My 101 List Is Not Enough

Decided to pack my Port Stephens trip to the max and as much as possible. Seeing there were so many new experiences to be had, I realize that my current 101 list doesn't fit them all! Mainly because a few were a tad more ambitious than what I thought I would go for in 1001 days. Anyway, I'm counting them as items and will be deciding whether to:

• Make it 150 in 1505 days
• Start a new 101 list that will overlap the current one

Anyway, first things first. I went parasailing!

It was surprisingly not as scary as I thought it would be - a very smooth and silent flight over the bay - amazing views. You don't even get wet - they let you off from the boat and you land back on the boat. Would love to do it again sometime.

Also went on a camel ride over the sand dunes and along the beach. Very similar to horse riding, except slower. Pleasant.

Also went to a Shark and Ray center where you could put on a one size fits all (it's true - it really does fit all!) suit that keeps you bone dry while you wade waist deep in pools full of rays and sharks and feed them. Didn't take many photos because I didn't want to get my camera all fishy and wet, but it was quite enjoyable. One of the rays was about 2m wide and very friendly.

Also climbed up a hill - am very proud to say that I got to the top of it without having to stop. The view from the top was totally worth the climb! I'm not sure why I'm working in Benalla - I should be on the coast somewhere so that this is in my backyard.

Last but not least, we went fishing! I don't have pictures of my catch because I didn't want to touch any of my belongings when my hands were all fishy and baity. Which in hindsight now is kind of a shame. Anyway, my haul wasn't that great although I was happy to have caught anything at all. Caught 3 yellowtails, about 20-25cm long.

Fishing I realize, requires a lot of skill. Half the time I wasn't even sure if it was a bite or not. Also, the sea was pretty rough - I think if I go fishing again it'll either be from the shore or on a lake. Nonetheless, an experience to remember.

After that jam packed weekend of non stop activities, all very uncharacteristic of me (most of you would know that I'm usually a very sedentary sort of person who would really rather stay clean and dry) I think I have found my inner sporty person.

Yes, she exists. Somewhere. Very deep down.

Bendigo, Part 1

We've talked about visiting Bendigo for a long time and we finally got round to it last weekend.

Drove down to it on a bright and sunny Saturday morning and headed straight to the farmer's market, where we had a hard time deciding what to have for lunch. Finally settled on a gourmet version of a sausage sizzle and a pie.

Had a walk around the gardens and the spring flowers were out! Pretty, aren't they? 

Also visited the Chinese museum, which told the history of the Chinese who came over to Bendigo during the gold rush. Had the opportunity to feed koi in the pond that they had built too. Those fish were so used to being fed by tourists - the moment we approached they swam up to receive their free meal.

Overall, I thought that Bendigo was a pleasant regional centre, with a lot more character than say... Shepparton or Wangaratta. Kinda reminded me a little of Albury. But when all's said and done, I still like Benalla the most.

Part 2 to follow.

No. 44 - Eat At 50 New Eateries (40/50)

Went to Bright for my dose of autumn last weekend. Yes, I was there just 2 weeks before that but the leaves were still green. This time I had better luck.

Stopped by Gapsted for lunch at the Gapsted Winery. Food was good and the weather was perfect. Even Milton benefited - I sneaked that lamb shank you see at the top left of the photo home for him.

After that it was onwards to Bright. Went to the playground and relived our childhood. It was just a really nice and pleasant day.

I feel the urge to return to this place every autumn if possible.

No. 53 - Take A Photo An Hour For 12 Hours Straight

Went to Warrnambool over the weekend and decided to complete this item so that I could tick it off my extensive list.

Had a really good time there. A more detailed post will follow.

Mini Golf

The last time I mini-golfed was in Daylesford last year. Decided to do it again when we were in Auckland.



I'm not the best of golfers, sad to say. Individual shots are of people who managed to get hole in ones.

No. 44 - Eat At 50 New Eateries (34-35/50)

More food.

That's all I do when I travel - think about the next meal.



Breakfast overlooking the bay in Auckland. Yummy.



6 course degustation at French Cafe. Food was really good - one of the best meals of my life. Was particularly taken by their beetroot on caramelised onion and pastry combo.

I've very unfortunately gained back all the weight I lost during my bout of anxiety. What a shame.

My Kiwi Friend's Wedding

The wedding invitations have started to arrive. This was the first one that I have actually accepted.

While waiting for the wedding to commence, we decided to take some photos at the venue.



What are we doing? We're trying to copy the poses of the cherubs or... stone people or whatever.

We were trying to speculate who would be next out of our crowd to head down the aisle. The sad truth is that we are all so definitely single it could be anyone.

Or no one.

My Luck Filled Weekend Part 1

I went to Auckland last weekend.

If there was one word to describe my weekend - it would be... lucky.

To be perfectly fair, if we had more foresight and planning, perhaps we wouldn't need luck. But disorganized we were and thus luck was needed.

Firstly, we didn't decide where we were going to park our car when we went to Auckland. See, the thing is, we go down to Melbourne all the time. Thus everything should be straightforward enough - what's so complicated?

So when we approached the airport...

Housemate: So, where are we going to park the car?
Me: Uh... long term parking I guess? I know it's cheaper if we don't park in the airport but I don't think I can be bothered looking for the alternatives.
Housemate: Yea... so.. outdoor or indoor?
Me: Oh... outdoor will be fine... I mean, what's going to happen, right?

A hailstorm in Melbourne's going to happen, that's what!!!!

Very very happily and fortunately, it didn't hail where my car was. :D



Secondly, we didn't really decide if we were going to rent a car or just take public transport/taxi around Auckland. After much thought we decided that renting a car was probably going to be the best idea. Problem was, we arrived at Auckland at 1 a.m. on a Friday night. There weren't really many options.

Avis: We do have one car left. But it's small.
Us: Small's okay.
Avis: You need to be 25 to rent a car.
Me: Weelll.. I'm 25. (A mere 2-3 weeks after my 25th birthday)
Avis:Oh...another thing. This car has a manual transmission.
Me: ....I can drive manual.....I think...

So we got into the car and I gave myself a refresher course in manual driving in the car park. One may liken it to riding a bicycle - you never forget. Last time I drove a manual car would probably be at least 4-5 years ago.

Did I mention how many steep hills there were in Auckland City?!?!!

Anyway, was very proud of myself. So much so I'm putting this into my 101 list.

No. 80 - Drive in a foreign country.

My Saturday In Shepparton

Went down for the day to visit my friend in Shepparton. She had promised me a fun-filled day.

The first thing we did was to seek out the best vanilla slice in Victoria - or so they claim. It's in the town of Tatura, about 15 minutes out of Shepparton.



Vanilla slice and my steak and mushroom pie - Vanilla slice was good. Steak and mushroom pie nothing extraordinary.



We then went to seek out chocolate coated toffee apples. The store was quite interesting - particularly the pear in the bottle (picture bottom left). Turns out they pop baby pears into the bottle while they're still small enough to fit through the neck and then hang the bottle up with the pear until it's fully grown.



Anyway, here's the chocolate toffee apple. Very sticky - idea better than the actual thing.




Also went to a lavender farm, which did not have much lavender.

All in all, had a good day. Went shopping as well and bought my first dress in like... 2 years or something like that. Felt good. Then went home to drink white nectarine wine while watching The Proposal. Easy viewing, but very predictable.

Thus ends my Saturday.

White Frontignac

Went wine tasting. The winery was really nice - love the barrels!



Me: Mmm, I really like this one.
Housemate: Me too! Shall we get two bottles instead of our usual one?
Me: Two? But there's so many other wineries, seems silly to put all our eggs in one basket.

In the end we bought 6. In my defense, it was good value!

No. 44 - Eat At 50 New Eateries (12/50)

Went to Albury to visit a childhood friend who was placed in Albury Hospital for his rural rotation. Decided to go to Green Zebra (quite an odd name for a restaurant, in my humble opinion).



Albury is quite a quaint little town and it was nice catching up with someone from home. Food was pretty interesting as well - I had ravioli stuffed with sweet potato and pumpkin. Yum.

Beechworth

Seems to me that every weekend we are on the path for something interesting to do to break the monotony of working full time. This weekend we decided to head over to historic town of Beechworth.


Driver of the Day


Soft Serve Cone - Quick stop at Macca's to satisfy my craving. I'm addicted to these things. Every time I have a bad day at work I drive thru and get one of these to cheer myself up.


Beechworth Honey - The flagship store of the popular honey brand in Australia.


Honey Tasting - A whole tableful of various types of honey up for sale. They were all very sweet and sticky. The way almost all honeys are.


Friend In Honey Heaven


Sparkling Honey Nectar - Yummy, even though it was pretty much just honey in carbonated water. So much sugar that I actually got a sugar headache after that, if that's possible.




Cheese - Love cheese. Look at their display!


At the lookout - Completed the 5km Gorge Scenic Drive around Beechworth. Stopped at one of the lookouts for photos.


On the way home

Quite a successful trip. Came home and watched He's Just Not That Into You with some soup, a cheese platter and wine. Life isn't so bad after all.

Bayview On The Park

So we stayed at Bayview on the Park the last time we went down to Melbourne.

Friend: First we stayed at Parkview, now we're at Bayview. What's with all these views?!
Me: Maybe because we can see the bay, and we're on the park? And Parkview because you can see well, the park?
Friend: I guess...



View from our hotel room. There's Albert Park and beyond, the bay. Notice all the people walking in the park? With their dogs? Apparently there was some sort of RSPCA dog walking event or something going on. Wished Milton was with me to do the same thing.

Autumn In Bright

The leaves were falling and I made my way back to Bright, officially my favourite town in North East Victoria.



Us in the park, looking downwards to prevent the formation of a pseudo double chin when taking this photo.




Milton enjoying the leaves.


Under a brilliantly red-leafed tree, enjoying our life as baby dentists. Or rather, our weekend away from being baby dentists.

Myrtleford

Haven't really had time to put up stuff about the places that I've visited since I've been up here. Shall start small at Myrtleford, a little town on the way to Bright. Stopped by there on the way home from Bright for a snack.


Milton - Tied up next to us while we waited for our meal and he proceeded to dig at the gravel.


Butter Factory - It claimed to be a butter factory but to be honest, didn't even see a pat of it.


Cheese Platter For Two - Yummy. Particularly like the orange colored condiment, which turned out to be Iranian Carrot Jam. Interesting.

Glenrowan

Glenrowan - the place where Ned Kelly was finally captured is pretty close where I am now. Therefore, we decided to go down to see what was actually there.

It's a one street town but it had some pretty interesting souvenirs. Like these:


Ned Kelly's Helmet/Visor Thingie


Ned Kelly Puppet


Ned Kelly Jam



And in the town centre (mind you, the town was pretty much 2 blocks of shops), there is a huge statue of Ned Kelly.

The end.

Risky Undertaking

So I'm going up to Shepparton on Friday to some ADA thingamee to amass some CPD points. Then on Saturday morning there's another ADA thingamee down in Melbourne to amass more CPD points.

What's Milton to do?

a) Bring him up to Shepparton with me and then leave him with a friend in Melbourne when I go up.
b) Drive up and back from Shepparton on Friday, then do a day trip to Melbourne. Milton stays home all the while.
c) Don't go up to Melbourne at all and waste those CPD points.

Both have drawbacks. Option (a) means that he might potentially pick up some insanely bad habit that will take months to train out of him. For example, the last time I left him his toilet training was set back 2 months. That experience has left me... unwilling to take risks.

Option (b) means I have less time to spend in Melbourne and he'll be alone at home for most of Saturday.

Optin (c) means I'll have to find CPD points elsewhere - which may not be easy.

What to do what to do....

And no - I can't kennel him. All the kennels are fully booked now (school holidays).