On Sunday morning we walked 3 ½ hours from Castlemaine to Maldon, following the train line. Because we were trying to make the 12.40 train back rather than wait another 3 hours for the next train, we didn't have any rest stops. Comes 12.40 and we didn't know how far we had to go, when we rounded a bend and there was the train station. Despite the hip joints feeling the effects of that steady walking we managed to break into a run and made the train. It's a steam train that runs only on weekends and public holidays. It felt so good to sit down and enjoy the scenery we had just passed through but were too intent on making the train to be able to really appreciate it.
We passed through some nice farmland.
Saw a wallaby in the forest. Well hidden, but it's right there in the middle. Click to enlarge the photo.
Mel having a nice Harcourt apple in the train.
After lunch in Castlemaine we drove to a lookout which looks out over town and listened to the footy, much better reception up there than at our place. The Bulldogs beat the Magpies - hahahahahahahahaha! Go Doggies!
Here's me resting my weary feet on the dashboard. We're sitting in the car at the Burke and Wills monument overlooking Castlemaine.
We passed through some nice farmland.
Saw a wallaby in the forest. Well hidden, but it's right there in the middle. Click to enlarge the photo.
Mel having a nice Harcourt apple in the train.
After lunch in Castlemaine we drove to a lookout which looks out over town and listened to the footy, much better reception up there than at our place. The Bulldogs beat the Magpies - hahahahahahahahaha! Go Doggies!Here's me resting my weary feet on the dashboard. We're sitting in the car at the Burke and Wills monument overlooking Castlemaine.
Rugged up having breakfast outdoors the next morning. You can see the shadow of the camera sitting on my new mini tripod at the bottom of the photo.
24 comments:
Awwww, you two look so cute together. Did you ever think you would be celebrating your 35th anniversary?
Annette
Wow, I had just pressed the "publish" button and your comment arrived in my intray!
Yes, I had no doubt we were going to celebrate many many anniversaries, it just never entered my head to think otherwise. To my other readers: Annette was my student in the early 70s and she and some of her classmates attended our wedding in the hills behind Berkeley. 35 years, where did it all go?
Great trip, and thanks for sharing the picture of the wallabee! It reminds me of a song from the early 60s, "Tie Me Kangeroo Down, Sport".
Actually, I wanted to sing that at Val's wedding, since she was marrying an Australian, but Annette stopped me. I also wanted to come to the wedding dressed as a Kangeroo, but again, Annette stopped me from doing so.
Apparently those actions would have been "inappropriate" by early 1970s standards. I've made many, many mistakes in the last 33 years since high school without Annette's advice.
Those pictures reminded of pictures my late brother took of his trip to Australia, which fullfilled a lifelong dream for him. He never met a stranger, and walked all over the countryside, chatting with people. He took more pictures of people he met and animals he observed than he did of anything in Sydney or Melbourne!
Sometimes I wonder if he met Val and Mel.
What a nice trip. You sure know how to spend retirement.
Lovely photo's, love those socks..hehehehe
LittleJen, well, the socks are pretty utilitarian, I'll admit, but they go with everything!
Robert,You would have been most welcome as a kangaroo!
I’m glad your brother was able to get to Australia and enjoy it so much. It’s true, cities are not nearly as interesting as the country towns.
Hi Val
Looks like you had a lovely trip great photos I can understand why the feet are up after that long walk. Take Care
Val,
That was quite the walk! Glad you made the train!!!
Lovely photos. I had to show the wallaby to my little grandson!!
Was it your anniversary weekend?
Thirty five years is a milestone...
Robert, I don't remember telling you not to come to the wedding as a kangaroo! Nor about telling you not to sing, though I can imagine that better. I felt very daring wearing blue, yellow and maroon to that wedding, so I can see how a kangaroo would have been just over the top to me, lol.
Annette
Val, the photos are great, and the story, I am tired just imagining you both huffing along to get to the train - I did tell you I have this very active imagination?
The countryside(s) around Australia never cease to amaze me. This is such a BIG country, you can drive for miles and miles to cover just half-an-inch on the mao, and the things to see and the way the country changes, and the wide open spaces - everywhere - we are one lucky people, I reckon...
oops, I must learn to 'review' - I meant to say 'drive for hours and hours' and of couse a mao is a map!
slaps self..
Sue,
No, our anniversary is on October 3rd, when we’ll hopefully (flying standby) be in California to celebrate where it all began.
I’ll bet your little guy was amazed to see the wallaby, they’re animals that you think exist only in zoos or books, Seeing them in their natural habitat is so wonderful. When I first got to Australia and we were driving from Sydney to Melbourne, similar to SF to LA, the only kangaroos and presumably some wallabies I saw were dead ones at the side of the road. I was despairing until I lived here a while and started to see live ones in the countryside.
Della, I have appreciated that fact about Australia since I came here, as well as this: how quickly you can get out of a city and be in countryside, even in a big city like Melbourne, or I should say especially Melbourne. Sydney, when we lived there in the late 80s, was not as good for that, bigger population I guess. I still rejoice in going to the Dandenongs and getting onto a walking track where you won't encounter many people once you get away from the carparks. Wonderful!
What fun you two have. You are both quite adventurous! Loved the pictures of your socks...it was cute.
And it's always nice to see a Roo since we don't have any here. I can just picture you & Mel chasing after the train.
35 years goes by pretty fast when you're married to the right person.
It's no wonder you were glad to sit down after a 31/2 hour walk to catch the train! Scenery was beautiful though...I've always loved driving through farmland!! I was amazed to see the wallaby...it's like seeing a deer or moose for us:-) I have one of those mini tripods too and just love it!! Hugs!
Val,
October 3, 1971? Gee, I remember it as if it were yesterday. I want to confess that I did cry at your wedding. John Melville jabbed me in my side with his elbow and told me to knock it off. Everyone thought I was sensitive, but I actually was afraid that you'd soon stop teaching us, and perhaps go off to Australia with the foreigner. I wasn't the only one who cried, as I remember. Ever since, if a bride cries at the altar, I immediately join in.
To those who don't know Val as a teacher, her passion for her subject and love for people energized her students for life.
Wow, Val, you've got such a fan club commenting here!
I loved this story of your weekend adventures complete with photos to boot. The feet in socks were especially cute!
glad you had a nice time!
:-D
Ah, so pleased to see your equivalent of the "boot" photo that you suggested on my blog! The new minitripod certainly helps the breakfast-in-the-cold photos. You both look so civilised, I am impressed!
Those mini tripods are a blessing - saves you from having to get into uncomfortable positions and can mean the difference between taking a photo or not. So light and handy!
Val, you should have just cruised on that walk and spent 2 or 3 hours in Maldon, such a lovely spot.
I was wondering when we'd read your adventures. How were the pies and did they have to be eaten in the car again this time?
Talking of Pies, wasn't it great to see them go down to the Doggies?
Your wedding anniversary is only 2 days after ours (plus a few more years). I hope you pull-off the standby to California.
Peter, Maldon is a lovely spot and we've spent a bit of time there on visits over the last couple of years. I guess we wanted to be back in time to listen to the footy, and boy, was that worth it, as Stu would heartily agree. It's always good to see the Magpies lose, and great that it was that nice team, the Bulldogs, who inflicted that loss. There was an article in the papers this week about how the Bulldogs are not a team that people hate (like some other teams I can mention), and supporters of other teams generally have great respect and affection for them.
The photos are great, very enticing. it doesn't look as dry as I expected.
Sounds like a wonderful trip.
best wishes
Some brilliant shots. I love the first one. And the wallaby, of course. And it's good to see the tripod in action!!
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