Day 97: Partridge bookends

Waaaaay back at the start of this trip, we had dinner with Bob and Audrey Partridge. Now here we are at the end of the journey (almost) and we have spent the most enjoyable day having lunch with Bob and Audrey again.

We have well and truly come full circle!

It was great to catch up with them again and to see that Audrey - despite her recent health issues - is in very good form and full of the joys of spring (autumn?). The boys were particularly taken with Bob's flight simulator program and spent much of the journey home planning how to get the program (and related equipment) for themselves. Andrew now wants to be a pilot. Thanks Bob.

This being Melbourne, the journey from here to there was about one and a half hours, all on the freeways, so really quite straightforward. I was just getting relaxed about the traffic, when we came seriously close to having a nasty accident on the way back. Duncan glanced into the side mirror, as he wanted to change lanes. While he was doing this the car two in front of us stopped abruptly. The car in front of us slammed on brakes (complete with smoking tyres) and I said (rather calmly under the circumstances) Stop! Stop! STOP! At which point Duncan, cool as a cucumber, took in the scene and calmly stomped on the brakes. Thank heavens for ABS brakes! We stopped within a whisker of the bumper of the car in front...then both subconsciously braced for impact from behind. Fortunately nobody was too close behind us and we were not hit. It could have been disastrous...no tow bar means no towing...which in turn means a whole lot of other domino effects. Phew!

Pleased to be back at the van in one piece.

Day 96: On yer bike and mind the bombs!

Bikes on the roof rack and we were off to Point Nepean for a good bit of exercise and an explore. There is a lot of history in this area and it is all to do with defending Port Phillip Bay and everything in it during the wars.

Our first ride took us to the Quarantine Station, which has a number of interesting buildings, such as the fumigation building where all luggage either goes through a steaming process, or is fumigated with formaldehyde gas. This is where many incoming people were quarantined for things like smallpox, influenza, dysentry, etc.

A tree-lined avenue at the Quarantine Station

We did kind of a loop ride from the car, so ended up back there shortly after the drizzle set in. This was an opportunity to have some lunch.

You gotta keep on the track, coz there are bombs everywhere...from the war days.

Post-lunch we headed off to the Point of Point Nepean, riding up and down hills, feeling much fitter than when we started this trip. We ended up at Fort Pearce and Fort Nepean, where you can have a wander in through all the tunnels and see where it all happened during the war. One of the most memorable moments was the gun placement from which the first shot of World War One was fired, and the first Allied shot of World War Two was fired. Amazing. The place is so quiet now, but it must have been bustling in those days.

The barrels that shot the first shots of the First and Second World Wars

The bike riding was very enjoyable, and it was interesting to note that we started our trip with a bike ride (via the Bellarine Rail 'n Ride) up to the Queenscliff Fort (on the heads on the opposite side) at the start of our trip. Here we are, at the end of just over three months, doing the same thing on the other side of the heads. It seems like a fitting thing to have done. We all enjoyed our day immensely, even though we got a little rained on.

Just goes to show - you don't melt in the rain. :-)

This used to be a gun placement. Now, if you stand where the gun was and say something, you get it back in surround sound!

A view back over Point Nepean from the Eagle's Nest lookout. Beautiful.

Day 95: Exploring the Mornington Peninsula

We had an explore down the Mornington Peninsula today, driving down the coast and taking in the beautiful scenery.

We made a detour to Arthur's Seat where Duncan took pics and we did the circular walk, which took in some William Ricketts sculptures, an indigenous garden, the Matthew Flinders cairn and a pretty spectacular lookout.

Meandering on further down through Sorrento and Portsea, we came upon Point Nepean and the National Park. We discovered that you can cycle all through the park, right up to about 500m before the actual point, so we are planning to go down there again (on a sunny day) and take the bikes for a good bit of exercise and exploring.

On our way back through Sorrento we sought out the historic park and the boys got rid of a lot of energy on the large play park.
It is really lovely and scenic and quite tranquil in parts of this peninsula, and I look forward to spending more time down there in the days to come.

Day 94: A padded cell and a boy in a bubble

Callum starts a new life in his very own bubble.

Andrew finally gets his padded cell.

Today we braved the traffic and headed into Melbourne City. Or rather I should say that Duncan drove us into city and I braved the traffic. It really freaks me out and I get quite stressed...lots of deep breathing, even though I don't really have to do anything other than help navigate (and Sheila does most of that).

Anyway, we paid a visit to the Old Melbourne Gaol where we found out all about Ned Kelly and a few other rogues.

Old Melbourne Gaol (top floor)

They also have a new Watch Tower tour, where you go through the whole process of having a charge sheet, are processed and popped into a cell where the lights are switched off until 'morning'. It was a good experience and this is where the boys got their mug shots and Andrew got his padded cell. I was 'arrested' for stalking (according to my charge sheet). Watch out.


On to the Melbourne Museum where they have a few more interesting displays than the last time we were here. Callum's 'bubble' picture above is actually an ant farm that you can look at from the inside. The spiders particularly freaked some of us out, especially the live ones. Check this out!

Spiders anyone? Callum is only about 20cm away from the glass! These are BIG. Eurgh!

After a good look around the museum and a satisfying coffee, we headed down to the IMAX to see Avatar in 3D. It was absolutely fabulous, of course. What else can I say?

Fortunately by the time the movie was over it was about 6.45pm and most of the commuter traffic had dispersed by then. Even so, there was quite a stream of red tail-lights on the freeway all the way home...

Day 93: Wet and cold

Yep, wet and cold indeed.

We went off to the Bayside Shopping Centre this morning, the main aim to find a Flight Centre. Mom has to move home as a result of her declining health - into a place where she can get 24hr nursing care when she needs it. So, I am going to fly over and help her out, because all of this is a bit sudden and she needs help sorting out some stuff. I managed to get tickets despite the looming Soccer World Cup, and I will be in and out of there before all the 'madness' erupts.

While we were there, we had a good browse around all the shops and did some grocery shopping.

This afternoon we had planned to go out, but it was an outdoor activity so the rain kind of squelched that. Instead, the boys and I hung out in the rec room and watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Tomorrow we are heading to the city centre to do some stuff (shudder at the traffic).

Day 92: Anzac public holiday

SLEEP IN!

How divine to not set the alarm and to not have to drive anywhere or do anything specific. We woke at around 9am for a change and had a leisurely morning breakfasting, drinking coffee, sitting in the sun and (in the case of the boys) playing on computers. Peaceful. Bliss.

After lunch we roused ourselves to do something active and headed off to Frankston beachfront for a walk. There is a lovely boardwalk, which we strolled along and were quite suprised to see so many people out and about, fishing off the pier, and a few crazy ones swimming. It is quite cool here, especially in comparison to Tamworth and beyond, though we see from our weather app that Tamworth (and beyond) has also had a plunge in temperature. Oh well, it couldn't last I suppose.

Boardwalk, Frankston Beachfront

The beachfront walk segued into a walk through the Sweetwater Creek Reserve. This was fairly gentle and not too long, although Andrew had the idea that it was all too much for him. We didn't take much notice and he made it in the end.

The Granite Bridge Walk, Sweetwater Creek Reserve

The evening has again been spent in leisurely pursuits, WHICH IS MORE LIKE IT!

Day 91: Melbourne

We are here.

OMG I cannot wait to be back in Tasmania. How many traffic lanes does one need? How many exits can you read, absorb and act upon at one time? Who wants to live in a place where it takes ages to get anywhere?! Up ramps, down ramps, off ramps, on ramps, fly-overs, drive-unders, express lanes, exit lanes, solid white lines, dotted white lines, speed up, slow down, speeding cameras, toll roads...not the sort of daily experience I would want to live with for an extended period of time. Give me nice, quiet Tassie any day.

Anyway, the point is that we got to Frankston in one piece and with only one unscheduled detour (not Shiela's fault - three exits on top or each other made it all a bit confusing as to which 'exit left' command she meant) but this was quite easily remedied. After four days of driving to get here, we were soooooo relieved to arrive at the Frankston Big 4 Holiday Park.

The boys (and the parents, more indirectly) were ecstatic to discover that the recreation room has free wifi...so they were off with netbooks under arms and they had a great time monopolising the TV and playing Internet games. We had to drag them back to the van for dinner. In the meanwhile, the parents were flaked out on the bed; Duncan having a read and me watching a movie. It was absolutely fabulous.

Tomorrow is the Anzac day public holiday, so I think we are going to SLEEP IN and, well, I don't know what we will do then, but that's something to figure out tomorrow.