19 March 2011

The Best and Worst of Times

I spent last Friday hiking and then climbing up a peak in the Grampian mountains of Victoria, then gazing at kangaroos grazing in the evening warmth. Reminders of the January floods were everywhere - Halls Gap is the only town you can get to in the entire region, after 194 landslides have made the rest of the state park out of bounds. But Halls Gap was flooded too - luckily it was only the businesses nearest the river and they are all open again. We ate dinner at one of the cafes there. Upon returning to our rented cottage, I flicked on the TV to see those horrible pictures of the tsunami tearing through Japan. And you just feel like, "OMG, what next?" We try to go on with our lives, trying to find joy in experiences and with those close to us... but sometimes, it just feels like there's no way you can avoid feeling depressed. Do you know what I mean? Now I am more relieved than ever about New Zealand's nuclear free stance.

Anyway, we had a fabulous time on our holiday, so much so that the post-holiday blues really took hold on Sunday night. It was our first time to Melbourne, but we felt right at home straight away. Our trip was split between city exploring, airshow attending and driving around the Mornington Peninsula and Great Southern Touring Route.

On our return I discovered that the lovely Sierra had nominated me for the Write Hard blog award. Thanks Sierra! I'd like to nominate my other original followers, Writergal24 and Brooke.



I'm getting settled into my new job, and now I'm looking forward to having time to catch up with friends, tidy up the garden, plan our trip to my sister-in-law's wedding later this year, and of course, work on the second draft of my WIP. I want to give my beta readers the first couple of chapters yesterday!

And now, the shameless parade of holiday photos - enjoy!

Melbourne City

















Mornington Peninsula









Great Ocean Road



























 


Grampians












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