Pam's Tree house and Beyond

After leaving the Great Ocean Road we drove inland through the Mount Grampian area, which is hill country and quite forested in places. The eucalyptus is predominant in most areas, but evergreens reach the skyline in places. They are not loved by all and am told (maybe someone was just pulling my leg) there was a cell called GROAP many years ago. Here’s a new acronym for you meaning: Get Rid Of All Pines. I understand the group bombed pine trees supposedly because nothing can grow under them and native birds can’t live in them. I love the variety, although very few are native and am sure the palm is not. In Sydney, Alan was not too happy with the future prospect of lining avenues aiming for a Vegas style.

The park down the road, Worrabinda- a great idea- a poetry
bag left for the public to view and write a poem

Look center for the kangaroo

Living surrounded by micropoded neighbours is a treat. I have all but quit photographing the koalas since they are snuggled in many trees on the mountain roads. I finally photographed a kangaroo in the wild at Worribinda, a .5 of a k down the road. They are tricky to photograph while standing alone by the highway or running in a mob. Since my driving abilities are still somewhat below mastery, I hesitate to pull off the road, especially when there is rarely an opportunity on the narrow lanes or extremely curvy hills.

Central Market

We arrived at Vivian’s hamlet in the Adelaide Hills which is just minutes from the 1.3 million people of the city. In Stirling there is a feeling of country living. While practicing my driving just minutes from the house, I was surrounded by farmland, horses, sheep, and the biggest goats ever. At the end of many private drives you’ll see homemade signs reading “Horse Poo, $2.oo a bag,” or “Sheep Poo, 2$ a bag. Leave money in the letter box.” After several farms advertizing their poo, one humorous fellow had a sign out: “Unicorn Poo. Free”.  Lemons are 1$ a bag, which I thought, was quite funny since it was half the price of the poo. Strawberries are for picking nine months out of the year, cherries have all just been picked and local farms have roadside stands.  Many conversations focus on the best  “farmers’ market” for any day of the week when finding out that I am new to Adelaide. The wineries are a given.

Ken and Debbie

The tasting flight with Pauline

Debbie, from Colorado, who will be teaching in Manly, and I toured Penfolds, Magill Estate Winery (and tons of other locations. She’s been a great traveling buddy) where a bottle of grange is ungodly expensive. The reserve bottles are not even for sale to public, but the cellar door price for the Grange Shiraz was $1,999 each. Four barrels of some of their bin numbers were worth a million dollars. Following the tour, we tasted a variety of their products. The sips from the bottles worth more than $100.00 definitely had a superior smoothness and taste. No wonder I have never loved wine, I have been drinking the wrong stuff.

Five days after visiting Pinfolds, Pauline and Ken (who live a stone's throw from Viv’s, and were in CO on an exchange in 2012) took us on the grand Saturday drive tour. A big thanks to Ken and Pauline are in order! We had a huge breakfast at the Central Market and wandered (thank goodness full, otherwise I would have bought gourmet cheese, each and every fruit, chocolates, breads and more breads). Instead I came home with passion fruit and veggies. Now all that needs to happen is for me to settle in an actually use the kitchen. Um, been eating out more than ever! From there we toured five wineries and ate tapas at the  brewery. Each winery has a very distinct flavor, but I am not talking about the wines. Some are in an original barn (My favorite Johnsons) while others are super contemporary. The servers are as different as their wines and surroundings. The vines and the almost ready to harvest grapes are the only similar bits.

My most favorite of the estate’s tour, since I am not such a wine connoisseur (but may be by 2014), was looking at the grapes on the vines and the stories. The best was about the time Helen Keller went on a tour in 1948. She was given a bit of information about the size of a barrel and she got inside to calculate its volume. The story goes that she measured it hand over hand around its circumference and was close to exact, only missing by a few liters. Most of us would have had trouble calculating what it would hold with our up to date palm pilots or what ever that technology is.

The white-faced heron in my backyard

Weather is interesting. The night we got here it rained early in the morning through mid-afternoon. All three of us were ready for some down time, and the rain was a great excuse. It also meant that Viv’s fish and frog pond refilled without me learning the hose system right away. Haven’t seen the fish, but the white-faced grey heron likes to visit. Caught him in flight when taking off from the backyard gazebo.

So, when I said I would call this next blog The tree House and Beyond, it is because I feel like I am as close to living in one as possible. Out ever window there are trees and more trees. In the evening, I know when a koala is around because his grunts are similar to a very large hog. The birds are an extra treat, and I am slowly learning some of the most common birds’ names: Galahs, many of the Cockatoos, the White Head Heron, the Rosella, and all the water birds a half block walk to the lake at Woorabinda Wildlife Sanctuary.

I walk up and steep hill and down a steep hill to arrive at my lakeside destination. There are four kilometers of tracks just in my backyard. I usually go just before dark when the snakes have hopefully gone to sleep, but the mosquitoes are certainly not. Half way around the lake some thoughtful poet, probably a teacher, hung a rucksack titled, “The Poetry Bag,” and inside are gobs of papers written by aspiring poets laminated for any passerby to take a break and enjoy. It is just one of the many forests, reservoirs, conservation parks, gorges, and National Parks in close range. Now that I have a G.P.S. that speaks kindly in a British accent even when I don’t follow her directions, I just ask her to plan a route. Truly wonderful, but weird as she takes me on the narrowest, most windy lanes you could imagine. I’d be impossibly lost going beyond going to the local grocery.

Talking stick on the beach close to the "Gong"

choice of kangaroo,croc, or...

Since I am rambling thought you may enjoy knowing that one of the two big market chains is Woolworths. Rather funny. I think of Nancy Griffith every time that I see it. You see other US chains like Maccas, which is the only country to call McDonalds by a nickname. First time I asked about wireless Internet, I was sent to Maccas, and when I did not understand what the barista was saying he said, McDonalds, but with a strong Chinese/Australian accent. So off I went looking for Max’s Donuts. When I turned the corner to see the grand M, I finally got what he was saying. Just one of those many “newbie” things.

The cliffs at Bondi area

Great climbing at Sydney botanical gardens

Along the Great Ocean Road

The rubber duckie in Darling Harbor
for the Sydney Festival and Allison

Photos and text are out of place, but hope that you can put the jigsaw together. Off to the opening day of the international Tour 'd France-like this evening. Hope all is well. Cheers PL