Australian adventure #2
March 4th, Tuesday
March 3 was spent in the air and was totally lost to us. We gain back the day coming back as we’ll fly for 35 hours but take off on the 24th and get home on the 24th. I hope March 24th is a good day since we’ll live it twice.
Our friend, Penny Coates, was ready for us when we landed. We had called her before leaving LAX to tell her of the luggage problem but she still laughed when she picked us up with “all” of our luggage.
We arrived at her lovely home in Caulfield, a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, to be greeted by Pippa, her 13-year old Maltese mix and a family of three magpies. We were introduced to them by their conversation outside the kitchen door. Penny talks back atthem but she also delivers nuggets of hamburger which she tosses at them. They snap the meat out of the air and chortle their thanks before abruptly leaving, we assume for the next gullible neighbour. (There goes that spell-checker again!)
The secret to surviving a trip like the one we just concluded is to stay awake as long as possible on your first day. Yes, it’s painful, but with a good night’s sleep you should be fine for the rest of your vacation. We stayed up as long as we could and made it to about 2100 (9PM) and slept acceptably before rising at 0730 the next morning to the sounds of the hungry maggies. By the way, most Australian times are listed, as they are in Europe, in 24-hour format so you might get used to it before coming here!
Wednesday, March 5
We had breakfast to the sounds of the neighborhood: the maggies, plus the dog next door who is taunted by two dogs from up the street owned by a somewhat ancient Elvis impersonator, and the aging Volvo of the lady down the block. She has very shaky brakes that scream when she touches the pedal and she is a VERY cautious driver, touching the brakes all the way down the street and through the roundabout. Then there is the Mt. Scopus school bus that loads up early. Nothing irritating, except the thud of the Melbourne Age against the front window where we are sleeping. The paper is in a tight roll wrapped in Saran wrap so it can fly a long distance with a great deal of force behind it. Makes a lovely crunching sound against the window.
The forecast for the next five days is for “Fine” with highs near and over 80. Sounds perfect, but water capacity in the area dams is at 35.2% of capacity vs. 34% at this time last year! NOT a good situation. Penny has a “green smart house.” She collects solar energy on her roof and stores gray water there as well, which is used for toilets and gardening. Her windows are double-glazed and she has electronically controlled shades that cover the windows on the west side of the house that allow sunlight to warm the place during the day.
Still, Jen mourns for the lovely gardens, both formal and individual, that she remembers as they are all short of water and everything is very crisp at the end of the Australian summer. Some commentators are blaming the government for encouraging farmers to stick with it, even though the climate changes here have made small farms unviable for many. The commentators say that the farmers would be better off to admit defeat and get out of the business entirely.
Next entry: getting around Melbourne by Tram.
March 3 was spent in the air and was totally lost to us. We gain back the day coming back as we’ll fly for 35 hours but take off on the 24th and get home on the 24th. I hope March 24th is a good day since we’ll live it twice.
Our friend, Penny Coates, was ready for us when we landed. We had called her before leaving LAX to tell her of the luggage problem but she still laughed when she picked us up with “all” of our luggage.
We arrived at her lovely home in Caulfield, a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, to be greeted by Pippa, her 13-year old Maltese mix and a family of three magpies. We were introduced to them by their conversation outside the kitchen door. Penny talks back atthem but she also delivers nuggets of hamburger which she tosses at them. They snap the meat out of the air and chortle their thanks before abruptly leaving, we assume for the next gullible neighbour. (There goes that spell-checker again!)
The secret to surviving a trip like the one we just concluded is to stay awake as long as possible on your first day. Yes, it’s painful, but with a good night’s sleep you should be fine for the rest of your vacation. We stayed up as long as we could and made it to about 2100 (9PM) and slept acceptably before rising at 0730 the next morning to the sounds of the hungry maggies. By the way, most Australian times are listed, as they are in Europe, in 24-hour format so you might get used to it before coming here!
Wednesday, March 5We had breakfast to the sounds of the neighborhood: the maggies, plus the dog next door who is taunted by two dogs from up the street owned by a somewhat ancient Elvis impersonator, and the aging Volvo of the lady down the block. She has very shaky brakes that scream when she touches the pedal and she is a VERY cautious driver, touching the brakes all the way down the street and through the roundabout. Then there is the Mt. Scopus school bus that loads up early. Nothing irritating, except the thud of the Melbourne Age against the front window where we are sleeping. The paper is in a tight roll wrapped in Saran wrap so it can fly a long distance with a great deal of force behind it. Makes a lovely crunching sound against the window.
The forecast for the next five days is for “Fine” with highs near and over 80. Sounds perfect, but water capacity in the area dams is at 35.2% of capacity vs. 34% at this time last year! NOT a good situation. Penny has a “green smart house.” She collects solar energy on her roof and stores gray water there as well, which is used for toilets and gardening. Her windows are double-glazed and she has electronically controlled shades that cover the windows on the west side of the house that allow sunlight to warm the place during the day.
Still, Jen mourns for the lovely gardens, both formal and individual, that she remembers as they are all short of water and everything is very crisp at the end of the Australian summer. Some commentators are blaming the government for encouraging farmers to stick with it, even though the climate changes here have made small farms unviable for many. The commentators say that the farmers would be better off to admit defeat and get out of the business entirely.
Next entry: getting around Melbourne by Tram.
posted by Mike Cuthbert at 9:51 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home