Outdoor views

Our new apartment is in a block of 7 units. We have two entrances: the one through the front door of the building, and the second through our courtyard/driveway. On the right there's a door through the gate? That's it.

Along the drive, there's an existing planting of roses, succulents and Bird of Paradise. We also have a little grassy patch with a space for outdoor dining.

Reflections on Moving

1. Moving over the course of several days does not make the process any easier.

2. Cleaning up as one moves out is the least fun activity in the world.

3. I have very strong negative feelings towards dirty venetian blinds.

4. Happiness is a vase of fresh flowers, a cold cider and air conditioning.

Yeah, I know the Director...

In addition to moving house this week, Andrew has been directing a development of a new Australian rock musical, RAWK. This piece is part of a showcase of 4 new musical theatre works called Carnegie 18.
While RAWK is kind of along the lines of musicals like Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Tommy, the other pieces are all very different: there's an Opera about Netball, a Cabaret piece and a very dark musical about infanticide ....Yes, I know. "!??!"(Beautiful music, heavy content).
I don't think Andrew would be offended if I said that my favorite piece is definitely CONTACT, the Netball opera.

Enjoy this clip of RAWK. 

And this one of CONTACT.

Moving to Fairfield

(Not Fairfield!)

Click on the link below to check out the apartment Andrew and I will be moving into on Monday! It's about a 5 minute drive from where I live now in Northcote.... Fairfield is the next suburb east, actually.

Our New Address: 2/178 Gillies Street, Fairfield, Victoria 3078

Meet Ava Dimitra Neill

I went down to Deans Marsh on Wednesday to visit Jasmina, Mat and their new baby girl, Ava.

She's a really good little girl, and she looks a lot like her daddy. She's got his ears, for sure. 

Sunday Visit

We visited Sheila, Sue and Finn in Mt. Martha on Sunday. Finn is 3 and he's a super active little guy.

Sheila, Sue, Finn, Andrew and me.

The Godfather

Jackson and Alice are Andrew's godkids. They think he's pretty cool. 

Note to Self #27

When hoping to see Australian wildlife, always say your wish out loud. It will come true.
I wanted to see an Echidna, I put it out there, and we saw one! Here's the little guy trying to pretend he's invisible.

Campfires

There was some cultural sharing around the campfire. Michael introduced me to Damper, a kind of a scone/bread that is iconic Aussie Bush Tucker (Definition: Outback cuisine) Michael's Damper recipe was a bit deluxe, with garlic mixed into the dough. It was pretty yummy when smothered in lashings of butter.
I, in turn, introduced them to Smores. A fair exchange.

Damper or "Scone on a Stick" roasting over the coals.

Camping

We spent the last few days in the Merimbula area camping down the road at Bournda National Park with Andrew's great friends Michael and Helen and their kids, Jackson and Alice.

One cool day, we tramped from Tathra back to the campsite...a good 13 km walk along the coast. The views were lovely and would have been more spectacular in sunny weather, but it was fine hiking weather. This picture was taken as we neared the end of the walk and were about to finish the last kilometre along Bournda beach.

Alice posing in front of the family caravan.

Alice posing again in front of our tent.

A tent with two big rooms and a vestibule! Big enough to stand up in?

I have never known such camping luxury!

Mob Warnings

The General Store at Pambula does a brisk business this time of year. Everday, we'd pick up a newspaper to read on the beach, and everyday I would scoff at the sign posted in the car park.

Until one morning, we got to the beach early, and saw this mob hanging out in the field across from the store.
I counted about 45. This is a shot of only one corner of the field!

More Pambula

One day we decided to hang out next door to Pambula beach proper.... at Pambula Lions beach. We went on a beach stroll and wandered around the corner from the surf beach to the inlet.

The reef here was a dark red.

These pictures don't really do it justice, but it looked as though they were drenched with red wine.

Once again, as expected... there were surfers in and out of the water all afternoon.

Boardwalking

Now that we're back in Melbourne, where it's hot and dry and windy, we miss our coastal escapades. When we did go on hikes...they were never very arduous. This is from our walk around Merimbula's Top Lake.

When NOT to Frolic in the Sea

Maybe when Bluebottle Stingers  are in the water! We went on a  short hike one day and had planned to freshen up after the walk with a dip in the ocean, until we saw these stingers washed up along the high tide line. The tide was on it's way out, so we figured that they were freshly beached, and didn't take the plunge.

Also known as Portugese Man of War, they are kind of beautiful. In a scary way.

Bluebottles have  long, stinging tentacles that can wrap around you and leave nasty welts, and it appears that there is never just one Bluebottle.

Sea Frolic

We spent hours on the beach at Pambula: surfing, reading, body surfing and boogie boarding.

Surfacing

Calm on the sand bar.

Oysters on the Road

Oysters were a big treat while we were on holiday.

We had them in Sydney at Christmas lunch.

We bought the best ones from a dodgy roadside shack in Merimbula, and we definitely agreed with the taste rating in Tathra.