Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Melbourne - Fri and Sat
Not quite sure if I'm in blog writing mode particularly to cover a whole weekend... I really think that the best way of doing this sort of thing is to write it as you go along! But I should at least try to get a few thoughts down.
Firstly I should say that I had a fantastic weekend even if my shopping mojo wasn't quite with me on Sun afternoon (such a waste but these things happen!) I arrived on Fri evening and flew through customs and my case was one of the first to come out which was great. I had odd experience with the whole seat thing for the flight though. When I was checking in I asked for an aisle seat but got told that there was only one left and it was in the back row. She didn't outright say that I shouldn't take it but indication was that it wouldn't be great seat. So I said, well ok a window seat would be fine. When I got to my seat which row was I in? Yup, the last row?!!! Main drawback of the last row is that the seats don't recline at all which in a 4 hr flight is a bit of a drag. Luckily I got my aisle (non back row) for return flight.
On arrival I got bus in to centre of Melbourne where I met up with Sonya. We used the city's fantastic tram system to get a tram to, eh, Sonya?, to get some dinner at one of the city's thousands of restaurants! I had aubergine schnitzel which was certainly something I hadn't had before though it seemed very similar to eggplant parmesan. Tasty but I couldn't finish it all and my one glass of wine.. i really felt it! I don't know if it was just because my body felt it was 2 hours later than it really was in Melbourne (2 hr time difference between Melbourne and Wellington - 2500 km distance too!) and/or the fact that I'd drunk hardly any water that day. But all in all rather tasty nonetheless :)
On Sat after a good sleep (I managed to doze until 8:15am Melbourne time!) we ate some brekkie and then headed in to Federation Square via train getting off at Flinders St Station. As I had responded to most of Sonya's suggestions/comments of the previous hour with a response of "sounds great... after coffee!" the first thing we did was, yup, you got it, get some coffee!
There was quite a bit of relaxed strolling around which I thoroughly enjoyed. I guess our plan was to stay relatively central in morning and afternoon before walking back to Sonya's (Cremorne) along the Yarra in afternoon and then head out to St Kilda for dinner that evening. As is the best way with these chilled days what happened was that we did a bit of browsing along with a quick visit in to Zu a shoe shop fave of Sonya's (not shopping day so just quick visit) and me putting aside pair of shoes for collection later and we then headed out to St Kilda for lunch. We ate in this fab veggie restaurant Soul Mama. The have this HUGE buffet style and we went for the medium plate which gives you rice (white, basmati or brown) and then four other portions so to speak. 'twas gorgeous as hopefully is indicated in photo here...
As the restaurant is all windows I can imagine that on a sunny day it really is a fantastic place to lunch. I mean I was enjoying it as it was but I could see how on a hot sunny day it could be quite breathtaking. As it was I couldn't quite say that I'd like to live in St Kilda... a tad shabby!
I really was rather full at the end of that but needless to say, as we were in the area it was sort of necessary to visit Acland St which apparently is famous for its cake shops... we did actually go in to one but I think the cakes looked better than they tasted.. at least mine did which is fine as I was so full anyway!
Back to Little Collins St to collect my *gorgeous* new shoes and then a quick demonstration by Sonya to indicate how out of the way some of Melbourne's bars are. This bar, the Croft Institute is something you'd never find if you hadn't been there before... trust me you walk down one alleyway, take a left in to another which then turns right and it's down at the very end. All this on uneven ground in the dark with big garbage bins for company. Great stuff!
Unfortunately just as we were heading back to walk along the Yarra the rain, which had been forecasted, started. Wasn't just a few drops but horrible wet rain and it was a bit chilly. So we decided to get the tram back. Dinner was a quiet evening down at the local which was lovely and chilled. Not the busiest place ever but not empty or dead and my salad wasn't too bad at all. The Pinot Noir was pretty horrible (I didn't order that) and had to be sent back but the Shiraz (is that what you had Sonya?) and my Savvie were both grand!
So at the end of that we headed back to the apartment and were in bed by 11:30 (which I felt wasn't bad for me as was definitely feeling a bit spacey!) :) All in all it was a really enjoyable day where I felt we saw lots but never felt rushed.
Sunday to follow...
Firstly I should say that I had a fantastic weekend even if my shopping mojo wasn't quite with me on Sun afternoon (such a waste but these things happen!) I arrived on Fri evening and flew through customs and my case was one of the first to come out which was great. I had odd experience with the whole seat thing for the flight though. When I was checking in I asked for an aisle seat but got told that there was only one left and it was in the back row. She didn't outright say that I shouldn't take it but indication was that it wouldn't be great seat. So I said, well ok a window seat would be fine. When I got to my seat which row was I in? Yup, the last row?!!! Main drawback of the last row is that the seats don't recline at all which in a 4 hr flight is a bit of a drag. Luckily I got my aisle (non back row) for return flight.
On arrival I got bus in to centre of Melbourne where I met up with Sonya. We used the city's fantastic tram system to get a tram to, eh, Sonya?, to get some dinner at one of the city's thousands of restaurants! I had aubergine schnitzel which was certainly something I hadn't had before though it seemed very similar to eggplant parmesan. Tasty but I couldn't finish it all and my one glass of wine.. i really felt it! I don't know if it was just because my body felt it was 2 hours later than it really was in Melbourne (2 hr time difference between Melbourne and Wellington - 2500 km distance too!) and/or the fact that I'd drunk hardly any water that day. But all in all rather tasty nonetheless :)
On Sat after a good sleep (I managed to doze until 8:15am Melbourne time!) we ate some brekkie and then headed in to Federation Square via train getting off at Flinders St Station. As I had responded to most of Sonya's suggestions/comments of the previous hour with a response of "sounds great... after coffee!" the first thing we did was, yup, you got it, get some coffee!
There was quite a bit of relaxed strolling around which I thoroughly enjoyed. I guess our plan was to stay relatively central in morning and afternoon before walking back to Sonya's (Cremorne) along the Yarra in afternoon and then head out to St Kilda for dinner that evening. As is the best way with these chilled days what happened was that we did a bit of browsing along with a quick visit in to Zu a shoe shop fave of Sonya's (not shopping day so just quick visit) and me putting aside pair of shoes for collection later and we then headed out to St Kilda for lunch. We ate in this fab veggie restaurant Soul Mama. The have this HUGE buffet style and we went for the medium plate which gives you rice (white, basmati or brown) and then four other portions so to speak. 'twas gorgeous as hopefully is indicated in photo here...
As the restaurant is all windows I can imagine that on a sunny day it really is a fantastic place to lunch. I mean I was enjoying it as it was but I could see how on a hot sunny day it could be quite breathtaking. As it was I couldn't quite say that I'd like to live in St Kilda... a tad shabby!
I really was rather full at the end of that but needless to say, as we were in the area it was sort of necessary to visit Acland St which apparently is famous for its cake shops... we did actually go in to one but I think the cakes looked better than they tasted.. at least mine did which is fine as I was so full anyway!
Back to Little Collins St to collect my *gorgeous* new shoes and then a quick demonstration by Sonya to indicate how out of the way some of Melbourne's bars are. This bar, the Croft Institute is something you'd never find if you hadn't been there before... trust me you walk down one alleyway, take a left in to another which then turns right and it's down at the very end. All this on uneven ground in the dark with big garbage bins for company. Great stuff!
Unfortunately just as we were heading back to walk along the Yarra the rain, which had been forecasted, started. Wasn't just a few drops but horrible wet rain and it was a bit chilly. So we decided to get the tram back. Dinner was a quiet evening down at the local which was lovely and chilled. Not the busiest place ever but not empty or dead and my salad wasn't too bad at all. The Pinot Noir was pretty horrible (I didn't order that) and had to be sent back but the Shiraz (is that what you had Sonya?) and my Savvie were both grand!
So at the end of that we headed back to the apartment and were in bed by 11:30 (which I felt wasn't bad for me as was definitely feeling a bit spacey!) :) All in all it was a really enjoyable day where I felt we saw lots but never felt rushed.
Sunday to follow...
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Always Take the Weather With You
In advance of my visit to Melbourne tomorrow my soon to be host, that's Sonya, has sent on weather forecast with of course my arrival/departure points... Note that my name is specified as Sonya felt the need to sent this on to a mutual friend (hi Veronica!) of ours back in Dublin... just to let her know what great weather I'd be experiencing :) Oh fun... as if I didn't get enough rain last weekend""
Thurs: Sunny and currently 25'c (fab day!!!)
Fri: 12 to 21'c … Late shower (Aoife arrives tomorrow evening)
Sat: 10 to 18'c .. Windy with showers
Sun: 8 to 16'c … windy with showers
Mon: 9 to 15'c … clearing showers (Aoife flies out that morning !!)
And then we start getting back to normal.. Up to 18 Tues and up to 22 on Wed !!!
Very quick one...
to highlight my masterpiece from Tues evening. While it was fun, and I am nonetheless amazed that I manged to produce anything I don't intend to give up my day job anytime soon :) Evening was art class (me at art class?!) and my output after 2.5 hrs was this (slightly glarey photo so I'll put better one up next week)...
It's a cityscape before anybody asks!!!
It's a cityscape before anybody asks!!!
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
Bushcraft...
Last weekend was spent up in Holdsworth Lodge in the Tararas on my bushcraft course. We set out from Wellington on Fri evening. There were only 6 of us in the mini bus on the way up (including driver) as the rest of the group was in a different mini bus. I had a relatively quiet journey up but that was fine with me... stopped in Carterton I think it was for some dinner... had a yummy falafel kebab for dinner. Really scrumptious!
It wasn't from there to Holdsworth Lodge and while I knew that there wasn't going to be serious amounts of tramping in the weekend I didn't expect us to park literally at the door to the lodge!! Bit of theory and then bed which I was looking forward to. What i quickly learned was that quite a few people fall asleep very quickly. And how did I know this? Well mainly because I could hear them. Quite a few snorers in the lodge that night :)
Sat morning we started with some navigation theory, reading maps, using compass etc. I've covered this sort of stuff before in Ireland so nothing too new here... but good to act as a refresher.
Before long, by 10am sort of time I mean, we could hear the rain outside. There seemed to be quite alot of it. And it gradually got colder and colder. By midday I had on all my layers bar my hut clothes for the evening... and we hadn't even left the hut yet. A bunch of us were walking around wearing our hats!
Anyway, we left the hut about 12:30 or maybe 1pm... I'd no watch on so really didn't know the time! It was bucketing rain out there but I was so cold I was just glad to be moving. Once we got to Donnelly Flats we put up some flies, tent etc. Well we were shown how to put them up and sort of helped but my fingers weren't working because of the cold and I had no idea how to tie those knots anyway... so I just hammered some pegs in to the ground. This is what we were originally going to be sleeping in on Sat night...
Now, this picture might give you idea of how wet it was...
The plan was then changed so that those who wanted to sleep in it could but if you wanted to you could go back to the hut. No hard thinking for me then! But we were still planning to spend the afternoon up on the Flats and cook dinner in the flies before heading back to the lodge. It was 2pm. And bloody freezing. I went for short stroll with Danielle and when we came back I was ready to put on my one hut clothes to stay warm (they're the stripey polyprops) I was so cold. But we got the great news that we were going to go for short walk and then head back to the hut. To be honest I'd have been happy to go for decent walk and then head back but I didn't really mind so long as I wasn't standing still! Back at hut it was pre dinner snacks, dinner, some cards (well it wasn't a card game but anyway) and bed... 3 people slept in the flies.
Lodge was quieter that night :)
It was actually a very very cold night but Sunday at least wasn't raining. So after a tasty breakfast of muesli and water we dressed up warmly and headed out...
So we headed off to Donnelly Flats to learn about when you do and don't attempt to cross a river and if you're going to do crossing how to do it. This is us practising feeling obstacles on the ground and still working as a unit but with eyes closed.
After that we moved on to the real thing...
And it would appear that I enjoyed myself.
And that was kind of it. After all that I got a lift back to Wellington with Peter and Danielle and we stopped in Greytown for a much needed coffee and cake...
ps I apologise but I haven't proof read this as I really just want to crash now but I know if I don't post this now I never will!! :)
It wasn't from there to Holdsworth Lodge and while I knew that there wasn't going to be serious amounts of tramping in the weekend I didn't expect us to park literally at the door to the lodge!! Bit of theory and then bed which I was looking forward to. What i quickly learned was that quite a few people fall asleep very quickly. And how did I know this? Well mainly because I could hear them. Quite a few snorers in the lodge that night :)
Sat morning we started with some navigation theory, reading maps, using compass etc. I've covered this sort of stuff before in Ireland so nothing too new here... but good to act as a refresher.
Before long, by 10am sort of time I mean, we could hear the rain outside. There seemed to be quite alot of it. And it gradually got colder and colder. By midday I had on all my layers bar my hut clothes for the evening... and we hadn't even left the hut yet. A bunch of us were walking around wearing our hats!
Anyway, we left the hut about 12:30 or maybe 1pm... I'd no watch on so really didn't know the time! It was bucketing rain out there but I was so cold I was just glad to be moving. Once we got to Donnelly Flats we put up some flies, tent etc. Well we were shown how to put them up and sort of helped but my fingers weren't working because of the cold and I had no idea how to tie those knots anyway... so I just hammered some pegs in to the ground. This is what we were originally going to be sleeping in on Sat night...
Now, this picture might give you idea of how wet it was...
The plan was then changed so that those who wanted to sleep in it could but if you wanted to you could go back to the hut. No hard thinking for me then! But we were still planning to spend the afternoon up on the Flats and cook dinner in the flies before heading back to the lodge. It was 2pm. And bloody freezing. I went for short stroll with Danielle and when we came back I was ready to put on my one hut clothes to stay warm (they're the stripey polyprops) I was so cold. But we got the great news that we were going to go for short walk and then head back to the hut. To be honest I'd have been happy to go for decent walk and then head back but I didn't really mind so long as I wasn't standing still! Back at hut it was pre dinner snacks, dinner, some cards (well it wasn't a card game but anyway) and bed... 3 people slept in the flies.
Lodge was quieter that night :)
It was actually a very very cold night but Sunday at least wasn't raining. So after a tasty breakfast of muesli and water we dressed up warmly and headed out...
So we headed off to Donnelly Flats to learn about when you do and don't attempt to cross a river and if you're going to do crossing how to do it. This is us practising feeling obstacles on the ground and still working as a unit but with eyes closed.
After that we moved on to the real thing...
And it would appear that I enjoyed myself.
And that was kind of it. After all that I got a lift back to Wellington with Peter and Danielle and we stopped in Greytown for a much needed coffee and cake...
ps I apologise but I haven't proof read this as I really just want to crash now but I know if I don't post this now I never will!! :)
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Muesli and water...
I'm definitely feeling a little nervous in advance of the weekend now. The weather has definitely got colder and wetter now and I'm in that scenario of not wanting to bring too much but also definitely not wanting to bring too little. I'd happily be skanky and not bring other stuff for evenings but to be honest there is a decent risk that I'll just be v wet by Sat evening. Of course the fact that we're sleeping in open, well under a fly, but definitely not in a hut does mean that even if I put on dry clothes I could just get wet again!
I'm looking forward to it and I have bought my group food and I have what appears to be rather a large of amount of snacks for myself but last thing I want is to find myself short of food! The one meal that I really don't like when tramping (the one other time I've done it of course!) is breakfast... muesli with water for me. Oh, and a banana for the Sat morning. Ironically I still have all my food in the fridge and I won't pack it until the morning even though it won't see a fridge again so I'm not sure if it's really necessary to wait until morning. And then there's the logistics of changing/not changing going straight from work. I *think*/hope that as we finish up where we start out (Holdsworth carpark) then I should be able to leave clothes on the bus... I certainly don't want to be carting them around. So maybe wear jeans to work and on minibus and then change at carpark and leave them on bus? Or not. Who knows? :)
Just so you know I did take some photos last night after sorting what I was bringing and placing on the couch... I just can't upload right now as camera is halfway down backpack... next week!!
I'm looking forward to it and I have bought my group food and I have what appears to be rather a large of amount of snacks for myself but last thing I want is to find myself short of food! The one meal that I really don't like when tramping (the one other time I've done it of course!) is breakfast... muesli with water for me. Oh, and a banana for the Sat morning. Ironically I still have all my food in the fridge and I won't pack it until the morning even though it won't see a fridge again so I'm not sure if it's really necessary to wait until morning. And then there's the logistics of changing/not changing going straight from work. I *think*/hope that as we finish up where we start out (Holdsworth carpark) then I should be able to leave clothes on the bus... I certainly don't want to be carting them around. So maybe wear jeans to work and on minibus and then change at carpark and leave them on bus? Or not. Who knows? :)
Just so you know I did take some photos last night after sorting what I was bringing and placing on the couch... I just can't upload right now as camera is halfway down backpack... next week!!
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
pizza, bubbles, and painting...
Well it appears that I'll be eating the first, drinking the second and attempting the third next Tues evening! Eh, I suspect I'll be fab at the first, not bad at the second and disastrous at the last :)
So next week now looks like:
Mon: unpack, wash, recover from weekend. Oh, squash too.
Tues: bring out my artistic streak while stuffing my face.
Weds: free. tramping club probably.
Thurs: bowling
Fri: Melbourne :)
Pity about the work part!
So next week now looks like:
Mon: unpack, wash, recover from weekend. Oh, squash too.
Tues: bring out my artistic streak while stuffing my face.
Weds: free. tramping club probably.
Thurs: bowling
Fri: Melbourne :)
Pity about the work part!
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