Victoria, we're back

  So, we had our last rehearsal for the puppet show on Monday. We were still ironing out stage entrances and exits etc but mostly we were all remembering our lines. The first performance was on Thursday for the students of Yarrunga Primary and we backed up with a second one on Friday for St Pat's Primary. Mullinmur Billabong is on the outskirts of Wangaratta, beside the Ovens River. According to the play the native animals are facing lots of pressure; the two major ones are feral animals and climate change. Mullinmur is the Indigenous name in Bangerang language for platypus. The kids loved it but I'm aware of at least two puppeteers who are relieved its over and have slipped back into retirement. In this scene the feral cat is hunting the echidna, only to come off second best because of his defensive quills.  On Tuesday we had Laurie and Sue join us at Kate's, breaking the journey from Wodonga where they had stayed with one of Sue's sisters, on their way back home to Ma...

Eric began feeling better as the allergic reaction receded and his incisions healed so he was ready for an outing. We visited the Art Gallery to view A Portrait of Australia: Stories Through the Lens of Australian Geographic. When we were in Singapore we were fortunate to see the National Geographic display of their most popular front covers. This photographic exhibition celebrates the bush, the outback, the coast and the people who live there. We were impressed by how often the composition of the photos was so simple, with lots of negative space, but expressed so much. We weren't allowed to take photos so this is lifted from their advertisement. This one depicts a person walking the Birdsville Track. We felt pretty smug about how many of the scenes we had observed first-hand ourselves, through our travels across this mighty country, just hadn't photographed them this well.   Monday was cold and windy again. We'd had a terrific storm with thunder and lightning most o...

The    Melbourne Cup Carnival began the same weekend as the Jazz and Blues were in Wangaratta. On the Friday a week before, flooding of the Maribyrnong River into the homes of locals was made worse by a flood-prevention wall built around Flemington Racecourse.  The sight of brown floodwater bypassing the pristine green racetrack infuriated local residents, who had campaigned against its construction.  For many, this will be a carnival to remember, but not for the right reasons.  On the day of The Cup the weather forecasts predicted rain and a heavy track. We had hail in Glenrowan West. Hail in November! And we completely missed the race, got the time wrong. Too many years in the NT. So it being November 1 means our Great Cycle Challenge to raise money for childhood caner research has come to an end. Our team of 6 managed to raise a very impressive total of more than $4000 so well done all; the riders and the donors. While last year it was hot and sticky rid...

  While it rained through the week we took the opportunity to preview online some of the artists attending the Wangaratta Jazz and Blues Festival - they'll get the chance to enjoy a famed  'Wang hang' this coming weekend. The organisers have had to instigate a wet weather contingency plan due to the continuing rain which is not expected to stop until the following week. There will be no outdoor stage this year but six indoor venues and another couple of options on the Sunday. We are looking forward to seeing Thando, Fiona Boyes, The Black Sorrows, Horns of Leroy and Ali McGregor to name a few.  On the Friday night we attended the official opening of the festival at the Wangaratta High School PAC followed by The Continental Party featuring Rob Susz (top left) who describe themselves as a down-home, funky, blues and soul combo. They were good and set the scene for the rest of the weekend. For the life of me I can't think who Rob reminds me of, but one day I'm sure it ...

  Eric shot this beautiful photo of the full moon rising above the ridge from our front verandah. All the wind and rain has dealt a terrible blow to so many Victorians and we feel particularly sorry for the Echuca Community.  They were still awaiting the peak as I typed this, 10 days after the rain began. We were so keen to purchase there, and now feel we've dodged a bullet. We're hoping the news is good after all the effort to create the sandbags and levee but how do you keep positive if you are on the wrong side of the wall? We registered 70mls in the rain gauge here over the 3 big days and it continues.....  The only damage we found at Kate's place was the material of the cover over the second vehicle in the carport has given way after what looks like many years of good service. It revealed a gold car with club registration and on further investigation its a 1967 Ford Cortina Mark1. We'll have to ask Kate more about it when we next chat, but in the meantime we purcha...

  We moved to the property   on Kelly Gap Rd   on a day of continual rain, but despite that, we are very happy to be here. The property was originally 300 acres which once belonged to Jim Kelly, Ned's brother. He was never part of the gang because when they formed he was already in jail for misdemeanours of the criminal kind. The family home is a little further along the road though not much remains; apparently history buffs have souvenired even the chimneys, brick by brick, over the past decades. In recent years Kate subdivided and now lives on 30 acres of her original property in her new house, which like the first one, is completely off-grid.  We are learning as we go but have found the home cosy and easy to manage. The house is clad in custom orb, just like our Tiwi home, and well insulated. The floor is polished concrete. The solar power and battery system provides the electricity but on days of low light due to cloud-cover there is a back-up generator. Wat...