Melbourne Botanical gardens and Phillip Island

The Melbourne Botanical gardens are lovely and those who have visited will know that at certain points within the garden you can't see the CBD or city surrounds although you can hear traffic noise.  This was something I wanted to show Jane while she was staying with us.  Before heading to the gardens we had some lunch at Southbank.  Here are some photos of our lovely day out.  (Warning:  long post, photo heavy.)

On the train heading into the city.

A huge beautiful old tree.

This mother duck was leading her ducklings down to the water, very cute.

One of the things Jane wanted to do while she was in Victoria was to see the Penguin Parade at Phillip Island.  We set off Tuesday and decided to make a day of it visiting the Koala Conservation Centre first which is also on Phillip Island.  Jane hadn't had her fill of viewing koalas and to be honest neither had I so we were very happy to see more.

Koalas have a hard bottom covered with their thick fur so they can sit quite comfortably like this for hours.  This link has excellent information about koalas.

We were able to view the koalas from this raised boardwalk. 

Can you see this one hugging the tree?

At the conservation centre there are some very nice walking tracks where we saw a number of Swamp wallabies feeding.

After enjoying our time at the conservation centre we drove to the Nobbies, home to a large colony of fur seals.  Unfortunately we didn't see any seals but we did see spectacular scenery and one lone penguin.

 

One lone penguin under the Nobbies boardwalk.

 
  We were fortunate to see this one as taking photographs of the Penguin Parade is not allowed.  The reason for this is to make sure the penguins are not frightened by flash photography when coming up from the sea at dusk to their nesting/resting sites.  In the past non flash photograph has been allowed but there always is that one person who misunderstands because of the language barrier, so no photography at all is allowed.   These penguins are tiny little birds and have a long way to walk up from the sea.  After they arrive in groups called a raft of penguins, they cautiously make their way up from the sea, sometimes hiding behind rocks until they feel it is safe to continue to their nesting sites.  Sometimes they get the jitters, turn around and go back into the sea only to repeat the process a few minutes later.  The viewing of the penguins is excellent with arena lights showing the penguins more clearly as they approach the dunes.  Once the penguins are on their way up into the dunes, observers are able to walk on the boardwalk which takes you directly past where they are nesting or resting for the night.  There is lighting along the boardwalk so viewing is fantastic.  These gorgeous little birds don't seem to mind being on show and they don't disappoint cuteness wise.  

As we were driving around the island we saw quite a few of these Cape Barren geese which seemed totally unperturbed by the traffic driving by and were happily grazing on the edge of the road.

So there ends Jane's visit to Australia.  We did a number of other things while she was staying like having a family BBQ so other members of my family could meet her, lunch with my sister at a lovely nursery cafe and Jane dragged me (ahem) into a local lounge bar for a sangria.  I've never had the courage to go in their by myself, it was fabulous.  The things two cousins will get up to.

I'm off on Friday to spend three days with my sister-in-law in Adelaide followed by a week and a half with Mum in Western Australia.  The next post will be from either Adelaide or country Western Australia.

Anne  xx

The Hay Shed

Last night I went with my brother to The Hay Shed.  The Hay Shed is a venue built by my cousin for the express purpose of providing music entertainment for the local community.  The shed has been built in a paddock on his farm and he has installed toilets (proper ones not porta loos), has an area set up for food catering and serving drinks.  An incredible amount of money, time and effort has gone into the planning and the facilities.   The sound system is amazing and the lights operated by my other cousin add a wonderful atmosphere.

The music last night was Country style which is not my favourite but it was on opportunity to see my cousin's venue and experience music under the stars.  The night was perfect, balmy and only later in the evening did a cool wind spring up but it wasn't unpleasant.

These photos were taken about 6.45pm in the evening.

The Hay Shed, the performing area.   The green area on the ground is for dancing or if rock bands are playing, the mosh pit.  I love the way old farm implements have been used to decorate and add atmosphere.

The sound and light tower.  My two cousins were up there last night with my nephew assisting.

 

To the left is the catering area.  I had a hot lamb roll, delicious.

This is in the back area.  Some people bring their own chairs although chairs and tables are provided.  The big gum trees in the background are lit up at night.

Three bands played.  First a local group and two bands from Perth.  The second band was very ordinary in my opinion but the third band, the Renegades were outstanding.  They played good country rock with a mix of cover songs that everyone knew and some of their own material.  They got people up and dancing with good music, encouraged crowd participation and were the hit of the night.

The Renegades

Crowd participation.  The lady on the far left in the yellow top is a local parliamentarian.

The cousin who built the Hay Shed is in his own band of which my nephew is also a member.  The band is Fullnoise and they play covers of really cool rock songs.  My cousin plays guitar and was invited to play a couple of songs with the Renegades.

My cousin is the hairy bloke with the mullet hairstyle, sunnys on his head in the middle of the other two fellas playing guitar.

During the last part of the show, I was invited up to the sound and light box to get a birds eye view and check out all the gear the fellas were operating.

Just a small portion of the equipment used for sound and lights.

Another view form the sound/light box looking west toward the huge car parking area and camping ground.  Yes there are facilities for camping.

When I previously visited Western Australia in late November, 2012, Fullnoise had a concert at The Hay Shed in conjunction with cover bands for the Blues Brothers and the Beatles.  I missed that one as the weather was terrible.  Last year The Hay Shed had concerts featuring a pipe band and a swing band from Kalamunda, a suburb of Perth and a Bachelors and Spinster Ball.  My cousin also organised a Carols by Candlelight concert in December which involved some Perth performers who feature in one of the main Carols nights in Perth.

Hats off to my cousin for providing such a wonderful venue where the local and surrounding communities can enjoy music.  I didn't mention that he (my cousin) is also an electrician so the whole place is extremely well lit.   I hope you enjoyed hearing about the difference one person can make, someone with a dream, a dream that has become a reality.

Anne  xx