you yangs

Blue sky is a bit of a rarity at the moment so a rainless Saturday had to be made the most of. Johanna had a nine o'clock bus to catch in Geelong, an airport shuttle, the beginning of her journey to Queensland. After dropping her off we had breakfast in her favourite cafe, sending snapshots and updates of our breakfast, revenge in advance for all the photos she will be sending us of blue skies, beautiful beaches and the places we lived and loved in Caloundra!

The You Yangs is close to Geelong and somewhere we had never been so why not check them out. It has been a while since we have been bush walking and in Tassie Johanna and my mother were usually along for the ride, so it felt like we were missing a couple of buddies. It so happened that the Geelong Mountain Bike Club was having a whole lot of races on the You Yangs tracks, fortunately they were different from the walking tracks. We weren't prepared for a longer walk so took a short one instead. Colin was super impressed when he realised he could down load an app rather than carry a map and that it showed exactly where you were in relation to all the tracks and better still the app was for Victoria and Australia and anywhere....I think....I tuned out early on in the explanation. I prefer to follow the wooden sign posts.

It is quite dis-satisfying taking photos in the middle of the day, harsh light and deep shadows, but that's what is.

Winding paths

Sugar Gum trees

The big Rock

On top of The Big Rock

Yep, cyclists up here too

These guys made a wrong turn somewhere

There is something so restorative about being in the bush, it is good for the soul.

oh what a feeling

Another milestone for Johanna, her first car and hopefully a reliable one - hard to go wrong with a Toyota Corolla, especially with one elderly owner and low kilometres. Fingers crossed. She will be taking it to Queensland with her when she leaves after her final exams. Speaking of which, she is flying to Caloundra tomorrow to surprise a friend for her 18th birthday. Colin and I are feeling a bit of envy, sunny and mid to high twenties up there, we are so over the very ordinary weather down here...

across the bay

We live on the Bellarine Peninsula, Colin's brother and sister in law have a place on the Mornington Peninsula, the other side of the bay. It is a few hours drive all the way around, or alternatively, a ferry ride across. We opted for the ferry ride, Queenscliff to Sorrento.

it was a grey and drizzly day, typical of late

top deck

a quiet Sorrento pier

not so quiet on the return journey

a passing ship

sunset in the middle of the bay

And the best part of the day (other than being with family), watching the Bulldogs make history...

making the most of monday

A blue sky is a rarity at the moment and Monday morning is a good enough excuse for getting out.

checking things out

anticipation

excitement

paddling hard

almost there

white water fun

finding the best spot

up

and again

pleasure

eyes closed

yoga on the beach

downward dog

three legged dog

dad, what are you doing?

not even close

fruit and veg and herbs

Whenever we have moved of late, the new place doesn't really start to feel like home til there are pots of herbs growing just outside the door. A few weeks ago I joyfully filled my pots with new seedlings, the hope of future bounty.

Hmmm, a possum thought so to and attacked my parsley in the night. A little problem solving and a little help from a neighbour (donated chicken wire), ugly but so far it has done the job.

Also on my doorstep each week is a delivery of organic fruit and veg. A beautiful box of surprises, a delicious way to support a local business.

This weeks challenge, to use half a cabbage - again. I managed to offload the last one to Rach...

rain and fields of sunshine

Johanna and I arrived back from our Tassie week to a wet and water logged Bellarine Peninsula. We missed most of the rain but its evidence is everywhere - puddles and mud. The paddocks have mini lakes in them, the river is brown and the ocean is brown for hundreds of meters until a line where it suddenly turns blue.

And every now and then the sun manages to shine through and the fields around Barwon Heads glow a dazzling yellow - it is canola time.

And where there isn't canola there's wattle and buttercups, sunshine wherever you look, for a moment, til the storm clouds roll in and it starts to rain...

happy birthday

And it was a very happy birthday. We had all the family down and squeezed everyone in on Saturday night. Colin loved his fire pit - dessert, coffee, roasted marshmallows and a drop of whiskey and home made liquor tastes so much better with smoke...

And the birthday boy loved nothing more than to muck about in the waves on Sunday morning, especially when he had company...

Colin leading the way

Rach and Cass sharing a wave

a very chilled Jan

Zac's trademark stance

the end of a ride

Cass managing to stand up and a very excited Rach in the background 

thanks

We had to be home between one and three, waiting for a delivery. I figured I may as well bake the orange syrup muffins that I had been meaning to try for a while. The delivery men arrived just as the muffins came out of the oven and the syrup was being drizzled over the top. Their eyes lit up as I offered each a warm and sticky gift. Transactions completed - a bed for us and muffins for them, along with a few jibes about Carlton, they left. A minute later the doorbell rang, a couple of appreciative delivery men just letting us know they had taken the old bed leaning against the fence (waiting to be taken to the tip). Great, saved us a $22 tip fee, that's about $11 per muffin, can't complain about that...