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In the wilds of Coburg lives a sustainably designed and built house, complete with a garden up top. It's a welcome change to a sea of roofs and solar panels. Created by Emilio at Nest Architects, it was built in the backyard of another property after it was subdivided. It's small, but very beautiful. More details and Nic Granleese's photos: www.nestarchitects.com.au/projects/florence-street  Greening the rooftops
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After finishing uni early for the day, I took myself off for a little jaunt around Port Melbourne for some fresh air and exercise, followed by potato cakes for lunch. (I walked a lot, I deserved a potato cake, shut up!)  Not much pulling up to this pier... The Celebrity Solstice was in dock at Station Pier, having a day's rest before heading out to the Pacific Ocean. The newly revamped Princes Pier, originally built around 1915 to supplement the goings on at Station Pier, was accessible again after its recent facelift. There's about 200 metres of new pier before you get to the bare pylons of the old pier. Hopefully nobody burns the new bit down.
It's nearly Easter. Not that it matters...any excuse for food is a good one. Thought I’d have a crack at making Hot Cross Buns.  Wanna see my buns? The cross icing was a bit rubbish but the buns themselves tasted pretty good. And the house smelt amazing!  Nom Nom...okay, I'll have another one This is Silva, an Australian Fur Seal, at Melbourne Zoo. Silva’s keepers explained that she’d lost her partner of many years and in order to combat depression, they were trying to keep her busy by teaching her to paint.  "If you'd just autograph it here, Ms Silva..." A ramble around Melbourne Zoo on a stinking hot March day, hanging out with friends, eating ice cream, bonding with a seal - what's not to like about that?  Whatchoo lookin' at? Before settling in for a quiet night (because of an early flight the next day...hateful!) we watched the sun begin its descent into the Arabian Sea from our cabin at Bogmalo Beach Resort.  Swaying palms The blue sky began to turn orange and small groups of people gathered on the beach. One by one, the boats on the water began making their way back to shore.  Bogmalo Beach Before long, it was all over. The sun dropped, the light faded and our visit to India had come to and end.  And night begins to fall... Thanks India. That was mighty good fun. Even with the boy's day of spewing!
A visit to India wouldn’t be complete without visiting a spice plantation now would it?  Welcoming red dabbing spice surrounded by marigold petals After spending a couple of hours by the pool drinking cocktails, Flashie and I had an idea that we might hire a driver again the next day and nick off to the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary. Because who doesn't love a Sanctuary in the middle of big cat country? Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but the Sanctuary is apparently a jungle resort set among rollings hills, and the area is supposedly frequented by panthers, leopards and swamp lynx so hopefully we wouldn't get ambushed by a trilogy of felines with a hankering for human kibble. We filled up with a decent breakfast and headed out towards Ponda and into the mountains to have a walk around the Bondla Zoo Circuit. It’s not a big place; you can get around it in an hour easily enough but calling it a sanctuary is a fair stretch.  "That human over there looks tasty.." The good thing about hiring a driver in India is that they're very happy to essentially be at your beck and call for a pre-determined time. So if you want to spend half an hour inside a cathedral or 10 minutes looking at that interesting thing over there - they just happily wait. Of course, you pay for this privilege but to an Aussie, it's a nominal fee. We spent half a day in different locations around Old Goa before returning to our digs, in what was about a 60km trip, and I think it worked out to be about A$20.  Well, this is a bit of a mess isn't it? This is the Sé Catedral de Santa Catarina, (aka Se Cathedral) in Old Goa. It’s about 500 years old, the largest church in India and dedicated to Saint Catherine. It’s only fitting then, that I should go there for a sticky beak.  Maybe someone will leave it to me in their Will. Dawn/sunrise beach happenings. Yoga, running....some people are just too energetic in the morning. It's easy enough to be upright at dawn when the weather's warm but I can't see the appeal during winter. Wait, but it's winter in Goa now! Perhaps I wouldn't sleep at all if it was summer time. I walked for 2 and a half hours so I had two breakfasts that morning. That’s normal, right?? A walk along the river and beach at dawn is chilly enough for a light cardigan, but the temperature climbs quickly and the daily average temperature is around 30c. The water isn't much less than that. It's a day of recovery for the boys, and relaxing by the sea for the girls. And margaritas. It's also a day of margaritas for the girls. Margaritas are our friend. |
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