In preparation for our stay at Great Keppel Island next weekend, we had to take Paddy to Caroline's mom's house in Pyramid Hill. Before leaving, we met Caroline's best friend Suzie at an awesome little cafe slash garden center called Rivers. We sat out in the sun room which overlooked a cute duck pond and I enjoyed some yummy berry crepes with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. I'm still drooling.
Then we stopped by the Shire of Nillumbik to deliver Caroline's amazing short story, Iris, for the Alan Marshall Award. It's going to win, mark my words. *grin*
We hit the road around mid-morning, traveling through Caroline's hometown of Echuca. It's a very cute, quiet little town, mostly centered around the Port. We walked the historic streets and photographed a large flock of Corellas. These large birds are very pretty and seem to always travel in large herds, but should really keep their beaks closed. Try waking up to THAT.
After a walk around Horseshoe Lagoon:
we arrived in Pyramid Hill just in time for dinner. Caroline's mom met us with a hug while Paddy greeted Chester in a most exuberant way. LOL, dirty dogs. Anyway, here's the reason for the town's name:
The next day we lounged around, walked the streets (this truly is a one-horse town, but I missed the photo op to prove it), and ate dinner at the one and only pub:
in the company of at least half the other residents. With a population of less than 500 (I would believe less than half that), Pyramid Hill is the ideal retirement location. It is peaceful and lazy, with just enough stores for people to get what they need and nothing more. Caroline and I combed the book shelves of the 'op shop', or thrift store as us Americans call them, and found a stack of promising stories for 20 cents each. Sunday we visited Mt Terrick Terrick in Mitiamo--an even smaller town, if such a thing is possible. We stayed for a couple of hours and were completely alone with only the ants and birds for company. What a perfect place to dump a dead body! We climbed the rocks and made a futile attempt at writing, and took lots of photos. Oh, and I saw my first pack of wild 'roos! (But missed the photo op, of course.)
On the way home, we saw SHEEP!! LOTS AND LOTS OF SHEEP!
For the full effect, check out my award-winning documentary here:
After another day of doing absolutely nothing, we drove back to Melbourne on Tuesday, making a lunchtime detour through Bendigo. We ate in the park:
and then toured La Trobe University (for research purposes, of course), where we ran into Shelly, a fellow Sam-Lover whom Caroline had met several times before.
Upon Shelly's recommendation, we downloaded the latest episode of Supernatural and invited over Tara, yet another Sam-Lover to watch it with us.
Tattoo, anyone??
Tara brought a copy of Jensen Ackles on Good News Week, a cross between Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Jay Leno. Although Jared would have been far better on it, Jensen was still entertaining:
Don't forget the Blooper Reel!
Back on So You Think You Can Dance Australia, both my boys showed up their female partners.
Check out Marko:
And Jack:
That's all for now--only three more days till we are snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef!
1 comment:
Skylar started barking at the screaming Corella's ! :)
Thanks for sharing the video's - Very cool !
Post a Comment