Short Break Benalla

Finally after a fairly gruelling second half to the year the project was finally over. As a result I managed to get a couple of days break just before Christmas and we headed to Benalla. 2 nights one full day really. Anyway better than  nothing. Not much in the way of photo ops and I managed not to check my camera settings which I had been playing with so not many turned out particularly well. Thursday night was pizza at a place called Hollywoods and they make a really good pizza. All 3 of us were so full, no desert.

We managed quite a nice drive though on the Friday and drove through the King Valley via the Tolmie Road from Benalla. This is quite a good dirt road, although they had just finished grading a section of it, we saw them, and it was like driving on marbles for that section. Otherwise it was a good road and goes through the mountains and some spectacular views.

Somewhere along the way we saw a sign that said Kelly Tree. Since this is Kelly country we thought it worth a look. Apparently this is the site where Ned and his brother Dan were holed up panning for gold after there had been some trouble. They were confronted by some troopers and in the ensuing  gun battle Ned shoot dead a trooper. This site is dedicated to the memory of the trooper and a plaque erected in the side of the tree now selected as the Kelly tree. The original Kelly tree that had the bullet hole in it clearly marking the site had been earlier logged for timber. 

We pulled into Powers Lookout, we had been there a few years ago and just wanted to see it again. The view of the King Valley is just awesome and what inspired us to come back and have a better look.

We had lunch at a great pub in Whitfield. It is situated over a creek and they have seating outside so you can take the creek in whilst dining. Great food in a great atmosphere, very relaxing.

Then on to a national park and the Paradise Falls. Quite nice falls though not a huge amount of water given the amount of rain they have had lately. Still we were told the best it has run in years.

Back up the main road and to a winery called Pizzini. The valley is full of wineries, cideries and great food places all using local produce. Anyway Pizzini make mostly cool climate wines which are not a lot to my liking. BUT then I asked if they had any sweet wines and yes they make some great ones. I went from buying 2 bottles to 10. Their Vin Santos is exceptional. The grapes are left to raisin and then they are pressed daily for 5 days. Fantastic and there was the  hint of coffee in the flavour. I was advised that in Italy it is usual to drink it with an espresso. It was easy to imagine it. 

Finally we headed back through Greta (G South and G West also I think) and back to Benalla.
BTW Benalla has a pretty spectacular rose garden  in the centre of the town.

 Lastly - I know you have all been waiting for it here is our caravan.

Loyola Awards

MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!

Nicholas received an award from Loyola. It was for his dedication and work to the computer club. Here he is receiving it.

No Theme Park

Ok, today we decided to take a rest from theme parks. Instead we headed out have a look around at things and go GO-KARTing! We finally got Nicholas out of the room where he had sat for the last 2 days. Despite this he didn't go Karting. He did buy himself a nice wallet from a Manga/Anime store we found instead, but hey at least he left the room.

2 things to note in these photos - 1 is the beautiful hair net he got to wear. Nothing says tough boy racer like a Kentucky Fried hair net. And 2 - just how casual he is. In the second photo he was running .4 of a second off the fastest lap time for the class of cart he was driving, and he still looks bored. He wasn't though and he had a great time.

MOVIE WORLD

Theme Park 2 - MOVIE WORLD (for Donna and I)

We arranged for Marcus to catch up with Tanner and they headed off to Wet 'n' Wild for the day. Donna and I went to Movie World. Still lightly raining so didn't stay all day.

We went on the Journey to the Centre of the Earth experience. At the start you are outside and get told the story line so you understand what is going on. These are things outside before

you go in.

Then on to Wild West and the show outside. It rained and got cut short. Donna and I didn't go on any wet rides this day.

Back at the apartment it finally started to clear a bit. There was this great sunset and you could actually see what our view was. In the distance you can see the hills I was talking about earlier.

Sea World - Gold Coast

What do you do at the Gold Coast when the weather is not good for surfing and laying on the beach, theme parks of course!

Theme park number one - SEA WORLD!

We caught up with one of Marcus' friends Tanner and his family. They like the rollercoasters a lot so Marcus stuck with them and went on everything.

We thought they might like a ride in helicopter as they had never done it before, Donne and I have and enjoyed it. They loved it.

And of course it isn't Sea World if you don't do the shows.

We got up to Brisbane for a day to catch up with family. It was Marcus' birthday ( we seem to always be on the road for it) so we had cake and everything with family.

This is the view from the apartment early evening when

let it stop us.we got back. You can't see the hills in the distance

as it is raining. It rained on and off the whole week, but we didn't

let it stop us.

I got one of the wheel later that night but as it was raining

I took it through the glass door. I got an interesting ghost.

Holiday at the Gold Coast

After a fairly hectic couple of months work wise we got away for a week on the coast. It was meant to include a few days in Brisbane but work commitments cut it short. Anyway, we stayed right in the middle of Surfers Paradise which was a great location. In the middle of everything.

Unfortunately, despite booking a double and 2 singles we got 2 doubles and there were no other rooms on the first night. Check out these2 sleeping together and no they were not happy about it. Marcus ended up sleeping on a foldout sofa. Other than that it was great.

I just like this photo. It's Nicholas out the backdoor.

The Stove hole and the new stove.

In case anyone hasn't heard I managed to destroy the stove by leaving some plastic trays in it and then Donna turned it on. When it went up in flames she realised something was in there that shouldn't be. Anyway we couldn't get it off so it was out with old. This is the hole it left while we are waiting for the new. Once it arrives I post an update with the new. I can tell you we have bought an LG wall microwave that uses light and a new LG pyrolitic oven. Can't wait for it to get installed.

UPDATE - FINALLY !!!!

Here it is!. We've got the new ovens and this is how good look. They work even better than they look. Really happy with them.

Trip to Olinda

I had a day off for my birthday and decided to go to Olinda Falls for the day. Actually it only takes a couple of hours to go up and back. The falls are only quite small bu they were useful to help me test out some things for photography. This photo is the lower falls, it was quite overcast for the day so I did some shots and put them together using HDR (that's the Photomatrix watermark). It looks a lot brighter than it was.


Here's Donna at the top falls platform.








This is the top falls, like I said it is no overly spectacular.







Can you see the little bird on this tree?

Cheviot Tunnel revisited

We decided to revisit the Cheviot Tunnel near Yea. Naturally we couldn't go directly or via any main roads. So we went via Strath Creek and a couple of small places on the way. We thought we might be able to find our way through some of the forest along some of the dirt roads and fire trails. Somewhere along the way we couldn't go any further and decided to find a main road. Anyway as we were coming out we got a clear picture of just how well the forest and area had recovered from the Black Saturday fires.

So we got to the Cheviot Tunnel and it was interesting to see what had grown back and what hadn't. Around the Tunnel itself it didn't look as if the fire reached here at all. I got some interesting photos of the tunnel.



This one is a little out of focus but I really like it.
Those are my legs in the lights of the car.


This is our not so evil car. It looks very much like an evil face in the dark like this.


This probably needs to be cropped a little. But it is an interesting illusion that makes the trees in the background look like they are growing in a circular fashion to match the tunnel.

Easter at Maldon

Over Easter we decided to go for a trip to Maldon, just a little west of Bendigo. We started by having morning tea at Castlemaine before moving on to Maldon. They have a great park to eat in. It is right next to the information centre and so toilets are handy. We bought some hot cross buns at the market they were having, best hot cross buns I have ever had. They were made by the bakery in Trentham. Awesome.

Check out the happy faces.

This is the main street of Maldon. It is a small town but on Easter Sunday it is mostly open. They have lots of cafes and restaurants and we enjoyed a fabulous lunch at one. Unfortunately it is at the other end of town so you can't see it. It is first on the way into town heading north on the left. It has this great little statue in its garden.

After lunch we wandered around and discovered that on Easter Sunday they have go-kart races down the very big hill they have. It's probably a mountain.

Then we drove up the mountain and climbed their tower. This is Maldon from the tower.

After leaving Maldon we moved on towards Bendigo and came across the Porpupine Flat dredge. It has been left there for years but it is somehow still interesting. A lumbering hulk just rotting away.

The 2 photos below are both the same but the one on the right has been throuogh HDR and Photoshopped. It somehow makes it look quite surreal.

On the way home from there we drove there Spring Plains. I'm not sure if it is a town that is not there anymore or if it is the name of the property. Read the plaque, it is a memorial of the first powered flight of an Australian built aircraft.