Craig's Hut and Yackandanda and Wine

Hi everyone!

We've left Mansfield and spent the night in Yackandanda, Victoria, known locally as "Yack." We're heading east over toward Cooma and then down to the New South Wales coast. It is impossible to say how many miles (or kilometers) we'll go today as that depends on the vistas and our energy level. We're basically taking it easy as we have until May 10th to get up to Suffolk Park, NSW and our unit.

Craig's hut was built for the movie, Man From Snowy River, and is certainly in a dramatic location. We were especially glad to have 4-wheel drive as we certainly required it to get to the hut. It rained on the mountain but was dry down in Mansfield. Still we enjoyed it immensely.

We have been driving through many areas that have been burnt by last years horrific bush fires. It is truly amazing to see how quickly the bush regenerates. Within a year ferns have spurted back, and the gum trees have all sprouted up the trucks. It looks as though they have grown fur like a chia pet. As the tree gains strength, the lower branches die back and the tree resumes its earlier beauty.

After leaving Mansfield we drove up through the King Valley, this is a huge wine region, now I knew about the Yarra, which we also drove through and other wine growing area of Australia but never the KingValley. It is just beautiful, the valley if filled with vineyards, cattle, sheep and even some goats, but to make it even better, there is a huge nut growing area, olive and fruit. Truly a beautiful region.

Yack, an old gold mining town is on the national historic register, absolutely charming, rolling hills to the mountain, quaint, funky and fun.

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day is Australia's Memorial Day taken to heart by a nation. It is a day of remembrance and reverence that we in the States have ceased to have. In an article in today's local paper, it is described with the following words, "Veteran are not only living links to our past, but symbols of love and devotion to country, of what we value about our freedom and way of life today."

We were fortunate to share the largest ANZAC Day celebration in the country by attending the Dawn Service in Melbourne where thousands of people, old veterans and young toddlers came to pay their respects to those who have both passed on and those who continue to serve. It was moving and solemn, with a quiet spirit of honor filling the crowd. It was astonishing for me to see teenagers with the typical attire and accoutrements of rebellion standing side by side with men and women in suits and uniforms, all paying homage to this day of remembrance and to those who made it possible.

Following the service we, as did over a thousand of the attendants, passed through the largest single monument to Australia's veterans and laid posies at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Perhaps we as Americans would have less strife in our communities and cities if we also held the sacrifice of others in such high esteem.

Steve

Greetings from Down Under

We've made it! It took a long time but it certainly was worth the slog. We left Logan airport in Boston, transferred in LA and 30 hours from our departure in Hancock, NH we landed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

After a day of recovery, we went out to Cranbourne Botanical Garden southeast of the city and enjoyed the day until rain curtailed events. The gardens specialize in Australian native plants, all nicely labeled and set out to replicate the areas that you would find them if you were to travel around the country. Because of the severe droughts that Australia has been suffering from in the last number of years, landscaping with hardy, drought resistant natives is becoming more important, so the garden had areas set up to show how much water certain plants use, and how to use them in the home landscape. It was beautifully designed, with a huge expansion going on. It will be fascinating to see it after a few more years.

Out on one of our daily walks we ran across this poster for

an Australian beer, it is always so exciting to see evidence of our favorite animals no matter where we travel. We have yet to try the beer, but we have 11 months to do so.

Like kids before Christmas

You'd think I was used to the whole "hurry up and wait" that I learned in the Navy. It isn't working. If two people could be more anxious, I don't know how. It is just like being a little kid the day before Christmas.

Allie did most of the cleaning and I did dusting and vacuuming (I handle dust better) and the house looks great. The yard is picked up, the barn is relatively tidy and the vehicles are ready. Packing is another story, but we still have a few hours left (21) so that'll happen.

I guess we simply need to take the Animal House advice, "start drinking."

Tomorrow at this time we'll be at Logan airport checking in and going through the security checks, hopefully with no hassles. Then it is to LA, wait for 3 hours, hop on the Qantas flight and head for Melbourne and truly begin the adventure of a lifetime.

In that spirit, I'd like to thank all those who have made this wonderful gift happen: my parents who gave me a love for travel and new experiences and without whose hard work and efforts it would not be possible, my brother, Jeff, who has continued to do the heavy lifting in the business so I can be free to do this, Allie's mom, Andy, who not only gave me the priceless gift of her daughter but also has been very supportive of us in all the minutiae of getting ready, our fantastic families who will watch over the farm and the critters and each other and our parents during our absence, and to our super "Farm Girl", Lindsay, who will hold down the fort and without who, this would not even remotely be possible.

We will all miss you but we know that life is meant for living to the fullest and we hope that in some small way, you can all live vicariously in Australia with us!

Hark, I hear some fine 12 year old Balvenie scotch calling my name.

PS. The photo was taken by Allie nearly 30 years ago. Somehow I don't think it has changed much. :)

Crunch Time

We are down to 5 days and everything is happening so fast! We still have packing to do, a couple of bills to pay up front, and then all the last minute instructions for family, friends, and most importantly, our wonderful farm caretaker, who is excited about being a "real farmer" for a year. Then we have to make sure we have all the important paperwork, which we (meaning Steve) have managed to forget in past travels which has made them true adventures. Thankfully, he has a very good memory so when we arrived in Madrid, laden down with heavy bags on a hot day, we were able to stagger down the right street and found our hotel (although it was very nerve-wracking).

I'll be keeping up this blog more when we are Down Under as Steve will probably be out taking photographs at first light (and I am not a morning person!) and at the end of the day (when I'd rather be relaxing with friends and sharing a glass of wine). I can't complain though, he has made this possible and he does such great work with his camera stuff.

There's a long list of people to see before we leave and the days are filled to the brim so there isn't a spare minute anywhere. Thankfully, nearly every evening is filled with dinner invitations so I can empty our refrigerator of food (delectable leftovers - an oxymoron if there ever was one!). Then finish packing, one last cleaning, and we are off! To a whole new set of challenges, I'm sure. I probably won't feel truly settled until we are in our rental apartment in Suffolk Park, NSW and the phone/internet/electricity/gas and whatnot is all set up and running. So, in other words, life will be crazy for the next month, until mid-May. If any of you thought we are crazy, you are probably right!

Enough procrastinating, back to packing....

Down to the final stretch

Tomorrow it will be just two weeks left until the adventure truly begins. The farm chores are being finished up, just some minor fencing work and clean up under the barn left to do. The house is nearly completely tidied and organized (at least as well as can be for two non-type A's) and the dogs have begun to suspect something is afoot (or apaw). I've sorted out the needed camera gear and packed most of it, the other electronic bits, such as computers and phones and chargers and Garmin, etc. will wait until next week. We'll make some last minute visits to family and friends and pay the needed bills upfront during that last week as well.

We are waiting on some mail-order (or is that too old-fashioned a word in this online world?) clothes and then we will begin to pack. I am confident we'll manage to fit everything into our luggage, especially as we are already planning on buying most of our camping gear in Australia.

The one thing I am not looking forward to is the flight. It is very long and tedious and I am unfortunately not able to sleep on flights. I am not sure why, but I simply do not. By the time we get to Melbourne, I'll be a really interesting case of total exhaustion and extremely high jitteriness. I am so glad we'll be met by some great mates, David and Lyn Gee, at the airport, otherwise I fear I'd end up like the tigers in Little Black Sambo, a melted puddle on the terminal floor.

Steve