Diggers and Cape Schank

March 17th, 2010
Wednesday

This morning Caroline and I got up early (before the sun rise) and decided that today was the day we travel to Diggers, located a couple hours south. Diggers is a nursery but also located on the grounds is Heronswood, an old mansion serving as a bed and breakfast that has been landscaped into beautiful gardens, and a cafe that uses primarily the produce grown on premises.

True to our nature, Caroline and I took a LEISURELY stroll through the amazing gardens and got lots of pictures:





There are way too many pictures to upload, so the rest are on Flickr. Caroline bought some seeds for her new garden bed and then, after spending a beautiful morning in the sun, left to enjoy our packed lunch by the beach. We ate veggie sticks and a can of baked beans (without a spoon!) as we watched a white-trashy family sunburn and get drunk. ;)

Caroline drove the long way home, taking me a littler further south to Cape Schank, a BREATHTAKING rocky piece of coast where we walked a boardwalk all the way down to the shore.

Video of Cape Schank:


Once we were by the water, we investigated the rock pools:



This place was SO amazing--I'm so glad I got to see it!
On the way home we stopped by Arthur's Seat to look out over a huge portion of the coast. My good camera had died by then but Caroline got some pictures for the both of us.

And good news--Track My Tour works to capture my location even without WiFi, so I was able to include the day's stops in that blog as well.
Track My Tour entry:
http://trackmytour.com/1211

By the end of the day we were exhausted, but in a very good way. Tomorrow Caroline's mom is coming so that she can dog-sit while we're in Tathra at the beach house. Tara is also coming over and we're going to have a Mexican Fiesta for dinner! Lots to plan for!!

Day five: Tuesday March 16

After waking up late and watching All Saints Day as we ate breakfast, Caroline and I took Paddy to the pet store.

There were bunches of nice collars and leashes and even big-dog jackets, and I looked really hard but didn't find the perfect one for my dogs. The selection of stuffed toys was a little different from the same old animals I'm used to seeing at Pet Smart, but I still think it's ridiculous to pay $25 for a stuffed animal the dog is going to shred when the thrift stores have loads of them for twenty five cents. And the selection of treats is a little narrower, with more focus on biscuits instead of semi-soft meaty bits. Both Iams and Science Diet have a prominent display among the dog food, and even Pedigree. Caroline bought some food for her dogs and as we were driving away, we spotted another pet store so we swung a U-turn and stopped to check it out. The food she'd just bought was cheaper, and almost everything seemed to be on sale... almost to the point of a store-end clearance. This pet store had animals for sale including fish, birds, and puppies. I was hesitant to look but the room they were kept in was fairly nice, with shredded paper for bedding and ample space to play (there were three pairs of puppies separated by dividers). They had water and toys and the pair of Staffy mixes that were awake seemed alert and happy.





After leaving empty handed, we stopped by a fruit market to pick up ingredients for slushies. I grabbed us a watermelon and some peaches and strawberries while Caroline and Paddy waited outside--it was so hot! Once we got home, we blended up the watermelon with some ice and lemon juice and got this:



I had brought any shorts with me because it wasn't supposed to be this hot, so after a rest with the slushies we went out and I picked up three pairs of shorts and Caroline picked out a big straw hat for each of us. Now I'm ready for the beach!!

The night ended peacefully with dinner and TV. Tomorrow: Diggers!

Day three: Sunday

Today Caroline and I enjoyed a late start and a great breakfast of poached eggs on rice cakes with bean sprouts and tomatoes with basil. Today we were headed to the Kite Festival! After making sure all the cameras were charged and our lunches were packed, we walked to the train station and bought ourselves some tickets. After a very short ride, we were in the neighborhood of Darebin. While walking toward the park, we could see the kites already flying and smell the food frying. It seemed the entire city was headed toward the festival, dogs and all!

The park has this awesome lookout that's been built upon what used to be a land fill. You'd never guess; it's sculptured beautifully with large dark rocks and sand, and the view from the top provides an amazing 360 degree panorama. The sun was full and bright and the sky was a perfect blue, with the occasional white fluffy cloud floating by. In all, a perfect backdrop for all the colorful kites!





The event was a genuine celebration of the sport of kite-flying. People of all ages we there, and the spirit was friendly and welcoming. As the hours rolled by, the park filled up with an amazing number of people and the sky became alive with soaring, ducking colors. Booths were selling starter kites, and plenty of people brought their own. Even though the airspace became crowded and strings got tangled, all was in good fun. As Caroline and I ate lunch in the shade, we watched a stray kite land on the rooftop of a neighboring house, and we found great entertainment in watching the owner (and his son) rescue it. ;)

After lunch we wandered around more. A marching band went right past us:


and then we splurged on a slushie (I had blue) and sat down to watch an African band.

Many uninhibited people got up to dance in front of the stage; young children and their mothers, some fellow ethnic dancers from a different show, and this one crazy guy:



The long hours in the sun (and the FUN!) had us pretty worn out by the end of the day. Back at home, we decided to make use of our what-we-think-is-marrow. Caroline had the great idea to make a casserole out of it, so we hollowed it out and stuffed it with a mixture of hamburger, the meat of the marrow, rice, and some herbs and spices. While it was baking, Caroline's brother Chris showed up to replace a belt in the car he's loaning her. We invited him in (Caroline made him dinner as a thank-you) and when the casserole was done, offered him some. He declined, as any guy probably would, so Caroline and I took our first tentative bite...


And LOVED it!!

Another AWESOME day comes to an end!!
(See more on FLICKR)

Day four: Monday March

Today Caroline and I woke up and did some yoga before making breakfast with banana/mango smoothies (really yummy!). We then headed out back to straighten up her garden and before we knew it, were constructing a new one! Caroline's ultimate goal is to be as self-sufficient as possible, and that means making use of every spare inch of ground. We pulled up a huge patch of grass and revealed some nice black dirt that, after just a bit of work, looked ready to be planted in! Feeling HUGELY motivated by our progress, more plans for more gardens began to form. Caroline had some great ideas about how to dress up her new bed and we knew another trip to the nursery was imminent!


After lunch we headed to the Northland shopping mall so that I could exchange my money for Funky Plastic money:



And we walked around a bit to take in all the recent improvements and I mentioned to Caroline all the souvenirs that I'm hunting for, including Jessie's (Quinn's) Animalz toys. We stopped in a couple toy stores without any luck, and then Caroline suggested we try the Australian Geographic store. The toy selection was rather slim but without anything to loose, we asked the young guy at the counter if he'd mind looking at the picture on my phone to see if he knew what we were talking about. He did! He gave us an address for a specialty wooden-toy store a couple of suburbs over. Finding the DINOSAUR toys might prove to be a bit of a challenge, though...

That night, both of us were feeling a bit tired so we decided to splurge on some movies with Hot Guys. We went to Blockbuster and picked out Fighting and All Saints Day, only to be stonewalled at the checkout counter because we didn't have a membership to that particular store. In America, you only need to sign up to one Blockbuster and you can use that card at any of them, hence the whole PURPOSE of a chain store! So we were screwed; No card = No movies. To sign up, you had to present a photo ID and two forms of address (i.e.= bills) which seemed like entirely too much effort (who carries their ELECTRICITY bill with them?!) so out of annoyance, we left. But on the drive home, we realized that we really did want the movies, so Caroline searched for the proper bills and then double checked to see if she had her license--which was missing. So after a thorough house-trashing and realizing her mom had her license, she grabbed her passport and we headed back to Blockbuster. Walking in, I felt a little sheepish but while Caroline was filling out the fifteen pages of personal information, a mother of three came into the store with five "Very Late" overdue movies and video games, who "Talked to someone up here last night" and was told she could make payments (how late were they?!), which seemed to really piss off the girl in charge. The drama was a great distraction, but we left without knowing how it ended!

We made it home in time for My Kitchen Rules and Caroline cooked up some really tender steaks with fresh veggies and potatoes. We settled in for a night of relaxing and sexy men!!

Day Two: March 13th, Saturday

Woke up after sleeping like a log on my super-soft, super-comfy bed. The birds were singing and the sky was beginning to lighten. We sat outside on Caroline's front porch and watched the sun rise.

Afterward we went to Ceres, a community garden gone hippie commune. We walked through the nursery and browsed the healthy-looking herbs, veggies, and ornamental flowers. It wasn't as impressive as Bulleen the day before, but still a worthwhile selection. Then we ventured out into the trading tents, which were a mixture of commercial and garage sale-style sellers. Hand-made clothes, piles of books, and an Indian soul-cleansing massage parlor dominated the scene. A little scared of the noises coming from the soul-cleansings, we veered into the group of veggie traders. On a table along with some sad looking grapes was a huge green vegetable, about 18-20 inches, marked 'free'. It looked somewhat like a squash but bigger than any I'd ever seen before. Caroline guessed it was a marrow, what a squash becomes after it gets to a certain size. Regardless of what it actually was, we could not leave behind such a huge freebie, so I snatched it. :)

I grabbed some pictures of some (upon closer inspection) rather sick looking chickens, but meanwhile Caroline and Paddy got 'bounced' from the veggie tables--like somehow Paddy was carrying this dangerous zoonotic disease but the diarrhetic tailless chickens wandering the place were perfectly fine??



The overall vibe in the place was a little strange... everyone else seemed to know where they were going and what they were doing and pretty much kept to themselves. We felt like intruders, and lost ones at that. Even though there were lots of families with kids running about, nobody seemed to notice us. From a hilltop gazebo we sat for a while and looked down at the spread of land that had been divided up into lots of small, haphazard personal gardens. Although the place was clean and the plants grew large, it didn't seem to be thought-out or tended to enough. The idea behind Ceres was great--a large piece of land that could be shared by people less fortunate, providing food and a sense of belonging. But for some reason, Ceres just didn't quite accomplish that.

We decided to head home (after Paddy got called an alien) and hung around just long enough to watch the sky writer finish (or not, as it were) his ad for Lipton Ice. lol.



Back home, we had rice paper rolls for lunch, using the mysterious ingredients we bought from the Asian grocers the night before. Two packets of vegetables, labeled completely in Asian except for the ingredients list, which had been translated to: green vegetables, spices. Vegetables can't be that bad, right? And the picture on the front of the packet showed the minced pile of brownness on a plate with a sprig of parsley, like it was meant to be eaten straight.



Upon opening, one whiff of the 'green vegetables' had us thinking some serious second thoughts. Mostly unidentifiable, they mostly smelled of salt and pungent spices. Into the bowl they went anyway, and added to our spread of fillings.



It only took one small bit to call this experiment a failure. Further inspection of the packets revealed that one of the 'vegetables' contained 97% of our daily sodium allowance. So, although it was unanimously agreed that this trial yielded not only inedible but dangerous new cuisine, it only increased our desires to try again.



The time was two thirty and with only half an hour left before the Preston Market closed, we hurried down the street. The stalls were packed with last minute bargain hunters, and we found out why. In the final minutes of trade hours, the dealers become frantic to unload whatever they have left, as the next market day isn't for three days. Prices are dramatically slashed but you have to be somewhat pushy and 'noticeable' to get through the crowds. Caroline grabbed a huge bag of carrots for one dollar, then at the next stall down, a huge bag of bean sprouts for another dollar. Seriously, even in America, that much bean sprouts would have sold normally for at least $20. The closing bell rang, at which point trading must stop, but if you're sneaky about it you can still grab anything that's left. In a darker alley, Caroline scored a huge bag (all the man had left) of cucumbers for fifty cents.

We headed home feeling like we'd robbed the place. It was so amazing to carry all that food when we'd paid so little! I wish we had markets like that back home.

After trading the groceries for the dogs, we headed out to Heidelberg dog park to play some serious fetch with Paddy, while Chester ambled along and marked his territory. The sun was going down and we sat at a picnic table to talk and watch the other dogs. A weimeraner showed up, sporting a full-length tail, as is the custom in Australia, and there were a few whippets and Jack Russells. Shortly after, a German Shorthair appeared and when Paddy's ball went astray, I stopped to say hello. He was 8 months old and already very big-boned and handsome, full of that familiar scattered energy. The owners also had with them an older Wirehair, but its pedigree could be debated. Caroline and I chatted with the owners for a while, and when another sheltie owner came by, the Shorthair owners left. Paddy seemed to recognize his fellow shelties (as I believe same-breed members do) and they greeted each other smoothly.





When it was mostly dark, we said goodbyes and loaded up the dogs to go back home. More rice paper rolls for dinner, and I attempted to make hot chocolate mix from scratch. Although it came out nothing like hot chocolate, it was mostly drinkable so we sat outside to stargaze. Conversation had turned introspective when mid-sentence, something dropped onto Caroline's hand from the overhang above. After flicking it away, she saw what it was: a spider as large as an American half-dollar. After much screaming and flailing and poking things with a stick, I got the spider on the end of her cane and carried it to the front of her house, banging it loose in the grass. Although odds were we wouldn't see it again, we just couldn't quite get comfortable again after that.

Bed time!

Day One

THE FLIGHT

I left mom in Kansas City at 9 am and had a smooth flight to LAX. I was able to have my bags checked all the way through to Melbourne so I didn't have to worry about dragging them about--which was great, since they were both so heavy! And my backpack, loaded down with all my electronic equipment, was heavy enough. So in LA, the sun was shining but it was pretty windy and (while warmer than home) not really WARM warm. Having a 12-hour window before the flight out made me feel pretty comfortable because I could get pretty freaking lost and still make it to the gate in time for Qantas. I ambled around outside for a bit to stretch my legs, and passed this cute little doggie relief area:


This would be quite useless for my big dogs, but cute nonetheless. :)

Once I found what I thought was the Qantas ticketing counter, I saw the sign that said they started checking in people at 2, which meant I had three hours before I could even get my ticket. So I sat. And walked. And sat. And went to the bathroom. And took a walk. And played games on the phone. And talked to mom. And sat. And eavesdropped. And kept up a pretty constant stream of Facebooking and Twittering. Much thanks to Kristine for playing Scrabble with me!

The time went by fairly quickly. There were no celebrities, but once I got checked in to Qantas and was able to roam the terminal, there was much more to do. I moved from lobby to lobby and bought a couple cups of coffee and went back to the bathroom and talked to Caroline, who had been dumped by her coworkers at lunch time. I stayed in the main terminal for a pretty long time, since I was told that once I went to the actual gate, there wasn't much to do. So I either walked around or played on the phone and people watched. Amazingly, time went fairly fast.

I started getting nervous as 11pm drew closer... there was an exciting tension in the air as people gathered at the gate. Caroline called again and we talked as she drove home. I talked to mom one more time too. Then it was time to board!

For such a huge plane, the seats are still amazingly close together. I was in the center row of four, in the second seat in. There was a woman beside me but on the other side, and empty seat then an older man. I got to send out one last Tweet before we took off.

Not long after take off, we were fed dinner. And on the back of each seat, you have a TV with a headphone plug-in and even a USB port for charging iPhones and iPods. The food isn't that bad: I opted for the salmon and it was served with a salad and drink and a roll and even a brownie for dessert. There's also an open bar, which most people took advantage off. The man next to me started off with a 7&7 and then went through several small bottles of wine. Then he disappeared for a while, so I stole his blanket. ;)

So what do you do during a 14 hour flight? I got caught up on movies: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (hilarious), Hurt Locker (emotional), Where the Wild Things Are (didn't get it), Sherlock Holmes (awesome!) and an episode of Family Guy. I got some sleep, too, though when you're crammed in a air plane seat, the word 'sleep' is questionable.

In the morning we were served breakfast and before long, the pilot was announcing that we would be landing soon! One by one, people changed into new clothes (I'd somehow missed everyone changing in to pajamas the night before) and before I knew it, we were touching down!

It was great to be walking around again. After you leave the plane, you're funneled into Immigration where your passport is stamped and you must declare anything like food or medication or animals... which even though I didn't have any of that, they still scan the bags to be sure. So off to Customs I went.

Where I got in trouble. The man checking the bags made me open the black suitcase, as he had detected something in the corner that needed to be checked. I had no idea what it was, but was worried anyway. There were some books and some wooden toys that he took note off, but under those, in a plastic bag, I'd packed a pair of Caroline's shoes that she hadn't been able to take home last time. On the bottom of one shoe was a clod of dirt, which meant I had committed the ultimate sin and was obviously trying to smuggle in The Great Northern American Dirt Plague and wipe out the entire population of Australia.

So after they drenched the shoes in Sterilizing Acid, I was free to go.

Caroline was there waiting for me, and I got a big hug even though I probably smelled like an old sock.


THE FIRST DAY

We drove from the airport to Caroline's house, where Paddy and Chester seemed pretty confused by my presence. But after throwing Paddy's ball nine million times, he figured I was okay. :)

I called mom and sort of unpacked and then we had an awesome lunch of stir-fry chicken and rice and a fresh salad of beans and tomatoes from the garden. We sat on Caroline's front porch, on her super-comfy stuffed chairs, and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Once we'd rested, we headed off to Bulleen Art and Garden. What an amazing nursery!! We spent the afternoon taking pictures of the awesome figurines and plants.



Caroline came home with some spinach and lettuce to add to her garden. We headed back out to the market across the street to find some fruit for breakfast, and decided to try something new, something that we had no idea what it was. In a basket under a table of bananas was a bunch of small, spotted oval green fruits. There was a sign that warned us to use tongs to handle them, so of course that's the fruit we wanted to try. As soon as the cashier realized what it was, she dropped it and told us it was a prickly pear. She was completely confused by the fact that we had no idea what that was but just wanted to try it, so another employee took us back outside and showed us how to cut into it without getting hurt, then let us eat it. It wasn't bad, tasted mostly like a pear but with tiny little crunchy seeds throughout.

On the way out of the market, we took a tour of the Asian Food store, just for kicks. Talk about a Tweet-worthy place!! Dried squid and ten-pound bags of mushrooms and salted jellyfish and chicken balls and quail eggs and all sorts of unidentifyable plants and animals!! It was awesome, in that horrifying sort of way! We decided to be even more adventurous and actually TRY something that we had no idea of what it was. Caroline and I picked out two small packets of what seemed to be vegetables, and also some sweet chili sauce and fake crab meat and rice paper rolls for the next day.

We came home and made dinner: the rest of the salad and some really yummy hamburgers Caroline had made ahead, with veggies from her garden added in, and mashed potatoes. Once our tummies were full, it didn't take long to get sleepy! We tried to watch an episode of Caroline's new favorite show, My Kitchen Rules, but stupid Megavideo wouldn't buffer properly, so we gave up and went to sleep.

END DAY ONE
As always, check out my Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr for additional pics!

The night before...

I am a night-before packer. Really, I'm a wait-until-the-night-before-to-do-EVERYTHING person.

Today I went to the bank to alert them to my travels, but was told to call the 1-800 number. Then after work I started seriously packing. Melanie and Steve met mom and I at the Olive Garden for dinner, and afterward mom and I went to the AT&T store. I bought a spare battery and car charger for the phone, then talked to the sales rep about using the phone in Australia. We were told a horror story about a family that went to Mexico and while staying in a resort, downloaded two movies to the iPhone, at 1GB per movie, using the international 3G network (not realizing the resort had WiFi?). The phone bill when they returned was $96,000. Sounds outrageous--it IS outrageous--but it gets the point across: DO NOT USE INTERNATIONAL 3G (DATA ROAMING). This puts a damper on my plans for frequent communication, as I'll only be able to Tweet and Facebook when I'm in proximity of free WiFi. AND I can't use GPS which sucks ass.

But hey, I'm glad I found out beforehand. I would have forced my way onto data roaming for sure, completely clueless about the cost.

Oh, and I get charged $.50 for each text I receive and send. *eye roll*

But enough of that--I've alerted the bank and paid my bills and found a credit card with available credit, and I've almost finished packing my checked bags. I've done laundry and the house is still somewhat clean from Sunday, and I've put a hold on my gym membership and I'll call Time Warner tomorrow to disconnect the internet. Sorry neighbors, no more free WiFi.

I was packing my t-shirts and turned around to find Lucky standing in the doorway with a look of complete betrayal on her face. I think she knew last night, but now she knows for sure. I'll pack their food and treats and toys and take them to work tomorrow morning. 52 nights of boarding... there goes my employee credit.

Gotta pack my carry-on bag with all my electronics and books for that wonderful 12 hours in LAX, get a shower, and try to sleep. It's already 10:45!!