More adventures with Jane

Today is cool, pleasantly cool for the first time in days and it's so nice not to feel like we are all wilting.  Cousin Jane cannot believe she is waking up to morning after morning of blue skies and hasn't had goose bumps once since she's been staying with us.  

Saturday we decided to take a drive out to the Yarra Valley to show Jane another lovely area in Victoria.  Of course it is incredibly dry at the moment rather than the lush green it is most of the year.  The temperature reached 43C at one point and because Jane had never experienced such heat before, we suggested she hop out of the air conditioned car for a few minutes just to see what it was like.  She described the hot wind as having a blow dryer directly on your body.

We decided to have lunch at the  Yarra Valley Dairy
and enjoyed some rather delicious cheeses with a selection of olives, breads and crackers. 

This photo makes the dairy look deceptively small, it's not.  It extends further out the back through the dark doorway area.  It was so incredibly hot when I took this photo and the glare of the sun reflecting on the light roof and walls of the dairy make everything in shadow look very dark.

 

I do believe Jane is enjoying herself.

 Some scenes of the Yarra Valley including vineyards for which the area is well known.

We had a lovely afternoon but were glad to come home to a partly air conditioned house and hubby's excellent homemade pizza.

Sunday hubby indulged Jane and took her to the site where they film the house exteriros for the Aussie soap "Neighbours", Ramsay Street.  I've never watched Neighbours but it was fun for Jane to do something so touristy.

 Last night at dusk we went for a walk up in the Sherbrooke forest in the hope we might see some Australia wildlife such as kangaroos, wallabies or a lyrebird or two.  We did hear three different types of owls calling, heard wallabies jumping in the bush, but sadly we didn't see anything.  We did however manage to photograph the rare and beautiful Pommy bird Janeus Louiseus Cooperus.  She obliged me ever so nicely by standing still while I took this photo.  :)

This morning I popped Jane on a plane to Sydney to spend a few days with friends there.  I'm hoping she will enjoy the delights of Sydney, the beautiful harbour etc.  She'll be back on Thursday when more adventures and fun will be had I'm sure.

Anne  xx