Picnic at Hanging Rock

Plan 2: To buy a house, has had a massive leap forward.  Barnadi's boss Sam put us in touch with his mortgage advisor, a woman named Bronwyn, who does house calls.  She came round to see us last week got us pre-approval for a mortgage on a house up to $380,000.  It didn't then take Barnadi long before he found the house he wants us to buy.  I didn't get to see the house as I was working, but Barnadi instantly fell in love with it.  It is not too big or too small, it has recently been renovated with a new kitchen and bathroom, it is near the creek and has plenty of parkland nearby as well as a large shopping centre and an Italian wholesalers just a short walk away.  There is one potential problem, the suburb the house is located in is infamously known as 'The Worst Suburb in Melbourne' or to give it its proper name, Heidelberg West.  Heidelberg West was the location of the athletes village for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.   After the Olympics the area was converted into housing commission property and it is this that has given Heidelberg West its bad reputation.  In reality however a lot of the poor housing commission buildings have since been sold on in private sales and the area is nowhere near as bad as the rumours make out.  Public transport is not that accessible in Heidelberg West the closest train or tram line being a good half hour walk away, but saying that there are plenty of bus routes that pass by and an abundance of cycle tracks.  The auction is at the start of December so we have a little time to think about our options, and I will get myself to an open house inspection before then to see the inside for myself.



Dan and Gemma at the Organ
Pipes National Park

On Sunday we had the rare event of a day off together, and so with Gemma and Dan we took a nice Sunday road trip.  First stop was the Organ Pipes National park, a small conservation area to the north west of Melbourne just off the Calder freeway.  The park is most famous for its volcanic rock formations that give the park its name, The Organ pipes.  We spent most of the morning there as the park was bigger than we expected and we spent a long time down by the creek trying to spot a platypus.  We didn't spot a platypus, but we did spot a large cat like creature (possibly a cat).  Other geological points of interest within the park are the tessellated pavement and the rosette stone.   There were some stalls set up near the car park with displays of local ecology, but more importantly amongst the stalls there was a hot dog stand, so we had a quick snack before heading on.
Or second stop was at the town of Daylesford where we went to a cafe called koukla for lunch,  the food was good but the service was a little slow.  We were not in any hurry so this was not too much of an issue, what was an issue was the fact they had their radiators on full blast, and at 28 degrees it was hardly a chilly day.

After lunch we got back in the car with the intention of driving to Hanging Rock...which we did...although I did take a slight detour forcing us onto a gravel track for some of the way.  We arrived at Hanging rock at around 3:30pm timing it just right to miss the worst heat of the day.  To take a car into the park costs $10, but it is well worth the entrance fee.  We had an ice cream to cool down and then headed up the summit path exploring all the nooks and crannies in between the stones as we went.  There is a film set at Hanging Rock which I had been led to believe was based on a true story, the film entitled 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' tells the story of a Valentines day school trip in which a group of school girls and one of the teachers goes missing.  One girl is later found uninjured but with no memory of the events since her absence.  A serious of further unfortunate events including the death of a girl in school and the suicide of the head teacher force the school to close down.  The mystery of what happened that day on Hanging Rock was never solved.  In reality the film is based on the Novel of the same name written by Joan Lindsay, a work of fiction.  According to wikipeadia, the original manuscript did contain an explanation for the disappearance in the last chapter, but at the advice of her editors she left it out.

Hanging Rock

We made it home around 7pm and after a quick freshen up we headed down to Victoria street for some Vietnamese food for dinner.  Next week Barnadi and I will be heading back to the UK for a wedding and when we get back Gemma and Dan will be moving on to explore some more of Australia, this was therefore our last day trip all together and we couldn't have asked for a better day.

Making up for lost time

Kookaburra

It was always our plan to take Gemma and Dan out and about around Melbourne while they are staying with us, but circumstances have conspired against us by not giving us any days off in common.  This week we decided to make up for lost time by making the most of our evenings together.

On Sunday I took them up to Sky High Mount Dandenong to watch the sunset.  On the way we stopped at Pinoak court, the street used to film Neighbours, to keep Dan happy.  Despite the traffic we got up to Mount Dandenong in good time and sat and had a coffee and a walk through the woods to do some Kookaburra spotting before getting back to the viewing platform to watch the sun to set over the city.

Sunset from Mount Dandenong

A more ambitious trip was made on Monday night when we embarked on the 6 hour round trip to Philip Island.  Philip Island is the most famous place to see penguins in Victoria, although there is a small penguin rookery in St Kilda.   Barnadi has never been to the penguin parade, put off by the high entry price,  about $22 per person.  We got to the penguin parade ticket office a couple of hours before sunset, so after buying our tickets we drove to an area of beautiful rocky coastline called the Nobbies where we enjoyed the views of the rocky windswept cliffs dotted with nesting seagulls.



Sign in the Penguin Parade car park

The penguin parade was well worth the money, even Barnadi was glad we had come and couldn't draw himself away from the antics of the worlds smallest penguins.  We started off sitting on rows of seats set up from the beach waiting for the first few brave individuals to come out the water, the beach being clearly illuminated by the full moon made for good viewing conditions.  After watching the first few groups of penguins scurrying up the beach we returned to the boardwalks to watch them return to their nests.

It was about 9:30pm by the time we left the penguin parade and we still hadn't had any dinner.  With a three hour drive home ahead of us we resorted to stopping at a 24 hour McDonalds, to keep our hunger at bay.  It was the first McDonalds I have had in Australia and it is not something I am proud of, but needs must.

On Tuesday night Barnadi was working again so I joined Gemma and Dan for a few drinks on Northcote High Street.  Barnadi and I never tend to go out, especially as we are saving money for a deposit on a house, so it was good to get to experience the High Street while we still live here.

My contract of employment for the Alfred hospital has also arrived, my official start date being the 3rd December, this means I will start work at the Alfred as soon as we get back from our trip to the UK at the end of November.  It is only a six month contract, to cover a maternity leave vacancy they have, but it was a nice surprise when I saw that although it is a grade 2 position they will be paying me at the top end of grade 2.