Luckily Christmas Eve was a Monday, and a number of shops were open. So I went first to the local chemist and asked to borrow their yellow pages, and asked if they knew where the nearest Bunnngs was. Yes !! Shot over to Bunnings (big Australian hardware chain), where they had an underground car park - First problem of the day - Troopie was just too tall to go in the car park !! (Lucky I stopped to check the height before driving in !) Then, once in the store, I was served by a VERY helpful Elf !! At least, he had tall furry ears and a little green hat, plus other Elf like accoutrements, so I presume he was an Elf ! He found me my cable, and then pointed me in the right direction for a battery checking shop. At the Bunnings checkout I told the girl that there was a VERY helpful Elf in the electrical department, and she said "Oh that would be Sean - He always does crazy things like that !!". Anyway, on to the auto battery shop, and after a couple of false starts due to closed stores, I found one - and when I pointed out the battery and said "My deep cycle battery doesn't seem to be holding a charge", the young guy looked at me like I was crazy and said "Of course it won't hold a charge - It's a normal car battery and not the special deep-cycle battery you need for running a camper, and its not even a very new or very good auto battery either". So felt a bit of a goon, but that was the battery the car had come with when I bought it. Anyway, for $200 I was soon on my way with a bright shiny new deep cycle battery that should last me for several years now, and the fridge / freezer was now working just fine !
Christmas Day we were going to spend with Janet's brother Peter, his wife Celia, and their lovely kids Sam and Jess. They live up in the beautiful Dandenong Hills in Belgrave Heights, amongst the heavily wooded forest up there, where Pete and Celia have done a great job renovating their house and built some incredible decks and verandahs out among the trees. Luckily the Day was cool - Almost cold, in fact, which was a nice change from the heat we often get on Christmas Day in Australia. Celia had done a wonderful job, and by the time we got there food preparation was well underway, and the table all laid. Janet's sister Sally and her Tom and Amy were also there, down from Cardwell in FNQ, and we sat around chatting and having a drink or three, while Trooper played with Charlie, Pete's "small white fluffy" dog - They actually get on really well, but I think Charlie is just not used to having a big rambunctious Poodle on his territory !!
Later that evening we returned to Hawthorn, where we were staying close to the old Hawthorn (Aussie Rules) Football Club grounds. Since Rod, our next door neighbour on the Gold Coast, is an ex Hawthorn player, we had to go there and take a few pics !! Over the next few days we went for lots of walks with the dog (found this incredible kind of Honeysuckle tree (I know it's not but....), visited friends in the city, and also caught the train in and spent a day exploring the City. I have always enjoyed Melbourne, and Janet found some great shops in the Trinity Arcade, and restaurants around the Little Bourke Street area. Stopped in one for some lunch, then found a great spice shop which reminded me (aroma wise) of the Spice Souk in Dubai, plus a cake shop that had some incredible cakes, and a queue halfway round the block for people trying to get in !! Needless to say, we didn't go in - Surely no cake can be worth a one hour queue !!!
A few days later we moved down the Peninsula to Mornington, close to where Janet grew up in Mt Eliza. Once again we were house (and dog) sitting, this time for Janet's cousin Philip and Sarah who had gone to Bali for Christmas. Mornington is delightful, with ocean walks, and lots to see and do around Mornington. Over the next few days we wandered around the area, went to restaurants (had a great Mexican), visited friends, and went to the movies a couple of times - Les Miserables (got to be Oscar material for Hugh Jackman, surely ?), and Quartet, which was also very enjoyable. New Years Eve was spent watching a replay of the UK Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace which we hadn't seen before - We had tried to go to the movies but unfortunately got the times wrong and arrived after the movie had been running for a while !! Thus, back to the TV - And thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Jubilee concert, albeit a few months late !!
After New Year the weather was threatening to get very hot, and, despite enjoying seeing a few friends in the area while we were there, I felt I was spinning my wheels a bit. so decided to head north towards Brisbane. It was great to catch up with everyone, and I always enjoy Melbourne and the Penisnsula, but it was time for me to go. So on the 4th January we headed north to our friends Jos and Tony up in Yackandandah, up on the NSW border, before I headed home with the dog.
By the way, if anyone was trying to get hold of us on Skype or Internet over these days, sorry, but we were cut off ! Both houses we stayed in couldn't give us their passwords (because they didn't know them), so we were quite out of touch, apart from our phones. Maybe someties it is good to be cut off like that !!
Moe pics of Melbourne here : https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0003Melbourne?authkey=Gv1sRgCLe4lL2XooXPPA#
No comments:
Post a Comment