there are a few who think I’m crazy enough! Really it’s another experiment, hoping to find an app that I can navigate through and have some control over.... read more

Today, after an early breakfast we went off to Melbourne by train. We used a “Mykie card” and had a pleasant trip in having a chat with some locals on the train. We also got the call from Mckenzie’s the airport baggage people to say that they had Alex’s case and would deliver it to our apartment between 10 and 1400. Result, woo hoo. We got to Flinders Street station and walked a few yards to the Swanson street junction to wait for our pick u p with “Dancing Kangaroo Tours” for our trip to the Yarra Valley wine tasting. All in all we went to 4 wineries where we tasted 8 samples at each. I bought a bott of red at one and a bott of white at another. I guess each sample was an ... read more

We have written a short blog to reflect on our last few weeks in Asia. Throughout our time we looked forward to the next destination, never looking back at where we had been and even propelling ourselves to leave the continent early. Was this justified? On reflection no, we think the reason for this haste was a combination of factors. Each country indeed had very strong merits to make it a contender for "the next country I will go back on holiday and visit" but mixed up, visiting these countries after one another; that is what has taken its toll of our weary bodies and minds. Particularly our minds, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia are still stricken with war poverty, each isolated is a beautiful country but a demonising past but as you travel and move through ... read more

Nous allons bosser au resto aujourd’hui. Avant de partir on nourrit les chevaux, depuis hier on est aussi en charge de ça. Il faut préparer les seaux avec des mixtures différentes selon les chevaux, puis les ramener à l’étable. On manque de se tromper, 2 chevaux se ressemblant beaucoup. Je n’arrive pas à mettre le collet, trop compliqué mais pas besoin, ils nous suivent docilement ! Ca me fait un peu bizarre d’être si près de chevaux, ça faisait longtemps… Puis à 10h on part au Weller’s le restaurant de Stuart & Tiana. On commence par les toiles d’araignées, puis on nettoie les murs extérieurs qui ont du caca oiseaux. Je visse 2 nouvelles pancartes Ladies et Gentlemen pour les toilettes, pas facile mais je me débrouille toute seule. Nico nettoie les gouttières et enfin à ... read more

Aujourd’hui c’est lundi de Pâques et nous allons bosser au potager. Je me lève tard, à 9h, je suppose que c’est dû au festin et au « hot toddy » de la veille !! Nico est déjà à l’œuvre dans le potager, je ne tarde pas à le rejoindre. On désherbe, on coupe et on fait la récolte de légumes énormes. Mais il pleut des cordes, donc le travail est interrompu, du moins pour moi qui va à l’intérieur prendre un thé avec Tiana. Mais pas Nico, bourreau de travail qui continue même sous la pluie. Tiana sort pour lui dire d’arrêter mais rien n’y fait !! Ce mec est totally crazy !! Après un déjeuner dans notre joli accomodation, on reste tranquille au chaud, faut dire que le temps est horrible : pluie, vent et ... read more