Buchan Farmhouse and Snowy River

 

The Buchan Farmhouse

 A Scarlet Bottlebrush.

Oranges,  lemons, mandarins and grapefruit!

 The road to Snowy River.

 The farmhouse from the Snowy River Road.

The view of Lake Entrance from the lookout on the highway.

Sunday, November 27^th.

I woke up with the sun listening to the birds. It promised to be a beautiful warm, sunny day. I spent the morning eating oranges on the porch and looking at the views. I went for a couple of short walks on the property. Then I drove down the drive and turned the other direction to go to Snowy River National Park. It was on a narrow, gravel road and I had to drive through one flooded section, that descended off the top of the hills to the river. En Route there was a lookout where you could see the patchwork quilt of farms and forests on these foothills.

When I got there I found one man camping. I took the trail that led to the river and as I started I saw the tail end of a black snake disappear into long grass. I approached carefully but couldn't find it, so I continued down to the river. I was a pretty spot where the Snowy River and the Buchan River meet. Mary and Dennis had told me this was the local swimming spot, but I didn't go in, partly because there was a pretty good current. I walked around a couple of trails by the rivers conscious of the fact I had seen a snake. When I returned to the car and passed the spot where I had seen it, I found it basking in the sun on a grass patch close to where I had seen it (if in fact it was the same one). I got a couple of photos but kept my distance. When I researched it later on the internet I think I identified it as a Highland Cooperhead, which is another poisonous snake. When I got back to the camp I gave the camper the heads up that I had seen the snake in case he headed down that trail. He was appreciative as he is very snake wary.

When I got back I dropped in to say goodbye to Mary and Dennis and they let me pick a couple of bags of oranges, mandarins, lemons and grapefruit! I saw Mary's beautiful flower garden and Dennis' vegetable patch as well as his workshop where he makes animals out of spare auto parts. Good people.

I drove back to the farm house, packed up and then drove into Buchan and the Roadhouse to have brunch. I was really sad to leave. Of all the places I have visited this was probably my favourite, in that I would love to retire to a place like this, or to have been able to stay for a longer period of time. I loved the house, the views, the farm, the solitude and the nature of it. I do have to wonder what it would be like in the winter or for a period of rain (they get lots up here but apparently no snow). Anyway, it was only for the weekend.

In town after eating I bought a glass of lemonade and a couple of cupcakes from local students who were raising money for cancer research because one of their teachers has cancer.

Then I began the long drive back home again. Dennis recommended taking a slightly different route via Lake Entrance. The highway offers a beautiful view of the lake area along the south east coast of Australia. This is one of the vacation/holiday/boating/fishing areas of Victoria. I didn't stop as I will probably drive back through here on my way to Brisbane in a couple of weeks. I got back to Melbourne in time to have a swim at MSAC before heading home for the night.

Great Alpine Road Revisted

The Farmhouse livingroom.

And kitchen

In the orning the house was revealed

Neighbours: a cookatoo and two galahs

A deadly snake crosses the road.

Still some snow up on Mt Hotham.

Another blue tongued skink.

Wildflowers on the Alpine Road.

A fantastic mountain road.

Mary and Dennis owners of the farmhouse.

Saturday, November 26^th.

I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, in an old farm house, on the top of a hill with fantastic views of other hills and farms. I could hear cows bellowing and saw a herd in the distance being moved by dogs and two guys on ATVs. The hills are either green paddocks or covered in forests. There were the calls of cockatoos, galahs, magpies, lapwings and other birds. And no traffic noise. It was incredible!

I hung around enjoying the view and walking around checking out the barns, other buildings, old rusted cars, tractors and bikes and coming across a large black bull, before heading into town for breakfast. I ate at the local Roadhouse (which is a combination of petrol station and restaurant). After eating I began another long drive to Mt Hotham, which is a major ski area in the winter. I had seen it then and wanted to see the area in the summer. The road up to Omeo was long and winding. This is the beginning of the Great Alpine Road. I came across a snake basking on the warm bitumen of the road. After all the stories about deadly snakes in Australia, this was the first one I'd seen. I stopped and pulled over to protect him from being run over. I don't know for sure what kind it was but I think it was an Eastern Brown Snake (from my internet research) and that is one of the poisonous ones. I didn't get out of the car and just took a couple of photos as he slithered off. I drove up the mountain to the resorts on Hotham. The vistas up here are beautiful. On top of a mountain range and driving on a well paved road with very few guardrails as the road wound its way around the peaks.

I was amazed at how many dead trees there were up there. Tall white naked trees. At one spot I stumbled across a wedding on a ridge. I talked to a local guy there and asked about the trees. He told me that there had been a couple of big fires up here the last couple of years, but that if you looked closely the trees were regenerating from the base and in time the forest would replace itself, baring more fires of course. I came across another blue tongued skink and made sure he too got off the road. I moved him with my foot and he was quite placid. But finally he got upset and gave me the trademark open mouthed, blue tongued salute. Then he slithered off down the hill into the bush much like a snake.

After innumerable twists and turns, I descended to the hamlet of Harrietville where I stopped at the Snowline Hotel for a beer. This is a hotel I saw last time and thought that it was interesting, but I didn't have time for a beer then. Thankfully inside they had an ATM so I could withdraw the cash I needed to pay for the farm house.

Then I retraced my route back over the mountain to Omeo and on to Buchan. I arrived back at the farm about seven. I went for a walk around the property and down the hill to the pond and then across a couple of paddocks to the cows. I walked back as the sun set.

I drove down the drive to the farm where Mary and Dennis live to pay her the remainder of the money. They invited me in for a chicken and roast vegetables dinner. For dessert we had a damper that Dennis had made. Damper is a traditional bread made from just water and flour apparently and then he adds nuts and fruits. It's a bit like Christmas cake. Damien had made a couple on my WA trip. I had a good evening talking to them and learning about their lives up here in the foothills. Dennis is a jack of all trades, he has mined, done factory work, construction and now farming. Mary is a retired teacher who works as a CRT (supply teacher) in the area. She is currently doing a long term grade 1-3 in Buchan Primary School with 12 kids. They told me how Dennis original bought the property 35 years ago and cleared the land and moved a house from town in pieces and rebuilt it here. Great day.

ITA Dinner and Farewell

 The speeches honouring Lawrie Shears, who founded the exchange foundation. 

 Some of the exchangees for 2016.

 I receive my certificate of appreciation.

The exchangees who made it to the farewell dinner.

These are a few of the photos that the ITA took on the evening of International Teacher's Association Farewell dinner honouring the passing of Dr. Lawrie Shears and thanking us for our participation, held on Friday, November 18th.

Week Eight Term Four

The Arts Centre Melbourne.

The Playhouse Theartre.

The conclusion of El Kid.

Aboriginal art in the foyer.

A room with a mural wall of illuminated marbles.

The main Theatre with the second largest stage in the world.

Time is flying by! Only four weeks left of school! I just booked a three day return visit to Tasmania to do a couple of hikes I missed, and a canyon tour at Cradle Mountain, before I take a two week driving trip up the east coast from Melbourne to Brisbane, from where I will fly home on January 7th.

This was a pretty quiet week at school. The kids are trying to finish up a couple of assignments before the end of the year.

On Thursday, all the grade three and four classes went on an excursion to the Art Centre Melbourne. This is a complex of theatres, some indoors, some underground and a couple outside. The classes were split into two groups. Our group saw an operatic theatre production based on the story of the Billy Goats Gruff, called El Kidd, in the Playhouse Theatre. This is an intimate theatre holding 884 people. The play was aimed at young children and included, along with the singing and story telling, some humour that the kids appreciated. The costumes were bright and colourful and the actors were great.

After the performance we ate our lunches in the foyer before we had a tour of the rest of the facility. Our tour guide gave us some history of the place and showed us some of the aboriginal art that is housed here and took us to two other theatres. The largest one is called the State Theatre and can accommodate any production, as it has the second largest stage in the world. When we went in the crew were working on the false roof that hangs over the production as part of it fell the night before during a performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle (the opera is performed over four nights and each night is about 6 to 7 hours long!). We also went into a hall where they host parties or events. One large wall was covered with an illuminated mural made from marbles and other objects. The ceiling was mirrored and reflected the wall and the floor was marble.

That night I went swimming again at a different pool. Here the lanes were only 25 metres instead of 50, which made me feel like I was faster and getting somewhere.

At briefing Friday morning Amanda (the principal) explained that the merging of the regular Victorian half of the school with the French 'private school' half has finally been completed successfully. The final step was a vote by the 300 French families who run the French section and employ the French teachers.

Later in the morning I ran into Amanda in the hall and she asked me if I had heard the great news and then remembered I had been at the briefing. She was obviously delighted and told me some of the history. The French section has been at the school for eighteen years and the Victorian Department of Education wasn't happy with the appearance of a private school in a regular one. It is like a private school because the parents pay an extra fee of $4000 for their child to attend and the fact that half of the school year is taught in French with the French curriculum. She explained that for the two years she has been the principal the merge has consumed a large chunk of her time and she is happy to put it behind her so that she can focus on the whole school. This was the longest that Amanda had talked to me all year.

I also talked to my teaching partner, Claire, who is paid by the parent council. She explained that all the French teachers are happy because the are now employed by Australia and they have those benefits. So it appears that everyone is happy.

On Friday, after school I drove for 5 hours to the town of Buchan in eastern Victoria, to stay at a farmhouse. It is owned by a sister of one of our CRT's (supply teachers). Trish used to work at our school until she retired a couple of years ago. She told me about her sister's farmhouse and I had tried to book it a couple of times before but without success. I wanted to revisit the Great Alpine Road that I saw during the winter so that I could see it green instead of white. And since Buchan is in same general area, I decided this was a way to kill two birds with one drive.

The last couple of hours I drove in the dark along some secondary highways and really had no idea where I was going or what the area looked like. I drove through some forested areas and hoped not to see any wombats or kangaroo or wallabies. All three of these animals are active at night and can do major damage to your car. I arrived at 11:00 and was met by Trish's sister Mary. She gave me a quick tour and said she'd see me in the morning. Mary and her husband Dennis live on the adjoining farm. The farm house was built in the 1960's and is very rustic. It has four bedrooms (two with double beds and two with twins) a livingroom, kitchen and a bathroom. It was very clean and neat and the bathroom had been remodeled. The kitchen contained a dishwasher and a stove but also had an old wood burning oven. I had the pace to myself!

Outside it was very dark and eerily quiet except for a few bugs. I went to bed eager to see the farm in the daylight.

The Great Ocean Road Revisited

The Otway Farmstay and the young Aussie couple who stayed there with me.

Some of the locals.

A platypus.

Sue and John.

The rolling hills of their farm.

California Redwoods planted here in 1938.

One of the beaches along the Great Ocean Road.

Another koala at Kennett River.

The rainforest on the Grey River. 

The view from the lookout at Lore.

Sunday, November, 20^th.

In the morning Andy took the Aussies for a tour and John took me to the dam and pond on their property to see the platypus. We saw one three times or three once, but I did finally get a chance to see a platypus in the wild.

Today was a beautiful, hot, sunny day. This is a really beautiful and scenic area of Australia. Sue and John had something to do in the morning so I headed off and decided to drive the Great Ocean Road back to the city.  On the way I revisited the forest of California Redwoods that were planted here in 1938. I was here before but it is a beautiful stand of trees. They are so majestic and tall even though they are not as large in girth as the ones in California,.It is very quiet with no undergrowth and little sunlight reaching the ground. And just outside the forest is the native Australian rainforest complete with tree ferns.

The Ocean Road is a beautiful winding road along the coast. It follows the shore, up and over big hills, past beaches and sand dunes and through some rainforest areas. The vistas along the way are stunning. When I got to Kennett River, where I had previously fed the birds, I drove up the dirt road to the Grey River picnic area where I found several koalas in the gum trees and a great walk along the river through a beautiful rainforest full of prehistoric looking tree ferns.

I retraced my route back to the coast and continued to Lore, which is a really nice town with probably the best beach on the road. I had a bite to eat here before following the signs up a couple of steep roads in town to a great lookout of the coast and the road.

Then I drove inland to get back to the highway to Melbourne. When I arrived in town I stopped at MSAC for a swim before getting my groceries. I swam in the 50 metre outdoor pool. It felt great to swim outside. Then groceries and home to chop them up.

Twelve Apostles and the Otway Farmstay

Lying in dirt is cooler than on grass.

The Twelve Apostles.

The beautiful rugged coastline.

Loch Ard Gorge

We drove across this waterfall in Andy's ute.

Friendly inquisitive Guernsey cows.

Saturday, November 19^th.

This weekend I decided to revisit the Twelve Apostles, the Otway Farmstay and the Great Ocean Road. I had been here back in March but it is a beautiful drive and I wanted to repeat it, plus I wanted to see Sue and John at their farmstay again.

I left about 9:00 and drove through Melbourne and took the highway for a couple of hours to Colac. From there I drove south to the Twelve Apostles National Marine Park. This is one of the rock formations off the south coast and is the most photographed coastal site in Australia. I was here in the late afternoon last time and the lighting was all wrong. I visited a couple of the other formations along the coast, Loch Ard Gorge and the Razorback, before driving inland again and into the Otway Ranges to Sue's Otway Farmstay. Sue and John were glad to see me again and we had a good catch up. Then their son Andy and his three daughters, took me on a tour of the farm to see the waterfalls, the cows and the views of the surrounding area. We drove overland and right across the top of the falls in their ute. The last time I was here the whole hill was enshrouded in fog, so it was good to see it in the sun. We had a good dinner and then a young Australian couple who were also renting a room arrived. They were both competitive weight lifters. 

They were also both employed in the contracting and construction business. We sat around talking until ten before we all turned in. I asked them about the rules for building extra houses or units on a property with an existing house, because they do that all over the city. I asked about the extra strain on the sewers, services, roads, etc., caused by the increase in people living on the property. They said that the government charges a surcharge for the extra units to upgrade the services, but they don't do it. According to them, they only make any upgrades when the sewers back up or something like that. Then the people have to use porta potties until the sewers are fixed. I think it sounds like a recipe for disaster. The population of Melbourne is predicted to reach 10 million in 20 years and it is just going to get more and more congested. Time will tell if the infrastructure can handle it.