Mozzeenet

I wish I could maintain that holiday feeling of relaxation after the holiday.  It’s funny how your mind just clicks into another mode.

We had a wonderful week away, camping for 3 nights at Cape Otway with Nick, Zaida and Marta then 2 nights by ourselves at Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road.

The week started in Melbourne gathering all our camping gear, grocery shopping and experiencing a huge hail storm the day before we left which did not bode well for sleeping in tents.

Sunday morning was raining so we were already a bit muddy setting off – the possums had pooed in the driveway overnight so my hikers were well and truly (re)christened getting into the car.  Nick, Zaida and Marta had camping gear packed all around them in the back seat so it was an interesting exercise every time we wanted to get out.

We took a leisurely drive down the coast stopping for devonshire tea and other goodies at Aireys Inlet lighthouse and then lunch at Lorne.  Playing some word games initiated by Nick and Marta made the time pass quickly.

We saw the first 3 of about 25 koalas in the wild driving into Cape Otway. That area has an abundance of them and by the end of the trip, it was a commonplace occurrence to see one cuddled up in a tree.

Andrew and I have stayed at Bimbi Park before so we knew it had a good kitchen and facilities. We were offered 2 camp sites to choose from and after some perusing, we selected the bush camp because, being a long weekend, the other area was jam packed.  It was amazing the difference on the Monday though when everyone cleared out.

Setting up the tents was “interesting”.  We left it a little late, not anticipating a couple of hitches… It was at this point that Nick realised his tent was not with us. We were puzzled, wondering if it had been left on our driveway, but Nick felt sure he had seen Andrew pack it into the car the previous night. Read more »

Had a full-on but entertaining week which started by seeing the band Porcupine Tree at The Palace Theatre.  It was a fantastic concert – great sound, lyrics and accompanying video playing behind.  We danced to their song ‘Lazarus’ at our wedding and I was so excited that they played that song at this concert.

They also played their new album ‘The Incident’ from start to finish. The theatre was lovely too – very old with decorative ceilings and walls, several levels to view from with some couches to sit on as well.

Monday night was our French lesson and I can now say ‘My name is…’ and ‘How are you?’ proficiently along with a little falteringly phrases like ‘I don’t understand Italian’ or ‘I don’t speak Spanish’.  It will be fun to try it out in the next couple of years if we make it to Europe.

Saw Avatar on Thursday night which was spectacular though I found the plot pretty lacking.  I was expecting a lot so was probably a little disappointed.

We started the weekend with a lovely dinner at Comme Kitchen restaurant off Collins St and stayed the night in the city.

No wonder I needed to have a little lie-down yesterday afternoon and napped for 1.5 hours!

Can’t believe it’s already 2010 and the first month is now over too! Also can’t fathom that it’s a decade since the Year 2000.  It certainly doesn’t feel like that was ten years ago.  I remember celebrating NYE in 2000 in Sydney sitting on the banks of the harbour near Kirribilli and watching the spectacular fireworks bursting over the harbour bridge. I don’t think many fireworks displays can beat Sydney’s.

For 2010 NYE I was in Melbourne – surprising to think that I’ve lived here for over 4 years now too. If you had asked me in 2000 where I would be in 10 years, I may have said Melbourne as a possibility but it would have only been a vague notion that I might have moved somewhere other than Sydney by then.  And if I hadn’t met Andrew, likely that it may never have happened. But I’m very glad it did!

We celebrated NYE with some of our immediate family (from both sides which is a rare occasion) at our favourite restaurant, Afghan Village in Camberwell. It was fantastic and a great way to start the year. The rain bucketed down at 10pm so we were quite glad we hadn’t decided to go into town to watch the fireworks also!