Tours and travellers

Valentine supper - champaign

countryside Yarra Valley

We have now been here almost five weeks, have wandered into floods, visited wineries, been to the Australian Open, and now....Aussie rules football.  On the downside - not much Aussie wildlife yet, aside from the neighbours living below who have scheduled all night parties each weekend. 

Yarra Valley

 This should be the equivalent to the end of August for us....I guess it looks like last August - but the farmers are certainly concerned.


Rich did another wine tour in the Yarra valley, just outside of Melbourne.   I think this must be part of the ongoing Aussie hospitality.  We are supposed to go to the Phillip Island winneries tomorrow, friends of a friend... The Aussies are saying this is one of those record wet years....Rich shared some Saskatchewan data with them.  The countryside was incredible lush.

Dairy farm milk time

Kylie comes Kangaroo searching

Following the wine tour, on to a dairy farm - or factory - not sure what.   It was about 2 hours out of Melbourne. Again, Rich went solo on this with some ag people from the state ag department.  Apparently they had to dress in sterile gowns, masks, etc to go into a cheese factory where they where the cheese making was kept on the opposite side of a glass wall from them anyways.  Hadn't realized Australian cheese was quite such a hot secret!

  Oh, and Rich was also accompanied by - the son.  Eric, Randi and our newest granddaughter, Kylie, have come to Aus to visit us.  Kylie is five months old, and apparently was an incredible traveller ( comes from Joan's nomadic side of the family).  We are looking forward to doing lots with them during the 2 1/2 weeks they are here.

Eric bet he would run into someone who would recognize the Rider cap while he was here in Australia.   Turns out, he was right....day 2 a man said, "You must be from Saskatchewan"... To be completely honest, it was not an Australian - or not a 'born and raised' one - rather, a person who had grown up in Edmonton, but was now living here.   We will have to see if it happens again.  Kylie is just glad to have the snowsuit off!

Aussie Football

Speaking of football - we went to an Australian Rules Football game last weekend.  It is a blood sport -  there is nothing quite like it.  We were certainly impressed with the athleticism, however wondered a bit about brawn over brain in action?   No equipment, no rules, full tackle.....and as far as we could tell the only penalties were awarded to the wimps who allowed themselves to be thrown out of bounds.  The games go for 160 minutes on a filed that is 150 metres long - no stops aside from changing direction.   They are tough!

This is an UGG

We took Randi, Eric and Kylie to the Victoria market yesterday - it is several city blocks big - goes on and on and on, has just about everything you could want, and, the prices are generally better than the stores.  A person could be there all day just trying to see everything once.

We also learned all about UGG's...not the same fashion statement as Paris, but definitely leave their footprint....or pawprint....

more market

workaholics

We are enjoying the architecture - more and more every week - and while the statues are different than Paris, they do certainly exist.  Hmmmm.

Flinders Station

Public Baths...1870's

How to protect a tower

Off for now - got the grandbaby to amuse.  We are off to Phillip's Island ( fairy penguins, koalas, and sharks from afar?) tomorrow, then the Great Ocean Road ( rain forest, wildlife, surf, and shipwrecks) later in the week, so should have lots of pics in about ten days time.  We should manage to get the whole family  in at least one of those pictures!

sunset over the bay