platypus creek

we saw platypus in the creek, echindna crawling through the grass, plenty mosquitos, kookaburras, goannas and a dead wombat on the road (sheep, horses, cows). it was hot hot hot, and we felt like we'd finally arrived in Australia. Staying in lucie's quiet home was one of the nicest times of our holiday. still, quiet, slow, and heartfelt.

bimbaya

what a magical word. bimbaya - the property where lucie has made her home. she told me, 'if you get to candawangalo creek, you've gone too far'. we looked out for the red rooftops of the old butter factory down by the creek, and lucie's tiny shack out the back. Hans, whose property it is, has converted the butter factory into the most amazing place. and lucie's wonderful shack is like a retreat centre. calm, quiet, simple, perfect. more so because lucie is in it. she moved out of her room to let us cuddle under her mosquito net, and she camped in her studio, where her next album is all but finished. she played me some, and it filled the fields. red the horse looked up -

bush babe

We loved detouring (short cuts?!) to explore random spots.

If I try and remember where all these places were, I'll never get this done. Oh wait, Adrian is home, he'll remember! - he said it was just south of Mallacoota.

somewhere starting with M

We hit the road - to somewhere starting with M near lakes entrance - Marlo I think. Contrary to our summery expectations, there was a severe storm warning, and we were lashed with rain the whole day of travel. But the next day dawned sunny and gorgeous, and we had a wide verandah to ourselves & explored Cape Conran Nat Pk.

We started our crazy road trip with beach, walks, exploring, sleeping (for some) and. We hatched this tom-fool idea in England to drive up from Melbourne to Sydney (via Goulburn and Broulee) and then alllll the way down to Hobart. This was just the beginning of a road-trip-with-a-tiny-littleman - we had no idea how he would like the idea of so much travel, and each night in a different bed.

sweet smell of...

...Dr jasmine! A lucky meeting in northcote, where we holed up in a cafe in the pouring rain and talkedtalkedtalkedtalked just like we used to in uni. so wonderful to see old friends. Jasmine is a DOCTOR! PhD under her belt, she is set to conquer to world. What a lot of hard work finished with. Hooray!

ceres

a busy day where we trammed from st kilda to fitzroy and lots in between. Ceres drew us in, with it's bicycle fixing haven (Adrian with a halo of rims!) and sculpture snuck in between the allotments, animals, gardens, native plantings, eco house, cafe and too many exciting ventures to name. I wish England had more places like this.

gold dust

Janu caught up with his wonderful mates who send him all manner of goodies from across the seas. Gai & Annie sends parcels full of poems, scraps of clippings, cards, and the gold dust of thier thoughts. and we are so lucky to recieve them. At Annie's new park-view house in Melbourne, we had a delicious supper and swapped stories.