Annual BYF Meetup

 It was the annual catch-up of the "Youth Group" that met at Ashburton Baptist around 55 years ago.  The first task of the evening was a head count to check how many are still around.

Then it was down to the socialising to see how we had all fared during the season of Covid.

Then dinner, the important part of the evening.

Birthday Dinner

 We had been recommended to a new Mexican restaurant in Blackburn by Brett and Cathy so we booked for Claire's Birthday dinner.

It is a great place for a meal.  Typical Mexican style but tasty and well presented. The Mexican beer (Pacifico) was excellent.

We enjoyed it so much that the usual rules were broken and Claire had a sweet (choc brownie, raspberry, ice-cream) and I had a coffee liqueur.

Birthday Trip

 Claire decided that her birthday outing would be to the Melbourne Zoo.  Our last visit was about 15 years ago with the family and things have changed a lot.  The facade is unchanged.

Inside, things are very different.  There are cool shaded avenues along all the walkways.

All of the enclosures are being redeveloped for more animal friendly accommodation although we did recognise the giraffe enclosure from years ago.

Many of the enclosures were so animal friendly that the occupants were completely hidden.  However the coffee and the walk made the visit worthwhile.

Vale Doug

 We were shocked to learn that Doug O'Bree our long time friend and traveling companion, passed away last night.  We met on a European trip in 1998 and had been in regular contact since then.  To use a hackneyed phrase, he was one of nature's true gentlemen.  Doug had recovered well from chemotherapy associated with a lung cancer but a severe infection and blood clot following a transfusion proved too much.  We will miss him greatly.

District Swimming

 Lachlan did so well in the school swimming that he was entered in the District Sports. He swam in the Freestyle Relay and the Individual Freestyle.  He came home with a third and a fourth.

Garden Change

 Our back garden appears to have a problem.  Anything other than a succulent looked decidedly unhappy after planting in the central area so it is time for a change.  Plants and bird bath have been removed and the underlying clay layer is being broken up with gypsum and compost.  We will see how this goes.

Birthday Celebrations - Finally!

 Planning Kate's birthday celebration proved quite a saga with delays due to Covid and other constraints. However we had our celebration last night adding in Mitchell and Claire whose birthdays are imminent. For the first time, we tried Dinner on the Deck.

We collected inside and ate outside.

Cooper had made his signature Custard Tart for the occasion.

It worked well with good food, good company, good wine and importantly, good weather.  We should do this again sometime!

Lachlan Starts Well

After a rather disrupted 2021 school year , the year has been going well for Lachlan.  He likes his teachers, he did well at the Swimming Sports and is now in the District Sports in the Freestyle and Relay and he did well in his ICAS English assessment.

Cooper in Concert

 Cooper did his bit to help the school music program taking part in a concert to promote the orchestra to new students.  Weather and venue were perfect!

Back to Base

 Heading back to Melbourne we stopped off at our favourite little town, Yarram.  Covid has not been kind to the town but you can still get good coffee there.

Wetlands

 The area around Sale was originally very wet marshes and bogs.  Sale was built on the highest location in this wet landscape.  Over time much of the area has been drained for farmland but there are still large wetlands preserved to maintain the local ecology.  It is quite the place for bird watching.

The Swing Bridge

 The Latrobe Swing Bridge was constructed in the 1880s over the canal connecting Sale to the sea.  The bridge still operates and is a marvel of engineering of the time being able to be operated by one person.  There were both male and female bridge keepers.

The 45 metre span rotates on a central turntable to allow tall boats to pass along the canal.

We visited the bridge on the "Rubeena" that was built in 1910 and has been in continuous service ever since then. Originally a steam ferry on Sydney Harbour then diesel and now powered by an electric motor.

The trip down the canal was accompanied by an excellent commentary and views of virgin native forest that had never been grazed and with plenty of evidence (on the trees) of use of the area by the original Gunaikurnai people of the area.

Then off to lunch at one of the excellent eateries in the town followed by a visit to the Art Gallery.

The Powder Magazine

 We had the opportunity to meet with Peter Synan, a local historian and custodian of the only remaining Powder Magazine in Victoria.  They were built by Government to store Black Powder that was used in muskets but more usually for blasting rock in the gold mines of the area.

They were made with thick, buttressed brick walls and vaulted brick ceilings (thin at the peak so any explosion would be directed upward).

The thick wooden floors were constructed with wooden pegs rather than nails to reduce the risk of a spark.

Mural Magic

 The current craze of painting murals on everything has not bypassed Sale where they have decorated the local bridge supports.

Around Sale

There is plenty to interest the visitor around the Sale township with historic buildings, ample shopping, malls and a healthy prosperous vibe.

There were old commercial buildings and the original Cobb and Co Stables, (now repurposed to a market)

The Clock Tower has been rebuilt from the original parts but the original water tower still stands.

Parks, Botanic Gardens and wetlands surround the town.