Dear Friends, we’ve
been quite busy since I last wrote. We were ready to go on time on the Monday
morning – Wes drove Bilbo to Eureka Kennels and I followed a few minutes later.
We left the Mazda 6 at Eureka and after an argument with our Tom Tom headed for
Mount Gambier.
It was a lovely drive
and we drove through a few spots that we have now added to our fortnightly
Thursday travels. We stopped at the Country Kitchen Wok & Grill Café in
Lake Bolac, as it was highly recommended by Trip Advisor. It is an
unprepossessing place with very few chairs, but he loves cooking & she
makes the coffee & looks after the customers. They were thrilled to
discover their rating on Trip Advisor. Our tea, coffee & home-made apple
pie were all good.
When we arrived at our
accommodation in Mount Gambier, we were rather disappointed. It rated highly,
but the photos had suggested a much roomier space than the one we inhabited for
the next two nights. It did have 2 chairs & a table & was set in a
lovely garden, but there was nowhere to unpack into & the bathroom was
miniscule. We ate a yummy Thai meal that night after exploring a bit of Mount
Gambier city.
The next morning, we
headed into town for The Age & breakfast at the Metro Bakery, which lived
up to its # 1 rating. We enjoyed our smoked salmon omelette & eggs with
gammon. The staff was friendly & it was one of those places where everyone
was prepared to do everything, which made for a great atmosphere & very
good service.
We had decided to
drive to Penola & the Coonawarra, so set off after breakfast for a very
pretty drive through pine plantations. We noticed there were hi-vis jackets
& hard hats outside a lot of the properties in both Mount Gambier & on
the way, so we asked at the Information Centre when we reached Penola. The
previous Friday night, 4 young loggers had been killed on their way to work at
3am when they hit a tree. Their boss displayed 4 hi-vis vests in their memory
and the gesture had spread like wildfire, reminding us of Philip Hughes’ death
and the cricket bats that were displayed everywhere.
We loved Penola and
were most impressed with the Info Centre & adjoining museum, as well as the
excellent interpretive centre in tribute to St Mary of the Cross McKillop &
Fr Julian Woods, who helped her get started and was a most amazing character in
his own right. We walked down Petticoat Lane, which is full of National Trust
cottages that you can visit. At one you are invited to take a share of the
herbs & vegetables growing in the back garden.
We were finally
exhausted by all this learning & headed for the DiVine café, which had Jasmine
tea & acceptable coffee and offered us a break from reading & standing
for a while.
It is a hop, step
& a jump from Penola to Coonawarra, so we set off for Redman Wines, where
we bought a dozen beautiful reds, and chose a small boutique winery for our
second stop. It was closed so we visited Balnaves, which is a famous Penola
name, and had the very sad experience of not liking their wines very much at
all.
When we got back to
Mount Gambier, we stopped for some biscuits & cheese and enjoyed a quiet night
in before our big drive the next day to Adelaide.
We were up early and
had a lovely drive to the Majestic Old Lion Apartments in North Adelaide. We
stopped at the General Store in Padthaway, where we were amazed to discover
that getting a hot drink was serve yourself. Even though we were struggling to
operate the machine, our host sat back & watched us. Wes thought we should
share a sandwich, which we also had to get out of a contraption that was quite
difficult to master from our side of the counter. This all cost $16 and we were
convinced we had been ripped off – but there was no other choice!
We were delighted to
arrive at our accommodation, checked in quickly, put a load of washing on,
bought some provisions and came home for a rest before meeting Jane & David
for dinner. However, their flight was delayed 90 minutes, so when they finally
arrived at the airport, we decided to eat separately. We had missed lunch,
expecting an early dinner. We walked down to Lotus, our favourite Chinese
restaurant here, where Wendy remembered us from last time, and we enjoyed a
very yummy meal. I think we were back home in bed around the time Jane sent a
photo of David tucking into Marrakesh cuisine.
The next morning, we
walked into Adelaide, finding a quicker way to get to the Adelaide Oval, headed
for a newsagent to get the Age and then went to the café at the back of
Adelaide Art Gallery, where we met up with Jane & David sometime later for
brunch. We did enjoy catching up with each other and had time for a wander
around before going to the ground. David had hoped to find the Strathmore
Hotel, that he stayed in when he was 21, and we did.
The cricket was
unexpectedly good, including an unbeaten innings by Faf du Plessis, who
declared late in the day, when he realised that David Warner was off the field
and wouldn’t be able to open the batting! Khawaja & Renshaw survived, which
made us all very happy as we walked back home.
The next morning, we
picked up Jane & David from their boutique (new, modern, but with no
chairs) hotel and drove to Glenelg. We walked out along the pier, only minutes
before a shark was sighted and people had to be rescued. We missed all that as
we were having brunch at Bracegirdle Café sitting upstairs in a room on our
own. Jane bought a jacket at Kathmandu, as she hadn’t packed for cool nights,
and while she was doing that, Eureka Kennels rang asking us to move our car so
that they could asphalt the driveway. Wes was furious and ended up asking
Barbara to collect a key from our place and deliver it to Ballarat, which she
did gladly, as Warren has occasionally had to drop everything to help her.
The cricket was good
again, as we built up a lead over the South Africans, mainly thanks to Khawaja,
who just failed to carry his bat, being the last wicket to fall.
On Saturday, Jane
& David went to the Primary Club breakfast, so we spent a morning getting
up to date on the computer, ate in our own rooms, sorted out the washing &
set off eventually on the lovely walk to the Oval. It was another exciting day
of cricket. We were most impressed when Gerard Whateley and Chris Rogers
accepted an invitation to do the walk on the rooftops of the Oval and managed
to call a couple of overs from their vantage point on top of the Sir Donald
Bradman Stand. We couldn’t understand the ground announcer, but the ABC came
over loud & clear!
Jane & David flew
home the next morning, while we had been invited to brunch by old Daylesford
friends, Jenny & Graham Ellender, who now live in Craigburn Farm outside of
Adelaide. They very kindly picked us up, took us to their beautiful home, fed
us royally & dropped us back at the Adelaide Oval in time for the start of
play. It was an interesting afternoon, and we were thrilled to have seen the
emergence of Matt Renshaw, who has a great temperament for a 20-year old
opener.
After Australia won we
walked back to our rooms, dumped our bags & walked around the corner to
Lotus for another yummy dinner. Wes persuaded Wendy to tell us her story – she
is Chinese, born in Vietnam, lived in Saigon, and escaped with her parents
& 5 siblings by boat to arrive in Australia in the late 70s aged 14. She is
very happy living in North Adelaide and her husband is the chef.
As there was no
cricket on Day 5, we had breakfast at E for Ethel, which is a wonderful little
café in a carpark before walking into Adelaide in search of The Age and some
clothes. I needed a couple of polo tops for Summer, so we landed at Kathmandu.
I also bought a new Greek fisherman’s cap in the Adelaide Arcade. We then
strolled in the direction of the Market, until we realised it was Monday, and
the Market would be closed, so headed to the Jam Factory to see their
Exhibitions, but they had closed the day before. On our way back to the Art
Gallery, we stopped at the wonderful Trinity City Church, the first built in
Adelaide. We were greeted by 2 volunteers, Chris & Graham, on arrival and
taken on a lovely guided tour.
After hot drinks &
a sit down at the Café, we decided to go back home and wandered through the
University saying goodbye to this beautiful place – a city at ease with itself.
Dinner that night was at Monsoon, an Indian restaurant, which underwhelmed us
both. Lotus is closed on Mondays, or we would have gone back there!
Tuesday was a big day
of driving to Portland, and we were pleased to arrive & be greeted warmly
by our host, Roger, at Lorelei B&B. Roger is a single father of 6 &
lives in a gracious home, built around 1910 for a doctor. There are umpteen
bedrooms, two entrances & a very large & inviting guest lounge &
breakfast room. Dinner at the Edward’s Waterfront Restaurant was underwhelming!
The next morning, we
started off at the Info Centre, where we picked up some brochures on walks, listened
to suggestions & moved into the adjoining Maritime Museum, which celebrates
Portland’s marine history including whales, rescue boats & big fishing,
with lots of photos, information & stories to keep you entertained.
Our next step was the Historic
Town Walk, which included various museums, plaques, statues, old bluestone
buildings, the Botanic Gardens, Canal & Lagoon. This took about 90 minutes,
so we stopped at a new café, Lazat, before moving next door to the stunning
second-hand bookstore and bought up big!
We then did the Mary
McKillop walk, which takes in homes she & her family lived in & places
she visited, as well as the school at which she first taught. We needed to sit
down after all this walking, so hopped onto the beautifully restored Cable
Trams that take you around a few of the sights of Portland, where we were
entertained & informed by volunteers, Eunice & Terry. At one point,
Eunice takes her red flag, walks onto the road & stops the traffic in that
delightful old-fashioned manner. Dinner that night was at The Thistle, which is
also attached to a hotel-motel, like Edward’s, but offers better service &
choice of food, without being too adventurous.
Wes among the delphiniums at the Botanic Gardens
After breakfast on
Thursday, we drove to the Portland Strawberry Farm in Bolwarra & then to
Cape Bridgewater, We started a walk through undergrowth to reach the Seals, but
I was too asthmatic, so we turned back & walked instead over open cliffs to
see the Petrified Forest, the Blowholes & finally the Springs. Our final
drive was to Cape Nelson, where we bought ice-creams & sat looking at the
river, while a family of hopeful magpies got closer & closer.
Back home, we had a
rest, before packing what we could with a view to an early getaway. We had fish
& chips on the pier, and shared the chips with the seagulls who arrived
from nowhere. You can drive the length of this pier, which is rather wonderful
& full of fishermen.
On Friday, after a
cooked breakfast & a sad farewell to Roger & Portland, we set off for
Eureka Kennels. For some reason, the Tom Tom took us on the picturesque route,
which added 30 minutes to the drive, but avoided all big towns & cities. It
was a lovely trip back & we felt very relaxed indeed.
I dropped Wes at
Eureka and drove home to open the blinds, unlocks doors & windows, fill up
water bowls and check the growth of our roses. Wes arrived shortly after with
Bilbo, who was looking very clean & fluffy, and pleased to be home. Rob at
Eureka had apologised profusely for the panic call the previous Friday. Some
young lads had arrived at Eureka offering to asphalt the driveway and his son,
Alex, who perhaps needs guidance, agreed, and then tried to get all the cars
moved. Rob & Meg realised it was a scam, as there is more to asphalting
than just laying the drive, and the lads drove off in a hurry when they had
been rumbled.
We spent the rest of
the day unpacking, washing & checking computers. Wes gave the back garden a
good mow as the grass was quite high, but still very green. I picked some of
the many beautiful roses to add to vases with the lilies Judi had left for us.
Yesterday, after a 6am
walk around Lake Daylesford (where we saw not another soul), we went to see the
Highland Gathering Parade in Vincent Street at 9.30am. There was a very small
crowd, caused no doubt by a lack of publicity – no-one can remember the time of
the Parade and there was nothing on the website or Facebook. Even the Info
Centre didn’t know! We sat outside The Food Gallery for hot drinks & were
joined by Barbara & our next-door neighbour, Rob. Bilbo decided he preferred
the table next to us, who were making more of a fuss of him.
Wes spent the rest of
the day gardening, watering & on the computer, while I reorganised the
lounge (got a bee in my bonnet while we were away), started this Dispatch and
eventually relaxed with Saturday’s Age.
When we woke this
morning, I was very asthmatic again, so Wes & Bilbo walked & I opened
up the house, make a couple of slight adjustments to the lounge layout, took
Bilbo to deliver thank you gifts to Judi (who had done the bins, the mail &
the watering); pump water at Leitches Creek, collect fruit & vegetables at
the Sunday Market and return a container to Bill & Sue, who had given us broad
beans, which Wes cooked to perfection with tomato & chillies yesterday.
I decided not to go to
breakfast, as I could barely speak, so stayed here, while Wes & Bilbo went
off to catch up with Judi, Barbara, Margot, David, Sandy & Bam Bam.
