Victoria, we're back

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...