On landing in Melbourne on 22rd December, our chauffeur (Dad) conveyed us to our lodgings, namely my aunt Gill's beautiful house in the leafy suburb of Ivanhoe. The photo also shows Banjo in the foreground, one of the two adorable Jack Russells in residence.
A couple of days later Gill and husband Rob hosted the Bowers family Christmas, laying on a marvellous spread for some 21 people! Unfortunately, we don't seem to have taken any photos during the feast, just some afterwards when I've decided that wearing the table decorations is a good idea (nothing to do with the excellent local vino).
On Boxing Day, we jumped into a rental car with Dad, his girlfriend Catherine and her son Jonathan and toddled off to Guthega in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales for a few days. After the 10 hour drive we arrived at Doorak - the ski lodge where we were to stay (of course it's summer here at the moment, so there's no snow).
As we climbed into the mountains, the lowland bush gave way to sparser forests of snow gum, one of the 700 Eucalyptus species that dominate the Australian flora. The gnarled trunks embrace emergent rocks and huddle low to the ground in an effort to cling to the unforgiving mountains.
Bush fires in 2002 stripped huge stands of snow gums of their greenery. Being infrequently subjected to fire, snow gums regenerate more slowly than their lowland cousins. The new shoots of the snow gums grow from the roots, leaving the defoliated limbs as a spectral reminder of the old forest.
In places the extent of that fire is starkly obvious, like here at the boundary between burnt (right) and unburnt (left) forest.
Over the following days we did some gentle hiking through the bleak landscape of Mount Kosciuszko National Park, in which the lodge is situated. The weather changed by the hour, bouncing from fierce sunshine to rain and even sleet at times.
To cross the Snowy River on one walk, the menfolk gallantly pulled the ladies across on the “flying fox” (well, we do have to make them feel needed in this liberated age).
Further up-river, we crossed again on a wobbly old suspension bridge.
Our evenings were spent at base (there's nowhere else to go!), either having a barbeque on the balcony or being fed like kings by Catherine from the communal kitchen.
One chilly and blustery day we climbed Mount Kosciuszko - the highest peak in Australia, again crossing the Snowy River en route. The first European to climb the peak named it after an admired compatriot, the Polish freedom fighter General Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
At just 2238 metres (7310 feet), it hardly ranks among the highest peaks in the world, but the haunting beauty of the landscape makes the diminutive Kosciuszko a fitting crown for this ancient continent.
We arrived back in Melbourne from Guthega late in the afternoon on New Year's Eve. Andy and I quickly showered and changed and headed into town for the fireworks display. We arrived at the Yarra river in town in time for the first round of fireworks at 9pm. Having realised there was no booze allowed in the the streets, and no chance of beating the scrum to get into a pub, we decided to head back to Ivanhoe for midnight, where we shared a very civilised glass (or three) of wine with Gill and Rob, and watched the hugely entertaining fireworks in Sydney on TV!
As we couldn't start our van search on New Year's Day (being a public holiday), we headed out on the tram to the beach suburb of St. Kilda to do some sightseeing. The photo shows the famous entrance to the Luna Park funfair.
Our van-hunting started in earnest on Jan 2nd. After 3 or 4 days of viewing the good, the bad, and the oh-so-ugly (we even blew one up on a test drive!), we settled on a commercial Ford Transit (an empty van) with 145,000km on the clock. Andy beat the dealer down to a good price, and we drove it away, complete with roadworthy certificate and registration.
The Salvos (that's the Salvation Army in English) supplied us with wood with which to construct an interior for the van, in the form of a wardrobe and bookshelf unit.
Andy toiled tirelessly for several days to construct an elegant and functional interior, in which a table and bench arrangement collapses to form a bed.
There is also a kitchen unit with lift-up work-surfaces and built-in stove (a photo should appear here soon...). Using Grandma's sewing machine, I ran up some cushion covers for the sections of sponge mattress that make up the bed-cum-bench seat cushions, as well as some curtains. And hey presto, a camper van is born! We call the van Dame Edna because she's an Australian Tranny. Ha ha.
You'll be pleased to know that getting the van together wasn't a case of “all work and no play”. One weekend, Gill and Rob took us out of the city to their lovely vineyard for a picnic.
Another night we went to see my very talented cousin James (Gill and Rob's son, on the left in the photo) playing keyboard with his jazz/funk band.
We hope to hit the road in a day or two. We'd really like to thank Gill and Rob for their awesome hospitality – it was so good we'll be back for more when we return to Melbourne in June!
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