Unplanned stop #1

We're not worried about those chips in the windscreen anymore
Oh - what a lovely sunset!

There we were, just south of Gladstone, merrily driving along the Bruce Highway, well actually stop, start along the highway and just prior to this we were at a dead stop. There'd been a fatality earlier in the day, and the traffic wasn't yet recovered. So cars in front of us stopped, we stopped. The 4WD behind us did not stop.
4 weeks later I still get a fear response when I hear screeching tyres - particularly if I'm driving at the time. Note to all music makers - please don't put car crash sounds / screeching tyres / etc in your songs. It really isn't a good thing for those of us in the drivers seat....

No broken bones, no dismembered limbs, but I do get quite annoyed when people take that to mean no-one was hurt. I had internal bruising and was extremely sore for 4-5 days after. I was even wondering if I'd be able to go on the camping trip we had planned, because anything involving bending my midriff - ie getting into and out of bed, was quite difficult. But pilates came to my rescue and lots of aspirin and some time later, it was all OK. Apart from having to pay the excess on the rental car and waiting, waiting for the insurance of the guy who hit us to come through. He's admitted complete responsibility and the police were wonderful.

So we stopped in Gladstone for a night. I reassured B (who was driving) that there was nothing he could have done. I'm still finding bits of glass in my holiday stuff, and not coping too well with the sound of tyres screeching....

We interrupt this program...

Yep, I'm interrupting the regularly scheduled program (of holiday blogging), to comment on MIFF and some stuff I've seen around Melbourne city over the last few days.

First off - I just love MIFF. Since I moved to Melbourne 10 years ago, I've attended some films just about every year (except for the few years I was working out in the wasteland that is Dandenong - but I did try then too). And I realised today just how much MIFF has become a time of "happenings and memories" for me - not necessarily about films, but about what's happening in my life at the time. First off there was the introduction to MIFF in my first year in Melbourne - and the film focus that year was gay and lesbian films - so a new friend and I just had a ball. The following year, I was still working in the city, so took a few days off to see some films - to the amusement of my co-workers who thought I was just an ordinary girl (apparently going to MIFF makes you extra-ordinary!). Then there was the courting a few years later (I thought MIFF films would be good dating material), and a few years after that the break-up which hindered me seeing films.
There were new friends found who also enjoyed MIFF and so new friendships developed in queues and over coffee fueled discussions. There was the year my boyfriend flew back from working overseas for just a night and so I skipped a film or two to spend it with him.
And then B came into my life, and apart from all the other things we had in common, he also had a passion for MIFF - which we discovered to our mutual delight 8 months after we'd met. It was during MIFF 2 years back that I successfully wooed him, and MIFF 1 year back I consolidated on that. MIFF is now just part of our life - it's a factor in our relationship, a reliable companion for 2.5 weeks every year into the future.

So - films I've seen so far at MIFF 06?
The Willow Tree - A great character study. I didn't like the behaviour of the main character, but still found sympathy for him.
Animation Shorts - Program 1 - some good, some bad - good mix.
Bubble - The blurb made it sound more interesting than it was. Not a bad story, but nothing to write home about.
Sa-Kwa - lovely character development.
2:37 - Absolutely fantastic. Must see. If you remember high school - or early 20's, you'll relate to this.
A Scanner Darkly - Most enjoyable
Invisible Waves - see it for the cinematography - but don't expect to get swept along by the story line - pleasant but not great. Interestingly the plot outline in imdb is incorrect. It says he "inadvertently" kills his girlfriend - it wasn't accidentally - it was planned - and is the whole crux of the film!
Thankyou for Smoking - excellent portrayal of a spin merchant and how he lives with himself.
McDull, the Alumni - excruciating
Looking for Cheyenne - other people seem to be raving about it, but I didn't think it was anything special.
The Circle - competently made, but if you've read the blurb, you really don't get anything more out of seeing the film.
Un Couple Parfait - Beautifully shot film, great character study of a relationship in breakdown.

So that's MIFF to date.

Ever been looking for one of these:
and not been able to find one? Click on the pic to see why.... Check out Lush Lane off Flinders Lane to find them.

And anyone who grew up in Melbourne is probably already aware of this - but I only noticed it a few days ago. So which came first? The company or the saying?

There's a little less sand on Fraser Island

The next day we arrived in Hervey Bay - rather late in the evening with no-where to stay... not an unusual thing for us really.

We didn't really try too hard to find somewhere, but haggled on the first place we found and got the asking price down from $100 pn to $85 is we stayed for 2. And so we ended up with a single-bed unit for two nights, very swishly done out, very, very comfortable, and walking distance to the beach and food.
B was keen on Fraser Island so we booked a tour for the next day.

Fraser Island is unique in that it is the only place in the world where there is a rainforest growing in sand. The whole island (bar a few started rocks) is 100% sand.
Below is one of the tourist features of the island - the coloured sands. Unfortunately it was raining on the day we were there, apparently the colours can be quite a lot more spectacular.

Next stop was a ship wreck - the Great Barrier Reef extends down this way too:

Another feature of the island are the fresh water creeks, which are crystal clear, and of course all sand. The touristy thing to do is to walk up the stream bare-foot. I really wanted to, but I'm a bit of an old fuddy-duddy, so we walked up the boardwalk. I'd had enough at the head of the creek - B can look around for hours, so I told him I was heading back. The look on his face was priceless when he turned around a couple of minutes later to see me with shoes off and heading down Eli Creek.

And yep - it was fun!

Because Fraser Island is a World Heritage place and a National Park, you get the feeling that it should be all untouched beaches...

But perhaps not, what with all the tourist companies on the island.
And so we left Fraser, as evening fell....


Yes, there's a little less sand on Fraser Island now. I didn't mean to take it with me, it followed me home, in my socks, in my shoes, in my clothes, it's everywhere!

They make things big in Qld

Monday 3 weeks ago (nearly 4 now) was our 2-yr anniversary. After driving back from Mullumbimby and picking up the hire care in Brisbane, we headed on to Mooloolaba where we had a lovely 3 course meal on the boardwalk.
With hire cars you may be familiar with the need for the damage report before driving it away. Unfortunately we didn't notice some bad chips in the windscreen on the car until an hour later when the sun hit them in just the right way. Oh well, maybe they wouldn't notice them either when we returned the car....
Tuesday saw us heading further up the coast, and as it was B's first time, I thought we should make the obligatory stop a the Big Pineapple - Qld's first(?) foray into all things big.

And yes, it is big - that's B down the bottom:

And you can also go inside it - click on the piccie below to zoom in on me up top:

Loose knitter?

Do you think you're a loose knitter? We have an official challenger.....

Well, we arrived in Mullumbimby on schedule and after the obligatory gift-giving (this time I was just the carrier from grandparents to grandchildren), we got down to the serious business of trying to teach knitting. I had not anticipated just how difficult it would be. Not only is it a matter of learning the movements, but co-ordinating small hands (6 and 9 year old) is quite challenging. I decided there was no point to a discussion regarding the theory behind knitting, or to even teaching how to cast-on - that's the job of my sister-in-law or one of the nannies. But after choosing their own ball of multi-coloured yarn, we got them both started on a basic 25 stitch scarf in garter stitch. It didn't take either of them very long to get the basic process, although the younger one kept forgetting where he was up to.

We stressed the point that knitting is fun and creative, and that yours is not supposed to look like everyone else's because it is an art-form and everyone does it differently and that's wonderful.
Nephew K - 6 took this concept on with gusto and is busily creating a free-form scarf - he's the ultimate in loose knitters!



Nephew J - 9 developed some real skill in a short period of time and is now teaching himself how to purl from the cheat-sheet diagrams I provided.
He's done the same number of rows as his brother - but what a difference!


Naturally there are some dropped stitches and many increased stitches - but that was not a problem. We never set any rules that you had to end with the same number of stitches as you started with.

It was so nice to be able to see these two kids knit without anxiety - they dropped needles out of multiple stitches as they talked and waved their knitting around, and just calmly brought it over to me for re-insertion. I so wish I could achieve the same level of anxiety-free knitting - but at least I know that I've set them up right for enjoying their knitting time.

Back in Time - the start of the holidays

I've been waiting over 3 weeks for decent internet access, so I can finally start blogging about my holidays. I'll only be able to cover a bit at a time, as I'm now back at work - and stress levels are mile high already.

So... Friday 3.3 weeks ago we flew out of Melbourne heading to Brisbane. Straight after work from Avalon - my first venture to this south of Melbourne / north of Geelong airport. We arrived in good time, yet the plane was delayed - groans all-round (except from us, who really didn't care half an hour one way or t'other). We officially arrived in Brisbane a few minutes past midnight on Saturday morning, jumped in a taxi to my folks place and crashed into a bed after politely declining the flannelette sheets, doona and extra blankets - yes I know it is winter - but not when you're from Melbourne!

Saturday saw a leisurely start, with gift giving - Dad liked his Father's Day scarf, and Mum liked her birthday knitted face-cloth. Then Mum and I were off to the shops so I could fulfill a mother's day gift of several years ago - a pedicure. The delay resulted from a promise that I'd arrange it next time we were in the same city, and so it arrived (even though she had to book it). It was the first time for both of us, and I can say I loved being pampered. A foot spa and rub down, my feet felt so good. I opted for nail polish even, but Mum wasn't able to be quite that outrageous and went the clear French polish look.

We'd dropped B at JB Hi-Fi on the way through, and he spent several blissful hours hunting out CD's he didn't yet own, (yes there are a few), while Mum and I bonded over pumice stones and flat whites.

Sunday saw an early start as we headed off south to Byron Bay to visit my brother and his family. Pete has a photographic stall at the markets, so we hunted him down before getting into the serious business of market browsing. Byron markets are huge! I'd only ever seen some of the smaller weekend markets down that-a-way before - Mullumbimby, Bangalow - so just was not prepared for the sheer size of the Byron Markets - and it seemed most of it was locally made too - a rarity in these days of commercial hippie-ness.

After a market lunch we headed to the beach - Wategoes - just 'cos you have to got to the beach at Byron,

and then I took B up to the lighthouse
and we walked out to the "Most Easterly Point on Mainland Australia",
which is just down the way from the lighthouse:
before heading to the hills and catching up with my bro's family.

You may recall that my nephew's expressed an interest in learning to knit? And learn they did. Photos and stories on that - next time.

She Returneths

I'm back!

Had an interesting, eventful but/and overall good holiday. Our flight back from Cairns this afternoon got delayed by 3 hours, so no more blogging tonight. Have to sort out a 1000 odd digital pics too....
Shiver - sudden change from walking around in 27 C weather to arriving in Melbourne to 7 C weather.

Also have to hunt down my MIFF Season Pass card as it arrived (and returned) when we were away...

Do I mention the "erk" word? Back to work tomorrow... Bummer! So many blog entries to make, so many blogs to read.... and lots of knitting to catch up on.

And yes, Oscar is still talking to me... But I almost don't recognise my house - away too long I'd forgotten what it looked like inside!

Enough for now. More tomorrow...