A Rather Grey Day on the Coast

The last couple of days have seen us involved in a frenzy of home improvement projects. Well, perhaps frenzy might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but we did pick up our paint brushes and slap aLue lisää
The last couple of days have seen us involved in a frenzy of home improvement projects. Well, perhaps frenzy might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but we did pick up our paint brushes and slap a lot of paint about the place. Some of it actually went where it was supposed to.
Although the sun was far too shy to make an appearance, at least there was no rain. The painting was finished before lunchtime so we had the afternoon free to have some fun. But what could we do ?
After a short time for thinking, we decided to go to Cape Paterson for a walk. The dog seemed pleased with our decision and decided to come alomg also.
Although Cape Paterson is only a short drive from Inverloch, it is an entirely different type of town in that it has virtually no shops or other facilities. It is home to a huge new environmental housing development called "The Cape". That is where we chose to do our walk.
I must admit that I was surprised by the size of the development and the unique styles of the homes that had been built there. These are all apparently designed to be highly environmentally sensitive and many claim to have energy ratings or 9 or even 10 stars.
The dog discovered that it also had a large dog park, complete with off lead area and all sorts of canine activity stations. It was a doggy heaven and she obviously found the multitude of scents absolutely intoxicating. We enjoyed the place so much that we decided to come back tomorrow and explore the place some more on our bikes.Lue lisää
We awoke to a sunny, but very cold, morning. The Weather Bureau has warned us that this will be the last time we will see the sun for the next week. That meant it would be our last chance to finish the painting we have been doing for the past few days. So that's how we spent the morning.
By noon the painting was finished and we could stand back to admire our handiwork. It might not have been perfect, but I had to admit that it looked pretty good.
"Now can we get on our bikes ?", I asked.
My plan was to have a picnic by the ocean and then ride to Cape Paterson to explore the huge development we had discovered yesterday. We packed the bikes onto the car, filled the thermos, and then drove to the bakery to buy some pies and cakes. Since Maggie did not take a breath the entire time we were inside the bakery, I was a little concerned that she might suffocate herself.
Once back in the car, she proceeded to cover herself with sanitizer. She even demanded that I sterilize my credit card, just in case a rogue virus might have jumped from the EFTPOS machine. Then we were finally on our way.
A few minutes later we were enjoying our picnic. Well I enjoyed it. Maggie was worried about viruses floating in the window. Then we unloaded the bikes and rode the Bunurong Coast road to Cape Paterson.
The bikes allowed us to explore a lot more of the huge environmental development we had discovered yesterday. The houses were certainly intriguing and came in a huge range of very individual styles. While some of them were quite lovely, I told Maggie that I thought that others were "butt ugly". She disagreed. She usually does that when I say something. I still thought that some were ugly.
After riding around the development and exploring some surrounding roads, we rode back to the centre of Cape Paterson. Since the weather was still being kind, we decided to continue to ride back along the highway towards Wonthaggi. We made it about half way, before turning back and returning to Cape Paterson. Finally, we returned back along the Burnurong Coast back to our car. It had been a lovely ride, but it will probably be our last chance to get on the bikes for some time.
Even though the weather is about to go to the dogs, at least we have an exciting thing happening tomorrow. Well two exciting things actually. Firstly we will have a visit from the garbage collector. That's exciting. Then we have a delivery from Woolworths on line. That's even more exciting. I don't think I will be able to sleep tonight.Lue lisää
In this new life of isolation it is becoming hard to remember what it was like in the olden days when we used to have visitors. The door bell would ring, the dog would bark (actually the dog usually barked first) and then we welcomed them into our home. Those days are now long gone. We now spend each day enjoying our own company. That wouldn't be so bad, but sometimes I really get on my own nerves. I would love to have someone else to talk to.
This shutin syndrome is likely to get worse as we head into a cold Victorian winter. When it rains all day, we cannot even get out to ride our bikes or walk the dog. In fact we can't do much at all. You might think that it is good to have a rest, but too much rest is really overrated. It soon cascades into boredom.
Today would have been even more difficult if we didn't have the excitement of having the weekly visit from the garbage man to look forward to. If that wasn't exciting enough, we also had the scheduled weekly delivery from Woolworths on line. Now that really was EXCITING with a capital E. Fresh milk, sanitizer, raspberries, bread, butter, chocolate, bananas and toilet paper. What more could we ever want ?
Before the sacred cargo was allowed in the house, Maggie insisted on standing in the pouring rain to disinfect every single parcel. Less understanding husbands might have said something about OCD, but I bit my tongue instead. About 30 minutes later the final parcel was brought, followed by Maggie looking like a drowned rat. She tells me that she is NOT neurotic, she is just careful.
The rest of the day was spent reading, resting and listening to the rain on the roof. Apparently we have 5 even colder and wetter days to look forward to. Fantastic.Lue lisää
We always knew that we would have to return home at some stage. When we moved down to Inverloch it still felt like summer. We came with clothes for warm weather and were poorly prepared for a winter by the coast. There were also a few other items that we realised that we had left behind. It was also time to check the house itself. That meant that we would have to make a quick trip to Melbourne and back.
Since travel between two places of residence still seems to be one of those "grey areas" that no one seems to understand fully, we were slightly nervous that we would be pulled over by some overly keen constable and issued with a "please explain".
To our relief the 70 minute drive back to Pakenham was achieved without incident. We also noticed that the amount of traffic on the highway had increased dramatically over the past few days. Could it be that people have taken matters into their own hands and decided that they had to get out of their homes before going barking mad ?
When we arrived at our home it was a somewhat strange feeling opening the front door. Maggie has not lived here since February and it seemed a bit like we were housebreaking. Fortunately the burglar alarm had not been tripped and everything was exactly as I had left it. We quickly checked the house and exterior, packed the car, chatted to our neighbour and were on our way again.
We decided to make a brief detour to visit our son and grandson from a distance. Although we stayed well apart, it was great to see them in person for the first time in weeks.
As we began the drive back down to Inverloch we noticed the sky behind us was darkening dramatically. It was obvious that the storms were coming quickly. We had originally planned to stop for a couple of take away coffees somewhere along the way, but the prospect of being caught in a hailstorm was enough to make me press down a little heavier on the throttle and head straight for Inverloch.
The rain did not start until we were safely back in our unit, but the temperature certainly headed south. It was freezing. On went the slippers and the heater, out came our books, the dog assumed her normal place on my knee and we settled down to lasting through the blast from the Antarctic that the Weather Bureau had warned about. The next few days will be interesting for all the wrong reasons.Lue lisää
For many years I have dreamt of going to Antarctica. I don't need to go there anymore, because today Antarctica came to us. For the past few days we had been warned that a meteorological apocalypse was heading our way and last night it arrived with a vengeance.
The onslaught began soon after nightfall. The temperature plummeted, the wind increased to hurricane force and the rain started. It would however be rather inaccurate to call it rain as it was more like a sustained cloudburst of Biblical proportions.
With the freezing conditions making our house more like an igloo, we decided that the only way we could stay warm was to grab the dog and our books and head straight to bed. For the next ten hours we lay in the bed hearing the deafening roar of rain on the iron roof. I could not remember any other time in my memory where the rain had fallen unabated for such a long time. I began to be thankful that our bedroom was on the second floor as I expected that the level of water in the nearby Bass Strait would have risen considerably overnight.
From time to time the steady roar of the rain was punctuated by even heavier bursts of rain. It did make sleeping somewhat difficult and we looked forward to the arrival of sunrise, however when the daylight did arrive, it only served to reveal a very desolate scene. The rain was still pouring steadily and the wind blowing viciously. There would be no bicycle riding today, that's for sure.
Today's downpour follows a succession of very wet months for Victoria. According to the record keepers we have already received much more rain in the first four months of 2020 than we received in the entire 2019 year. April was apparently the wettest month for about 60 years.
With all this water cascading from the skies, you might be excused for thinking that Melbourne's dams would all be filled to overflowing. After all, the water has to go somewhere. Well you have another think coming. According to the Melbourne Water web site, the total amount of water in our storages actually fell from 61% to 60% over the last four weeks. If we cannot even save any water in the wettest month for 60 years, then I guess we really must be in trouble. Or perhaps someone left the plug out of the dam ?
Apart from a couple of short respites, the rain continued most of the day. I spent most of the day sitting on the sofa with my kindle, but also took some time to practise with my locks. It was that sort of day.Lue lisää
The torrential rain of the previous 24 hours finally started to slacken during the evening. In the quieter moments we could almost hear ourselves talk. When you have been in such close proximity to each other for several weeks, I am not sure that is such a good thing. Long days in enclosed spaces, under overcast skies, are not exactly conducive to happy relationships. This is especially true when your partner does not even laugh at your best jokes.
Today marked a rather special day for Maggie's brother and sister in law. They were going to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Well "celebrate" is probably too strong a word to use for the occasion. It is hard to stage a serious celebration when you cannot invite anyone else to your home. Such is our strange life in lockdown in this plague year of 2020.
Although we could not join them for their significant anniversary, Maggie did at least pay a virtual visit and left a small novelty gift on their doorstep. When all of this period of isolation is finally over, we really are going to have a busy time catching on all the events that we missed.
The weather was still far too miserable to go for a walk or ride, but later in the day, we did pack a small picnic and parked by the ocean to watch the whitecapped waves crashing on to the shore. The spray from the wild surf kept blowing over our windscreen and making it hard to see, but it was still better than sitting in the house.
Some states are slowly starting to lift their strictest restrictions, but not Victoria. We have been told to expect no relaxation for at least a couple of weeks. I just hope the weather improves a bit during that time.Lue lisää
With all the doom and gloom that we have been surrounded with over the past few weeks I looked for something to read that would lighten my melancholy and bring a smile to my face. After a brief search for free downloads from Project Gutenberg, I found an entertaining book written by Daniel Defoe. It bore the title "A History of the Plague in London". It was just the sort of lighthearted book that I had been looking for.
I sat down with the kindle and was soon mesmerised by his Defoe's account of London in the plague year of 1665. The first thing I decided was Defoe must have been quite a child prodigy. He was born in the year 1661, and therefore was only 4 years old when the plague was running rampant. He must have had either had an excellent memory, or relied heavily on third party accounts of the events that took place.
The second thing that struck me was how similar the events were in 1665 compared to what we are currently going through now. Of course I know that our world is very different to the world of London over 350 years ago. They had no Internet, no Netflix, no mail order shopping and certainly no JobKeeper allowances. On the other hand, the government regulations and accounts of people's behaviour makes uncanny reading.
When the plague first broke out, vast numbers of Londoners fled the city to find safer lodgings in the country. But, before they could leave the city, they had to have a certificate of health to enable them to pass the numerous roadblocks and checkpoints. There was also a serious shortage of horses to pull the carts to transport people out of London. Large numbers of people therefore had to walk their way to the country. The once busy streets of London were left largely deserted. All taverns, cafes and coffeehouses were closed, along with theatres and all other places where crowds could gather. (Sound familiar ?)
Any house that reported a case of the plague was marked with a large red cross and a "watcher" was stationed outside the door. The purpose of the watcher was to ensure that no one entered or left the house. If the watcher had to leave to run an errand, they had to secure the door with a padlock.
People who had any contact with an infected person had to undergo quarantine for 28 days. Any bedding, clothes or other goods from the infected premises were also quarantined. And all this was taking place before they even understood what caused the disease in the first place.
Of course, there were a large number of scammers and charlatans ("mountebanks") who took advantage of the hysteria to make money at the expense of the vulnerable. Dodgy doctors, fortune tellers, amulet makers and astrologers all saw their opportunity to make a killing.
In 2020 not that much seems to have changed.
(If you would like to read the same book, it can be downloaded free of charge from www.gutenberg.org If you have a kindle reader it can be downloaded directly to your kindle.The whole process only takes a minute or so. )
In the afternoon we went for a long walk along the coast. We were interested to see how the recent storms might have changed the coastline. Although it was evident that there had been damaging waves, to our relief the damage was quite modest. It was fantastic to see so many other individuals, couples and entire families out walking and riding.Lue lisää
The World on Two WheelsIt surprised me how similar so many things were, however conditions were so much worse then.
After the miserable weather of the past few days it was a relief to wake up to relative silence. Although the skies were still overcast, the torrential rain had finally stopped.
In these monotonous days of lockdown, any break in the routine is more than welcome. The highlights of our week are undoubtedly the visit from the rubbish man and the delivery from Woolworths online. They are the only visitors we are allowed to have, so their arrivals are an occasion for much joy and rejoicing.
Today was special for an entirely different reason. It was the famous "Star Wars Day" - May 4th. In case you still don't get it, this day gets its name from the famous space blessing "May the force be with you". If you say it with a lisp,you will get the idea.
We decided to take advantage of the meteorological respite by going on a long walk along the coast to Screw Creek lookout. The views across the inlet to Venus Bay are quite magnificent and Maggie did her best to actually fall into the inlet when she missed her footing on a section of the path that had been eroded by the recent storms.
A couple of brief passing showers did little to dampen our enjoyment, but we were tired when we made it back to the car. Tomorrow we plan to get on the bikes and ride the Great Southern Rail Trail to Toora and back.Lue lisää
A couple of days ago I had never even heard of Toora. It was only was I was using Google Maps to study the Great Southern Rail Trail that I first saw its name. It showed up on the map as a location about 15km from Foster. At the time I suspected that it was one of the place names that exists only on the map. Australia has hundreds of those places, bearing all sorts of weird and wonderful names.
We had been planning to ride the Great Southern Rail Trail, starting at Fish Creek and then riding towards Port Welshpool. Since we did not intend to ride all the way to the end, I had been looking for a logical place to stop and U turn. I had absolutely no idea of what a delightful town it would turn out to be.
On the day of the planned ride, we awoke to a rather threatening sight. It had obviously been raining overnight and it looked like it might not be the fine day the Weather Bureau had promised. Never the less, we are eternal optimists, so I packed the bikes on the car, hoping that the sunshine would break through.
About 30 minutes later we had arrived at Fish Creek and the clouds were finally starting to break up. After the torrential rain of the past few days, we were not sure what sort of condition the trail would be in. We were pleased to find that, apart from quite a few fallen trees, the trail was actually in excellent condition for riding.
The first 7 km of the trail is a steady climb up the Hoddle Range, but the effort is well worth it. At the top of the climb you are rewarded with what must be one of the finest views in our state. The view is even better when the sky is clear and the wind is still - just like it was today.
After taking some time to enjoy the panorama, we continued down the other side of rhe range, past Foster and on to the mysterious Toora. I had never ridden this part of the trail before and was keen to see just what it was like. We certainly were not disappointed. It is every bit as beautiful as the section between Fish Creek and Foster.
With fewer trees to shade the sun, we even started to warm up. It turned out to be a perfect day for this type of ride. Since we did not really know what to look for to know when we had reached Toora, we started to look out for any signs that might indicate we were getting close.
We eventually came across an old guy walking the trail (well he was about our age). I asked him if this was the way to Toora. He explained that there were many ways to get to Toora and this was one of them. About 10 minutes later we rode into one of the prettiest little towns we had ever seen. With its single main street and old classic Australian shops down either side, it looked absolutely idyllic.
Even though it was about 12.30 pm, we must have somehow beaten the peak hour traffic. The street was pretty well deserted. We went in search of a place to buy coffee and lunch, but did not hold out much hope. We had packed a couple of muesli bars as part of our contingency plan, but we did not need them.
At the high end of the Main St we discovered a lovely little cafe, bearing the name "Latte Dah". Although the sit down part was closed because of the COVID 19 pandemic, they were still serving take away food and drinks. We took them across the road to eat and drink in the warm sunshine. It had not taken us long to decide that Toora was a place that we definitely wanted to come back to.
The return ride was completed without mishap or puncture, but when we arrived back at our car we had a rather unsettling time. A police car slowly drove past us and then pulled into the car park in front. We expected that we were about to get a thorough grilling from the two young police officers.
A police woman climbed out and looked towards us. I tried to put on my "I'm only a silly old man" look to get her sympathy. It must have worked, because she walked right past us and went off to inspect the nearby picnic ground instead. We took the opportunity to drive off.
While driving back to Inverloch we both decided that it had been one of the most enjoyable rides we had done in some time. Although it was only about 50 km in length, it was certainly a ride will will repeat whenever we are staying in the area.Lue lisää
The World on Two WheelsIt was a great surprise to us as we were not expecting to find anything there.
With Mother's Day now only three days away, everyone is starting to wonder whether it will be possible for families to meet together, or whether the strict lockdown will continue. Things seemed to be heading in the right direction for a relaxation in the restrictions, but a recent outbreak of cases at a Melbourne meat processing plant may have thrown the proverbial spanner in the works. We might have to wait just a little bit longfer to see our kids and grandchildren.
Today was a relatively exciting day on a range of separate criteria. Firstly the sun was shining and it was modestly warm. Secondly, we had our weekly visit from the friendly garbage man and thirdly (and most important of all) we had the weekly delivery of groceries from Woolworths on line. How could we not feel elated on such a day ?
We were still on something of a high from yesterday's ride, so chose to climb back on the bikes for another (albeit shorter) ride around Inverloch. It was a great opportunity to explore some paths and roads we had not ridden before. Even though we have had the Inverloch home for over 10 years, there is still much of the township and surroundings that we are not familiar with. This has been a good chance to fill in some of the blanks in our local knowledge.
Mid way through our ride we detoured to the shops to buy a coffee and cake. We then took them to a picnic table neat the inlet to savour the warm sunshine and pretend that we were actually sitting in the RACV Country Club. It was not quite the same, but it was still a very pleasant way to spend a morning.
We then took the long way home, meandering around the most circuitous route we could devise. The forecast for the next few days is not so promising, so we were glad that we could take the opportunity to spend some more time on two wheels.
At this stage we will probably spend another two weeks down here, before thinking about returning to the Big Smoke. We hope that, by that time, the contagion will have abated enough for us to return without imperiling our lives. We might even be able to share a ride with a couple of our friends.Lue lisää