Dogs in the City

Friday we started off at the gym, using our programs officially for the first time. Nothing remarkable—a gym is a gym and workouts are sweaty and only fun when you’re done.

After showers and breakfast, we headed out for a day of sightseeing at the parks. First stop was Organ Pipes park, named so after this formation:

Which was formed a million years ago by a volcano.

Next stop was this rock, the formation of which I’d like to find out:

And finally we saw the ‘Tesselated Pavement’:

We spent a few hours there, taking photos of the gorgeous scenery, including a genuine Aussie Outback Loo, so be sure to check that out. The climb back to the car park was treacherous, even by Dr Denny’s standards, as the trail went nearly straight up the side of the mountain. Once we reached the top, we found the warning sign that disclaimed responsibility of heart attack of dehydration.

Our hunger drove us onwards, and we stopped at a fruit stand on the side of the highway, purchasing a bucket of cherries for $5 and a flat of nine mangoes for $10. We nibbled on fruit as we made our way to the Macedon Memorial, which is located at the top of another mountain—but this time we drove it. As soon as we got there, we stopped at the Tea Room for lunch and watched the birds outside. Then as soon as we set foot outside to go see the memorial, it started to drizzle. Of course.

So this is the famous war memorial, located at the top of the mountain:

The thing is huge, easily visible for miles. And while we were blessed with fog instead of sun, it made for some really awesome, spooky shots like this:

And the entire time we were walking, it was silent. Really spooky.

After that, we stopped at Sanitorium Lake.

Should be called Sanitorium Puddle, but hey. Who’s keeping track, right?

Still very nice scenery:

After walking a total estimated distance of too-freaking-far, we headed for home, but not before checking out the Melbourne Airport’s Plane Viewing Area. This lovely family vacation spot is perfect for those that need to be reminded of the mortality. Basically you park your car, get out and sit on the hood, and watch as Qantas Boeings fly straight at you as the come in to land. Great fun, watch the video!

(coming soon)

Then safely back at home, we had dinner and watched TV with Tanya and Marc, the Traveling Spaniard. Afterward we watched Supernatural, critiqued it, then passed out from exhaustion.

Saturday we got up and took Paddy to the dog park. It’s technically a regular park, but a dog training group meets there for classes every week and the entire field is turned into a big dog-fest:

I’m amazed at how well behaved these dogs are. Before class starts, all the dogs are taken off leash to run and socialize. There are no fences. There are dogs of all ages. Some have never met before. Yet there was not complete and utter chaos. The dogs were all submissive to one another, and engaging in friendly play. There was no misbehaving. And when the owners called, the dogs responded. How can I recreate this back home?

The way the classes were organized was different, too. There were 10-12 trainers and each taught a different class all at the same time, separated by Puppies, Agility, and Competition level. Within those classes, the groups were split up into the number of times they’d been to classes before. For instance, the people who were there for the first time were put in a different subgroup as those who’d been there four times. So ultimately, the there were about 5 dogs to one trainer, which made for lots of one on one attention. We watched the puppy class, which was pretty much what I teach except they did an exercise involving teaching the dog to wait when its food bowl goes down. Most everyone said they were already teaching that at home (something not commonly done at home) but luckily there was one dog who didn’t get it so I got to see how they trained it.

As far as dogs go, I noticed Aussies do not dock tails. I saw a wiem named Gizi, a three-legged wiem, a German Wirehair and two Vislas all with long tails. Lots of labs and goldens, some shepherds, some setters, border collies, a bearded collie, a black standard poodle, some whippets, and a welsh terrier. All very nice looking dogs.

After that, we walked around the park once then headed for home to eat lunch. Then we took the train into Melbourne for the Book Fair and wandered for a while, taking pictures.

Then stopped to watch the ‘ADDJ’ street performer. See his video here:

(coming soon)

For dinner we went to Caroline’s brother’s house and I finally got to meet the elusive Chris. We had a cookout and watched TV and chatted. The Traveling Spaniard is staying with them until Monday, when he leaves for Perth, and tomorrow he is going to join us on our trip to Ocean View Road, so I should be able to sneak a pic or three thousand.

Till next time!